The long awaited gore-fest 'Cradle of Fear' from Alex "Pervirella" Chandon was given a special one-off cinema screening as part of the 'FrightFest 2001' event. The full uncut and unrated version of the film was shown and was actually the only film at FrightFest that they had to get special permission to show in it's full juicy uncut form (definitely a good sign!) I went along to the screening to fly the flag for Bouff.tv. Okay, and I wanted to see some major on-screen splattage - and Cradle of Fear certainly delivers that! Please note that my report on the film is more of an overview with my thoughts and musings about the film. It is NOT designed to be a spoiler of the film so I won't be giving too much away (hopefully!) But if you want to know what I thought about the movie then read on! I arrived (along with my mate Boz) at the Prince Charles cinema just before the film showing at 1pm and was immediately impressed with the venue. Not only was it a great old fashioned cinema - complete with lots of red velvet drapes and all that but there was also a little bar just outside the screen! A few Smirnoff Ices were promptly quaffed which put me in a nice frame of mind for the spectacle that awaited me. There was a good turnout for the film - including most of the Cradle of Fear cast and crew (and members of Cradle of Filth too). One of the regulars from my 'Bits' forum (Martin) was sat in front of me so we exchanged a few cheery words before the film began. There was a great atmosphere in the cinema as the film started. There were even some cheers as the names of various cast and crew members appeared up on the big screen. A nice title sequence (featuring a rather dead Emily Bouffante) sets the scene for the start of the film. It then crossfades from 'dead Bouff' to 'alive Bouff' in a club for the first part of the film. A very gothy looking Emily Bouffante plays Mel who, along with her friend Nikki (Melissa Forti) are out looking for a good time (i.e. a shag probably!) while clubbing. Also at the club is 'The Man' (Dani Filth) who appears to be the 'Dark Prince' that Mel is looking for. One thing leads to another (the bedroom) and Mel makes love (in a bizarre sex scene) to 'The Man'. Mel soon realises something is badly wrong as she starts hallucinating while wandering the streets. After a very revealing shower scene (which I bet had Emily blushing in the cinema!) she seeks help from Nikki. And that's when the gore really starts. 'The Man' had obviously given her much more than she bargained for which she then tries to, erm, 'abort' with a pair of scissors. OUCH!!! This quite literally stomach churning scene will go down well with horror fiends - especially when you see what comes out!! Classic! After this we are introduced to Detective Neilson, a sweary cop with a penchant for 'feeling' dead bodies. This where we lean about Kemper, the incarcerated serial killer, who is using 'The Man' in the outside world to wreak his revenge on those who imprisoned him. It's the ongoing investigation into the killings which is how all the different sections of Cradle of Fear are all cleverly tied together. The second part of the film tells the story of Sophie (Rebecca Eden) and Emma (Emma Rice) who plan to steal money from an old mans house. After breaking into his house they find his money (in a tin) along with another surprise - the old man himself!! The robbery all goes a bit 'Pete Tong' and they end up killing the man. Or so they thought!!! There then follows a series of classic scenes of the smelly old bloke (who refuses to die despite having his head stoved in) demanding they give him his tin back. The robbery continues to go horribly wrong and, thanks to the influence of 'The Man', Sophie gets a nasty surprise when she returns home with her ill gotten gains. There's some nice humorous moments in this bungled robbery scene along with some great gore (naturally!) The broken bottle scene might induce a cringe or two! *Wince!* The third part of Cradle of Fear is about Nick (Louie Brownsell) who, despite being well off and having a gorgeous lover (Natalie, played by Eileen Daly) has one problem in life ... Getting his leg over! But there is a reason for this - he's actually missing a leg. Nick finds out about a treatment which would make him whole again - providing he can find a replacement leg ... And so he calls on an old 'friend' who has what he needs. Things then get a bit messy in a splendid amputation scene (kudos to the effects team here!) Not everything goes to plan and an unfortunate side effect of the operation is that his new leg seems to have a mind of it's own! This culminates in a great driving scene (complete with some cunning CGI moments) where Nick is in his Porsche with Natalie and his leg is determined to make them crash. The end scene is highly memorable with an unfortunate Natalie wrapped around a barrier whilst Nick tries to 'kill' his leg in the remains of his car. This scene actually conjured up fond memories of 'Bad Taste' at times (one of my all-time fave gore flicks) probably due to the squelchy effects. Great stuff! The penultimate part of the film tells the story of Richard Neilson (son of our sweary cop friend). Richard works for an Internet company called 'FreeSurf' (hehe!) and it's his job to unearth any foul and depraved websites. He stumbles across 'The Sick Room' and witnesses a murder online before the site vanishes. He becomes obsessed with finding the site again which gradually leads up to a brilliant twist at the end of this part of the film. This seemed to be one of the longest parts of 'Cradle of Fear' but it's worth enduring the slightly overlong story to get to the twist at the end. Credit must be given to the way the Internet has been incorporated into the film, and the way it's done in the style of the Cradle of Fear site (or should that be vice versa?) Neat! This brings us to the films climax - with Detective Neilson confronting Kemper and 'The Man'. I won't give away what happens at the end but there's buckets of gore (and some nice CGI). To sum up, I did enjoy 'Cradle of Fear'. It has a real 'labour of love' feel to it and quite a unique look ... It looks more like it was filmed on video rather than traditional film - but you soon get used to this. The film is an excellent achievement especially considering the low budget it was made on. There's some excellently messy gory moments (the controversial CAT scene for example), some nice humorous touches which lighten the mood, and of course, BREASTS!! (Emily Booth fans will NOT be disappointed!) I also liked the music in the film, a nice industrial soundbed plays throughout the movie. Was Cradle of Fear worth the wait? YES!! Will it be what you are expecting? Not sure. But you'll love it anyway. :)