Ghouls on Film*

You know that uneasy feeling you get when you walk around the Custard Factory 'will the brickwork finally fall on my head?', 'will i go through that hole in the rickety boardwalk?', 'how rank will the toilets be today?'. Well Saturday bought a whole new world of pain to the venue with the arrival of the Ghouls On Film event at The Mixing Bowl, part of the international Women in Horror appreciation month. Put together by film student Nia Edwards-Behi we were treated to a smorgas board of Gore and weirdness featuring several short films and two full length features, 'Slaughtered' and 'Dead Hooker In a Trunk' (which unfortunately i had to miss). The popcorn intermission included a Q&A session with Directors Melanie Light (Switch) and Kate Glover compared by the delectable scream queen Emily Booth (i got the stage fright and didn't speak to her) which included enlightning views on women making their way in the scream flick business and Castration Anxiety. You couldn't wish for a more blood drenched way to spend an afternoon and it's a pity you don't see more of these events around Birmingham (though The Sunflower Lounge and The Black Horse are starting to do B-Movie nights) especially at the underused Mixing Bowl. Happily the outlook isn't as bleak as the films subject matter,as Emily pointed the equipment costs and technical nous needed to make shorts is rapidly becoming within everyones reach so with a bit of luck Ghouls on Film will be back next year with a bigger roster of new talent.

* i was trying to think of a witty title but if it ain't broke don't fix it