Mayhem Film Festival Reviews - Day 1

Thursday 16^th October was the opening night of Nottingham's Mayhem Film Festival at the Broadway Arts cinema for what proved to be another eclectic mix of upcoming and classic, horror, sci-fi, obscure and general weird films.

GAME

Director John Minton's GAME was the opener for this year, taking place in the early 90s, a rather disreputable character named Dave (Marc Bressant) is at a Rave, being held at a remote woodland spot.

Stealing a bag full of drugs and money, he takes off in his car, only to crash it on a disused farm trail, miles from anyway.

Trapped upside in his vehicle, things only get worse for him, when he's discovered by a local poacher (Jason Williamson, of musical duo Sleaford Mods fame), who happens to have a major dislike for “townies”, that have no respect for the countryside.

Unable to free himself from the wreck, David finds himself subjected to numerous unpleasantries. But things take a major twist, when he manages to reach out and spike the poacher's drink. Leading to an extremely bizarre confrontation.

This was a bit of a strange one, starting off as a gritty thriller, that wouldn't be too out of place compared to some of the earlier SAW films, only to switch gears towards the end, as the drugs kick in and we're subjected to one of the strangest chase scenes, that was comical to the point of absurdity.

Whilst I felt the film started off kind of slow and seemed awfully reminiscent of the 2007 Stuart Gordon film STUCK (which apparently the Director hasn't seen), it won me over towards the end with the drug fueled final chase, which the audience loved.

The film is currently doing the rounds on the festival circuit. A cinema release, at select venues, is set for Nov 25^th.

View the trailer on YouTube

For more info visit Invada films Facebook page

THE OLD WOMAN WITH THE KNIFE

Second film of the evening was the South-Korean action thriller THE OLD WOMAN WITH THE KNIFE. A young, homeless woman is taken in by a kindly couple that run a Diner. Only to find the business is a front for an organisation of assassins, who call themselves “pest controllers” and she soon finds herself drawn into their world.

Years later, and now in her 60s, the woman, who calls herself “Hornclaw” is the agencies top assassin, who still likes taking care of some of the more problematic target's herself. But when a psychotic young hitman named “Bullfight” is hired by the organisation, she immediately comes into conflict with him.

But it seems the organisation's new director had an ulterior motive for hiring him and he has an ulterior motive for wanting to join, which could prove deadly for them all.

Packed full of martial arts, knife fights and various gun battles and car chases, the film was terrific fun, which kind of played like a South-Korean version of the old Charles Bronson film THE MECHANIC [1972] (or even the 2011 Jason Statham remake)

If you love South-Korean action films, this one comes highly recommended, which proves that you should never mess with old people. The film has not yet been released to Disc or streaming services in the UK, but should hopefully be available soon.

View the Trailer on YouTube.

And that was it for Day 1, for more info on future events held by the Mayhem Festival, visit the following links.

Offical Website - https://www.mayhemfilmfestival.com/

Facebook Page - @mayhemfilmfestival 

X - @mayhem_festival