Interview: Adele Hartley of the Dead By Dawn Horror Film Festival, Edinburgh

By Keri O’Shea

You’re never going to be short of horror festivals to attend in the UK these days, but when it comes to longevity then Edinburgh’s Dead By Dawn Festival is in a league of its own. As the festival prepares to celebrate its twentieth year of operation – with none other than special guest Frank Henenlotter in attendance! – I was fortunate enough to nab the festival’s organiser, Adele Hartley, to pick her brains about her fest’s past, present and future…

BAH: Thankyou for taking the time to talk to us! First things first then, how did you get started with running your own horror movie festival?

Adele: It’s not really an obvious career choice, is it? I used to go to another fest but when it finished I spent way too much time moaning about not being able to spend whole weekends watching horror films any more. Someone I knew in Edinburgh at the time dared me to do something about it (more in a futile attempt to shut me up than to kick-start a career, I guess) and that was that. I figured it was a fun thing to do once, but someone (as they were leaving) asked me what I’d be showing the next time and I distinctly remember thinking ‘you mean I can get away with this more than once?’ That was that, really.

BAH: Since your first Dead By Dawn back in 1993, lots has changed within the horror scene, both in the UK and elsewhere. What of significance have you noticed, and what’s your take on the current state of play of horror?

Adele: Since we’re talking about a period of 20 years, that’s kind of hard to answer! Also, as I’m now 20 years older and gone a bit Victor Meldrew in my world view, it’s even harder. I find the assumption that any movie which makes any money deserves to have endless sequels and a prequel to be utterly depressing, but I’m not sure it used to be any different. Also, that’s not something that’s restricted to horror. I find it near-impossible to be excited about most mainstream horror, but maybe that’s because I’ve seen so much that it’s hard to be surprised or energised by anything so formulaic. Even the directors claiming to be redefining the genre are delusional. It’s all so much hype for so little reward.

I think it’s a shame that there’s so much money available to make third-rate remakes of films when surely there’s not that much resistance to subtitles? Pretty sure that money could be better spent. But independent film is healthier than ever and producing some absolutely gorgeous movies. Now, if only we can convince people that Part IV of anything isn’t the best place for their hard-earned pennies…

BAH: What have been some of your favourite moments from past Dead By Dawn fests?

Adele: Every fest is different. My favourite moment is always when the lights go down at the start of a movie, cos I know how much of a treat the audience is in for! I’ve loved getting to hang out with amazing, dedicated film-makers and of course some of my idols. Robert Englund made me squeal like a girl (from 10 feet away), that was kinda fun. Herschell Gordon Lewis reciting me poetry in the back of a cab on a gorgeous Spring day, that was surprisingly romantic and lovely. The roast chicken incident was bizarre. (Ed: you’ll have to attend the festival if you want to hear more about that one!) The hard work is always, always worth it when you hear the first laugh or gasp of a movie…it’s a total joy!

BAH: These days there are a hell of a lot of horror festivals out there – many of which have emerged in the last five years or so. For those who haven’t yet paid a visit to DbD, what is it that makes Dead By Dawn stand out from the others out there?

Adele: Obviously I can’t speak for what drives other events but like all the best festivals, we take our programming very seriously and we spend around 15 months watching hundreds and hundreds of submissions to find the very best that’s out there. It might look odd to fans but just because a film plays elsewhere on the circuit doesn’t automatically mean it’s right for us. Also, I think our approach to the genre is broad – we understand that horror is an umbrella term, just a reference point, and that the genre is incredibly subjective. What scares one person will leave another unscathed. What we’re always interested in is material which will unsettle or disturb the audience, or sometimes just make them all laugh!

Also around 20% of our audience every year are there for the first time, and one of the great joys of my job is when people come up to me each year and admit they didn’t used to think of themselves as horror fans, but now, because they love the films we’ve shown them, they have no choice but to redefine themselves! We’re all scared of something, I just try really hard to present a wide variety of what that might be. Our audience is friendly and lovely, happy to chat away to the person next to them, thrilled to talk about movies, delighted to find people who care about cinema, about the experience of it, about sharing it. The bar at Filmhouse is mobbed between screenings, and our guests are in there too. It really is all about the fantastic pleasure of discovering the film-makers who are breathing new life into the genre.

BAH: What are you most looking forward to showing this year?

Adele: Super-excited about showing MODUS ANOMALI which is one of those gorgeous, mind-melt movies that demands an extra pint in the bar afterwards, just to figure out what the hell went on! Nail-biting, breath-taking, clever film-making. Also, we have a clutch of amazing feature debuts this year – JUG FACE, DEAD SHADOWS, THE BATTERY, THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF ROSALIND LEIGH – which shows the genre to be in fine hands and it feels like a proper privilege to be part of those film-makers’ careers. Each of those films attempts to do something new in its sub-genre and it’s a joy to celebrate that. We live in an age of prequel, sequel, franchise and remake so it has become incredibly important to me to revel in the excitement of film-makers who try to tell original stories, or at least seemingly familiar stories from an original perspective.

BAH: Finally, for those not yet in the know, tell us about the now-legendary Dead By Dawn Shit Films Amnesty…

Adele: It is an unrivalled opportunity to (try to) offload the very worst dreck from your DVD shelves. All you have to do is pop a wee note in the box telling us either how you came to own this terrible film or why it’s just the worst film ever made. Or both. We’ll throw it open to audience vote and the “lucky” winner gets to take all the entries away with them. We recommend walking home past a skip. The only catch is that none of the entries can ever be re-submitted in a subsequent year…

If you have some films you long to part with at the Shit Film Amnesty, or indeed if you want to concentrate on the good stuff, Dead By Dawn takes place between Thursday 25th April and Sunday 28th April. At the time of writing, weekend passes are still available and individual tickets are also available. Check out the festival’s website for more information.

Many thanks to Adele Hartley.