Nefarious Films

The Woman in Black - Review

2012-02-14T01:20:00.001-08:00

The Woman in Black

Director: James Watkins

Writer: Jane Goldman, Susan Hill

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Ciaran Hinds

Any review of this film would no doubt be remiss not to make some mention of the casting of its leading man. It's actually one of the least interesting things about this atmospheric, effective and rather stylish ghost story so probably best to get it out the way sooner rather than later. Yes, it's Daniel Radcliffe's first film since he finished with the magic stuff at Hogwart's, yes he is really a bit too young for the role and yes, despite this he acquits himself very well. His performance is central to the film and much depends on Radcliffe's believable reactions to the assorted bumpings in the night his character experiences. Fortunately, he handles this all very well and any memories of annoying whiny wizards are fairly swiftly cast aside.

The film itself is of course an adaptation of Susan Hill's famous novel which has been adapted twice before - once into a hugely (and deservedly) successful stage play, and once into a British television film in 1989. This version espouses the play's framing device of an older man telling his tale in a theatre as well as making some significant deviations from the source material. This incarnation of Arthur Kipps begins the story as a haunted broken man; his wife having died in childbirth 4 years ago and his grief threatening to overwhelm him. His assignment to settle the paperwork at Eel Marsh House is his last chance before the company fire him. As such the character is given much greater motivation to stay and complete his job where pretty much any other normal person would have taken his neatly trimmed sideburns back to London at the very first hint of a screaming, pale-faced, child-murdering, spectral banshee. Though his motivation here is much more believable, this alteration to the character does drastically change the arc he goes through. Rather than a naive and slightly arrogant young man being slowly shown the terrifying truth of the supernatural world culminating in a bleak and truly heart-rending tragedy, here we have a grieving, broken man struggling to appease the supernatural forces he pretty much suspected existed anyway. To my mind at least, this damages the emotional core of the story and makes the character much less easy to empathise with. I won't ruin the film's ending for you but it could never rival the sheer exhausted anguish of the novel's final line.

All this is not to say that this film doesn't work. It does. Sometimes it works very well indeed. The set design and locations used are perfect. They create exactly the right atmosphere of brooding dread and oozing menace that a story like this requires. The set dressing is also particularly inspired with some of the most ghastly and downright terrifying children's toys ever conceived used to great effect. The maraca-shaking monkey was bad enough but the awful, awful rabbit thing still brings me out in a cold sweat. As for the weird clown toy with the sort of demented toothy smile and sticking out tongue - forget about it. The scares don't all come from inexplicably unsettling playthings however. There are plenty of genuinely unsettling moments in The Woman in Black and even a few outright blood-chilling ones. There is a little too much emphasis on jump scares in the first half but in honesty the film does benefit from them as so much of the film is a slow build. Once the hauntings and ghost-related mayhem really kicks off in earnest there is more than enough pay off to make up for the occasional fake out or two earlier on in the film. The best of these are the subtly spine-chilling visual scares such as something indistinct moving in the background or the realisation that something is suddenly present. The sight of the woman in black lurking in the corner in a flashback scene is one of the most powerful in the film to my mind and so much more enduring than the cheap but fun 'sudden scream' gags.

It is probably unfair to compare very different art forms even when reviewing a straight adaptation. The question, really is whether this stands up as a film in its own right and the answer to this is, for the greater part, a resounding yes. It is a scary, old-fashioned ghost story with enough of the contemporary about it to make it work for a modern audience. It takes itself seriously enough to be affecting but is crafted well enough to be fun at the same time. If this led the way for many more ghost-stories set in dark old houses, well that'd be just fine by me.

Nefarious Films Update

2012-01-30T03:58:00.000-08:00

No reason for this picture - I just like spiders. And skeletons.

January Update

Hello there good people who read this blog. Just thought I'd write a quick message explaining what's going on here at Nefarious Films currently.

You may have noticed a bit of a drop off in new articles just lately. Whilst that hasn't been entirely un-Skyrim related, there has also been a few major changes going on 'behind the scenes' as it were. Whereas, the site has in the past included writing from regular contributors and some one-off guest writers for the time being I'm stripping it all right back and making it simply my own reviews and features. We are not pone of the major horror websites and I don't really want to be either. I'm not here to cover news stories on each and every new horror release or to keep you updated on all the news stories about them. There's plenty of other sites that do that and quite frankly, I haven't got anything new to add to the mix.

Instead, I'll be concentrating on keeping up a steady supply of reviews, features and new TBDB entries. There's also some new and exciting developments on the way for Nefarious Productions which is kicking back into gear after a rather sparse year of inactivity.

So, plenty new stuff coming - thanks for reading, please keep doing exactly that.

Inkubus Review

2012-01-30T03:40:00.000-08:00

INKUBUS

Director: Glenn Ciano

Writer: Glenn Ciano, Carl V. Dupre

Starring:

Robert Englund, Joey Fatone, William Forsythe

At an old police station operating with only a bare minimum of officers due to its scheduled demolition the following day, a strange and threatening being casually walks in carrying a severed head and a bloody great big knife. It's a great set-up with great potential for a lot of gruesome fun which this low-budget little production only narrowly misses out on delivering.

The villain here is the eponymous Inkubus (played by Robert Englund), a demon with a taste for murder and mutilation and the slight problem that his 100 year tenure in his current body is coming to an end and he needs to find a new human shell to inhabit. In truth, it is the sort of role that Englund can play in his sleep and while it certainly won't be earning him any originality awards it is an effective enough performance. Englund imbues the character with the requisite malevolent charm and a playful malice which suggests that despite the fact that this demon has been doing this a long long time, he still really enjoys it. Much the same could no doubt be said of Robert Englund himself.

Of course, every homicidal demon with a penchant for chopping people into pieces needs some good guys to terrorise and these come in the form of (amongst others) Joey Fatone and William Forsyth. Fatone does a surprisingly good job and Forsyth is his usual impressive performance though he is not given enough to work with here to really let rip. That's the nature of his character however to be fair and he plays it well. The villains in horror movies are usually the most interesting characters by definition and this film is no exception though there is certainly a good amount of backstory and depth to these characters.

The overall plot is a bit hokey but serviceable enough and certainly deserves kudos for delivering something more interesting than the standard 'monster kills everybody' fare. The grudge match that plays out between the lead character and Inkubus works quite well even if it is a little obtuse at times.

This isn't an enormously gory film with the exception of a couple of very memorable scenes. One in particular, involving a macabre inversion of the old magician's trick of sawing a lady in half is especially well staged and conceived. In fact it provides one of the movie's most arresting scenes and is played with a really creepy nonchalance by Englund. It would have been great to see and, most crucially, feel more of this throughout the film but a lot of the time it just doesn't quite hit the heights you are willing it to.

Inkubus is no game-changer but it is a quiet little piece of nastiness which introduces a surprisingly detailed and developed new villain along with a pleasingly bleak and nihilistic tone and feel which is, at least to this reviewer, oddly refreshing.

INKUBUS, will be released by Trintiy X on DVD in the UK, Monday Feb 13, 2012.

The Stink of Flesh - Review

2012-01-30T03:26:00.000-08:00

The Stink of Flesh

Director: Scott Phillips
Writer: Scott Phillips
Starring: Kurly Tlapoyawa, Ross Kelly, Diva, Kristin Hansen

In recent years the zombie movie has fittingly enough come shambling (or in some cases running) back from the dead – bad news to some, bloody marvellous news to others. Though the majority of the new entries to the zombie sub-genre are so bad they seem intent on killing it off again this wonderfully titled movie is certainly not one of them.

Despite its bizarre plot, camp feel and perverse sense of humour The Stink of Flesh takes its source material surprisingly seriously. These zombies are of the traditional slow and shambling stable and are a real threat to the characters, even the fist-fighting, undead slaying Matool (Tlapoyawa) whose favourite method of zombie dispatch is to hammer large nails into their heads up close and personal. The make-up effects used for the zombies in this film are a clear homage to Romero’s Dawn of the Dead with lots of grey’s, blues and greens being used for their skin tones. As with that film, the effect, while not terrible, is not hugely convincing though this hardly matters when the obviously low budget is taken into account.

Much is made of what budget was available with most of the story wisely taking place in one location. It is refreshing to see a zombie movie dwelling on the story of the characters rather than centring on the undead outbreak as so many seem to make the mistake of doing. It is fairly obvious that the filmmakers have tapped up as many friends and acquaintances as possible in making this film. Sometimes it does run dangerously close to looking like a bunch of film-school friends mucking about on camera with some distinctly hammy acting going on but for the greater part this works for the movie rather than against it. The soundtrack is a masterstroke and the odd country/punk/folk music contributes greatly to the film’s sense of individuality and style.

The script is a real oddity but a well crafted oddity, this screenplay is as tight and lean as they come. That alone is unusual enough in low-budget genre movies but the sly and knowing wit which pervades nearly every line of dialogue really sets it apart from its contemporaries. There is a clear sense of fun present in every aspect of the film and fortunately the audience is nearly always included in this fun. The film makers are fans of these types of movies and have made this film for other fans, there is lots of gore, a bit of nudity and the only zombie faeces examination scene ever committed to film (probably).

This is a sick and crazy movie that will certainly not appeal to all tastes but then again, is that particularly surprising for a film titled The Stink of Flesh? The flaws it has are easily overlooked in light of the freshness, energy and sheer love of it all that oozes out of every seedy frame. This is the way all movies should be made.

Dead End Review

2011-11-25T06:32:00.000-08:00

Dead End

Director: Jean-Baptiste Andrea, Fabrice Canepa
Writer: Jean Baptiste Andrea, Fabrice Canepa
Starring: Ray Wise, Lin Shaye, Alexandra Holden Mick Cain, Billy Asher

There are surprisingly few horror films that actually manage to instil fear in the viewer. The ones that do are rightly credited as classics of the genre. Films like The Shining, Don’t Look Now or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre all use a minimal amount of gore and shock effects in conjunction with a well written script and effective direction to create truly unsettling films which resonate in the mind long after the end credits have rolled (especially on sleepless nights when you’re alone in the house). While not quite achieving the queasy heights of these films, Dead End is a wonderfully creepy little movie which achieves that rare task of arousing a genuine sense of dread in the viewer.

Where most low budget directors fight against their lack of funds to bring the script to the screen Andrea and Canepa (the film’s writers and directors) have rolled with the punches and used the problem to their own advantage. The script is perfect for low budget film making and makes what is basically one location seem like many different points along the vast and endless road the protagonists find themselves on. There are a few well placed visual effects scattered strategically throughout which work very well, even if the creepy face at the car window is a straight lift from Jacob’s Ladder. What works better however are the places where the viewer is not shown the carnage that the characters can see. This is particularly effective in the scene where one of the characters draws a stick figure picture of the fate of one of her more unfortunate relatives. The simple line drawing of a dismembered cartoon man is more horrific than any amount of blood and fake severed limbs could ever be. Much is also made of simple props – it is amazing just how disconcerting an antique baby carriage in the middle of the road can be.

An uneasy atmosphere is established from the very beginning of the film and kudos must go to the directors for their ability to not only maintain it but to steadily crank it up. By the second act, any time the characters leave the dubious safety of their car you will be tearing holes in the arm of your sofa (or partner!) and urging them to get back in the goddam car! Tribute should also be paid to the cast in this aspect all of whom give solid and credible performances, perhaps with the exception of Mick Cain who though pretty funny at times is just a little too old to convince as a teenage high-schooler. Ray Wise of course gives a great performance as the steadily unravelling patriarch of the family while Lin Shaye is perhaps even better as his completely unravelled wife.

Dead End does have its flaws and most of them are fairly easy to forgive script contrivances like the kid going for a quick woodland whack-off while members of his family are dying and going crazy all around him. The most damaging of these flaws however is the actual crux of the story itself, it is just too obviously telegraphed and as such, the ending loses much of its impact. This is not to say that it is ruined, it just means that the journey is more important than the destination – a fitting enough analogy for a film set almost entirely on an endless road.

It is testament to Dead End’s overall quality that its flaws are so easily ignored. It is an unusual film which treads perilously close to genre clichés but ultimately earns its place amongst that elite group of horror films that can actually scare.

Moon Spiders- The Total Bastard Database

2011-11-23T07:27:00.000-08:00

The TBDB is the Net's biggest, best and most downright demented guide to horror cinema's worst villains, madmen, monsters, maniacs, cannibals, creeps, killers, beasts and, well... bastards.

MOON SPIDERS

AKA:

Little pieces of rock.

WAS A BASTARD IN:

APOLLO 18 (2010)

SO, WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY?

There's a reason we haven't been back to the Moon and apparently it's because we might end up starring in a langorously paced derivative PARANORMAL ACTIVITY clone. No, wait hang on, it's actually because the moon is in fact populated by loads of creepy space bug things. These aren't just any creepy space bug things though, these are sort of like transformers (who also have apparently taken up residence on the moon according to Michael Bay) but really shitty transformers which instead of turning from giant robots into sports cars and fighter jets turn from spiders into erm, bits of stone. That's not entirely dissimilar to some of the later transformer toys if I remember my childhood correctly now I come to think of it.

THAT'S NOT A KNIFE:

With all the powers of a piece of stone and a spider combined, these creepy little guys can do such terrifying stuff as put rips in clothing and bite stuff.

This,however, is probably underestimating the significance of a tear in a space suit in all fairness. Also, their bite seems to infect the host with some sort of space plague which causes the usual combination of nasty black veins, bloodshot eyes and psychopathic madness.

SO, WHAT'S THE DAMAGE?

A couple of teams of astronauts, get it during the movie which is all very tragic of course especially seeing as they used to enjoy barbeques with their families so much. What is it about barbeques I wonder, that makes them universally known as movie shorthand for 'happy times'? Not disparaging barbeques by the way, I like burned meat as much as the next man but I just can't help thinking that if anybody gets out a video camera during one that something awful is going to happen to everybody involved at some later point. Especially if most of them are going on a mission into outer space together.

Anyway. These particular burger-munching astronauts are only the tip of the iceberg as the end of the film goes on to inform us that hundreds of moon rocks have been brought back to Earth during earlier moon landings and since gone missing. Obviously biding their time for a full on moon spider take over. A true fact apparently (the bit about the moon rocks going missing - not the moon spider takeover).

IT'S A MILLION TO ONE CHANCE BUT IT JUST MIGHT WORK...

Best not to take any chances here, just smash any rock you see with a big hammer I'd say. Maybe that's what those prisoners are always doing in those films.

WORDS OF WISDOM:

Just lots and lots of chitinous bug noises. Which is odd seeing as sound doesn't travel in the vacuum of space.

By Matt Compton

Short Film Review - Jenny Ringo and the Monkey's Paw

2011-11-22T06:14:00.001-08:00

Jenny Ringo and the Monkey's Paw - Short Film

Review by Matt Compton

Writer: Chris Regan

Director: Chris Regan

Starring: Rosie Duncan, Lukas Habberton

It's been a while since I've posted any reviews of short films on here but when Brighton filmmaker, Chris Regan (the man behind the Writer By Night blog) gave me the heads up on his new production it sounded sufficiently interesting for me to take a look and give it a bit of a push.

Jenny Ringo and the Monkey's Paw is the story of a young witch with the sort of hip slacker attitude you might expect from a Diablo Cody film. That is, if Diablo Cody wrote films about directionless young middle-class witches in Brighton. Jenny Ringo lives with her even more directionless best mate, a bleached-haired dopey stoner and together they get themselves into all manner of supernatural difficulties due to that good ol' horror staple - a cursed monkey's paw. True to tradition, the paw gives them 3 wishes which end up not working so well and the film follows the attempts of the duo to overcome the fallout of these wishes.

There's plenty to like here and even though the film runs for a relatively hefty 25 minutes it has such a pacy and energetic feel that it feels like much less. I'm not usually a fan of any short film that runs over the ten minute mark but in truth, this is more like a series pilot than a film anyway (Writer/director Chris Regan is apparently in the process of putting a sequel together already. The character of Jenny herself is well played with a sort of irrepressible enthusiasm by Rosie Duncan and though the character often walks the line between cool and annoying, she falls on the right side of that line more times than not. Her flatmate/best friend (played by Lukas Habberton) strikes a similar balance. It's the chemistry between the pair that is at the heart of the film and this works well as the two actors have a natural and believable relationship.

The story itself plays on some fun horror tropes and enjoys itself in lots of predictable and some not-so-predictable ways. There's some fun jibes at art-house pretension and some nice gags about narrative structure which work well and fit the rather 'meta' vibe of the whole thing very nicely. The only problem is with the rather uneven tone of the film. It seems to be not entirely sure who its audience is. There is a very light and innocent air to the goings-on with even the notion of any sexual element between the characters firmly dismissed early on and despite the supernatural nature of the plot no gore or violence. The characters quite happily swear in casual conversation however but then again maybe this is just a quirk of Britishness -we do like a good swear.

The look of the film is very nice, it's well lit and the colours are bold and solid. The design of the characters is distinctive and memorable and their costumes all feel very natural to their character rather than looking like a costume which can often be the case in shorts of this sort of budget. On a technical level, the biggest letdown is the sound. The majority (or maybe entirety?) of the dialogue is ADR which is only natural given the clearly windy seafront locations which would be an out and out nightmare to record sound in. The additional sound design is not quite developed enough to ever sell the effect however and it serves to end up feeling a little like watching a dubbed film and pulling you out of the experience.

Despite these flaws however, Jenny Ringo is a fun little film with tons of imagination and enthusiasm. It doesn't try to be too serious or too, well, anything really. It's well worth checking out. To see the film check out its webpage here.

Remember this? Nic Cage in Vampire's Kiss

2011-11-16T03:53:00.000-08:00

What with the much acclaimed Spike TV Scream Awards honouring Nicolas Cage with their Maverick Award a few weeks ago, it seems high time that the great man’s finest movie performance was remembered and justly celebrated. No, we are not talking about any bees here and I’m really going to do my level best to refrain from mentioning the bear suit too. In fact the movie I’m referring to hardly involves any women being punched, kicked or mugged of their bicycles at gunpoint at all. It does however have Cage calling a couple of them cunts. One of them, however, was only a figment of his imagination anyway so hardly even counts. Oh, and he does rip another unfortunate young lady’s throat out with his teeth but hey, it was the eighties – it was a wild time.

The film I am talking about is of course the magnificently mental 1989 Robert Bierman movie, VAMPIRE’S KISS. Coming on like AMERICAN PSYCHO as re-imagined by Bram Stoker it tells the sad tale of Peter Loew, a New York publishing executive who slowly becomes convinced that he is turning into a vampire. Although he is almost certainly suffering some form of catastrophic breakdown and the movie is actually a pretty downbeat chronicle of a man’s steady mental decline and eventual demise, Cage’s gigantic performance lifts it to absurd and absurdly entertaining heights. It is a master class of what makes Cage such a bizarre and wonderful performer and is simply a treasure to behold. I don't know quite what Cage is on about when he refers to his acting style being 'nouveau shamanic' but it's all here in one glorious feast of bonkers. If you have not seen it before, do yourself an enormous favour and buy it immediately. Don’t even finish reading this article, just go straight to Amazon and buy it, watch it then come back and read the rest.

So, what is it that makes Cage’s performance in VAMPIRE’S KISS so damn good? I’m glad you asked…

The Accent

Despite playing an American character, Cage has inexplicably chosen to talk in an unpredictable quasi-English sort of drawl that comes and goes throughout the movie. I think it is best summed up as sounding like somebody who has only ever heard American people doing impressions of English people trying to do an English accent and ending up sounding like Derek Zoolander. This doesn’t even begin to do it justice however, it sounds like no living person in history. To me at least, that just makes it an all the more brilliant creation.
The fact that Cage would actually use this deeply strange accent for the entire movie is a stroke of outright genius. The IMDB trivia section mentions that the character uses the fake accent to appear ‘smarter’ and more ‘elegant’. This is a bit like using a grizzly bear costume to appear more casual and less conspicuous. (Dammit – I didn’t even make it past the first section without mentioning the bear suit. )

The Delivery

The accent is merely the icing on the cake however, the real gold is in the way Cage chooses to deliver his lines. Erratic, unpredictable, eccentric and utterly joyful to behold, every sentence brings fresh pleasures. Just watch the moment when he rants to his psychiatrist about filing. He manages to make reciting the alphabet into a brouhaha acting performance (that’s right brouhaha) which outstrips any of even Al Pacino’s shouty extravagances – yep, even the ‘great ass’ line from HEAT. Cage’s delivery is so monumentally unhinged that he crams in about 3 complete tone changes in a single sentence. It’s as if he can’t decide which way to play the scene so he just chooses to do everything, all at once and it’s awesome.
It’s not just in the spoken lines either. Witness the moment when Loew realizes what he has become and breaks down in tears. Rather than going into the traditional histrionics or fits of weeping Cage simply gives a small succession of weird and pitiful high pitched sobs. Again, impossible to convey with words but once experienced you’ll never cry the same way again.

The Physical Performance

Never one to shy away from a bit of unnecessarily ostentatious movement or shape pulling, VAMPIRE’S KISS sees Cage giving it his all. His character goes from posturing arrogance through louche sex appeal, outright naked aggression and cold menace all the way to outright screaming insanity and ultimately ending as a broken pitiful mess. Sometimes he does this in a single scene.
The standout scene has to be the moment when Peter Loew decides that it is time he had some fangs so having bought some cheap plastic vampire teeth from a joke shop he excitedly proceeds to a park bench and rips open the package. He proudly puts the novelty teeth into his mouth and suddenly before our very eyes becomes the vampire Peter Loew. He is a ridiculously hunched caricature of a vampire made all the more hilarious by the fact that it is played so straight. To top it all off, Cage ends the scene by dropping to his knees and crawling out of shot, for no reason whatsoever. Brilliant.
It's not just the big moments however - even the smallest actions Cage makes are still so defiantly offbeat they can dominate a scene all by themselves. The eye rolling as Loew berates his unfortunate secretary Alva for example or the wonderful little effete hair re-arrangement he does as he collects his composure. They're all in the video below and there's too many to list. That's a good thing.

The Cockroach Eating

One of the more notorious and well known aspects of this movie is the moment when Loew goes all Renfield and tucks into a live cockroach he finds scuttling around his increasingly chaotic apartment. Later in the movie he catches a pigeon and eats it off screen but it's this scene that sees Cage really going method as he lifts the wriggling insect up to his mouth and takes a big hearty bite. This is apparently something he did no less than 3 times to shoot this scene. Now, that's devotion to eccentricity.

In Summary...

Of course, like any performance or indeed any piece of art, it cannot be judged on its constituent parts. It is so much more than that and simply needs to be experienced to be believed.

On a personal note, I’d also like to add that I am in no way being sarcastic or ironic in this article – I do truly believe that Cage is an absolutely incredible actor. He gets a lot of stick for some of his roles but his commitment and enthusiasm cannot be doubted. He is clearly capable of traditionally ‘good’ performances as we have seen from his brilliant roles in LEAVING LAS VEGAS or ADAPTATION but that’s not the Nic Cage I truly love. For me it’s the unhinged nutcase who decided to make films like GHOST RIDER or DRIVE ANGRY simply because they seemed like a chance to have an obscene amount of fun.

Jake West Interview

2011-10-27T04:03:00.000-07:00

Next month sees the HORROR CHANNEL screening its Season of the Banned line up beginning with Jake West's brilliant documentary, VIDEO NASTIES: MORAL PANIC, CENSORSHIP & VIDEOTAPE (review here). What with the issue of banning becoming so prevalent once again, we took the opportunity to catch up with Jake West to talk all things censorship...

Hi there Jake, thanks for taking the time out to talk to us,

You're welcome, good to talk to you.

Your recent documentary, VIDEO NASTIES: MORAL PANIC, CENSORSHIP & VIDEOTAPE is making its television premiere and headlining a season of 'video nasties' on the Horror Channel next month. Perhaps we could begin by asking why you chose to make a serious documentary. Did it have anything to do with a feeling that we are slipping back into more censorious times?

Well, it was was one of those things that wasn't really planned to be honest. We set up Nucleus Films to release cult films and we'd started doing a collection of Grindhouse trailers - the Grindhouse Trailer Classics discs -we've just got the third one of that coming out. We were coming up with different ideas for releases and Marc Morris (who I run Nucleus Films with) had written two books on video nasties and we thought it would be interesting to do something similar to the Grindhouse Trailer classics but on video nasties where you would get to see the trailers. We then began thinking about how there was much more to the story of the video nasties than just the trailers, why were they banned in the first place? We knew the broad strokes of the history but when we started researching it we found that there was a lot more to the story than we'd expected so it kind of ballooned into this much bigger project and by the time it came out because of films like THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2 and SERBIAN FILM and now THE BUNNY GAME it seemed to coincide with a sort of resurgence of censorship. That was something that just seemed to happen without us planning it but we did seem to maybe tap into a zeitgeist on it. So, it was definitely a departure for me but it was quite an enjoyable ride and very educational in understanding something that you've lived through in a different context.

There was an interesting point raised by Alex Chandon (director of INBRED) of all people at a recent Q and A with yourself and Marc Morris where he was stating that censorship needs to exist in some form in order to protect the safety of innocent people. Do you agree with this and if so, where do you think the line is of what is acceptable?

Well, I'm not quite sure what he meant by that to be honest and you'd have to take it up with him! I'm not really a fan of censorship but I am talking about censorship of fictional works, I'm not talking about a question of banning anything real, like a real murder on camera or something but that wouldn't be released as fiction so there's a clear distinction. To me, censorship of fictional content should be more classification. It should be about whether you are old enough to see it or not, it shouldn't be about whether you are allowed to see it as an adult. That's my bugbear with censorship basically, it's telling people that one set of adults can watch something and then they decide that other people can't watch it. It's one thing to say 'you can't watch this if you're under a certain age' but it's a different thing entirely to say that you can't watch it at all as an adult. I think you should be given that choice.

Also, it seems to be that historically, things get censored at a time in history when I guess they're ahead of the curve or ahead of what people are comfortable with. I think that's the thing with art though - isn't art designed to push boundaries? It's always there to attack the boundaries and in a sense I think this is where people in authority have problems with horror because obviously horror deals with the darkness of human psyches. It deals with the unpleasantness of the imagination and you're not supposed to be comfortable with that to start off with. So, I can understand people have moral objections to the material but I don't think banning it is the way forward. It often seems that something is banned and then some time later un-banned and it seems that society needs to catch up with what's going on. With the internet making this material so readily available anyway, it kind of makes a mockery of the whole system anyway.

The BBFC recently reinstated THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2 although with 2 minutes of cuts. Is this an acceptable compromise do you think? Or do you think that a film should be shown in its original state, as the director intended or not at all?

Obviously any director would want their film to be seen in the state that they originally intended but if a country does have censorship (and we are in a country which does) I think a film maker would rather the film could actually get released so that people could still see it than for it not to be seen at all. It's never gonna be ideal but it can come down to simply where you are geographically located I guess. The internet however allows you to order the un-cut versions from somewhere else anyway so often people won't bother with the cut version. The interesting thing is that when a film is cut, it can make it feel very different and sometimes make it seem worse in a horrific way rather than better. It can also make people want see a film more simply because the BBFC have banned it or cut it. I find the whole cutting issue as rather counter-productive and maybe they are playing into the hands of the marketing people. It all just becomes a bit of a weird compromise and something of a mess. Like I say, I don't agree with the censorship or cutting of fiction in any way.

Would you say that the cutting of films leads to an increase in piracy?

Well, the piracy issue is incredibly frustrating as a film maker. It's very easy for people to pirate films in a different way to how it was done in the eighties. That was all on videotape and when videotape is copied the quality of the copy goes down and down until it gets to a point where it is unwatchable. We used to watch films and want to get a better copy of it but with the internet people can rip a copy of the blu-ray and it's perfect quality. Obviously piracy is a problem, especially with independent film makers because your revenue stream has been cut down so massively and I really don't know what the solution is.

What with this documentary and the series of grindhouse trailers you release through Nucleus Films, you clearly have a deep affection for the grimier side of horror filmmaking and the late '70's and eighties stuff especially. What is it about this era that you personally find so entertaining?

Yeah, I love horror but I love films across the board. I like some pretty bizarre stuff which some people I'm sure would think is rubbish as well. Certainly, with the grindhouse stuff the joy of it is the over-enthusiastic sell. The trailers are so much better than the films. Those exploitation movies were made for drive-ins and late night films and double-bills and you used to get these crazy movies made but often they were very low budget and weren't particularly good. If you watch the whole film, often they are quite unwatchable and boring but when you see the trailers and the sort of snake-oil sales pitch saying that it's the most extreme thing you're ever going to see it completely oversells and even misrepresents a lot of the films. I just think that those trailers are really inventive and funny and just enjoyable. They kind of make you fall in love with that stuff. Of course within those films there are those examples which actually are good but it's only a small percentage of them but there is a fun of exploring it I think. That's what Quentin Tarantino does, he distills the elements that people like and reinterprets them into something bigger and more accessible.

If you absolutely had to remake any one film (excluding your own) which would it be?

I really don't know because as a film maker it's just not something I want do so it's a really tough question. If you were to remake something though, I think it'd have to be something that wasn't great first time around but that had a good idea in it. If you look at something like THE SLAYER, it had a lot of ideas which cropped up in A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET and dealt with dreams and a dream demon. SLAYER isn't a particularly great film whereas NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET is but did Wes Craven see that or was he influenced by it? Who knows? If I was going to remake something I would be looking for the seeds of something great in a film rather than remake something that people love because I hate soulless remakes. My favourite of the video nasties (which should never have been a video nasty anyway) is THE EVIL DEAD and they've been talking about doing a remake of that for years but I don't really want to see that because I love the original.

So, I guess that would be my position on it - sorry I can't answer that better for you!

Thank you very much for talking to us Jake West.

Human Centipede Premieres at Frightfest All NIghter

2011-10-07T08:14:00.000-07:00

Maybe this happy fellow will be there.

Hot on the heels of the news that Human Centipede 2 has finally been passed by the BBFC (albeit with a total of 32 cuts) comes news of its premiere at where else but Frightfest of course.

Tom Six' first instalment premiered at the London horror movie festival in 2009 and if ever there was a crowd to embrace a film such as THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2 its the Frightfest lot.

Director Tom Six will be in attendance for the usual chatting with fans and Q and A's. There will also apparently be members of the cast with him but just who that will be has not been made known yet.
The film will screen in the midnight slot at the Halloween event at the Vue cinema in London's Leicester Square on Saturday October 29th.

Tickets for the all-nighter cost £50 and are currently on sale. To book call 08712 240 240 or go online http://www.myvue.com/latest-movies/info/film/frightfest-all-nighter

Season of the Banned

2011-10-05T06:55:00.000-07:00

Anybody out there pissed off they can't watch HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2? What about the controversial decision to ban the even more controversial A SERBIAN FILM? While, personally I don't have a huge amount of interest in seeing either of these titles beyond curiosity I do object to being told what I can and can't watch. I also object to being told that these films will be too much for my delicate psyche to withstand or that I will be affected in some way by watching them. I don't think that's a decision anybody other than me is qualified to make to be honest.

Of course there's plenty of arguments to be made on either side of this debate and that's not something I'm gonna get into here. Whichever side of the question you find yourself on however you should spare a thought for the poor suckers who were imprisoned back in the dark ol' 80s for owning such diabolical titles as NIGHT OF THE BLOODY APES or I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE on VHS.

Jake West and Marc Morris' splendid documentary, VIDEO NASTIES: MORAL PANIC, CENSORSHIP AND VIDEOTAPE gives a fascinating account into the 'video nasties' debacle of the 1980's and you can catch it on the HORROR CHANNEL on November 4th at 10:55 PM.

The screening is a kick-off for a whole lovely season of the films in question. While many of the banned movies may not quite live up to their salacious titles and lurid cover art, not to mention their fearsome reputations, the collection being screened is pretty much a checklist of era-defining horror movies and a wonderful chance to re-watch or see for the first time some bonafide classics.

Chief among these (at least, as far as I am concerned) is Sam Raimi's genuinely awesome THE EVIL DEAD. Also on the menu is Lucio Fulci's masterpiece of weirdness, THE BEYOND as well as the brilliant CITY OF THE DEAD. Tobe Hooper's seminal 'orgy of terror', THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE is also on the bill as well as the legendary Dario Argento's TENEBRAE.

I really like this picture.

Season Of The Banned The Films

4th Nov @ 00:20 - THE EVIL DEAD (1981)

11TH Nov Double Bill THE EXTERMINATOR and THE BEYOND

10.55pm - THE EXTERMINATOR (UK Premiere) (1980)

00:50 - THE BEYOND (1981)

18TH Nov Double Bill ISLAND OF DEATH and CITY OF THE DEAD

10.55pm ISLAND OF DEATH (1972)

00:55 - CITY OF THE DEAD (1980)

25TH Nov Double Bill THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE and TENEBRAE

10.55pm THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE

00:40 - TENEBRAE (1982)

The Woman - Review

2011-09-29T02:08:00.000-07:00

THE WOMAN

Director: Lucky McKee
Starring:
Pollyanna McIntosh – The Woman
Angela Bettis – Belle Cleek
Sean Bridgers – Chris Cleek
Zach Rand – Brian Cleek
Lauren Ashley Carter – Peggy Cleek

It is an unfortunate failing of the horror genre that it so often relies on formula and cliche to provide its chills, thrills and blood-letting. The same stories are told again and again with the only real variation being the method by which the killer chooses to dispatch his victims or the personality and gender of the final survivor character. In a landscape with such a dearth of original and interesting stories, a film with the dark wit, intelligence and disturbing uniqueness of Lucky McKee's latest production THE WOMAN is a rare and wonderful treat indeed.

Based on the novel by Jack Ketchum and Lucky McKee, THE WOMAN tells the story of a seemingly normal family man, Chris Cleek (played to menacingly slimy perfection by Sean Bridgers) who happens upon a feral woman whilst hunting. Being of somewhat dubious moral fibre he captures the woman (brilliantly portrayed by an absolutely fearless Pollyana McIntosh) and chains her up in his cellar. He introduces his family to the ravening creature and informs them that it is their 'family project' to attempt to civilise the unfortunate woman. From there the story goes to some strange and unexpected places as we learn more about the Cleek family and just how dysfunctional they really are. It is never exactly an enjoyable film but it is incredibly compelling and also raises some discomfiting questions in the viewer.

It's these questions which will really determine the individual's response to this movie. Some will find it difficult and uncompromising whilst others will find it an important examination into sexual violence and the power dynamic between the sexes. Still others may well find it to be a twisted little revenge fantasy. Maybe some will find it all of these things or maybe none of them - what do I know? Whichever way you look at it, this movie has certainly produced some very strong reactions in the audiences it has reached so far.

It's not without its flaws of course but again these are mainly down to the individual's reaction. There has been some degree of criticism levelled at the film for the somewhat incongruous use of a hip slacker rock soundtrack. Whilst this does indeed create a strange juxtaposition of sound and image, personally I thought it worked well. It creates an atmosphere of 'wrongness' which is completely in line with the story's themes and underlying narrative.

THE WOMAN is definitely difficult to watch at times and certainly raises some disturbing questions. These are however wonderful qualities for a horror movie to have and that is truly what this movie is and as we see in the film the true horror does not lie behind the animal's snarling face but the human smiling one.

Dick Maas - Interview

2011-09-02T03:51:00.000-07:00

Interview with Dick Maas

Horror isn't exactly known as one of Holland's biggest exports but Dutch filmmaker, Dick Maas is set to change all of that with his latest film, Saint. Saint had its UK premiere at the Film 4 Frightfest this year and we caught up with him there to shoot the shit:

NF: Hi there Dick, thanks for talking to us. How's things?

DM: Fine thank you! We've just taken two days off to come to Frightfest as we're in the middle of shooting my next movie so back to shooting tomorrow.

NF: Saint has already been released in Holland, how was its reception?

DM: All over, very good - a success but that was a while back as the movie was out in November of last year. Next week it's going out in a limited run in the US in about 10 or 12 cities and then in November other European countries will follow. it's not even out on DVD in Holland yet however. It's really not been around that much other than in festivals.

NF: Are you looking forward to the Frightfest screening? It can be quite a vocal audience!

DM: Well, we have a sort of similar festival in Holland where everybody screams and throws things at the screen. I hope it plays well but I don't know what people expect - it's not an all out gory movie so if people expect that, they may be disappointed. I call it an action movie with horror elements and a lot of laughs I hope.

NF: SAINT is very specifically Dutch, particularly the St Nicholas festival itself. Was it a concern at all in how that will translate over to American or British audiences who are are not familiar with the festival?

DM: Well obviously the St Nicholas festival is a very Dutch thing but I thought that the basic principle about the St Nicholas figure is pretty simple - it's a Dutch Santa Claus! It's very clear who the bad guy is in the movie, it's simple to figure out and for audiences outside of Holland I think it's pretty simple to grasp so you don't have to know everything about the details of the celebration. On the other hand there are lots of details that you don't get outside of Holland, like the songs sung by the fireplace and in the movie I explain what some of the lyrics are about. I think you wouldn't get those things if you don't know much about the celebration but they are small things.

NF: I think that part of the movie's charm is that it has these very unfamiliar cultural elements which show the difference between this and much of what we are used to.

DM: Well I do try to explain it all a little, in the scene in the red light district for example there's a little bit about the celebration which I added to give foreign audiences a little better understanding.

NF: What would you say the horror filmmaking landscape is like at present in Holland?

DM: Well, it's almost non-existent. People often say that I made the first Dutch horror film in the '80s with THE LIFT about an elevator with a mind of its own. I wouldn't even call that an all out horror movie, it's a thriller with horror elements. There aren't really horror movies made in Holland though, there aren't any directors interested in the genre and if they are interested, they are more interested in one side of the genre such as the zombie genre which I'm not particularly a fan of. At present I think there's 2 or 3 zombie movies being made in Holland.

NF: How difficult is it to finance a horror movie in Holland?

DM: It's a major problem, it's very difficult. An audience for a horror movie is very small but I tried to change that again with SAINT. I was able to finance it due to my reputation- I always get an audience for my movies and so I was more able to find financing.

NF: Maybe you will have started a change in the way horror is seen in Holland?

DM: Well that's what they said about THE LIFT and I've shown that it can reach an audience but it didn't seem to take. The film directors don't like the genre and there aren't that many directors or writers writing or making scripts or movies that stand out.

NF: The VFX are pretty impressive in SAINT despite the low budget - how difficult was it to achieve these effects on the budget you had?

DM: I think that when you have so little money you have to prepare even more than usual. You can't waste any money. We tried to do it in the most cost effective way. We had to work out how to make a horse run over the rooftops which has never been done before. Maybe in an American movie you could use 3D and CGI but the only way we could do it was to shoot the horse against green screen and shoot plates on the rooftops then put it all together. The key was to really get to know what we were doing and know how to shoot a horse against a green screen so that it looks like it's running across rooftops because horses don't like to go up and down on steep inclines. We built huge scaffoldings with green screen and let the horse run or put the horse on treadmills. It took a huge amount of preparation.

NF: The character of St. Nicholas is very visually iconic, how did you find the process of altering such a distinctive figure from the recognised benevolent figure into your, slightly less benevolent version?

DM: Design started on the character long before shooting and we knew that he had to be burnt but we wanted to keep the expression in his face. I found an artist in Poland whose paintings were fantasy paintings and I asked him to do some mood boards which turned out really horrific and then our special effects man used these as his starting point for St Nicholas and the Black Peters.

NF: Will they be returning for a sequel?

DM: Maybe, we left it open and of course everybody asks this but it depends on how the reception is in other countries. If people want him back then maybe!

NF: Thank you Dick Maas for taking the time to speak to us -good luck with SAINT!

Final Destination 5 3D - Review

2011-09-02T03:03:00.000-07:00

Final Destination 5 3D

Director: Steven Quale

Starring:
Nicholas D’Agosto – Sam Lawton
Emma Bell – Molly
David Koechner - Dennis
Tony Todd – Bludworth
Courtney B. Vance – Agent Jim Block

Some film franchises just keep on giving don't they? Of course, when I say giving I mean re-presenting the exact same story but with slightly different characters and in slightly different places. And when I say 'film franchises' I mean the Final Destination series.

I think it's fair to say that nobody really expects an awful lot from these movies. A gruesome and spectacular set-piece in which the entire cast die followed by a series of elaborate individual death scenes topped off with a 'surprise' ending. That's pretty much it. It seems almost incredible that there's still an audience for this astonishingly simple formula, especially considering the low quality of the previous couple of instalments. Apparently there were still people clamouring to see this story re-told for the fifth time however and you know what? I'm kinda glad of that because Final Destination 5 in 3D gave me one of the most unexpectedly fun times I've had at the cinema in recent years.

Make no mistake, this is exactly the same story as the previous four instalments, it's just that it does everything that you'd expect it to do in the best possible way. Take the 3D effect, for example -this is a gimmick which has been used pointlessly or to the detriment of the film more often than not but here is absolutely the perfect way to kick the movie into a higher gear. It is a tacky gimmick used in a shamelessly tacky film to hugely entertaining effect. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the opening bridge collapse scene which kicks the whole thing off.

This is a scene which you could probably almost guess at if you've seen any of the previous instalments. It is still done so well however that the deaths come from unexpected angles and methods which combined with the 3D effect actually have you wincing and 'dodging' spikes and other lethal objects as they come hurtling out of the screen. This is how it's supposed to work! The choice of setting works magnificently with this effect as well as the distance to the water is magnified and made queasily more realistic than normal 2D would allow.

Once the film gets into its groove and the expected death scenes rear up in the expected way, in the expected order things get a little less exciting. Director, Steven Quale sets such a brisk pace however that things never really slow down enough to give the viewer much of a chance to get bored. The methods of demise are as convoluted and implausible as ever with incredibly gory damage being done to the various unfortunate victims to such an extent that it bears absolutely no relation to real life physics but hey, what the fuck right?

This certainly isn't a movie for anybody who is looking for a realistic depiction of what would happen if a small stone statue fell on your head nor is it for anybody who wants a serious story, a plot, interesting characters or to see anything particularly new or original. Although just that sentence alone should sound the death knell for any movie, no matter the genre, Final Destination 5 somehow manages to sidestep all the usual requirements for cinematic enjoyment with sheer enthusiasm and good-natured silliness.

Before you know it the movie is wrapping up with a wonderfully conceived 'twist' ending which gives a perfect cap to the movie and, despite the positive words about this instalment, hopefully the franchise. It'd be nice to see this series go out on a high but what's the betting we'll be seeing Final Destination 6: the Next Generation this time next year?

Frightfest 2011 - Review

2011-08-31T04:46:00.000-07:00

FRIGHTFEST 2011 - Review

As another British summer ends in the usual torrents of rain and thunderstorms the Empire Cinema in London's Leicester Square closes it doors on another Frightfest. This year was the festival's twelfth since its humble beginnings at the Prince Charles cinema and once again Alan Jones and the rest of the Frightfest crew have delivered the goods with what has been the biggest event yet in the festival's history. With movies from all round the world, more world premieres than ever before and the usual enormous range of special guests and surprise appearances the UK's biggest genre festival goes from strength to strength. And that is despite the festival's traditional insistence of an over-abundance of torture movies. Pretty good going.

Kicking off proceedings this year was the Guillermo Del Toro-produced remake, DON"T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK which was a solid and creepy enough effort. It gave a few nice jump scares and was shot beautifully with a terrific sound design but it just never seemed to reach the heights or punch expected of a Frightfest opener. Still, there were a few nice moments which got the ever-vocal and enthusiastic audience applauding and the film seemed to garner a pretty positive response on the whole which given the variety of tastes in the typical Frightfest audience is no mean feat.

Taking the place of Adam Green and Joe Lynch's Douche Brothers Road to Frightfest shorts this year were a selection of John Carpenter homages from notable horror directors. It was a shame not to have Green and Lynch entertaining us with their particular brand of geeky humour and the general feeling was that they were missed but in truth last year's efforts were pretty much repeating the same jokes as previous years so it is probably best to stop them while they're still good. The first of the Carpenter homages was Jake West's ESCAPE FROM LONDON which was a nicely shot actioner which starred a few familiar faces and despite being just a little too serious for its own good was a fun way to start the festival.

James Moran and the rest of the crew of soon to be released Brit horror COCKNEYS VS ZOMBIES took to the stage to introduce a few clips from the movie. While the title does not bode well and is yet another example of this awful 'vs' thing which just won't go away the film itself looks like great fun. The clip shown featured the world's slowest chase sequence in which an old man (played by the magnificent Richard Briers) with a walking frame flees a shambling hungry zombie to great comic effect. It also boasts an impressive cast. How can Alan Ford (Bricktop from SNATCH), Richard Briers and Honour Blackman go wrong really?

Next up was the hardly inspiring prospect of FINAL DESTINATION 5 in 3D. The atmosphere before the screening was one of good natured patience rather than excitement. The feeling was generally that the film would be a pointless and redundant rehash of the previous 4 movies but with the dubious improvement of 3D. While that description was pointedly true, what was less expected was just how much fun this movie was. It had the audience screaming, applauding and groaning on a regular basis and while offering nothing new it did what it did with style and humour.

The final film of the first night was THEATRE BIZZARE which I unfortunately didn't stay to see but the audience reaction was less than stellar.

Day 2 brought with it ROGUE RIVER and the rather downbeat THE HOLDING to kick things off. There then followed a very interesting interview with Larry Fessenden which led to a larger panel including Adam Green, Joe Lynch, Lucky McKee and Ti West discussing American Horror. My personal highlights came with the 'recession horror' THE GLASS MAN starring Andy Nyman and directed by Christian Solimeno. It was a strangely compelling film which left a real emotional punch. Sad, moving and awesomely performed by Nyman. I didn't expect to like this one but as it happens loved it. I do so like it when that happens!

The mood was lightened considerably by the fantastic TUCKER AND DALE VS EVIL which played to its perfect audience at Frightfest and received enormous applause, laughter and praise. The film itself is a deceptively smart and always charming homage to horror which manages to get that difficult line between horror and comedy just right. Loved it. The final film of the night was the somewhat underwhelming VILE which provided the usual torture tropes.

My most eagerly anticipated film of the festival played on Day 3 - THE TROLL HUNTER. But I missed it because it screened to early and I spent way, way too long in the Phoenix Artist's club (watering hole of choice for the festival) the previous night. Good work there, me. Impressive! It is on general release very soon however so I'll have to check it out then. I did hear from those who made it to the screening that it was as good as I had hoped and very fucking loud. Good! THE WICKER TREE got less positive reports unfortunately but to be honest, did anybody really expect this to be any good?

Similarly low expectations were abound for the remake of FRIGHT NIGHT. Turns out these expectations were similarly met. Not that the film was terrible, it was fine and it even had some pretty cool moments (love the animalistic writhing when the Farell-vamp gets hurt) but it just didn't do anything of any great interest. Luckily, (see what I did there?) Lucky McKee's THE WOMAN came next which pretty much blew everybody away. It was an excellent film which had real substance and a distinct voice. Another highlight of the entire festival there and one which still has me thinking now. That's definitely a good thing.

Perhaps only slightly less cerebral was the utterly ridiculous anthology movie/homage to the drive-in experience, CHILLERAMA. It pretty much has to be seen to be believed but it involved at various points: a gigantic sperm attacking the Statue of Liberty, a gay werewolf Grease tribute, Kane Hodder as some sort of dancing frankenstein's monster/rabbi creature and a bizarre sequence completely about shit. Maybe it was the lack of sleep kicking in but somehow this was all very amusing.

Day 4 brought us the veery entertaining Quiz From Hell by Andy Nyman which was a lot of fun and gave me a pathetic sense of accomplishment for knowing inane and pointless facts about bad movies from several decades ago. That's probably not just me however. The quiz was followed by the Short Film Showcase. This was fantastic and humbling at the same time - as a short filmmaker myself (that is, I make short films - I'm actually fairly tall) it is great to see what others are doing and the amazing standard they are at. My picks of the bunch were the beautiful and genuinely moving THE LAST POST by Axelle Carolyn and BRUTAL RELAX which was simply insane. Insane and brilliant.

Ti West's THE INNKEEPERS provided another of my favourite picks of the festival. It was a charming and entertaining slacker movie at the same time as being an incredibly effective and scary ghost story. Well worth watching and I'm looking forward to catching it again when I get the chance.

The Dutch Santa Claus action/horror, SAINT came next and gave everybody a bit of good natured silliness and gore but the real big draw of the night was KILL LIST. But, of course, I missed it. Because I'm a twat. Apparently it was very good though.

The final day had all the weekend pass holders beginning to look a little frayed around the edges and lack of sleep and over-exposure to blood and screaming was beginning to take its toll. Sleep and daylight would have to wait however because there was still horror movies to watch. Movies like DEADHEADS which was amiable enough but a little lightweight. Much less lightweight was the grimly portentous Swiss fable, SENNENTUNSCHI: CURSE OF THE ALPS which despite a slow build was an interesting and engaging movie. INBRED came next and gave pretty much the polar opposite of this though it was vibrant, good natured (in a fittingly unpleasant way of course) and well shot.

The night and the festival ended with the rather oddly chosen A LONELY PLACE TO DIE which featured some amazing locations and photography but didn't seem to deliver the horror thrills the frightfest audience thrives on.

All in all, the festival was an enormous success and the biggest and best yet. Aside from all the films there were more special guests than I can count, some hilarious grindhouse trailers precceding movies, clips and shorts all of which I don't have space to mention but were all fantastic. The Film 4 Frightfest is an insane way to spend 5 days to be honest but there is also no other way I'd rather spend 5 days. If that makes sense to you then you were probably already there.

Thanks again to everybody who took the time to chat to me at the festival, all the filmmakers whose films kept us entertained and to Alan, Paul, Ian and Greg for putting the whole bloody thing on and inviting us along. Thank you!

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark - Review

2011-08-31T02:53:00.000-07:00

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

Director: Troy Nixey

Writer: Guillermo Del Toro, Matthew Robbins

Starring:

Katie Holmes - Kim

Bailee Madison - Sally Hirst

Guy Pearce - Alex Hirst

Alan Dale - Jacoby

Jack Thompson – Harris

This remake of an old TV movie from 1973 may not be directed by Guillermo Del Toro but it bears so many of his hallmarks that it may as well be. In fact, Troy Nixey is the man behind the camera on this lavish and, for the most part, effective little chiller. Del Toro is however producer and writer and his influence is clear which is no bad thing if perhaps the script does at times skirt dangerously close to the derivative.

The story focuses on another of Del Toro's sad little girl characters, in this case, Sally - the daughter of divorced parents shipped off to live with her father and his girlfriend in the old dark house they are currently renovating. The house itself is a beautifully eerie setting with an appropriately dark and mysterious history - its last owner disappeared after his young son vanished in similarly mysterious circumstances. We some of these events in a prologue which introduces us to the idea of strange little creatures living behind a grate in the basement.

As the story progresses we see and learn plenty more about these nasty little imps as they attempt to drag young Sally into their underworld dwelling to feast upon her teeth and bones. While Sally herself learns of the existence and true nature of these 'tooth fairies' fairly quickly her adult guardians are much less timely in arriving at the truth despite Sally's continual insistence and obvious deep trauma and fear.

This plotline provides much of the conflict in the film and while it does provide some interesting commentary on the nature of the adult/child dynamic it is pushed too far and eventually strains credulity. It is all too believable that the father of this unappreciated child could be dismissive and unbelieving of his daughter in a general sense, even when things start to get a little strange. It is when there is simply no possible rational explanation and yet he still refuses to so much as acknowledge the possibility of a problem that suspension of disbelief is strained.

This becomes such a problem in the film that it almost becomes a running joke. Even when presented with hard evidence of the existence of the malevolent little critters nobody acts. A workman is attacked in the empty basement and emerges covered in stab wounds and claw marks and yet nobody asks what happened to him. This is despite the fact that he is hospitalised and clearly seriously injured. Do the authorities not want to know what happened? Are the police not interested in this near fatal stabbing incident? Wouldn't at least somebody make some sort of enquiry? These sorts of questions rear up frequently during this movie (especially so, after the climax) yet the poor little girl constantly finds herself back in the dark in her bedroom - literally the most dangerous place in the world for her.

If you can get past these troubling flaws however there's plenty of fun to be had here. The creatures are quite pleasingly menacing and do manage to intimidate despite their diminutive stature. There are also some nice scare moments amongst all the standard loud boom on the soundtrack type-stuff.

Katie Holmes is also surprisingly good in her role as the most sympathetic (or only I should say) adult in the film. The production design however is the main stand out here. The house itself is gorgeous - all heavy wooden doors and dark shadows. It exudes a sense of the mystical and is both beautiful and scary rather than just being a creepy old house. There are definite touches of The Haunting in here but used in the best possible way.

All in all, the movie never quite reaches the heights it aspires to. It entertains and even gives a few jolts but unfortunately falls short of any lasting impact.

The Innkeepers - Frightfest Pre-thoughts

2011-08-24T04:05:00.000-07:00

PREVIEW

An (almost) daily preview for each and every movie on the line-up for London's biggest, baddest horror festival, the Film 4 Frightfest

THE INNKEEPERS

DIRECTOR: Ti West

STARRING:

Sara Paxton – Claire
Pat Healy – Luke
Kelly McGillis – Leanne Rease Jones
George Riddle – Old Man
Alison Bartlett – Angry Mom

They say:

"The indie king of the slow-burn horro,r flick Ti West, returns to FrightFest with something akin to THE SHINING done slacker style After 100 years of silver service, The Yankee Pedlar Inn is shutting its doors for good. The last remaining employees – Claire and Luke – are determined to uncover proof that the hotel is haunted. As the Inn’s final days draw near, odd guests check in as the pair of amateur ghostbusters begins to experience strange and alarming events that may ultimately cause them to be mere footnotes in the establishment’s long unexplained history."

We say:

Ti West's earlier film, HOUSE OF THE DEVIL was a wonderfully creepy homage to 80's horror cinema as well as being a great little movie in its own right. While the tone and concept of this film is obviously pretty different it still bears the mark of quality filmmaking as far as we can see. Leave a comment below!

Excitement rating: Trust us, this will be good.
Playing: Sunday 28th August 16:00

Festival & day passes go on sale from 2nd July. Tickets for Individual films on sale from 1st August.

Bookings: 08 714 714 714 or www.empirecinemas.co.uk

Chillerama - Frightfest Pre-thoughts

2011-08-24T03:53:00.000-07:00

PREVIEW

An (almost) daily preview for each and every movie on the line-up for London's biggest, baddest horror festival, the Film 4 Frightfest

CHILLERAMA

DIRECTOR: Adam Rifkin, Tim Sullivan, Adam Green, Joe Lynch

STARRING:

Ray Wise – Dr. Weems
Joel David Moore – Adolf Hitler
Lin Shaye – Nurse Maleva
Richard Riehle - Cecil B. Kaufman
Kane Hodder – Meshugganah

They say:
"From the depraved minds of Adam Rifkin (DETROIT ROCK CITY), Tim Sullivan (2001 MANIACS), Adam Green (FROZEN), and Joe Lynch (WRONG TURN 2), a horror fantasy anthology in the classic spirit of BLACK SABBATH, CREEPSHOW and TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE. A celebration of the golden age of B movies, there’s something for everyone’s bad taste in this quartet of schlock featuring the monster mania rampage WADZILLA, the gay Beach Party musical I WAS A TEENAGE WEREBEAR, the black-and-white insanity THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANKENSTEIN and the creeping fleshy ZOM-B-MOVIE. "

We say:

There's been huge amount of talk about this one on all the usual webby places just lately so there's nothing new I can probably tell you other than that this anthology movie is an unashamed homage to the schlock and silliness of classic drive-in B Movie fare. I guess how much you like that sort of thing will determine how much you'll enjoy this but personally - I think it's gonna be awesome. I just wish it wasn't screening so late that I have to get the goddamn night bus home. I fucking hate the night bus. But I fucking love B Movie schlock horror more.

Excitement rating: Can't wait - but why's it on so bloody late?

Playing: Saturday 27th August 23:30

Festival & day passes go on sale from 2nd July. Tickets for Individual films on sale from 1st August.

Bookings: 08 714 714 714 or www.empirecinemas.co.uk

May - Review

2011-08-24T03:47:00.000-07:00

MAY

Director: Lucky McKee
Writer: Lucky McKee
Starring: Angela Bettis, Jeremy Sisto, Anna Faris.

May is the sort of film that upsets a lot of genre fans and that is practically a recommendation to watch it by itself. May is not a conventional horror despite being firmly rooted in the genre. Writer/director Lucky McKee is clearly a fan with references being made to various classic horror films throughout.

For the greatest part, May is a character study of the eponymous anti-heroine. Her flawed personality is shown in loving detail and the audience is made to feel her loneliness and outsider-ness keenly. May is sometimes the butt of other character’s jokes but never the filmmaker’s. She is at times sweet, innocent, sexy, scary, dangerously unhinged but always deeply and heart-breakingly sad.

McKee can take great credit for writing such a layered and resonant character but it is Angela Bettis who brings such vivid life to this creation. She is truly spell-binding in the role and makes it completely her own. It is impossible to think of any other actress playing this role (but then it was impossible to think of any other actor playing Jack Carter until Stallone came along and proved us all right – but that only proves the point anyway). Betiss looks like a major talent in the making by the evidence displayed here and she deserves great success.

As the film progresses, May slips further into insanity, this descent being visually realised by the cracking and splintering glass case of her only “friend”, a handmade porcelain doll. Every effort May makes to escape her solitude ends in pain and with it more cracks on the glass case. McKee’s writing skill insures that none of these encounters are unrealistic or one sided. May’s love interests do not work out due to her own strangeness more than because of caricature users and abusers. Faris and Sisto both play the objects of May’s affections with great humanity and respect. Their characters are not bad people, just people.

There are some very effective and striking visuals to compliment the high quality writing. A classroom full of blind children on their hands and knees crawling across broken glass does not leave the memory in a hurry. The porcelain doll is also a memorable image and is a succinct reflection of May’s personality. The moment when May finally literally becomes her doll is sure to inspire a new generation of Halloween costumes.

Ultimately. May is a beautifully sad story of a damaged individual’s inevitable slide into outright lunacy. It never feels contrived or illogical and better still, never gives in to any of the genre’s lamer clichés. This may turn off some viewers expecting to see another typical slasher movie but many more will be refreshed to find a horror film that never talks down to its audience. It is filmmaking like this that will invigorate and revitalise the genre.

The Woman - Frightfest Pre-Thoughts and Trailer

2011-08-24T03:43:00.000-07:00

PREVIEW

An (almost) daily preview for each and every movie on the line-up for London's biggest, baddest horror festival, the Film 4 Frightfest

THE WOMAN

DIRECTOR: Lucky McKee

STARRING:

Pollyanna McIntosh – The Woman

Angela Bettis – Belle Cleek

Sean Bridgers – Chris Cleek

Zach Rand – Brian Cleek

Lauren Ashley Carter – Peggy Cleek

They say:

"From author Jack Ketchum (THE LOST, THE GIRL NEXT DOOR) and director Lucky McKee comes a scandalous tale of two extremes, a feral female force of nature and an abusive parent, on collision course for a brutal showdown and the family caught in between. When Chris Cleek discovers a primitive woman in the wilderness on a hunting trip, he traps and locks her up in a cellar to domesticate her. With psychological twists and emotional reveals that keep its haunting climax impossible to turn away from, this stark study of a dysfunctional family is unforgettable."

We say:

While the synopsis of this film doesn't particularly excite me personally I've got a lot of hope in this one. Director, Lucky McKee delivered one of the horror highlights of last decade with his ultra-low budget MAY. His newest film reunites him with Angela Bettis (Star of MAY and his Master's of Horror episode, SICK GIRL) which bodes well along with the positive word of mouth it has already received.
This is gonna be one of the standouts of the festival - count on it.

Excitement rating: Looking damn good.

Playing: Saturday 27th August 21:00

Festival & day passes go on sale from 2nd July. Tickets for Individual films on sale from 1st August.

Bookings: 08 714 714 714 or www.empirecinemas.co.uk

Fright Night 3D - Pre-thoughts and trailer

2011-08-19T00:24:00.000-07:00

PREVIEW
An (almost) daily preview for each and every movie on the line-up for London's biggest, baddest horror festival, the Film 4 Frightfest

Fright Night 3D

Director: Chris Gillespie

Starring:

Colin Farrell – Jerry Dandridge

Anton Yelchin – Charley Brewster

David Tennant – Peter Vincent

Christopher Mintz-Plasse – Evil Ed

Toni Collette – Jane Brewster

They say:

"Based on the 1985 classic comes the year’s most anticipated remake; it’s fangs for the memory with a horror comedy you can really sink your teeth into. Is horror movie addict Charley Brewster’s suave new next-door-neighbour Jerry Dandridge really an evil vampire responsible for a string of recent deaths? No one believes the teenager of course so he recruits Peter Vincent, the host of his favourite TV horror show to help him prove the facts. A winning fusion of laughs and scares, this canny update of the much-loved Tom Holland original features an all-star cast including Colin Farrell, David Tennant and Toni Collette."

We say:
It's not looking good in all honesty.

Poor reviews from the US are abundant and many seem to be singing a very familiar song when it comes to remakes - that is that it is redundant, unnecessary, dull, pointless and lacking the charm and originality that made the original so popular and loved. Of course, I'm paraphrasing the worst of the reviews there and there is some love for this movie -just not from the critics I tend to read.

I'm not going to make any judgment until seeing it for myself however and despite its generally negative reaction I'm still hopeful that it could deliver some cheesy fun. Colin Farrell is always watchable (well, with the possible exception of the godawful ALEXANDER), Christopher Mintz Plasse makes me smile and David Tennant still has bags of left over DOCTOR WHO goodwill as well as being a fine actor anyway. With expectations duly lowered, who's to say this might not still be fun?
What do you think? Leave a comment below!

Frightfest Short Film Line up Announced

2011-08-18T03:00:00.000-07:00

PREVIEW

An (almost) daily preview for each and every movie on the line-up for London's biggest, baddest horror festival, the Film 4 Frightfest

SHORT FILMS

"Werewolves, bats, bugs, nasty orphans, zombies, homicidal blind dates and bananas that have gone bananas – yes, it’s the FrightFest short film strand, an eclectic mix of worldwide cutting edge short films, this year presented by Horror Channel. "

An integral and often overlooked part of the Frightfest experience is the short film showcase which often highlights some amazing new talent with a huge variety of films. This year is no different though I'm delighted that my good friend and star of Nefarious Production, BUBBLING UNDER, Axelle Carolyn's (Writer of 'It Lives Again: Horror Movies in the New Millenium', Actress - CENTURION, Model and all round top horror gal) directorial debut THE LAST POST will be screening. It's had some great early reviews and promises to be one of the best ways you can spend the ten minutes or so it takes to watch it. As do all the films! Full programme below:

PROGRAMME – SUNDAY 29 AUGUST, 1pm onwards

ALISTAIR Australia Dir: Aaron Cartwright 10.40

Two ruthless killers on the loose choose the wrong home to invade. Waiting is an evil presence beyond their comprehension…and it’s hungry.

DEMONITRON : THE SIXTH DIMENSION Canada Dir: Francois Simard, Anouk Whissell, Yoann-Karl Whissell 4.25

Amanda, a young dancer receives the unexpected visit of a messenger of the sixth dimension. This mysterious man tries to warn her about the evil forces that are coming to take her. She runs for help to her famous doctor friend and they fall together to the deepest pits of hell and madness.

BRUTAL RELAX Spain Dir: Adrian Cardona, Rafa Dengra, David Munoz 15.00

Mr. Olivares has already recovered, but now he needs a vacation. To go to some heavenly place where he can relax and blithely enjoy himself.

BANANA MOTHERF**KER Portugal Dir: Fernando Alle 14.00

New mayhem and madness from the team behind the brilliant PAPA WRESTLING. Six adventurers embark on a quest to find a mystical cemetery. After disturbing the dead, they awake an ancient evil that will unleash a violent rampage across the entire world.

THE LAST POST UK Dir: Axelle Carolyn 12.00

An old lady in a nursing home is visited by a mysterious man no one else seems to be able to see.

COLD CALL UK Dir: Clive Ford 11.40

A zealous preacher gets more than he bargained for when a routine house call proves some souls truly can’t be saved.

LOVE BUG UK Dir: Benjamin Kent 12.00

Frank’s blind date is way out of his league. However when she contracts a mysterious virus, it looks like his luck may be in. That is, until she turns into a homicidal maniac.

BATS IN THE BELFRY Portugal Dir: Joao Alves 7.10

Deadeye Jack tries to resume a botched heist, only to find himself face to face with darkness.

FLESH ART UK Dir: Nicholas Thompson, Chris Goodman 5.30

It’s the end of the world. Bizarre and gruesome experiments are being conducted in a basement all in the name of Flesh Art.

LITTLE MUNCHKIN UK Dir: Ryan Andrews 10.08

A materialistic and superficial couple acquire the ultimate accessory - an adopted child called Margaret. On her first night in her new home she is left in the care of a babysitter. Shocking events ensue. From the director of the forthcoming feature ELFIE HOPKINS

SCREENING SEPARATELY:

SHIFTER UK Dir: Ben Parker 8.30 Screening with KILL LIST

A young woman, trapped inside a dark building, tries to evade capture from shadowed soldiers. She is the live bait in a game to entrap a person of 'special ability', by an enemy of similar skills.

BAD MOON RISING USA Dir: Joseph Begos 12.37 Screening with CHILLERAMA

A man shows up at his brother's doorstep with his dying girlfriend in his arms, claiming she was attacked by a werewolf.

Film4 FrightFest 2010 runs from Thurs 25 August to Monday 29 August at the Empire Cinema, Leicester Square.

Tickets for individual films go on sale from ist August. Bookings: 08 714 714 714 or www.empirecinemas.co.uk

Panic Button - Pre-thoughts and trailer.

2011-07-20T07:38:00.000-07:00

PREVIEW

An (almost) daily preview for each and every movie on the line-up for London's biggest, baddest horror festival, the Film 4 Frightfest

PANIC BUTTON

DIRECTOR: Chris Crow

STARRING:

Scarlett Alice Johnson – Jo

Michael Jibson – Dave

Jack Gordon – Max

Elen Rhys – Gwen

Joshua Richards – Alligator

They say:

"Push the button for THE SOCIAL NETWORK of shock, Four people win a trip of a lifetime to New York, courtesy of their favourite social-networking website – All2gethr.com. Boarding a private jet, they hand in their mobiles ready to take part in the in-flight entertainment – a new online gaming experience. But this is no ordinary game. Trapped at 30,000 feet, they must play for their lives and the lives of their loved ones by their invisible captor, who knows every intimate secret. This inventive twister explores the chilling consequences of posting too much information online and how in cyber-space no one can hear you scream."

We say:

'Who is the Alligator?' somebody screams in the PANIC BUTTON trailer (see it below). Is it just me or is that line just kinda funny? Regardless, the Alligator in question seems to be another one of these sadistic shadowy puppet master types that seem to lurk around every corner these days with ever-new ingenious ways of forcing people into bizarre and arbitrary moral decisions. This one has incorporated a private jet into his scheme and it looks as though most of the action takes place on board said plane. That's not a bad concept actually - it plays on that strange feeling of disconnection you get when travelling by air, like the world below is not quite real anymore (or maybe you're the one who isn't...). That said, I can't help but feel a little discouraged by the familiar-feeling antagonist and rather well-trodden path of online psycho-games. Maybe it's just me but I'm a little bored with stories about these ideas. I want to see something new - something genuinely intriguing or gripping or just unusual. I'm not really sure if this will do that to be honest...

This could easily swing either way in my opinion being either a taut and claustrophobic little thriller or a derivative bore. Which do you think it'll be? Leave a comment below!

Excitement rating: Mildly curious.

Playing: Saturday 27th August 15:35
Festival & day passes go on sale from 2nd July. Tickets for Individual films on sale from 1st August.

Bookings: 08 714 714 714 or www.empirecinemas.co.uk
15:35

The Wicker Tree - Pre-thoughts and trailer

2011-07-19T05:40:00.000-07:00

PREVIEW

An (almost) daily preview for each and every movie on the line-up for London's biggest, baddest horror festival, the Film 4 Frightfest

THE WICKER TREE

Director: Robin Hardy

Starring:

Brittania Nicol – Beth

Henry Garrett - Steve
Graham McTavish – Sir Lachlan Morrison
Honeysuckle Weeks – Lolly
Christopher Lee – Old Man

They say:

"From the makers of the cult classic THE WICKER MAN, and based on director Robin Hardy's own novel ‘Cowboys for Christ’, a Texas gospel singer and her boyfriend, both devout evangelical Christians, are sent to Scotland on a mission to spread the word of God. After a concert in Glasgow Cathedral the pair are invited by Sir Lachlan Morrison to preach in his remote border village, but soon the horrifying reality dawns on the couple as they learn the true significance of the Celtic pagan rites. Reuniting Hardy with legendary actor Christopher Lee for a story in the style of the 1973 landmark fantasy comes the most eagerly anticipated horror movie of the year. "

We say:

Gotta admit, this one pretty much flew right under the radar for me and I don't know all that much about it. On first sight however it certainly sets some pretty fucking big alarm bells ringing. Images of Nick Cage dressed in a bear suit punching assorted women square in the face (in the Wicker Man remake of 2006) come to mind very quickly. Whilst that ludicrously awful movie is actually something which gives me enormous amounts of pleasure to see (it even makes me chuckle inwardly to just think of it) it isn't exactly a good thing of itself.
This movie isn't a remake or exactly a sequel but seems to be somewhere between a companion piece and a re-imagining. The blurb above mentions 'a story in the style of the 1973 landmark fantasy' which doesn't sound enormously encouraging. It kind of brings to mind those trash horror novels which would be about giant crabs or snails eating people or something and printed across the cover in big letters would be something along the lines of 'in the style of James Herbert's The Rats' or slightly lower down the food chain, 'in the tradition of Shaun Hutson's SLUGS'.
That said, the teaser-trailer (below) manages to create a pretty solid and intimidatingly eerie atmosphere in very little time and with very little actual footage so maybe this will blow all reservations out of the water.

As usual, I'm hoping that it does.

Excitement rating: It's difficult to be excited about such a potentially disastrous project but it's fairly safe to say that it'll be worth watching either way. Label us 'curious'.

Playing: Saturday 27th August 13:15

Festival & day passes go on sale from 2nd July. Tickets for Individual films on sale from 1st August.

Bookings: 08 714 714 714 or www.empirecinemas.co.uk

And.... Just 'cause it makes me laugh:

Troll Hunter Pre-thoughts

2011-07-18T03:27:00.000-07:00

PREVIEW

An (almost) daily preview for each and every movie on the line-up for London's biggest, baddest horror festival, the Film 4 Frightfest

TROLL HUNTER

Director: Andre Ovredal Norway 2010

Starring:

Otto Jespersen – Hans the Troll Hunter
Glenn Erland Tosterud – Thomas
Johanna Morck – Johanna
Tomas Alf Larsen – Kalle
Hans Morten Hansen – Finn

They say:
"After successfully redefining the vampire and thriller genres with LET THE RIGHT ONE IN and THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, the Scandinavians now turn their attention to the creature feature. The adorably weird result is the coolest monster movie import since THE HOST. This slyly compelling and dryly humorous hybrid details what happens when a group of documentary filmmakers attempt to expose an infamous bearskin poacher...who actually turns out to be Norway's only living troll hunter. A silly, scary and sincere balance of horror, adventure and mockumentary that both reinvents and pays homage to the creature classics of old."

We say:

The 'found footage' movie may be written off by some as just another fad or gimmick, to me it's still an exciting and interesting way of telling stories. I think it enables filmmakers to make the movies that they want to on a budget which is realistically achievable. In many cases the movies that result from this are something different to the effects-laden, shiny, bereft of soul media products that mainstream Hollywood insists on feeding us. Surely that can only be a good thing right?

This bizarre Norwegian production certainly looks like it fits that argument in any case. A serious documentary-style film about the existence of real trolls sounds pretty fantastic to me and the trailer really delivers on this concept. Check it out below to see a glimpse of the trolls themselves in action. Personally, I can't resist a good creature feature so this is pure brilliance to me - what do you think?

Excitement rating: Massive trolls stomping around Norway causing trouble. What's not to like? Seriously stoked to see this.

Playing: Saturday 27th August 11:00 AM

Festival & day passes go on sale from 2nd July. Tickets for Individual films on sale from 1st August.

Bookings: 08 714 714 714 or www.empirecinemas.co.uk

Vile Pre-thoughts

2011-07-17T13:23:00.000-07:00

PREVIEW

An (almost) daily preview for each and every movie on the line-up for London's biggest, baddest horror festival, the Film 4 Frightfest

VILE

Director: Taylor Sheridan

Starring:

Eric Jay Beck – Nick

April Matson – Tayler

Akeem Smith – Tony

Greg Cipes – Sam

Maya Hazen – Tara

They Say:

"Fifty years ago Yale University professor Stanley Milgram held a series of social experiments based on Nazi war criminals’ psychology. They were devised to answer a simple question; how far are people willing to go when instructed by authority? Nick, his girlfriend Tayler and their two best friends are about to find out. Abducted after a camping trip, they wake up in an unknown prison with two vials wired into the base of their skulls. Their task, set by a mysterious video figure, is to fill the vials with chemicals the brain produces under extreme pain… "

We say:

Hmmm... a mysterious puppet master type character, abductions, bizarre forced surgery, experiments in extreme pain. It all sounds a bit last decade really doesn't it? Isn't this a touch reminiscent of Jigsaw and the rest's somewhat anti-social shenanigans? Well, the psychological experiment angle certainly adds some interest and is relatively untapped territory so there's certainly some potential here. Also, it's directed by Deputy Chief Hale from SONS OF ANARCHY or at least the guy who played him - Taylor Sheridan, so that gives it a whole shedload of good will right there. Will that be enough though?

Excitement rating: Hopeful but dubious.

Playing: Friday 26th August 23:55

Festival & day passes go on sale from 2nd July. Tickets for Individual films on sale from 1st August.

Bookings: 08 714 714 714 or www.empirecinemas.co.uk

Chromeskull - The Total Bastard Database

2011-07-14T03:51:00.000-07:00

The TBDB is the Net's biggest, best and most downright demented guide to horror cinema's worst villains, madmen, monsters, maniacs, cannibals, creeps, killers, beasts and, well... bastards.

All TBDB entries contain a whole load of SPOILERS so if you ain't seen the film don't read on!

AKA:

Nick Principe

Was a bastard in…

Laid to Rest (2009)

So who the hell is he?

Sporting a rather dapper black suit and driving a luxuriously expensive car, Chrome Skull cuts quite the elegant figure.

Well, he might do if it wasn't for the big shiny skull mask he insists on wearing at all times and the camcorder (which is laser guided for some reason) he has constantly fastened to his shoulder. Perhaps he just really likes Predator.

Oh and his habit of brutally murdering everybody he meets doesn't do masses for his overall appeal either I suppose. In fact, ChromeSkull, as he is known (almost certainly due to his choice of face wear but hey, you can never be too sure), is an outright maniac to rival Michael, Freddy, Jason and all the other top dogs in the field.

Unlike those characters however, very little is known about this guy. He appears to be quite wealthy, if his flash car and quality weapons are anything to go by, with a clear skill for surgery. Maybe he is a doctor in his normal life? Maybe a surgeon? It doesn't really matter to be honest What matters is that he is a ruthless, sadistic bloodthirsty loon with a penchant for filming himself murdering and mutilating the corpses of a fairly lengthy succession of young women. Somehow (and I have no idea how - it would seem like a pretty tough sell really) he seems to have struck a deal with the owner of a local funeral home whose barn he uses to stash all his lifeless playmates in. The trouble is, his barn is starting to smell...

That’s not a knife…

Being a fan of all things shiny, Chrome Skull's weapons of choice are his two barbarically serrated hunting knives with knuckle grips and of course that pleasing shine he seems so fond of. They must be pretty sharp seeing as he is able to cut into at least two people's actual skulls with them. It's strange therefore that he has to saw away for several minutes to get through the altogether softer neck... Maybe all that head stabbing blunted them or something huh?

As with so many of his serial killer chums however ChromeSkull is quite happy to improvise when the situation calls for it, though I'm not entirely sure what sort of situation calls for sitcking the nozzle of a can of expanding tyre filler into somebody's ear and filling up their head until it pops like an over inflated ballon full of meat and eyeballs.

Why, for the love of God why?!!?!

Who knows? It's hard to say but then again, lots of things are hard to say if you're anything like the heroine of "Laid To Rest" who seems to be suffering from some sort of condition which not only has robbed her of her memory but also the ability to speak and think properly. This is why she says she is so scared of Chrome Skull coming to "make her dead" when she will be put into a "Death Box". Apparently, extreme stupidity of this magnitude is a side-effect of being cracked in the head by a baseball bat but I'm guessing she probably wasn't the brightest spark to begin with to be perfectly honest...

As for ChromeSkull, we are never really told why he does what he does. He just seems to really like it.

So what’s the damage?

He manages to rack up a pretty impressive number of kills in the short time we are with ChromeSkull but when we catch a glimpse of his hideout we see the true extent of his carnage. The place is full of coffins, most of which are occupied by corpses in varying degress of...erm completeness. Nice.

It's his kill sequences which make him truly memorable as a prime bastard however. Unhesitating and brutally efficient, he is an expert with his horribly painful looking knives which he delights in ramming through skulls, cutting off heads with and slitting other poor sap's stomachs open with. The trick is to do it so quick that they don't even notice...

It’s a million to one chance but it might just work…

Though he isn't of a supernatural nature ChromeSkull can certainly take some punishment. Over the course of the film he gets variously beaten, stabbed, eye-gouged and shot, all of which he shakes off with barely any ill effects (it's amazing how protective these chrome masks are you know, they really should be issued to the military with their amzing ability to stop bullets and also the idea of an entire army wearing chrome skull masks just plain kinda rocks).

Of course, if you really want to put him down the best thing to do is to somehow trick him into melting his own face off with superglue so powerful that it's stronger than most acids.

Yes, I know what you're thinking but that's what happens - what can I do? Take it up with Robert Hall - he wrote it!

Words of wisdom

As is to be expected with these masked killer types ol' Chromey isn't really given to a onversational attitude. He does, however seem a little more keen on text messaging which he does to make our intrepid heroine go and buy more mini-dv tapes for his camera. Which for some reason she actually does, but then I did tell you she was stupid.

Tucker & Dale Vs Evil Pre-thoughts and Trailer

2011-07-14T03:27:00.000-07:00

TUCKER & DALE VS EVIL

Director: Eli Craig

Starring:
Tyler Labine – Dale
Alan Tudyk – Tucker
Katrina Bowden – Allison
Jesse Moss – Chad
Philip Granger – Sheriff

THEY SAY:
"An endearingly cheeky tribute to a diverse array of suspense and slasher classics (everything from FARGO and FRIDAY THE 13th to THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and WRONG TURN) this horror comedy finds best hillbilly buddies Tucker and Dale headed to their new vacation cabin in the West Virginia mountains. But when they have a nasty run-in with a group of college kids on a camping weekend a series of deranged misunderstandings begins that starts the body count setting in motion the bloodiest of shock deaths"

WE SAY:
It's great to see Alan Tudyk (SERENITY, FIREFLY) back on the screen again - he's got a really great presence and affability which looks like it's perfect for his role in this rather charmingly silly subversion of the traditional 'teens go camping and get murdered by psychopathic hick locals' formula. I love the concept of looking at the standard slasher plot from the killer's angle. It worked brilliantly to dramatic effect in BEHIND THE MASK though obviously this movie's take on it is a little more comedic. I'm not entirely sure if the joke can sustain a whole movie but definitely looking forward to finding out.

Excitement rating: A big hell yeah.

Playing: Friday 26th August 21: 55

Festival & day passes go on sale from 2nd July. Tickets for Individual films on sale from 1st August.

Bookings: 08 714 714 714 or www.empirecinemas.co.uk

The Glass Man - Pre-thoughts and Trailer

2011-07-11T05:13:00.000-07:00

PREVIEW
An (almost) daily preview for each and every movie on the line-up for London's biggest, baddest horror festival, the Film 4 Frightfest

THE GLASS MAN
Director:

Cristian Solimeno

Starring:

Andy Nyman – Martin Pyrite
James Cosmo – Pecco
Neve Campbell – Julie Pyrite
Cristian Solimeno – Toby Huxley
Don Warrington – Anton

THEY SAY:

"Martin Pyrite has lost his job. But instead of telling his wife he continues his work routine and gets into enormous monetary difficulties. Then late one night a sinister debt collector bangs on his door with an offer – if Martin helps him carry out an important task he’ll wipe the financial slate clean. In accepting, Martin goes on a journey through his own private hell where he’s forced to confront his worst dreads in a mesmerizing vortex of soul-destroying madness. Director Cristian Solimeno’s compact psychological horror chiller is the indie Brit discovery of the year."

WE SAY:

Another Brit film on the Frightfest bill has gotta be a good thing as far as I'm concerned but it's nice that this looks pretty damn promising too. Nice to see Andy Nyman (Creator of GHOST STORIES and star of DEAD SET and SEVERANCE amongst others) on the big screen again too and it looks like a role which should show off his considerable acting talent. It's a neat little concept for a low budget movie too and there's loads of potential there but the trailer doesn't really give much away. Watch it below and see what you think for yourselves.

Excitement rating: Optimistic

Playing: Friday 27th August 19:05

Festival & day passes go on sale from 2nd July. Tickets for Individual films on sale from 1st August.

Bookings: 08 714 714 714 or www.empirecinemas.co.uk

Urban Explorers - Pre-thoughts and Trailer

2011-07-07T02:37:00.000-07:00

PREVIEW

An (almost) daily preview for each and every movie on the line-up for London's biggest, baddest horror festival, the Film 4 Frightfest

URBAN EXPLORERS

Director: Andy Fetscher

Starring:

Klaus Stiglmeier – Armin

Max Riemelt – Kris

Nathalie Kelley – Lucia

Nick Eversman – Denis

Brenda Koo – Juna

THEY SAY:

"Eager to travel around the mysterious hidden world under metropolitan Berlin, four spelunkers hire local guide Kris, who leads them into the dark, dank and cavernous maze of escape tunnels and subterranean fortifications to find old Nazi war rooms. It’s when Kris suffers a bad fall that things start to go horribly wrong. Out of the shadows comes Armin, a former East German border guard, who has made this unchartered territory his underground kingdom. THE DESCENT meets CREEP in a nightmare as epic as the stunning subterranean locations."

WE SAY:

I have always loved the idea of the hidden tunnels and chambers beneath major cities, that's partly why I liked Neil Gaiman's NEVERWHERE so damn much (and also 'cause it's just really really good). A horror movie using such places as a setting then sounds like a good time to me. That said, even with this potential-rich setting and the presence of some intriguing Nazi-related nastiness, the rather familiar story premise along with what looks like some standard torture stuff in the trailer does raise some warning flags. It's certainly all shot very nicely however and has garnered some positive word of mouth so far so the jury's out really. I'm not massively familiar with the German horror scene so I'm hoping this'll be a good introduction. Frightfest will be this film's UK premiere.

Excitement rating: Optimistic

Playing: Friday 27th August 17:00

Festival & day passes go on sale from 2nd July. Tickets for Individual films on sale from 1st August.

Bookings: 08 714 714 714 or www.empirecinemas.co.uk

The Holding - Pre-thoughts

2011-07-06T01:31:00.000-07:00

PREVIEW

An (almost) daily preview for each and every movie on the line-up for London's biggest, baddest horror festival, the Film 4 Frightfest

THE HOLDING

Director: Susan Jacobson

Starring:
Kierston Waring – Cassie Naylor
Vincent Regan – Aden
David Bradley – Cooper
Georgia Groome – Gemma
Terry Stone - Karsten Rabe

THEY SAY:

"A heart-pounding suspense thriller set in the rugged and atmospheric landscape of the English countryside. Cassie Naylor’s husband Dean has mysteriously disappeared and now she’s desperately trying to run their isolated farm alone with her two girls. Then an enigmatic stranger arrives at the smallholding, claiming to be an old friend of her husband and soon charms his way into their lives. But unknown to Cassie, Aden’s altruistic motivation has a sinister edge and when the truth about Dean’s vanishing finally comes to light, Cassie and her girls must fight for their survival like never before."

WE SAY:

Tough one to call this. The synopsis doesn't give a huge amount away but the fact that it's a British film set in England makes me immediately hopeful that it will do us Brits proud. The gritty, grimy look of the stills available online give a nice idea of the sort of feel this'll have and it looks like that'll be pretty bleak and brutal. Director Susan Jacobson doesn't have much of a genre history to give us many clues either so this could really swing either way. It sounds like a solid and intriguing set-up however and hopefully this will turn out to be a neat little thriller.

Excitement rating: Interested.

Playing: Friday 26th August 12:45

Festival & day passes go on sale from 2nd July. Tickets for Individual films on sale from 1st August.

Bookings: 08 714 714 714 or www.empirecinemas.co.uk

Cloverfield Behemoth - The Total Bastard Database

2011-07-05T11:51:00.000-07:00

The TBDB is the Net's biggest, best and most downright demented guide to horror cinema's worst villains, madmen, monsters, maniacs, cannibals, creeps, killers, beasts and, well... bastards.

All TBDB entries contain a whole load of SPOILERS so if you ain't seen the film don't read on!

AKA:

‘Something terrible’ is about as close as this beastie gets to a name.

Was a bastard in:

Cloverfield (2008)

So what the hell is it?

The simple answer is ‘who knows?’. It’s not incredibly important really, all that matters is that it’s massive and
it’s angry. It does bear a slight resemblance to a mix between
the monster from “The Host’, a Chimera from the PS3 game
‘Resistance: Fall of Man’, a frog, a locust and erm...I dunno- let's say Jackie Stallone. Scary.

That’s not a knife…

Who needs weapons when you’re thirty storeys tall and have skin capable of withstanding all the firepower the American military can throw at you? The big grumpy bastard also has weird little spider monster things that drop off of it and do awful things to people.

Why, for the love of God, Why??!!?

As with so much in Cloverfield (much to its credit) this question again is completely avoided by the filmmakers leaving us only a few scant clues to go on. Perhaps its deep sea mining that woke this creature up but then again perhaps it has something to do with that Japanese sattelite that fell to Earth. Perhaps it’s both, perhaps it’s neither…

So what’s the damage?

By the time the film ends, the damage is at least the entirety of manhattan. Apparently a lot of the residents were evacuated but seeing as the Military appeared to be using helicopters capable of only transporting three people at a time, how they accomplished this is as big a mystery as what the creature actually is.

It’s a million to one chance but it might just work…

Seeing as the creature is almost certainly still alive at the film’s denouement it is hard to say what’ll actually bring it down. It doesn’t seem to be bullets, tank shells, missiles, rockets or bombs though. Maybe some well-placed sarcasm or stinging jibes about its frankly unattractive physical appearance would do the trick? It’s probably doubtful though in all honesty.

Words of wisdom:

Just big bellowy roars that shake the entire city here.

Black Death - Review

2011-07-05T10:11:00.000-07:00

BLACK DEATH
Review by Aaryk Noctivagus

Director: Christopher Smith
Writer: Dario Poloni
Starring: Sean Bean, Eddie Redmayne, Carice Van Houten

I always thought Christopher Smith to be a good rock-steady medium-sized workhorse among horror film directors. I liked 'Creep', 'Severance', and 'Triangle', but his films didn't launch themselves out of the screen at me like the films of Neil Marshal for instance... at least, they didn't make me sit up and take note. However, 'Black Death' certainly did. It is an outstanding film which is like a grimy modern take on 'Witchfinder General' or 'The Wicker Man' - though not quite so stand-out noteworthy as either of those films, but a stand-out, or outstanding, film among contempory efforts. It is a modern Folk-Horror film, to coin a phrase I heard in 'A History of Horror' tonight, just before watching the film, and a darn good one.

The film takes a little bit from Peter Jackson's 'King Kong' (as far as that film's arrival at Skull Island goes), a little bit from 'The Wicker Man', a little bit from 'Witchfinder General', a little bit from 'The Name of the Rose', a bit of gloom, mud and gore, and a sniff of Hammer... mixes it all together and the result is a fine and atmospheric horror film that kept me off-balance in its eerie suspense right up to the end. And in the end, there is a wax polish of a coda that rounds the story off to perfection and gives the whole a rationale for being told.

Right from the Hammer-esque opening photography, I sat up and took notice. Christian Henson's monk choral music created a wonderful atmosphere throughout the film that sounded original and strangely appropriate to the film in the current Zimmer-dominated wall-of-noise era in film music. Sebastian Edschmid's cinematography was also beautiful, evoking the same feel as the arrival on Peter Jackson's skull island at one point with its hanging dead crows and deserted undeserted ghost town, before the people appear - who look more native to Summerisle than Skull. You get hints of these films in the cinematography and design of the film but not rip-offs. These images never feel alien to 'Black Death' but are perfectly comfortable being part of the mix.

The players? Nice to see David Warner in the mix in a small but crucial role, and Eddie Redmayne makes a wonderful novice straight out of 'The Name of the Rose' and with a similar romantic distraction to his faith though driven in a different direction by the plot. Sean Bean is his usual wonderful self. One actor, I do not know who, looked the splitting image of Klaus Kinski (this might have been Tygo Gernandt since IMDb tells me his character was a homage to Don Lope de Aguirre). And Carice van Houten managed to be both threatening and friendly at the same time, as well as being quite haunting, as a necromancer.

I was expecting to be entertained by this film, but I was not expecting the film to be as good as it was. It stood out from the field as a breath of sour air (which is good and what you want in a plague-days atmospheric horror film).

Review by Aaryk Noctivagus

Rogue River - pre-thoughts

2011-07-05T03:18:00.000-07:00

PREVIEW

An (almost) daily preview for each and every movie on the line-up for London's biggest, baddest horror festival, the Film 4 Frightfest

Rogue River

Directors: Jourdan McClure

Starring:

Michelle Page - Mara

Bill Moseley – Jon

Lucinda Jenney – Lea

Michael Cudlitz – Sheriff Boyd

Chris Coy – Andrew

THEY SAY:

"Wanting to spread her father’s ashes at a significant place, Mara drives to a remote part of the beautiful Rogue River in Southern Oregon. When her car is towed away by she accepts the offer of a ride into town by a kindly passerby named Jon (TEXAS CHAINSAW 2 and DEVIL’S REJECTS horror legend Bill Moseley). So begins Mara’s nightmare descent into utter horror and disgust, making her wish she had parked her car somewhere else. "

WE SAY:

I love that last line of the synopsis "making her wish she had parked her car somewhere else" - it sounds just so melodramatic - of all the terrible things that could happen to you, of all the horrors and depravities that could be wrought upon the human form - you could end up...wishing you'd parked somewhere else, or maybe... wishing you hadn't left the television on all night. Or how about... wondering if you'd left the front door open?

But maybe it's just me. Regardless, Rogue River stars Bill Moseley who is always worth watching - even when the film he's in isn't fantastic he still delivers (THE GRAVES being a case in point). Hopefully ROGUE RIVER won't have to test this theory too much. It doesn't sound like anything we haven't seen before a few hundred times however and Moseley can play these sorts of characters in his sleep but then again the promised nightmare descent into utter horror and disgust sounds like it could be kinda fun.

Excitement rating: Cautious.

Playing: Friday 26th August 10:40 PM

Festival & day passes go on sale from 2nd July. Tickets for Individual films on sale from 1st August.

Bookings: 08 714 714 714 or www.empirecinemas.co.uk

The Theatre Bizarre - Pre-thoughts

2011-07-04T03:34:00.000-07:00

PREVIEW

THE THEATRE BIZARRE

Directors: Richard Stanley, Tom Savini, Douglas Buck, Karim Hussain, Buddy Giovinazzo, Jeremy Kasten, David Gregory

Starring:

Virginia Newcomb – Enola Penny

Udo Kier – Pegg Poett

Debbie Rochon – Carla

Tom Savini – Dr. Maury

Catriona MacColl – Mere Antoinette

THEY SAY:

"Down a seedy city street in her neighbourhood, young Enola Penny is obsessed with what appears to be a long abandoned theatre. One night, she sees that the front door is slightly ajar and impulsively decides to sneak inside. But there in the dark, decrepit auditorium, a show unlike any other unfolds before her eyes. Its host is the eerie human puppet Pegg Poett who introduces her to six weird tales. Wilkommen, bienvenue, welcome to THE THEATRE BIZARRE. "

WE SAY:

Gotta love the poster art for this one, I really like that carnivalesque typeface and the stylised colouring. Very cool indeed. I do like a good movie poster but, well books, covers, judging etc. I haven't heard much about this movie but Tom Savini is involved which certainly makes it worth look right off the bat. It's also clearly an anthology movie which I know some people are not too keen on. I enjoy a good short story however and though it is often not done all that well on film when it does, it works beautifully See Trick R Treat for the proof of that - it's wonderful. Let's hope this is too.

Final Destination 5 3D pre-thoughts

2011-07-03T07:58:00.000-07:00

PREVIEW

Final Destination 5 3D

Director: Steven Quale

Writer:
Starring:

Nicholas D’Agosto – Sam Lawton
Emma Bell – Molly
David Koechner - Dennis
Tony Todd – Bludworth
Courtney B. Vance – Agent Jim Block

"This is the latest chapter in the top-grossing horror thriller franchise first. In this fifth instalment, written by Eric Heisserer, scripter of the up-coming THE THING remake, Death is just as omnipresent as ever, and is unleashed after one man’s premonition saves a group of co-workers from a terrifying suspension bridge collapse. But they were never supposed to survive, and, in a terrifying race against time, the ill-fated assembly frantically to discover a way to escape the Grim Reaper’s sinister agenda. You can run, but no matter where you hide, you can’t cheat Death – even in 3D!"