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Lates @The LightUKPREMIEREUKPREMIERE54: THE DIRECTOR’S CUT | 15USA 2015. 106 mins.‘We’ve revolutionised going out‘, pronounces club Steve Rubell,owner of the legendary Studio 54. In 1998, director MarkChristopher created a cinematic monument to this ostentatiousmixture of Art Deco and plush, frivolous 1970s hedonism anddrug-induced 24-hour party people. At the producers’ behest,his film about this upmarket disco in New York was changedconsiderably prior to its theatrical release and an extra 25 minutesof new material was added – including an ending that differedfrom the one in the original screenplay. Now, seventeen yearsafter the premiere of the producers’ version, the Panorama ispresenting for the first time the painstakingly reconstructedoriginal – weightier, darker, more drug-addled and above allqueerer than the version that received the nod at the time.Director Mark ChristopherStarring Ryan Phillippe, Salma Hayek, Neve Campbell,Mike MyersPRINT SOURCE Park CircusFri 4 | 9.00 Wed 9 | 4.15 Mon 7 | 9.15Fri 4 | 9.15 Mon 7 | 9.00CHILDREN OFTHE NIGHT | CFF 18Argentina 2015. 96 mins. Spanish with English subtitles.This opulent gothic fantasy centres on journalist Alicia’s reunionwith her childhood sweetheart, whom she meets at a retreatfor baby vampires - still trapped in his child body. Alicia learnsthat he and other lost souls are sheltering under the wing of apuritanical ex-nurse who is preparing them for their destiny asa master race, led by the grandson of Count Dracula himself.However, their new dawn is confounded when they realise thatthey may not be the only vampire colony in town... DirectorIvan Noel’s surreal Oedipal fairytale is visually intoxicating andintrospective, inviting contemplation as well as exploration –and it’s laced with the black humour and baroque elegancewe’ve come to expect from Spanish/Latin American horror.Director Ivan NoelStarring Ana Maria Giunta, Toto Munoz, Lauro VeronPRINT SOURCE Jinga FilmsUKPREMIERECRUEL | CFF 18France 2014. 108 mins. French with English subtitles.Lugubrious temp worker Pierre lives in Toulouse with hisbeloved father, who has Alzheimer’s. Pierre’s drab days at thefactory are illuminated only by hazy childhood memories ofa sunlit beach, and his laughing mother. His frustration at themonotony of his life is tempered by earnest curiosity towardsthe value and meaning of life. He explores this existentialfascination by abducting random Toulousians, conversing withand then brutally killing them. By the time he stumbles across apotential romance with Laure, it’s too late. Love isn’t always theanswer, and Pierre is sick of being invisible. Writer/director EricCherriere brings together the noir of John Fowles’ The Collectorwith the raw authenticity of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer.Director Eric CherriereStarring Jean-Jacques Lelte, Magali Moreau, Maurice Poli,Hans MeyerPRINT SOURCE WideWed 9 | 9.00 (tbc)DARKNESS ON THE EDGEOF TOWN | CFF 15Ireland 2014. 87 mins.Fri 11 | 4.30 (tbc)Newcomer Patrick Ryan introduces a touch of Sergio Leoneto Irish cinema with this rugged and bold revenge noir, shot inCounty Kerry. Gunslinger Cleo wants to avenge the death of hersister – and the twist is that we find out early on who killed her.Cleo’s still clueless, though, and egged on by her psychopathicbestie Robin, she soon has strong-willed redhead Virgil(BrÌan Gleeson) in her sights. Wide lenses capture the gloriousemerald sprawl of Kerry, with long tracking shots and carefulcharacterisation allowing the dark chemistry of the two leadsto develop. On a tiny crowdfunded budget of €18,000, Ryanelevates Darkness beyond a plain murder mystery, embracingShakespearian levels of dramatic tension and gory tragedy.Director Patrick RyanStarring Emma Eliza Regan, Emma Willis, Brian GleesonPRINT SOURCE Cinema VaultThu 10 | 9.15Tue 8 | 9.00Sat 5 | 9.00 Thu 10 | 9.00Thu 3 | 9.15THE ENTITY | CFF 18Peru 2015. 80 mins. Spanish with English subtitles.Student filmmaker Carla and her friends investigate a seriesof deaths linked to online ‘reaction videos’. Their journey takesthem into the bowels of the Dark Web, where they encountera malevolent entity: an avatar of the bloody civil war whichravaged the Inca Empire in the 16th century. This supernaturalforce has the power to destroy anyone who witnesses thecursed footage. Peruvian horror is still in its infancy, but itísflexing its muscles with The Entity, which is not so much aRingu rehash as an energetic, witty homage to The Evil Deadand The Blair Witch Project. Director Schuldt’s flair for theuncanny and for the bloody will rejuvenate the genre even forthe most jaded gorehound.Director Eduardo SchuldtStarring Daniela Mendoza, Rodrigo Falla, Carlos Casella,Mario GaviriaPRINT SOURCE Jinga FilmsFACE OF THE DEVIL | CFF 18Peru 2014. 87 mins. Spanish with English subtitles.Seven lively backpackers travel to the Peruvian Amazon,where they learn about the Tunche – a primeval spirit whoseshrill whistle is an omen of impending death. The lush, exoticidyll becomes oppressive after sundown, and the doomeddelinquents begin to wonder whether the Tunche is more thana creepy campfire yarn. Is there something nasty in the jungle– and if so, did sweet-natured Lucero and her rowdy friendsbring it with them? Screenwriter Vanessa Saba cameos asLucero’s tragic mother, whose own story unfolds as the filmdescends further into a Mario Bava style bloodbath. DirectorFrank Pérez-Garland brings something new to the teens-inperilgenre, nodding to the classics while keeping us wonderingwhether the evil has come from within.Director Frank Pérez-GarlandStarring Vania Accinelli, Sergio Gjurinovic, Vanessa SabaPRINT SOURCE Jinga FilmsTHE HALLOW | 15Ireland 2014. 97 mins.Corin Hardy’s eldritch fairytale draws on real-life controversy:the Irish government’s recent proposal to lower nationaldebt by selling harvesting rights of public forests. In TheHallow, logger Adam is sent to work on an ancient piece ofwoodland, where he’ll live in a mill house with his wife Clareand their baby. It’s hard to say who’s more upset to seethem – the locals, whose ancestral territory will be violated, orthe malevolent sprites who live in the trees. Soon Adam andClare are under siege, and Hardy pulls out all the stops witha gamut of ghoulish threats, jump scares and a cameo fromMichael Smiley. The Hallow will have connoisseurs of creatureeffects itching for a sequel.Director Corin HardyStarring Joseph Mawle, Bojana Novakovic, MichaelMcElhattonPRINT SOURCE Entertainment OneHELLIONS | CFF 18Canada 2015. 82 mins.Screwball slasher Hellions is a surreal pro-choice parable,centring on a teen pregnancy with a Polanski-style twist.Director Bruce McDonald, known for his great leftfield zom-comPontypool, side-steps the usual trappings of the popcorncreepshow, paying homage to Trick R Treat while experimentingwith new ways of portraying the supernatural Other Side. Thecharismatic Chloe Rose brings a furious energy and poignantdepth to lead character Dora, the babysitter in the eye of thestorm, and sheís well supported by Robert ‘Terminator’ Patrick,an unhinged cop who tries to take control of the situation. Withrelentless energy and a great soundtrack by Todor Kobakovand St Michael’s choir, Hellions is a fun, inventive throwback toHalloween and the Freddy fanchise.Director Bruce McDonaldStarring Chloe Rose, Rossif Sutherland, Rachel WilsonPRINT SOURCE STUDIOCANAL26 | CambridgeFilmFestival2015 | Lates @ The Light www.cambridgefilmfestival.org.uk