Acolytes first came on to my radar when I got an email in April from someone who I had known back in the day when I was heavily involved in film zines, including publishing one of my own, Asian Eye, dedicated to, surprise surprise, Asian cinema. One of my favourites to get was Fatal Visions, from Australia which covered a wide array of offbeat and cult films, including a great column on Hong Kong cinema. It had been ages since I had thought about it and took a double take when I got an email from the FV editor and Fangoria contributor, Michael Helms:

"Hey Colin,
I just want to recommend a twisted Australian serial killer thriller Acolytes to you. Could be worth your while to check it out.
Cheers,
Michael Helms"

And that's how it all started. Michael and I caught up breifly, but cut straight to the topic at hand:

"Acolytes was directed and co-written by my good friend Jon Hewitt but it's not an act of nepotism to contact you because it's surprisingly good. Jon actually rang me as I was reading the All The Boys Love Mandy Lane Fango piece so I was a bit freaked when he said, "Do you know a guy called Colin Geddes'! Maybe it's meant to be..."

Intriguing! I quickly tracked a screener of the film down and it quickly made my list, but it was still early and I had lots more to see. Over a month later when in Cannes, I got a call while from director Jon Hewitt and we got to meet on the sunny Riveira. It was great to put a face to the few emails that we had traded and we shared stories from the days of the zine age.

"Just regained consciousness..."

While last year in Midnight Madness, we had some works from vets in the genre, the real treat is introducing new voices to our audiences. This is Jon's 4th feature and I am sure is it is going to impress, plus it makes a great compliment to the doc on Aussie genre cinema, Not Quite Hollywood that we are screening the night before. 

The film just got screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival and buzz is good. Check out this interview with Hewitt and an engaging discussion in the comments where Hewitt chimes in.

Here are some sources to learn more about Acolytes including the MySpace page, the full theatrical trailer courtesy of Twitchfilm.net, and  over at Bloody-Disgusting.com, plenty of pics from the film.