Old news (2005) 17th December 2005
Lee lost TV series is lost no more
Extraordinary news: the Horror Channel UK (no relation to the US Horror Channel) have scheduled Christopher Lee Presents Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of Mystery and Imagination to run from 2nd January 2006. This will be the first time that this series has been broadcast anywhere in the world since it was made more than ten years ago! A short while back I interviewed the series' script editor, Rod McGregor Mann, and this will appear either on this site or in print very soon. 1st December 2005
MJS in SFX
The new issue of SFX (with King Kong on the cover) includes a half-page feature by me on Queen Kong and also my run-down of Kong's ten greatest fights throughout his cinematic career. The SFX Monster Special is due in shops next week, including two big features by me: a history of Godzilla films and a look at the three British giant monster movies: Gorgo, Konga and Queenie. An upcoming issue of the mag has my reviews of the new Son of Kong and Konga DVDs. 1st December 2005
Evil Aliens wins at BIFAs
The British Independent Film Awards were presented last night - and Jake West took home the Raindance Award for Evil Aliens. Congratulations, mate! The other genre success was the excellent The Descent (the scariest film that I have seen all year, in fact for several years) which won Best Technical Achievement (for the editing) and Best Director. 22nd November 2005
BritishHorrorFilms.co.uk forum closes
The excellent discussion forum at www.britishhorrorfilms.co.uk has closed down as it was proving too expensive to run. The site is currently off-line and may return but without the forum. This is a real shame. 22nd November 2005
Horror movie box sets at The Works
Bargain book chain The Works currently has two, very similar-looking '20 Film Horror Packs' for a very reasonable £14.99 each. Each box set has a few classics, a few public domain staples, a few pieces of crap and some unusual and interesting stuff. Packaged on ten double-sided discs are: Exorcism, 976-EVIL II, Phantoms, Piedes, Nursie, James Eaves' Sanitarium, The Dummy, Granny, Killjoy I and II, Paranoid, Jigsaw, Halloween IV, A Bay of Blood, Horror Vision, In the Woods, Camp Blood I and II, Witchouse 3 and Dead Above Ground. The other pack contains: The Dead One, Silent Night Bloody Night, Flesh Eater, Night of the Living Dead, Flesh for the Beast, Home Sweet Home, The Giant Spider Invasion, Demon Under Glass, Don't Ring the Doorbell, Eat and Run, Creature from Black Lake, Queen of Blood, House on Haunted Hill, Ghoulies IV, Carnival of Souls, Don't Look in the Basement, Hellraiser III, Hell Penitentiary, A Bucket of Blood and Scream Bloody Murder. There are similar boxes of sci-fi, action and comedy movies. 11th November 2005
The first Swedish vampire film
Frostbiten aka Frostbite is a new Swedish film which is that country's first foray into vampire cinema. An excellent website, including a trailer and with text in both Swedish and English, is now on-line at www.frostbiten.se. 11th November 2005
Kingdom of Shadows website
James Watt, who was director of photography on the award-winning short The Kingdom of Shadows, now has a website at www.jamesrobertwatt.com with details of his work on this and other productions. 4th November 2005
Evil Aliens and London Voodoo for Melies d'Argent
Three British films have been selected for the Melies d'Argent award at next month's Cinenygma festival in Luxembourg: London Voodoo, Evil Aliens and Scottish werewolf movie Wild Country (which I haven't yet seen). The winner of each of the Melies d'Argent awards from the various European fantasy film festivals goes forward to compete for the Melies d'Or, the highest award for European fantasy film. 4th November 2005
Ghost Train DVD lined up for February
Network DVD will release the 1941 The Ghost Train on R2 on 13th February. Network have a reputation for high quality releases so this should be good. No word on extras but I would be very surprised if there isn't an interview with screenwriter Val Guest. 10th October 2005
Witch's Sabbath, Uncle Lloydy and others at Phoenix Festival
The Witch's Sabbath, the latest movie from Brain Damage Films, will receive its world premiere at the International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival which takes place in Phoenix, Arizona over 21st-23rd October. Lloyd Kaufman will also be in attendance and the selection of films on show includes Frazer Lee's On Edge. The Witch's Sabbath is directed by Jeff Leroy and stars Randal Malone (Dead Season) and porn legend Ron Jeremy. 10th October 2005
New Steve Lawson trailer on-line
A new trailer for The Silencer, the next film from Insiders director Steve Lawson, is now on the film's website. Steve says: "We have aimed to give this one a dark and violent feel, so be warned - there is some strong language and violence in the trailer (though this won't come as a surprise to anyone who is familiar with the script!)." 2nd October 2005
Charles Band reveals advance schedule of movies
The next movie from Full Moon maven Charles Band, after the brand new Doll Graveyard, will be The Gingerdead Man, released in November and featuring no less than Gary Busey as the voice of a killer cookie. On the Doll Graveyard DVD, Band reveal that the next three titles after that will be Petrified (the mummified remains of an ancient alien come back to life), Cutter's Club and Dead Man's Hand (set in a haunted casino). There are no details yet about Cutter's Club although a little research reveals that a short actor who can do costume work is currently being sought for the film (Phil Fondacaro presumably being unavailable). 24th September 2005
Silent Cry and TLHM at Notting Hill Filmfest
Two of Julian Richards' movies are playing at the Notting Hill Film Festival in October. Silent Cry receives a rare big screen outing on Friday 14th at 8.30pm and The Last Horror Movie will be shown on Saturday 15th. at 10.30pm. Both screenings are at the Coronet Cinema, Notting Hill Gate. 18th September 2005
Makdee on UK TV this week
The charming Indian children's horror movie Makdee: The Web of the Witch will be broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK this week. It's on at 1.30am on Thursday 22nd (ie. actually the morning of Friday 23rd) which is an odd time to show a kids' movie but there you go. Set the timer. 18th September 2005
Blood Cove DVD sleeve
Here's a first look at the DVD sleeve for Frankenstein vs the Creature from Blood Cove. The back of the sleeve promises: 'two Making of documentaries, bloopers, audio commentaries, deleted scenes, audition footage, bloopers (sic), trailer and more.' There's even a quote from my review. The DVD is set for release on 4th October. 
1st September 2005
My new, other website is now on-line
Because maintaining MJSimpson.co.uk isn't enough, today I am launching my new second website, QueenKongLives.com - the first ever fansite for that unforgettable movie. 31st August 2005
Evil Aliens invade Toronto
Jake West's hilarious and gory Evil Aliens has been selected for the 'Midnight Madness' strand of the very prestigious Toronto International Film Festival. There will be a press/industry screening on 9th September and public screenings on 10th and 12th. I have just been asked to write a big feature on the movie for Fangoria. 24th August 2005
MJS in Manchester - details
If you're planning on attending next month's Festival of Fantastic Films in Manchester, you can see me interviewing Tony Earnshaw at 11am on Saturday and actress Susan Gordon at 7pm on Sunday. 24th August 2005
Frankenstein/Blood Cove release date announced
William Winckler's Frankenstein vs the Creature from Blood Cove goes on sale in the USA on 4th October, the same day that the film's website, www.williamwincklerproductions.com, goees live (don't look yet - there's nowt there). The DVD will include a director's commentary, a Making Of, a trailer and a quote from me on the sleeve (probably). 19th August 2005
Emily in Edinburgh next week
Clive Tonge's animated short film Emily and the Baba Yaga will be screened at the Filmhouse in Edinburgh next Wednesday (24th August) at 3pm. The film is also scheduled for the Los Angeles Short Film Festival in early September. I haven't had a chance to see Emily yet, but when I do, expect a review shortly afterwards. You can find out more at the film's website. 17th August 2005
Nucleus Films lines up Spanish movies for launch
 The terrific Fausto 5.0 is among the titles scheduled for release from Nucleus Films, a new British DVD label established by director Jake West (Razor Blade Smile, Evil Aliens) and horror expert Marc Morris. Jake and Marc’s company has up to now been producing some of the very best DVD supplements to be seen, most recently a bunch of stuff for the Phantasm boxed set, but they are now making their long-awaited move into distribution. The label launches on 19th September with Manuel Gomez Pereira’s Hitchcockian thriller Between Your Legs and Miguel Bardem's The Ugliest Woman in the World. I haven’t yet seen the former but the latter is a fun sci-fi twist on Miss Congeniality, with a detective investigating shady goings on at a beauty contest in the near future. Fausto 5.0 and bonkers mid-1980s fantasy adventure Gwendoline (originally released as The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik Yak!) are lined up to follow. 17th August 2005
Insiders released in USA
Steve Lawson’s Insiders - featuring my motion picture acting debut - is now available on R1 DVD. You can pick up a copy from Amazon. 3rd August 2005
Nigel Kneale interview in SFX Special
The latest SFX Special - SFX 'Best of British' Collection - includes an (uncredited) reprint of a lengthy interview with Quatermass creator Nigel Kneale which I wrote when I was a staffer on the mag. 3rd August 2005
Death of Poe in post-production
I spoke with Mark Redfield yesterday who reported that his new film The Death of Poe has wrapped and is currently in post-production. If all goes well, Mark hopes to have it finished by 7th October, which is the anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe's death. 3rd August 2005
Charles Band rolls out roadshow dates
Charles Band's blog has a list of 12 US cities where he will be touring his 'Full Moon Roadshow' in October, promoting Decadent Evil and his other new movies. Apparently no less than William Shatner, who hosted a series of Band's movies on US TV, may be appearing at some of the events. 25th July 2005
Ultraman feature in Neo
The new issue of Neo magazine includes an article by me about Ultraman, including a look at Ultraman: The Next. 18th July 2005
8th Tulsa Overground Festival
The 8th Annual Tulsa Overground Film Festival has extended its deadline and has a new website with information about the event which runs over 19th-21st August: ‘All Genres. All Styles. All Formats. All Ages. No Fi. Lo Fi. Hi Fi. Anything Goes.’ 30th June 2005
Robin Askwith added to Manchester guest line-up
The Festival of Fantastic Films, always the friendliest and most enjoyable genre movie event on the UK calendar and now in its 16th year, has added 1970s cinema icon Robin Askwith to its guest list. Although best known as the star of the Confessions comedies, Askwith has several genre credits including The Flesh and Blood Show, Horror Hospital and Queen Kong. A terrific line-up this year includes producers Tony Tenser, Peter Graham-Scott, Richard Gordon and Christopher Neame (NB. not the actor of the same name), actors Warwick Davis and John Forbes-Robertson and effects man Brian Johnson. The FFF is in Manchester, as always, on the first weekend of September. See you there. 22nd June 2005
Turkish double bill lined up at Mondo Macabro
Frm the latest Mondo Macabro e-mail: Coming soon - Dick Randall's necrophilia love story Living Doll - and at last.... Girl Slaves of Morgana Le Fay: Special Edition - an amazing new transfer and extras loaded disc of THE classic movie or erotic horror .... And if that wasn't enough..... Keep your eyes peeled for: Vikings vs Robots! Turkish Pop Cinema double bill.... You wont believe the facial hair! 17th June 2005
Artsmagic release schedule
Artsmagic has announced its schedule for the next few months, as follows: - 27th June - The Films of Takashi Miike (R2 repackaging of Full Metal Yakuza and Fudoh: The New Generation)
- 28th June - EM: Embalming (R1, dir. Shinji Aoyama)
- 25th July - Onibi: The Fire Within (R2, dir. Rokuro Mochizuki)
- 26th July - Onibi: The Fire Within (R1, dir. Rokuro Mochizuki)
- 30th August - Wild Life (R1, dir. Shinji Aoyama)
- 30th August - The Films of Takashi Miike (R1 repackaging of Full Metal Yakuza and Sabu)
- 26th September - Modern Japanese Horror (R2 repackaging of Hypnosis and Pyrokinesis)
- 25th October - An Obsession (R1, dir. Shinji Aoyama)
- 15th November - Mobsters Confessions (R1, dir. Rokuro Mochizuki)
- 28th November - Mobsters Confessions (R2, dir. Rokuro Mochizuki)
- 28th November - The Films of George Iida (R2 repackaging of The Spiral (aka Rasen), Battle Heater and Another Heaven)
All these discs include director and cast bio-filmographies by me except for Hypnosis and Pyrokinesis which were originally released before I started working for Artsmagic. 15th June 2005
Early Clive Barker play revived in London
Press release: The El Lupo Theatre Company is pleased to announce that rehearsals have begun on Clive Barker’s Frankenstein in Love which will be directed by Dean M Drinkel and staged at the Barons Court Theatre from Tuesday 27th September until Sunday October 2nd 2005. The eclectic cast includes: Laura Melcion as Maria; Enid Gayle as Veronique; Ed Ward as Cockatoo; Graham Townsend as Perez; Tucker Stevens as The Cardinal; Deep Rajput as Mattos; Robbie Humphries as Lazaro; Anthony Davids as El Coco; Vladimir Ruiz as Follezou; Rocky Mazilli as Bozuffi; Jeremy Samuel as Fook and Martin Beere as Dr Frankenstein. Come and join the fun and slaughter... Frankenstein in Love By Clive Barker
Directed by Dean M Drinkel
Produced by The El Lupo Theatre Company
Venue: The Barons Court Theatre, The Curtain’s Up, 28A Comeragh Road, London W14
Performance time: Tuesday 27th September – Saturday 1st October 7.30pm; Sunday 2nd October 2.30pm
Tickets: £10 (concessions available)
Box Office: 020 8932 4747 15th June 2005
Indie stars roped in as extras on Brinke Stevens comedy
Press release: While shooting at California's 2005 Fangoria Con with scream queen Debbie Rochon for their indie comedy Icon, producers Brinke Stevens (Hell Asylum) and Ted Newsom (Dead Season) needed cooperative "atmosphere talent" to do a cutaway shot. Not just any clutch of fans in black T-shirts would do, so they corraled a dozen friends and co-workers. The group included Bryan Moore (star and director of the award-winning Lovecraft adaptation Cool Air), Tempe Video bombshell Lilith Stabs (Malefic, Zombiegeddon), genre scribe, actress and force of nature Heidi Martinuzzi (Cerebral Print, Slaughter Party), flame-haired actress/producer Ariauna Albright (Witchhouse, Horrorvision, Bloodletting), producer Dave Sterling (Witchcraft series, Demonicus), plus directors Dan Golden (Naked Obsession, Burial of the Rats) and Ken Hall (Clown at Midnight, Nightmare Sisters). This holds the record for the most notable group of genre "extras" ever assembled for a one-shot gag in a low-budget romantic screwball comedy - an admittedly small niche catagory. Brinke Stevens stars in a dual role as a sultry art thief and a nerdy innocent. Troma veteran Debbie Rochon (Filthy McNasty) plays a scatterbrained transsexual dressed like Carmen Miranda on acid, complete with fruit hat. The supporting cast includes Gerald Brodin (America 101, Single White Female 2) and Rachelle Williams (Sin by Murder, Expendable). Other locations for the film included Sedona, Arizona, Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Valarta, at sea aboard a cruise ship, and in the sky in a biplane. The film is currently in post-production. 
14th June 2005
US premiere date for Firecracker
Steve Balderson's Firecracker will receive its US premiere at the Tribeca Cinemas in New York City on 22nd July as part of VisionFest '05. 14th June 2005
Evil Aliens wins Best Film at SF indie fest
Jake West's Evil Aliens has won Best Film at the (Yet) Another Hole in the Head festival in San Francisco. I'm told that the film received a standing ovation and that some audience members at the movie's premiere returned for both subsequent screenings.  8th June 2005
Mondo Macabro presents French Sex Murders
Press release: This month we've Volume 1 in our Dick Randall collection - French Sex Murders - Prostitutes murdered in a Parisian brothel! An eyeball thief! A be-heading! Call Inspector Bogart! Scratch your head in disbelief at one of the strangest Eurocult titles ever! Why? How? Who...Whaaat!
Features an amazing array of euro-stars and an exclusive 40 minute documentary about the demented genius behind the movie - The Wild Wild World of Dick Randall! Get the lowdown behind the man who gave us the Clones of Bruce Lee and the midget James Bond! The film is presented as a world DVD premiere in a stunning new widescreen transfer. Check out the first reviews and pre-order online with big savings: all via the website Coming soon - Living Doll - a world dvd premiere for this blackest of black comedies... If he was dead Cliff would be revolving in his grave! Who told you lyrics didn’t matter! 6th June 2005
Firecracker North American premiere
After wowing audiences at Raindance and Fantasporto Firecracker, the critically acclaimed, award-winning second feature from Steve Balderson (Pep Squad) will receive its North American premiere at Montreal's Fantasia festival on 12th July.  5th June 2005
Tempe releases Satanic Yuppies
Press release: Just when you thought the yuppies had died off during the excess of the '80s comes the August 16, 2005 release of the horror/comedy Satanic Yuppies from Tempe DVD ($24.99 SRP, prebook July 19).
From the creators of the sexy cult hits Vamps: Deadly Dreamgirls and Vamps 2: Blood Sisters, Satanic Yuppies features an all-star cast including the sultry Amber Newman (Night Calls: The Movie, Part 2), Glori-Anne Gilbert (Curse of the Komodo), Debbie Rochon (Witchouse 3, Filthy McNasty, Dead and Rotting) and a trio of alumni from Tempe's own Bloodletting — Paul Morris, David A. Levy and Randy Rupp. An intrepid reporter stumbles upon the story of a lifetime when he links the brutal slayings of several young women to a cult of affluent Satanists willing to spill innocent blood in their quest for power and wealth! Can Pete McGavin save an innocent girl from being the next sacrifice for Satan? Satanic Yuppies comes complete with 30 minutes of cast & crew interviews, a 10-minute newscast parody segment and audio commentary by the cast & crew. 5th June 2005
First Evil Aliens reviews
Jake West proudly reports that "the first screening of Evil Aliens in San Francisco went down a storm and got a standing ovation." There are reviews here ("Unrelentingly side-splitting, offensive, splatterific, and raunchy"), here ("an outrageous splatter/comedy with a brain, a wicked sense of humor, great special effects and gallons of blood ") and here ("a wonderfully silly but engrossing yarn that doesn't let you go from the very first moment to the last ").  3rd June 2005
Jim Wynorski's latest film is rubbish!
"I urge everyone to skip this title. It was botched completely in post production," says, erm, Jim Wynorski over on the Retromedia Forum. The film in question is The Thing Below, which was filmed as Sea Ghost. " All the actors did a fine job," says the director. "It was the Canadian production company that ruined the picture with bad CGI, awful canned music and some re-editing that just makes the picture slow and confusing. It was the first time in my career where the producers took over completely. I moved on to another show and finally saw the finished product via a VHS tape copy off Canadian cable TV. Needless to say, I watched it once and threw it into the vaults."
2nd June 2005
Charlie Band's blog
Last night I interviewed Charles Band, head honcho of Empire (as was), Full Moon (as was) and now Wizard Entertainment. Psychotronic Video should be carrying the feature, hopefully. Band is currently putting the finishing touches to the first four films from Wizard, all of which he has directed himself: Doll Graveyard, The Gingerdead Man, Dead Man's Hand and Decadent Evil. He's a very busy chap but has also decided to document his exploits in a blog, though where he will find the time to do that goodness only knows. 1st June 2005
The Witches Hammer trailer online
British indie company Amber Pictures, whose previous work includes Sanitarium and Hellbreeder, have a new website with a great-looking trailer for vampires-meet-witches action horror flick The Witches Hammer (sic) which stars Stephanie Beacham and is currently in post, plus some info on their next movie, Bane. 31st May 2005
Eleventh Hour website
Eleventh Hour, the forthcoming not-science-fiction series created by my mate Steve Gallagher (Chimera, Oktober) and starring Patrick Stewart now has a website with news and character profiles.  30th May 2005
Evil Aliens UK/US distribution details
Jake West (Razorblade Smile) has added to his website a couple of new poster designs for his forthcoming second feature Evil Aliens which went down a storm at Cannes. The film plays at the SF IndieFest in San Francisco on 4th and 6th June and will be seen at numerous other festivals around the world ahead of a theatrical release in both the UK and USA through ContentFilm International. Jake tells me that the British premiere will be at FrightFest in August.
30th May 2005
Charles B Griffiths forum
The writer of such Roger Corman classics as Not of this Earth, Attack of the Crab Monsters and Little Shop of Horrors now has a discussion forum devoted to his work. Griffiths himself is answering questions about his life and career on the forum via his daughter.  29th May 2005
Scream-4-Me horror fanzine launched
I thought that the A5 black and white fanzine was extinct so I'm delighted to give a plug to Scream-4-Me, produced by Mark Sesin of Heanor. The launch issue (68pp) interviews Johannes Roberts about Forest of the Damned, Jason Contino about The Murder Game and actresses Bianca Abel and Krista Grotte, as well as reviewing several films that I hadn't previously heard of. Plus interviews with a couple of rock bands and some short fiction. The zine costs two quid plus postage; details on the website.
29th May 2005
Photography completed on William Winckler's Frankenstein Vs. the Creature from Blood Cove
Press release: In a remote laboratory near the California coast, Frankenstein's monster has been resurrected in a misguided attempt to use his colossal strength for good. As part of the same diabolical experiment, a half-human amphibian abomination has also been unleashed. Both creatures are determined to destroy one another, wreaking havoc throughout the isolated coastal community. That's part of the plot behind William Winckler's Frankenstein Vs. the Creature from Blood Cove, producer/director William Winckler's modern-day homage to the classic Universal-style horror films of the 1940s. Principal photography on the old-fashioned "creature feature" was completed earlier this month. The movie - shot entirely in black and white - is presently being edited, with a gala release planned for later this year.  "We really captured the look of a multimillion-dollar, widescreen, Panavision film," notes the director, who also wrote the screenplay and independently financed the picture. "This is a straightforward film combining classic-style creatures with Atomic Age monsters. The closer we're getting to completion, the happier I am with the production. There's noquestion that 'creature feature' fans are going to love it!"
 William Winckler's Frankenstein Vs. the Creature from Blood Cove stars Larry Butler (Lost in the USA, Elvis is Alive), Alison Lees-Taylor (Icebreaker) and Mimma Mariucci (The Dry Spell), and includes special appearances by Butch Patrick (The Munsters), Lloyd Kaufman (The Toxic Avenger, Terror Firmer), Raven De La Croix (Russ Meyer's Up!, Hear No Evil), David Gerrold (Star Trek), Playboy model Carla Harvey and Cyberspace Adult Video Review (CAVR) Starlet of the Year Selena Silver. Special effects experts Rich Knight and Rufus Hearn, who've collectively worked on such productions as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Spider-Man, Men in Black and Fear Runs Silent, crafted all the costumes and makeup effects, with Mel Lewis (Barbarian, Asphalt Wars) penning an original score. William Winckler's Frankenstein Vs. the Creature from Blood Cove is being produced through William Winckler Productions, a company founded in 2001 to release the director's previous feature, The Double D-Avenger - a picture Variety hailed as "a cheerfully silly ode to larger-than-life femininity."
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