For starters, two little things about myself: a) I've been a massive horror fanatic ever since I was put in front of a TV, and b) I am a proud and patriotic Belgian. A documentary like Steve De Roover's "Forgotten Scares" is the best gift people like me could ever wish for, because words almost fail to describe how frustrating it can be to support the horror industry in this country! I intensively tracked down hundreds of extremely obscure and long-forgotten horror/cult movies from all around the world but, absurd as it may sound, the ones that were produced in my very own country often were the most difficult ones to find! I literally had to move heaven and earth to come across half-decent copies of "The Pencil Murders", "The Antwerp Killer", "The Afterman" or "Lucker" (these last two were before the special 30th Anniversary DVD-edition releases). I was ecstatic when I first heard about "Welp" (or "Cub") but even more furious about how this 2014 film got labelled in the national press as the very first Flemish horror movie ever. This simply isn't true and far too few Belgians know it! Luckily, I wasn't the only one to get upset about this, and Steve De Roover even cleverly used it as a starting point for his respectable, informative and hugely absorbing documentary.
For his "Forgotten Scares", Steve De Roover talked to every significant contributor of Flemish horror, and it's downright praiseworthy to see how he neither discriminates nor hints towards favoritism. Widely acclaimed pioneers like Harry Kümel (director of "Daughters of Darkness") and Pierre Drouot (President of the Flemish Film Association) receive just as much screen time and acknowledgement as underground and notoriously amateurish (but incredibly passionate) directors like Léon-Paul De Bruyn ("Maniac Nurses") or Rob Van Eyck ("De Aardwolf"). Connecting all the dots is Jan Verheyen; inarguably Belgium's most (and only) prominent genre expert with a bit of influence and standing in the business. Say what you want about him, but I will always have tremendous respect and sympathy for Jan Verheyen. After all, he remains the guy who hosted "Film Night Special" on TV (where I watched dozens of obscure horrors for the first time) and organized exuberant events like "Nacht van de Wansmaak" ("Night of Distaste"). Sure, he now exclusively directs commercially polished rubbish, but here in "Forgotten Scares" Verheyen also clarifies how he painfully endured that horror just isn't viable in this country. I, for one, firmly believe that a film like "Alias" lies much closer to his heart than another imbecilic "F.C. De Kampioenen" sequel, but unfortunately only the latter attracts viewers. Another admirable quality of this documentary is how De Roover remains neutral himself, and how he also never gives the opportunity to his interviewees to sneer at their colleagues. Everybody in this ridiculously small country knows that the low-budget directors despise the system of government funding, or that every attempt at making a controversial independent film becomes boycotted, but there isn't any room for insults or blames in "Forgotten Scares". Respect!
I'm so happy that Steve De Roover took on this challenging project! His love and devotion for the genre and its people simply radiates from the screen. Purely talking in terms of craftmanship, there naturally is still some room for improvement. But hey, he's still young and it was his first feature. If I take fantastic documentaries like "Not Quite Hollywood" or "Eurocrime!" as role models, for example, "Forgotten Scares" could have been slightly more vivid and flamboyant, perhaps. The structure mustn't necessarily be chronological, for instance, and why not give the word to some of those crazy special effects guys?
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