New blood gives film festival cult appeal

Published on Monday 28 April 2008 22:24

A CAR that runs on human blood to solve the energy crisis, and a man who turns invisible after drinking three pints – the weird and wacky of the silver screen get their own place in the Edinburgh International Film Festival this June.

The festival's director, Hannah McGill, unveiled a new strand of the festival yesterday devoted to the true spirit of the cult film: low-budget, independent, offbeat and unpredictable features.

"Putting together previous festivals, we had certain films we loved but that didn't quite fit," she said. "We want to reanimate the spirit of the cult-worthy 'midnight movie', by showing films that take real risks."

Films in the Under the Radar section include Blood Car, a fringe hit in the United States made for just 12,000 that has its UK premiere at Edinburgh. A teacher's invention of an eco-car that uses red rather than green fuel leads to a small-town bloodbath as he struggles to fill the tank.

The Third Pint, from Argentina, tells, in documentary style, of a man who disappears after his third pint.

Crack Willow is the first feature directed by Edinburgh College of Art graduate Martin Radich. Made for 300,000 and shot in Blackpool, it follows a lonely man coming to terms with the death, from old age, of his father.

It was made with a tiny crew and no script, with actors improvising scenes from snatches of dialogue.

"Perhaps its interest will be a niche market," said Radich. "It's a dark film, but it's more psychological. There's no gratuitous sex and violence, though there is a bit of nudity."

The other films are Bigga than Ben; and A Russian's Guide to Ripping Off London, based on diaries of bank robbers and drug dealers; and two more US films, Spike, a horror-romance, and Strange Girls.