Horror film fans are in for a pre-Halloween treat

Halloween may be a few weeks away but horror fans are in for a treat this weekend as terror comes to the cinemas of Edinburgh.

Pontypool (Cameo) is a psychological, low budget chiller which surprised me with its wit and decision to opt for a smart script rather than all-out gore.

A virus breaks out on St Valentine's day in the small town of Pontypool, Ontario, as radio DJ Grant Mazzy (Stephen McHattie) drives to work. With reports coming in of townsfolk attacking a local doctor's surgery en masse, Mazzy and his co-workers discover that something is very strange is going on even closer to home.

A claustrophobic film with an impressive central performance from McHattie as the enigmatic DJ with a voice you'll believe has hidden powers, director Bruce McDonald wrings out just enough tension along with a few laughs to create a memorable little horror gem.

Watch the Pontypool trailer:



Also out is Thirst (Filmhouse), a South Korean vampire tale which has made headlines in the UK after a controversy brewed over its supposedly blasphemous poster.

The poster showed a vampire priest (Song Kang-ho) with his lover hanging from his throat but The Advertising Standards Authority advised the makers that they'd be forced to rule in favour should a single complaint be made. The poster was then changed to remove the dog collar, effectively banning the original.

The film itself comes from acclaimed director Park Chan-wook, best known for his vengeance trilogy - Sympathy for Mr Vengeance, Oldboy and Lady Vengeance - and focuses on a Priest, Father Sang-hyun, who begins to suffer un-godly thoughts.

Deciding to give up his vocation to go to Africa, Sang-hyun is tragically killed, only to return to life soon after as a vampire. Bound to be full of enough of the red stuff to satisfy the most bloodthirsty film fan, this is one to look out for.

Watch the Thirst trailer:



Staying on the subject of genre films, classic sci-fi fans should look out for a screening of 1970 chiller Colossus: The Forbin Project, coming to the Filmhouse on Monday. Set during the Cold War it features giant supercomputers, nuclear countdowns and maybe even a mad scientist or two.

Henry S Thompson from Edinburgh University's School of Informatics will also present an introductory talk about the state of artificial intelligence and discuss what it means for a computer to be intelligent.

Watch the Forbin Project trailer:



This article originally appeared in the Edinburgh Evening News on Friday 16 October, 2009.