This year the NYCHFF used the Cantor Film Center as its main venue. The theater was already packed demonstrating how much this festival has grown in popularity over the years. Also Cantor has little tables which are amazingly convenient for journalists and obsessive note takers like myself.

After Michael and Anthony did their usual schwag for trivia routine, the lights went low and the real fun began.

Foetdirected by Ian Fischer : How far would you be willing to go for the perfect, the ultimate, bag? This is the premise of this short based on a short story by F. Paul Wilson (The Keep, Repairman Jack). Much like the film Dumplings (Three Extremes) the horror of this piece comes from a perversion of the maternal instinct. While in Dumplings an aging actress eats dumpling filled with fetal flesh, here Denise, a well to do Madison Avenue Lady Who Lunches, discovers the latest must have accessory-a bag from Foet-from a friend. Of course Denise loves the bag until she discovers that it is made from fetal skin. Denise, a pro-lifer, must make the choice between her morals and her desires.

While the concept of the short is interesting, I don't think it is entirely successful. The director was going for an 80's feel for the piece, but didn't quite capture the spirit of time especially when compared to more successful "period" pieces like Far Out and Wish You Were Here. Still when the story is good, and pretty much anything from F. Paul Wilson is, it's hard not produce something unsettling. And certainly the idea of women using the skin of dead babies as an accessory, and being empowered by the accessory, qualifies as creepy and disturbing.

Far Out directed by Phil Mucci-This short was screened twice-once in the party atmosphere of the opening night party, and again on the first "real" night of screenings. See my coverage of the first night for the review.

Criticized directed by Richard Gale-Winner of the Best Short-I'm really glad I loved this movie because I'm scared to think of what might have happened to me if I didn't. This film is going to speak to absolutely everyone who has even secretly attempted to create something artistic only to have it be stomped on like a flamenco dancer wearing doc martens. And while the killer claims you'll never look at a movie the same way again, it's certain that every reviewer who watches the piece will never WRITE a review the same way again.

Meet reviewer Darian Stonehall who panned a movie called the "The Ultimate Terror", writing that it was "exciting as a tax return" and as terrifying as a "paperclip..and a small paperclip at that." This review, the only published review of the film, quashes any hope that filmmaker Arthur Lements might have for the film-a film he has poured his heart, soul, marriage, lifesavings and last vestiges of sanity into. But rather than take Darian's scathing review with a grain of salt, Arthur decides he is going to abduct Darian and open his eyes to the mad genius of the film.

Every aspect of this film is well-done. Brian Rohan is alternatively quietly desperate to terrifyingly psychotic as obsessed filmmaker Arthur Lements.(This is truly a testament to Rohan's acting as in real life he is sweet and charming and not at all psychotic.) The writing is not overladen with winks to the audience, but has some classic lines like my favorite "and we are going to have an office supply party from the ninth circle of Hell." The scenario of a bound reviewer about to be tortured by a filmmaker could easily dissolve into the ridiculous, but the performances of the actors coupled with the writing keep this film toe curlingly creepy. Add to it some devastating special effects which left me wondering "How the HELL did they do that? Wait...better I don't know" and you understand why Criticized has collected so many awards.

Go to the official Criticized website and you'll never look at movies, or paperclips, the same way again.

Half Way directed by Karl Holt- From the Creator of Eddie Loves You comes a completely different types of short. This movie was for an online "scare" competition and was filmed 5 days. While Eddie Loves You was a hysterical send-up of several horror films including Halloween, Poltergeist, and the Fog, this movie was simply a shorty creepy tribute to Asian horror films, most specifically Audition.

The premise of the film is simple-a man in an unknown location, being videotaped by an unknown person or entity, discovers a strange, large bag. What makes this film so effective is its simplicity as well as its editing. Considering his goal was simply to "quickly create some tension", Holt succeeded. Holt was, unfortunately, not able to make it to this year's festival to watch audience goers jump in their seats, but he is working to raise funds for his next short. Considering the range Holt demonstrates, I can't wait to see what he has in store for us next year.

Hostel the Director's Cut (World Premiere) and Q and A with Eli Roth- I haven't seen Hostel since I watched opening night. I often tell movie makers that if you want a good review from me all you have to do is one thing: kill college students. Kill a passel of college students and you get a good review, torture them and kill them in entertaining ways and that's extra points. And yet, if you really think about it, how many murders do you see take place in the subterranean torture chamber? One. One college kid. While there is a body count, most of these deaths are quick (hit by a train, hit by a car, chopped in half by a chainsaw) except for the murders perpetrated by the kid gang, making Hostel a film that was marketed as torture porn when it's not.

If you doubt me, put on your DVD of Cannibal Holocaust again-now that's some torture porn. It's got real animal cruelty, gang rapes, murder, and ritualistic rape/murders. Hostel, by comparison, is actually relatively tame, its horror rests mainly on suspense and quick glimpses of torture.

The original ending was quite controversial, and for the first time audiences were able to see it , on the big screen no less, at the NYCHFF. In the theatrical release, Jay Hernandez follows the Dutch Business Man into the bathroom and murders him, but in this version the Dutch Business Man lives. Before the Dutch Business Man enters the bathroom, he meets his little daughter; they separate at the bathroom. The Dutch Business Man comes out of the bathroom unharmed and waits for his daughter to return from the Ladies room. After a while, he begins to ask women if his daughter is still inside. Finally, nervous, he enters the Ladies room and discovers his daughter missing. He runs about the train station mad with worry and finally returns to the train platform. As he turns searching for his daughter, the audience sees Jay Hernandez on a train holding the girl on his lap keeping her from screaming. The movie ends with a shot of the business man's torment and fear.

During the Q and A Roth thought some of the bad reviews of Hostel had to do with this ending or more accurately as one person told him, "You cockteased the audience for an amazing experience that you don't give them. "Furthermore, the original ending highlights what Roth was trying to point out with this film, that everyone, under the correct provocation, is capable of violence. Of course, it is one thing to be capable of violence against the people who almost killed you (like Svetlana and Alex), it's another to be able to abduct and by implication kill an innocent little girl. But Roth clearly demonstrates in movies like Cabin Fever and Hostel II that he is a fan of the negative character arc. The director's cut is more in keeping with his other films than the theatrical release.

Roth, of course, can talk as anyone who has listened to the multiple commentary tracks on Cabin Fever can tell you. And so he regaled the audience with stories about how the Dutch business man character came to be (from a group of NYU students who thought they could be cured of "homosinuality" by Jesus) to what inspired Thanksgiving (Grindhouse) to the difficulties faced when filming Mayor MacCheese's decapitation at the Ancient Playground. According to Roth, the inspiration for Thanksgiving came from the movie Popcorn; Roth and his friends noticed Thanksgiving was the only holiday that didn't have a slasher film to its name and decided that someday they would fill this gap. When he was pitched the idea for a trailer for Grindhouse he knew Thanksgiving's time had come. He also elaborated on other bad movie ideas that float around in his head like the worst Tim Allen ever movie called Bear Witness (a bear witnesses a mafia hit and has to be protected by the police) and it's sequel Bear Witness: Kangaroo Court. (These are simply ideas for bad films, not actual films.)

Roth, when asked about the types of horror stories he faces as a filmmaker, closed with a tale of mayhem while filming at the Ancient Playground. He was filming Mayor MacCheese's decapitation for a student film, when it began to rain. The crew had to take shelter in a public bathroom where 3 crack addicts were openly getting high. A little girl came in and befriended the crew and went to Gristede's where she bought a feast for them on credit. They all, crack addicts included, enjoyed the food. The addicts then became their security people, protecting the set. This is just one example of the type of insanity that Roth has to cope with on set.

Afterwards we all retired outside, many people to harass Roth for signatures, photos, and the like. I, on the other hand, having another three days of movie madness to look forward to headed home in order to get some much needed rest-both psychologically and physically.