Mayhem Film Festival - Day 2 Reviews

Day 2 of the Mayhem Film Festival presented another eclectic bunch of films, which I have reviewed as follows...


CONFESSION (2022) Dir - Jong-seok Yoon

First film of Day 2 was the South Korean “Confession” from Director Jong-seok Yoon, which appears to be only his second full feature film to date. In this, a wealthy businessman is being charged with murder, after being found unconscious in a locked hotel room, next to the dead body of his mistress.

Maintaining his innocence, he hires a high ranking defence lawyer, who he hopes will get him off the hook. To which he relates his story to and we get to see, through a series of flashbacks.

However, as the story unfolds and it seems that whilst he may indeed be innocent of this particular crime. We discover that he might actually be guilty of something far, far worse.

The film, which is apparently a remake of a 2016 Spanish film “The Invisible Guest”, is really more of a dark crime-thriller, as opposed to a horror, but proved a hit with the audience. I personally enjoyed it, and thought it was extremely well made, boasting more twists and turns than a Hitchcock film.

View the Trailer on YouTube. 

Not to be confused with the plethora of other films with the same title. As far as I'm aware, this has not been released in the UK to date. But if gritty crime-thrillers are your thing, you'd be advised to seek it out.


HOLLYWOOD 90028 (1973) Dir - Christina Hornisher

Second film of the Day was the seldom seen, sleezy, arthouse film "Hollywood 90028", which has recently been rediscovered and restored by Grindhouse films in the US.

The film revolves around a budding cameraman named Mark (Christopher Augustine – The Doll Squad), who's desperately trying to get into the movie industry as a cinematographer. But has been reduced to shooting and editing short adult films for the city's porn cinemas and peep shows, just to make ends meet.

But we soon discover that Mark has a darker side. Suffering from severe mental health problems, we see that he kills women that he randomly picks up. So when he starts dating a young porn actress named Michelle (Jeanette Dilger), we are left wondering if she will be next?

Bit of a slowie and a difficult film to categorise, which is probably why it struggled to find any sort of release back in the day. I was somewhat reminded of the film "Peeping Tom", though the film is extremely light on actual killings (I think 3 in total?) and is more of an arthouse film, albeit an exceptionally sleazy one, than anything.

The film has languished in obscurity since the 1970s, having never been released on home video and receiving only a limited theatrical run under different titles. However, Grindhouse releasing have since discovered it and released it onto disc in the US in its original full length form under its original title (the name apparently reffering to an area of Hollywood Boulevard, where the walk of fame is located).
 
View the Trailer on YouTube 

Whilst the film is well shot, it's a bit on the slow side and to be honest, is one that can only really be recommended to die hard cinema enthusiasts who have an interest in 70s cinema. But if you do wish to see it, Grindhouse have put out a very nice special edition Blu-Ray in the US.

 

DEAD MAIL (2024) Dir - Joe DeBoer & Kyle McConaghy

The third film of the day "Dead Mail", was a welcome change of pace, providing some much needed comic relief to the day.

Set in the early 1980s, the workers at a regional post office, tasked with redirecting mail that's got lost in the post, come across a blood stained note begging for help from an apparent kidnap victim. 

Whilst they initially dismiss it as a prank, when one of them, a seasoned investigator named Jasper (Thomas Boykin – 3 From Hell), takes an interest and tries to track down the address, it unleashes a whole series of deadly events.

An extremely bizarre, offbeat thriller, full of dark humour, which revolves around 80s synthesisers off all things. This was a really enjoyable retro romp, with a great cast. John Fleck (Velvet Buzzsaw) was brilliant as the films villain and Sterling Macer Jr. (Where the Crawdads Sing) was aptly cast as the unfortunate victim.

View the Trailer on YouTube.

Bit of a weird one. If Monty Python ever made a thriller, I would imagine it would look something like this.

 

NIGHT CALL (2024) Dir - Michiel Blanchart

The fourth offering of the day was Belgian thriller "Night Call", in which a young locksmith, played by Jonathan Feltre, gets called out to a flat where a young girl has lost her keys.

Unfortunately, after managing to get her inside, he finds he's been duped and the apartment's real owner is none too happy to see him. Particularly after the young girl he helped has stolen something from him.

As a result, he finds himself forced to help a lot of rather unsavoury characters try and recover the missing goods, or he's going to be in a lot of serious trouble. But it seems not everyone in the gang is interested in getting the loot back, and so trying to survive the night is going to be one hell of an ordeal.

A gripping edge of your seat thriller, I really enjoyed this one. The ending to which certainly had the audience on the edge of their seats, as he tries to prevent them getting to the goods, whilst simultaneously dodging the police.

View the Trailer on YouTube.

Being Belgian, the film was in French language with English subs, which might not appeal to all. But if you like gritty, edge of year seat, thrillers, this one comes highly recommended and was actually one of my favourite films of the festival.

 

DADDY'S HEAD (2024) – Dir Benjamin Barfoot.

Final film of the day was the surreal sci-fi (or was it supernatural?) horror "Daddy's Head". About a young boy, Rupert, and his stepmother Laura (Julia Brown – TV's Payback) coming to terms with the recent death of his father.

With his biological mother already dead, parenting duties fall on Laura, who didn't really want kids. But tries her best, despite Rupert not really taking to her.

But shortly after the funeral, strange things start to happen. Mysterious fires in the nearby forest, that have disappeared by the time the fire brigade turn up. Items going missing from the house. Strange noises at night. Plus the dog keeps barking at something. Then Rupert claims to have seen his dead father at night.

Whilst Rupert's claims are dismissed, it seems there might be something lurking in the forest that has taken a particular interest in them and it might not be friendly.

An interesting film, but it's never really explained what this thing is, or what it wanted from the family. Director Benjamin Barfoot was actually in attendance to introduce the film and take questions afterwards, but even he remained tight lipped about it. So, you'll just have to see it and try and figure it out for yourself.

View the Trailer on YouTube.

The film is currently available to stream on the Shudder network.

And that concluded the days viewings, so with that it was back to the hotel to prepare for Day 3.

For more information on the festival and other special events throughout the year, visit the Official Website at: https://www.mayhemfilmfestival.com/

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