Sunday 30 October 2011

Peterborough's 1st Zombie Walk.

OK, a bit of Halloween fun for you. I had the pleasure of attending Peterboroughs first zombie walk on Saturday the 29th. You can see footage from the event below (apologies for the poor picture quality, had difficulties with my editing software and was in a hurry to get something online).

Part 1



Part 2





Sunday 23 October 2011

War Against the Walking Dead - A Book Review

OK, last year I had the pleasure of reviewing Sean Page’s Official Zombie Handbook, which dealt, in a semi-serious manner, on how to draw up a 90 day survival plan in the wake of a zombie apocalypse.

This new book “War Against the Walking Dead” from the official “Minstry of Zombies” follows on and expands on what was previously covered and gives you detailed knowledge on how to organise survivors and fight back against the living dead.

The book covers everything from how to set up a defended compound against zombies, the effectiveness of various lines of defence and how to plot the movements of various zombie hordes. As well as the effectiveness of various fairearms and hand held weapons.

It also gives you info on how to deal with life following the collapse of civilisation and how to go about rebuilding society. Showing you how to round up and organise survivors and giving you a handy check list of the sort of individuals you DON’T want in your group.

Basically there’s everything in here from military strategies against the dead to first contact protocols with other survivors.

As with the previous book, the info is handled in a matter of fact style, but at the same time you can tell that the authors tongue is firmly embedded in his cheek when he wrote this.

The book really is a must for all zombie movie fans, which makes reference to the various films of Romero and Fulci, and various post apocalyptic films like the Mad Max movies.

So if you want to know what to do after the dead have finally taken over and fancy a bit of light reading this Halloween, or you want to drop a few subtle hints to your loved one about what you’d like for Xmas, then “War Against the Walking Dead” is out in bookshops now

Buy online at Amazon.co.uk

Saturday 22 October 2011

Asylum Press release "Fearless Dawn : The Secret of the Swamp".

Frank Forte, publisher of Asylum Press, announces that Asylum Press have released a five page preview of the fan favorite "Fearless Dawn: The Secret Of The Swamp".
 
Once again our sexy heroine, Fearless Dawn, gets herself into a predicament she can't get out of. Following a treasure map to find a secret elixir, Fearless Dawn travels deep within a murky swamp.

Ignoring the warnings of Old Lady Flannigan, and hot on the trail of buried pirate booty, Fearless Dawn and her sidekick, "The Masked Kid" get assaulted by the GIANT SWAMP CREATURE!!.  Can our heroes make it out alive!??

The Secret Of The Swamp is written and illustrated by Steve Mannion (The Bomb, Batman Black and White, Tales From The Crypt, Warlash:Dark Noir)

"Fearless Dawn: The Secret Of The Swamp" One Shot Preview can be seen on the Asylum Press website here: http://www.asylumpress.com/titles/fearless-dawn

The Awakening

Dominic West (The Wire), Rebecca Hall (The Town) and Oscar nominee Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake) star in "THE AWAKENING", a chilling new film from director Nick Murphy.

Set in post-World War I England in 1921, an author and paranormal sceptic (Hall) is invited to a countryside boarding school by the history master (West) to investigate rumours of an apparent haunting. But just when she thinks she has debunked the ghost theory, she has an eerie encounter which makes her question all her rational beliefs.

The film is screening at the London Film Festival on the 25th and 26th of October, and set for cinema release across the UK on 11th November 2011, ideal for anyone in need of a post-Halloween horror fix!

Checkout the trailer below...



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Paranormal Activity 3 - Out Now!!!

Paranormal Activity 3 has finally been unleashed on the world. Lucky fans got sneak peeks in London and Sheffield earlier this week, and on Wednesday night the world premiere of the film took place in the Big Brother House (talk about lowering the tone).

Anyway, the film is in UK cinemas now, checkout the trailer below...




Visit the official website at... http://www.paranormalmovie.com


Contagion - Out Now!!!

Steven Sodbergh's thriller "Contagion" is out at UK cinemas NOW. Featuring an all star cast, “Contagion” follows the rapid progress of a lethal airborne virus that kills within days.  As the fast-moving epidemic grows, the worldwide medical community races to find a cure and control the panic that spreads faster than the virus itself.  Whilst at the same time, ordinary people struggle to survive in a society coming apart.

Checkout the trailer below...



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Thursday 20 October 2011

True Blood - Series 1-3 UK Box Set

Sink your teeth into TV’s scarily-addictive and sexiest show this Halloween with TRUE BLOOD: THE COMPLETE SEASON 1-3 BOXSET, out now on UK DVD and Blu-Ray from HBO Home Entertainment.

The must-have accompaniment for a Halloween night-in; True Blood fans can re-live the sex, romance, horror and drama from all three seasons. If you haven’t yet had a taste of this epic show, now is the chance to get addicted from the beginning.

Hailed as the raunchier and grown-up alternative to Twilight; TRUE BLOOD is a multi-award winning, critically acclaimed hit for HBO and made house-hold names of the sexy and enticing cast; Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer and Alexander SkarsgÄrd.

True Blood is a worldwide phenomenon from ‘Six Feet Under’ creator Alan Ball, drawn from the meticulously crafted world of novelist Charlaine Harris. Described as ‘popcorn for smart people’ by Emmy award-winning Ball, True Blood caused a sensation right from the first episode, building on the colourful life of the supernatural eccentrics.

For the perfect Halloween night-in; give in to the urge and get sucked in....

Buy the DVD set at Amazon.co.uk

Buy the Blu-ray set at Amazon.co.uk

Saturday 15 October 2011

Hostel Part 3 - trailer

Yup, they've made another one. I do have mixed feelings about this though. It seems largely unrelated to the previous movies, its set in Las Vegas, as opposed to Slovakia, and is directed by Scott Spiegal (Intruder), not Eli Roth, and its going direct to DVD, which is never usually a good sign. BUT the trailer does actually look quite good, so I am tempted to give this one a look in.

Trailer appears courtesy of Bloody Disgusting.

Tuesday 11 October 2011

KEVIN BISHOP TO PLAY CYCLING PSYCHO

UK production company Cyclops Vision will begin principal photography today on dead-black comedy MAY I KILL U?, written and directed by the award-winning Stuart Urban, director of  Revelation.

Set against the backdrop of the recent riots in London, Kevin Bishop plays a policeman with his own ‘riotous’ thoughts. With a helmet cam for company, he pedals forth in search of fame and retribution - with hilarious and devastating consequences. Also starring are Frances Barber, Jack Doolan and Hayley-Marie Axe, It will be produced by Stuart Urban & Alan Jay and co-produced by Rosa Russo. Director of photography is Fernando Ruiz.

Stuart Urban said today: “In the film we explore the interaction of society and a vigilante style killer whose choices play well to the social media gallery, particularly one hungry for payback because of street crime in the UK”.

Visit the official website at http://www.mayikillu.com/

Leon's Broken Mind (short film) - A Review.

OK, as you probably know, from time to time I get upcoming directors asking me to publicise their works and I’m always happy to try and help struggling independent filmmakers wherever I can.

So when I was recently contacted by Barry Hancher to review his new short film “Leon’s Broken Mind”, I happily agreed. He did warn me in advance it was a bit “shocking”, but it wasn’t until I received the disc, I would find out just what sort of shock I was about to get.

A few things to clear up before launching into my review, I am usually pretty lenient when it comes to casting my critical eye over these short independent features, as the film makers are working with limited means and are just trying to showcase what they can do, in the hopes of going onto bigger and better productions. It’s certainly not fair to compare them to mainstream Hollywood fair, so I do try and see past any short comings that these films may have

Sadly, upon viewing this, I found I was unable to be as lenient as I normally am (for reasons that will soon become clear). Indeed, the original version of the review that I typed up was so scathing that I initially decided against publishing it. However, (for reasons I won’t bore you with) I eventually decided to try and tone it down and publish it anyway.

So, at the risk of offending the director and entire production crew, here we go….

In a nutshell, the plot revolves around some chap with learning difficulties, who starts getting flashbacks about this old guy, who apparently abused him as a child.

This causes him to freak out and go on a rape and killing spree, first he bites the head off his pet hamster and kills a dog, before moving onto people. The first one being a tramp, which he clubs to death with a brick, before attacking some pregnant girl with a knife.

So far, so good.

The film however then rapidly goes downhill, as we are treated to a scene of him jerking himself off whilst he watches some horror movie, which was most definitely NOT simulated. Yup, the actor actually gets “it” out and genuinely pleasures himself in front of the camera, which I don’t think anyone really needed to see.

Then, we are treated to a scene of him abducting a mentally handicapped bloke in a wheelchair from outside his house, who he then tips onto his living room floor and proceeds to sodomise. And just so that the viewer was left in no doubt as to what was going on, the director decided to include a graphic close up penetration shot of someone actually being “cornholed” (to coin a phrase).

At this point I reached for the stop button, not that I really needed to as I think my DVD player was about to projectile vomit the disc back out anyway. Which sort of left me wondering just what was the director trying to achieve here. Does he want people to see his film, or have them reaching for the off switch because they’re so grossed out?

When the film first started I thought they were just trying to ape the plot of “Tony - London Serial Killer” or something like that, but as the film progressed I got the impression that the crew must have got drunk one evening and thought it would be a good idea to do their own version of “A Serbian Film” set in Kidderminster (that’s a town just outside of Birmingham for those not up on their geography).

There were a number of problems I had with the movie, the guy in the wheelchair for starters. When we first see him he’s just sat outside the front of his house late one evening, which sort of makes you wonder why he was left out there at that time of night on his own?. Then when he gets abducted the next day, again he’s just sat outside his house. HAD HE JUST BEEN LEFT OUT THERE ALL NIGHT?????

It was also kind of difficult to take the abduction scene seriously as the wheelchair guy kinda reminded me of Timmy from “South Park”. I know it’s unfair to criticise the acting in these sorts of features, but the whole scene was almost laughably bad, before it descended into a gross out, with the inclusion of the aforementioned penetration shots during the assault.

I still have no idea how the film ended as I stopped watching at this point and have no desire to watch further, even though the film’s only about 25mins long and had only about 5mins left to run.

It occurred to me the film makers were simply trying to make a name for themselves by doing something they considered shocking and controversial. However, when the viewer’s instinct is to reach for the off switch because they’re so revolted by what the characters are doing on screen, I think they clearly went about this the wrong way.

Scenes like this might work for accomplished directors like Lars Von Trier who’s films are regarded as “art”, but horror film fans are a whole different demographic. Nobody I know of wants to see some overweight Brummie actor jerking himself off in front of the camera, or sodomising another actor in graphic close up, in what's supposed to be a "horror" film (these scenes could have been made similarly shocking had they just been simulated, and not shown for real).

Anyway, that’s my two-penneth (and I dear say I am now well and truly off the directors Christmas card list this year). So to close this review I’ll simply say that in short, “I hated it” and that I sincerely hope the film makers learn from their mistakes when coming up with their next project.

Notes about the director. Barry Hancher is a horror director based in Worcestershire, UK. His website can be found at www.whiteravenfilms.co.uk

Sunday 9 October 2011

David Hess - RIP

As many of you will probably already know from the gossip around the web, horror B-movie star David Hess passed away over the weekend, at the age of 69.


Undoubtedly best known, and loved, by horror fans for his role as Krug Stillo in Wes Craven's debut film "The Last House on the Left", for which he also provided the music. Hess had a checkered career in the industry, appearing in many films and TV shows, usually playing a heavy.

Hess was due to re-unite with director Ruggero Deodato for a belated sequel to "House on the Edge of the Park" which is currently in production.

According to his official Facebook page, Hess died in his sleep. No reason for the cause for his death has been given as of yet.

RIP David, your legacy will live on!

Wednesday 5 October 2011

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark - This Friday!!!!

This Friday, October 7th, sees the release of the newest offering from Guillermo del Toro- Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark! Brought to you from Studiocanal.



After moving into her new home with her father Alex (Guy Pearce) and his girlfriend, Kim (Katie Holmes), Sally (Bailee Madison) is pursued by ruthless creatures who want to claim her as one of their own...

Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark heralds the directorial debut from comic creator Troy Nixey

For more info on this, visit the official website at http://www.dontbeafraidofthedark.com/

TWEET TO DECIDE WHO IN THE WORLD SEES “PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3” FIRST!

In an unprecedented move, Paramount Pictures will debut PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3 exclusively in cities where the most fans “Tweet To See It First”. This first ever of its kind campaign launched today at 8:00 a.m. PDT and is open to fans worldwide. PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3 will premiere on October 18th in the top 20 cities with the most tweets, 3 days before the film’s global release.

“The support of this franchise from the online community is phenomenal. We again look to reward them for that support by offering them the chance to see it first, this time expanding our reach globally,” said Rob Moore, Vice Chairman of Paramount Pictures.

To vote, fans can go to www.ParanormalMovie.com and select their city from a global map, which will also serve as the point of entry to create a tweet with a special set of hash tags that link directly to twitter. Once a tweet posts, it counts as a vote. A leader board will show the top 20 global markets in real-time.

The “Tweet To See It First” competition is available to audiences worldwide and ends at 11:59 p.m. PDT on Thursday, October 13th. The top 20 cities will be announced on Friday, October 14th.

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3 is produced by Jason Blum, Oren Peli and Steven Schneider and directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman from a screenplay by Christopher Landon. Follow PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3 on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TweetYourScream for audience reactions and important announcements.

The movie Will Premiere in 20 Cities Worldwide on October 18th