FILM REVIEW: Sci-Fi #2 - Bolton Film Festival

The Science Fiction genre has always been a popular one, with some of the world's best grossing box office success stories coming from this genre; but it is also a very wide topic and can take many forms. Here I watched 2 of the new short films from that category that had been submitted as part of this year's online Bolton Film Festival.

1. The Neolith - UK - Dir: Daniel Boocock - UK Premiere

A rather bizarre and confusing film which sadly for me didn't make any sense at all. A group of four quasi-neolithic styled men with bloodied faces travel across a mountainous countryside, whilst another male, clearly for a much later period in history lives in a early British styled round hut which he ceremoniously burns. However, further to this is a young woman who seems to be dressed as a medieval upperclass noble who uses her voice to siren across not just the countryside but across time too. One shot sees her communicating with a woman and her young child dressed in clothes befitting the 15th century.

As if this wasn't confusing enough, the very minimal dialogue in the film is in, as far as I could tell, a made-up language, and didn't help one's understanding of a storyline (if indeed there was one); and the rest was a series of grunts and screams. There was a battle, or two, and only one survivor. 

The most interesting part of this film was the location. The virgin mountain terrain was impressive and beautiful. I'd love to know where it was filmed. 

2. The Blood Bride - UK - Dir: Caspar Leopard and Hannah McKibbin

This film was much more successful in its execution and narrative.  We are shown a hell-hole of a building where young women are kept in squallor and are there to be bought or used by the ruthless men who operate a sex traffic ring. 

However, something goes wrong, and one of the girls take a pistol and tries to shoot the men, but misses and shoots another of the girls instead. The rest of the film is this girl's 'death dream' as she floats in and out of consciousness, we see the images that her head play to her.

It's imaginative and as far as I know, quite unique too. As there are two very interesting but important plot twists. The first is that her 'dream' seems to influence the reality as the man who should have been killed by the first girl collapses with a heart attack after being punched hard in the stomach in the dying girl's thoughts; whilst the second twist comes right at the end, when we learn that the girl will survive afterall and is taken away by paramedics. 

Superbly, imaginatively and professionally filmed with realistic acting from all. Nell Hardy played the victim with seaming ease and confidence.

Reviewer - Matthew Dougall

on - 20/10/20