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 certai
n 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.
The full article contains 313 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
