Hole In The Head - 2007: preview, picks and pans

Oh yesssss... It's that time of year again for my second or third favorite film fest! Oh, who am I kidding? I love 'em all! The SFIndieFest Hole In The Head independent horror fest! Though I live in Atlanta now, with the generosity of SFIndieFest and Larsen Associates, I have been able to preview a great many of the offerings. With what I've seen, I thought I'd do a quick preview blurb of 'picks and pans' before starting my routine capsule reviews next week. I plan on posting 2-3 days before each screening, to offer something of a detailed preview. Never fear! I NEVER give away spoilers!

BLOOD CAR and MURDER PARTY played at the Atlanta Film Festival and I HIGHLY recommend BOTH of them! Their 180 degrees apart in style, but I LOVED them!

Of the features that I was able to screen via Larsen Associates (and on my home projector, so I do get as nearly a cinematic experience as being at Landmark's Opera Plaza), I HIGHLY Recommend these:

Aachi & Ssipak (part of the animation sidebar - obscene and beautiful!)
El Muerto (possibly the most complete package of script, direction and performance of the bunch)
Hazard (almost early Fellini-esque in its depth of characterizations)
Unearthed (technically the most stunning of the group!)

Recommended, but don't blame me if you hate it. ;)
ID (totally twisted, gross and hallucinagenic. In other words, I couldn't stop watching!)
Last House In The Woods (Classic Italian horror, i.e. BUCKETS of BLOOD!! Literally turns the house into a bloody slip-n-slide! But the screenplay is a bit complicated...)

NOT recommended, but please go ahead and give it a try yourself:
Driller (compared to other DIY classics like "Bad Taste" it doesn't hold a candle to them)
Race (in the animation sidebar: a Star Wars wannabe)
Stagknight (HATED the collection of goofy/quirky/assholes of characters waiting to be killed off)
The Thirst (I just got bored)

Of the short subjects, I only got to see two:
Grace, which plays like a trailer of the hoped-to-be feature, but still really liked it!
Of Darkness started off a bit weak in the performances, but the direction took me into TOTAL CREEPSVILLE!! LOVED IT!

As I said, I (and Maxxxxx!) will do full capsules (a contradiction in terms?) closer to the opening of the festival and in screening order.