FILM NEWS (UK): FILM4 FRIGHTFEST ANNOUNCES LINE-UP FOR HALLOWEEN ALL-NIGHTER

The FrightFest All-Nighter 14 returns to its spiritual home, The Prince Charles Cinema, on Saturday October 25, with five killer titles, including the world premiere of Anthony DiBlasi’s LAST SHIFT.

We kick off with a special preview of The Vicious Brothers EXTRATERRESTRIAL, a fine blend of ‘Close Encounters’ and ‘Communion’ with some of the most extraordinary special effects and camerawork you’ll see in 2015. Next up, THE ABCs OF DEATH 2, needs no introduction. The first was a huge draw at FrightFest Glasgow and now we can scream along to 26 more deaths by 26 handpicked filmmakers. This is followed by the world premiere of Anthony DiBlasi’s demonic horror LAST SHIFT, which had to be dropped from the August line-up because of altered release and completion dates as did our next attraction - the highly anticipated sequel THE PACT II, which has its UK premiere. And Giallo fans will not want to miss our last presentation - the ‘Airplane’ of the Italian thriller genre in the sublime Astron-6 homage THE EDITOR.

Guests attending include The Vicious Brothers, Anthony DiBlasi and Andy Nyman, So, be sure to be part of our terror tribe for the night-ride of your lives

Horror fans around the country can join in the fearsome fun on Saturday 1 November, when the event travels to the GFT Glasgow and the Edinburgh Cameo. On Friday Oct 31, the event hits the Watershed Bristol.

London line-up:

21:00  EXTRATERRESTRIAL (Special Preview)

Five teenagers party in a remote cabin in the woods unaware the region has become a hot bed of bizarre events, military activity and space invader sightings. Then a UFO crashes in the forest and driven by curiosity they decide to investigate. This ambitious second feature from The Vicious Brothers is a wonderfully effective sci-fi fantasy; a close encounter of the shocking kind, which delivers thrills and terror in a surprising special effects package

Director: Colin Minihan. Cast: Brittany Allen, Freddie Stroma, Melanie Papalia, Jesse Moss, Michael Ironside. 106 mins. US 2014

23.40  ABC’s OF DEATH 2 (UK Premiere)

Get ready to learn your ABC's again with 26 new directors and 26 new deaths. Some of the talent in the impressive mix include Vincenzo Natali (SPLICE), E.L. Katz (CHEAP THRILLS), the Soska Sisters (AMERICAN MARY), Aaron Keshales and Navot Papushado (BIG BAD WOLVES) and Larry Fessenden (HABIT). The follow-up to the most ambitious anthology film ever conceived, Provocative, shocking, funny and confrontational, it’s another global celebration of genre filmmaking.

Directors: A lot. Cast: Andy Nyman, Tristan Risk, Mark Grossman, Ryan Winsley, Conor Sweeney. 120 mins. US 2014

02:15  LAST SHIFT (World Premiere)

A rookie cop’s world is turned upside down when she comes face to face with Paymon, King of Hell. From Anthony DiBlasi, director of the past FrightFest presentations MISSIONARY, CASSADAGA and DREAD, comes a new frontier in fear. Officer Jessica Loren has the last shift at a transitioning police station, assigned to wait for a crew picking up bio-hazard waste from the armoury. But unbeknownst to her, cult leader John Michael Paymon has haunted the department ever since he committed suicide in captivity. Jessica is about to find out how dangerous he still is, now alone on the graveyard shift.

 

Director: Anthony DiBlasi. Cast: Juliana Harkavy, Natalie Victoria, J. LaRose, Joshua Mikel, Amber Watson. 90 mins. USA 2014.

 

04:30 THE PACT 11 (UK Premiere)

Surpassing the original movie by going into deeper psychological areas to stir up its scares, directors Patrick Horvath and Dallas Richard Hallam's latest episode in the Judas Killer saga once more unfolds a murder mystery linking two intriguing realities that skirt the fine line between being paranormal supernatural and entirely plausible. This time a trauma scene cleaner learns she's the adopted daughter of one of the maniac's past victims and now she's the target of a possible copycat murderer. How an FBI profiler and her cop boyfriend fit into the creepy picture make for neat twists and jolting shocks. 

 

Directors: Dallas Richard Hallam, Patrick Horvath. Cast: Caity Lotz, Camilla Luddington, Scott Michael Foster, Patrick Fischler, Mark Steger. 96 mins.  US 2014.

 

06: 15  THE EDITOR  (Special Preview)

From Astron-6 (MANBORG and FATHER’S DAY), comes the AIRPLANE of Giallo. Editor Rey Ciso is on the verge of a nervous breakdown, the four wooden fingers on his right hand a reminder of the dangers of exhaustion. Then the lead actors from the Giallo he’s cutting turn up dead…A brilliant homage to 1970s’ Italian thrillers mixing crime with horror. Watch out for big hair, bad dubbing, inappropriate nudity, ‘hysterical blindness’ and a terrific Claudio Simonetti soundtrack.  

 

Directors: Adam Brooks, Matthew Kennedy. Cast: Adam Brooks, Matthew Kennedy, Paz de la Huerta, Udo Kier, Laurence R. Harvey. 106 mins.  Canada 2014.

 

Alan Jones, co-director, said today: “Thank you all for making our August Bank Holiday event so wildly successful – the reviews were the best ever and our move to the Vue, Leicester Square, couldn’t have been better received. So we felt it was now an appropriate time to celebrate our roots and the interactive community that makes FrightFest unique amongst global genre festivals.The Prince Charles Cinema is where it all began 15 years ago and this Halloween you can join us for an intimate trip down memory lane and an ultimate shock around the clock experience”.

 

Passes for the London event cost £40 and go on sale from Friday 3 October. To book go online http://www.princecharlescinema.com/events/events.php?seasonanchor=fr1ghtf3st

or call the Prince Charles Cinema on 0207 494 3654

Tickets can also be bought at the cinema

 

For details of regional screenings please visit www.frightfest.co.uk

Note that the regional venues may not be playing all of the titles screening at the London event so please check local listings

Interview with Howard J. Ford and Jon Ford

Ahead of the Horror Channel’s UK TV premiere of the acclaimed THE DEAD, on Sat 27 Sept@ 22:50, the Ford Brothers relive the drama of the malaria-stricken shoot in Africa, revealing the budget for the first time, and talk of revenge in their next movies!

How do you two write? For example, does one pace the floor whilst the other types?

 

Jon: Ha that's funny! You hit the nail on the head! Normally you will find Howard frantically writing away while I pace the room acting out the scenarios and shouting the lines like some demented theatre actor on steroids. The writing stage is one phase of the project where we work together very well. We are almost never in conflict with each other, each jumping in where the other got to in a particular scene but also bringing together our differing perspectives and weaving them together. We can't always say the same for the actual shoot, but on The Dead there was normally some life threatening situation taking place, which does tend to add a bit of additional pressure.

 

Where did the idea for The Dead come from and why set it in a foreign location?

 

Howard: Jon had started writing script for The Dead, in the mid to late 1980s but we didn't really push forward and finish the script until about 20 years later shortly before shooting the film. So in essence it is genuinely and old school zombie movie that just took a lot longer to reach the screen.

 

It was originally going to be shot in Morocco or somewhere like that but for those who don't know The Ford brothers shoot TV commercials in between films. Anyway, while we were out on location in West Africa we came across places of unbelievable beauty and danger in equal measure. We realised the opportunities of setting this film in a place where no one has ever been or seen before, where there are no safe places to hide in or lock down, where survival is as dangerous as the zombies themselves. Also parallels can be drawn with starvation poverty and events like the Rwandan massacres, while investigating how other religions and cultures would react to such a pandemic.. That was when we realised we could make something really special and different.

 

The shoot for The Dead has been well documented and is famous for what went wrong as well as what went right. What is the most enduring memory you have form the making of it?

 

Jon: Yes the shoot itself has become quite famous for all the problems, but for me the more pleasant enduring memory is the driving. Even though I had contracted malaria and had what seemed like endless bouts of food poisoning and other tropical illnesses, so had lost about a third of my body weight. In fact I didn't know if I would leave this place alive or not. Still as I drove across Ghana and Burkina Faso I will never forget the vast beauty of almost everywhere you look, words or even pictures cannot describe how stunning those places actually are. I though to myself if I die now, It was still nice to have seen such beauty.

Howard: For me it was the journey back from Ghana to Burkina Faso after the whole crew had flown out from Ouagadougou airport and I felt like ‘at least no one had actually died’ and suddenly the pressure was off my shoulders. It had felt like I had been carrying a crippling weight, no disrespect to the fantastic cast and crew but even though we were out of cash, food, without even enough fuel to get back to Ghana where I had to fly out from with the remaining cans of film, that journey was like entering heaven..

 

The actors are just superb and add much to the story, how did you go about casting the movie?

 

Jon: Thanks, yes the actors are great but all the more so for doing it in high stress and dangerous situations, or while actually suffering from malaria or typhoid while doing their art. I fondly remember Halimata, the woman with the baby, being so kind and supportive while actually dressing the fake baby and doing her costume herself, then with seconds left of light, delivering one of the greatest performances of terror I have ever seen!

 

Howard: We cast Rob Freeman in the UK where he was living at the time. In fact he lived virtually down the road from us which was nice as we were able to get to know him a bit and rehearse scenes together before flying out to Africa. We like to ‘know’ our key players personally rather than just meeting them in a casting session as it’s a big commitment to work together like this. We asked an ad agency we had worked with in Ghana to look for actors matching our description and Prince David Osei was one of the first we saw, It took all of one milli second to chose him. Strangely, we had worked with Prince before on an ad but just didn't know it until he told us. We had both had our heads and shoulders covered during the commercial shoot in the heat of Africa and he thought we were Arabs so was very confused when we turned out to be Brits!

 

What sort of budget did you have as the effects are quite something?

 

Howard: We haven’t revealed this before but The Dead was actually shot for $150,000 which is ridiculously small for a movie shot on film in exotic locations around the world and we were advised not to mention this and others claimed the movie was shot for several million hence we missed out on any kudos for getting it in the can (literally the can, not a digital drive) for so little. To put that in context, another film that has been publicised on the basis it cost very little; ‘Monsters’ which is praised for being a low budget miracle shoot. It was apparently shot for $400,000 on digital with just 2 pro actors with a well-established production company lining things up and local support in each location as they went, which, don't get me wrong, is still very impressive, but we had absolutely no back up at all and were trying to use as many physical special effects and real stunts as much as possible. Plus we were using our own money (life savings). It was a battle all the way financially and physically without any safety net at all.

 

Jon: The special effects are a big thanks to Dan Rickard and Max Van de Banks. What makes it really impressive is the total lack of budget resources and time. Most of the time the effects were created on the spur of the moment. It makes us laugh sometimes when you see awards being given to people who had all the money time and resources in the world. What Dan and Max achieved on virtually nothing is truly amazing! And this was after most of the fx materials had perished due to the 5 weeks we waited to get our equipment and props out of customs in Accra whilst they melted in the daily heat.

 

The Dead is being shown on the Horror Channel, you must be pleased?

 

Howard: We're thrilled to have the Dead shown on the Horror channel. After watching so many other great movies there, to have our own movie played is a real honour! We can't wait! We are also very appreciative of the support the Horror Channel has shown us so we will always be fans of the channel and we hope many will join us on the perilous journey across Africa when it airs on September 27.

 

The Dead 2 is a stunning sequel which continues the story but in a different country, how did you stop yourselves from treading the same ground?

 

Howard: Thanks. With The Dead 2 we did talk about continuing with Murphy's journey and even developed how it would continue, but eventually felt it best left for The Dead to stand on its own, if you excuse the pun. So new audiences could watch ‘The Dead 2’ without the need to have seen part 1. The film does continue time line wise and has other connections. but we also wanted to take people somewhere new , but equally beautiful and intriguing so following the pandemic as it spreads over from Africa to India intrigued us. The eagle-eyed viewer will notice there are some direct links to both films.

 

Jon: Also, by continuing in another continent we have the opportunity to enter into a different Culture, religion, characters and landscape. Neither of us is interested in repeating ourselves. It's still a Ford brothers Dead movie which was made with heart, soul, sweat, blood and tears. We hope the audience appreciate that we risked our lives for both Dead movies and went to the limit and beyond. Whenever there is talk of a third Dead instalment we're reluctant because we worry that if we keep throwing the dice our luck might run out. If there is enough support we’ll consider it but right now, unless people REALLY want us to go and possibly kill ourselves doing another, the poster in our heads has the tag line: ‘The Dead 3; Perish the thought…

 

It looked stunning on the big screen at FrightFest last year, how nervous do you get before one of your movies are shown at a festival?

 

Howard: We do get a bit nervous when our films are shown especially for the first time. You just have no idea how audiences will react. I think it's quite bad for us as we have so much personally invested in the film. Not just financially but the physical hardships that go into making a Dead movie are just off the scale! so it is a bit nerve wracking. However, we were delighted to see it at FrightFest and honoured to be the opening film. It’s such an incredible and important festival and we will be forever grateful for the support of all at FrightFest, it was a great Launchpad for ‘The Dead’

 

Which writers and directors inspired you when you were growing up?

 

Jon: There are films that inspire us more than directors I think, as sometimes you love a movie from a certain director but their other films are not so good, or don’t connect with you as powerfully. However someone like Sergio Leone was consistently good and was a master of composition.

Howard: It's funny as sometimes a film can be great, only because of the script and not because of the director, yet that film still inspired you. I think as filmmakers you are more able to see if it's the material or the director that's good. On the flip side of that, a bad director can kill a great script just as easily. Knowing how hard it is to make a film, even one set in a room, we have great respect for anyone who actually gets one made. Even bad films are hard to make!

 

Which do you prefer running zombies or walking ones?

 

Jon: Running or walking zombies? Yes we get asked that quite a lot. We prefer slow but actually like both. They are so different that you almost can't compare the two. Running zombies are action orientated and the scene will almost only ever be an action scene. With slow zombies you can build up a lot of suspense and tension which is ultimately more satisfying. I think the younger audience like the fast zombies as it gives instant gratification but later in life will grow to appreciate the slower ones. I suppose the sexual equivalent would be fast zombies cut straight to the orgasm while slow zombies ultimately build up to greater heights with plenty of foreplay.!

 

So what are you both working on at the moment?

 

Jon: I’ve written a revenge script that will shock and possibly offend in equal measure. It should be going into production within the year. The Dead was written and made because we wanted to see the film and the revenge movie has been written with the same philosophy. After watching film after film and being constantly unsatisfied you realise that sometimes if you want it done the way you like you have to do it yourself.

 

Howard: I’ve written a brutal thriller called ‘Never Let Go’ about a woman stopping at nothing to find her abducted child whilst on holiday in an unfamiliar location. I start shooting mid-September in Morocco, Spain and the States.

 

Jon: Hopefully whatever we do we can hit people in the heart and we will be supporting each other in these ventures and come together for other Ford Brothers Films too.

 

 

TV: Sky 319 / Virgin 149 / Freesat 138

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

 

Film News (UK): Horror Channel goes under the bed for Oct premieres

Horror Channel’s film highlights for October include the UK TV premieres of three outstanding supernatural thrillers: UNDER THE BED, Steven C. Millar’s nightmare of all nightmares, THE GATHERING, starring Christina Ricci, and the haunting LOVELY MOLLY, from Blair Witch co-director.

Here are the details:

Friday 10 September @ 22:55 – UNDER THE BED (2012) - *UK TV Premiere

From Steven C. Miller, director of THE AGRESSION SCALE, comes a supernatural suburban nightmare. Neal Hausman knew there was something under the bed, but no one believed him until his mother lost her life in the resulting conflagration. Sent to stay with an aunt in Florida while his father got over the tragedy, now Neal has come back home. However, what was under the bed is still there, still angry and has set its malevolent sights on his younger brother Paulie. Can Neal convince his family there really is something evil lurking in the netherworld under his bed?

Fri 3 October @ 23:00 – THE GATHERING (2003) *UK TV Premiere

Directed by Brian Gilbert (Wilde), this supernatural thriller stars Christina Ricci as Cassie Grant, an American traveller who suffers amnesia when hit by a car.. After accepting sanctuary from the family of the car that hit her, Cassie starts hallucinating that terrifying strangers are following her. Is it concussion or second sight? And what do her frightening visions have to do with an ancient church? A riveting performance by Ricci is supported by a stellar cast including Ioan Gruffud, Stephen Dillane and Kerry Fox.

Fri 24 October @ 22:55 – LOVELY MOLLY (2011) *UK TV Premiere

Lovely Molly is the story of a young married couple, Molly (Gretchen Lodge and Tim (Johnny Lewis), who go to live in Molly’s childhood home. Tim works away from home and Molly is forced to spend large amounts of time alone at the house – it soon becomes apparent that she is a disturbed young woman. With a history of drug abuse and mental health problems, as well as an abusive father and dead mother, Molly soon begins to exhibit disturbing behaviour. Is she heading for another break down, or are sinister supernatural forces at work?

Plus there are daytime network premieres of three PLANET OF THE APES TV movies from 1981 – BACK TO THE PLANET OF THE APES (Wed 15th, 16:20), FORGOTTEN CITY OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (Wed 22nd, 16:20) and TREACHERY AND GREED ON THE PLANET OF THE APES (Wed 29th, 16:20).

 

 

TV: Sky 319 / Virgin 149 / Freesat 138

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

British Horror Sci-Fi Hungerford named as 'Official Selection' for 14th Annual Shriekfest

British Sci-Fi horror Hungerford, has been chosen as an official section at this year’s Shriekfest Horror Film Festival, the oldest continually running genre festival in Los Angeles, California. Hungerford had its World Premiere at the British Film Institute (BFI) this year as part of the SCI-FI-LONDON film festival. Its 19 year old director Drew Casson, went on to make history by becoming the youngest on record to have a feature screened there.

Shriekfest Horror Film Festival was founded in July 2001 by Denise Gossett, to showcase emerging horror filmmaker and screenwriter talent. They receive well over a thousand submissions and have a staff of 40 judges, selecting just 10 or 11 features and 35 shorts.

Produced by talent incubator Wildseed Studios, Hungerford paints a thrilling and visceral portrait of a small English town taken over by aliens, which descends into violence and carnage. Watch the Hungerford trailer here http://ow.ly/vALpK

Hungerford’s teen protagonist is Cowen Rosewell (played by the director Drew Casson), is a media student whose first assignment is to record everything in a week of his life. The random acts of violence he films go largely unnoticed, dismissed as the type of trouble to take place in small English towns. However, when one of his best friends is savagely attacked by a stranger a more disturbing reality emerges.

As events escalate, Cowen and his friends discover that the town has come under a mysterious evil influence which is somehow controlling organised gangs to round people up and take them to a nearby disused factory. The friends hide, hoping to escape, but their sanctuary is discovered. As Cowen makes his way alone to the abandoned factory in search of his loved ones, the malicious force that awaits him there threatens not Cowen, but the entire world.

Hungerford is due to be screened at the 14th Annual Shriekfest at Raleigh Studios, 5300 Melrose Ave., in Hollywood, California, at 10:40pm on Friday 3 October 2014. Shriekfest tickets for Hungerford are now on sale here: http://www.shriekfest.com/entries/2014/hungerford/


Jesse Cleverly, co-founder of Wildseed Studios said: “Hungerford is striking a real chord with sci-fi fans around the world and we’re thrilled to be part of this year’s Shriekfest Horror Film Festival. Drew is typical of a new wave of filmmakers we’re investing in – a generation who have grown up on genre movies and are utterly fearless and highly proficient with the tools of production and post-production in the pursuit of excitement, scale and an audience. We’re thrilled to have produced Hungerford and thanks to the ingenuity of Drew, the crew and excellent special effects this micro-feature achieves a sense of scale more fitting for a film with 100 times the budget.”

#HungerfordFilm
@HungerFordFilm
www.facebook.com/HungerfordFilm

TV NEWS (UK): FIRST TIME ON UK TV: RE-MASTERED EPISODES OF DOCTOR WHO TO APPEAR ON HORROR CHANNEL THIS AUTUMN

For the first time on UK television, Horror Channel viewers will be able to watch re-mastered episodes that were only released on DVD by BBC Worldwide last year. There will be more from the Tom Baker and Jon Pertwee eras with additional stories featuring Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy.

Following the success of the Who on Horror season, that saw 30 classic Doctor Who stories broadcast on Horror Channel, to over 3.8 million viewers since April, BBC Worldwide and Horror Channel have agreed to an additional set of 17 re-mastered episodes, starting on Monday, 13 October.

The iconic adventures continue with the ‘Doctor Who and The Silurians’ serial, starring Jon Pertwee as the Doctor and his Edwardian roadster, Bessie. The series then leads into weekday double-bills in daytime and evening slots. Available to watch from October are such stories as ‘Inferno’, ‘Carnival of Monsters’, ‘The Time Warrior’, ‘The Sontaran Experiment’, ‘Sunmakers’, and ‘The Greatest Show in the Galaxy’.

Alina Florea, Director of Programming for Horror Channel, said today: “It’s been great to be able to offer our regular fans the classic Doctor Who content, but it’s equally exciting to see Time Lord devotees flock to Horror Channel in greater number and take part in the various on and off air activities that resulted in a surge in viewership and social media interaction. With the newer batch of re-mastered episodes, there will be even more reasons for our viewers to tune in and stick around for more fright, thrill and shock.”

TV: Sky 319 / Virgin 149 / Freesat 138
 www.horrorchannel.co.uk | twitter.com/horror_channel | #WHOonHorror

AMC released today the official Season 5 poster for “The Walking Dead”

AMC released today the official Season 5 poster for “The Walking Dead,” featuring Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and the accompanying tagline, "Hunt or Be Hunted." The fifth season of television’s most watched drama for adults 18-49 premieres Sunday, October 12 at 9pm ET/PT on AMC. Key art photo credit: Frank Ockenfels 3/AMC.

Before the fifth season begins, fans can catch up on “The Walking Dead” season four on VOD and AMC.com.

Based on the comic book series written by Robert Kirkman and published by Image Comics, “The Walking Dead” tells the story of the months and years that follow after a zombie apocalypse, and follows a group of survivors, led by police officer Rick Grimes, who travel in search of a safe and secure home. The series stars Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes; Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon; Steven Yeun as Glenn; Lauren Cohan as Maggie; Chandler Riggs as Carl; Danai Gurira as Michonne; Melissa McBride as Carol; Michael Cudlitz as Abraham; Emily Kinney as Beth; Chad L. Coleman as Tyreese; Sonequa-Martin Green as Sasha; and Lawrence Gilliard Jr. as Bob Stookie. The series is executive produced by Showrunner Scott M. Gimple, Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, David Alpert, Greg Nicotero and Tom Luse.

Film News (UK): The Dead receives UK TV premiere on Horror Channel

Horror Channel’s film highlights for September include the UK TV premiere of the acclaimed THE DEAD, the smash-hit African-set zombie film by The Ford Brothers. The film will be broadcast on Saturday 27 Sept at 10.50pm.

The Ford Brothers burst onto the scare scene as a fresh force in the horror fantasy arena with this original take on the zombie holocaust genre. THE DEAD features stunningly shot landscapes, brilliant visual effects and terrific dust devil zombies. The film is set in the near future when most of the world has succumbed to a living dead virus. After crashing off the coast of Africa, Lt. Brian Murphy (Rob Freeman) battles for survival across inhospitable parched terrain in search of a way to get back to his beloved family in America. Saved by local military man Sgt. Daniel Dembele (Prince David Osei) who is also searching for his son, both men join forces to fight the ever-present flesh-eating threat stalking the bush. 

 

The Ford Brothers said today: '”It's a great honour to have The Dead premiere on the Horror Channel here in the UK, It's our home turf. Join us on this real and horrific journey across Africa. We hope you enjoy, as it's a journey that nearly killed us both!”

 

There are also UK TV premieres for TWIXT (Sat Sept 12. 22:45), written, directed and produced by Francis Ford Coppola, starring Val Kilmer and Kaare Andrews’ ALTITUDE (Sat Sept 6, 22:45), whilst OLDBOY (Sat Sept 20, 22:45), Park Chan-wook’s controversial classic receives its network premiere, as does the French-Romanian Chiller THEM (Sun Sept 28, 22:50).

 

Plus, there is a Brit-inspired Urban Terror Season, which kicks off Fridays at 22:50 from Sept 5, featuring the network premieres of Johannes Roberts’ ferocious school shocker F (Fri 5th), and Menhaj Hudo’s ‘Towerblock Terror’ COUNTDOWN (Fri 26th). The other films in the season are COMMUNITY (Fri 12th), starring Jemma Dallender and CHERRY TREE LANE (Fri 19th), directed by Paul Anderson Williams.

FILM NEWS (UK): Film4 FrightFest 2014 announces guest line-up

ROBERT ENGLUND GETS HIS CLAWS INTO FRIGHTFEST, RISING STAR MAIKA MONROE MAKES ‘GUEST’ APPREARANCE AND COMIC-BOOK LEGEND ALAN MOORE GIVES RARE PUBLIC INTERVIEW.

This year’s Film4 FrightFest guest list brings together the great, the grand and the gifted as over 100 filmmakers, performers, writers and producers from all over the world make their way to the Vue West End for the 15th Film4 FrightFest event which runs from Thurs 21st – 25th August.

He lit up the 1980s and 90s genre landscape with one of the classic horror performances of all time as Freddy Krueger in A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET. Cue rounds of ecstatic applause for the one and only Robert Englund who will be attending the festival to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of that Wes Craven classic (screening on Sunday Aug 24) and to launch the latest production in which he stars, THE LAST SHOWING, which screens on Friday Aug 22.

Festival co-director Alan Jones commented today “Englund is one of the genre’s originals and we are thrilled to host such an icon of fright”.

In support of the opening film THE GUEST, today’s hottest Scream Queen, Maika Monroe, will be present to celebrate the UK premiere of her tension-laden shocker. Monro is also the star of horror sensation IT FOLLOWS and is rapidly becoming the go-to-girl for genre glamour.

In a major coup for his legion of fans, Alan Moore will be introducing and talking about his short film trilogy SHOW PIECES with director Mitch Jenkins. Dubbed the best graphic novel writer in history, this is rare public appearance from a National Treasure.

Then there’s director John McNaughton who changed the horror movie forever with his once-seen-never-forgotten masterpiece HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER. McNaughton is here to promote his unusual thriller THE HARVEST.

Essie Davis is currently winning a plethora of Best Actress awards for her emotionally complex and stunning role as the stressed out mother Amelia in the Australian phenomenon THE BABADOOK. We are thrilled to have her with us as the Total Film Magazine sponsored guest of honour.

Other key directors include Nacho Vigalondo, who has three films on show – the epic crowd-pleaser OPEN WINDOWS, his sci-fi comedy EXTRATERRESTRIAL and V/H/S: VIRAL, Belgian filmmaker Fabrice Du Welz, for his extraordinary thriller ALLELUIA, Till Kleinert, director of post-modern slasher THE SAMURAI, STARRY EYES directors Kevin Kolsch & Dennis Widmyer and the ever-popular Adam Green with his unusual offering, DIGGING UP THE MARROW. From South America come Argentine director Adrian Garcia Bogliano with his werewolf winner LATE PHASES and Venezuelan director Alejandro Hidalgo with THE HOUSE AT THE END OF TIME.

Additional directors travelling to the Vue West End to introduce their work are Milan Todorovic (NYMPH), Luke Hymans (XMOOR), Jay Weisman (SHOCKWAVE DARKSIDE 3D), Ivan Kavanagh (THE CANAL) Phil Hawkins (THE LAST SHOWING) Ben Wagner (DEAD WITHIN), David Campbell (LEMON TREE PASSAGE), Ate De Jong (DEADLY VIRTUES), David Gregory (LOST SOULS), John Shackleton (THE SLEEPING ROOM), Jeremy Wooding (BLOOD MOON), Jessica Cameron (TRUTH OR DARE), Alexandre O Philippe  (DOC OF THE DEAD, Ollie Frampton (THE FORGOTTEN), Ed Boase (THE MIRROR),  Adam Spinks (THE EXPEDITION), Simeon Haligan (WHITE SETTLERS), Jorg Buttgereit (NEKROMANTIK), Matthew A. Brown (JULIA) and Federico Zampaglone (REMEMBER).

The stars of the films are out in force (with more to be confirmed) Pit Bukowski and Michel Diercks (THE SAMURAI), Rupert Evans and Steve Oram (THE CANAL), THE LAST SHOWING stars Emily Berrington, Finn Jones and Malachi Kirby, XMOOR stars Nick Blood & Sofie Harkness, DEADLY VIRTUES actor Edward Akrout, Shaun Dooley (BLOOD MOON), Leila Mimmock & Joseph Beatty (THE SLEEPING ROOM), Ashley C. Williams (JULIA), Joshua Dickinson & Nate Fallows (THE MIRROR) and Emily Booth (SELKIE)

Key producers also attending include Jan Harlan (THE SHINING), Alex Baranska (THE LAST SHOWING) Christian Arnold-Beutel (SHOCKWAVE DARKSIDE 3D) Gallien Chanalet-Quercy (I SURVIVED A ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST), Michael Vine (BLOOD MOON) and Gareth
I Davis (THE SLEEPING ROOM)

Tickets for Individual films are now on sale.

Bookings: www.myvue.com/Frightfest  
08712 240 240 (24 hour booking line)

Screens 5, 6 & 7 will house the main event while the Discovery strands will play in Screens 3 & 8.

For full programme details go to: www.frightfest.co.uk

Interview with Tom Sullivan by David Kempf

When I was a young teen, I saw the first EVIL DEAD movie and it scared the hell out of me. I equally enjoyed the sequels EVIL DEAD 2 and ARMY OF DARKNESS.

Tom Sullivan worked as a effects artist in makeup and stop motion animation in both EVIL DEAD sequels.
Tom is a lifelong fan of horror and fantasy movies and is very popular with art collectors seeking to purchase EVIL DEAD related art. It was fun to interview Tom about his past accomplishments and future plans in the horror field.

INTERVIEW WITH TOM SULLIVAN

By David Kempf

Tell us why you became so interested in the world of horror.

Because the world of horror became interested in me. Before Evil Dead I was a good, shy, Eagle Scout who never got into trouble, abhorred violence and the horror films I'd seen scared the crap out of me.
I wanted to make movies like Ray Harryhausen and with their sensibilities. Gore and horror was a self forbidden genre for me.   I didn't even want to see James Bond films until I was in High School because of the violence I thought  they might contain.  I eventually saw Thunderball and got it.

It wasn't until I met Bill Baetz and David Hurd who were putting together there H.P. Lovecraft inspired film called The Cry of Cthulhu that I actually started to read horror fiction.   For my first read, I thought Lovecraft was wild and a lot of fun.  The film, from my point of view was Lovecraft meets Harryhausen.  It was to be a live action/stop motion horror/adventure film using every practical and optical effects available. It would have been epic.

Evil Dead was a whole other animal.   I had to jump in and see all the horror films I could to figure out what the hell I was going to do.  Fortunately Sam Raimi insisted us Book of the Deaders' saw films at Drive Ins and learned all we could about what works and what doesn't .  Sam said and I believe him that you can learn more from a bad film than what you can steal from a good film.

The good stuff you steal (and Sam sure did) is recognizable by hardcore film fans. While the improvements you make on a failed idea have a germ of originality to it.

But horror films still scare the crap out of me.


Do you prefer watching horror films or reading horror novels? 

I'd rather watch them.  I'm a film maker at heart.  I do love horror comics, especially EC, Creepy and EERIE from the good ol' days.


Tell us about your earliest inspirations.

In art it was Steve Ditko and Frank Frazetta in that order.  I loved Spider-Man and discovered those comics first.

Ditko's figures were supremely animated and anatomically and proportionally correct for the most part.  An artist friend turned me onto Frazetta in High School and I've never been the same since.
Nowadays I love all artists over all times.

In film making, Willis O'Brien and Ray Harryhausen are my giants.  I saw King Kong when I was 5 and The 7Th Voyage of Sinbad when I was in the third grade.   I had to do this stuff.  I have a Mom who let me stay up late, even on school nights so I could see these on TV.    These films were miracles to me.


How did you become involved with THE EVIL DEAD?

My wife, Penny went to Michigan State University and we lived on campus.  One day I read about the MSU Creative Film Making Society having a screening so I went.  I met Sam and Ivan Raimi and Rob Tapert, the roommate of Ivan Raimi.  From there we hit it off and I showed my special effects reels and artwork to them.   Sam, being the resourceful film maker he is, kept a lookout for other's talents to broaden his palette.
  And he put me to good use.  I did sound effects for his Super 8mm, full length feature, It's Murder as well as a flyer with a drawing I did.

Then came Within the Woods, Sam's horror film designed to impress investors to make a feature horror film.

And it worked.

I was called in to make a prop dagger and other items found in the grave of an Indian Medicine Man. I also designed and did the make up and gore effects.  It's a hard core horror film with supernatural elements.  A very good sketch for Evil Dead.


Who do you think THE EVIL DEAD series remains so popular with the fans?

Because of the kinetic action, comedy and gore Sam put in them.  He made us all look good.  I've found these days that fans are discovering the Evil Dead series backwards.  Army of Darkness has been the most shown because it's the least violent. A snip of the "F" bomb that Ash drops is gone and it's almost family friendly.  Most people are seeing Army of Darkness, telling there more worldly friends about it and then they seek out Evil Dead 1 and 2.  There is also the fact that the tones of each film is different than the others so everyone has their favorite.  I would guess it's usually the episode they saw first.


What do you feel is your greatest accomplishment as an artist so far?

I would have to split that between my work on Evil Dead and my illustrations for Chaosium Inc.  I painted covers and did pen and ink illustrations for there role playing game books for their H.P. Lovecraft inspired, THE CALL OF CTHULHU.   I kept my originals and copyrights and am selling prints of them as well as prints of my Book of the Dead from Evil Dead and the Lost Pages from Evil Dead 2.


Name some of your favorite horror books.

With the exception of The Shining about the only horror fiction I've read is Lovecraft.  I was drawn to The Shining because I'd heard Kubrick was making his film adaptation.    I was chomping at the bit at how he was going to do the moving animal shaped shrubs.  Spoiler alert.  He passed on that.


Name some of your favorite horror films.

Robert Wise's The Haunting is the Citizen Kane of horror films.   It spells out the format for great horror. It sure influenced Sam Raimi.  I would recommend any horror director study that film as it does not have a drop of blood. No ghosts are seen but the audience is convinced they are there.  It's the classic demonstration of what writing, photography, art direction, sound, editing can do without the shock of gore or a reliance on special effects.  I guess I just dismissed my film career in special effects.


Why do you think horror movies and books remain popular?

Spectacle of a dark side.  I think horror films are the most morality focused entertainments out there.  Films about vampires, ghost, exorcisms, monsters, serial killers etc. all reach out to the audience who fill in there own morality. They either identify with the victims or the monster.  The filmmakers usually plot that out but we know who is good and evil.   And being entertaining events, sometimes evil can be fun to watch.  Me, I like good stories and love it when my disbelief is suspended for a good movie or book.  And that is a huge challenge for the creators.


Do you think the growing trend of self-publishing is a good or bad thing?

Since I want to self-publish a couple of Coffee Table Art Books of my stuff, I'm going to go with good thing.
I should be finding out more about self publishing.   I figure if I put my pages from the Book of the Dead in there I'll sell a bunch of them.


What are your latest projects?

I have put some of my talented friends to work producing replicas of my props from the Evil Dead films. Official Bookbinder of the Dead and Evil Dead Historian, Patrick Reese handstitches the Book of the Dead replicas.  His work is amazing and to make my sloppily designed book binding work, Pat has worked out an elaborate and difficult technique that makes his bindings durable and artistic.   Moldmaker of the Dead, the talented Steve Diruggiero casts the covers for the Books as well as the high quality resin Kandarian Daggers of the Dead.  He also makes Mini Books of the Dead from a sculpture I did of the Book of the Dead, 1/4 scale for one of Pat's Evil Dead 2 model figures.

Film maker and friend, Ryan Meade has made a DVD documentary about my life and career called INVALUABLE.  We had amazing help from my Evil Dead friends and the reviews are glowing.   It is available at:


Any Advice?

Watch movies, think for yourself. Try thinking for yourself while you're watching a movie and eating popcorn at the same time.


Please in your own words write a paragraph about yourself and you work.

At the age of five years old Tom saw the original King Kong and his genetic structure was changed forever. After verifying with his Mother that Kong was made in the United States he announced his intention to be a film maker.

Art and film have occupied his time ever since and in 1979 Tom began work on Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead.  To everybody’s surprise the film eventually became a cult classic    and Tom worked on Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn and the Army of Darkness. Tom Also was a sculpturer on Chris Walas’s The Fly Part 2.

After The Fly experience Tom returned to his home in Marshall, Michigan and returned to his career in Illustration. He created paintings and drawings for role playing game books based on the writings of H. P. Lovecraft for Chaosium Inc.

Anchor Bay,  the DVD distributors contacted Tom to design Book of the Dead packages based on his Book of the Dead created for the Evil Dead films.  Suddenly Tom was back in show biz.

Since then Tom has been acting in films and The Dread reunited him with his Evil Dead comrade Ellen Sandweiss.  Tom also helped out with the effects rigging the death scene for Ellen’s character.

Tom and Official Bookbinder of the Dead and Evil Dead Historian, Patrick Reese, tour around American horror film conventions with the Tom Sullivan Art Print and Replica Gallery. Featuring archival quality prints of Tom's Evil Dead, H.P. Lovecraft and other Horror and Fantasy art.

http://www.darkageproductions.com/news.php

Film News (UK): HorrorShow.TV acquires UK rights for Lucky McKee’s THE WOMAN.

Horror-themed VOD platform TheHorrorShow.TV is set to make a bold venture into physical distribution with its first 'all UK rights' acquisition, THE WOMAN. The film, starring Pollyanna McIntosh (Filth, White Settlers) will be released on DVD, Blu-ray and limited edition steelbook editions on August 18, with a brand new audio commentary by director Lucky McKee, who's latest film All Cheerleaders Die receives its UK premiere at FrightFest in August.

Commenting on the VOD platform's new venture, TheHorrorShow.TV's David Hughes said, "Having celebrated our site's first birthday by uploading our 200th horror film, we are hugely excited about this new acquisition, which heralds our entry into the physical market with a lavish all-formats edition of Lucky McKee's brilliant 2011 horror film, The Woman. Of course, TheHorrorShow.TV is primarily a digital platform, but the physical side of film distribution shows no signs of slowing down, and we want to give horror fans as much choice as possible about how they consume their favourite genre."

The film's director, Lucky McKee, commented: "I am delighted THE WOMAN has found a new home in the UK with The Horror Show.TV. With this new edition, fans will get a chance to watch the film along with me, as I have recorded a brand new commentary track within the home that inspired the story."

Andrew van den Houten, who produced the film through his Modernciné company, added: "Modernciné is thrilled to be bringing The Woman back to audiences in the UK with our new partnership with TheHorrorShow.TV"

TheHorrorShow.TV will offer the film as a digital exclusive, and plans to include the film in its forthcoming subscription service, which will make many of the existing 200+ films available at TheHorrorShow.TV – including many digital exclusives – available to subscribers for £4.99 per month.

TheHorrorShow.TV is the first UK-based video-on-demand streaming service specialising in horror and fantasy films.  Run by David Hughes and filmmaker and entrepreneur Jack Bowyer, the pay-as-you platform offers top-flight features, popular classics, cult favourites and edgy underground titles to stream or download via computers/ laptops and Android and iOS-based smartphones and
tablets Fans can also select short films from the 99p “Short Stack” feature

http://www.thehorrorshow.tv/