Our previous post referred to Corridorstyle beginnings and Oldboy (2004) but technically we lost our cherry to the 2003 festival. Although an amateur assault (only a 7 film program) compared with our recent efforts it was nonetheless an accurate thin-slice of what the festival is all about.
In HAUTE TENSION we had a bloody, brilliant example of Sitges shit-scares, and with SO CLOSE we were treated to sumptuous Asian ass (kicking). After seeing the latter, I remember how The Ocho (Santiago) couldn’t stop singing “Why do birds suddenly appear” causing me to nearly go “haute tension” on his ass (personally, I couldn’t stop thinking about the shower scene).
But it was TWENTYNINEPALMS that had the most lasting effect that year. By most measures of a film it was the biggest, steaming pile of sheeite imaginable and it was testament to our novice status and accompanying enthusiasm that we sat through it to the end. However, it was the ending that chinned us and that’s been a sort of touchstone for us and the festival ever since. Don’t write a film off as pants after reading the synopsis, just go and see it because it’s the one in ten gem that you’ll remember for a long time (memory of the duds tends to fade by the time the first bottle of vino has been drained)
(You’ll have to accept the dubbed version here because it’s the visuals we’re interested in)
corridorstylefilms.com 
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