[Event Review] GASP! Horror Film Festival 2023

The first ever GASP! horror film festival, Manchester’s only horror film festival dedicated entirely to minority filmmakers, took place last month from June 17 - 18 at cult cinema CULTPLEX. Six feature length films and two short film showcases celebrated and elevated the work of female filmmakers, foreign language filmmakers, people with disabilities, people of colour and the LGBTQ+ community. 

Every Time I Die (2022) dir. Raúl Vidales Bohórquez

The first feature to kick off the festival was Every Time I Die, a hybrid mix of documentary, fantasy, surrealism and several segments more akin to a particularly symbolic music video. Every Time I Die follows the lives, loss and loves of seven Colombian trans women who have gathered together to speak truth to a narrative power so frequently ignored - their own stories. Poignant and powerful, the women reclaim death (often as a result of transphobic violence) as liberation and rise, phoenix-like, from the ashes of a former self. Tragic, hilarious, disturbing and more relevant than ever, Every Time I Die set the tone for a weekend of celebration in the name of the queer community. A glorious scream that echoes from rooftops across Colombia to Manchester - we’re here, and we refuse to die for anyone other than ourselves.

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Terror Toons 4 (2022) dir. Joe Castro

Following up Every Time I Die (with enough tonal whiplash to hospitalize an F1 driver) was Joe Castro’s fourth installment into the bizarre and bonkers Terror Toons franchise. Starring scream queens Linnea Quigley and Brinke Stephens, like its predecessors, Terror Toons 4 is an anthology made up of four shorts each as overstimulating and headache-inducing as the last. Part Ujicha and part Adult Swim, it’s almost impossible to decipher where the irony ends and sincerity begins in this green-screen media mishmash (if ever). Killer chickens, living sex dolls and demon robot clowns all combine to make Terror Toons 4 the cinematic equivalent of forgetting to take your ADD medication and then pounding three iced coffees on an empty stomach. 

SHORT FILM SHOWCASE

GASP!’s first short film showcase of the weekend featured ten shorts from six different countries. Highlights included:

• Lawrence Essex’s Hands Off, a hilarious and loving send-up of The Evil Dead that combined great gore with a good amount of influencer-mockery to have the whole audience cackling with laughter.

• Yan Berthemy’s Morto Rossa, a stunning homage to Argento’s masterpiece Suspiria, complete with lashings of style and giallo lighting.

• Mélanie Dagnet and Jason Rasoux’s The Cove, a sun-drenched seascape of golden sand and stone with a dreamy and surprisingly eerie take on everyone’s favourite mythological sea siren. 

• Both creepy and cute in equal measure, Thiago Barba’s André’s Bedroom was a standout due to its ambitious animation and exploration of the boundless creativity of a child’s imagination. 

• And finishing up the short film showcase was Emma Gilbertson’s Requiem, a Sapphic folk horror starring Bella Ramsey as Evelyn, a young woman in puritanical 17th century Britain who must keep her love for a woman secret from her Minister father and devoutly religious community. Stunning cinematography, impeccable costume design and (although it goes without saying) a powerhouse of a performance from Ramsey, Requiem finished out the showcase as another poignant reminder of the battles the queer community have fought for hundreds of years – battles that may look different but remain to this day.

New Religion (2022) dir. Keishi Kondo

Following the short film showcase was Keishi Kondo’s magnificent sci-fi horror drama New Religion, a full review of which can be found here.

The final feature of the night was teased as a mystery queer horror classic and, to the delight of all, turned out to be Clive Barker’s horny and horrific Hellraiser, leaving GASP! -goers in the mood for a night on the town in Manchester’s iconic Gay Village.

Wolf Hollow (2023) dir. Mark Cantu

Opening Day 2 of GASP! was the UK premiere of Mark Cantu’s Wolf Hollow, a punk-rock homage to the B-movie backbones of creature feature horror. Starring the iconic Felissa Rose and V/H/S’s Hannah Fierman, Wolf Hollow follows a group a group of young filmmakers, led by neophyte producer Alex Romero, venture out on a location scout in rural Pennsylvania where they stumble across a den of werewolves. While Wolf Hollow might not be the most technically proficient feature, what it lacks in budget it made up for in spirit - it’s clear that Cantu has an eye for what makes an audience jump, laugh and scream. 

WOMEN IN HORROR SHORT FILM SHOWCASE

The second short film showcase of the weekend was dedicated to the many female talents in the world of horror – because, let’s face it, without us there is no horror. Highlights of the showcase included:

• Vanessa Stachel’s A Bloody Graveyard Story, a fantastic stop-motion short that pokes fun at fear of the menstruating body. Why are you screaming? Is it a ghost? Is it a demon? No, it’s just a…bloody pad. 

• Talia Chippendale’s V.PYRE, a ‘90s anime inspired fast-paced futuristic action fantasy that – even in its diminutive 2 minute runtime – managed to build an exciting and original universe that left audiences desperate to see more of.

• Ashley Nashville’s Onna, a 4 minute creepfest that wears its J-horror homages proudly on its sleeve. 

• Lilia Scheerder’s Living Room, a beautifully crafted silent short that could best be summed up as Buster Keaton meets Eraserhead. Anchored by two expressively physical performances, Living Room perfectly encapsulated the timeless human struggle of isolation – even more prescient in our post-pandemic day and age. Director Scheerder was present at GASP!, and introduced her film with an insightful Q&A. 

• Kristin Noriega’s When You’re Gone, a breakup tale with a creature feature twist, featuring gloriously gloopy practical effects and a double helping of ‘good for her’ style revenge.

The Once and Future Smash (2022) dir. Sophia Cacciola and Michael J. Epstein

The Once and Future Smash details the dramatic fallout between actors Mikey Smash and William Mouth (two hysterical performances from The Greasy Strangler’s Michael St. Michaels and Bill Wheeden respectively), who both played who both played Smash-Mouth, the football-themed slasher character in the “lost” 1970 cult film, End Zone 2. 50 years later, the washed-up pair both try to reclaim the iconic role in a reboot sequel revamped for modern audiences, much to the exhaustion of long-suffering assistant A.J. (A.J. Cutler)

Poking fun at the horror community from a place of so much love, The Once and Future Smash was by far and away the fan favourite of the inaugural fest was The Once and Future Smash, Sophia Cacciola and Michael J. Epstein’s hilarious and heartwarming docucomedy which had the GASP! crowd roaring with laughter from start to finish.

End Zone 2 (1970) dir. August Kane

And of course, what better way to follow up The Once and Future Smash with the very same lost cult classic ‘70s slasher classic, End Zone 2? Shot in 1969 on a modified Arri 16ST, 2 most 16mm release prints of End Zone 2 were struck from the original composite negative, which was eventually irrevocably damag- ok, none of this is true. But there’s no way anyone could fault you for falling for End Zone 2 and The Once and Future Smash’s lovable, tongue-in-cheek tease. 

From the dusty 35mm look to the warped, often totally inappropriate soundtrack, this loving send-up of the proto-slasher genre pays immaculate attention to the smallest details and makes End Zone 2 a perfect in-joke for the horror community.

Dragon Lady (2022) dir. Kloé Puech

GASP!’s penultimate screening set the tone for a rapturous finale with Kloé Puech’s stunning and stylish musical short Dragon Lady. Beautifully lit, with clear giallo-tinged stylistic influences, Dragon Lady combines blood with beauty to deliver a deadly dance of carnal choreography – the perfect aperitif for the festival’s climax.

Finishing up GASP! with an appropriate mix of exaltation and hysteria was a special five year anniversary screening of Gaspar Noé’s modern masterpiece Climax – a fitting celebratory and horrifying end to a wonderful first GASP! festival.

GASP! are now a yearly film festival with next year’s edition taking place at Cultplex on 21st, 22nd and 23rd of June 2024.

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