Twin Cities Horror Festival: Closing the Vein (for now)

By Phillip Andrew Bennett Low (TC Daily Planet) | November 4, 2013

That’s it for me for now, folks — the Twin Cities Horror Festival will be running through the ninth, but I’ve covered all of the shows taking place (with the exception of a pair of one-night-only special events). In the interests of ease of access, here’s a brief summary, with links to my reviews:COMEDIESThe Harty Boys and the Mystery of the Mall of America… of Death!: relentlessly cheerful (and somewhat tongue-in-cheek) farce for all ages.The Murderer Did It!: smart and snappy Agathie Christie parody that reproduces some of the best and worst aspects of the source material.Spooky Town: wacky, punchline-dense comedy with some loose nods to classic haunted-house flicks.HORROREdgar Allan: incredibly slick, skilfully executed adaptation of some pretty thin source material.Tainted Love: collection of mostly excellent storytelling and dance pieces that don’t quite hang together.Hear No Evil: bloody, expressionistic meditation on sin and punishment that I loved deeply, but may be less accessible to those who prefer more straightforward storytelling.N/ATrust and Obey: declined to review, as I have a small part in this one.A few concluding observations:1) I was pleasantly surprised by the overall quality of the various shows — for all my rambling thoughts and complaints, there’s not a single one that I would point to and call “bad”, which is pretty freaking remarkable, all things considered. I supposed that this is symptomatic of a tightly juried Festival: every show that was asked was invited because of a clear level of competency.2) more personal, but as a horror fan I have to confess a little disappointment in the lack of straightforward horror: of the six shows I saw, three of them were fairly light parodies. All were quite well-done! Continue Reading