As Estonia’s Haapsalu Horror and Fantasy Film Festival (HÕFF) is ready to kick off its brand-new edition (before wrapping on 28 April), festival and programme director Helmut Jänes hopes his devoted audience will get to dress up and discover some good genre films. Or at least some movies that are so bad they’re good.

Cineuropa: You teased this year’s opener, Chainsaws Were Singing, as “the most outrageous film in the history of Estonian cinema”. Why did you decide to start a festival with it?
Helmut Jänes: There is something very HÕFF-like about this horror-comedy, directed by Sander Maran. It’s a great example of our exuberance. Also, to patiently keep on making a feature-length film for ten years on a practically non-existent budget, and to boldly mix genres like that – it’s a musical as well – is something that, so far, no one in Estonia has dared to do. Once it became clear it would finally be completed, there was no question in our mind. I have no doubt that this film has a future. It will probably soon be seen at notable genre film festivals.

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What is happening with Estonian genre film today? Are filmmakers allowed to be playful, or are there still problems with funding such movies?
I have to admit I have seen worse times. We have an emerging group of filmmakers who know how to make genre movies and how to distribute them. A lot of work in this area has been done by production company Tallifornia, which has just released Alien 2 – it has been incredibly popular in Estonian cinemas. They have two or three projects cooking at the same time, and I’m always looking forward to them.

Moonika Siimets, who made The Little Comrade [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], has a psychological sci-fi film, Black Hole, coming out in the autumn, which is also going to be very exciting. Then there’s Oskar Lehemaa’s upcoming feature debut – thanks to his short Bad Hair [awarded at HÕFF], he has got the wind in his sails at our festival. None of these filmmakers has an excessive amount of money at their disposal, but they have the courage to make films that excite them and their fans.

Last year, during the opening, you went all in, celebrating the 1950s film Sampo. What kind of dressing-up shenanigans can people expect from you this time?
Our guests will be greeted by Frankenstein’s monster, dressed in a classy suit. On the red carpet, everyone will have a chance to take a photo with him. We never restrict our audience’s choices when it comes to their costumes – the more colourful and imaginative the better. Me? I will be appearing as Doctor Frankenstein himself [laughs]!

During this edition, you are focusing on censored Nordic films. What’s interesting about them? Did you discover any obscure titles?
Finland’s Renny Harlin has always been an important director for Estonians. He’s our northern neighbour, who did great things in Hollywood and then started to make a lot of B movies – many of them are still making their way to Estonian screens. The story of his debut, Born American, is like a fairy tale – or a rollercoaster ride – in its own right. In Finland, the film was mocked; in America, it was praised. The rest, as they say, is history. Even though its content, as seen from a modern perspective, may seem too black and white, it’s important to understand when and why it was made. Strangely, it’s probably even more interesting to watch it now than it was 20 years ago, when the world was a more peaceful place.

Then, of course, we have Sweden’s Thriller – A Cruel Picture, and that’s what makes these old films so interesting: seeing what it was about them that got caught in the web of censorship. Thriller has just turned 50, which means it may be a bit of a rarity for the younger generation. In a short introduction, [journalist] Charlotte Wiberg will try to explain why the film caused such a stir upon its release and why it should be revisited. The audience doesn’t need to be educated, as they’re smart, but a little introduction by a specialist will certainly go a long way towards understanding the film’s backstory.

Are there any new films you are especially proud of? Why do you think your viewers will love them?
All 30 films in our programme show the colourful world of genre. We ask: “Does horror still leave a bad aftertaste, one that makes some viewers avoid it by a wide margin, or are new winds finally blowing our way?” At the very least, I would like to hope that our line-up doesn’t include any films that are so bad there is nothing but negative things to say about them. And if that’s the case, I hope it’s more that they’re “so bad they’re good”.

However, if I had to highlight one film, I would recommend Robert Morgan’s Stopmotion, which combines animation techniques with fiction and really manages to get under your skin. To create that inexplicable feeling… That’s what we expect from good horror films. That’s what we look for.