Steve Oram’s deeply British feature debut is the kind of mesmerizing cult oddity whose fan base will be limited but passionate.
It may be filmed in the Academy ratio, but Steve Oram’s low-budget feature debut “Aaaaaaaah!” could hardly be considered a nod to classic Hollywood. Rather, the 4:3 frame indicates something more primal, evoking the so-called “video nasties” (a wave of mostly cheap horror films banned on VHS in the U.K. in the 1980s, following a wave of moral panic over the perceived degeneration in values these films would cause when made available for home viewing). “Aaaaaaaah!” is set in exactly the kind of world Mary Whitehouse feared, and functions as a kind of loving Swiftian satire on the more brutish aspects of modern life. Though it’s at once too subtle and too extreme to attract a broad audience, those who get something out of gross-out humor, silent film and British comedy will treasure “Aaaaaaaah!” as a rare cult gem.
• Continue reading at Variety.
Things are hotting up – and yes speaking of heat, phew!, it has been ridiculously, over-the-top, warm in the UK this week, hasn’t it – for the forthcoming Aaaaaaaah! with no less than the legendary Variety reporting on the film – and including a great shot of Toyah too.
‘Aaaaaaaah!,’ ‘Scherzo Diabolico,’ ‘Curve’ Among Highlights at FrightFest
Toyah Willcox wields the pan in Steve Oram’s ‘Aaaaaaaah!’
MUNICH — Film4 FrightFest, the U.K.’s leading genre film festival, promises to be “bigger, bolder and bloodier” in its 16th year with its largest ever lineup. The gorefest, which runs Aug. 27-31, will present 76 films across five screens, plus a host of special events. There are 16 European premieres and 26 U.K. premieres.
Among the films from British and Irish talent receiving a showcase are David Keating’s “Cherry Tree”; the world premiere of Steve Oram’s hilarious and disturbing “Aaaaaaaah!,” starring Toyah Willcox; Dominic Brunt’s sharp-edged female revenge saga “Bait”; Ben and Chris Blaine’s sexually charged zom-rom-com “Nina Forever”; Mark Murphy’s tale of twisted minds “Awaiting”; Paul Hyett’s much-anticipated “Howl”; Adam Levins’ sinister family drama “Estranged”; Howard J. Ford’s child-abduction thriller “Never Let Go”; Corin Hardy’s Sundance sensation “The Hallow”; Ruth Platt’s morally challenging chiller “The Lesson”; Liam Regan’s gruesome revenge saga “Banjo”; Eugene McGing’s supernatural haunter “The Unfolding”; and “Afterdeath,” a hellish thriller by new directors Gez Medinger and Robin Schmidt.
• Continue reading at Variety. Browse all of Dreamscape’s Aaaaaaaah! news here.
