Film News (UK): SEED OF CHUCKY, THE DIVIDE & DAYBREAKERS amongst Horror Channel premieres for May

Horror Channel has eight prime-time weekend film premieres this May including the network premieres for Don Mancini’s killer-dolls spin-off SEED OF CHUCKY, starring Brad Dourif, Jennifer Tilly & Billy Boyd, Xavier Gen’s unsettling post-apocalyptic horror THE DIVIDE and the epic vampire-battling DAYBREAKERS, starring Eithan Hawke and Willem Dafoe.

There are also UK premieres of José Manuel Cravioto’s pulse-pounding thriller BOUND TO VENGEANCE and Mary Lambert’s evil-spirited gripper URBAN LEGENDS: BLOODY MARY.  Other highlights are first channel showings for Stephen Kay’s monster in the closet chiller BOOGEYMAN, Jamie Blanks’ teen slasher URBAN LEGEND and Ryuhei Kitamura’s mystery-man rampaging NO ONE LIVES.

Full details of premieres in transmission order:

Fri 5 May @ 21:00 – BOOGEYMAN (2005) *Network Premiere

Tim (Barry Watson) is haunted by traumatic memories from his past, linked to the death of his father. Desperate to resolve his issues, he returns to the house where he grew up. But while Tim wants to convince himself the ghostly memories he carries are just a figment of his imagination, he is plagued by a crippling fear that can only be resolved by facing up to the ‘Boogeyman’.  Also features Lucy Lawless.

Sat 6 May @ 22:50 – DAYBREAKERS (2009) *Network Premiere

In the year 2019, a plague has transformed almost every human into a vampire. Faced with a dwindling blood supply, the fractured dominant race plots their survival. Meanwhile, a researcher works with a covert band of the undead on a way to save humankind. This classy chiller is packed with many disparate genre influences, not to mention a fine performance from Ethan Hawke and a truly fun turn by Willem Defoe as a futuristic Van Helsing with a Big Secret.

Fri 12 May @ 21:00 – URBAN LEGEND (1998) *Network Premiere

Students at New England's Pendleton College have their own urban legend -- 30 years ago, a demented professor killed six students and then committed suicide in Stanley Hall. But when a real series of strange deaths begins occurring on campus, assertive student Natalie (Alicia Witt) suspects they're murders based on urban legends and soon realises she's the next number in the killer's body count. A starry cast includes Robert Englund, Jared Leto, Tara Reid, Joshua Jackson and Brad Dourif.

Sat 13 May @ 21:00 – BOUND TO VENGEANCE (2015) *UK TV Premiere

A young woman, Eve (Tina Ivlev), is held captive in the basement of a sexual predator (Richard Tyson). Against the odds, she fights back, and manages to escape her malicious abductor. However, after discovering she may not be the only victim, Eve unravels a darker truth and decides to turn the tables on her captor. A subversive revenge tale with an unusual twist.

Fri 19 May @ 21:00 – URBAN LEGENDS: BLOODY MARY (2005) *UK TV Premiere

A homecoming-night dare turns into a runaway nightmare for a trio of high-school friends who unleash an evil spirit in this terrifying entry in the Urban Legends series from Pet Sematary director Mary Lambert. Abducted by a group of high-school jocks, the trio, although rescued, witness their tormentors falling prey to a deadly but unseen menace. Could it be their imagination or could the spirit of Bloody Mary truly have returned from the grave to seek vengeance? This is the third and final instalment in the Urban Legend series

Sat 20 May @ 22:55 – NO ONE LIVES (2012) *Network Premiere

Fourteen students are murdered and the crime scene offers no clues as to the whereabouts of the one person who could be the only survivor. Months later a gang of robbers screw up their latest heist and mug a couple in a car instead. What they realise too late is that the driver is the killer responsible for the student massacre. Then it’s Psycho vs. Psychos in a taut, tension-laden cat-and-mouse chiller that sees both sides trying to outdo the other.

Fri 26 May @ 21:00 – SEED OF CHUCKY (2004) *Network Premiere

Billy Boyd voices Glen, the orphan doll offspring of the irrepressible devilish-doll-come-to-life Chucky (again voiced by Brad Dourif) and his equally twisted bride Tiffany (voiced by Jennifer Tilly). Glen heads for Hollywood, where he brings his bloodthirsty parents back from the dead. Much to his horror they go on a spree of murderous mayhem. Cult film director John Waters makes an appearance, as does hip-hop artist Redman. This is the fifth in the popular series of Chucky (Child's Play) horror comedies and is directed by franchise creator and writer of all five films, Don Mancini.

Sat 27 May @ 22:45 – THE DIVIDE (2011) *Network Premiere

From Xavier Gens, director of Frontier(s), this post-apocalyptic shocker explores the nightmare unravelling of humanity under the most extreme circumstances imaginable when New York City is decimated in a nuclear holocaust. As the survivors sit in the makeshift fallout shelter the ‘divide’ begins. With no one knowing the evil each person in the group is capable of, trust issues arise, paranoia emerges, factions form and values are debased in a brutal and visceral vision of a broken future. Stars Rosanna Arquette, Milo Ventimiglia, Michael Biehn and Lauren German.

Sky 319 / Virgin 149 / Freesat 138 / Freeview 70

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

Horror Films Rediscovered on the BFI Player

In 2010 the BFI published their Most Wanted list, a tantalising countdown of 75 British films classified as ‘missing, believed lost’. Of all these forgotten gems (which ranged from silent Hitchcock to '60s pop), nothing excited horror fans more than the inclusion of José Ramón Larraz’s 1974 little-seen cult classic, Symptoms.

Symptoms is available on BFI Player, here
Selected for the 1974 Cannes Film Festival before promptly falling into cinematic obscurity, this claustrophobic Repulsion-esque chiller, which tells the uncanny tale of a young woman’s descent into madness at a remote English country mansion, was long confined to the blurry terrains of VHS bootlegs and online rips.

Now lovingly restored and looking better than ever, Larraz’s infamous curio is available for all to enjoy on BFI player. And so, to celebrate the long-awaited arrival of a neglected genre classic, here are 5 more horror gems waiting to be discovered on BFI’s online platform.

Let the nightmares begin...

The Night Has Eyes (dir Leslie Arliss, 1942)
One of only a handful of British horror films produced during WWII, this delicious slice of gothic melodrama (think Jane Eyre meets The Old Dark House) stars James Mason as Stephen, a reclusive composer living in an isolated mansion on the perennially misty Yorkshire Moors. When two lost women stumble on his property, Stephen offers shelter and a place to stay.

But as romance blossoms between the taciturn recluse and one of his new guests, so too does the macabre truth of Stephen’s dark past. Also released under the more salacious titles Terror House and Moonlight Madness, this atmospheric chiller was given the BBFC’s dreaded H-for-Horror rating when it was released in 1942, possibly thanks to its surprisingly nasty conclusion.

As ever, Mason makes for a broodingly effective leading man, while special mention should also go to Tucker McGuire for her scene-stealing role as man-hungry schoolteacher Doris. But the real stars are the Moors themselves – evocatively captured by Gunther Krampf (famed cinematographer whose work included Pandora’s Box and The Hands of Orlac) – which reek of dread and dark foreboding.

Fiend Without a Face (dir Arthur Crabtree, 1958)
Something of a cause célèbre when it was first unleashed in 1958, Arthur Crabtree’s low-budget monster mash was deemed so outrageous, and so morally reprehensible, that it actually sparked debate in Parliament, where questions were raised as to how a work of such supposed depravity had passed through the censors in all its gory glory. Years later, and of course the shock value has diminished.

But while the film may not still possess the power to appal with quite the same ferocity, it remains one of the most wonderfully twisted little sci-fi shockers of the period. The plot (typical of the atomic obsessed sci-fi pics of the time) concerns an army of nuclear-powered flying brains (complete with spinal cords) who attack a US military base.

Naysayers might dismiss this off-kilter British production as little more than a mindless (!) special-effects showcase – but when the climactic scenes are so unhinged and the stop-motion effects so glorious – who cares? If it all sounds frankly preposterous, that’s because it is. And wonderfully so.

The Night of the Hunted (dir Jean Rollin, 1980)
Of the 50-odd films directed by Euro-sleaze connoisseur Jean Rollin over the course of his illustrious career, The Night Of The Hunted might stand as his most idiosyncratic, and, in many ways, most beautiful effort. A far cry from the saucy vampire pics he is perhaps best known for, this anomalous head-scratcher blends erotic horror with austere science-fiction (not unlike the early works of David Cronenberg) to tell the story of a young amnesiac woman being held in a strange asylum seemingly against her will.

As perversities and murders begin to mount around her, she must make sense of why she is there and how she can escape.

As with most of Rollin’s films, the end result is by no means perfect - the leisurely pacing can be testing at times (the lengthy sex scenes in particular feeling unnecessarily drawn out) - but for those of a more patient disposition and an keen eye for the perverse, this clinical shocker is quite unlike anything else, replete with scenes of abject terror which will not be quickly forgotten.

Heartless (dir Philip Ridley, 2009)
The long-awaited third feature from Philip Ridley (following his extraordinary sun-drenched slice of American gothic The Reflecting Skin, and the lesser-known, but equally fascinating backwoods allegory The Passion Of Darkly Noon) saw the London-born filmmaker return to his home turf with a Faustian morality tale set in the East End.

Jim Strurgess plays Jamie, a socially awkward teenage outcast born with a large heart-shaped birthmark on his face, who discovers a gang of demons are plaguing the streets of his hometown. As one would expect from one of horror cinema’s true visual poets, Heartless is a feast for the eyes, steeped in fertile symbolism and menacing atmospherics.

But perhaps most memorably, it is a richly empathetic piece of work, which succeeds as much as an unconventional character study as it does an unnerving and eccentric horror film.


The Strange Colour of Your Body’s Tears (dir Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani, 2013)
An audacious exercise pure, unadulterated style, this modern day giallo from the gloriously twisted minds of directing duo Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani (Amer) is one of the most visually imaginative horror films of recent years. Following the unexplained disappearance of his wife, a man is thrown into a web of mystery and intrigue as he attempts to uncover her whereabouts.

Traversing the labyrinthine halls of his ornamental apartment building, he encounters its various inhabitants, whose tales of sensuality and sadism play out before him. In this dreamlike (or should that be nightmarish?) world, traditional narrative gives way to a more sensory, instinctive approach to storytelling, resulting in an experience which can be as perplexing as it is hypnotic.

For those with a taste for something different, this truly singular work delivers devious surprises with every blood-splattered frame. Watch it loud. On the biggest screen you can.

http://player.bfi.org.uk


You can also buy these films from Amazon

Interview with Ray Porter by David Kempf

Ray Porter is from New York and worked for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for twenty years. He has appeared in the movies Almost Famous and Argo. His televison appearances have included It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Sons of Anarachy. Ray's remarkable voice talent can be heard in several audiobooks including Jonathan Maberry's bestselling Joe Ledger series. One listen to his remarkable voice on the Richard Matheson Hell House audiobook and you will be hooked until the end. It was very generous of him to take the time to talk to Masters of Horror U.K. today.

When did you first become interested in acting?

Well, it was kind of the family business. I’m third generation as far as I know, there may be a few show business ancestors who wouldn’t admit it. But I wasn’t going to be an actor. I had been raised around theatre and I knew I wanted to do something that was “serious and responsible”. That lasted right up until I saw a production Of “Heartbreak House” by Shaw. I cannot really say why, but I left the theatre that night knowing that I wanted to be an actor. And that put paid to “serious and responsible”.


How did you get involved in fantasy/horror?

I’ve always enjoyed horror and some fantasy. I have always been a voracious reader and my taste is pretty eclectic. Good writing is good writing. End of. It doesn’t matter the genre, if it is well written then it is worth reading. I find turning your nose down at something because it isn’t something you are familiar with a little silly. I read all sorts of things. So when I started narrating audiobooks, I didn’t expect that I would get more books in one genre than another. But, happily, I’ve had the privilege of narrating some great horror and fantasy books that people seem to like. I’m glad about that and I find it fun to read too.


Do you think audiobooks deserve more respect as an art form?

I’m about to say something that some people may disagree with. It’s okay if you do. I feel about audiobooks very much the way I feel about being an actor. I tend to avoid calling what I do an art form. I believe the author or playwright has created a work of art and if I execute my craft well, then the audience or listener will create a work of art all their own inside themselves. It’s a little like if the postman came round and instead of delivering your mail, opened it in front of you and then decided what bits of your mail are important and then told you what to do with it. I really just want to deliver the letter the author has written to you as cleanly as I can. I am extremely grateful that people have liked my narrations, it would be laughable to say I don’t care what people think. But my goal is to help you enjoy the book you paid for. I think audiobooks are respected. It is an industry that has exploded in the last few years.

How would you classify the genre of audio books you are mostly associated with performing?

I’ve become fond of saying that if it has quantum physics or the word f**k in it, then it’s one I’ve narrated. I even had a physics book that had that word in it! That was a good day. I’ve gotten to do a lot of different things, for which I am very grateful. But quite a few of my books have science or monsters or guns in them. I hope I can classify them as “Fun”.


Why do you think horror and fantasy books remain so popular?

When you read the news or watch the headlines don’t you sometimes wanna be somewhere else? I know I do.


What inspires you?

So many things. Music is and has been a very large part of my life and I draw a lot of inspiration from that. Again, eclectic as hell. You would find my iTunes collection pretty confusing.

I’ve just returned from living in England for a year and a half. Inspiration? Just look out the window. Go down the pub. Walk in the woods, walk around London. I’m going to try very hard to go back as soon as I’m able. There’s lots of inspiration for me there. Also, McVitie’s digestives with the milk chocolate on the top…. And Cornish pasties…. …….I digress.

The work of others inspires me. Musicians, actors, photographers, dancers, authors, other narrators. I listen to people a lot. I’m the guy eavesdropping at the next table in the restaurant, you might end up in an audiobook.


Tell us about your work on the audiobook version of the classic novel Hell House.

Such fun to do. It was really my first horror book. I had only done about ten books at that point. I really tried to just tell the story and stay out of the author’s way. When you have a book that is considered a classic, of course people have expectations about it. Maybe they’ve read it and might not like a certain choice I make with a passage in the book. I have to balance that with the person who has never even heard of the book and are encountering it for the first time. I recorded that at Blackstone Audio’s studios in Ashland, Oregon. They are great people and I’m so glad I started my narrating career with them.


Tell us how you became involved in Jonathan Maberry’s Joe Ledger series.

Grover Gardener assigned me the first book. I was available and honestly, it was my good luck that I was given the book. After it came out Jonathan Maberry wrote to thank me. It was the first time an author had ever contacted me, I was pretty excited. Right from the start, I read Joe Ledger and realized we were a good fit. I really do talk like him. Which has gotten me in trouble sometimes. Jonathan has since become a good friend.


What do you think the differences between American horror and British horror are?

Actually its very clear: In a British horror story if the character drives a car, that character drives on the left side of the road. In American horror, they drive on the right (unless under duress).

I don’t know that I can define a difference between horror in America and Britain. I’ve read some seriously frightening things from authors of both nationalities. Obviously, there will be some colloquial differences but, again, good writing is good writing. I’d love to narrate more books by British authors but I don’t have the right accent.


What is your favorite audiobook from another performer?

Oh man, thats impossible to choose. Grover Gardener, Simon Vance, Bronson Pinchot, Scott Brick, Erin Bennet, Xe Sands, many many other narrators. I listen to these people (many of whom are friends) and I wonder how it is I get to narrate books too. They are so good.


How much live theater have you done?

Lots. And I have the scars to prove it. 18 years at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, lots of other theaters around the country. Years and years.


Who are your favorite actors?

Gary Oldman, David Strathairn, Derek Jacoby, Anthony Hopkins, Ciaran Hinds, Bronson Pinchot, Derrick Weedon, Jonathan Hogan, Jerry Reed, Sarah Lancashire, Helen Mirren, and probably a whole crowd of actors I am forgetting right now


What are your favorite horror books

That’s a big damn stack of books. I love “The Stand” and loads of Stephen King’s books. I’d love to narrate one of his. But there’s quite a few horror writers that I think are geniuses. Jonathan Mayberry, Neil Gaiman, H.P. Lovecraft, Peter Straub, Richard Matheson, etc.


What are some of your favorite horror movies?

Yikes. Another list. Alien, The Shining, 28 Days Later, The Exorcist, The Ring, The Conjuring, Ghost Story, Nosferatu, The Cell. Those are the ones that spring to mind right now.


What do you consider your greatest accomplishment as an artist?

There’s a few things that come to mind. It’s nice to be nominated for things and sometimes even to win them but that’s not really what I think of when I think of as an accomplishment. I was playing Rosencrantz in “R+G are Dead” in San Francisco years ago. One afternoon I was crossing the street and a taxi drove by. As it passed, the driver leaned out and banged on his door and yelled “Hey Rosencrantz, you were great!”. That is about the coolest thing ever. Other than moments like that, just being able to keep working is accomplishment enough.


Do you have any advice for new actors?

If you want to be special, recognize that you aren’t special just because you are an actor. Read everything you can get your hands on. Recognize that the people working backstage are the ones who are really working and stay respectful and humble. Recognize that people come to see you perform not because they want to admire how skilled you are but because they want to be told a story and to feel something. The best drama or comedy is really ultimately just about humans being. Figure out how to best do that without getting in the way.


Is there a rise in self-published authors getting their novels turned into audiobooks?

I think so. Audiobooks have become such a major part of book sales in recent years that of course authors are looking at that option to get their books out there.


What are your current projects?

I’m working on a very cool couple of books for Podium Publishing, and I think I’ve got a project for Blackstone coming up that excites me but I don’t want to give anything away right now.


Please in your own words, write a paragraph about yourself & your work.

Oh man, uhhhh…. okay.

I grew up in a small town in Indiana and came to the West Coast for College. I have a degree in acting from CalArts. I worked for 18 seasons at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon. Also I’ve worked in other theaters. I’ve been in a lot of TV shows and films. I have a son who is 9 years old and is utterly amazing. Plus, he’s an athlete and I’ve no idea where that came from. So, I went from being a theatre actor to being a hockey dad in just a few short years. I love reading. I am endlessly grateful that I get to narrate audiobooks. If I wasn’t recording them, I’d probably have a few more books on my nightstand than I do right now. I like to work under the hood of my 1969 Mustang Mach1. If I ever get to where I can tune a carburetor as confidently as I approach text, I feel I will have accomplished something. I play guitar. Im an astronomy geek and a total fanboy of anything to do with NASA. I moved to England a year and a half ago and fell completely in love with that country. I’ve since returned to the states and I am going to try very hard to be able to move back there. Just writing about it makes me want to head down to my local for a pint. I keep looking out the window here in L.A. and expecting to see Hertfordshire out there.

I am grateful and humbled by the positive responses I’ve gotten from my narration and I will endeavor to keep earning them.

Also, I’ve learned that if you let an actor talk about himself, he will take up more than one paragraph.


Huge thanks to Ray for joining us today, here are some links if you would like to find out more and follow him on social media.

Twitter @ray__porter
Facebook Facebook.com/NarratorRayPorter/

Interview with The Soska Sisters

On the eve of Horror Channel’s UK premiere broadcast of SEE NO EVIL 2 on April 7, the Twisted Twins, Jan and Sylvia Soska, exclusively reveal their TV ambitions, the latest on their RABID remake and being huge WWE fans.

It’s been while since we last chatted and apart from See No Evil 2 what have you both been up to?

S: It has been a while, but it's really cool that we get to chat again. We hosted a reality horror gameshow from Matador, GSN and Blumhouse called Hellevator that was like ‘Saw the gameshow’. We had a blast making it. I really can't even believe that was a job a person could have. We're still trying to get it over to the UK - I think the audience over there will really enjoy it. We have had a lot of fun working in television, it's something we're interested in pursuing more of not only in front of the camera, but behind the scenes as well.

J: Oh, it's been ages! We've been up to nothing but trouble. We made an action movie with the WWE and Lionsgate called Vendetta where we made everybody's favorite Superman Dean Cain break bad fighting the Big Show in jail. It was basically a Punisher goes to jail movie for us. We got to achieve a big bucket list dream and start writing for Marvel comics! We did a ‘Night Nurse’ and a ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ story so far and are stoked to do more with them. And we're re-making Canadian Horror King David Cronenberg's Rabid. We keep busy.


Did the incredible, international success of Dead Hooker in a Trunk surprise you?

S: We were working very hard towards getting that kind of reaction, but considering how many films and filmmakers come out now, it's always such an unpredictable journey. I remember we would carry screeners in our purse with these little booklets, just in case we met anyone who we could get the film in front of, but it really paid off. I'll always be particularly grateful to the people who saw that first film and decided to support two very different filmmakers.

J: In a way, when I really think about it, yeah. It's a weird "WTF is even happening" film and it's really "us". The humor, the insane plot, the passion, the violence, and that take no prisoners attitude. I was both surprised and delighted to learn there are so many fellow weirdos like us out there. I love all our fans, but the people who have been in our corner since Dead Hooker In A Trunk have a very special place in my heart.

How did your family react to how it took off?

S: My parents couldn't have been more proud. My dad appears as the Rabbi in the flashback, we shot at our church, we had a lot of support from our church on that one, ha ha. We're very lucky in the way that our parents have always been incredibly supportive of what we wanted to do. My mom tells me it wouldn't have made a difference because once we got an idea in our head, even as little kids, we had to make it happen.

J: My folks are the best. They've always been so supportive of our paths wanting to be artists. They're both artists themselves so they never told us to settle on "normal jobs". I think they couldn't believe how big it got. When people starting yelling, "Dead Hooker In A Trunk!!!!" at us in the street it was like, "wow, what is even happening to our lives??" They're very proud. They always get to see the early cuts and my mum will let me know when the gory bits really sell. I have no idea what's too much anymore. I don't know if I ever did, ha ha


When American Mary showed at FrightFest a few years back it gained huge critical acclaim, what are your most vivid memories of this time?

S: I remember lying awake in my hotel room with Jen at the Soho and being extremely nervous and excited. The next day our film was going to play in front of a huge crowd and we were going to be wearing these fantastic outfits made out of surgical plastic created by Enigma Arcana that we were going to wear for it. I kept thinking about what a surreal situation that was and it's kind of a vulnerable story, so I was feeling that. But I couldn't have dreamed up a better audience. I remember Mike Hewitt from Universal made sure we got a bunch of people from the European body modification community in the front rows of the theatre, so seeing their faces and getting the reactions from the crowd was a beautiful experience. I'll always be in love with the UK because of truly wonderfully they have treated us throughout the years.

J: I remember Dead Hooker fans waiting outside our hotel for autographs and photos. It was so cool, but I'm very Canadian so I was all like, "how long have you been out here? Oh no, I would've come out sooner! I didn't know!" I have never received a warmer welcome anywhere in the world. The UK fans know their horror and they got American Mary at a level I didn't expect anyone to. It meant the world to us. And FrightFest is the best. The gents there were so good to us. I'm dying to return.

Let’s chat about See No Evil 2.  How were you selected to direct and how much say did you have on the incredible cast?

S: We got the script knowing it was time sensitive and were really excited about the opportunity, but we didn't think we'd be hired. After American Mary and Dead Hooker in a Trunk, I think people kept trying to put us in this box of this is what the twins make, but we have very diverse interests and like tackling different sub genres. I hear a lot of nightmare stories about people working with a studio for the first time, but we were extremely lucky. Michael Luisi, the head of WWE Studios, hired us to bring a female perspective to the film. We got to pick our team and modify things creatively as we went along to make the sequel really special. We're fans of the material, so we kept thinking what would be like to bring, knowing we were reintroducing this character from an original that was from so many years ago.

J: We always go to bat for our actors. We love this cast. We got Glenn "Kane" Jacobs as part of it and being huge Kane and Undertaker fans it was really the opportunity of a lifetime. I had wanted to work with Danielle Harris for ages. She's an icon. True Horror Queen. And we had to bring Katie Isabelle with us. We wanted to give her something really fun to do. We sat in on every audition and met our boys. Kaj-Erik Eriksen is just the best. I met him and felt like I knew him for years. I knew Greyston Holt, a fellow Hungarian, for a while and had been wanting to get him in something of ours. We were fans of Chelan Simmons from the Final Destination series and Tucker and Dale Vs Evil. Lee was another gift from the auditions. And Michael Eklund? He's the Canadian Daniel Day Lewis. We love him. We were looking for something together for a while and this was perfect.

Were you big WWE fans before this movie? 

S: Yes. A lot of people don't know that we are huge WWE fans. One of the only dreams that my Dad didn't support was me becoming a professional wrestler and getting tattoos. I guess through working with the WWE and making American Mary, I got to experience those avenues as closely as I could. We're still such WWE fans. I think the popularity of professional wrestling is like nothing else. You have these super hero soap operas and these brilliant coordinated fights where heroes & villains fight each week and they have such positive messages about overcoming obstacles or never giving up. Then, you see them on their off time and they are visiting the troops overseas or going to a children's hospital to brighten someone's day. I still dream of maybe getting an opportunity to write an episode of RAW or maybe get in the ring. With Glenn 'Kane' Jacobs and Paul 'Big Show' Wight as back up, though. Those lady Superstars are tough, I'd love to train to get in the ring with them. Maybe take on the Bellas?

J: Only the biggest. I lose my shit at the live events. I love it so much. Getting to work with and meet so many of the WWE Superstars has only increased my love for the whole organization and what those performers put themselves through. Real life super heroes, all of them! I remember an acting teacher made fun of me for loving WWE and said it was a waste of my time. Guess he can "suck it" (Degeneration X) now.


Did you change any of the script and if so (without giving too much away) was it much and why did you change it?

S: We had a completely collaborative team and that was a very supportive environment to make the film. I don't want to give too much away, but we switched up the gender roles in this film big time. It's very subtle, so a lot of people didn't really notice it until the end. I sometimes think, oh I wish I had done this or did that, but the scene in the morgue with Katharine Isabelle and Lee Majdoub with Kane on the slab was very much us. That character went from being a dude to being Tamara and ended with such a sexy moment. We like playing with people's expectations and the team was totally down for it too.

J: Ugh, I can't say much without giving it away but we wanted to give the film that classic 80s slasher feel to it. AND we played with typical gender roles. Nuff said! Can't say more without ruining everything!


How tough was the shoot, what did you learn from it and if you could go back and do it again what would you change?

S: The worst planned moment was that the big final fight was on the last day and then Jen, Glenn, and I had two hours sleep before we had to get on a plane to fly to New York for New York Comic Con. I was ecstatic to go and it was our first time in New York which was amazing, but the three of us were so dead after shooting non-stop for weeks, then going back into it, but these are the kind of hours you have in the WWE. You don't really think about all that traveling that they do until you see it first-hand. But then again, sleep is something you can do when you're dead.

J: Any 15 day shoot is ambitious. You have got to pick your battles. You have to lose some battles to win the war. If I could change anything it would be that promo NYCC trip that made our first time in NY feel like an acid trip.

What’s Kane like in real life?

S: He's the best. He's not Kane. I mean, if anyone is Kane, it's Glenn and he's such a phenomenal performer that that character is a real guy to people. He was a real guy to me too, until I got to meet the man behind the Devil's Favourite Demon. He's very intelligent, he's ridiculously funny - I think it's a shame that we don't get to see more of that comedic genius on the show, he's very down to earth, and he's one of the kindest souls I have had the pleasure of meeting. You see him doing different charity events constantly, he's always giving back to his fellow man, and he's always visiting people in the hospital. It's funny that everyone knows him as this monster on TV, but in real life he's much closer to an angel. I don't want to ruin his street cred, but Glenn is literally the best.

J: He's the coolest. He is SUCH a nice guy. He didn't set anything on fire or murder anyone that wasn't meant to be murdered. Glenn is very down to Earth and terribly brilliant.


SNE2 is one of those rare things, a sequel that’s stronger than the original, would you agree?

S: That's what we set out to do. I think one of the most important aspects of a slasher is that you care for the cast so there's a sense of wins and losses in this horrific situation you've placed these people in. We wanted it to be visually beautiful, we wanted to revamp Jacob Goodnight so that he would be more fear-inducing, and we wanted to have a lot of fun killing whoever it is we end up killing in the film. I'm hoping with the set up in See No Evil 2, they'll let us have another round with a third instalment.

J: That's what I think, but I've heard people say the opposite. You can't make everyone happy, I suppose. And those people are idiots. No accounting for taste! I wanted to create this extension of Jacob Goodnight's world that made the audience actually feel something. I feel that's the main difference between a horror film and, say, an action film. If you care when someone dies you're probably watching a horror film and if you don't care someone did something wrong. We wanted to redesign the Jacob Goodnight character. The fans wanted a mask and we were totally into delivering. What's a horror icon without a cosplayable costume, right?


Are you pleased SNE2 is getting its UK TV premiere on Horror Channel?

S: Nothing makes me happier! They were the first ones to put us on TV and now look what's happened. Technically, this is all their fault.

J: I am deliriously excited. I LOVE the UK Horror Channel!! They've have been so deliciously delightful to us. They cared about us before anyone got aboard the band wagon! We Soskas don't forget stuff like that!


If SNE3 ever came about would you be up for it?

S: We have been talking to the team for years about making a third one. We nicknamed it 3 No Evil and we have a killer idea set up for it. The team is interested in coming back, maybe this UK TV premiere will be what gets them to say, why not, how bad could it be?

J: 3 No Evil? I've actually been dying to do a sequel to our sequel. It would be so fun to reunite with Glenn and company. We have some big plans for him in the future...


How much in the last 10 years has the movie industry changed for women? Are you now rightfully treated as equals?

S: There's definitely more of a spotlight on the inequality in hiring female directors which has opened up this dialogue that has been going strong for years. You look at filmmakers like Ana Lily Amirpour with A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, Julia Ducournau with Raw, Agnieszka Smoczyńska with The Lure, and so many others - and you see these unique perspective films and you see that audiences are hungry for that. There's this misconception about who the film-going audiences are and what they will pay to see in the theatres, but then you see someone try something different like Jennifer Kent did with The Babadook and its insanely successful. Yet instead of looking for more new ideas to give audiences more of a variety, they try to recreate the last success and there's no art in that. Creating true equality is an ongoing process, but I truly don't mind. There are no other sister directing teams that we are following in the footsteps of, every step is new ground that hopefully makes the path less unruly for those who come next.

J: We're getting there but we've still got a ways to go. Female filmmakers are making a lot more noise about diverse representation and the fans are echoing that call. Ladies still have to fight hard for those opportunities and get overlooked for their male counter parts. If another male director with less experience than me gets another superhero franchise I might lose my shit. With all the attention on female filmmakers right now, particularly in the horror genre, I think we're gonna see more of a shift in hiring (and paying equal wages). But ask me next time we chat, we'll see how far we came.


So, what are you working on at the moment?

S: We are very honored to have been the team chosen to take on the remake of Cronenberg's Rabid. Normally, I'm not a huge fan of remakes but that's if they don't have anything new to bring to the story. We have a unique perspective just because of who we are to tell the story from Rose's eyes as well as make a commentary on the increasingly rabid world that we live in. Also, we've been dying to get back into body horror. Ten years into David's filmmaking career, he remade The Fly and it brought him to this new level. This is ten years into our career and this will be our first film that gets a wide theatrical release, so it feels like a good pairing. We just have to make sure we don't let down our country, our fanbase, and our hero. No pressure.

J: Rabid! And sadly a bunch of stuff I can't talk too much about. I will say that one of our original scripts has now gone into production and I'm really beside myself about it. It's a dream I'd forgotten I'd even had. We wrote this particular script at the same time as American Mary and it's maybe my favorite thing we've ever written. It's a "fuck yeah" film so get stoked for that. We have quite a few films in production and Kill-Crazy Nymphos Attack!, our (very) graphic novel that we're doing with Daniel Way with artwork by Rob Dumo. It's coming this summer, so grab that if you want to be horribly offended.

See No Evil 2 is broadcast on Horror Channel, 10.50pm, Fri April 7

WIN A KILLER BUNDLE OF REALM OF THE DAMNED GOODIES TO CELEBRATE THE ANIMATED COMIC'S RELEASE

Realm Of The Damned - Tenebris Deos is out on DVD & Bluray on the 7th of April and to celebrate we have a great competition for you and merch bundles including the film, t-shirt, mug and original graphic novel up for grabs!

Synopsis:
The monsters have won. Our world now belongs to them. Realm of the Damned: Tenebris Deos is a new UK animated motion comic of pure Black Metal horror that unleashes the classic gothic monsters on a modern rampage of redemption and damnation. Raw, fast-paced and bristling with atmosphere, this is a bloody and blasphemous epic that leaves no church unburned.

Marking the first in an upcoming four-part series, Realm of the Dead - Tenebris Deosis an animated motion comic adventure starring David Vincent (Morbid Angel), Dani Filth (Cradle of Filth) and Jill Janus (Huntress)

Realm of the Dead - Tenebris Deos is available on Blu-ray & DVD from 7th April, 2017

Check out the release on Amazon by clicking the link below: (Opens in a new window)
Realm Of The Damned - Tenebris Deos [Blu-ray]

Competition Closed

Terms and conditions
1. Closing date 16-04-17
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. Winners will be chosen randomly and will be informed via email.

WIN ONE OF TWO LIMITED THE VOID T-SHIRTS TO CELEBRATE THE NEW HORROR RELEASE

Prepare for a fresh slice of terror from the warped imaginations of VFX and design masters Steven Kostanski and Jeremy Gillespie. The Void is a highly anticipated new horror following a series of successful and prestigious festival appearances. Encountering a blood-soaked man on a dark deserted road, a police officer rushes the victim to the local hospital. Soon the staff and patients are trapped by a terrifying, otherworldly threat and forced on a hellish voyage into the depths of the building to escape the nightmare.

Shocking, haunting and boasting mind-blowing practical special effects, The Void is a new must-see horror event, starring Ellen Wong (Scott Pilgrim vs the World), Kathleen Munroe (Alphas), Aaron Poole (Forsaken) Kenneth Welsh (The Aviator) and Daniel Fathers. Written and directed by Jeremy Gillespie and Steven Kostanski.

Signature Entertainment presents The Void at UK cinemas from 31st March and on Digital HD from 7th April

Cinema Tickets: ourscreen.com/film/The-Void
Digital HD link: iTunes

Competition Closed

Terms and conditions
1. Closing date 14-04-17
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. Winners will be chosen randomly and will be informed via email.

Film News (UK): Soska Sisters head up Slasher Season on Horror Channel

Get ready for hooks, surgical knives and power saws as Horror Channel adds a cutting edge to April’s schedule as the UK TV premiere of the Soska Sisters’ SEE NO EVIL 2 heads up a season of contemporary slasher films. The season also has the network premieres of Stewart Hendler’s sadistically slick SORORITY ROW with Carrie Fisher, the darkly deranged GIRLHOUSE, and Nelson McCormick’s axe-crazy PROM NIGHT.

Fri 7 April @ 22:50 – SEE NO EVIL 2 (2014) *UK TV Premiere

A group of friends pays a late-night visit to the city morgue to surprise Amy (Danielle Harris) on her birthday. But the surprise is on them when the one-eyed corpse of brutal psychopath Jacob Goodnight (Glenn ‘Kane’ Jacobs) unexpectedly rises from a cold sub-basement slab. Their wild party quickly turns into a terrifying slay-fest as the sadistic mass-murderer resumes his savage rampage complete with hooks, surgical knives and power saws. Also stars Katharine Isabelle.


Fri 14 April @ 22:50 – SORORITY ROW (2009) *Network Premiere

A sorority prank goes wrong and a girl is accidentally murdered. Desperate to get on with their lives and avoid taking responsibility for their actions, the surviving sisters and their male accomplice agree to dump the body and never speak of the incident again. Just after graduation, however, a mysterious killer begins stalking everyone, leading the survivors to fight for their lives against a masked maniac with a deadly modus operandi.


Fri 21 April @ 22:50 – GIRLHOUSE (2014) *Network Premiere

In an attempt to make some extra cash while away at college, Kylie (Ali Cobrin) moves into a house that streams content to an X-rated website. After a deranged fan hacks in to determine the house's location, she finds herself in a terrifying fight for her life.


Fri 28 April @ 22:50 – PROM NIGHT (2008) *Network Premiere

After surviving a horrible tragedy, Donna has finally moved on and is enjoying her last year of high school. Surrounded by her best friends, she should be safe from the horrors of her past. But when her prom night turns deadly, there is only one person who could be responsible - a man she thought was gone forever. Now, Donna must find a way to escape the sadistic rampage of an obsessed killer. A loose remake of the 1980 film of the same name.

Other highlights this month include the UK TV premiere of Benni Diez’s enormously fun creature feature STUNG, which airs on Sat 29, 10.55pm. When illegally imported plant fertilizer infects a local species of killer wasps, a nearby fancy garden party at a country villa gets thrown into turmoil when the swarm attacks. Laying eggs in their human prey, the wasps mutate into 7-foot tall predators with a severe attitude problem. Stars Lance Henriksen.

Plus there are channel firsts for Irvin Kershner’s cult classic THE EYES OF LAURA MARS, (Sat 1 April, 11.05pm), starring Faye Dunaway and Tommy Lee Jones, Rupert Wainwright’s remake of THE FOG (Sat 15 April, 9pm), starring Selma Blair; Stuart Hazeldine’s gripping EXAM (Sat 22 April, 9pm), starring Pollyanna McIntosh, Jimi Mistry, Gemma Chan and Colin Salmon; and David Hackl’s killer bear actioner INTO THE GRIZZLY MAZE, (Sat 8 April, 9pm), starring James Marsden, Thomas Jane, and Billy Bob Thornton.

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

Competition: Win Ibiza Undead on DVD

Ibiza Undead is out on DVD on 20th March and to celebrate we have a great competition for you and 3 copies of the DVD to give away.

Synopsis:
The Inbetweeners meets Shaun of the Dead in this riotously entertaining British zombie film. A group of young people head to Ibiza for the holiday of a lifetime - all the sun, sea and debauchery they can handle.

Leaving the girls behind, the lads get in to an exclusive club where the performers are the undead. But one of the lads’ drunken antics lead to the zombies escaping their restraints… Soon all hell breaks loose and no one on the party island is safe. Starring Emily Atack (The Inbetweeners), Matt King (Peep Show), and Cara Theobold (Downton Abbey).

Check out the release on Amazon by clicking the link below: (Opens in a new window)
Ibiza Undead [DVD] [2016]

Competition Closed



Terms and conditions
1. Closing date 27-03-17
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. Winners will be chosen randomly and will be informed via email.

Interview with Aaron Sterns by David Kempf

Aaron Sterns is the co-writer of Wolf Creek 2 (Best Screenplay Madrid International Fantastic Film Festival 2014), and author of the prequel novel Wolf Creek: Origin – which won the 2014 Australian Shadows Award for best Australian horror novel of the year.

Author of various Aurealis Award-nominated and Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror recommended short stories, including ‘The Third Rail’ and the dark werewolf-bouncer world of ‘Watchmen’ (the basis for his upcoming novel Vilkači), Sterns is a former lecturer in Gothic & Subversive Fiction, editor of The Journal of the Australian Horror Writers and Ph.D. student in postmodern horror.

He is currently at work on his next novel and a raft of screenplays.

Interview with Aaron Sterns by David Kempf

Q. When did you first become interested in screenwriting?

A. I lucked into screenwriting in many ways. Although I’ve been involved in the horror field for many years, coming from an academic background in Literature my focus was always studying and writing fiction. I loved film, which has of course become the driving force of contemporary horror, but it always seemed daunting or unattainable, especially for someone from the isolated realms of Australia. Then I stumbled upon examples of the screenplay form in collections by Dan Simmons and Dennis Etchison and Stephen King, tucked in amongst fiction pieces, and was intrigued by the style and that it seemed so much more artificial and sparse than the overdescriptive, elegiac prose I’d previously been drawn to (Cormac McCarthy, William Faulkner, etc.). 

I attempted scripts of my own in my teens, but found it too hard to format on the old word processors (Final Draft broke open the script form in many ways and probably allowed countless new writers to pour into the field). It was really only fortuitously meeting and sharing an office with Greg McLean (who would go on to direct Wolf Creek), and a director from LA called Adam Simon who started dating my best friend’s sister (and who I spent many, many long nights with discussing horror theory), that the world of screenwriting began to open up to me. The funny thing is that following Wolf Creek 2 most people see me as a screenwriter -- which I’m happy to cultivate because it’s nice to be known for something -- and yet I’ve written fiction for years and also wrote the Wolf Creek: Origin prequel novel. You go where the work is, and most of my projects now are indeed screenplay-based.

Q. How did you get involved in fantasy/horror?

A. I was fixated on death and existence from an early age, so I think I have a natural tendency to the dark. I was also a voracious reader, secluding myself in my room and churning through Orwell and Huxley and other fun reads even at the age of ten. I like the satirical and metaphorical weapons that ‘fantasy’ (as in, an alternate reality or projection or exaggeration of reality, rather than castles and dragons) provides, and the unflinching existential exploration that is at the heart of good horror.

Q. Is this a full-time job?

A. I used to think writing never could be, which is why I pursued a Ph.D. and lecturing at university in the first place – to sustain the outside career of writing. But then I got sick of talking about other people’s work and quit the academic field some twenty years ago. Since then I’ve done any number of grueling part-time jobs to keep my head above water – bouncer (a lot of years of that), actor, typist. But I’m happy to say I went full-time a couple of years ago, with my fiancée’s help, and now write whenever I’m not looking after our whirlwind four-year old daughter.

Q. Would you consider writing in other genres?

A. I’m currently working on a violent gangster movie, a scathing and funny LA horror-satire, I have a couple of SF scripts amongst my slate, so if the story or the approach is interesting enough, sure. But I tend to gravitate back to the broad field of ‘horror’ due to its ability to skewer social norms and comment on the human condition or the current political climate or the family unit without being too obvious or preachy. There’s always a way to slip something deeper into horror, even as subtext. If you don’t/can’t acknowledge the context of the world then what’s the point of story?

Q. Why do you think horror and fantasy books remain so popular?

A. Precisely because of what I’ve been saying – that they present alternate versions of the world that highlight and tear asunder assumed conventions. They can make the audience think, even unwillingly, forcing them to consider post-apocalyptic worlds in which the taken-for-granted safety and security of their current society falls apart, or to imagine their loved ones as betraying psychopaths, or the inevitability and unsympathetic nature of death (something which we in the West seem to be brought up to ignore, presumably so the good little worker bees don’t question the value of work and the quarter-acre home and the 2.4 kids in the face of eventual nothingness).

Q. What inspires your stories?

A. Everything. Every minute of every day. I’m sure all writers are inundated with story ideas constantly. It’s a matter of sifting through and blocking out all the inane detritus – the silly little ‘what-ifs’ that plague you. I do try to write the more fully-formed ideas down though, as you never know when you can develop them into something useful.

Q. The Wolf Creek saga is very disturbing. What made you think you could write so dark?

A. The world is dark. Wolf Creek is one of those horror stories that projects from real life, imagining the true happenings and terror behind the numerous murders and disappearances we’ve heard of in the outback. I think a lot of people were surprised by the novel Origin even more so than the movies. I’d obviously been storing up a lot of disturbing material and ideas about the forging of serial killers that poured out into that book. I still get comments that “I can’t believe you put such and such in”, and I have to think for a second, then admit “Did I? I can’t believe it either!”

Q. What do you think is the difference between Australian and American perspectives on horror?

A. Well, American horror is more mature in the sense it’s been developed by so many masters over the years (Hawthorne, Poe, Lovecraft right up to the present day in literature; countless Hollywood and independent films). Australia has a long tradition of gothic fiction, but a relatively smaller crop of current horror fiction writers. And while there was a bump in genre films in the 1970s thanks to the tax incentives, only a handful of horror films are made here every year (not surprisingly, considering our population). 

But there do seem to be distinctive qualities to Australian horror – a defining element of Australian gothic for instance is that the tension arises not from antiquity or architecture or romantic melodrama as it does in the European tradition, but often from our unforgiving landscape. The earliest forms of settler art depicted the bush as a mythic and impenetrable stealer of children and of hope and dreams, a theme played out in many of the early works of fiction by such writers as Lawson and Baynton. 

A period of cultural cringe seemed to quell this (the dark period of the 1990s when we put out dreck like Cut), but then Wolf Creek unashamedly embraced landscape as horror again and arguably paved the way for a resurgence that taps into this (Jamie Blanks’ remake of Long Weekend for instance, but also movies like Dying Breed, Primal, Van Diemen’s Land). And now recent entries like The Babadook are notable for the very fact they don’t rely on the geography of Australia for its effect. The American perspective on horror would take a book to detail, though I tend to find US studio films are often hampered by the need to assuage focus groups and market segments. Horror’s a naturally risky genre, so maybe it gravitates towards the independent low-budget scene to allow the greater freedom the more challenging ideas require.

Q. What do you think the legacy of fellow Australian Rocky Wood is?

A. Rocky’s legacy is still being felt in the Horror Writers Association, that’s for sure. Many of his initiatives and relentless campaigning continue to expand its numbers, and encourage exposure of the field to the wider community. He also put Australia on the map in some ways in the horror world, staunchly promoting those of us from his homeland at every opportunity (without ever being nepotistic). He was also a mentor to many of us, and was always available for finely-honed advice. His passing is still a shock now.

Q. What are your favourite horror books?

A. Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian, Jack Ketchum’s The Girl Next Door, Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho, Peter Straub’s Koko, J.G. Ballard’s Crash. All seminal in some way.

Q. What are some of your favourite horror movies?

A. The classics: The Thing (1982 of course), The Howling, Videodrome (in fact, anything by Cronenberg), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978). More recently Ringu, Martyrs, Inside, and the amazing Black Swan.

Q. What do you consider your greatest accomplishment as an author and screenwriter?

A. Perhaps actually getting published, and actually getting a film made? I think people assume it’s a fait accompli that a writer merely has to write something and then it gets published (or filmed in the case of a screenplay). That’s the process. The hard part in all this is convincing the powers-that-be to actually back the thing!

Q. Do you have any advice for new writers?

A. Your words aren’t golden. Be prepared to take on criticism and advice. But at the same time be unwavering in your confidence in your ability. It’s tough to walk that tightrope without becoming disillusioned, but you won’t publish anything if you quit.

Q. What is your opinion of the new self-publishing trend?

A. It’s called ‘vanity publishing’ for a reason. If your work’s not strong enough to make it past a commissioning editor there’s a reason.

Q. What are your current projects?

A. I probably have ten or twelve scripts I’m working on at the moment, in various stages of development. I’m hopeful of two going into production this year – one in New York, and the other here in Australia. But we’ll see. You never believe something will get made until the first day of shooting. I also have a novel I’d like to get back to, but as you can imagine juggling so many projects there’s not a lot of time for everything.

Q. What advice do you have for aspiring authors who want their work to be adapted into a screenplay?

A. You could always write it yourself. Failing that, you could try to convince a screenwriter (which isn’t likely – they have more than enough scripts to work on thank you very much), or somehow get it to a producer, however one does that. Just realize getting a film made is statistically much harder than a novel published (and that is incredibly hard). So if you happen to be approached for an option, consider it a nice validation of your writing, but you’ll probably never one day sit in a cinema watching an adaptation (and probably not one you’re proud of). That said, if someone does come looking get a lawyer quick smart.

Q. Please in your own words, write a paragraph about yourself & your work.

A. I’m a former university lecturer, now novelist and screenwriter, and have been involved in the horror field for over twenty years. I’m the co-writer of Wolf Creek 2, which won best screenplay at the Madrid International Fantastic Film Festival, and am the author of prequel novel Wolf Creek: Origin, which won best Australian horror novel at the Australian Shadows Awards. I’m currently writing scripts in collaboration with Greg McLean, Matthew A. Brown, Jamie Blanks and other genre masters, and find myself saying yes to far too many cool projects.

Links

www.aaronsterns.com

facebook.com/aaronsternsauthor

Twitter: @aaronsterns

FRIGHTFEST & FAB PRESS LAUNCH THE FRIGHTFEST GUIDE TO MONSTER MOVIES

FrightFest and FAB Press once again join forces to launch THE FRIGHTFEST GUIDE TO MONSTER MOVIES, which goes exclusively on sale during Horror Channel FrightFest 2017, Aug 24 – Aug 28. Following the success of The FrightFest Guide to Exploitation Movies, this is the second in a planned series of wide appeal books for both the curious spectator and the cult connoisseur,

Written by celebrated writer, editor & critic Michael Gingold, the book contains 200 of the most frightening, fantastical and fun monster film features. Starting in the silent era, it traces the history of the genre all the way through to the present day. The films are given detailed individual reviews, with fascinating facts and critical analysis.

There are the Universal Studios favourites such as Frankenstein's Monster and the Mummy, the big bugs, atomic mutants and space invaders that terrorised the '50s. Then there's the kaiju of Japan, the full-colour fiends from Hammer and the ecological nightmares of the '70s and '80s, to the CG creatures and updated favourites of more recent years.

Cult-favourite filmmaker Frank Henenlotter, creator of some of the screen's most idiosyncratic and bizarre beings, contributes a foreword, and it's all illustrated with a ghoulish gallery of scary stills and petrifying posters representing the remarkable range of monstrous movies. Do you dare open the cover and confront the beasts within?

The official launch is at Horror Channel FrightFest, Cineworld, Leicester Square (24th to 28th August) The FrightFest exclusive hardcover will be on sale for just £20. The book's international street date is 18 September 2017. Paperback price: £16.99 (UK) $24.95 (US)