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Old News (Sep-Dec 2010) 28th December 2010 Julian says: “Fans of Hitchcock, Halloween and Silence Of The Lambs will enjoy Shiver. I set out to thoroughly torture the heroine whilst having fun with a killer that just won’t take no for an answer”. Somewhat bizarrely, the film’s writer-producer Robert D Weinbach is the same guy who produced Cauldron of Blood and bonkers killer-plant-Tom-Baker-thing Freakmaker aka The Mutations back in the early 1970s! Shiver is expected to be finished in May with a World Premiere at Toronto in September. I’ve known Julian for quite a few years, ever since I first interviewed him for SFX when Darklands was originally released, and I’m absolutely delighted to see his career progressing in this way. 28th December 2010 28th December 2010 12th December 2010 Also, you can now buy the film on DVD! Here it is on Amazon.com - yours for a kibblesworth under 14 bucks. It’s not available through amazon.co.uk (that would require expensive BBFC certification). The disc includes a very good 35-minute behind-the-scenes Making Of. 12th December 2010 12th December 2010 12th December 2010 12th December 2010
Set in Yorkshire, England, Harold’s Going Stiff tells the tale of Harold Gimble, a pensioner who is slowly becoming zombiefied from a male only condition called Onset Rigors Disease (ORD). He is assigned a young nurse, Penny, to ease his stiffness and they quickly become good friends. But as their relationship blossoms Harold takes a turn for the worse and soon they are on the run from a group of bloodthirsty vigilantes. Writer/director Keith Wright believes he has created an original take on the Zombie genre. He explains, “Most zombie films are about the battle, which is obviously good fun and we’ve got some of that too, but I was also interested to explore the story from a more humanistic point of view. Our film is centred around Harold, a character who is slowly becoming zombiefied and we see how that affects his relationship with his close friend Penny. Disease is a horrifying threat, but it can also be the source of great strength and determination in people, and that's something that lies at the heart of Harold's Going Stiff”. Although the film was scripted, Keith wanted to allow room for improvisation on set. "I love improvisation, for me it keeps the shoot exciting, unpredictable and fresh, and it's where a lot of the film's humour comes from. You’ve no idea what might come out of a character's mouth and it adds another layer of realism that I could never have scripted" Keith says.
Production was streamlined even further by hiring a large Edwardian house, which not only served as production base and living quarters for the main cast and crew, but also provided several key locations for the film, an approach not dissimilar to how Hammer used to operate. Harold's Going Stiff is due for completion early 2011 and you can watch the award winning two-minute promo at www.stiffmovie.com and join the facebook group for updates www.facebook.com/stiffmovie 12th December 2010 12th December 2010 Belfast, 7th December 2010: Principal photography is underway in Belfast and Donegal, Ireland on irreverent Irish comedy horror Grabbers, directed by Jon Wright from an original screenplay by Kevin Lehane. Richard Coyle (Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Madonna's W.E, Terry Pratchett's Going Postal), Ruth Bradley (Flyboys) and Russell Tovey (The History Boys, Being Human) head the cast. Director Jon Wright re-teams with producers Tracy Brimm and Kate Myers of Forward Films following their collaboration on 2009 teen horror Tormented (released in the UK by Pathé Warners). International sales are being handled by The Salt Company and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has acquired UK rights to the project which provides a comic twist on the classic suburban monster horror, as a sleepy Irish fishing village is forced to fend off a blood-sucking sea creature with an unlikely weapon...alcohol. Screenwriter Kevin Lehane captures the idyll and charm of a rural Irish fishing village and injects a truly Irish twist as the peace of the enchanting Erin Island community is shattered by an invasion of giant squid-like creatures from the sea, known as “grabbers”, who start picking off the villagers. Ruggedly handsome but washed-up local policeman O’Shea (Coyle) is forced to sober up and team up with uptight, teetotal policewoman Lisa (Bradley) to protect the island's population from the tentacled, fang-jawed, barb-tongued creatures. A host of colourful characters join forces with O'Shea and Lisa, all played by a strong supporting cast which includes Bronagh Gallagher (Sherlock Holmes, Tamara Drewe, The Commitments) and Lalor Roddy (Hunger, Cherrybomb). Producers Tracy Brimm and Kate Myers of Forward Films have partnered with Martina Niland and David Collins of Samson Films in Dublin, Eduardo Levy and James Martin of High Treason Productions in Los Angeles, Piers Tempest of The Salt Company and UK commissioning producer Bear Rock Films. The Sony Pictures Home Entertainment deal for the UK was negotiated between Dave G. Bishop, Head of Acquisitions, Northern Europe, SPHE and James Norrie of The Salt Company. Jay Cohen of The Gersh Agency is co-representing North American rights, and brokered the High Treason Productions deal. VFX company Nvizible have also partnered on the film and visual effects supervisor for the company is Paddy Eason, whose credits include The Golden Compass and Prince of Persia. Also on board is renowned creature creator Shaune Harrison, whose credits include Harry Potter: The Deathly Hallows 1 and 2 and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Grabbers is an Irish Film Board and UK Film Council presentation of a Forward Films production, in association with Samson Films and High Treason Productions with Limelight, Nvizible and The Salt Company. Produced by Tracy Brimm and Kate Myers, Martina Niland, Piers Tempest, Eduardo Levy and James Martin, Executive Producers are David Collins, Paul Martin, David Martin, Cyril Mégret, Samantha Horley, Robert Bevan, Michael Henry, Chris Hunt, Joe MacCarthy and Mark Foligno. Grabbers is made with the support of Section 481, the Irish tax incentive for film and television. 12th December 2010 The cheery-sounding plot concerns “a child abducted and abused by his uncle for eight years” which “will be a thriller/horror film with a strong emotional impact but with great commercial potentiality in the tradition of successful horror films like The Strangers, Funny Games, The Hitcher and Hard Candy.” Hmm, not really my bag (except The Hitcher) but some folk like this intense stuff. The audiobook is available on iTunes, the film - to be shot in English with an international cast - is in pre-prod and McDowell has indicated he is up for a cameo. Find out more at www.thebobbything.net (If you can understand Italian, the original version is read by Franceso Pannofino who dubs Denzel Washington, Mickey Rourke and George Clooney in Italian releases.) 12th December 2010 London. Leading British independent production company Black & Blue Films has joined new comedy How to Stop Being a Loser as a co-production partner. Black & Blue’s Billy Murray (Rise of the Footsoldier, Eastenders) and Jonathan Sothcott (Dead Cert, Devil’s Playground) are on board as producers alongside Simon Phillips (Jack Falls, The Last 7), Dominic Burns (Cut, Kill Keith) and Patricia Rybarczyk (The Last 7, Jack Said). Also joining the cast today is stunning British actress Gemma Atkinson, fresh from her impressive feature debut in werewolf thriller 13 Hours opposite Harry Potter star Tom Felton. The cast also ncludes Richard E Grant (Withnail & I, Gosford Park), Stephanie Leonidas (Mirrormask, Dracula), Jill Halfpenny (Eastenders, Byker Grove), Martin Compston (The Disappearance of Alice Creed, The Damned United), Neil Maskell (The Football Factory, Basic Instinct 2) and Craig Conway (The Descent, Dog Soldiers). Dominic Burns is in the director’s chair. Sothcott commented “we have admired Simon Phillips’ production expertise for some years and we have been actively looking for a project to make together. A great script and a top notch cast including pals such as Gemma, Craig and Stephanie made this absolutely the right choice for a joint venture. I hope it will be the first of many.” How to Stop Being a Loser tells of a hapless single man called James (Simon Phillips) who’s luck appears to change when he meets romance guru Ampersand (Craig Conway)… but is Ampersand all he appears to be? And does James actually know what he wants. Hilarious chaos ensues in this deliciously warm and silly London comedy in the tradition of Four Weddings & A Funeral and Bridget Jones. 12th December 2010 12th December 2010 With director Guillermo del Toro just going into pre-production on the James Cameron produced At the Mountains of Madness, it looks as if we are about to see the rising of an H.P. Lovecraft renaissance! Kick-starting the revival will be The Last Lovecraft, Starring Kyle Davis (Friday the 13th), Devin McGinn (Bones), Barak Hardley, and Martin Starr (Adventureland). This hilarious and affectionate love-letter to Lovecraft tells the tale of Jeff (Davis), an ordinary guy, stuck in a dead end job, who discovers he is the last living relative of the famous horror novelist. What he doesn’t know is that Lovecraft’s monsters are real and will soon threaten the very existence of mankind. Jeff and his best friend Charlie (McGinn) are forced to embark on a perilous adventure and they enlist the help of high school acquaintance Paul (Hardley), a self proclaimed Lovecraft specialist. Together the three unlikely heroes must protect an alien relic and prevent the release of an ancient evil, known as Cthulhu. 1st November 2010 When Red, a young girl, awakens in a house, she has no idea how she has come to be there. Exploring her surroundings she soon realizes that she is not alone, in fact everyone else in the house is one of the worst serial killers in the world. Now it is a race against time as one by one the cells open and each killer is unleashed to stalk her through the inescapable corridors of the Slasher House. Here’s the poster. Find out more at www.mycho.co.uk or watch the trailer on Vimeo. 1st November 2010 Marlowe is showing at the Hot Tap Theatre on Goodwood Road by New Cross Gate at 8-10pm from the 28th October every Tues-Sat until November the 13th. Easiest way to get there is train from Whitechapel or Canada Water (takes 10-15 mins) or bus from Elephant & Castle (171, 172, 53 or 453) or from London Bridge (21). Tickets available from Zeta Tickets (call 08447404305 for info). Although they book through paypal you can pay using a credit or debit card without having a paypal account. Just click through to paypal and choose the link under "Don't have a PayPal account?" on the left side. A play of treachery and deceit! A play of poetry and friendship! A play of religious and political heresy! A play in which no less than four people are called Thomas! The year is 1593 and playwright Christopher Marlowe has returned to plague ridden London to open his new play at the Rose Theatre. He is quickly entangled in a web of intrigue that reaches all the way to the Queen. His friends, William Shakespeare, Thomas Watson and Thomas Walsingham, attempt to save their friend from certain death while more powerful forces attempt to destroy the brilliant playwright. Filled with action and intrigue, the drama traces the final days prior to the controversial “murder” of 16th century playwright Christopher Marlowe. Literary rivals but best friends, William Shakespeare and Thomas Watson try to persuade Marlowe to flee England before his enemies try and execute him for treason. Was Marlowe a spy for Sir Francis Walsingham, a conspirator with Walter Raleigh, or merely a brilliant irritant to the rich and powerful? More info at www.marlowetheplay.com 1st November 2010 1st November 2010 1st November 2010 1st November 2010 20th October 2010 20th October 2010 20th October 2010 A middle-aged man dies in the street, leaving his widow and three children destitute. The devastated family is confronted not only with his loss but with a terrible challenge - how to survive. For they are cannibals. They have always existed on a diet of human flesh consumed in bloody ritual ceremonies... and the victims have always been provided by the father. Now that he is gone, who will hunt? Who will lead them? How will they sate their horrific hunger? The task falls to the eldest son, Alfredo, a teenage misfit who seems far from ready to accept the challenge... But without human meat the family will die. Shocking, bloody and deeply moving, We Are What We Are is a remarkable reinvention of the horror genre - a visceral and powerfully emotional portrait of a family bound by a terrible secret and driven by monstrous appetites. 12th October 2010 17th September 2010 17th September 2010 17th September 2010 John, an old mason who suffers from a disease after years of working with concrete, is locked up in the family bookstore. His younger brother Dave, who takes care of John and the bookstore, moonlights as an accomplice to John’s murderous habit. 17th September 2010 17th September 2010 17th September 2010 10th September 2010 Meanwhile, production starts shooting this month in Cardiff on Panic Button, a feature-length horror-thriller directed by Chris Crow from Frazer’s script (Devil’s Bridge). And you can be in this one! If you’re in the Cardiff area, they’re looking for background extras, and if you’re not near Cardiff what about this: SUBMIT YOUR WEBCAM VIDEO & GET A CAMEO IN 'PANIC BUTTON'! "Fancy a brief appearance in the movie? We are looking for webcam videos to appear in a montage sequence in Panic Button. The sequence will show people of all ages and ethnicities using the internet as a means of communication in their daily lives. So whether you are at home, at the office, in the library or out and about we are interested in using your clip! We will need your written consent to the clip being used in the film or, if you are under the age of 18, we require the written consent of your parent or guardian." If you are interested then please contact us by email at: panicbuttonfilm@gmail.com 10th September 2010 A weekend away turns bad when a furious snowstorm traps a group of friends in an isolated cabin high up Donner Mountain – a notorious peak named after a massacre that took place there some 150 years ago. As the snow rolls in and the sea of white consumes everything before them, they start to see strange apparitions. But is it just cabin fever playing tricks on their minds, or something altogether more sinister? As the frightening episodes become more intense, the friends will have to fight not only the elements but each other, as natural instincts kick in and the friends turn into bloodthirsty enemies. No one can be trusted, no one can be left along, but can anyone make it out? Starring James Kyson Lee (Heroes), Tiffany and with a special appearance from horror legend Michael Berryman (Hills Have Eyes), Blood Snow is guaranteed to the chill you to the bone! Released by Kaleidoscope on 27th September (with a trailer and a Making Of), this sounds great! 10th September 2010 In the true tradition of slasher films like Friday the 13th and Halloween, Lesbian Psycho (aka Make A Wish) combines fever-pitch sexual tension and crossbow-wielding lesbian hijinks to winning effect – a true case of slash with panache! For her birthday, Susan takes a bevy of ex-girlfriends out for a camping trip with a difference. As the women bed down for the night, Sapphic frissons reverberate through the tents, while news breaks that there is a serial killer on the loose! One by one, the lesbians are picked off by an unseen assailant. At first, they start to suspect a supposed jealous ex-boyfriend who is roaming about the park, but when his body is found burnt to a crisp, the lesbians begin to suspect each other. But is the true identity of the killer such a mystery after all? Lesbian Psycho is released on 11th October, with a stills gallery and a director interview on the disc. 10th September 2010 A fantastic mix of Indiana Jones, Mars Attacks and Jason and the Argonauts, you’ll soon discover to never trust a skeleton with a machine gun! In 1590, a powerful Conquistador, Coronado, ordered a thousand of his most fearsome soldiers to find the legendary El Dorado - the lost city of gold. These men were never to return. Now, 400 years later, an adventurous archeology professor and his students are exploring Mexico’s Baja Peninsula and unwittingly wake a long dormant curse. Confronted by Coronado’s long lost army - now a militia of skeleton warriors – the group find themselves in a life or death battle. But, how do you kill an army that is already dead? Frankly, they had me at ‘skeleton with a machine gun’! It’s directed by Joseph Conti, a digital effects guy who worked on Hercules and Xena and it’s out on UK DVD on 13th September. 10th September 2010 Freight has already won a bunch of awards and will have a limited theatrical release across the UK from 8th October. Find out more at http://freight2010.co.uk/ 10th September 2010 Die Laughing is a horror anthology feature currently being produced in Upstate New York's Capital Region. The movie consists of four stories, three of which have already been filmed. These tales are Die Laughing, The Bad Flower, and Unhealthy Obsession. Die Laughing is about a killer clown terrorizing a young woman. It stars Brittany Boivin and filmmaker-actor Bruce G. Hallenbeck. The Bad Flower is a tale about nature striking back in a nasty way starring Jennifer Birn, Amy Naple and Marilyn Semerad. Unhealthy Obsession concerns a disturbed young man obsessed with screen legend Joan Crawford. It stars Brian Jones, Katie Howard and Sarah Popovics. You can find out more at www.veryscaryproductions.com 10th September 2010 Set in a gritty urban London landscape, a young gang member is killed for being a grass but his reasons and his convictions sink with him into the dirty water of the Thames. His brother Leo, shattered by the death, struggles to understand why his friend Isaiah is apparently guilty of the murder. While his half-sister starts an unwitting relationship with the real killer and his mother sinks deeper into grief, it is left to Leo to resist revenge, take the necessary action and uncover the uncomfortable truth. 10th September 2010 UK Exclusive video interview with Director Meir Zarchi • Trailers • TV Spots • Radio Spots • Sleeve and poster Image Gallery • Image Gallery from Director’s Personal Collection • Reviews & Articles from Around the World • In-Depth Essay -What Do People Think & Say About ISOYG • DVD Monthly Interview • Filmographies • Audio commentary by Director Meir Zarchi & Film Critic Joe Bob Briggs The extras on the DVD are exactly the same. I don’t understand Blu-Ray but I really don’t understand why anyone would want a 2-disc edition of something where the discs are the same. Go figure. 10th September 2010 From the director of Chanbara Beauty and Tokyo Gore School and reminiscent of Saw, this extreme splatter game takes place online at the site known as “DeathTube”. Tragedy begins with curiosity. The online killer website broadcasts scenes of death in real time. Viewers are drawn to the website out of curiosity, and are shocked by what they see. Against their will, random viewers are selected to enter the killing game. It is literally a life and death situation to survive in this cruelest of spectator sports. It’s out on 20th September from 4Digital. | ||
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