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The dust settles on FFW09

As the dust settles on the 8th Fantastic Films Weekend, artistic director Tony Earnshaw offers his thoughts on the 2009 event.

Lots of old fiends (yes, I mean that), familiar faces, great films and star guests. Bradford was THE place to be last weekend if you were an aficionado of Grand Guignol cinema and films fantastique.

And, believe me, while these things are never an easy ride it was an absolute pleasure to see so many people enjoying themselves and soaking up the diverse programme.

The consensus seems to be that Vampyr, Aliens (in wiiiidescreeeen 70mm), Embodiment Of Evil (starring Coffin Joe on top macabre form), The Disappeared and The Satanic Rites Of Dracula were the hits of the weekend with an honourable mention to the low-budget delights of The Scar Crow.

Special guest Mike (Flash Gordon) Hodges charmed everyone and gave a scintillating insight into the vagaries of the film biz in an in-depth on-stage interview.

For those of you who bought full Weekend Passes – thank you. We are steering all our delegates toward supporting the FFW in this way. For you it means pretty much a guaranteed ticket for any and every event you wish to attend.

If you liked what you saw, then tell us. And tell us if you didn’t. We want the Fantastic Films Weekend to be the premier event of its type in the UK. If there’s something (or someone) you’re aching to see, email tony.earnshaw@nationalmediamuseum.org.uk and tell us. We’ll do our best to deliver.