Showing @ Cameo Cinema, Edinburgh – run ended
Following two previous and very successful events in 2010 and earlier this year, the Cameo have resurrected their popular All Night Horror Madness event for the third time, and just in time for Halloween. Comprised of vintage horror trailers and four main films, instead of the usual five, All Night Horror presented a cacophony of horror, comedy and depravity with a selection of films from the 70s and 80s. Such as the anti-drugs thriller, Blue Sunshine, 35mm print of John Carpenter’s seminal slasher classic, Halloween, the hilarious and gruesome Canadian offering, Pieces, and a 35 mm print of Sam Raimi’s infamous video nasty, The Evil Dead.
All Night Horror events were once popular in the 80s, they declined in the 90s and early 00s, but the demand for them is growing, as the Cameo’s third foray into the all night horror world was very nearly a sell-out evening. Although each film dealt with different themes, such as the very human and conceivable terrors of drugs in Blue Sunshine, and the stalking and murder of a group of young people by an unknown, unhinged and seemingly omnipresent killer in both Halloween and Pieces, to the more supernatural such as the awakening of long-dead evil spirits, in The Evil Dead, each film ran together almost perfectly. While some of the breaks between films may have lasted a little longer than they were meant to, All Night Horror Madness is still one of the most original and most enjoyable events to come out of the Scottish horror film calendar in years.
While spending an evening watching bloody horror film after gory horror film may not appeal to everyone, there’s something very unique and electric about the atmosphere of this event that makes it so memorable. Featuring four very different, but highly entertaining films, this is one event that every self-confessed horror fan, or even someone who’s just interested in the genre should go to, in order to experience some of the very best and some of the most overlooked examples of cinematic horror. Fun, sometimes thought-provoking but a little tiring, All Night Horror Madness proves that our love affair with horror is alive, well, and of course, growing.