News This is not intended to be comprehensive. It's just somewhere to plug my mates' projects (and mine!) and to pass on any cult movie-related info that is sent to me by PR people or film-makers. 29th January 2010
Johannes Roberts gets an F
Those of you with enough spare time to waste on Twitter can follow Johannes Roberts as his snappily titled new movie F finishes post-production and he starts the arduous task of selling the bloody thing. His Twitter name is ‘finhell’. In the meantime, check out this YouTube clip of the score being recorded at Abbey Road Studios. You can also visit the new website of Black Robe, the production company that Jo has set up with Paul Blacknell and Ernest Riera. 29th January 2010
No cuts in Cut!
Cut is a new British horror film, the making of which escaped my notice. But then, the entire production schedule seems to have been about 90 minutes! Because Cut is the first feature-length horror film to have been shot in one continuous take (apart from a five-minute prologue apparently). So the same principle as Hitchcock’s Rope, but without having to put a hidden edit in every 20 minutes to cover a reel change. Written and directed by newcomer Alexander Williams, the film stars the legendary Zach Galligan from Gremlins I and II, Waxwork I and II, Warlock 3, Cyborg 3 and a whole bunch of other very cool stuff, including Wes Sullivan’s bigfoot feature Nightbeasts. Also in the cast are Simon Phillips (Jack Says) and model Danielle Lloyd. The film is released on Monday 22nd February following a premiere screening on Friday 12th. You can watch the trailer (which does have lots of cuts in it) on YouTube. 29th January 2010
Dead Cert: only one way to settle this...
A four-minute behind-the-scenes look at the filming of a fight scene in the eagerly awaited Jonathan Sothcott/Steve Lawson vampire film is now available to watch on YouTube. 17th January 2010
Man Who Sold viewable online
Louis Melville tells me that Man Who Sold the World is now available to view on indiemoviesonline and that his next projects, currently under wraps, is lined up to go into production in March. 17th January 2010
Latest update from Emiliano Ranzani
Emiliano says: “After its last screening at the New York City Horror FilmFestival, I was pretty sure Langliena had reached the end of its lifespan, the coffin sealed tight, and so, since my return in Spaghetti-land, I've been working (or trying to work) on new projects. Yet, the damn thing doesn't want to stay dead and I keep getting requests from festivals all around good ol' Europe. The Spaniards in particular seem to have taken a strong liking into it, so the beast is slated for more screening in the land of matadores and paella, starting this January with the Muestra de Cine de Terror Fantastico y Gore in Alcantarilla. “What is both funny and scary about this announcement is that the movie itself found its way into the fest, as I never even contacted the guys behind it or sent them a screener. Either I am suffering from split-personality disorders or there seems to be some strange force at work behind this.” 17th January 2010
‘Women in horror’ event in Brum
Ghouls on Film (‘a women in horror recognition month event’) is a screening of features and shorts at the Mixing Bowl Theatre, Birmingham on 20th February. Kicking off at 3.00pm, the shorts will include Melanie Light’s Stitch plus films by Amanda Boyle, Paula Haifley, Faye Jackson and Maude Michaud. These will be followed by a brace of features: Kate Glover’s Slaughtered and the UK premiere of the Soska Sisters’ Dead Hooker in a Trunk. And Emily Booth will be there too! Tickets cost six quid. More info here. 17th January 2010
Room 36 at last!
Just four years after I reviewed it (around the time of its blink-and-you’ll-miss-it theatrical release) ultra-stylish Brit-noir flick Room 36 is finally coming to DVD. Out on 25th January, the R2 disc includes: - 11 Years in the Making! - a feature length documentary about the troubled making of the film
- Revenge of Billy The Kid - a short featurette on the producers' earlier film
- Deleted scenes - 10 scenes that never made the final cut
- Trailers - 90 sec and 45 sec versions produced specifically for this DVD release
- four-page booklet
This is one of my favourites out of all the films I have reviewed here over the years. I urge you to pick up a copy. 12th January 2010
Bouff goes Behind the Screams
Fans of Emily Booth (that’s pretty much everyone reading this, I should imagine) will want to watch her new online series, Behind the Screams. Fed up with the lack of decent horror coverage on TV, Emily has created her own online series. The first episode, available in three parts on YouTube or EmilyBooth.net, is a visit to the Abertoir Horror Festival in South Wales including interviews with Herschell Gordon Lewis and Doug Bradley. Next up will be a behind-the-scenes report on Doghouse. 12th January 2010
Stuck! US premiere
News from Steve Balderson: “The American Cinematheque is hosting the LA premiere of my new film Stuck! at The Egyptian Theatre on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 7:30 PM. Tickets can be pre-purchased in person at The Egyptian Theater box office (6712 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, CA, 90028) or by calling 323-466-3456 x6. All ticket revenue is going to support The American Cinematheque. The Cinematheque is a non-profit, viewer-supported cultural organization dedicated exclusively to the public presentation of the Moving Picture in all its forms. The Cinematheque presents the best of film and video - ranging form the classics to the outer frontiers of the art form. I really appreciate what they do to support the art form and have decided to waive a guest list for this event. The screening is open to the public.” 12th January 2010
Vampires of Bloody island DVD
The DVD of UK horror-comedy The Vampires of Bloody Island will be available from 25th January (PAL) or 1st February (NTSC) although some folks on the mailing list have got their hands on a copy already, apparently. Details at wibbell.co.uk 12th January 2010
Melanie Light pulls a Switch
Top production designer Melanie Light (who recently did some post-production work on Richard Driscoll’s Eldorado!) has directed her first short film, Switch, and sent me through these pictures. Mel says: “It’s very short and sweet and is about a man on a drive through the snowy country roads. He comes across a female jogger, he pulls aside and decides he needs to pursue her, resulting in a rather nasty conclusion. “My man actor was called Robin King and my female Kitty Broadhurst, both of whom were fantastic as were my whole crew, braving the weather and cold that turned from bad to worse in two days and meant having to pretty much shoot the whole film in one day instead of two! We are just putting together a second edit and I was out today in the snow with my brilliant DOP and editor Nicholas Britt getting some pick-ups. That was my karma for seeing how my actress felt!”  
 
 
12th January 2010
YouTube gets Broken
Alex Ferrari’s short film Broken is now available for everyone to watch on YouTube. 12th January 2010
Ashley Thorpe’s Hairy Hands
Ashley Thorpe’s fourth entry in his quasi-animated Penny Dreadfuls series of shorts, The Hairy Hands (featuring genre stalwart Doug Bradley), is complete and received its premiere last November. Ashley is currently working on The Lambton Worm, Night of the Kraken and Spring-heel Jack, a legendary character who, with his appearance in the new Asylum Sherlock Holmes film and (if we ever see it) Zeb Lamb’s Tanner’s Walk, is enjoying quite the resurgence of interest. You can find out all about Ashley’s work at carrionfilms.co.uk. 
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