Horror Channel FrightFest announces line-up for Halloween 2017 event

Horror Channel FrightFest Halloween 2017 unleashes seven choice shockers for the 7th annual West End Halloween chillorama – a wits-end wallow in all things gruesome, gory and glorious.

This year, the all-day shocktoberfest is at the Empire Haymarket on Sat Oct 28, 2017 and embraces one world, one European and five UK premieres, spanning three continents.

From the emotional making of a low-budget slasher to zombie nightmares, Gothic horrors, an outrageously strange mind cult, a sci-fi alien action extravaganza, a comic strip creature feature and the last word in Killer Clowns, this year’s line-up is an eclectic mix of the quirky, unusual and extreme.

Alan Jones, FrightFest co-director said today: “After FrightFest’s successful return to central London in August for our biggest and most acclaimed event yet, we’re pleased to announce our equally ambitious, and extended Halloween spooktacular. The line-up is a heady cocktail of horror, fantasy and sci-fi, which we hope haunts your nightmares until our Glasgow grindhouser next March”.

Attending guests will be announced shortly.

Tickets go on sale from noon on Sun 1 Oct. Passes: £45, single tickets: £14.50.
Bookings: http://www.frightfest.co.uk/tickets.html
Remaining single tickets can also be bought at the cinema on the day.

FULL LINE UP:

10:00 HORROR MOVIE: A LOW BUDGET NIGHTMARE (European Premiere)

Director: Gary Doust. Cast: Craig Anderson, Dee Wallace, Gerard Odwyer, Bryan Moses, Robert Anderson. Australia 2017. 99 mins.

A funny, sad, candid and revealing documentary on the making of RED CHRISTMAS, a recent FrightFest favourite. Sick of playing quirky roles on Australian TV shows, actor/filmmaker Craig Anderson puts everything on the line to make his first low budget slasher about an aborted foetus seeking revenge on its family. With money issues, union troubles, an angry Hollywood Scream Queen and even a circumcision to overcome, we follow Craig’s nail-biting rollercoaster production journey as he gambles his family’s life savings to relaunch his career as a horror film director in the highly competitive digital age of moviemaking and distribution.

12:05 HOSTILE (UK Premiere)

Director: Mathieu Turi. Cast: Brittany Ashworth, Javier Botet, Gregory Fitoussi, Jay Benedict, David Gasman. USA 2017. 82 mins.

A worldwide epidemic has killed most of the planet’s population. The few survivors struggle to find food and shelter. But they are not alone, for the ravaged remnants of society go hunting at night for human flesh. On her way back to base camp from a foraging expedition, Juliette has a terrible accident. Stuck in her car, with a broken leg, in the middle of an unforgiving desert, she must survive the perils of the post-apocalypse while a strange creature prowls around... From producer Xavier Gens, director of THE DIVIDE and FRONTIER(S), a terrifying, moving and unusual shocker.

14:10 THE BLACK GLOVES (World Premiere)

Director: Lawrie Brewster. Cast: Macarena Gómez, Nicholas Vince, Alexandra Nicole Hulme, Craig J. Seath, Jamie Scott Gordon. UK 2017. 80 mins.

The terrifying story of a psychologist obsessed with the disappearance of his young patient and the menacing owl-headed figure that plagued her nightmares. His investigations lead him to a reclusive ballerina who, just like his patient, is convinced that she is about to die at the hands of this disturbing entity. In the bleak Scottish highlands, Finn counsels his new patient, under the watchful eye of her sinister ballet teacher. He soon finds himself entangled in a pas-de-deux of paranoia, dark agendas and a maze of deadly twists and turns, as the legend of the Owlman becomes a terrifying reality.

16:10 IT CAME FROM THE DESERT (UK Premiere)

Director: Marko Mäkilaakso. Cast: Mark Arnold, Harry Lister Smith, Vanessa Grasse, Alec Mills, Callum McGowan. Finland/UK/Canada 2017. 89 mins.

Inspired by Cinemaware’s cult 1980s video game, itself motivated by the giant creature feature craze infesting 1950s Hollywood, get ready for the pulp action horror mutant monster movie of the year! It’s a terribly tall tale involving rival motocross heroes and cocooned heroines, out-of-control kegger parties in the New Mexico desert, crashed meteors from outer space, secret underground labyrinth military bases, romantic insecurities …and epic havoc caused by massive spider/ant hybrids! Smartly scripted, extremely funny and very creepy, with terrific special effects in homage to Ray Harryhausen, get with the OTT deadpan delivery and the Project T.H.E.M. program. 

18:45 HOUSEWIFE (UK Premiere)

Director: Can Evrenol. Cast: Clémentine Poidatz, David Sakurai, Ali Aksöz, Defne Halman, Alicia Kapudag. Turkey 2017. 82 mins.

The first English-language feature from innovative Turkish director Can Evrenol who took shocked audiences on a tour of hell in BASKIN. After that homage to John Carpenter, join the Turkish delight as he navigates Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci territory with another pitch black delve into dark sexuality, family values, social claustrophobia, and outrageous nightmares. On a snowy eve, little Holly's sister and father are killed by her frantic mother. Twenty years later, Holly is married, lonely, and her life is soon about take a turn for the ultra-weird when she visits the ‘Umbrella of Love and Mind’ cult.

20:40 BEYOND SKYLINE (UK Premiere)

Director: Liam O'Donnell. Cast: Frank Grillo, Bojana Novakovic, Iko Uwais, Johnny Weston, Antonio Fargas. USA/Indonesia 2017. 105 mins.

In the highly-anticipated sequel to the 2010 breakout blockbuster hit SKYLINE, tough-as-nails detective Mark (THE PURGE star Frank Grillo) embarks on a relentless pursuit to free his embittered rebellious son Trent (Johnny Weston) from a nightmarish alien warship as the extraterrestrial menace continues its human harvest. Set concurrently with the original sci-fi shocker, with Mark and Trent trapped on a subway train as the intergalactic invasion begins, THE RAID franchise martial arts star Iko Uwais joins the thrilling turbo-charged action adventure as a disparate group of survivors must learn the true meaning of family.

23:00 TERRIFIER (UK Premiere)

Director: Damien Leone. Cast: Jenna Kanell, Catherine Corcoran, Margaret Reed, Katie Maguire, David Howard Thornton. USA 2017. 82 mins.

You thrilled to IT, now chill to Art the maniacal clown of all your worst nightmares. Appearing initially in director Damien Leone’s 2008 short THE 9th CIRCLE, then the 2011 award-winning short TERRIFIER, horrifying Art returns for his first full-length frightener. Here Leone delivers all the gore and much more in this slasher exploitation extravaganza that’s both lip-smackingly disturbing and screamingly shocking. For Art is back on the silent prowl ready to terrorize three young women on Halloween night and anybody who stands in his dismembering way.

www.frightfest.co.uk
Twitter @frightfest

Interview with Griff Furst - Director of Cold Moon

Horror movies are an easy sell? That’s BS, says Cold Moon director Griff Furst.

Congrats, sir! Do you remember how you pitched the film to your investors and cast initially? What was it that got them to bite?

We had a great crew lined up  with a great story to tell.  It was exciting for everyone involved.  That makes it easy to fund.


There’s some brave stuff in there from some of the young performers. What kind of guidance and direction did you give them?

I spent a lot of time with Josh Stewart and Candy Clark.  The movie really banks on the details of their characters.  I could work a scene for 100 hours, but we had limited time, so the actors had to come prepared, and they all did.  I got to work a scene where Frank Whaley confronts Josh Stewart in the living room for about an hour, which is a lot of time on a short shoot.  That was a lot of fun.


The film goes to some pretty dark places. How did you decide on just how far to push it?

How far did we push it? I'm curious what the outside perspective would be on that topic. I'm a big fan of setting up A particularly violent or disturbing sequence so that the questionable act, whatever it may be, happens offscreen. For that reason I feel like he dark moments,could be okay for all audiences, but I do realize the nature of wha is being implied is pretty heavy.   So I'm curious how dark or disturbing it feels, since we intentionally did not go over the top with the on screen violence.

How has the reaction to the film been so far? I imagine it’s affected people different ways?

It has indeed. Some people love it some people hate it. All of the critics seem to love it so far. I think part of it's a appeal at the moment is the success of Stephen king's It. McDowell and King have a very similar style. The style of the movie itself is meant to resemble cinema from the late 80s early 90s. This movie takes place in 1989.


There’s a common belief that thrillers and horror movies are the easiest sell in the marketplace. Agree? Was that your experience?

That's bullshit.  It's just as hard to sell as anything (except dramas).  Cameras are cheap and people with cheap cameras love to make horror movies because they think they're easy to sell so there's hundreds of them in every market, which makes it hard for the buyers to select the winners. 10 years ago you could box any horror movie and sell it on DVD. I think it will be a bit of a resurgence of horror theatrically and in the home-video market. But I'm not sure exactly what it's going to look like with everything being digital now.

Besides filmmaking, you also work another job. Tell us about that and how that led to making your own movies.

 Acting is my first true love. And there's obvious benefits to the job, like shorter hours, and having enough down time to eat, go to bathroom, that sort of thing. And your present enough to truly enjoy your co-workers. The director is always thinking about the next thing. Me and my Assistant Director will have swollen feet at the end of the day, and then go to the hotel and schedule till the wee hours of the morning, but it’s fulfilling in a self mutilating kind of a way. When I direct, my initial approach is identical to if I was acting in it. I breakdown the scene, and figure out what it's about. Once I've got that down, everything else comes easy (unless it's a complex sequence like the opening of Temple of Doom.  HUGE). It's a similar workflow, but a completely different beast. I will direct for the rest of my life, but when I'm in front of the camera the only thing I think about is my role, and how happy I am that I'm not directing.

Cold Moon is released on VOD and in select theaters October 6.

FILM NEWS (UK): Horror Channel celebrates Stephen King's 70th year and goes SOUTHBOUND this October.

Works by Stephen King feature heavily this month on Horror Channel, which celebrates the icon’s 70th year as one of horror’s most prolific and popular authors. There are network premieres for his fearsome feline anthology CAT’S EYE, starring James Woods & Drew Barrymore; his darkly weighty cautionary tale STEPHEN KING’S THINNER, directed by Tom Holland in his directorial debut; the science-fiction action horror MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE, starring Emilio Estevez; and the 2009 adaptation of his short story CHILDREN OF THE CORN.

Horror Channel has eleven film premieres in October, including the UK premieres of SOUTHBOUND, a chiller compendium from the creators of the V/H/S franchise; Mitch Wilson’s gruesome hell-ride KNUCKLEBONES; and Declan O’Brien’s twisted take on the Outback slasher franchise, WRONG TURN 5: BLOODLINES.

There are also network premieres for remakes THE HILLS HAVE EYES 1 & 2, George Mihalka’s Canadian slasher MY BLOODY VALENTINE, and hillbilly horror returns in Valeri Milev’s WRONG TURN 6: LAST RESORT.

Full film details in transmission order:


Fri 6 Oct @ 22:50 – WRONG TURN 5: BLOODLINES (2012) *UK TV Premiere

The popular Outback slasher franchise continues… A small mining town hosts the Mountain Man Festival on Halloween. The wild night of costumes, drinking and partying turns into a bloodbath when an inbred family of hillbilly cannibals target several college students for dinner. Doug Bradley, Roxanne McKee, and Camilla Arfwedson star.


Sat 7 Oct @ 21:00 – CAT’S EYE (1985) *Network Premiere
Three shocking Stephen King short stories are linked by a stray cat that roams from one tale to the next. First, Dick (James Woods) is trying to quit smoking by any means necessary — even joining a shady self-help group. Next, Johnny (Robert Hays) is an adulterer forced by the wronged husband to circle a building’s hazardous ledge. Lastly, Amanda (Drew Barrymore) is threatened by an evil gnome who throws suspicion on the family cat.


Fri 13 Oct @ 23:00 – WRONG TURN 6: LAST RESORT (2014) *Network Premiere

Get ready for more backwoods gory mayhem as a sudden and mysterious inheritance brings Danny (Anthony Ilott) and his friends to Hobb Springs, a forgotten resort deep in the West Virginia hills. Hobb Springs is being looked after under the watchful care of Jackson and Sally, a socially awkward couple who introduce Danny to the long lost family he's never known. Soon, Danny is forced to choose between his friends and his bloodline.


Sat 14 Oct @ 21:00 – MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE (1986) *Network Premiere
After a comet causes a radiation storm on Earth, machines come to life and turn against their makers. Holed up in a North Carolina truck stop, a group of survivors must fend for themselves against a mass of homicidal trucks. A diner cook, Bill Robinson (Emilio Estevez), emerges as the unlikely leader of the pack, attempting to find an escape plan for himself and the survivors.


Fri 20 Oct @ 22:45 – THE HILLS HAVE EYES (2006) *Network Premiere

Alexandre Aja’s remake of Wes Craven’s 1977 original centres on a family who becomes stranded in a barren US atomic zone. They soon discover, to their horror, that the wasteland is far from uninhabited. A band of bloodthirsty mutants prowls the area, and there is nothing they like better than fresh human meat.


Sat 21 Oct @ 21:00 – STEPHEN KING’S THINNER (1996) *Network Premiere
Billy Halleck (Robert John Burke) is an obese lawyer who accidentally hits a gypsy with his car. Given Halleck's influence in town he manages to brush the incident under the rug with some unethical legal help. However, the victim's father, Tadzu Lempke (Michael Constantine), places a curse on him and he starts to lose weight at an alarming rate. Then, events become even more macabre.


Sun 22 Oct @ 23:00 – MY BLOODY VALENTINE (1981) *Network Premiere
It's Valentine's Day in a tiny mining town in Nova Scotia, and, for the first time in two decades, the residents are planning a holiday dance, defying an old folk tale surrounding a deranged murderer killing those who celebrate Valentine’s Day. True to legend, bodies begin piling up, setting the scene for a tale of monstrous revenge and a climactic chase through the mines.


Fri 27 Oct @ 22:50 – THE HILLS HAVE EYES II (2007) *Network Premiere

During a routine patrol of the New Mexican desert, members of a National Guard unit (Michael McMillian, Jessica Stroup & Daniella Alonso) stop at a deserted research camp. Picking up a distress signal coming from a mountain range, they set out to investigate, unaware that a tribe of vicious, cannibalistic mutants awaits their arrival…


Sat 28 Oct @ 21:00 – CHILDREN OF THE CORN (2009) *Network Premiere

As physician Burt Stanton (David Anders) and girlfriend Vicky (Kandyse McClure) drive across the American Midwest to his new job, their trip comes to a sudden halt when they encounter the body of a murdered boy in the road. Trying to contact the authorities, Burt and

Vicky wander into a small town populated only by children. Soon they realise in horror that the youthful fanatics want to sacrifice them to their demonic deity.


Sun 29 Oct @ 21:00 – SOUTHBOUND (2015) *UK TV Premiere

Five interlocking tales of terror follow the fates of travellers who confront their worst nightmares over one long night on a stretch of desert highway. There are two blood-soaked men on the run from supernatural horrors, an all-girl band taken in by a strange family, a man who has to perform emergency surgery with spooky 911 assistance, a home invasion and a rescue mission that goes horribly awry. The Crypt Keeper would be so pleased! Directed by Roxanne Benjamin, David Bruckner, Patrick Horvath and Radio Silence.


Tues 31 Oct @ 21:00 – KNUCKLEBONES (2016) *UK TV Premiere

When a group of bored friends come together for a night of fun they dare each other to draw a pentagram and perform an ancient rite. Then they stumble across an antique dice game of chance made from human knucklebones. Their first instinct is to roll them gruesome bones. Their second instinct is to run for their lives when they summon up a murderous demon…

TV: Sky 319 / Virgin 149 / Freesat 138 | Freeview 70
www.horrorchannel.co.uk | twitter.com/horror_channel | facebook.com/horrorchannel

Dark Moon Comic Ends With a Blast!!!

Dark Moon Comic started a few years ago as a motion comic series that combined atmospheric art and music with a creepy and thrilling storyline, offering a unique science fiction and horror experience.  With the release of Dark Moon #4, they complete the storyline they started, and they made sure that the end is action-packed!

The creator of the series, Tom Freeman or “Freematik”, had this to say about the finale: “Many fans had been following along for years, and were patient and supportive as we tried various formats to combine the music and art that make up the Dark Moon universe.  I really felt like this ending had to have a lot of exciting moments, so that it felt like a roller coaster ride, because I felt like the fans deserved to have some fun as a reward for getting through so many creepy moments.”

Like the three episodes before it, Dark Moon #4 can be watched for free at: darkmooncomic.com/episodes or on their Youtube channel: youtube.com/darkmooncomic and also via the Madefire app, which provides the reader with the ability to turn pages and enjoy the comic at their own pace.



About Dark Moon
Dark Moon is an indie sci-fi horror motion comic that combines comic art with music to immerse the reader in a complete atmospheric experience.  The episodes are offered for free at darkmooncomic.com/episodes