So as you may be away, HCF attended Grimm Up North 3, the North West’s only horror, sci-fi and fantasy film festival, last weekend (6th-9th October 2011). The film festival this year was held at the AMC Cinema, that is situated within the Great Northern Warehouse on the corner of Peter Street and Deansgate in Manchester. The cinema itself is average size and not overly busy, which suits the festival just fine. The prices for the films were very reasonable and are the cheapest consistent prices for film screenings that I have seen. The facilities were excellent and although the cinema’s food and drink were a bit pricey, the portions were quite generous. AMC kindly gave Grimm festival goers some buy one get one free vouchers for tickets and food combos which came to some good use.
Members of the Grimm Up North team were never far away, with Steve, Rachel and Simeon introducing each film and handing out raffle tickets to the audience as we entered the auditorium. The films on show catered for all tastes in the horror genre and each finished with a raffle draw from the organisers to win some fantastic prizes. Each festival pass holder also received a goody bag which contained posters, a DVD and a trendy Resident Evil t-shirt.
Throughout the festival, a few film and comic book merchants operated out of the Grimm booth, where Simeon, Laura and the rest of the Grimm Team were on hand to help anyone with any queries. The booth also hosted the Dark Souls gaming pods where I tried my hand at the game. I enjoyed hacking and slashing my way through the skeletons in my break between the film screenings.
I was also fortunate to meet a scarecrow and not too far away a Jedi and Stormtrooper entertained the guests and posed for photographs. The scarecrow stalked around the amusements scaring anyone who walked by when I managed to snap him.
The special guests at Grimm Up North 3, including Martin Kemp, Billy Murray and Robin Hardy, were more than happy to speak to the press and to fans before and after their Q+A sessions, signing autographs and posing for photos. Each of the special guests gave an interesting insight into their work showcased at the festival and the audience enjoyed quizzing them during the Q+A.
The Grimm team partnered up with the Manchester 235 casino next door where festival goers received a wristband which gave them 20% off food and drink purchased from the casino. This was an added bonus to an already resounding success of a festival.
My impression of Grimm Up North from this experience is that of professionalism and passion. The organisers and team are film fans themselves and it shows in the films selected for the festival. They were kind, courteous and well organised and I truly hope they continue with their amazing festival next year. Manchester needs Grimm Up North… the whole North West needs it. It’s a place where film fans can share their passion, enjoy new flicks and film premieres, chat to the stars and make friends with fellow enthusiasts. I for one cannot wait until next October and if you’ve been unfortunate to miss this year’s festival, I suggest you bookmark this page for future reference. https://www.grimmfest.com
Until next time….
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