WAITING FOR THE FILM4 FRIGHTFEST…
AN INTERVIEW WITH KEVIN “4” GATES
By Vera Brozoni

RR: What do you think of this year's Film4 Frightfest and what would you recommend for a zombie movie aficionado?

After the Labour disaster, England deserved a Red Victory. No matter if it didn’t happen on the shore of Albion – it happened in Russia, no less. Well done Manchester, I’m sure it was a great game. Sorry but I wasn’t there with my nose glued to a TV screen. Instead of rejoicing in red, I was slumped in the deep black of Lou Reed’s Berlin.

Those pair of jeans were still dirty with dust, beer, sweat and everything you can soil your jeans with during the Camden Crawl. They had spent the last few weeks shoved at the bottom of the laundry bag, forsaken and forgotten. So when it came to prepare myself for the Stag and Dagger, that is the newly born Shoreditch answer to the Crawl, I proudly donned them and swaggered out of my den.

MICHAEL NYMAN AT THE BARBICAN THEATRE, 6 DECEMBER 2007

How refreshing it is to dive into a sea of fetish from time to time. Feel the latex hug and warmly smother every inch of your skin; feel the animal touch of soft leather on your own leather, cinching your waist, to remind you that there is not that much difference between you and the beast your corset is made of. And of course taste the whip, in love not given lightly (OK this is Lou Reed not me), eye the plethora of languorous dildos that crave for batteries and for a slippery slit where they can work their miracles.

Venice Film Festival: it’s a dirty job but someone has to do it.

Last year I used to sleep four hours per night. I finished writing my reviews at 3am, slept like a baby until 7am when the sun hit my sofa bed and I had no choice but to wake up and get ready for another day of hard work. This time around I don’t even have a sofa bed. But I don’t care, because going to the Venice Film Festival is always great fun and the average quality of the film is always damn good.