Competition: Win Vault Of Horror - The Italian Connection [VINYL] Collector's Edition, Double LP

Vault Of Horror - The Italian Connection Collector's Edition is out on VINYL on December 8th and to celebrate we have a great competition for you and 5 copies to give away.

Synopsis:

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.

You can buy this from Amazon UK using the following link that opens in a new window.

Vault Of Horror - The Italian Connection [VINYL]


COMPETITION CLOSED


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Terms and conditions
1. Closing date 15-12-17
2. No alternative prize is available
3. When the competition ends as indicated on this page, any and all entries received after this point will not count and emails blacklisted due to not checking this page first.
4. Only entries that have come directly from people visiting this page will count. If you see this competition advertised anywhere else please report to me, all entries from other sites will not count.
5. The question is regularly changed to prevent cheating.
6. Winners will be chosen randomly and will be informed via email.

FILM NEWS (UK): THE EVIL IN US &, P2 receive their UK TV premieres on Horror Channel in December

Plus FrightFest hits THE LESSON & SOME KIND OF HATE get network premieres

The Evil In Us

Christmas nightmares come early on Horror Channel, as the UK’s primary TV destination for genre fans serves up the UK TV premieres of Jason William Lee’s slick and stylish modern take on the zombie virus, THE EVIL IN US and Frank Khalfoun’s boundary-pushing crime slasher P2, starring Wes Bentley.

There are also network premieres for Adam Egypt Mortimer’s deeply-cutting supernatural revenge chiller SOME KIND OF HATE, Ruth Platt’s astonishingly bravura art-house horror THE LESSON, Travis Oates’ powerfully disturbing thriller DON’T BLINK, starring Mena Suvari ,and Glen Morgan’s gruesome BLACK CHRISTMAS, a remake of the classic 1974 seasonal slasher, starring popular scream queen Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

PLUS…LOST IN SPACE is proving a massive hit on the channel and Season 3 of the classic Sci-fi series once again transports us back to our favourite cosmic family from Tues 26th December, weekdays at 8pm.

Full film details in transmission order:

Fri 8 Dec @ 23:00 – SOME KIND OF HATE (2015) *Network Premiere

What if your past came back for you as a fully formed, physical thing that was going to kill you? Tightly wound Lincoln is a favourite target for the local high school bullies. One day he violently snaps and is sent to the Mind’s Eye Academy, a remote desert reformatory. But the harassment doesn’t stop and in despair he accidentally summons the kindred spirit of Moira, a girl tormented to suicide in the same establishment, who is more than happy to take vengeance on his persecutors.

Sat 9 Dec @ 22:45 – THE LESSON (2015) *Network Premiere

Fin and Joel are two teenage wasters running wild in an arid rural landscape. But their bad education is about to take a turn for the intellectual best as someone at the end of their tether has decided to teach both schoolboys a lesson they will never forget. A dark, claustrophobic and bloody coming of age love story with a shock final destination. Stars Robert Hands, Evan Bendall, Michaela Prchalová and Rory Coltart.


Fri 15 Dec @ 21:00 – THE EVIL IN US (2016) *UK TV Premiere

Six school friends meet up for a fourth of July celebration on a remote island expecting a harmless fun-filled weekend. One brings some cocaine along to get the partying really started. What they don’t know is the drug is actually a new bioactive compound peddled by a sadistic right-wing terrorist organisation. Anyone consuming it is then exposed to a virus causing fits of psychotic rage, mind-bending chaos and cannibalistic murder. Only Brie refused to partake and now she must fight to survive as everyone around her, including her fiancé, tries to savagely kill her.

Sat 16 Dec @ 21:00 – DON’T BLINK (2014) *Network Premiere

Ten friends arrive at a remote mountain resort for a weekend of relaxation but find it deserted. As they attempt to discover out what happened to the other guests, they are horrified to find that they too are disappearing, one by one. Stars Mena Suvari, Brian Austin Green, Joanne Kelly and ZackWard.

Fri 22 Dec @ 22:40 – P2 (2007) *UK TV Premiere

It's Christmas Eve. Angela Bridges (Rachel Nichols), an ambitious executive, is supposed to be at a family gathering working late. When she gets down to the parking garage, she discovers that her car won't start. Thomas (Wes Bentley), a friendly security guard, offers to help, but when he also invites her to share a small Christmas dinner he's preparing, she doesn’t realise the invitation is not optional. If Angela wants to live to see Christmas morning, she must find a way to escape from level P2 of the parking garage.

Sat 23 Dec @ 21:00 – BLACK CHRISTMAS (2006) *Network Premiere

It’s Christmas break and the phone won’t stop ringing at one sorority house, where the ghost of a killer lurks and coeds are being systematically murdered one by one. In this remake of the 1974 slasher flick, a bloodthirsty psychopath is on the loose.  Will sorority sisters Kelli (Katie Cassidy), Dana (Lacey Chabert), Lauren (Crystal Lowe) and the others escape with their lives? Jessica Harmon, Michelle Trachtenberg and Andrea Martin co-star.

www.horrorchannel.co.uk | twitter.com/horror_channel | facebook.com/horrorchannel

Interview with John Shackleton - Writer/Producer of Panic Button

As social media horror feature PANIC BUTTON gets a remastered DVD & Download release, writer and producer John Shackleton reflects on the film’s inspirational journey.

To start at the beginning, what was the genesis or the seed of the idea for PANIC BUTTON?

JS: The model of how to make a film actually came before the concept. I’d made a short film with a group of trainees using a bunch of self-imposed restrictions for practicalities sake, to make sure we completed and delivered within the three-week timeframe of the training scheme, who were my employers. The rules were quite simple – no more than five minutes’ walk from the office (we couldn’t afford a van), no dialogue (we didn’t have any pro sound equipment), maximum of two characters (we had to pay professional actors) maximum 12 hours filming time split over two days (it was January), exterior locations only.

The film worked out great and the model inspired the motivation for a feature to be made in the same way. I teamed up with David Shillitoe who was a trainee on the scheme at the time, and we decided to experiment and see if we could find a feature to work up. The actual story inspiration arrived swiftly afterwards in the form of a dream. Alone on a plane at night with a laptop computer and sinister shapes moving in the shadows, I was agonising over whether to click send an email. When I finally did – I was devastated, realising it was going viral and that there was nothing I could do to stop it. The repercussions were going to be catastrophic. I told David, and he instantly agreed that there was indeed something very sinister about the world of Facebook, and the writing began from there!

How do you look back on the experience of the writing and the making of the film? With hindsight, do you remember the experience differently than you recall the experience at the time?

JS: We found that when in doubt – sticking to the rules always led to a creative solution. We also realised quite quickly that real-world social media horror stories were far more twisted and deprived than anything we could cook up between us, so we started taking inspiration from news stories in the media at the time. We found that we were working on an intense pot-boiler of a storyline and we had great fun working hard to keep bubbling along. We locked in on a treatment, and Frazer Lee came on board to write the first few drafts of the screenplay. David and I wrote more, and when director Chris Crow came on board, he too had his pass on the story, adding several new elements and drafts.

Production was intense but largely pleasurable from my perspective as it was such an exciting and ambitious thing to try and pull off. I remember investor’s faces upon telling them that we were going to build a private jet inside a church in Cardiff Bay. That concept alone was enough to get people going, and when they could see that we were deadly serious, they began to get more heavily involved. Once momentum finally kicked-in, there was no stopping us. The production took off and the excitement was palpable.

Is PANIC BUTTON an example of cinema’s foresight or anticipatory ability?

JS: I loved that the concept for Panic Button was an inspired and timely one, that’s what attracted people to the project and ultimately is the reason why it’s back on the shelves now. It was a gift that felt almost too good to be true, like all we had to do was hold up a mirror to all of our current online behaviour and take a step back – surely it had been done before, we thought. But finding few similarities in the indie film world, we really felt like we were at the forefront of something very exciting. It was pretty clear that social media and social networking was on the rise, but obviously none of us had any real idea of just how big it would become. We just took what we could see in plain sight and pushed it as hard and far as we could. So I really think it was just a case of right time, right place with the concept, I’m not claiming great foresight - I just think we got lucky!

An interesting aspect of the film is the claustrophobic nightmare of the characters when you consider that social media is about connecting people, and opening up the world. It’s a strange contradiction that could be seen as a reflection of the invasive and oppressive force on our way of life that social media has proven itself to be. Your thoughts on this reading of the film?

JS: Some early feedback on the script suggested that we should take the film away from the interior of a jet plane. To us, that was the joy of it – the characters were being confronted with their online behaviour with nowhere to run and no avatar (or emoji) to hide behind. It was claustrophobic and horrible and a real uncomfortable seat squirmer, and this had to be the point - in stark contrast to the unaccountability of the world wide web.

From then to now, how do you think the film plays for the contemporary audience compared to the audience on its release?

JS: I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing the film with a cinema audience since 2011, so I’ve no real idea of how it plays out. The film is not without its flaws and criticisms but I’d like to think that its core ideas and strengths are still just as poignant today as they were then.

From writing PANIC BUTTON to now, do you feel a different writer-producer than you did back then?

JS: To this day I’m still very proud of the accomplishment that is Panic Button. Capturing that zeitgeisty lightening-in-a-bottle idea and seeing it all the way through to the big screen and beyond, remains one of the best things I have ever done. We all improve with experience, but I’d like to think I could still replicate that passion and energy for a great movie concept, the next time such timely inspiration strikes!

Following on from the previous question, filmmakers often see the imperfections in their films. If you were to remake PANIC BUTTON, would you change anything, or would any changes be a product of the person you are today?

JS: It’s not a personal story by any stretch, but I think I would probably work harder at certain elements of the script and I’m fairly confident I could make it a much tighter thrill-ride now that I’m a more experienced writer and filmmaker. There’s definitely scope for a modern retelling of this story, which could be a lot of fun to do!

What does this remastered edition of the film offer the audience and in regards to DVD, do you see it as an interactive format where you can communicate and share the film in different ways through the special features?

JS: There’s a whole bunch of new extras including a commentary with David Shillitoe, Frazer Lee and myself which might be quite illuminating to some… there’s also more interviews and featurette type materials in there, walking through our journey of how we made the film. Hopefully it’s a great educational resource for budding filmmakers, keen to make the leap into their features.

Panic Button, courtesy of Trinity Film, is available now.

Buy:

iTunes

HMV

Amazon

Follow on Twitter: @MovieMogulLtd ‏

Competition: Win Dark Night on DVD

Dark Night is out on DVD on November 13th and to celebrate we have a great competition for you and 3 copies on DVD to give away.

Synopsis:

Based on harrowing real events, DARK NIGHT tells an increasingly common story of violence in contemporary America, where a suburban landscape plays witness to the inevitable, unfolding evens that culminate in a Cineplex massacre.

Over the course of one day, from sunrise to midnight, six strangers - the shooter among them - share in the new American nightmare.

Starring:

Anna Rose Hopkins, Robert Jumper, Karina Macias, Conor A. Murphy, Aaron Purvis

You can buy this from Amazon UK using the following link that opens in a new window.

Dark Night [DVD] [2017]


COMPETITION CLOSED

Terms and conditions
1. Closing date 20-11-17
2. No alternative prize is available
3. When the competition ends as indicated on this page, any and all entries received after this point will not count and emails blacklisted due to not checking this page first.
4. Only entries that have come directly from people visiting this page will count. If you see this competition advertised anywhere else please report to me, all entries from other sites will not count.
5. The question is regularly changed to prevent cheating.
6. Winners will be chosen randomly and will be informed via email.

Interview with Martin Gooch - "The Gatehouse"

An ancient curse is unlocked in The Gatehouse, on VOD 12/5 from Uncork’d Entertainment.

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.

The film hails from award-winning director Martin Gooch, whose credits include many comedy shorts as well as films and series such as Death (2012), The Search For Simon (2015) and TV’s Hollyoaks. 

When and where did the idea for “The Gatehouse” come up?

The actual building we filmed the Gatehouse at is a small 17th century lodge just up the road from the village my parents live in. It used to be quite overgrown and I had passed it a hundred times, and one day I drove past and the hedge had been trimmed and a young lady was putting up washing in the garden. I stopped my car and went over and said how much I loved the house and said I was a film maker. She said she loved movies and did I want to see inside, I said I’d love to and after having a look round and feeling totally inspired I said – if I write a film that fits your house can we come and film it here? And she said yes. Cut to 4 months later and I turned up with a film crew and made a movie.

What appealed to you about directing this particular film?

I’ve always been fascinated with ancient mythology, legend and lore, and The Gatehouse was an opportunity to explore this occult world. The image of Herne the hunter walking the forests of rural England with stag horns growing from his brow was an iconic ancient image I wanted to film, that was deeply ingrained into my English psyche.

Being a spooky flick, was it hard to ground? How do you maintain that balance?

I hope I have achieved the correct tone for the film, the audience may be the judge of that. Filming mostly outside and in the forest an in the ancient Gatehouse meant that spooky was not difficult to come by.  The dialogue was the place to explore some levity and the odd gag to relieve the tension and give the narrative a more than one tone pulse.

By the same token, what kind of direction do you give your actors that they don’t play it too over-the-top?

I’ve directed quite a lot of drama for film and TV over the years and the secret, in my humble opinion, of course is getting the right actors cast in the right role, if you find as a director you are giving constant notes to your cast then either: you cast the wrong actor, your directions are unclear or impossible to follow or your script is bad, which means you’ve got a problem. 

Tell us about putting together the effects. Who gets the credit there?

Most of the VFX shots were done in camera and only a few shots were done with the aid of CGI. All the shots of The Horned God are 100% in camera with a bit of smoke and some helpful sunlight positioning. Kenny Frankland who worked on my last movie The Search for Simon is a hugely talented computer effects genius and did all the CGI on the film, I think there are about 20 shots. And the rest of it was done by me with after effects. 

And what’s coming up?

I have literally just wrapped on my 4th feature film a sci-fi post apocalyptic movie called Black Flowers which is all about one families fight for survive in a post apocalyptic America.  We shot it in North California and Montana USA, and filmed in an actual nuclear bunker. It should be complete in the spring.

I was also invited to Beijing, China in the summer where one of my projects was picked up so hopefully that might graduate to production.

I’m also currently in the process of financing Alice on Mars, which follows the further adventures of Alice of Wonderland fame, she’s been to wonderland, she’s been through the looking glass and now she’s going to Mars. It’s a wonderful film full of excitement, adventure and sci-fi action!

There will be more films to come.