In the darkness of a movie theatre, the weighted blanket of silence hangs heavy over a captivated audience. At NorthwestFEARFest, Edmonton’s annual genre and horror film festival, that silence isn’t just the audience waiting for the protagonist’s next move. It’s the sound of an audience collectively holding its breath, waiting to gasp, scream or cover their eyes in sync.
“There’s nothing like seeing a horror movie with an audience. People can laugh and scream and clap together, or they might shout, ‘Don’t go into that basement!’” says Guy Lavallee, the festival’s director and programmer.
“It’s a different experience, and that’s what people gravitate to.”
Running from Oct. 14 to 18 at the Metro Cinema, this year’s iteration of FEARFest includes a range of classic and modern titles, from cult favourites like The Hilarious House of Frightenstein, an independently produced Canadian kids’ TV series from the 1970s, to new releases like Breeder, about an enigmatic poodle breeder who lures a broke student to her ranch under the guise of offering research funding.
This year, the festival is marking some big anniversaries: the 40th anniversaries of both Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives and Big Trouble in Little China, and the 45th anniversary of The Prowler. The anniversaries, Lavallee says, are a testament to the films’ enduring appeal.
“For ’80s kids, it’s great nostalgia to revisit these films that were maybe forbidden fruit from their youth. And a younger generation that never got a chance to see these movies in a theatre are loving that communal experience,” he says.
“Especially with the younger generation, there’s a hunger for rehashes of what their parents loved, but also for stuff that they can take on as their own.”
One of the newer films in this year’s festival lineup is The Last Temptation of Becky, the third in the dark comedy franchise which follows actress Lulu Wilson as she takes on a neo-nazi villain played by Neil Patrick Harris.
