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:
COMEDIES
The 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.
HORROR
Edgar 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/A
Trust 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! But if you’re hoping for some good, unclean fun, it’s a pretty small overall percentage that offers it.
3) this Festival represents a pretty remarkable collection of talent, and you’d be foolish to miss it.
There you have it. Here’s hoping I’ve helped you at least figure out what’s out there and what you’d like to see, whether it lines up my with my own deeply personal preferences or not. Whether you want to make yourself sick from laughter or nausea, there’s no shortage of options here. If you think of it, have a nightmare on me.
“The Devil pulls the strings which make us dance;
We find delight in the most loathsome things;
Some furtherance of Hell each new day brings,
And yet we feel no horror in that rank advance.”
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