Old news (July-December 2008) 20th December 2008
Calling all aspiring telefantasy scriptwriters
De Montfort University (where I studied for my MA in Scriptwriting) is organising a Writers Day on Saturday 7th March 2009 on the theme of ‘Fantastic Writing: Science Fiction, Fantasy & Magic: Writing the future, the past and other worlds.’ The speakers lined up include Stephen Volk (Afterlife, Ghostwatch, Octane), James Moran (Severance, Doctor Who, Torchwood), Phil Ford (Doctor Who, Torchwood, Sarah Jane Adventures) and Graham Joyce (horror novelist, recently signed up to write the game Doom 4). Tickets for the event cost £65 each including lunch, refreshments and an evening reception. The uni will be taking bookings from January 2009. Places are limited so to ensure you don’t miss out, please forward your name, postal address, email address and daytime telephone number to Pghums@dmu.ac.uk and you will be sent the relevant booking details. It’s probably worth pointing out that this event is specifically aimed at aspiring scriptwriters (at all levels) rather than just fans. 15th December 2008
Stuart Gordon’s Stuck: UK release
Stuart Gordon has been away from British cinema screens for far too long so it’s a pleasure to report that Stuck, the latest feature from the director of Castle Freak etc, will get a UK theatrical release from 9th January 2009. It was written by John Strysik who also scripted the Danny Draven-directed Stuart Gordon presents DeathBed. 15th December 2008
Trailer park and lift horrors on R2 DVD
Steven Goldman’s Trailer Park of Terror comes to UK DVD on 26th January 2009 courtesy of Spirit Entertainment. It’s the first film from Drac Productions, a spin-off from make-up effects company Studios, whose work includes Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Watchmen. This film must set some sort of record by having (according to the Inaccurate Movie Database) 22 producers of one species or another. The disc includes a trailer, a Making Of and nearly an hour of deleted scenes. Also out on 26th January, through High Fliers, is Blackout, a US horror-thriller directed by Mexican film-maker Rigoberto Castañeda about some people stuck in a lift. 15th December 2008
The Drowned now available
The Drowned is now available for purchase on DVD through online distributor indieflix. Written and directed by Bruce G Hallenbeck (Blood of the Werewolf, Black Easter) and produced in Upstate New York, The Drowned is a psychological ghost story: The Haunting meets The Others. Hallenbeck wrote the screenplays for such notable monster movies as Dr Jekyll and Mistress Hyde, Misty Mundae Mummy Raider and The, ah, Sexy Adventures of Van Helsing. He is also a regular contributor to Little Shoppe of Horrors, Fangoria and other horror mags and is working on a book about comedy-horror movies for McFarland. Thanks to associate producer/editor/actor Jeff Kirkendall for letting me know about this one. Find out more at www.paganproductions.net. 6th December 2008
Watch Out in Kansas City and on DVD
The Independent Filmmakers Coalition will present Steve Balderson’s Watch Out on 19th December at the Just Off Broadway Theater in Kansas City. Author Joseph Suglia and Steve will be there in person to do a Q&A afterwards. And you can now order the film on DVD (with a quote from me on the sleeve!) from Amazon or direct from www.watchoutfilm.com. The disc includes a commentary by Steve, Suglia and actors Matt Riddlehoover and Erin Pullen. 6th December 2008
I Love You in London
Tristan Versluis reports that I Love You will make its London debut as part of the 6th London Short Film Festival which runs from 9th to 18th January 2009. Tristan’s film will be part of the Late Night Horror selection screening at Shunt Vaults, Joiner Street, London Bridge SE1 (entrance inside London Bridge tube) on Friday 16th January at 11pm. 6th December 2008
Two from Kim Sonderhølm
Danish actor/film-maker Kim Sonderhølm has two films released on R1 DVD on 9th December. He has a leading role in Michael Mouyal’s historical adventure A Viking Saga: Son of Thor (Amazon) and then there’s Kim’s own directorial debut Craig (Amazon) in which he also stars). The cast of Craig also includes Peter Otteson (Last Exit), Russ Diaper (Spirits of the Fall) and Lloyd Kaufman. 6th December 2008
Christmas on Mars in Hull
Hull Film have a free screening of Christmas on Mars, a bizarre sci-fi musical made by and starring popular beat combo The Flaming Lips. The film is showing at The Lamp, Norfolk Street, Hull at 8pm on Sunday 14th December. Hull Film’s next short film festival is 21st-26th April 2009. 6th December 2008
Hardcore director’s first film serialised online
Mark Withers (director of Hardcore: A Poke into the Adult Film Orifice) has posted his earlier feature film, Darktaile, online in eight ten-minute chunks which will be available on various video hosting websites such as Megavideo, Metacafe, Daily Motion, Ice Whole and Facebook from 10th December 2008. Mark says: “Darktaile ran into censorship problems back in the day and after the festival circuit it was such a self financed low budget project that as producer I kinda' just left it. Until now... I've decided to serialise it and have left it 'as is', that is to say I haven't gone back and tinkered with the film. Darktaile is a Lynch-like noir mystery about an un-named and disillusioned hit-man who meets an agarophobic sleepwalker named Laura who has a dog called Ralph. It is dark in its themes and humour, although worth a watch out of curiosity if nothing else! The film was shot on celluloid and 85% of the audio was created after shooting - the entire production was nearly three years.” There is a trailer for Darktaile on Metacafe here. 2nd December 2008
MindFlesh online screening
If you would like to watch Robert Pratten’s MindFlesh for free, you can catch it in its entirety on the web this month. The Twitch website will screen the film for three days: 12th, 13th and 14th December. More details here. 27th November 2008
Man Who Sold the World and Bane at UK film festival
Louis Melville’s Man Who Sold the World is to have its world premiere in, of all places, Dorset in January. It is screening as part of the Bourne to Die Film Festival in Christchurch over 16th-18th January 2009, as is Jim Eaves’ Bane. Other films being screened include Shawn Linden’s Nobody, Christopher Denham’s Home Movie, Michael Shelton’s Basement Jack, Wyatt Weed’s Shadowland, Jon Hewitt’s Acolytes, Josh Eisenstadt’s Dark Reel, Tony Randel’s The Double Born, Duane P Craig’s Cruel and a brand new British zero-budget indie feature called The Season of the Witch, directed by Peter Goddard. (While I wish the organisers of Bourne to Die the best of luck, I must say that both their website and their full-page ad in the latest Gorezone look terribly amateur and are barely readable in places. Sort your marketing out, guys!) 27th November 2008
Colour from the Dark UK premiere!
I am extremely excited to announce that Ivan Zuccon’s magnificent Colour from the Dark - which in my opinion is “the first truly great Italian horror film of the 21st century” - will have a UK premiere at the Prince Charles Cinema in London on Saturday 24th January. Ivan will be in attendance along with actors Michael Segal, Marysia Kay and Eleanor James (and me, of course!). Marysia (who is currently prepping her own directorial debut, Hell Hath No Fury) is handling tickets which are an extremely reasonable ten quid so contact her directly at marysiak@marysia.com to book your seats. 8th November 2008
New Live Evil trailer
Jay Woelfel’s eagerly awaited vampire picture Live Evil has a new trailer online, featuring the legendary Tim Thomerson, the great Ken Foree and a very cool and expensive-looking car crash. Can’t wait to see this one. Thanks to Lee Perkins for the heads-up. 8th November 2008
MindFlesh available on DVD and download
Robert Pratten’s extraordinary second feature MindFlesh is now available on DVD and, for those of you more modern than myself, as some sort of download thing. Rob is self-distributing the film (in a two-disc edition) through Amazon and CreateSpace and it can be downloaded from Caachi, whatever that is. You can find out more details and more about Rob’s reasons for this on this blog post. 8th November 2008
Into the Woods - new Phil Herman trailer
Phil Herman sent me a link to the new trailer for his forthcoming feature Into the Woods, starring Tiffany Sinclair and Joel D Wynkoop. You can check out the trailer on YouTube and find out more about Phil’s work at the Falcon Video website. 8th November 2008
Screamtime video on the big screen!
A trilogy of ultra-rare British horror films directed by Stanley Long and Michael Armstrong get a sure-to-sell-out screening at the National Film Theatre on 20th February 2009. That’s the Way to Do It (aka Killer Punch), Dream House and Do You Believe in Fairies? (aka Garden of Blood) were originally released on video in 1980 as a sort-of-anthology under the title Screamtime. The NFT screening will include a Q&A with Long, Armstrong and John Stiles MBE who provided the puppets and voices for That’s the Way to Do It (and he’s bringing the original puppets with him!). More info at www.stanleylong.com; tickets available from the BFI. 8th November 2008
Fulci tribute documentary
Tempe release the documentary feature Paura: Lucio Fulci Remembered Vol.1 on 3rd February 2009. Who was Lucio Fulci, director of such horror classics as Zombi 2, City of the Living Dead and The Beyond - an eccentric? A misogynist? A genius? Much speculation surrounded the life of this revered Italian director since his untimely death in 1996. Divided into three categories - Accomplices (Crew), Peers (Directors) and Victims (Actors) - the acquaintances Fulci engaged with throughout his long and diverse moviemaking career recall good, bad and sometimes ugly anecdotes by revealing the answer to one question: “What is your fondest memory of Lucio Fulci?” Seven years in the making, nearly 90 interviews and almost four hours of footage - a must for any fan of EuroHorror cinema, limited to only 2,500 copies! More info at www.pauraprod.com 30th October 2008
One Day Removals nominated for Raindance Award
One Day Removals, the new black comedy from The Planet director Mark Stirton, has been nominated for the Raindance Award at the British Independent Film Awards. This is the award for genuinely low-budget indies to balance the fact that all the main awards go to relatively big budget (for the UK) productions like Eden Lake and In Bruges. Evil Aliens won the Raindance Award a couple of years ago. Congratulations to Mark and co on the nomination. 30th October 2008
Red Princess Blues video game
Alex (Broken) Ferrari is still developing his long-awaited action flick Red Princess Blues but in the meantime he has created a spin-off video game called Red Princess Blues: Blade of Vengeance. You can see a trailer for it here. 24th October 2008
New Waiting for Gorgo stills
The guys at Cinemagine, the production company making Waiting for Gorgo, have added some stills to their site including a photo of Nicholas Amer, who was not around when I visited the set. 24th October 2008
Footsteps director shooting martial arts movie
Gareth Evans, Welsh director of the superb Footsteps, now lives in Indonesia and recently directed a documentary about Pencak Silat, a form of martial art native to that country - and little known outside. Now ‘GH Evans’ is starting production on Merantau, a feature film based around Pencak Silat and starring Iko Uwais, an expert in the technique who could become the Indonesian Tony Jaa. Mads Koudal is in the cast too, as is French actor Laurent Beson who was in Silver Hawk alongside Michelle Yeoh and Luke Goss. Matt Flannery, who lit Footsteps, reteams with Gareth to handle cinematography. A website for the film is now on-line including the first instalment of a video production blog. 24th October 2008
Colour from the Dark New York report, Italian premiere news
Ivan Zuccon’s Colour from the Dark had its world premiere in New York last Sunday, with not only Ivan himself in attendance but also actors Matteo Tosi, Michael Segal, Alessandra Guerzoni, Gerry Shanahan and Debbie Rochon. You can see a photo of all six as part of this report on the Fangoria website. Among the horror folk in the audience were Fango’s Tony Timpone and Michael Gingold, Phantasm director Don Coscarelli, Zombiez director Zack Snygg and my pal Conor Timmis who immediately e-mailed me to tell me it was “The best Italian horror film I've seen.” That same weekend, Ivan Michael and Matteo were guests on the Fangoria Radio Show (which is, conveniently, hosted by Ms Rochon). Colour from the Dark has its domestic premiere at the Tohorror Filmfest in Torino on Halloween, which is also screening Emilio Ranzani’s Langliena among a bunch of home-grown short films on 29th October. 24th October 2008
Become a vampire!
Received from Brain Damage Films: Greetings Gorehounds,
This is Jeff Miller, Director of Brain Damage Films' next movie, VAMPEGEDDON. I'd like to let you know about an exciting contest we have going for YOU to have the opportunity to be in our next movie!
Vampegeddon is a new horror film being shot in Arizona this December. The film was written by David C. Hayes and is being produced by Brain Damage Films in association with Trout Creative.
This is your chance to be in a feature film! We're raffling off the opportunity to be cast in the film as "Reincarnated Vampire". You will get to work alongside David C. Hayes (Sportkill, Dark Places) and Shane Dean (The Death Factory Bloodletting). The winner will be flown out and have room and board paid.
Tickets for the contest are $10.00 a piece. See the official contest rules for more information.
Be sure to add yourselves to our MySpace page as well! Follow along with us as we move from early stages of pre-production up until the film is finished. We'll be keeping everyone up to date on how things are going with casting, video blogs, behind the scenes during production and more!
I look forward to having as many of you take part as possible and working with the winner. 20th October 2008
Three giants of New BrItish Horror - together at last!
Oh man, it’s not often I get hugely excited about an upcoming project but this one that Pat Higgins just e-mailed me about has the potential to be one of the best British horror films ever. It’s called Bordello Death Tales and it’s a three-part anthology variously directed by Pat (KillerKiller, The Devil’s Music), Jim Eaves (The Witches Hammer, Bane) and Alan Ronald (Jesus vs the Messiah). The “three dark tales from behind the closed bedroom doors of Madame Raven's bordello” are as follows: The Ripper, written and directed by Jim Eaves: “a brutal and bloody story that delivers the gore”
A spate of ghoulish murders introduces us to Graham, a strange man with a dark and twisted secret, he kills prostitutes. After butchering his latest victim and burying her corpse in the forest, Graham happens upon Madame Raven's Bordello looking for a “date” to satisfy his horrific compulsion. Instantly recognising Graham’s lust for violence Madame Raven selects a specialist in this area - the meek and timid Lily. When Graham takes Lily home (planning to add another notch to his bloody axe handle) he discovers Lily isn’t quite what she seems. Vice Day, written and directed by Pat Higgins: “sinister, sinful and gloriously screwed up”
Daniel Cain knows all about frustration. His political desires mean that his public image must be squeaky clean, and his more primal urges must be pushed deep, deep inside. To prevent the pressure from getting too much, he allows himself a "vice day" every year, when he lets his wicked side come out to play. Booze, drugs, gambling, women…but that's just the mild stuff. There's something darker yet lurking in Daniel Cain, and a beautiful girl on the other end of a webcam link is about to discover just how dangerous his subconscious can get. Stitchgirl, written and directed by Alan Ronald: “an homage to classic Universal horrors such as The Bride of Frankenstein, a horrifyingly hilarious, eye-staggering tale of terror”
When the mysterious Doctor Whale pays a visit to Madam Raven’s Bordello, the goings on deep down in the cellars of the brothel begin to come to light. The promise of money can be very persuasive and Doctor Whale is intent on getting what he wants for the evening, a girl that matches his exact specifications; literally tailor-made. But the good doctor gets more than he bargains for when he meets Stitchgirl. The last thing you expect to find in a brothel is love... particularly with a girl who literally comes to pieces. The sexy and talented cast includes Danielle Laws (KillerKiller, HellBride, Lesbian Vampire Killers and just finished Doghouse for Jake West) and Eleanor James (The Devil’s Music, Zombies of the Night, HellBride, Webkam). Photography on Bordello Death Tales is almost wrapped and there is already a teaser trailer on YouTube. I defy you to watch this and immediate start getting impatient to see the film. 20th October 2008
More Pat Higgins news
HellBride has been picked up by the redoubtable Brain Damage films for US release, probably early 2009. And The Devil’s Music won Best Independent Feature at last weekend’s Festival of Fantastic Films. 20th October 2008
Creepies director gets Rat Scratch Fever
Jeff Leroy, director of Creepies and Werewolf in a Women’s Prison, has a new movie on the way: Rat Scratch Fever. The trailer is now available on YouTube and it looks utterly insane. Can’t wait to see this one (you can never have too many giant rat films). 20th October 2008
LoveCracked creator says being dead sucks
Elias, mono-monickered director of LoveCracked! The Movie, sent me the following press release full of good news: Preliminary production on Biff Juggernaut's newest feature flick Dead Sucks is underway. Written originally as a feature-length TV pilot, the film's writer/director Elias would like to see the movie spawn a series or at the very least some sequels. Dead Sucks chronicles the misadventures of Burt, a wayward vampire with a messy past, an uncertain future and a disproportionate need for sleep. Rejected by both vampires and humans alike, he searches to find his place in a world where the only thing that sucks more than being alive is being dead. A teaser trailer, pics and more are now available on the movie's official site www.deadsucks.com. Look for a full trailer soon, to be followed by the online release of a short prologue (the first seven minutes of the film), intended to give viewers a taste of what's to come. 14th October 2008
Sea of Dust at FFF
Scott Bunt dropped me a line to let me know that his hotly anticipated gothic horror feature Sea of Dust will screen at the Festival of Fantastic Films in Manchester this Friday, introduced by Ingrid Pitt who is among the cast (as is Tom Savini). Unfortunately I’m not going to be in Manchester until Saturday lunchtime. You can find out more about the film at www.seaofdust.com 14th October 2008
Animated zombie film
The ever-busy Lee Perkins dropped me a line to let me know that he is teaming up again with Justin Paul Ritter who directed him in KatieBird *Certifiable Crazy Person. Ritter is making an animated zombie film called The Living Corpse - not to be confused with the Lollywood (Pakistani) vampire flick of the same name - and Perkins provides one of the voices. 11th October 2008
Announcing... Waiting for Gorgo
Technically this is news from July but I have held off until now because I wanted to get hold of some images before I put a page about this on my site. Waiting for Gorgo is a 15-minute script which I wrote a couple of years ago that was filmed this summer (at Elstree!) and is now in post-production. It looks fabulous and I can’t wait to see it on the big screen. I will keep you all up to date with news from now on and of course announce which festivals it will screen at. For now, here are some behind-the-scene shots of my day on set. A couple of stills should be on the Fangoria website this week. 11th October 2008
Ingrid Pitt added to Manchester guest list
With less than a week until this year’s Festival of Fantastic Films, Hammer diva Ingrid Pitt has been added to the guest line-up. 10th October 2008
Bane wins Best Horror Feature
Jim Eaves’ corking SF/horror movie Bane has won the award for ‘Best Horror Feature’ at the LA Shriekfest Film Festival. The film is now off to Germany where it will be shown at the Amberg Horror Film Festival, which runs from 30th October to 2nd November. (NB. That’s Amberg, not Hamburg!) 10th October 2008
Hollywood Mortuary rises again
Ron Ford’s Hollywood Mortuary is once more available and can be purchased for a kibblesworth under ten bucks from indieflix.com. Ron calls the film “the purest representation of my individual, bizarre sense of humour yet put on film.” It stars Randall Malone and features appearances by Margaret O’Brien, David DeCoteau and silent star Anita Page who passed away recently. 10th October 2008
The Disappeared - world tour and AFM dates
My mate Johnny Kevorkian’s film The Disappeared is getting good reviews although I haven’t yet had a chance to see it. Here are some of the play-dates coming up: - 9th October - Roxie Theater, San Francisco (Dead Channels Film Festival)
- 10th October, Edinboro (NB. not Edinburgh!)
- October 13th - Grauman Mann's Chinese 6, Hollywood (Screamfest LA)
- 23rd-27th October - Dublin, Ireland (Horrorthon)
- 28th October to 1st November - Ravenna, Italy (Nightmare Film Festival)
- 6th-14th November - Malaga, Spain (Malaga Festival de Cine Fantastico)
- 7th November - Le Merigot 4, Santa Monica (AFM)
- 10th November - Mann Criterion 2, Santa Monica (AFM)
You can find out more at losttribeproductions.co.uk 10th October 2008
Mutant Chronicles opens
All my on-set interviews have now been added to the site - you can find a full list on the Mutant Chronicles Chronicles page where I have also added a link to a page on Simon Hunter’s site which lists all the UK cinemas where the film is playing from tonight. Death Ray were supposed to be putting my interview with Simon on their site but they haven’t got round to it yet. 6th October 2008
Far Out - amendment
The bad news is that Leicester Phoenix has been unable to arrange the planned double bill of Bride of Frankenstein and The Old Dark House on Sunday 2nd November. The good news is that, on that date, Phoenix will be screening Neil Marshall’s Doomsday, as well as the other previously announced films. 6th October 2008
Lamberto Bava and more confirmed for FFF
Late-breaking news from the organisers of the Festival of Fantastic Films in Manchester is that Lamberto Bava has confirmed his attendance, alongside previously announced guests Robert Fuest, Jess Conrad, John Scott and Damien Thomas. Also at the Festival will be Michael Roesch and Peter Schneerer who will bring two films with them: Brotherhood of Blood starring Sid Haig, Ken Foree and Jason Connery; plus Alone in the Dark II (the sequel to Uwe Boll’s movie, which Roesch and Schneerer co-wrote), starring Lance Henriksen, Bill Mosely, Ralf Moeller, Danny Trejo, Michael Paré, PJ Soles - and Jason Connery. As if all that wasn’t enough, the FFF will have the UK premieres of Boston Strangler: The Untold Story and Dracula’s Guest, both produced and directed by Michael Feifer, producer of The Graveyard and Are You Scared? Plus festival regulars Norman J Warren and Richard Gordon will be there, enjoying the weekend and chatting with attendees, and there will be a chance to see the brand new documentary Legend of the Hammer Vampires. The FFF is not only the UK’s longest-running genre event, it’s also the friendliest and most informal. It probably won’t run for to many more years so make sure you’re in Manchester over 17th-19th October. Stop Press: Movies confirmed for the Independent Film Competition include Gary Fierro’s Pickman’s Model, Pat Higgin’s The Devil’s Music and Ed Radmanich’s Coldspot (which is in my TBW pile and is Ed’s follow-up to Artie Saves the Hood). 6th October 2008
New movie from John R Hand
John R Hand, director of the extraordinary Frankensteins Bloody Nightmare, has sent me a screener of his second feature, Scars of Youth, which I have added to my TBW pile and will review in due course. You can find out more about the film and watch the trailer at www.jrhfilms.com/soy 2nd October 2008
Far Out - full line-up announced
The line-up for this year’s Far Out Festival at Leicester Phoenix has now been announced and it looks great. The three-day event kicks off on Halloween with David Lynch’s Eraserhead, 1960s British horror Corruption (almost certainly the nastiest film that Peter Cushing ever starred in!), Larry Fessenden’s superb eco-horror film The Last Winter, 2002 French shocker Malefique, the UK premiere of 2007 Spanish flick Fermat’s Room and the bonkers-sounding Blood Car - about car that runs on blood! Saturday is Day of the Undead (see below) and on Sunday 2nd November there’s a wonderful James Whale double-bill of The Old Dark House (starring Elsa Lanchester’s husband, Charles Laughton) and Bride of Frankenstein (starring Charles Laughton’s wife Elsa Lanchester), followed by Race with the Devil, Witchfinder General and Carl Dreyer’s 1932 classic Vampyr. The whole thing rounds off with something weird and sexy called Viva. A full weekend pass costs £50. Full details at www.phoenix.org.uk 1st October 2008
Day of the Undead films announced
This year’s Far Out Festival of Fantastique Film at Leicester Phoenix runs from 31st October to 2nd November and, while I don’t yet have full details, here’s the run down on Saturday 1st November which is a 12 hours of zombie fun - Day of the Undead 2008. The fun kicks off at noon with the original, classic Night of the Living Dead, followed by a compilation of zombie shorts with the audience voting for their favourite. This is followed by the bonkers Pakistani zombie flick Hell’s Ground and the storming Zombie Strippers, starring Jenna Jameson and Robert Englund. Return of the Living Dead (the first one!) comes next and the day rounds off with the UK premiere of a brand new Kiwi feature, Last of the Living. Throughout the day there will be make-up artists and give-aways and all sorts of generally undead stuff. More details at terror4fun.com. You can book for individual films or get an all-day pass for twenty quid from phoenix.org.uk 1st October 2008
Suddenly it’s the Mutant Chronicles!
Two years ago I visited the set of Simon Hunter’s Mutant Chronicles and did a round of interviews with Simon, Thomas Jane, producers, effects people, other cast members etc. Since then I’ve been waiting for the film to be released. Well, suddenly there are adverts on telly announcing that it hits cinema on Friday 10th October - that’s next week! It’s always a bit worrying when a film comes out without any coverage in the monthly film mags - and it also means that I’ve had no chance to sell these interviews. Unless I can find somewhere that wants them, I’ll put the whole load up here next week. The film’s website is www.mutantchroniclesthemovie.com 1st October 2008
Watch Out world tour
Steve Balderson’s extraordinary Watch Out is on a world tour, including a screening in London this Saturday (4th October) as part of Raindance. It’s also coming to Lawrence, Washington DC, Seattle, San Francisco, Charlottesville, Denver, Asheville, Austin and LA. But if you planned to see the film in Reykjavik - sorry, that one’s sold out. Check the website for full details of screenings. 1st October 2008
One Day Removals premiere in London
Mark Stirton’s follow-up to The Planet, the black comedy One Day Removals, receives its world premiere at Raindance on Saturday 11th October. Find out more at stirtonproductions.com or book tickets for the premiere on the Raindance website. 1st October 2008
Mr McKinley at Raindance
As well as One Day Removals and Watch Out, Raindance has a bundle of shorts on Friday 10th October which includes the world’s only silent splatter movie, Mr McKinley in Moviola Mayhem. The Loonatik and Drinks team of Stephen Gray and Dave Lilley have recently revamped the audio on Vespers (not a problem that I noticed, I must admit) and are hard at work finishing off Lucy Spook in My Funny Valentine. 25th September 2008
High Treason screening in London
There’s a rare chance to see the fascinating-but-disappointing 1929 sci-fi epic High Treason in London next month - but you’ll need to wrap up warm. It’s being shown outside in Trafalgar Square on Thursday 23rd October as part of what is technically called The Times BFI 52nd London Film Festival. This is the silent version (the sound elements don’t exist for the talkie version, alas) with live piano accompaniment by ace accompanist Neil Brand. While High Treason can’t help but be a let-down, it will be worth catching the supporting short which is a ten-minute film from 1924 called The Fugitive Futurist. 25th September 2008
Damien Thomas at FFF
There’s bad news and good news around this year’s Festival of Fantastic Films. Unfortunately, John Saxon, Horst Janson and Emily Booth have all had to cancel. This leaves actor Jess Conrad, director Robert Fuest and composer John Scott on the guest list. However, a new name has been added too, which is actor Damien Thomas from Twins of Evil and Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger. The FFF is held in Manchester over 17th-19th October. I’ll be there but only from about Saturday lunchtime to Sunday lunchtime. 25th September 2008
Signings at Gorezone Weekend of Horrors
I was just checking the list of guests attending the Gorezone weekend of horrors next month and realised that Kelly Dolen, director of The Gates of Hell, is the same person as ‘Kel Dolen’ who directed dodgy Australian vampire flick Reign in Darkness. Here’s your chance to ask him why it’s called Reign in Darkness when almost the entire film takes place in daylight. Also lined up are composer Claudio Simonetti, make-up FX guys Ryan Nicholson and Robbie Drake (ask him about Evil Calls!), directors Tim Sullivan, Matthew Hope, Oliver Beguin, Eben McGarr and Alex Pucci, producer Annick Mahnert and of course Miss Emily Booth. 25th September 2008
Jack Says DVD and graphic novel
British indie film noir thriller Jack Says is now available on DVD from HMV and all good retailers. It stars Simon Phillips and Danny Idollor Jr who were both in Jesus vs the Messiah, with Rula Lenska (don’t mention Queen Kong!), EastEnders/Runaround legend Mike Reid (in his last ever performance), Christopher Fosh and Forbes KB (sic) who are both in A Day of Violence - and Eric Cantona as ‘Man at bar’. The DVD includes deleted scenes, footage of the premiere screening, a Making Of and an ‘Eric Cantona gag reel’. There is also a prequel graphic novel called Jack Said. 25th September 2008
Kreating Karloff and Pickman's Model on DVD
Conor Timmis’ tribute to the master, Kreating Karloff, will be commercially available from 18th November as a packed DVD which includes three more films starring Conor and a bunch of other stuff. For your money you get not only KK itself, replete with bloopers and out-takes, but also Pickman’s Model (with its Making Of), Re-Animator 1942 and Lincoln assassination mini-biopic Booth. There’s another featurette called Creating a Villain, there’s a Frankenstein-related music video by a band called Not for Nothing and there’s a booklet about Karloff’s life and work written by horror journo Steve Vertlieb. The whole package runs two hours and is available to order now from oldies.com for a bargaintastic eight bucks. 
25th September 2008
The Thalus Trilogy, apparently
I was sent this link to a trailer for something called Antlers of Reason: The Thalus Trilogy. It seems to include a certain amount of sex and violence. However. although I’ve followed the various links from that site and even googled the title, I can’t find anything anywhere explaining what this actually is. Someone, I think, need to consider their marketing. 25th September 2008
Doghouse trailer
Jake West has now wrapped Doghouse and has posted an initial teaser trailer here. Please note that this is just a rough trailer assembled using rushes from the first few weeks’ shooting. Apparently it does not represent the full flavour of the finished movie - but I hope it does because it’s ace! 25th September 2008
Plumber and Diary nominated for award
Ever heard of the British Thunderclap Award? Nope, neither have I but it’s got a website. Apparently an anonymous panel have selected a number of independent British films to form a shortlist, then you and I get to vote for our favourite between 27th September and 27th October. Among the nominees are Vampire Diary and The Adventures of a Plumber in Outer Space. I don’t know who’s running this but they don’t seem to have done anything to publicise it yet. 25th September 2008
Bane US premiere
James Eaves’ cracking sci-fi/horror picture Bane, which has already screened at festivals in the UK and Italy, will have its US premiere at Shriekfest on Saturday 4th October. The venue is Raleigh Studios, 5300 Melrose, Hollywood CA and kick-off is 10.15pm. 5th September 2008
MJS article in Video Watchdog
Nine years ago I recorded a terrific interview with veteran character actor Dabbs Greer about his memories of It! The Terror from Beyond Space, The Adventures of Superman and the rest of his extraordinary career. This has sat on my hard drive all this long time but will finally see print in issue 144 of Video Watchdog, which goes on sale on 3rd October. On the VW site, click on ‘coming soon’ to see the cover, then click on the cover for a sneak peek of the interview’s opening spread. 5th September 2008
Wartime horror at Lovecraft fest
Conor Timmis reports that Re-Animator: 1942, from the team that brought you Pickman’s Model, has been selected for screening at the 2008 HP Lovecraft Film Festival, which will be held at the Hollywood Theatre, Portland, Oregon over 3rd-5th October. 5th September 2008
Press release: Ghost Machine, new UK horror, starts filming in Belfast
London: 5 September 2008 – Principal photography begins today in Belfast’s Crumlin Road Gaol on director Chris Hartwill’s feature debut Ghost Machine, a supernatural thriller starring Sean Faris, Rachael Taylor, Luke Ford and Richard Dormer. This is the third feature from Generator Entertainment and will be produced by the company’s Simon Bosanquet and Mark Huffam. Thrill-seeking military technicians and computer-game enthusiasts Tom (Faris) and Vic (Ford) recklessly smuggle a top-secret, virtual warfare training programme out of their base and into a spooky disused jail, while a vengeful spirit infiltrates the software and draws them into an all-too-real game of life and death. When Special Forces trainee Jess (Taylor) tracks the group down she embarks on a rescue mission that will take her into a virtual world as deadly as any real war-zone as she becomes their only hope for survival. Ghost Machine is directed by Chris Hartwill from a screenplay by Sven Hughes and Malachi Smyth based on an original story by Sven Hughes. Hartwill, an award-winning commercials director based at one of the UK’s leading Commercials outfits, RSA (Ridley Scott Associates), has recently directed episodes of the hit US series Numb3rs. Taking up producer duties on the film will be Generator’s Simon Bosanquet (The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, Ripley’s Game) and Mark Huffam (Mamma Mia!, Saving Private Ryan). The behind-the-scenes team also includes Lighting Cameraman George Richmond, until now known for his outstanding operating work on films including Children of Men and Wanted and Mark Nelmes, visual effects supervisor at Framestore. 5th September 2008
MJS' David Winning interview on Fango site
An interview that I did with my pal David Winning about his creature feature Something Beneath, which was originally planned for Fangoria, has appeared (in an extended version) on the mag’s website instead. 30th August 2008
Zombie triple-pack coming to UK DVD
Three new zombie pictures will be collected into a triple-disc box set entitled Rise of the Flesheaters, set for release on 20th October in the UK. The films are Days of Darkness (which you can catch on the big screen at the Gorezone Weekend of Horror), Zombies Zombies Zombies (released on 6th October, currently in my TBW pile) and The Zombie Diaries. 30th August 2008
Gorezone Weekend of Horror update
The twelfth and final feature has been added to the Gorezone Weekend of Horror line-up. It’s Tokyo Zombie, a 2005 feature written and directed by Sakichi Sato who wrote Takashi Miike’s Gozu and Ichi the Killer. 30th August 2008
Langliena update
Emiliano Ranzani has sent me the poster design for his short Langliena. It is inspired by the poster design for Pupi Avati’s Il Nascondiglio/The Hideout and the tagline means ‘Death is life ... it’s food!’ 28th August 2008
Exclusive Gorezone Weekend of Horror details
Bryn at Gorezone has kindly sent me an exclusive list of what's on offer at the Gorezone Weekend of Horror in October. Check it out here. (I've added links to the film's websites so you can see what you'll be getting.) 24th August 2008
Colour from the Dark premiere details
The world premiere of Ivan Zuccon’s new film Colour from the Dark will take place in New York on 19th October 2008. The film will be shown at the Two Boots Pioneer Theater, 155 East 3rd Street at 9pm with Ivan, Debbie Rochon and other cast and crew in attendance. 24th August 2008
Three MJS features in Fangoria
The latest issue of Fangoria (issue 276, with Jack Brooks - Monster Slayer on the cover) includes a feature that I wrote on Vampire Diary. The next issue should have my feature on NyMpha and in the issue after that I’m covering The Zombie Diaries. However, someone else will be covering Jake West’s Doghouse for the mag as scheduling conflicts prevent me from getting down to the set. 24th August 2008
Ron’s shorter Road
My pal Ron Ford reports that The Road has been re-edited down to 34 minutes (from 40) and he is happier with the new cut. The running time was originally imposed by the requirements of the anthology Goregoyles III, which would have paired the film with a similar-length non-Ron short. As this has now fallen through, Ron will be releasing The Road as half of his own anthology Horror Grindshow - and he can make the two halves any length he likes. 24th August 2008
New Italian horror short: Langliena
Emiliano Ranzani sent me some images from his new short film Langliena which looks utterly brilliant. Emiliano is a cinema student in Italy and collaborated with Emanule de Luca, an FX artist who was the protégé of top effects bloke Rosario Prestopino (Nights of Terror, Fighting Centurions, Demons, Demons 2, Meridian: Kiss of the Beast, etc.). A screener is on the way and a review will appear here as soon as I’ve seen the film. 
21st August 2008
Watch out, here comes Watch Out
Back in 2005 Steve Balderson ‘distributed’ the sublimely wonderful Firecracker by taking it on tour, cinema by cinema. The result, documented in Wamego Strikes Back, was a resounding public and critical success which cocked a snook to Hollywood. Well, he’s doing the same thing with the jaw-dropping Watch Out, kicking off with a world premiere at Raindance in London. A full itinerary will be posted on the film’s website on 1st September. Oh, and if you want Steve and his movie to visit your town, just drop him a line via his MySpace page. 13th August 2008
Gorezone Weekend of Horrors
GoreZone magazine’s first annual Weekend of Horror takes place at the Odeon Cinema, Covent Garden over 18th-19th October, screening twelve films and hosted by the ubiquitous Emily Booth. The event includes the world premieres of Kelly Dolen’s The Gates of Hell and Andrew Miles’ Fragment and UK premieres of Alex Pucci’s Frat House Massacre, Ryan Nicholson’s Gutterballs, Jeff LeRoy’s Werewolf in a Women’s Prison, Eben McGarr’s Sick Girl, Tim Sullivan’s Driftwood and Peter Burger’s The Tattooist - plus a preview screening of Vinnie Jones-starring, Clive Barker splatfest Midnight Meat Train. Tickets can be bought from www.gorezone.co.uk/shop or by calling 0844 800 2885. 13th August 2008
Polish-Canadian Operation Sunrise trailer
Canadian/Polish horror/war movie Operation Sunrise has been finished and is ready to premiere. It was written and directed by Donovan Cerminara and produced by Florian Dedio for their company Bull by the Horns Productions. Shooting wrapped in May 2007 in Kotla, Poland. The film is described as “gruelling, disturbing, messy and gory” and the trailer is available on YouTube. The cast includes the director Donovan Cerminara (Riddle of the Sphinx, Flash Gordon TV series), along with Jamie Switch (Bloodrayne 2, Far Cry), Thomas J Potter (Blood: A Butcher’s Tale, The Bullet), Kim Sønderholm (Craig, The Horror Vault), Polish actors Robert Olech, Saniwoj Król, Karin Hanczewski, Mateusz Mlodzianowski and German actors Patrick Jahns and Johannes Kochs. 13th August 2008
First stills from new Brummie horror WebKam
A new British horror film called WebKam wrapped principal photography in Birmingham last week. It stars Eleanor James (HellBride, The Devil’s Music), Joanne Gale (When Evil Calls) and the unbelievably busy Kim Sønderholm (Craig, Deadly Pursuit). Here’s the synopsis: Victoria is a bit sad due due to a break-up with her boyfriend, Matt. Her best friend Lilly tries to cheer her up, but fails. One day a strange character wearing a clown mask appears on her computer screen. He calls himself Kam and he wants to play a game - it is the beginning of grueling nightmare for Victoria. 
 
13th August 2008
Tristan Versluis' Predator video
Top prosthetic effects bloke Tristan Versluis was called on to make a mask of Predator for a new pop video which is now up on YouTube. The song is called ‘The Comedown’ and the band is a ‘deathcore’ beat combo from Sheffield called Bring Me the Horizon. It’s a funny video but if, like me, you’re the wrong side of 35, you may want to watch it with the, ahem, ‘music’ off. 9th August 2008
Jake West Week concludes
All the various interviews that I have with cast and crew from Razor Blade Smile, Evil Aliens and Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes have now been combined into a subsite called Wild Wild West: The Official Jake West Fansite. 20th July 2008
MJ returns to the screen in Statica
Last year, when I shot my scenes for Thomas Lee Rutter’s slasher indie Mr Blades, I also shot some stuff for Statica, a science fiction film being made by Tom’s brother Andrew. It was real guerilla film-making; I never saw a script and still know virtually nothing about either the film or my character! However, a screener is on its way to Leicester and in the meantime a trailer for Statica is now available to view on MySpace. (This brings my on-screen credits to four and seems as good a point as any to remind all you British indie film-makers out there that I’m available for acting gigs. I’m not saying I would automatically give a favourable review to any film that I appear in, but let’s face it...) 20th July 2008
Steve Balderson's latest - Watch Out
Steve Balderson’s latest feature, Watch Out, poppped through the letterbox this week and will be reviewed here very shortly. Steve tells me: “Watch Out is the best thing I’ve done. Small crew, intimate settings, no excess spending ... and the actors are dynamite. I really started to appreciate what it takes to do it. They are nits. They have to be. And the music, symbolism, all of it... it just hasn’t felt so unified for me as filmmaking goes until now.” Given that Firecracker was so astonishingly brilliant, the prospect of something potentially even better is very exciting indeed. You can find out more, including a bunch of video blogs, at www.dikenga.com/films/watchout. 20th July 2008
Red Princess Blues Animated at San Diego Comic Con
Alex (Cyn, Broken) Ferrari and Dan Cregan’s anime-style short Red Princess Blues Animated: The Book of Violence will screen at the San Diego Comic Con on 25th July; it’s on at 12.55pm in Room 26AB. Producer Alex, director Dan and actress Paula Garces (who was in the Harold and Kumar sequel) will all be in attendance for Q&A and autographs. You can find more about Red Princess Blues, live and animated version at: www.redprincessblues.com 20th July 2008
New Godzilla documentary from Norman England
Norman England, Fangoria’s Tokyo correspondent and director of The iDol, has directed an authorised, feature-length documentary on Toho Studios’ biggest star. Bringing Godzilla Down to Size is 68 minutes of interviews with cast and crew from fifty years of Godzilla films, produced by kaiju experts Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski and narrated by no less than Alex Cox (a big Godzilla fan who previously wrote one of the authorised American comics). It will be released in the USA by Classic Media on 9th September as part of a set that also includes Rodan and War of the Gargantuas. Before then, you can catch it on the big screen at the Egyptian Theatre in LA. On Sunday 3rd August Norman’s film will screen as part of a ‘Giant Monster Night’ that also features original 35mm prints of War of the Gargantuas (American version) and Mothra (Japanese version). Ryfle and Godziszewski will be on hand for a Q&A after the documentary. For more details, see this story over on Sci Fi Japan. 20th July 2008
Within the Woods complete and ready to screen
Producer Richard Adams (not the Watership Down author!) dropped me a line to let me know that he and director Luke Massey have finished work on Within the Woods (which derives its title from the Sam Raimi short, not the abominable Camp Blood films, in case you were wondering). “The film is the product of a lot of hard work from the director and hopefully reflects his love of the genre and the filmmakers who have made it the way it is. The film was made for under £40k (c.$80k) and finished in six months from pre-production through to final cut, with Luke writing, directing and editing all of the film, which includes all of the time taken to develop the special filters required to give the film its unique look. He is confident that fans of the genre will take it for what it is: a debut release from a young filmmaker looking to show the industry he's on his way.” Details of festival screenings will be along shortly but in the meantime you can check out the movie’s website 20th July 2008
Werewolves. Damn. Bleak Future director’s new film
Brian Scott O’Malley, the man behind Bleak Future (which regular readers will know is one of my absolute favourite films ever) has made a new film! Let’s hope that this time he’s happy with it and doesn’t spend the next ten years remaking it... Here’s the blurb: You’ve never seen a werewolf movie like this! When the moon is full, a friendly wolf turns into a savage, bloodthirsty man and goes on a kill spree in a starlet's Hollywood mansion. Audie and the Wolf is a comedy/horror feature in the spirit of Shaun of the Dead, American Werewolf in London and Evil Dead 2 and bares its fangs for a topsy-turvy take on the classic werewolf legend. Featuring Derek Hughes as the hapless John Doe, a man who doesn't know where he came from, who can't control his insatiable hunger for raw meat, much to the dismay of everyone who rings the doorbell. That is, until he meets the smart-ass grocery delivery girl Audie Bantam, played by Tara Price, who falls head over heels in love with him and fights to convince him he's not a werewolf. Indeed. Along with bloody murder, rollicking romance, and phenomenal comedic performances by the sultry Christa Campbell, the legendary Rance Howard, and the inimitable Richard Riehle, as well as an outrageously talented ensemble cast of newcomers, Audie and the Wolf delivers a ‘70s style, red-hot operatic rock-and-roll score by composer Karl Preusser. Who in the name of Jesus H Jackie Robinson could ask for more? You can catch the world premiere of Audie and the Wolf at the Los Angeles Theatre on 14th August as part of the Downtown Film Festival and you can find out more on the film’s website. I am very excited about this. 20th July 2008
New book on Yorkshire films from Tony Earnshaw
My mate Tony Earnshaw has a new book out: Made in Yorkshire is a project I’ve been working on for 20 years. It covers the background and making of many of the bigger (and smaller) films to have been shot in Yorkshire from the 1920s to the present day. You will recognise many of them: Billy Liar, This Sporting Life, Kes, Yanks, Wuthering Heights, Brassed Off, Little Voice and A Private Function. And the cast list is incredible: everyone from Bette Davis and Paul Newman through to James Mason and Ralph Fiennes by way of Jenny Agutter, Michael Palin, Catherine Tate and David Tennant. Unlike my previous, more modest, books, this one is a bit of a monster: a 270-page coffee table volume with 330 pictures, many of them candid, behind-the-scenes shots taken by my good friend and photographer par excellence, Jim Moran. On that basis Jim and I share the credit for the book. The book receives its official launch on Friday 15th August at the National Media Museum when there will also be a screening of The Dresser, written by Ronald Harwood and starring Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay. Ronnie will participate in an on-stage interview (with Yours Truly) about the film, and then there will be a book-signing. In the two weeks that follow I will be stopping off at a range of bookstores across Yorkshire, and there will be a flurry of media interviews on TV and radio. You’ll doubtless be picking me up on your electric shavers. Find out more on Tony’s website. 20th July 2008
Ed Radmanich feature Cold Spot premiere details
Cold Spot, the new feature from Artie Saves the Hood director Ed Radmanich III, will receive its premiere at the 9th Sacramento Film and Music Festival on 15th August. The feature has some characters from Artie but is played straight rather than the broad comedy of the first film. You can view the trailer here and 80 photos from the film here. (The supporting short is a one-minute stop-motion film about a T Rex narrated by Richard Butler from the Psychedelic Furs, called Transrexia - sounds great!) 20th July 2008
NyMpha US release and another award
It’s always good to hear from my pal Ivan Zuccon. His latest news is that NyMpha is now set for a US release on 9th September through MTI (the disc will include a Making Of, trailers, bios and optional Spanish subtitles). You can pre-order from Amazon here and see the sleeve here. Ivan also told me that Caroline De Cristofaro, who plays Ninfa in the film, won Best Actress at the Drake International Film Festival in Italy last month. Meanwhile Colour from the Dark is almost finished and you can expect to see a world exclusive first review right here in a few weeks. 13th July 2008
Summer Scars US DVD details
Julian Richards’ award-winning dark drama Summer Scars comes to R1 DVD on 30th September from TLA Releasing on their Danger After Dark label (which has already released Simon Rumley’s The Living and the Dead). A couple of interesting points stand out. One is that the publicity I was sent from international distributor Jinga Films (run by Julian’s gorgeous girlfriend Rosana) calls Summer Scars “the first in a new wave of nihilistic thrillers involving British youth including Eden Lake, Donkey Punch and Better Things." The other is that the sleeve of the DVD only shows four of the six youngsters. The DVD includes a Making Of and a commentary. 13th July 2008
Abertoir Horror Festival returns in November
Wales’ only horror film festival, Abertoir, is back at the Aberystwyth Arts Centre over 12th-16th November 2008. The event is open to submissions of features and shorts and there is a £500 prize for the best short film (which in some people’s hands is enough to make another ten shorts). While no guests have been officially announced yet I can confirm that long-time Argento collaborator Claudio Simonetti will be in town with his band Daemonia, playing a live concert on the 14th. I also have it on good authority that Doug Bradley will be performing his one-man play An Evening with Death and that Gary Sherman will be in attendance with a brand new print of Death Line. All this and loads more, wish I could be there myself. For more details, go to www.abertoir.co.uk 13th July 2008
Dark Corners UK DVD
Revolver will release Dark Corners on R2 DVD on 18th August. Starring Thora Birch (The Hole), this sounds great: Karen (Thora Birch) works in a mortuary preparing bodies for pre-funeral viewings and on one particular morning all seems relatively normal... until a corpse sits up, grabs Karen's wrist and puts a curse on her. Ugly, twisted creatures, led by the monstrous Needletooth, seem to be stalking her every move. And every time she wakes, she has been beaten. Her only reprieve from this hellish existence is when she sleeps. For the moment Karen Clarke falls asleep she awakes as Susan Hamilton - a normal girl with a normal life and a normal job. Susan believes Karen to be her nightmare alter ego. Karen believes Susan to be her dream of a better life. But which is the real world and which is the dream? As strange occurrences begin to infiltrate Susan's once normal life, the boundaries between conscious and subconscious become increasingly blurred. The DVD includes a Making Of and “other extras TBC”. 13th July 2008
Search for Weng-Weng in final stages
Andrew Leavold dropped me a line to announce that he is now in post-production on his eagerly awaited Philipinosploitation documentary The Search for Weng-Weng, having returned from a US trip that garnered him interviews with the likes of Jack Hill, Sam Sherman, Leo Fong, Brian Trenchard-Smith and Monte Hellman. You can find out more on Andrew’s always-fascinating site, www.andrewleavold.blogspot.com 13th July 2008
Flash Back - and the return of a genre icon
Actress Sara Dee (Witchcraft X, Demon Hunter) dropped me a line to say that her short film Prelude is now completed and has been retitled Flash Back. Here’s the synopsis: Just as Sarah a career minded writer finally achieves success, her life is shattered by the violent death of her husband John. Submerged in grief and haunted by his memory Sarah is plunged into the torment of agoraphobia. Through a series of disturbing dreams and flashbacks she realises how much she took John for granted. This revelation leads her to a moment in time, a decision that could change everything. Written by Andy Davie and directed by Martin Pavey (who also wrote the music), Flash Back stars Sara, Simon James Morgan (Man Who Sold the World, Seed of Chucky), Tim Fordyce and Fred Bye. Frank Scantori (Room 36) was assistant director and contributes a voice part. But the most interesting thing for me is the return of Wendy Cooper to British fantasy film. There was a time in the late 1990s when Wendy was everywhere, second only to Eileen Daly in her genre ubiquity. She was in Elisar Cabrera’s Witchcraft X, Alex Finbow’s brilliant near-future thriller 24 Hours in London, Charly Cantor’s Blood. I think the last time I saw Wendy was on the set of Paul Matthews’ Breeders when it was still called Rampage. And now she’s back on screen as ‘Mrs Cheat’ in Sara and Martin’s little film. Where has she been all these years? Anyway, Flash Back is out there on the festival circuit at the moment, gathering good reviews apparently. You can see some stills here and find out more about the director at www.martinpaveymusic.com 13th July 2008
Two new releases from Nucleus
Jake West and Mark Morris’ DVD label Nucleus Films has two great new releases lined up. Grindhouse Trailer Classics 2 is the sequel to their first collection of bonkers forthcoming attractions. Bloodbath at the House of Death is the first DVD release anywhere of the legendary (but rarely seen) Kenny Everett/Vincent Price horror spoof. It’s a brand new HD transfer from the original negatives and the disc includes two trailers, an image gallery, a PDF of the script and a new documentary on the film and its star. 13th July 2008
Wicked Little Things make it onto R2 DVD
JS Cardone’s 2006 feature Wicked Little Things finally arrives on UK DVD on 21st July courtesy of Momentum as Zombies (which was apparently its working title although it’s clearly not as good as Wicked Little Things). It stars Scout Taylor-Compton (Halloween remake), Chloe Moretz (Amityville Horror remake), Geoffrey Lewis (The Butcher, Salem’s Lot) and Ben Cross (Hannibal, Species IV). 13th July 2008
Hitchcock and Corman titles launch new book company
Hemlock Books is a new specialist publisher of books about horror/thriller movies. It’s run by Denis Meikle, author of books on Hammer and Vincent Price. The imprint launches with Hitchcock’s Blonde by John Hamilton in August and Mind Warp! The Fantastic True Story of Roger Corman’s New World Pictures by Christopher T Koetting in November. Both are available for pre-order now with books on Hammer vampires, AIP-UK and Tod Slaughter lined up for later. Hemlock is also acting as UK distributor for Midnight Marquee Books and legendary fanzine Little Shoppe of Horrors. Find out more at www.HemlockBooks.co.uk - Old news (Jan-June 2008)
- Old news (Jul-Dec 2007)
- Old news (Jan-June 2007)
- Old news (Jul-Dec 2006)
- Old new (Jan-Jun 2006)
- Old news (2005)
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