Tuesday 31 October 2017

Warren Speed launches "Dirty Tuppence" Kickstarter.

Film Maker Warren Speed (Zombie Women of Satan) has just launched a Kickstarter project to secure backing for his latest film "Dirty Tuppence - The Movie".


Just when you thought the world had seen enough deluded people, along came a rock band that outstripped them all – Dirty Tuppence.

Legendary drummer "Egg" (AKA Percy Gash-Hound) is having to start his life afresh due to a very indelicate accident and it's highly publicised aftermath ... which saw him kicked out of the multi-million selling rock band Bad Penny, and also confined to a wheelchair.

After a year of extravagance and excess Egg has now spent all of his £3M fortune and needs a new income. So he teams up with his voluptuous new carer Brody (who also happens to be a mean bassist), and his vertically challenged twin brother Maynard (on guitar) ... and together they begin auditioning for a charismatic lead singer for their new band Dirty Tuppence (a Bad Penny tribute act - or is it vice versa?).  Although how Egg plans to drum when he can't move his legs is something he is yet to work out !

"Dirty Tuppence - The Movie" is a topsy-turvy roller-coaster of a movie injected with a quirkiness and peculiarity that only a writer/director/actor like Warren Speed (who cites his two main influences as Charlie Chaplin and Rob Zombie) could imagine - and then bring to life. 



For more info on how to get involved visit the films Kickstarter Page.

 

Guest Article - Sanguinary Horror Movies With Chainsaws Involved

It's not often that other webmasters contact me, asking to publish their articles on my site. But Alex Harris, author of the ElectrosawHQ blog, recently got in touch, asking if I wouldn't mind featuring this article about his favourite horror movies involving chainsaw. So, not wishing to dissapoint and in the spirit of Halloween, here it is...  

Introduction 

While it is easy to look into the heart of rural Texas to find story lines that include cannibalistic villains utilizing power tools to create situations of mayhem and terror, there are many other horror movies involving chainsaws worth exploring. A saw with a large engine and bar is a heavy and bulky weapon to use. An ignited two-stroke however, can increase a movie scene's tension exponentially. Some movie writers choose to focus on psychology to build fear, but others choose to use the visceral potential of having one's body parts detached with a common machine. Here are three examples. 

Evil Dead II, and Army of Darkness (1987, and 1992)



A professor of anthropology leaves his life's work on the occult in a cabin deep in the woods. A young relative of his invites several friends to an excursion at the cabin. The unsuspecting guests accidentally release a spirit from reading a passage in the Necronomicon, or “Book of the Dead.” One by one, the guests are possessed, and turn into zombies. Ash (Bruce Campbell), is the only person not transformed. He uses every tool available to fight the zombies and return the evil spirit to Hell.

These movies are the second and third installment in the Evil Dead series. The use of a chainsaw is woven into the movie when Ash's hand is possessed by the nameless and faceless spirit released by the Necronomicon. His hand develops a mind of its own, and tries to kill Ash. The only way he can separate himself from the demon is by separating his hand from his body. Once the hand is detached, Ash takes a chainsaw, fashions a harness, and straps it to his mutilated arm. Despite pain and massive amounts of spilled blood, Ash finds success with this new weapon against the zombies.

Unfortunately, Ash incorrectly speaks an incantation. A time portal is opened, and he is transported back the medieval court of King Arthur. In this ancient realm, he is perceived as a great warrior. He is convinced to help the people of the kingdom fight their own time's zombies appropriately known as “Deadites.” During the battle, Ash fights his own doppelganger zombie, frees the kingdom from evil oppression, and wins the love of a princess. His arm chainsaw weapon is used heavily throughout the movie, but Ash only succeeds in bringing back ancient Deadites to the present.

The Evil Dead series was fantastically popular, and it had a strong cult following. The first movie in the series was a true blood-fest, and had an incredible level of true horror grittiness. The Evil Dead II introduced dark comedy and a degree of kitsch to the zombie formula. Army of Darkness was more of a spoof on the themes in the other installments, but offered a great deal of cinematic innovation and gory fun. Overall, these movies were very successful in combining magical, supernatural, slasher, comedic, and stomach-turning elements.

Friday the 13th Part 5: A New Beginning (1985)



The story begins four years after Tommy Jarvis survives a terrifying confrontation with Jason Voorhees as a young teen in part 4. The now seriously troubled Tommy is sent to the Pinehurst Youth Development Center to try and overcome the enormous psychological damage that Mr. Voorhees brought upon him. 

The main antagonist in this installment is Roy Burns, a paramedic that snapped after learning that his son, Joey, had been brutally murdered by Vic, a very unstable resident of Pinehurst. Roy decides to pick up the legendary hockey mask and take vengeance on everyone at the halfway house, Jason style.

When the copycat “Jason” returns to hunt Tommy, he slowly whittles the house's residents down to one counselor and two young boys. In one of the pivotal scenes of the movie, Roy chases the three into an old barn. As he searches in the dark, the counselor bursts from a stable with a running chainsaw. She pits her chainsaw against Roy’s  machete in a spark-filled melee. Suddenly, the chainsaw chokes and stops, which turns the tide in Roy’s  favor. Roy does sustain a horrendous shoulder wound that provides one of the movie's goriest close-ups.

This movie was an evolution in the Friday the 13th series. It was littered with graphic nudity, drug use, and modern props and had the highest body count of any of the films in the series, up till that point. When Tommy finally overcomes Roy using the killer's own machete, audiences are treated to seeing the face of the demonic murderer behind the hockey mask. Part 5 was not as successful as Part 4, and a big part of this could have been due to most of the cast’s neophyte-quality performance.

Pieces (1980)



In a twist on the Frankenstein story, a college is haunted by a killer who is intent on creating his own fleshy toy from the body parts of his victims. This movie piggybacks on the success of other innovative new horror movie concepts of the time. These include the Friday the 13th series and The Shining.

In the 1940s, a young boy was permanently and psychologically scarred. He attempts to put together a “naughty” jigsaw puzzle, but his mother discovers it and punishes him. When he grows into a man, he becomes intent on satisfying his curiosities by dismembering various co-eds on a college campus. Of course, his chosen weapon is a powerful chainsaw. As the murder victim numbers climb, the local police are engaged in a manhunt for a killer who is unlike any that Boston has ever seen. As the college Dean, an undercover agent, and a student try to discover the killer's identity, the campus is canvassed in blood and fear.

It is really too bad that the killer in this movie wasn't wanting to slice cheese, because the film is littered with it. With bouts of bad scene editing and rushed dialogue, Pieces is more of a comedy than true horror. It does provide more than enough blood and gore for horror fans, but fails to create any coherent strings of captivating terror. There are a few laudable elements however. The killer is absolutely maniacal, the concept of carnal desecration is strong, and there are plenty of sawing moments. This includes a rather compelling decapitation.

Author Bio
 
Alex is a firewood cutting fan and a chainsaw expert. He owns a ranch in Montana where he lives with his wife and son. He is a tech cowboy who enjoys writing his blog ElectroSawHQ.com.


Monday 30 October 2017

John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN Shirts Available from Terror Threads

Death has come to your little town! Terror Threads celebrates the night he came home with a collection of John Carpenter's Halloween apparel.



 A whopping 16 exclusive, officially-licensed Halloween shirts are for sale, ranging from newly commissioned artwork to vintage production stills turned into unique shirt designs.


Michael Myers, Laurie Strode, Dr. Loomis, the Myers house, and more iconic imagery from the 1978 horror classic are all accounted for. Every design is available on men's T-shirts, women's T-shirts, tank tops, and baseball tees.


John Carpenter's Halloween collection is on sale now at TerrorThreads.com.

 

Trailer released for clown slasher TERRIFIER

Having premiered at London's Horror Channel FrightFest this weekend, the film makers behind the truly sinister slasher TERRIFIER have revealed the official UK trailer...


Directed by Damien Leone and starring David Howard Thornton, Jenna Kanell and Catherine Corcoran, TERRIFIER is the story of a maniacal clown who terrorizes three young women on Halloween night and everyone else who stands in his way...

UK DVD and Digital HD out 2018

 

 

Thriller NUMB comes to UK VOD November

Husband and wife, Will (Jamie Bamber: Battlestar Galactica) and Dawn (Stefanie von Pfetten: The Man in the High Castle), are in financial crisis after learning the job Will was counting on to salvage their financial future has disappeared in the midst of a market collapse. 

They set out to drive home on the winter highway back to their city, and in a moment of altruism, pick up siblings Lee (Aleks Paunovic: Van Helsing) and Cheryl (Marie Avgeropoulos: The Inbetweeners, The 100), a pair of hitchhikers on their way to start a new life. In the midst of the night they nearly collide with an old man wandering on the snowy highway, hypothermic and horrifically frostbitten. 

While searching for his ID they discover a wad of cash, a hand drawn map with GPS coordinates, and a single gold coin inside his coat. Will and Dawn reluctantly go along with Lee's plan to report him to the police as a John Doe and pocket the money. 

In an attempt to save their financial struggles, all four venture off into the snowy wilderness in search of the buried gold, but will they survive what is out there...

"Numb" will available to watch on Digital Download in the UK from 13th November.

Watch online at Amazon.co.uk


THE GATEHOUSE comes to US VOD December

From award-winning director Martin Gooch comes a bold and arresting gothic horror feature that’ll stir the senses and spike the neck hairs.

Jack is a struggling writer recovering from the death of his wife. His daughter, 10-Year-Old Eternity, loves digging for treasure in the forest behind her house. 

In a coincidental turn of fate, Jack agrees to undertake a writing project about the ‘legend of the black flowers’ at the same time that Eternity discovers a mysterious object in the woods, and the forest wants it back. They’ve unlocked an ancient curse and must now fight for survival.

Scarlett Rayner, Simeon Willis, Linal Haft, Paul Freeman, Hannah Waddingham, Alix Wilton Regan, and Melissa Knatchbull star in a Martin Gooch film, available 5 Dec on US Digital from Uncork’d Entertainment.

View the trailer on YouTube.

Saturday 28 October 2017

Willard and Ben - UK BD Box-Set review.

The rats are revolting in the cult horror films "Willard" and "Ben" which make their long awaited UK debut on Disc and Digital this month from Second Sight.


The first of the these "Willard" (1971), based on the novel 'Ratman's Notebooks',  stars a young Bruce Davison (X-Men, TV's Kingdom) as the films titular character Willard Stiles. A downtrodden employee, working at his father's former company which is now run by his abusive uncle (played by noted character actor Ernest Borgnine - The Dirty Dozen, Escape from New York, RED).

Overworked, undervalued and derided by everyone, including his overbearing mother, he has virtually no friends. 

Upon discovering a colony of rats in his back yard, he doesn't have the heart to kill them,  so decides to keep them as pets instead, naming the largest 2 Ben and Socrates. But upon discovering  he can get them to follow his commands, decides to use them to get back at his vicious uncle and anybody else that crosses him. Producing some highly amusing scenes as he uses the rats to disrupt his Uncles wedding anniversary and burgle some of his wealthy clients homes.

Also starring Sondra Locke (a regular in Clint Eastwood films back in the 80s),Willard is a bit of a slow movie and isn't all that bloody, but is an enjoyable one none-the-less and certainly not one for sufferers musophobia. 

Following directly on from the events of the previous film, "Ben" (1972) see's the titular lead rat  and his colony move out from the house and into the sewers, where they pop out from periodically to wreak havoc as they hunt for food.

Ben however chances upon the home of a young boy, Danny Garrison (Lee Montgomery - Mutant, Burnt Offerings), who has a heart condition and doesn't have many friends and quickly takes ben in as a pet.

But with the rat colony becoming increasingly violent and causing a number of deaths, and the authorities realising these are probably the same rats responsible for the deaths in the last film,Danny's friendship with Ben may be cut short, as they decide to take action and begin flushing them out of the sewers in some rather violent scenes involving flamethrowers and shotguns.

Probably best known for featuring the Michael Jackson song "Ben" in the soundtrack, Ben is  a strange kind of sequel. Parts of the film seem to be aimed at a younger audience, as it focuses on this lonely young lad and his friendship with his new pet rat, but this is interspered with people being attacked by rats and scenes of the authorities shooting rats with shotguns and blasting them with flamethrowers, which puts it at odds with the films more sentimental scenes. 

Both films proved extremely popular at US cinemas and were well recived on home video on both sides of the Atlantic. However, owing to various rights issues and the inability to find a decent print to take a scan from, the films have languished in relative obscurity since the 1980s, making these new releases from Second Sight welcome additions to their catalogue.

Extras on the discs include...

WILLARD
Audio commentary with lead actor Bruce Davison
Interview with Actor Bruce Davison
Theatrical trailer
TV spot
Radio Spot
Stills gallery

BEN
Audio commentary with actor Lee Montgomery
Interview with actor Lee Montgomery
Theatrical trailers
TV Spots
Willard / Ben double feature trailer and TV spot
Radio spot
Stills gallery

A great selection of extras, which appear to be the same ones carried over from the US release by shout factory, that came out earlier this year.

This release of Willard was taken from a 4K scan of the original negatives and has never looked better. Ben was taken from a Hi-Def scan from one of the best surviving theatrical prints available, which looks decent enough, but is exceptionally dark and grainy in places and not as sharp as its predecessor. But unless the original negatives can be found, this is the best we're going to get.

Being made in the early 70s, "Ben" and "Willard" do seem fairly tame by today's standards but are both enjoyable slices of nature going on the rampage, which cult movie fans should love.

I was sent the Blu-Ray discs to review, which are available seperately or as part of a box set featuring brand new artwork and a poster. The films are also available seperately on DVD.

Ben and Willard are released to UK Disc Monday, 30th October from Second Sight.

Pre-order the UK BD Box Set from Amazon.co.uk

Pre-order the Willard BD from Amazon.co.uk
Pre-order the Ben BD from Amazon.co.uk

Pre-order the Willard DVD from Amazon.co.uk
Pre-order the Ben DVD from Amazon.co.uk







Halloween, Jigsaw, & more new horror apparel from Fright-Rags

If you're having trouble maintaining the Halloween spirit as the big day approaches, one look at Fright-Rags' new releases ought to do the trick. The horror apparel company has treats from John Carpenter's Halloween, Jigsaw, P.J. Soles, and General Mills' monster cereals.



Fright-Rags rings in Halloween with a huge collection of apparel from John Carpenter's 1978 horror classic. It includes four new Halloween T-shirt designs; reprints of several classic shirts; the iconic poster art on T-shirts, baseball tees, and zip-up hoodies; and two pairs of custom-knit crew socks.

As if that weren't enough, Fright-Rags has released "totally" cool T-shirts, baseball tees, and enamel pins dedicated to fan-favorite actress P.J. Soles, who plays Lynda in Halloween.

Jigsaw, the long-awaited eighth installment in the franchise, is in theaters today via Lionsgate. Fright-Rags celebrates the return of the modern horror icon with a new collection of T-shirts - including one that glows in the dark - and enamel pins from the film.

General Mills' monster cereals come just once a year, but even the other mascots are getting in on the fun this time. Fright-Rags has a new shirt depicting General Mills cereal mascots dressed up as Count Chocula, Boo Berry, and Franken Berry for Halloween.

These items are on sale now at Fright-Rags.com, along with apparel from Trick 'r Treat, Halloween II, Halloween III, and many more.

 

Director Damien Leone talks about "TERRIFIER"!

Ahead of the UK premiere of his latest film TERRIFIER at the Horror Channel Frightfest Halloween event on Sat 28 Oct, director Damien Leone talks about the ’Art’ of extreme clowning, his debt to Tom Savini and a terrifying Halloween experience.


 Q: Art The Clown initially appeared in your 2008 short THE 9th CIRCLE, then the 2011 award-winning short TERRIFIER and in your first feature ALL HALLOW’S EVE. What made you decide to give him a fourth outing?

DAMIEN: Up until this point I never felt like I fully showcased Art's potential. I believe between the short films and All Hallows' Eve, there only exists about 20 minutes of Art the Clown screen time. For a character who's done so little, he seems to really resonate with horror fans. After all of the positive feedback, a full length film that focused solely on Art was inevitable. 

Q: Art has a very twisted personality – he’s both brutal (his silence adding to his deadliness) and comical but not without some subtle pathos. How difficult was it to strike that balance?

DAMIEN: In all honesty, I never intended to evoke any sort of pathos from his character. I do find that interesting and maybe there is something to that but the brutality and twisted personality was always  intentional from the get-go as was the subtle comedy. Although I'm a huge fan of some horror comedies like Return of The Living Dead or Evil Dead 2, it's not a style I strive for in my own films. I always shoot for a more serious tone but ironically, the comedy in Terrifier was very organic and almost wrote itself. I should be clear and say the intentional comedy in Terrifier only comes from the Art the Clown character himself. He's always had a sick sense of humour from the very beginning but this time I tried to take it a little further whereas after every unspeakable act of violence he commits, he follows it with something comical like a facial expression or a quirky gesture. This does two things, it gives the audience a chance to relieve some tension but it also makes Art more demented when we realize just how much fun he's having at his victim's expense. 


 Q: You’ve said that you set out to make Art as violent as possible. Why?

DAMIEN. This basically comes from the fact that I'm a special effects artist. I knew the effects would be one of our strong suits going into the film since I can do a lot on a very limited budget. There is so much content out there right now and I believe that if you want to stand out, it doesn't hurt to show things that will really grab the audience's attention and get them talking. It's 2017; there's been thousands of horror movies. I mean how many times can you show a knife cutting through the air followed by a shot of blood hitting the wall? Almost everything has been done to death (pun intended) so I feel I have a duty to the audience to present them with stuff that hasn't quite been seen before or if it has, to do it in a way that feels fresh. 

Q: David Howard Thornton is terrific as Art. How did you two meet and bond? And how challenging was it, given Art had previously been played by Mike Giannelli. 

DAMIEN. Finding a new actor to play Art was by far the most crucial and nerve-wracking aspect of this film. Everything people loved about Art was a testament to how Mike Giannelli portrayed him and now I had to start from scratch. Very frightening indeed. But as luck would have it, David came in for an audition one day and my producer and I immediately knew this was our guy. David pantomimed the act of stabbing someone to death and sawing their head off with great exuberance and glee. He's also extremely animated, tall and thin. I always envisioned Art to be of a more slender build and I was excited to see what little quirks and nuances David could bring to the character.  Working with David was a total delight from start to finish. We bonded immediately thanks to the countless hours in the makeup chair. Dave will joke and tell stories as I transform him into Art over the course of approximately three hours.  We had to repeat this process well over 20 times during the shoot.

Q: The film has a very dark 70s/80s tone and the narrative is stripped down to the bone. What influences were at play here?

DAMIEN. The main objective was to keep it as close to the 20 minute short film as possible. The short film was a no holds barred, relentless, 70s-style grind house flick that was made to feel like an intense rollercoaster ride. That's actually how I came up with the title Terrifier. To me "Terrifier" was more a reflection of the film as an experience and didn't necessarily have anything specific to do with the characters or story.  People responded so positively to the short film that I figured the best plan of attack would be to just make an 80 minute version of the 20 minute short. Essentially this would mean taking the best parts of a slasher film and eliminating as much of the filler as possible.

Q: With all the attention given to IT and Pennywise, does this tempt you even further to establish Art as a franchise and make more TERRIFIER films? 

DAMIEN: Absolutely. Although we finally gave Art his own movie, we've only just scratched the surface. Now we have to dig a little deeper into his backstory. He has a ton of potential and I can see needing at least a couple of  films to tell his full story. It's too premature to say but numerous people have said he has the making of a horror icon. If this continues to be the case once Terrifier is released, it would be downright disrespectful to the character and to the fans to not produce more; just as long as we maintain some integrity and never jump the shark. 


Q: All your films are set on Halloween night. Are you a fan of Halloween? Do you have a favourite Halloween / clown story?

DAMIEN. I am a huge fan of Halloween but the main reason I set Art the Clown's films on Halloween is so it's acceptable for a man to be walking the streets while dressed as a clown. This at least enables his victims to lower their guard around him when they first cross his path. If it was a hot August night and a mute clown sat across from you in a pizzeria, I think the cops would be called immediately. I do in fact have a personal Halloween story that stands out and I'll try to make it quick. One night a few friends and I were driving home from a Halloween party and we passed a car on the side of the road that was turned completely on its side against the guard rail.  We immediately pulled over and approached the vehicle. Two young women were inside the car. Apparently, the driver was drunk and fell asleep at the wheel. Thankfully, by some miracle, both girls were perfectly fine aside from being dazed and frightened but what makes this story worth telling is seeing my friend who's 6'4 leap on top of the turned over car in full Spider-Man attire and pull the young women to safety. Surreal moment indeed. 

Q: Who do you most admire in the horror genre? 

DAMIEN. This is a very difficult question because I can throw around countless names and ramble on and on for hours but I must say I would not be where I am today if it wasn't for the makeup effects maestro Tom Savini. When I was around 6 or 7 years old I stumbled upon a VHS tape called Scream Greats that changed my life. It was a documentary on Savini and it was the first time I saw how monsters were created. This video and also the making of Michael Jackson's Thriller with Rick Baker really left an impression on me. I was fascinated by seeing people transformed into creatures. For years I would rent these films over and over but when I was around 12 years old, I finally owned a copy of Scream Greats. This time I actually began experimenting. My mother took me to a horror convention where I actually bought my first makeup kit, a 12oz bottle of mint flavoured blood and a real machete (dulled) with a semi-circle cut out of the blade. This is a classic Savini gag that he's used in several movies. It creates the illusion that the machete is actually buried in your flesh when you place it against the skin or on top of your skull.  As soon as I got home, I tried out all of my new goodies on my friends and myself. Savini introduced me to blood tubes, mortician's wax, things that were more accessible to someone starting out. Soon I started filming the effects with a camcorder and eventually I began making my own little short films; which is how I became interested in the grander aspect of filmmaking. But even though as a filmmaker I'm influenced by countless artists from all genres, I really have to thank Savini for being the first person to show me the magic of filmmaking.

Q: Zombies or vampires?

DAMIEN. Very tough question. Zombies frighten me more than vampires. My favourite horror film of all time is Romero's Dawn of the Dead and my dream project is an epic zombie film but The Lost Boys holds such a special place in my heart. I saw it in the theatres when I was literally 3 years old and it had such a profound effect on me. It's one of my absolute favourites till this day and because of it, I love vampires so much. So to answer your question, I can't choose.

Q: Finally, what’s next?

DAMIEN: There are a few awesome projects that I'd love to tackle but I think it would be foolish to sleep on the inevitable Terrifier sequel. Clowns are so hot right now because of IT and more and more people are starting to dig Art the Clown on a daily basis so I think we should strike while the iron's hot before the killer clown sub-genre goes into hibernation for another 20 years. 

TERRIFIER receives its UK premiere at Horror Channel FrightFest Halloween 2017 on Saturday 28 Oct, Empire Haymarket, 11.00pm.

47 METRES DOWN - New Thriller Out On DVD 27th Nov

It’s time to get back into the water… MANDY MOORE, CLAIRE HOLT and MATTHEW MODINE star in the tense and terrifying 47 METRES DOWN. Out to download and own on DVD this November.

Sisters Lisa (Moore) and Kate (Holt) become trapped at the bottom of the ocean as a shark diving expedition led by Captain Taylor (Modine) goes horribly wrong. 

When the cable attaching the cage plummets 47 metres to the seabed, the terrified sisters must figure out a way to get back to the safety of the surface; battling injuries, lack of oxygen, and worst of all - bloodthirsty, great white sharks

The experience of a lifetime quickly turns into a nightmare for Lisa and Kate as they realise they have become shark-bait in this suffocating thriller.

"47 Metres Down" is available to Download from 20th Nov and on DVD from 27th Nov from Entertainment One.

Pre-order the UK DVD from Amazon.co.uk



 

"Vault of Horror - The Italian Connection" released Dec 8 by Demon Music

20 Classic tracks from the golden era of Italian Horror, featuring composers including STELVIO CIPRIANI, FABIO FRIZZI & ENNIO MORRICONE, with extensive biographical notes on each track by FrightFest’s ALAN JONES


The golden era of Italian horror dates from the early 60’s to the mid 80’s. During that time directors such as Mario Bava, Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci, Antonio Margheriti, Umberto Lenzi, Joe D’Amato, and Enzo. G. Castellari directed some of the most outrageous terror films ever. As well as depicting some of the most stylish and horrific on screen images their films included some of the most elegant and beautiful scores. The cult following for their movies is as popular now as it’s ever been.

VAULT OF HORROR – THE ITALIAN CONNECTION presents twenty of the most amazing film themes ever and is a heady mix of funk, disco, electronic and prog rock. It features composers such as Stelvio Cipriani, Franco Micalizzi, Roberto Donati, Carlo Rustichelli, Nico Fidenco, Ennio Morricone, Fabio Frizzi, Riz Ortolani and many more. There are also original soundtrack themes from such films as  ‘Zombie Flesh Eaters’, ‘Cannibal Ferox’, ‘Blood And Black Lace’, ‘The Beyond’, ‘The New York Ripper’, ‘Tentacles’ and ‘City Of The Living Dead’

The truly stunning, exclusive sleeve has been painted by renowned graphic designer & commercial artist Graham Humphreys and the biographical notes on each track are written by author, critic and FrightFest director Alan Jones.  As an added bonus Demon Records are including a CD version in a replica card wallet as well as a stunning 12x12” reproduction collector’s art print of the sleeve painting.

DISC 1 SIDE A
Carlo Rustichelli – ‘Atelier (totoli)’ from ‘Blood And Black Lace ‘(‘Sei Donne Per L’Assassioni)’
Franco Micalizzi – ‘Seq 1’ from ‘The Last Hunter’ ‘(L’Ultimo Cacciatore)’
Nico Fidenco – ‘Seq 6’ from ‘Porno Holocaust’
Roberto Donati – ‘Main Theme’ from ‘Eaten Alive’  ‘(Mangiati Vivi!)’
Francesco De Masi – ‘New York One More Day’ from ‘The New York Ripper’ ‘(Lo Squatatore Di New York)’

DISC 1 SIDE B
Franco Micalizzi feat. Warren Wilson – ‘Bargain With The Devil’ from ‘Beyond The Door’ ‘(Chi Sei)’
Stelvio Cipriani – ‘Small Town Pleasures’ from ‘Tentacles’ ‘(Tentacoli)’
Roberto Donati – ‘NYC Main Title’ from ‘Cannibal Ferox’
A. Blonksteiner – ‘Apocalypse’ from ‘Cannibal Apocalypse’ ‘(Apocalypse Domani)’
Carlo Maria Cordio – ‘Absurd’ from ‘Absurd’ ‘(Rosso Sangue)’

DISC 2 SIDE C
Fabio Frizzi – ‘Main Theme’ from ‘Zombie Flesh Eaters’ ‘(Zombi 2)’
Fabio Frizzi – ‘Mystery’s Apotheosis’ from ‘City Of The Living Dead’ ‘(Paura Nella Citta Dei Morti Viventi)’
Fabio Frizzi – ‘Voci Dal Nula’ from ‘The Beyond’ ‘(L’Aldila)’
Walter Rizatti– ‘I Remember’ from ‘House By The Cemetery’ ‘(Quella Villa Accanto Al Cimitero)’
Stefano Mainetti – ‘Main Theme’ from ‘Zombie Flesh Eaters 2’ ‘(Zombi 3)’

DISC 2 SIDE D
Walter Rizatti – ‘Main Theme’ from ‘Bronx Warriors’ ‘(1990: I Guerrieri Del Bronx)’
Claudio Simonetti – ‘Nuke Is Over’ from ‘The New Barbarians’ ‘(Nuovi Barbari)’
Riz Ortolani – ‘The Fighter Centurions’ from ‘Rome 2033 – The Fighter Centurions’ ‘(I Guerrieri Dell ‘Anno 2072)’
Ennio Morricone – ‘End Theme’ from ‘Holocaust 2000’
Nico Fidenco – ‘I Celebrate Myself’ from ‘Emanuelle In America’

For a taster, view the trailer on YouTube.

Pre-order the soundtrack from Amazon.co.uk

 

Wednesday 25 October 2017

Irish horror BLOOD HARVEST comes to US VOD

Writer-director George Clarke’s latest sweat-inducing scarefest comes to U.S shores this November.

The award-winning Blood Harvest, out of Northern Ireland, premieres on Digital 21st Nov from Wild Eye Releasing. 

Robert Render, Alan M. Crawford, Jean Paul Van Der Velde, Griffin Madill, Rachael Stewart and Matt McCreary star in a George Clarke film. 

A rural village is terrorized by an evil force that drains the blood from its victims. A discredited police detective, who believes the killings are the work of vampires, must team up with his former partner to uncover the truth.

 View the trailer on YouTube

New trailer for Netflix "Bright" starring Will Smith and Joel Edgerton

On December 22nd, Will Smith and Joel Edgerton bring their action A-game to the globe in the eagerly-anticipated Netflix Original Film Bright. A bold new action-thriller from director David Ayer.


Bright follows the story of two LAPD police officers played by Smith (Officer Ward) and Edgerton (Officer Jakoby) who form a most unlikely duo working to keep the mean streets of Los Angeles safe from a sinister underworld filled with gang violence and dark forces at work.

Check out the explosive new trailer for Bright, which debuts today and features the exclusive first taste of two brand new tracks from the film’s original soundtrack: “Danger” by Migos & Marshmello, and “Home” by Machine Gun Kelly, X Ambassadors & Bebe Rexha. These two new songs will be featured on Bright: The Album, which will be available for pre-order on November 9th


Visit Bright on Netflix.

Visit the social media pages onTwitter, Facebook and Instagram.


 

DAWNING OF THE DEAD on US VOD this December...

Uncork’d Entertainment and filmmakers Tony Jopia, Nika Braun, Yannis Zafeiriou and Alexander Zwart reanimate the silly season with Dawning of the Dead, premiering on Digital 12/5.

While a virus that causes the dead to reanimate brings the world to its knees, the scientist responsible entrusts his cataclysmic findings to Katya Nevin, a troubled ex-war correspondent turned anchor-woman at W.W News. 

While she and the rest of her crew witness the collapse of society via video feeds from around the globe, a deadly special agent climbs the building floor by floor, his only goal to ensure her silence. 

Armed only with information and an indomitable will to live, Katya must overcome her crippling anxiety and learn to lead in order to make it out of the studio and into a terrifying new world where only the dead survive.

Honey Holmes, Leo Gregory, Pixie Le Knot, and Sean Cronin star in Dawning of the Dead, on Digital 5th Dec and DVD 6th March.

View the trailer on YouTube.

Tuesday 24 October 2017

Director Mathieu Turi talks "HOSTILE"!

Ahead of the UK premiere of his debut feature HOSTILE at the Horror Channel Frightfest Halloween event, director Mathieu Turi shares his admiration for Tarantino, describes the challenges of filming in three continents and reveals his ‘magic hour’.


Q: You were born in Cannes so you grew up with film all around? When did you know for sure you wanted to direct?

I think it's always been there. As a child, I used to steal my dad's VHS camera to make mini-movies. They were basically all about my Jurassic Park toys eating my dog or invading the garden. Later, I did more elaborate short films with friends, instead of studying. Then, I remember watching BRAVEHEART and the making of the movie. For the first time, I knew that directing was something I wanted to do for a living.

Q: You have been second unit director and assistant director on numerous major blockbusters – SHERLOCK HOLMES 2, INGLORIOUS BASTARDS, G.I. JOE – what was the movie or director you feel you learnt most from?

Tarantino, with no hesitation. ‘INGLORIOUS BASTARDS was one of my first jobs in the movie business, and I was assistant of the assistant of the assistant. But when you work on the set of someone you admire, It's very special. I learnt that you have to love what you do, and as a director, you have to stay focused on the actors and the scene. Nothing else matters. Working for Quentin Tarantino was my best set experience as an A.D.

Q: What inspired the HOSTILE script?

A lot of stuff. HOSTILE is a kind of mix between my two shorts (SONS OF CHAOS and BROKEN). The first is a post-apocalyptic, very low-budget movie, and the second is a romance in an elevator. And If you talk about exterior inspirations, I would say the main one is I AM LEGEND, the Richard Matheson book. It's my favourite book ever, a masterpiece. I read it twice a year, and it's never the same feeling. Also, I'm a huge fan of the video game THE LAST OF US. It has everything : a perfect story, focused on characters but in an original post-apocalyptic context, with never seen creatures, and the end is magic. I’s love to see a movie adaptation of it, but It would be tricky.


Q: HOSTILE was executive produced by Xavier Gens and stars Brittany Ashworth from his new movie THE CRUCIFIXION. Can you talk about his influences and that of recent extreme French genre titles?

Xavier is a good friend of mine, and also my mentor since the beginning. He's the one who presented me to FullTime Films producers (Thomas Lubeau, Eric Gendarme and Olivier Chateau) as they were looking for projects. We all met at the Cannes film fest in 2015, and two years later, here we are! He also helped us to find Brittany Ashworth, as he had worked with her on THE CRUCIFIXION. HOSTILE is not influenced by any of them, but I'm very happy that all those movies got made. You know, in France, It's not easy to do that kind of extreme genre movie.

Q: HOSTILE builds to a wonderful emotional epiphany. Was the story all about leading to that rare moment in zombie movies?

It's the first scene that came to my mind before writing the script, and without spoiling it, it was also the best moment on set. It was just magical - the natural light at that exact time (D.O.P's calls it the "magic hour").The team was speechless, and in my mind, I knew It worked. Often, as a director, you have to wait to be in the editing room to be hundred percent sure a scene works, but for that one, I knew on set.

 Q: None of this would work unless you cared about the characters, especially Juliette. Did her back-story change through successive drafts of the screenplay?

Not complete scenes, but dialogue and actions changed a lot. I'm a very collaborative director with my actors, and I want them to dig into the characters, try stuff, fail sometimes, but always try to go further. And they did, every time.

Juliette's backstory has been completed by Brittany. I gave her some intentions, but asked her to find a personal story, why she came to New-York and what happened in the first years of her post-apocalyptic life. We talked a lot about it, very detailed stuff that only her and I know. Actually, we could easily do a prequel about it! 

Q: We love Grégory Fitoussi in the UK because of the French law and order drama SPIRAL. Was that a reason for casting him as Jack?

I really wanted someone with a true charisma. Grégory is one of those guys. He could just walk in the room and you feel it. It's a very rare power. And also, we worked a lot together on the character, to keep his French touch intact, but not fall in the cliché. Jack needed to be very confident, strong and mysterious. He's the entire reason for the flash-backs, so we had to keep in mind that Juliette felt secure with him, and that's what she doesn't have any more in the present.


Q: And we also love Javier Botet who seems to be in so many movies at the moment. What did he add to his Living Dead role that no one else could have?

Two things: the first is obvious, and that's why he's in all those movies. (REC, MAMA, ALIEN:COVENANT, IT). He has an incredible body, and he uses it like magic. When you see him working, it’s just insane. The movements he performs, the way his thin body moves. He's a piece of art. The second thing: he's a very good actor, and that's vital for that kind of role. You can't imagine how hard it is to express yourself under the makeup. And Javier does it perfectly. 

Q: Your feature debut; what was the biggest learning curve you hadn’t expected?

That you have to sleep an entire month to get back on your feet! More seriously, I would say It was very hard to go from one team to another, as our shoot was only 24 days, in three different continents. So we had the New-York Unit, the Morocco Unit and the Paris Unit, with different crews, productions offices, preps, etc... But on the other hand it has been an incredible adventure, and I had the chance to work with all those amazing people. 

 Q: Will you always stay in horror or is it a stepping stone to other genres? Can you tell us what you’re working on at the moment?

HOSTILE is kind of a two genre movie, I just love to cross lines. But I love horror, sci-fi, thrillers... And I'm working on a very crazy project right now. It should be official soon, but I just can say that it's a sci-fi-fi/horror movie with a unique concept. We are in the casting phase right now, with the same producers at FullTime Films, and we will shoot it next spring. I can't wait to talk about it, and I hope we will see each other again at FrightFest next year to show it!

HOSTILE receives its UK premiere at Horror Channel FrightFest Halloween 2017 on Saturday 28 Oct, Empire Haymarket, 12.05pm.

Tickets: http://frightfest.nutickets.com/




 

Monday 23 October 2017

Netflix release new clip from "Stranger Things - Series 2"

Stranger Things - Series 2 launches on Netflix 27th October. Checkout this new clip from the forthcoming series...


For more info visit http://www.netflix.com/strangerthings 

And follow the show's social pages:

Twitter: stranger_things

Instagram: strangerthingsTV

Facebook: strangerthingstv
 

#str​angerthings



JAMES KERMACK’S short, “BUCKING HELL” – Amazon release info and teaser trailer.

Ahead of the release of JAMES KERMACK’S debut feature, “HI-LO JOE” comes “BUCKING HELL”. 


Set on a sinking ship, a cast of four; DAVID SCHAAL (The Office, The Inbetweeners
, Down Terrace)GEOFF BRETON (The Rotters Club, Secret Diary of A Call Girl)NICKY EVANS (Shameless, Before Dawn) and WARREN MAHON, play a deadly game to decide who gets the last lifejacket.

Checkout the Teaser Trailer below...


BUCKING HELL is released exclusively through 24 FOOT SQUARE - SHORT SUBJECTS via Amazon in the UK and US on 27th October. The film hasn't been submitted for festival screenings and this is the first and only way to see the film.

James’s debut feature HI-LO JOE is released in UK cinemas on November 24th 2017. The psychological drama features Gethin Anthony (Game of Thrones - HBO, Aquarius - NBC), Tom Bateman (Murder On The Orient Express with Kenneth Branagh, Snatched with Amy Schumer), Thaila Zucchi (Shameless - Ch4), Joe Dixon (Rise of The Footsoldier, The Mummy Returns) and introduces breakout star Matthew Stathers as the title character Joe. It was selected to be part of Film London Breakthrough, playing at the 2016 BFI Film Festival. It made its World Premiere at the prestigious 27th Dinard British Film Festival (2016) and has continued to be selected for festivals worldwide since.

You can view all of the current 24 Foot Square – Short Subject releases here:




Evil finds the perfect home in ANTIHUMAN

Antihuman, a spellbinding sci-fi horror film that knits Orphan Black with the Resident Evil franchise, premieres on US VOD this October from Wild Eye Releasing.

A young woman returns to the secluded, abandoned psychological research facility where her deceased mother once worked. 

Accompanied by three friends, she discovers that the ghosts of the past have found their way to the present when the hospital's legacy of experimentation and madness tears away all known bounds of time, memory and space.

Anya Korzun, Danielle Arden, Andrew Jardine, Katie Keight, and Kathryn Goldsmith star in a film by Luke Gietzen and Mark Robins.

Antihuman is now available from US VOD outlets from Wild Eye Releasing.

View the trailer on YouTube.

Watch the film at Amazon.com

George Romero : Between Night and Dawn - UK BD/DVD box set review

George Romero maybe best known for his zombie films, but during the interim years between his classic "Night of the Living Dead" and "Dawn of the Dead" he directed a number of wildly different movies. 

Three of which, "There's Always Vanilla", "Season of the Witch" and "The Crazies" have been brought togethor for the first time in an extras laden Blu-Ray and DVD box-set, which is out now from Arrow films.

"There's Always Vanilla" (1971)

One of Romero's few non-horror movies, "There's Always Vanilla" is essentially a drama about a young man, Chris (Raymond Laine) who returns to his home town of Pittsburgh, where he quickly becomes enamoured with an aspiring model/actress named Judith (played by Night of the Living Dead's Judith Streiner) and subsequently develops a relationship with her.

Told in flashback form, with Chris narrating in between scenes, this is really more of an art-house film as we see the relationship initially flourish and then start break down and him going through the troubles of finding employment, dealing with the prospect that the child of one of his ex partner's might be his and dealing with his estranged parents.

Presented in its original 4:3 (full screen) aspect ratio, which has been digitally restored from a 2k scan of the original camera negatives. This is something of an oddity in Romero's catalogue, which he himself admitted was his least favourite film. Unless you like arty films, this will probably only appeal as a curiousity piece to fans of his horrors, with this previously being hard to get hold of .
 
Extras wise, the disc contains the following special features.

Audio commentary track with film journalist Travis Crawford

Affair of the Heat : Making of documentary (30 mins) A brand new documentary about the making of the film featuring interviews with Judith Streiner and film makers John Russo and Russel Streiner and others.

Digging up the Dead feature (16 mins). An archive interview with George Romero filmed back in 2005, carried over from the previous Anchor Bay DVD, in which he discusses "There's Always Vanilla" and "Season of the Witch"

Image galleries. A couple of photo galleries are included, firstly a "film location" series of stills, showing what the locations in the film look like today, narrated by Romero Historian Lawrence DeVincentz . Secondly, a gallery of scans of various film posters, lobby cards and rare VHS covers of the film

Lastly, there's the film's theatrical trailer.


"Season of the Witch" (1972)

Not to be confused with that god-awful Nicholas Cage film from 2011, "Season of the Witch" revolves around a bored, middle aged housewife (Jan White) who befriends a new woman in the neighbourhood, which she later discovers dabbles in witchcraft.

With her husband frequently away on buisiness and few friends, she becomes interested in her new friends hobbies and decides to have a dabble in magic herself and the film follows her as she uses her spells to seduce her daughter's on-off boyfriend and get her husband to stop knocking her around and, well, that's about it really. Apart from some weird nightmare shes having (which seem totally superfluous to the plot) and something going wrong at the end (I won't spoil it for you though).

Originally titled "Jacks Wife", with a run time of 130mins, the film was re-edited and retitled several times, before being released in a 90min version as "Season of the Witch".  Anchor Bay released a 120min version in 2004, having unearthed a slightly longer print of the film, though the original elements to the 130min version are long thought lost.

As with the previous film, this one is also presented in 4:3 (Full screen). I was sent the DVD to review which contains the 90min theatrical version on with the alternate/extended scenes for the 120min version included as extras. However, according to the press release the Blu-Ray allows you the option of watching these as part of the film. The treatrical version was taken from a 4K scan of the original camera negatives, the alternate/extended scenes appear to have been taken from a theatrical print, so there is a notable dip in quality in these scenes.

As for other extras on the disc, you get...

Audio commentary track with film journalist Travis Crawford

When Romero met Toro (55mins) - Fellow director Guillermo Del Toro chats with George Romero about his films and moviemaking in general.

Secret Life of Jack's Wife (17:16) - Interview with lead actress Jan White (carried over from the Anchor Bay DVD)

Alternate opening titles - 3x different intros to the film, bearing the titles "Jack's Wife", "Hungry Wives" and "Season of the Witch".

Image galleries -  A couple of photo galleries are included, firstly a "film location" series of stills, showing what the locations in the film look like today, narrated by Romero Historian Lawrence DeVincentz . Secondly, a gallery of scans of various film posters, lobby cards and rare VHS covers of the film

Trailers - 2x trailers are included, one with the alternate title "Hungry Wives", the other "Season of the Witch".

"The Crazies" (1973)

Undoubtedly Romero's best known film outside of his Living Dead movies, "The Crazies", takes place in a quiet rural town in Philadelphia, where the locals are alarmed to discover the military in Hazmat suits, cordoning off the town and placing it under quarantine.

It turns out a crashed military plane has contaminated the local water supply with an experimental nerve toxin. As the first signs of madness begin to show amongst the townsfolk and the military struggle to contain the situation, a group of friends who work for the local fire service, decide to head into the woods and hide on the outskirts.

But with the military hot on their trail, this proves no easy task and despite the army's best efforts to contain the  town and find a cure,  the situation continues to deteriorate. So even if they escape, will they have anything to come back to?

A tense thriller, which pre-dates the similarly themed "Cassandra Crossing" and "Outbreak" by several years, and enjoyed a big budget remake in 2010, this is definitely one of Romero's best films, which has been restored using a 4K scan of the original negatives and has never looked better.

Extras wise the disc contains the following

Audio commentary track with film journalist Travis Crawford

Romero Was Here : Locating the crazies feature (12:23) - a guided tour of the various locations of Evans City PA used in the film by Romero Historian Lawrence DeVincentz.

Crazy for Lynne Lowrey (15:53) - Interview with lead actress Lynn Lowrey

Lynn Lowrey Q&A (35:49) - Audience Q&A session with the actress filmed at teh Abertoir film festival in the UK.

Lee Hessel Audio Interview (4:31) - Interview conducted with Producer Lee Hessel, recorded in 2014.

Behind the Scenes footage (6:25) - Rare unseen behind the scenes footage, recorded on 8mm film, which you can watch with either the films soundtrack playing in the background, or with commentary by Romero Historian Lawrence DeVincentz.

Alternate opening titles - Alternate intro for the film displaying the title "Codename Trixie"

Image Galleries -  A couple of photo galleries are included, firstly a "film location" series of stills, which expands on the location video on the disc, showing what the locations in the film look like today, narrated by Romero Historian Lawrence DeVincentz . Secondly, a gallery of scans of various film posters, lobby cards and rare VHS covers of the film

Trailers and TV spots - A selection of trailers for the film are included.

A great selection of extras BUT I was very dissapointed to discover that this release did not contain the Audio commentary track with George Romero, included on the previous Anchor Bay/Blue Underground releases, and instead opts for a new track with film journalist Travis Crawford. Would have been nice to have included this track as well, especially given Romero's passing earlier this year.
 
Also, the interview with Lynn Lowrey on here is an entirely new one, and not the same one from the old Anchor Bay/Blue Underground discs.

To summarise, Between Night and Dawn is a excellent collectors set for those intrigued by Romero's lesser known films. Though lack of Romero audio track on The Crazies disc is a dissapointment (completists will also note that MARTIN is conspicuous by its absense here), but is still a must for fans and collectors of Romero's works.

The "Between Night and Dawn" BD/DVD Box-Set is available in the UK now from Arrow.

Buy the UK BD/DVD box set from Amazon.co.uk