Old News (January - June 2007) 30th June 2007
Red Princess Blues animated prequel
While Alex Ferrari (Broken) prepares his feature Red Princess Blues (part of which inspired his short film Cyn), his friend Dan Cregan from effects house Numb Robot is working on a short, animated prequel to the film, called Red Princess Blues Animated: The Book of Violence. You can find information on both films at the Red Princess Blues website including a new trailer for the animated movie. 30th June 2007
New websites for Colour from the Dark and Dreamscape
Ivan Zuccon has set up a new website for his Lovecraft movie Colour from the Dark, which starts shooting this week. Check back regularly for images and production diary updates. The Dreamscape website has also been updated with a snappy new trailer and news of new developments. The film should be screened at this year’s Festival of Fantastic Films at the end of August. 30th June 2007
First English-language Egyptian horror film comes to DVD!
There aren’t many Egyptian horror films, but here’s one... Fat Cat DVD is proud to introduce its 'International Collection' with the first English-language feature film from Egypt. Written and directed by Ahmed Khalifa, Wingrave is a supernatural thriller in the tradition of The Sixth Sense and The Others that will haunt you long after you've seen it. The dead never rest, as young parapsychologist Henry Wingrave knows too well. As he struggles with the decision of holding a forbidden form of a séance, he thinks back on three of his most challenging and life altering experiences of dealing with the restless dead. But in dealing with haunted minds for too long, Wingrave eventually becomes haunted himself, by the ghost of loss... The film is released on 25th September, priced $24.99 and includes a 32-minute Making Of plus four minutes of deleted scenes. 30th June 2007
Karloff wins in Hawaii
Congratulations to Conor Timmis whose film Kreating Karloff has won its first award, taking home the prize for ‘Best Experimental Film’ from the Honolulu International Film Festival. 30th June 2007
Watch Me - new Aussie horror
Watch Me is a new Japanese-influenced Australian horror film which ha splayed successfully at a few festivals. Director Melanie Ansley is a Canadian who was raised in China whose short film Butcher (“a tongue-in-cheek romp through pregnancy, fatherhood and cannibalism”) achieved some festival success. And some of the cast have had roles in Neighbours! A screener is on its way to me but in the meantime, check out the website. 30th June 2007
Death Ray issue 3
Check out the third issue of Death Ray for my review of Vampire Diary and my opinion feature on Godzilla movies. For the next issue I’m reviewing The Zombie Diaries (hmm, could be a theme developing...) and The Pumpkin Karver as well as another Godzilla feature and an interview with Tim Lucas about his book on Mario Bava. 23rd June 2007
Summer of the Massacre remake
I’ve never seen low-budget British gorefest Summer of the Massacre and pretty much all I know about it is that it starts with a text crawl that is packed with spelling and grammatical errors, which is worrying for a movie directed by a magazine editor! Certainly the hype-filled press releases which they send out - the latest of which is reproduced verbatim below - are not what one could call ‘proof-read’. This one had the subject line THE SUMMER OF THE MASSACRE REAMKE NEWS. Big Brother and Bad lads Army are coming to Northampton and will leave a Massacre behind. Emma Greenwood (FHM, MAXIM, MEN AND MOTORS) whose claim to fame was Big Brother 5 after being removed for breaking the physical violence rule will be starring along side Adam Oakley (Bad lads Army), Taye Lee Lopez (American Idol EXTRA presenter) and Scott Wright (Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Shameless) in “The Summer Of The Massacre” directed by Bryn Hammond (Gorezone Magazine Editor – www.gorezone.co.uk) and Produced by Mark Bennett (Gorezone Writer), Garry Charles (Author), Paula Buckle (Hadesgate Publishing). The Film will hit theatres later in the year and is about a bunch of University students heading home for Summer Break when their vehicle breaks down and they end up stranded in the fictional forest of Blackwood in Northampton. They original feature film was distributed by The Dead of Night Collection and became an over night cult classic spawning an Action Figure etc. Hammerhead: The Summer of the Massacre the book was written by the award winning author Garry Charles and was launched at the Birmingham NEC earlier this year and raised new awareness to the cult DVD with what is a re-imagining of graphic proportions. Garry impressed the producers so much he was asked to re-write the final draft of the new screenplay. The remake will be hitting cinemas later in the year and will be finding its way on to DVD by one of horrors biggest out putters in the UK and USA. The film is being shot on Canon XL1's and will have a Grindhouse feel to the production like such cult horror gem’s as “The Roost”, “Thanksgiving” and “Three on a meat hook” to tie in with the release of Tarantino’s homage to the days gone by of drive-in cinemas. Other cast include Miachael Boughan (Lycanthrope, The killers Music Video), Zara Phythian (The big budget USA award winning Sci-Fi film Crops) and the author Garry Charles in a cameo. Good luck to them, but let’s be realistic: the first film did not become “an over night cult classic” and the chances of this “hitting theatres later this year” are about as likely as me dating Christina Ricci. 23rd June 2007
Dead Wood trailer on-line
David Bryant, producer of upcoming British horror feature Dead Wood, dropped me a line to let me know that an unfinished version of the film screened to considerable acclaim at the Salento Fear Festival in May. Composer Adam Langston is just completing the music score and the finished film should be ready for a preview next month. The Dead Wood trailer is now available on the film’s website. A three-way effort between writer/director/producers David, Sebastian Smith and Richard Stiles, the film stars Rebecca Craven (Sci-Fi Channel idents), Emily Juniper, Nina Kwok (LoveCracked! The Movie), John Samuel Worsey and Fergus March (who play Banquo and the title role respectively in a new Macbeth feature opposite Anthony Head). It is based on a short film of the same title which screened at last year’s Frightfest.  23rd June 2007
German release for NyMpha
Ivan Zuccon-directed, Tiffany Shepis-starring Catholic guilt trip NyMpha will be released on German DVD by Epix. I can’t find a date but the disc will include two trailers, a teaser trailer, a stills gallery and a subtitled ten-minute Making Of. The same company have The Witches Hammer on their slate, retitled The Vampire Hunter.
21st June 2007
Martine Beswick added to Manchester line-up
The Festival of Fantastic Films has added another great name to this year’s guest line-up - Martine Beswick. One of the few Bond girls to have appeared in two Bond films (From Russia with Love and Thunderball) she also made three films for Hammer: One Million Years BC, Prehistoric Women and Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde. With Caroline Munro (The Spy Who Loved Me, Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter, Dracula AD1972) and Edward De Souza (The Spy Who Loved Me, Phantom of the Opera, Kiss of the Vampire), that makes three Hammer/Bond actors at this year’s FFF, which is in Manchester from 31st August to 2nd September. 19th June 2007
Richard Driscoll - new website
Run for the hills! Richard Driscoll, the man who brought us The Comic and Kannibal, has finally launched a website all about his House of Fear company/studio and his long-unawaited Raven trilogy. As there is too much to report in a news item I have created a dedicated page - The Richard Driscoll Experience. 19th June 2007
Dreamscape composer nominated for award
Press release: Joseph Fox's stunning score for Dreamscape has been nominated for the Jerry Goldsmith Young Film Composer Award - held later this year! A graduate of NEWI Wrexham, Joseph has provided music for the award-winning Vendetta directed by Daniel J Fox and Rorschach directed by Simon Bullen as well as several audio plays for Big Finish Productions. Something Inside, a Doctor Who audio drama, was the highest selling spoken word CD on Amazon.co.uk. Since then he has produced sound and music for Big Finish's Iris Wildthyme and four audio plays for the relaunch of Dark Shadows. A soundtrack of the music he composed for the series has been released this week. Based in Neston Cheshire Joseph is represented by High Fidelity Creative Music. 15th June 2007
Mr Blades DVD announcement
Tom Rutter has dropped me a line to announce that Mr Blades has picked up a UK distributor in Cryptkeeper Films. The disc will include Tom’s short film A Child’s Toy and as soon as I have details of a release date, I’ll post them here. Tom’s next film will be a collaboration with Wayne Davies called Desire. 13th June 2007
Ivan Zuccon's Colour from the Dark - at last!
Ivan Zuccon has dropped me a line to say that he starts production on his long-awaited feature Colour from the Dark on 2nd July. The film is based on Lovecraft’s The Colour Out of Space which was previously adapted (somewhat loosely) as Die, Monster, Die! in the 1960s and The Curse in the 1980s. Ivan originally planned to shoot this script before Bad Brains and then again before NyMpha and in fact it was announced at one point with Tiffany Shepis and Emmanuel Cerman in the lead roles. The confirmed cast is now led by Zuccon regular Michael Segal (The Darkness Beyond, Unknown Beyond, The Shunned House, NyMpha) as Pietro and Debbie Rochon (Dr Horror’s Erotic House of Idiots, Witchouse 3 etc) as Lucia. Also in the cast are Marysia Kay (Forest of the Damned, The Ouija Board, When Evil Calls) as Alice, Gerry Shanahan (who was in an Irish/Mexican co-production called Paranoia) as Giovanni, Katia Winter (Night Junkies) as Anna, Emmett J Scanlan as Luigi and Federico D’Anneo (NyMpha) as Don Mario. Here’s a synopsis that Ivan provided to Fangoria.com a while back: "My Colour from the Dark takes place in Italy, in the 1940s, with WWII raging. Pietro and Lucia live on an isolated farm with Alice, Lucia's younger sister. Alice is 15 years old and suffers from severe mental problems. Poor farmers, they live tilling the soil. Pietro is a good worker and a strong man who, unlike his three brothers, is not at war because of a deformed knee. Lucia is a beautiful and reserved woman dedicated to her family. Their life is peaceful and good, in spite of the hard work. One day, while drawing water from the well, Pietro and Alice accidentally free something from Earth's womb. A strange and alien colour flashes underwater, at the well's bottom, then disappears. From that moment on, inexplicable events start happening all around the farm, and by night the surrounding vegetation glitters with a sinister glow. The colour soon takes hold of the whole farm, and dwelling inside Pietro and his family's minds, it brings them into its sick world of pain, blood and death." You can find out more and see some production artwork at the film’s MySpace page. 6th June 2007
The return of Danny Draven
Danny Draven (Hell Asylum, Deathbed) sent me this press release on his new Chinese-horror feature: It has been several years since director Danny Draven has released a movie. It's partly because of his insistence on shooting on film, not shooting in LA, and quality scripts. "I will not make movies to cater the market trends anymore,” says Draven. “I am a filmmaker, and I will tell story. I will not put tits or excessive gore in a movie because I think it will help sell it. With my company's new films story is always first, spectacle last." Draven’s company, Darkworld Pictures, a full-service production and post-production company, has produced it's first new feature, Ghost Month. Best described as a supernatural thriller, Ghost Month is based on the Chinese seventh Month, known as ‘Ghost Month’. The film was shot on 35mm film and produced, written and directed by Draven in November-December of 2006 in Nevada. It is currently in the latter stages of post-production and you can expect it sometime in Fall 2007. The film was also shot by his old friend Michael King (Deadbeat at Dawn, The Manson Family). This is the first of a new slate of films from Draven's new company which will be dedicated to quality storytelling and high production values. It will be available on Blu-Ray, HD-DVD and standard DVD. Danny’s last feature as director was Dark Walker in 2003 since when he has been busy editting features for the likes of Charles Band and David DeCoteau. The cast of Ghost Month (originally titled Offerings) includes Akiko Shima (who was in Letters from Iwo Jima), Rick Irvin (who worked for Draven on Cryptz and Dark Walker and was Officer Chi Chi in the Bad Movie Police wrap-arounds, on which Danny was DP) and Kierstin Cunnington - who was the object of ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic’s attentions in the JibJab-produced video for ‘Do I Creep You Out?’! Mike King was also cinematographer on The Frightening and Dead and Rotting and lit second unit on Totem. The film's website, as you can see from these cool images that Danny sent me, is www.ghostmonthmovie.com - it has a deeply cool trailer and a bunch of stills.   
6th June 2007
US release for Lovesick: Sick Love
The middle film in Wolfgang Büld’s loose trilogy of Fiona Horsey-starring horror-thrillers, Lovesick: Sick Love is finally coming to DVD in the United States. It will be released by MTI Home Video on 24th July - but the title has been changed to The Chambermaid. 5th June 2007
First stills from Darren Ward's A Day of Violence
Darren Ward (Sudden Fury) has kindly sent me a bunch of stills and behind-the-scenes shots from his in-production new film A Day of Violence which you can see on this page. The film stars Nick Rendell (Sudden Fury, Nightmares), Victor D Thorn (Sudden Fury and two Chris Barfoot sci-fi shorts) and Steve Humphries (who was in Judge John Deed). Darren tells me that Italian actor Giovanni Lombardo Radice (City of the Living Dead, Cannibal Ferox, Cannibal Apocalypse) is attached and the film will also have cameos by Danny Dyer (Severance) and Tamer Hassan (Layer Cake, Batman Begins). 4th June 2007
New short film from Alex Ferrari
Alex Ferrari, writer/director of acclaimed short film Broken, has a new short film called Cyn. There’s an extensive website for it including a trailer and I should be reviewing the film soon. Here’s the synopsis: Cyn is a twisted tale about Cynthia, a young woman who is taken by two psychopaths in the middle of the night to an old abandon kindergarden. Cyn quickly turns the tables on them soon the night becomes a cat and mouse mind game. While this drama is unfolding a lone figure watches from a close circuit monitor. Who is Cynthia and what the hell is going on in this twisted tale? Alex adds: “Cyn was made on a six-day schedule (from script to final output) for under $1,000 and boasts one of the craziest end title sequences ever created for a five-minute short film. Think of throwing an atom bomb on a roach, completely over the top.” 4th June 2007
Artie Saves the Hood director's new trailer
Ed Radmanich, director of the hilarious Artie Saves the Hood, is working on a feature film called Cold Spot, the trailer for which is now available on YouTube. Ed tells me: "It is a full length non-comedy, horror sci-fi with recurring characters from Artie Saves the Hood. Artie is lost in the other dimension as a mutating killer enters our world through interdimensional 'cold spots'. The film centers around Artie trying to get back via communicating with his neighbour, and Mason's brother searching for Mason's wherabouts. Meanwhile, a new creature/killer goes on a murderous rampage." The film should be ready around Halloween. 3rd June 2007
Dreamscape clip on-line
Dreamscape is currently in my To Be Watched pile and I would have watched it by now if I hadn’t had a supertight deadline to turn around my Vampire Diary review for DeathRay. While you’re waiting for my review, here’s a clip on YouTube. 3rd June 2007
Powerless on DVD
Powerless, a British indie about people surviving after a terrorist attack takes out all the electrical power in the UK, comes to DVD on 12 June through Revolutionary Releasing. It has a commentary and various featurettes and you can get it for a tenner through the film’s website. There’s also a CD of the music and you can get both for 12 quid. 3rd June 2007
Adam Mason’s Broken hits DVD
Broken is released on UK DVD by Revolver on 20th August. That’s the torture-horror feature by Adam Mason (Prey, Dust, The 13th Sign), not the Alex Ferrari short or any of the other half dozen films of recent years with the same title. The film has cinematography by Erik Wilson (Pumpkinhead III/IV), production design by Neil Jenkins (Evil Aliens) and special effects by Tristan Versluis. Look for a review here once it reaches the top of my To Be Watched pile. 3rd June 2007
MJS in DeathRay
Issue 2 of DeathRay is now on sale, including my short reviews of Wrestlemaniac and Are You Scared? plus an opinion piece on the British Horror Revival. Issue 3 will have my short review of Vampire Diary (long review on this site soon) an an opinion piece on Godzilla movies. I’ve also recently written another piece for Fangoria, an interview with director Philip Saville about the 1977 BBC production Count Dracula, which hits DVD on both sides of the Atlantic in September. 3rd June 2007
Frazer Lee reaches finals of MySpace competition
Frazer Lee has made it to the final twelve in the MySpace ‘MyMovie MashUp’ competition. Out of 1,000+ entrants that’s very impressive and the best of luck to Fraser in the final selection. I don’t understand MySpace and I can’t find any detailed information on how the competition works but if it gets Frazer back behind a camera that’s a good thing. On Edge, which is what has got him to the final dozen, was made nine years ago and even Red Lines is now four years old. The world is waiting for another Frazer Lee film. 26th May 2007
Dreamscape - new British SF thriller
Dreamscape is the first feature from British indie company Chat Noir Productions and the trailer is now up on YouTube. It’s a very stylish-looking, PK Dick-ian SF-thriller which I will be revewing as soon as a screener comes through. Filmed in North Wales and Cheshire on a budget of only £5,000, the film was written, directed, edited and produced by Daniel J Fox, the other members of the core Chat Noir team being Mark Ellingham (cinematographer/producer), Joseph Fox (sound mixer/composer/3D computer graphics) and Chris Owen (camera operator/assistant drector). Daniel J Fox and Chris Owen are both also among the cast which also include Magda Rodriguez (Man Who Sold the World, The Witches Hammer), Sandra Darnell (Sentinels of Darkness), Mark Ellingham, Richard Dodd, Mark Newman, Ian Paul, Abigail Fox and Frank Pipkin. Here's the synopsis and a couple of stills: A thrill-seeking businessman signs up with Dreamscape Inc., provider of electronic dreams and vivid fantasies. Transformed into an unstoppable courier, he enters the dangerous world of corporate espionage. Hunted by Government Agents and aided by unlikely allies, he carries out his mission with brutal efficiency. However, illusion quickly turns into nightmare as reality and fantasy blur.  
26th May 2007
Fantastic Films Weekend programme details
The programme for this year’s Fantastic Films Weekend in Bradford over 15th-17th June has been announced. Highlights include Rooms for Tourists, Soylent Green, 300 in IMAX, Basket Case, Frankenstein Unbound, Forbidden Planet, Big Trouble in Little China, I Monster, Twins of Evil, Suspiria and Hostel Part II plus a bunch of classic spooky television including Ghostwatch, BBC Ghost Stories for Christmas, Brimstone and Treacle, Threads and the rarely seen 1982 documentary Vincent Price’s Dracula. John Hough, Lawrence Gordon Clark and Brian Aldiss are the guests. There will also be the usual selection of shorts including Simon Bovey’s The Un-Gone, Adam McAlavey’s Frank, Kimon Christodoulides’ Indigo. Kurt Dudley’s Siren and Robert Wallace’s Strangebrew plus shorts films from Canada, Taiwan and Australia. For full details of the weekend, check the new website. 26th May 2007
Trashhouse and Frankenstein vs the Creature DVDs
TrashHouse will be re-released on budget-price R2 DVD on 11 June on the Shriek label for a fiver. Meanwhile over in Region 1, Tempe have William Winckler's Frankenstein vs the Creature from Blood Cove lined up for a 28th August release.  22nd May 2007
Savage Spirit DVD release announced
Westlake Entertainment will release Savage Spirit as a double bill with Cory Turner’s previous feature They Feed on 3rd July as part of their ‘Drive-In Horror Series’. Both movies will be in widescreen and the extras will include audition tapes, trailers and a photo gallery.
14th May 2007
MJS back on the radio
If you live in the Tees area of England, listen out for me on BBC Radio Cleveland this Wednesday, 16 May. I will be a guest on Gobstopper, Bob Fischer’s late-night show. I’m on air around 9pm, after TF Simpson has gone to bed, discussing the thirtieth anniversary of Star Wars. 14th May 2007
Tom Rutter working on short, preparing feature
Thomas Lee Rutter (Full Moon Massacre, Mr Blades) tells me that his next feature film will be written by Stuart Neild, author of the acclaimed e-book A Haunted Man “and production will get underway just as soon as he sends the finished script. Expect more gory fun and low budget thrills!” Meanwhile Tom is finishing off his latest short, Lost in the Light Bulb. Expect a review here soon. 14th May 2007
Caroline Munro confirmed for Manchester
The Festival of Fantastic Films has added the phenomenally glamorous Caroline Munro to its line-up of guests. Mark Redfield has also confirmed to me that he will be returning to the Manchester event, where he premiered The Death of Poe last year. And coincidentally (or not)... 14th May 2007
Mark Redfield interviews Caroline Munro on new vampire site
Mark Redfield and friends have a new on-line project - a website called Vampire Hunters Incorporated. Intended as a monthly on-line magazine, the first ‘issue’ includes part one of an interview with Caroline Munro and the first instalment of Cult of the Nosferatu, an on-line novel by David Oberon about vampire hunter Bertram Welles. An excerpt from Gary D Rhodes new book about Bela Lugosi will be added shortly. 13th May 2007
New Darren Ward feature shoots next month
Darren Ward (Nightmares, Sudden Fury) dropped me a line about his next film: “Filming starts on my HD feature A Day of Violence on 2nd and 3rd June. The film revolves around a debt collector named Mitchell who, whilst on a routine collection from a client, stumbles on £100,000 in cash at the client’s flat. With the money stolen, the gang headed by a formidable leader named Curtis Boswell pull out all the stops to track it down. Mitchell must use all his skills to stay alive. A violent and cruel tale the film should hopefully be ready for Cannes 2008.” Darren also mentions a couple of name actors he is approaching who would give the film major kudos. 13th May 2007
Asian movies at Tiger Film Festival in Brighton
The Tiger Festival is ‘a four-day showcase of the latest Far East Films mixed with club nights in leading Brighton venues’ running from Thursday 31st May to Sunday 3rd June. There will be six movies screened at the Duke of York’s Picturehouse: anime Paprika on the Friday; Riding Alone for Thousand of Miles (the latest from House of Flying Daggers director Zhang Yimou) and Thai horror Shutter on the Saturday; Hong Kong actioner PTU: Police Tactical Unit, The Banquet (a Chinese take on Hamlet) and martial arts mayhem Tiger Dragon Gate on the Sunday. Between the films are lots of opportunities for young people to frug to some swinging beats (or whatever it is they do now) at various Brighton discotheques. You can find out more at the festival’s website and MySpace page. 6th May 2007
Frazer Lee story in horror anthology
Frazer Lee’s short story ‘Urbane’ has been published in Read by Dawn Vol.2, a collection of contemporary horror fiction edited by Adele Hartley (who runs the Scottish Dead by Dawn horror festival). Published by Bloody Books, the anthology costs £9.99 but you can get three quid off by typing ‘blood’ when asked for a redemption coupon, apparently! 6th May 2007
Cannes screenings: Man Who Sold the World and Summer Scars
Cannes screening details have been announced for two films that I have been covering on this site. Julian Richards’ Summer Scars, a rite-of-passage thriller about teenagers threatened by a psycho, is showing in Palais E at 6pm on Friday 18th May and again in Gray 4 at 5.30pm on Tuesday 22nd May. Meanwhile Louis Melville’s time travel fantasy Man Who Sold the World screens in Palais F at 10.00pm on Tuesday 22nd May. 5th May 2007
Mark Redfield returns to Poe - with Ingrid Pitt
Mark Redfield’s pre-production slate, which already includes The Crimes of Sherlock Holmes, The Madness of Frankenstein and a Bulldog Drummond picture, now also features a new version of The Tell-Tale Heart. Several of the team from The Death of Poe are attached to the project including actor Kevin G Shinnick, actor/composer Jennifer Rouse, DP Jeff Herberger, editor Sean Paul Murphy and FX guy Eric Supensky plus Mark’s regular co-writer Stuart Voytilla. However, there are three very interesting names connected with the project. Actors Ingrid Pitt and Robert Quarry are apparently confirmed - Countess Dracula meets Count Yorga - and the script is ‘based on the story by EA Poe and the civil war tales of Ambrose Bierce’. The last time I saw two different authors credited with source material on a nominal adaptation of a single classic story was Brer Rabbit’s Christmas Carol! The Tell-Tale Heart is Poe’s most adapted story, having already been filmed no fewer than 38 times, most recently by Brett Kelly (The Bonesetter) who is, incidentally, currently working on a remake of Attack of the Giant Leeches! You can see some artwork and designs from the Redfield Arts version of The Tell-Tale Heart on the film's website. 5th May 2007
Steve Balderson's belly-dancing documentary
Steve Balderson (Pep Squad, Firecracker, Phone Sex) is wasting no time in following up his last feature, the documentary sequel Wamego Strikes Back, with his next project - a belly-dancing documentary. He is filming his friend Pleasant Gehman (triple-breasted Estelle in Firecracker) as she tours the UK, the USA and UK under her terpichorean pseudonym Princess Farhana. ‘Filming in Mexico, Hollywood and London’ says the film’s website, curiously missing out the exotic locale of Lutterworth on the Leicestershire-Northants border, where I hope to meet up with Steve this summer.  5th May 2007
Jennifer Evans stars in new short film
My pal Jenny Evans, of Evil Aliens and Close Your Eyes fame, stars in Mad on Her, a new short film written and directed by actor Dean Loxton:
A poignant story which follows naive out-of-towner Kerry (Jennifer Evans) as she 'desperately seeks Madonna' on the streets of London, in the hope of bringing meaning and purpose into her life. Inspired by Madonna's revolutionary attitude to sex she works alone on an amateur live sex chat from a phone box by night to support her mission. 5th May 2007
MJS in two new SF mags
Two new titles have entered the crowded SF magazine marketplace (although it’s a little less crowded since Dreamwatch folded). Sci-Fi Now launched last month and the first issue had an opinion column by me plus a short interview with Mario Azzopardi about directing the pilot episode of Stargate SG-1. Issue 2 will have another opinion column but I haven’t been asked to write anything for issue 3. Meanwhile, Death Ray has also just launched this week with two of my old SFX colleagues at the helm: Matt Bielby as launch editor/publisher and Guy Haley as regular editor. My only contribution to the first issue is a short review of Incubus but issue 2 should have an opinion column (yes, another one!) and reviews of Wrestlemaniac and Are You Scared? 5th April 2007
Forthcoming DVDs from Revolver
Revolver Entertainment have sent me details of three new horror films released on DVD in the UK this spring. Are You Scared? is Saw-style traps crossed with My Little Eye-style reality TV, written and directed by Andy Hurst (Project: Assassin). Wrestlemaniac, filmed as El Mascarado Massacre, is the debut feature from Jesse Baget. A group of youngsters shooting an amateur porn movie in a ghost town anger the spirit of a Mexican wrestler. So let’s just check the list: cowboys, lucha action and naked women. Yes, that sounds good. The cast includes Irwin Keyes (The Exterminator, Frankenstein General Hospital), Adam Huss (Demon Slayer) and a genuine wrestler, Rey Misterio Sr, as the masked mauler. Those two are out on 30th April while The Killing Floor follows on 21st May. Directed by Gideon Raff, this is a thriller about a stalker threatening a literary agent. An agent! I’m going to be very disappointed if he survives... Buffy’s Marc Blucas stars alongside Roswell's Shiri Appleby and 24's Reiko Aylesworth (soon to be seen in AvP2). Reviews of all three films will follow. 5th April 2007
Blood Cove soundtrack CD on the way
Here’s the inlay for the forthcoming soundtrack CD to Willam Winckler’s Frankenstein vs the Creature from Blood Cove which will be released by Lakeshore Records and available from all good retailers (Silva Screen handle Lakeshore’s UK distribution). Bill Winckler tells me that “the Frankenstein vs the Creature action figures, model kits, rubber masks, collector cards, comics etc. are coming soon too.” He also pointed out that all the UK film rights (except soundtreack rights) are still available so if you have a DVD label or a merchandising gig, drop him a line via his website. 
5th April 2007
Sci-Fi London programme announced
The complete programme for Sci-Fi London, which runs from 3rd to 6th May, is now on the festival’s website. Highlights include the world premieres of British sci-fi spoof Captain Eager starring Tamsin Greig (Black Books), Anglo-Indian techno-thriller Exitz starring Malcolm McDowell, the restored 96-minute version of Things to Come and eagerly awaited zombie sequel 28 Weeks Later. For Hammer fans there’s a double bill of The Quatermass Xperiment and Quatermass 2 and a Hammer all-nighter of four 1950s SF flicks: Stolen Face, Four-Sided Triangle, X - The Unknown and Spaceways. There are other features, a bunch of shorts, panels and presentations and two other all-nighters (anime and MST3K). 5th April 2007
The Dark Lurking in Australia
Greg Connors kindly sent me some information about his forthcoming debut feature The Dark Lurking which shot in Queensland at the end of last year. Greg is one third of filmwerx77, along with producers Stuart Wall and Bret Kennedy, who between them won Best Action Short at the New York International Film and Video Festival for their fantasy picture Netherworld. The Dark Lurking has effects by Sharp FX, recently responsible for Ghost Rider’s bike, and will be released in 2008. You can see the teaser trailer and five minutes of footage on the movie’s website or MySpace page.  
Synopsis: “2017: something has gone terribly wrong at Outpost 320, a secret international research facility some 800 meters beneath the snow blown Antarctic wilderness. All communications are gone, all means of escape destroyed and an extremely dangerous horde of creatures is on the loose. For eight survivors, their one possible escape route is through thirteen levels of terror that will lead them to the surface. The Dark Lurking is an adrenaline fuelled thriller in the tradition of such horror classics as Aliens and The Thing.” 27th March 2007
Mr Blades nearing completion
Thomas Lee Rutter (Full Moon Massacre) tells me his second feature Mr Blades has wrapped and is just waiting for the final bits of post. Here is the artwork for the self-distributed DVD. As you can see, the disc will include Tom's surreal short film A Child's Toy. "Other special features are being rounded up," says Tom, "including an alternative cut of the film which will mostly consist of out-takes and blunders." 
27th March 2007
LovecraCked! extended cut in Philadephia
The new extended cut of LovecraCked! The Movie will open the Backseat Film Festival in Philadelphia on 29th March. 27th March 2007
Mark Redfield's new vampire website
Not content with developing his Frankenstein film, his Bulldog Drummond film, his Sherlock Holmes film, and his Houdini graphic novel (while also promoting the DVDs of The Death of Poe, Chainsaw Sally and Cold Harbor), Mark Redfield has a new project in the works: Coming in May, a little something that Stuart Voytilla and I have been working on for some time... The website will eventually launch a printed periodical, much in the spirit of the pulps of yesteryear. We'll eventually be seeking contributors for non-fiction pieces regarding all things vampire-ific; films, books, reviews, etc., but we already have some familiar names from the classic horror film world and will be publishing their works in the first several months as the website grows. If you're interested, please contact me! The heart of VAMPIRE HUNTERS INCORPORATED, however, will be the serialized adventures of one Bertram Welles, vampire hunter. Check in periodically until the launch on May 1. 27th March 2007
No Right Turn - new feature from director of Last Exit
David Noel Bourke, director of Danish thriller Last Exit, has posted a trailer on his site for No Right Turn, his second feature which is described as "haunting fairy-tale thriller set between snowy landscapes and a neon city." The movie stars Laura Bach, Sira Stampe, Tao Hildebrand, Lars Lippert and the ubiquitous Mads Koudal. 10th March 2007
New short from Tom Rutter
Thomas Lee Rutter, director of Full Moon Massacre and the forthcoming Mr Blades, has posted a surreal short film on YouTube. It's called A Child's Toy, features some stop-motion effects and is very, very strange. 10th March 2007
Five years of Strange - new story
It is five years since Strange was broadcast and, to celebrate, Strange Online has added a bunch of new stuff including memories from visual effects guy Alan Marques and even a contribution from the late Ian Richardson. But the centrepiece is a brand new short story about the characters written by series creator Andrew Marshall. 27th February 2007
LovecraCked! screening in New York
There will be a special one-night-only screening of LovecraCked! The Movie - The Extended Cut at the famed Anthology Film Archives in New York City on Wednesday 7th March at 8.00pm. Re-edited by producer/director Elias, this new version of the film features all the blood, gore, scares and laughs of the original and more, including the notorious never-before-seen Coo-coo-Cthulhu! The BiFF JUGGERNAUT team are also currently hard at work negotiating for major national and international distribution for LovecraCked! on DVD. In addition to the extended cut, also planned for this release are a rather enebriated cast/crew commentary, a new mini-doc and a host of other goodies! For more news on this and other BiFF JUGGERNAUT Productions please visit www.biffjuggernaut.com. 26th February 2007
Sci-Fi London
Cine-Excess, the first ever academic conference on cult film, is being organised in London over 3rd-5th May to coincide with this year's Sci-Fi London Film Festival. The conference will include screenings of Gyorgy Palfi's Taxidermia and Stuart Gordon's Edmond and the Guest of Honour will be Roger Corman. The festival itself runs 2nd-6th May and features the world premiere of a digitally restired director's cut of Things to Come with 20 minutes of previously unseen footage. 26th February 2007
New British SF mag on the way
A new magazine about science fiction, Sci-Fi Now, will be launched by Imagine Publishing in April. Priced at four pounds, it is intended to be a rival to SFX. I don't have any details but I have just sent the editor an interview that he wanted for his first issue. 26th February 2007
Mr Hell on DVD!
We thought we might never see it again - certainly the BBC were determined never to repeat it - but all 13 episodes of Aaagh! It's the Mr Hell Show will be released on a double DVD on 2nd April. The sleeve promises: "Stupid sketches, pointless extras and a director's commentary with hypnotic powers." This is the funniest British cartoon series ever. Do not miss. 15th February 2007
US DVD deal for Footsteps
Press release from the makers of Footsteps: "Random Films are proud to announce that the North American license for their debut feature film Footsteps has been picked up by Unearthed Films. With a release planned for the summer of 2007, Random Films opted for Unearthed Films due to their track record of fearless distribution of extreme cinema and their renowned respectful treatment of edgy, hard-hitting films. "Random Films are currently finalising a package of extra features to be included on the eventual DVD release with audio commentaries, production featurettes, cast and crew interviews alongside deleted scenes, alternate scenes and all promotional material from the film." Unearthed also has Frankensteins Bloody Nightmare on its slate of forthcoming releases. Meanwhile Footsteps director Gareth Evans and his Random Films partner, DP Matt Flannery are about to embark upon an entirely different project: "With Matt Flannery working as cinematographer and Gareth Evans as director the pair are travelling to Indonesia in March and April to work on a documentary covering the origins and present day practice of a 1000-year-old martial art called Pencak Silat. The project produced by Award winning actress, producer and former Cannes jury member Christine Hakim is a collection of five separate documentaries being made to celebrate the heritage and practices surrounding Indonesian culture. Gareth says: “Obviously we’re thrilled to have been selected as a part of this project. The subject matter is fascinating; I’ve always had a love for martial arts so I’m hoping we can do Pencak Silat justice by presenting it not just as a means of self-defence but also as a discipline and a way of life. I’m hoping we can convey its importance to both body and soul.” Matt says: “Random Films will continue to take part in diverse and International projects, and this upcoming project shows an exciting direction for the company taking a unique insight into an immensely interesting piece of Indonesian culture and history.” 15th February 2007
King Kong 1976 documentary surfaces!
Last year I filmed an interview for a documentary to be included on a special edition DVD of the 1976 version of King Kong (in fact, I may have filmed it in 2005!). No such DVD ever appeared in either the UK or USA but now my Swedish pal Pidde Anderson has informed me that the Kong '76 Special Edition has been released in Sweden! 15th February 2007
8th Leeds Young People’s Film Festival
Press Highlights of the 8th Leeds Young People’s Film Festival, which runs from 29th March-6th April, include the UK premiere of Hui Buh: The Goofy Ghost, which is best described as family version of Beetlejuice from Germany, The Horror Bus, a scary Dutch movie for youngsters and numerous classic children’s and young people’s including the opportunity to see Labyrinth on the big screen! There’ll also be also be plenty of other screenings, workshops, masterclasses and other events for children and young people of all ages The Film Festival will take place at venues around Leeds with many of the activities being free of charge. Screenings are just £2.00 for under-19s and £3.00 for adults. A Film Festival pass is available for just £10.00 to see ALL the films in the programme. For more details about the programme, times, locations and prices check out the website at www.leedsfilm.com. To ensure you get your brochure, sign up to the mailing list by sending an email with your name, age and full postal address to filmfestival@leeds.gov.uk with ‘LYPFF Mailing List’ in the subject line. You can also ring the Film Festival office on +44 (0) 113 2478398 5th February 2007
Zen Films (London Voodoo/Mindflesh) book and blog
Robert Pratten has been busy, and not just doing post-production on Mindflesh. London Voodoo is finally out on DVD in the UK today (Amazon link) through Jake West's Nucleus Films and to tie in with that, Zen Films has published Love and Sacrifice, an anthology of 12 dark fantasy stories ("touching stories about troubled relationships") - and to tie in with that, one of the stories - 'Stepping Off' by Mike Davis - is available as an MP3 read by Doug Bradley. You can find details of all this at the Zen Films website and you can also check out Rob's new Zen Blog (although that seems to be down at the moment). 31st January 2007
Rondo nominations
The Rondo Award nominees have been announced. As always, it's a naturally very US-centric list with, for example, the 2005 film The Descent and the as-yet-unreleased-in-the-UK The Illusionist in the 'Best Film of 2006' category. In the 'Best Independent Production' category there are three films that I have enjoyed: The Death of Poe (review coming soon), The Naked Monster and Kreating Karloff. You can read the full list here. Nobody nominated me for 'Best Website', I see. Again. 31st January 2007
Intergalactic Combat trailer
Last year I posted, then took down (for a quite life) a review of the terrible sci-fi martial arts feature Intergalactic Combat. Steve Lawson (Insiders, The Silencer) has recently edited a trailer for the film. I will repost my review at some time in the future, don't worry. 29th January 2007
Guests announced for Festival of Fantastic Films
The 2007 Festival of Fantastic Films has some great guests currently lined up: French vampire director Jean Rollin, Boogeyman helmer Ulli Lommel (who recently shot a version of Poe's The Raven), actors John Leyton (Schizo) and Edward De Souza (Kiss of the Vampire) and stuntman Lightning Bear, whose career extends back as far as the original Planet of the Apes. Not yet listed on the website, but confirmed to me by the organisers, is actress Vera Day (Grip of the Strangler). This year's FFF takes places over 31st August to 2nd September in Manchester (as always). Don't miss it! 29th January 2007
Twisted Sisters UK release
Wolfgang Büld's Twisted Sisters comes to UK DVD on 23rd March through Odeon Entertainment, who have previously released Penetration Angst and Lovesick: Sick Love. 29th January 2007
Vote for The Birthday Wish
David Lilley (Close Your Eyes) and Stephen Grey have reached the regional finals of the BAFTA '60 Seconds of Fame' competition for short-short films. You can watch (and vote for!) their wonderful gothic fairy tale The Birthday Wish here. 29th January 2007
Kreating Karloff available on-line
Conor Timis' remarkable documentary Kreating Karloff is now free to download on director Vatche Arabian's On Demand IPTV entertainment website at www.itsmyremote.com/kk.html. I don't claim to understand how these techie things work, I just report 'em. 18th January 2007
Mark Redfield prepping Frankenstein and Sherlock Holmes movies!
Mark Redfield tells me that he is in pre-production for two films resurrecting literary/cinematic icons: The Madness of Frankenstein and The Crimes of Sherlock Holmes. The plan is to shoot the former in the Spring, the latter towards the end of the year - and then follow them up with a Bulldog Drummond movie in 2008! More news as I receive it. Meanwhile, the absence of a review on this site of Mark's latest feature, The Death of Poe, is due to all the review copies that have been sent out disappearing into a black hole. I hope to get my hands on a disc soon and get a review up before January is out. 18th January 2007
Shock for MJ in Eddie Loves You trailer
It has just been brought to my attention that the trailer for Eddie Loves You, available on the film's website, includes clandestine photography of the audience at the Festival of Fantastic Films. The first couple you see is me and Mrs S. Good job it was my wife next to me or that could have been embarrassing... 18th January 2007
Fred Olen Ray's son: debut film available
Christopher Douglas-Olen Ray, son of Fred Olen Ray, has directed his first film, a gangster short called Time of My Life and is selling copies to raise funds for his first feature. You can read my review here and order a copy from Chris here. 16th January 2007
Lee Perkins, Tim Thomerson in Live Evil
Lee Perkins reports on a couple of cool-sounding projects he's involved with: "2007 has already started out bloody. Just finished my part in Live Evil. It's an action packed vampire flick where human blood is becoming unfit. The cast includes Tim Thomerson and Chuck Williams. I play a vampire like you've never seen before. The site will be going live after filming is completed. "Later this month... more blood will flow with Edges of Darkness. I'll be playing a renegade priest who will stop at nothing to destroy the anti-Christ. Jason Horton will direct and it will be great to team up with him, as we were both chased out of New Orleans by Katrina." 16th January 2007
Bane trailer on-line, Witches Hammer UK DVD
The trailer for James Eaves' next feature Bane is now up on the Amber Pictures website. Meanwhile The Witches Hammer will be released on rental DDVD in the UK on 5th March and then on sell-through three weeks later. 5th January 2007
Death of Poe DVD signing
Mark Redfield and friends will be signing copies of his new film The Death of Poe at the Dark Delicacies bookstore in Burbank on 20th January at 2pm. With Mark will be the film's writer/co-producer Stuart Voytilla and actress/composer Jennifer Rouse. - Old news (Jul-Dec 2006)
- Old new (Jan-Jun 2006)
- Old news (2005)
| 
