Wednesday 27 February 2019

LEPRECHAUN RETURNS comes to UK DVD with the original

Horror’s smallest terror is back to reclaim the treasure that’s been lost for 25 years in LEPRECHAUN RETURNS. With Mark Holton reprising his role from the cult-classic LEPRECHAUN (1993), this deadly, wisecracking franchise is back in all its gory glory and now available in a new double DVD pack with the original movie LEPRECHAUN from 1st April.

When the sorority sisters of the Alpha Upsilon house decide to go green and use an old well as their water source they unwittingly awaken a pint-sized, green-clad monster. The Leprechaun wants a pot of gold buried near the sorority house, but first he must recover his powers with a killing spree—and only the girls of AU can stop him…

This brand new outing from the classic franchise will be available on DVD in a new double pack with the original movie LEPRECHAUN. Go back to where it all began… J.D. Beding and her daughter Tory (Jennifer Aniston) take a break at a summer house which is unfortunately located on the site of an evil leprechaun's stolen gold - and the leprechaun will stop at nothing to get it back!

J.D., Tory and local boys Nathan, Alex and Ozzie team up to prevent the leprechaun's trail of magic and murder as he tries to drive them away from his treasure.

SPECIAL FEATURES
Going Green with Director Steven Kostanski
Behind the Scenes Feature
Stills Gallery

LEPRECHAUN RETURNS comes to UK DVD April 1st.

Pre-order the UK DVD from Amazon.co.uk

 

 

Tuesday 26 February 2019

Arrow Video to release newly restored JOSÈ LARRAZ Blu-ray boxset

One of the most underrated and oft-neglected genre filmmakers of his generation, Spanish-born director José Ramón Larraz (Symptoms) finally receives his due with this collection of his work, the first of its kind, bringing together a fascinating cross-section of films from the first half of his lengthy cinematic career. 


In Larraz’s debut feature, the hitherto ultra-rare Whirlpool (1970), Vivian Neves stars as Tulia, a young model invited to a photographer’s secluded country home for what purports to be a quiet weekend retreat - but soon transpires to be anything but. 1974’s Vampyres - perhaps the best known and most widely-released of all José Larraz’s films - sees a duo of blood hungry female vampires prowling the British countryside, from where they lure unsuspecting male motorists back to their imposing, dilapidated mansion for draining... in more ways than one. Meanwhile, in 1978’s The Coming of Sin (La Visita del Vicio, in its native Spanish), a young gypsy girl experiences a violent sexual awakening as her dreams of a naked young man on horseback become reality.

By turns terrifying, titillating, artful and scandalous, these three films collected here - all newly restored from original film elements, with Whirlpool and The Coming of Sin making their Blu-ray world premieres - collectively offer film fans a unique perspective on the fascinating, highly-varied career of one of the horror genre’s most overlooked auteurs. 


LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
Three films from José Ramón Larraz: Whirlpool, Vampyres and The Coming of Sin, all newly-restored in 2K from original film elements
Newly-produced, extensive bonus features and unseen archival content
English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing for all features
Newly comissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx
80-page perfect bound book featuring new writing by Jo Botting, Tim Greaves and Vanity Celis

VAMPYRES CONTENTS
Original US Theatrical Cut
Brand new audio commentary by Tim Lucas
Obsessive Recurrence: The Early Films of José Larraz - author and critic Kim Newman reflects on the recurring themes and underlying obsessions linking together the early productions of José Larraz
A Curious Casting - actor Larry Dann on the strange story behind his casting in Whirlpool
Deviations of Whirlpool - featurette comparing the differences between the US Theatrical Cut and a previously circulated, alternate cut of the film
Extract from an archival interview with José Larraz
Image Gallery
Original US Theatrical Trailer

WHIRLPOOL CONTENTS
Brand new audio commentary by Kat Ellinger
Brand new interviews with producer Brian Smedley-Aston, actors Marianne Morris, Anulka Dziubinska, Brian Deacon, Sally Faulkner, makeup artist Colin Arthur and composer James Kenelm Clarke
Reimagining Vampyres - a brand new interview with Larraz’s friend and collaborator Victor Matellano, director of the 2015 Vampyres remake
Extract from an archival interview with José Larraz
Jose Larraz and Marianne Morris Q&A at 1997 Eurofest
Image Gallery
Trailers

THE COMING OF SIN CONTENTS
Spanish and English language versions of the feature
Brand new audio commentary by Kat Ellinger and Samm Deighan
Variations of Vice: The Alternate Versions of The Coming of Sin – exploitation expert Marc Morris on the strange and scandalous release history of José Larraz's most censored film
Remembering Larraz – author and filmmaker Simon Birrell shares his fond and extensive memories of his long-time friend and collaborator José Larraz
His Last Request (2005, 27 mins) - short film by Simon Birrell made under the guidance of José Larraz and starring Spanish horror legend Jack Taylor
Extract from an archival interview with José Larraz
Image Gallery
Original Spanish Trailer

 Pre-order the JOSÈ LARRAZ Blu-ray boxset from Amazon.co.uk



Sunday 24 February 2019

HALLOWEEN - UK 4K UHD/BLU-RAY review

Jamie Lee Curtis returns to the role that made her famous some 40 years on in HALLOWEEN (2018), which is out now on Digital and Disc.

Four decades have passed since an escaped mental patient, named Michael Myers, went on a killing spree in the town of Haddenfield, Illinois one Halloween night. But his one surviving victim, Larie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) is still reliving the nightmare and has become a virtual recluse, living in a remote house which she has turned into a fortified compound.

So when Myers escapes once more and returns to Haddonfield to relive his crimes on the 40th anniversary of the massacre, she must find a way of reconnecting with her estranged family and facing off against her greatest fear once more.

Completely ignoring all the other sequels, including Halloween H20 and even Halloween 2, this alternate direct sequel to the original puts a fresh spin on the series, which might irk fans of the original films somewhat. But  viewed on its own merits, this was fun follow up to the original with plenty of violent killings.

I was sent the Blu-ray to review, but the 4K UHD and DVDs apparently have the same special features on, which include...

BONUS FEATURES on 4K ULTRA HD, BLU-RAY & DVD:
Deleted/Extended Scenes
-Extended Shooting Range
-Deleted Suicide Thoughts
-Shower Mask Visit
-Jog to a Hanging Dog
-Allyson and Friends at School
-Cameron and Cops Don't Mix
-Deluxe Banh Mi Cops
-Sartain and Hawkins Ride Along
Back in Haddonfield: Making Halloween
The Original Scream Queen
The Sound of Fear
Journey of the Mask
The Legacy of Halloween

HALLOWEEN (2018) is available now on Disc and on Digital Download.

Buy the UK 4K BD from Amazon.co.uk
Buy the UK BD from Amazon.co.uk
Buy the UK DVD from Amazon.co.uk


Arrow Video - May horror and exploitation releases.

Arrow Video’s May releases ainclude a pair of gems from exploitation maestro Roger Corman, a seriously gruesome Japanese thriller, a crowd-pleasing 80s-style sci-fi, and a freshly unearthed cannibal horror, all beautifully packaged and stacked with enough extras to make film fanatics drool.

In The Aftermath - on Blu-ray from 6 May

Following in the footsteps of Francis Ford Coppola and Peter Bogdanovich, Roger Corman protégé Carl Colpaert (The Crew) made his directorial debut by combining repurposed excerpts from a foreign film – in this case, Mamoru Oshii’s (Ghost In The Shell) spellbinding 1985 anime Angel’s Egg – with new live action footage shot in America. The result is In The Aftermath, a haunting post-apocalyptic vision like no other.

In a radiation-soaked wasteland, two surviving soldiers, Frank and Goose, search for essential supplies amid the rubble. After a violent confrontation, Frank is haunted by visions of an angelic young girl holding a giant egg, herself a refugee from another world altogether. Could the egg be the key to saving both their worlds?

A unique mash-up of 1980s B-movie nuclear paranoia and hauntingly lyrical animation, In The Aftermath is presented in a stunning new restoration that highlights Oshii’s visionary genius and Colpaert’s low-budget ingenuity.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
Brand new 2K restoration from original film elements, exclusively restored by Arrow Films
Presented on High Definition Blu-ray (1080p)
Original uncompressed stereo PCM audio
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
The Path To Aftermath, a newly filmed interview with producer Tom Dugan
Apocalypse Then, a newly filmed interview with star Tony Markes
Before The Aftermath: The Influence of Angel’s Egg, a new appreciation of Mamoru Oshii’s original film by anime expert Andrew Osmond (author of Arrow Books’ Ghost In The Shell)
Still and poster gallery
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Corey Brickley

FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Jon Towlson 

Pre-order the UK BD from Amazon.co.uk


The Annihilators – on Blu-ray from 13 May

As the 1980s rolled on, a new, bullish attitude to war took hold in America, the weary cynicism of the previous decade giving way to an unabashed celebration of military might. Numerous filmmakers and producers sought to capitalise on the emerging mood… among them New World Pictures, the company founded by the legendary Roger Corman.

In The Annihilators, the war comes home as a group of army vets, battle-scarred from their travails in the jungles of Vietnam, are forced to dust off their combat moves once again when one of their own meets his demise at the hands a violent criminal gang. Deciding that enough is enough, the self-styled Annihilators, led by the redoubtable Bill (Christopher Stone, The Howling, Cujo), set out to equip the beleaguered citizens of downtown Atlanta with the skills they need to rid their streets of crime and vice.

Directed by Charles E. Sellier Jr. (Silent Night, Deadly Night) and co-starring Gerrit Graham (Phantom of the Paradise) and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs (Death Wish), The Annihilators is a brash, no-holds-barred slice of vigilante justice from the golden age of B-movie action.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
Brand new 2K restoration from the original 35mm interpostive
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
Original lossless mono soundtrack
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
The New Heat on the Street, a new video interview with actor Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs
In Search of Charles E. Sellier Jr., a new video interview with filmmaker David O’Malley on the early career of The Annihilators’ director
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys

Pre-order the UK BD from Amazon.co.uk


Yakuza Law – on Blu-ray from 13 May

Director Teruo Ishii (Blind Woman’s Curse, Horrors of Malformed Men), the Godfather of J-sploitation, presents Yakuza Law (AKA Yakuza’s Law: Lynching) – a gruelling anthology of torture, spanning three district periods of Japanese history and bringing to the screen some of the most brutal methods of torment ever devised.

In this deep dive into the world of the Yakuza, meet the violent men who rule the Japanese underworld and the cruel punishments inflicted on those who transgress them. The carnage begins in the Edo Period with a violent tale of samurai vengeance starring Bunta Sugawara (Battles Without Honour and Humanity), before shifting to the Meiji Period as the exiled Ogata (Minoru Oki, Shogun Assassin) returns to face punishment for his past transgressions… and, ultimately, to take his revenge. 

Finally, the action is brought right up to date with a tale of gang warfare set in then-present-day 60s Japan and headlined by Teruo Yoshida (Ishii’s Orgies of Edo), as a powerful crime syndicate seeks bloody vengeance for the theft of one hundred thousand yen.

Brutal, bewildering and definitely not for the faint-hearted, Yakuza Law represents Japanese popular cinema at its most extreme… and most thrilling.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
High Definition Blu-ray™ (1080p) presentation
Original lossless mono Japanese soundtrack
Optional English subtitles
New audio commentary by author and critic Jasper Sharp
Erotic-Grotesque and Genre Hopping: Teruo Ishii Speaks, a rare vintage interview with the elusive director on his varied career, newly edited for this release
Image gallery
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jacob Phillips

FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Tom Mes 

Pre-order the UK BD from Amazon.co.uk

Mega Time Squad – on Blu-ray from 20 May

Welcome to Thames, New Zealand. Population: 7,518 – and falling. Unless of course you’re Johnny (Anton Tennet), the new member of a local gang led by Shelton (Jonathan Brugh, What We Do in the Shadows). He’s multiplying.

After Johnny is foiled in an effort to double-cross Shelton at his own game of masterminding the sleepy town’s unsurprisingly tame criminal underbelly, he inadvertently steals an ancient bracelet with which he can turn back time – and in the process create multiple clones of himself. This gives Johnny the ability to literally form his own gang against Shelton’s. The only problem is: how can you learn to live your best life, when you’re also having to figure out which one of you exactly that is? Oh, that and there’s a demon after him for bending the rules of time, physics and just general common sense.

Tim van Dammen directs this 80s-throwback supernatural crime caper, dubbed by critics as “a grounded sci-fi mini-odyssey with lots of creativity and even more laugh-out-loud gags”, in which a brilliant ensemble works with sharp dialogue to deliver an endearingly odd and endlessly entertaining slice of Kiwi life.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
High Definition Blu-ray™ (1080p) presentation
Original 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and uncompressed stereo PCM soundtracks
5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio music and effects track
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Audio commentary by director Tim van Dammen
Mega Time Squad: The FrightFest TV interview, director Tim van Dammen talks to FrightFest's Paul McEvoy
Extensive image galleries
Original trailers

Pre-order the UK BD from Amazon.co.uk


Trapped Alive – on Blu-ray from 20 May

Genre regular Cameron Mitchell (The Toolbox Murders, From a Whisper to a Scream) stars in this thrilling tale of escaped hoodlums and underground-dwelling cannibals from director Leszek Burzynski and Hellraiser producer Christopher Webster.

One wintry night, pals Robin and Monica are making their way to a Christmas party when they’re carjacked by a gang of crooks recently escaped from the local penitentiary. With the two young women taken as hostages, things take an even darker turn when their vehicle plummets down an abandoned mine shaft, trapping them underground with the dangerous crooks - and a mutant cannibal.

Filmed in 1988 under the title of Forever Mine but not released until 1993, Trapped Alive was the first film to come out of Wisconsin’s now-defunct Windsor Lake Studios, which would go on to produce a number of films under the Fangoria Films label in the early-90s, including 1992’s Bruce Campbell-starring Mindwarp.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
Brand new 2K restoration from the original camera negative
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
Original mono audio
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Brand new audio commentary with director Leszek Burzynski
Brand new audio commentary with special effects artist Hank Carlson and horror writer Josh Hadley
Brand new audio commentary with The Hysteria Continues
There’s EVIL Underground… - brand new making-of documentary featuring interviews with director Leszek Burzynski, cinematographer Nancy Schreiber, production manager Alexandra Reed and actors Alex Kubik and Sullivan Hester
Upper Michigan Tonight - 1988 television documentary on Windsor Lake Studios, featuring footage from behind the scenes of Trapped Alive and contemporary interviews with director Leszek Burzynski, producer Christopher Webster and production designer Brian Savegar
Leszek Burzynski: The Early Years - the Trapped Alive director discusses his early forays into genre movie-making
Reversible sleeve featuring newly commissioned artwork by Justin Osbourn

FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Zach Carlson 

Pre-order the UK BD from Amazon.co.uk



RENDEL On DVD and Digital 25th February

Batman’s dramatic flair and The Punisher’s merciless morals collide in Finland’s violent, pulp noir answer to the booming superhero genre, as a masked vigilante wages a one-man war on the criminals ruining his city, and his life...

When a worldwide corporation known as VALA launches an untested vaccine called Nh25 into the market by bribing, threatening, and killing every official opposing them, a dark avenger is born.

Rendel, a man driven by revenge and hatred, unleashes his own special kind of hell against the firm, threatening to put an end at the distribution of the deadly Nh25. As blood spills and money burns, VALA recruits a group of violent mercenaries to do what they seemingly can't: eliminate Rendel permanently...

Jesse Haaja’s feature film debut is a blood-splattered love letter to genre classics showcasing the director’s remarkable ability to balance inspiration with carving a unique identity and world for our masked anti-hero. For example, wonderfully framed stealthy takedowns and brutal brawls wouldn’t feel out of place in Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” trilogy, but are infused with a raw brutality that only Rendel can deliver!

“Rendel” isn’t all dread and brooding however, matching the thrilling ultra-violence with refreshing injections of genuine humour, like goons debating the meaning of “take care of him”. While our titular hero excels as a stoic defender, Rami Rusinen brings a chaotic likeability to our foe, the wannabe gangster heir frustrated by his ambitions meeting the black mask of justice.

Bringing a pulp noir spin to one of cinema’s most popular genres, “Rendel” is a new kind of hero not to be missed!

Rendel is out on DVD and Digital 25th February 2019

Buy the UK DVD from Amazon.co.uk

 

ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE arrives on DVD & Digital HD 8th April

Described as ‘Shaun of the Dead meets La La Land’ this is a brilliantly bonkers, Bafta-nominated zom-com musical, from the creator of the internet smash Ryan Gosling Won’t Eat His Cereal

When a zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven, Anna and her friends must fight, slash and sing their way to survival, facing hellish snowmen, an undead Santa and bloodthirsty elves in a desperate race to reach their loved ones hiding out at their local high school.

However, the lucky few that make it discover that the human threat they face is the most terrifying of all...

With civilisation falling apart around them, the only people that Anna and her friends can truly rely on are each other. 

Energetically directed by John McPhail (Where Do We Go From Here?), stylishly shot, and featuring terrific performances from a young cast of future stars, Anna And The Apocalypse is a wonderfully quirky homegrown horror brimming with invention and heart, that Nerdist says is ‘extraordinarily entertaining’.

View the trailer on YouTube 

Pre-order the UK DVD from Amazon.co.uk



Zach Lipovsky & Adam Stein chat about FREAKS - premiering at FrightFest Glasgow,

Ahead of the UK premiere of their sensational directorial feature debut FREAKS at Arrow Video FrightFest Glasgow 2019, Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein talk about making impossible ideas believable, the challenges of fatherhood and casting Bruce Dern.

Q) This is your debut feature. How did the two of you meet and decide that this was the film you wanted to make?

ZACH: We met on a reality competition show called On The Lot, which was produced by Steven Spielberg. It was basically an American Idol-type show that aired on Fox. We were competitors who had to make a new short film every week, and we became close friends and collaborators afterwards.

We worked separately as directors for a few years, but kept coming back together, finding the nature of our collaboration very rewarding. We were struggling to find films that represented our taste, so we decided to write one that would show the world the kind of movie we like to make.

Q) When writing the script, did you always visualise it as a genre movie? Were there any particular influences in that area?

ADAM: When we were writing, we knew that fantastical things would happen in the story, but we didn’t try to fit into the box of a particular genre. We wanted the movie to feel real, intimate... so we knew the story would capture small moments of the family relationships and go deep on the emotions. At the same time, we knew we wanted to tell the story from Chloe’s childlike perspective, so we were more focused on how she was discovering the world and how it felt to her. When things are scary for her, the movie feels more like a horror movie and when she’s full of wonder it starts to feel more like a Spielberg Amblin movie… so the mix of genres is motivated from her character journey.

Q) What personal experiences did you bring to the writing process? I’m thinking, in particular, of the strong coming-of-age narrative and the child-parent dynamic driving the film throughout.

ZACH: The genesis of the story idea was inspired by watching Adam's son grow up. We got to see him observe and interpret the world for the first time. To him, impossible ideas were believable, and normal things were terrifying. We thought it'd be fascinating to capture that perspective in a genre film.

ADAM: As a new dad, I often felt incompetent and unprepared. I used to worry and imagine how I could possibly do this alone, without my awesome wife. I took a lot of classes and had great mentors, and with that support network I became a better father. But we imagined Emile’s character as a father who never had the benefit of that support network. Before the start of the film, his character had been an outcast and a criminal, on the run for most of his life. So now, because of the way the world has isolated him, he’s raised Chloe with no training, not even a book about parenting. We wanted to show his primal protectionist instinct has been twisted into paranoia and a hair-trigger temper, but underneath it all he’s got deep love for her. 


Q) It’s tempting to think that the film taps into the current socio-political upheaval in the US and, in particular, the paranoia of ‘outsiders’ appearing to threaten the dominant majority. Was there an intention on your part to shine a light on Trump’s America?

ADAM: The social commentary in the film is inspired by discrimination and violence in our world, where the tools of government can be used to destroy the lives of people who are considered Other. We weren’t directly talking about Trump’s America but we were inspired by the cycle of the discrimination and violence against “outsiders” that has recurred around the world and throughout history. We wanted to hold up a mirror to the way hatred and tribalism can create horrible outcomes.

It feels like the story has become even more relevant since we wrote it. When we were writing the movie, the idea that children would be torn away from their parents and detained by the government was science fiction, now a couple years later it’s happening in America.

ZACH: We tried to make it universal rather than concentrate on one single issue. Besides the Trump immigration issues that many people see, we were inspired by family histories of hiding children with non-Jewish during the Holocaust, the history of forced relocation of Native Americans to reservations, and the epidemic of police shootings of black men in America.

Q) You call them ‘freaks’, which can be seen as a derogatory term, but they are in fact charismatic and powerful beings. Why did you choose that title?

ADAM: When the world is set against something, bent on its annihilation, it can overwhelm any virtues. For the universe of the story, we wanted to find a word that we could imagine becoming a common slang word -- something with a bite that could be used by both adults and children as part of the common speech of this world. After we wrote the script, we experimented with lots of alternate titles but kept coming back to this essential word. Audiences also bring their own associations to the word "Freaks," which can help throw them off when they first sit down in the theatre. 


Q) The performances are all exceptional. Take us through the key casting decisions. In particular, what persuaded Bruce Dern to sign up for the ride?

ZACH: Thank you. The film is all about the performances, and we were very lucky to assemble this incredible cast. Bruce was one of the first cast members to sign on, he really connected to the father-daughter story, because of his own relationship with his daughter. He always looks for stories that have intensity and real grounded characters, and he told us he often doesn’t think science-fiction films have real voices. He hasn’t done a science fiction film since 1972 (Silent Running).

The whole film is is built around the the character of Chloe, and we knew we needed to find an incredible little girl. We built an audition process that was very different from the normal way of doing things. We did a lot of improvisation first to see if the girls could connect to real emotion from their lives, then we’d slowly push them towards the written scenes.

Lexy was the only young actress we found who could both improvise and stay on track with the scene, while staying completely connected to the intensity of the subject matter. She was also the only one who could immediately snap back after “cut” and return to being a normal healthy seven year old. She was a joy to work with.

Q) The ending to the film suggests we haven’t seen the last of Chloe. Are there plans for a sequel?

ADAM: We have lots of ideas for what happens next and also for other rich stories in this world. We’re currently developing some of these ideas into a TV pitch. A sequel

film probably only makes sense if people buy tickets to this one… So if people like the movie, we hope they spread the word to their friends!

Q) 2018 was a great year for the genre. What have been your outstanding film choices?

It WAS a great year! Love the variety of genre films that are being made, with such a range of tones. We really liked Prospect, which was an indie alien planet movie that had a great intimate style and rich world-building. Sorry To Bother You was such an incredible creative ride -- loved the unique tone and the unpredictability of what was around each corner. A Quiet Place was more traditional but still very well done. And Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse! An explosion of wonder and visual creativity that had our jaws on the floor the entire time.

Q) What’s next for you guys?

ZACH: We are writing a new film, as well as finishing a film for Disney. That one is the live-action adaptation of Kim Possible, which was a very popular animated series from ten years ago. Kim Possible comes out in February / March 2019.

ADAM: We hope to get the opportunity to make a lot more films like Freaks - personal stories with lots of surprises.


FREAKS is showing at the Glasgow Film Theatre on Sat 2 March, 9.00pm, as part of Arrow Video FrightFest Glasgow 2019. Zach will be attending.

For more info on this and other films at Fright-Fest and the Glasgow Film Festival...
 
 
 

Thursday 21 February 2019

THE PRODIGY, starring Taylor Schilling, in UK cinemas March

Taylor Schilling (TVs Orange is the New Black) makes her horror debut facing a mother’s worst nightmare to save her family from the evil within. From horror rising stars Nicholas McCarthy (The Pact), Jeff Buhler (Pet Sematary), and the producer of The Exorcism of Emily Rose, brace yourself for one of the scariest films of the year! 


Taylor Schilling stars as Sarah, a mother whose young son Miles' disturbing behaviour signals that an evil, possibly supernatural force has overtaken him.

Fearing for her family's safety, Sarah must choose between her maternal instinct to love and protect Miles and a desperate need to investigate what or who is causing his dark turn. She is forced to look for answers in the past, taking the audience on a wild ride; one where the line between perception and reality becomes frighteningly blurry.

THE PRODIGY is released to UK cinemas 15th March. 

View the trailer on Vimeo.




All rise for Horror Channel’s SEASON OF THE DEAD this March




Be prepared for a Zombie invasion as Saturday nights in March on Horror Channel give rise to SEASON OF THE DEAD, a collection of modern zombie movies. Highlights include the channel premieres of critically-acclaimed MAGGIE, a heart-breaking take on the Zombie genre starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Joe Dante’s BURYING THE EX, a radical blend of classic horror and screwball zomedy. There are also welcome returns for post-apocalyptic zombie actioner EXTINCTION, directed by Inside helmer Miguel Ángel Vivas, Matthias Hoene’s ultra-splatter comedy horror COCKNEYS VS ZOMBIES, starring Michelle Ryan and John Erick Dowdle’s [REC]-inspired QUARANTINE

Full film details:

SEASON OF THE DEAD

Sat 2 March @ 21:00 – MAGGIE (2015) *Channel Premiere 


As the world narrowly recovers from a near apocalyptic virus, an infected teenage girl (Abigail Breslin) with only a precious few weeks to live must find the strength and bravery to face her fleeting mortality as her father (Arnold Schwarzenegger) struggles helplessly to

protect her from the frightened town and keep the family together in the face on inexplicable horror.

Sat 9 March @ 21:00 – BURYING THE EX (2014) * Channel Premiere 


Max’s relationship with his new girlfriend, Olivia, takes an unexpected turn when his dead ex-girlfriend rises from the grave and thinks they’re still dating. Max realises that his only chance at a future with Olivia relies on him doing the unthinkable: breaking up with Evelyn, a maniacal zombie who’s determined to do whatever it takes to get her man.

Sat 16 March @ 21:00 – EXTINCTION (2015) 


After several hundred thousand years of evolution and supremacy, an infection turns most of humanity into rabid zombies, Two men, Patrick (Matthew Fox) and Jack (Jeffrey Donovan) and a 9-year-old girl (Quinn McColgan), are the only known survivors, However, not only must they protect themselves against their monstrous attackers, but must overcome their mutual hatred for each other…

Sat 23 March @ 21:00 – COCKNEYS VS ZOMBIES (2012) 


Just as brothers Terry and Andy Macguire decide to rob a bank, workers on a Docklands building site uncover a burial ground sealed up in 1666. However, some of the corpses aren’t Brown Bread at all and before you know it, London’s East End is infested with hungry zombies. Can the two dodgy Hamptons get to the Bow Bells Care Home in time to rescue all the Raspberry Ripples under siege with only their Zimmer frames and wheelchairs to kick some zombie Khyber Pass? Stellar cast includes Harry Treadaway, Alan Ford, Honor Blackman, Richard Briers and Michelle Ryan.

Sat 30 March @ 21:00 – QUARANTINE (2008) 



Television reporter Angela Vidal (Dexter’s Jennifer Carpenter) and her cameraman are assigned to spend the night shift with an LA Fire Station. Soon a routine 911 call takes them to a small apartment building, where they learn that a woman living in the building has been infected by something unknown. After a few of the residents are viciously attacked, they try to escape, only to find that the building has been quarantined. Trapped, and fighting a brooding entity, they become engaged in a brutal battle for survival.

There are also UK TV premieres for Andrew C. Erin’s atmospheric supernatural chiller RESURRECTION OF EVIL and Zach Lipovsky’s gory odd-ball reboot LEPRECHAUN: ORIGINS.

Plus, there are channel premieres for Abner Pastoll’s vividly deranged ROAD GAMES, starring genre icon Barbara Crampton, Ridley Scott’s 1985 twisted fantasy epic LEGEND, starring Tom Cruise, and Steven Gomez’s superior Brit sci-fi action thriller KILL COMMAND.

Fri 1 March @ 21:00 – LEPRECHAUN: ORIGINS (2014) *UK TV Premiere 


Backpacking through Ireland, two unsuspecting young couples discover a town's chilling secret when the town's residents offer them an old cabin at the edge of the woods. Soon, they discover that one of Ireland's most famous legends is a terrifying reality

Fri 8 March @ 21:00 – RESURRECTION OF EVIL (2016) *UK TV Premiere 

Jackie Sullivan (Julie Benz), a troubled young woman with a serious alcohol addiction, is released from rehab and given a second chance with a new job and a furnished apartment at Havenhurst. Recovering from the tragic loss of her 6-year-old daughter, Jackie is drawn into the unsolved disappearance of the apartment’s previous occupant, a young woman who

disappeared without a trace. Jackie soon discovers that she must not only battle her inner demons but the very real ones that live deep within the walls of Havenhurst.

Fri 15 March @ 21:00 – KILL COMMAND (2015) *Channel Premiere

Set in a time where robots handle all manual jobs, unemployment has soared and riots are a near everyday occurrence. Against this backdrop, veteran US marine Captain Bukes (Thure Lindhardt and his unit, are sent on a routine training exercise. What they discover when they reach the island is beyond anything they could have imagined. What starts as a simple training exercise descends into a terrifying battle to the death, a fight for the survival not only for Bukes’ unit but also for the future of humanity itself.

Fri 22 March @ 21:00 – ROAD GAMES (2015) *Channel Premiere 


When hitchhiker Jack (Andrew Simpson) rescues Véronique (Joséphine de La Baume) from a road rage altercation, in rural France the twosome decide to travel together for safety’s sake after learning a serial killer is cutting a murderous swathe through the region. Tired and hungry they decide to take up an offer to stay the night at a mysterious elderly couple’s mansion. And that’s when the deranged, demented and bloody escapades begin. Also stars Barbara Crampton.

Fri 29 March @ 21:00 – LEGEND (1985) *Channel Premiere

Set in a timeless mythical forest inhabited by fairies, goblins, unicorns, and mortals, Tom Cruise is a mystical forest dweller chosen by fate to undertake a heroic quest. He must save a beautiful princess (Mia Sara) and defeat the demonic Lord of Darkness (Tim Curry), or the world will be plunged into a never-ending ice age.

Horror Channel: Be Afraid
TV: Sky 317 / Virgin 149 / Freeview 70 / Freesat 138



ALIEN - New 4K restoration - Back in UK cinemas 1st March

Park Circus is delighted to announce the 2019 return to the big screen of Ridley Scott’s ground-breaking 1979 sci-fi classic ALIEN


ALIEN will screen at cinemas across the UK and selected international territories from 1 March 2019 in a new 4K restoration of the original theatrical cut, to mark its 40th anniversary.

The film was restored in 4K in 2018 by 20th Century Fox at Company 3/Deluxe Entertainment Services Group, supervised by Ridley Scott and Pam Dery. The 4K scans were done at EFilm and the audio restoration was done by Audio Mechanics.

Winner of the 1979 Academy Award® for Visual Effects (H.R. Giger, Carlo Rambaldi, Brian Johnson, Nick Allder, Denys Ayling), and the film which spawned a vast media franchise of films, novels, comic books, video games, and toys, ALIEN remains a visceral, captivating and poetic blend of sci-fi and horror – and what better way to mark its 40th anniversary than to experience it back on the big screen, where it truly belongs.

Following a special screening at Glasgow Film Festival on February 28 2019, Alien will open at BFI Southbank on 1 March 2019 for a two-week run, before screening at cinemas across the UK and selected international territories.


EVIL DEAD 2 - New 4K trailer released.

EVIL DEAD 2, is coming to 4K Ultra HD for the first time

WATCH THE NEW 4K TRAILER BELOW:

After the shocking and notorious cult classic THE EVIL DEAD impaled its way into the minds of a whole generation, visionary maverick director Sam Raimi decided to elaborate on its twisted scenario. Featuring B-movie legend Bruce Campbell in his most iconic role, EVIL DEAD 2 is a gore-fueled, splatstick masterpiece that gleefully stomps on the entrails of good taste whilst puking in the face of Hollywood with no apologies.

This thrill-packed, gore-led rollercoaster ride is a must-see for all horror fans and comes packed with over four hours of special features – including the new one-hour bonus feature BLOODY AND GROOVY, BABY! EVIL DEAD 2 will arrive on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Download on 4th March 2019 and is available to pre-order now

4K ULTRA HD EXTRAS:
Disc 1: 4K Ultra HD Film
Disc 2: Blu-Ray film and commentary
Disc 3: Blu-Ray special features
Bloody and Groovy, Baby! - Tribute to Sam Raimi's Evil Dead 2
Shallowed Souls: Making of Evil Dead 2
Cabin Fever : A “Fly on the Wall”
Road to Wadesboro : Revisitng the Shooting location with Filmaker Tony Elwood
The Gore the Merrier: Making of Evil Dead 2
Interview with Bruce Campbell
Trailer

The film is also available on Blu-Ray only with the same extras, there is also a DVD release containing the audio commentary only. 

Pre-order the UK 4K UHD from Amazon.co.uk

Pre-order the UK BD from Amazon.co.uk

Pre-order the UK DVD from Amazon.co.uk


 

Wes Craven's SWAMP THING oozes onto Blu-ray 25 March

Long before superhero movies were packing out multiplex cinemas, Freddy Krueger creator Wes Craven followed-up the success of Richard Donner's Superman with this fondly remembered DC adaptation that brings a comic book favourite to life!

Following the success of The Hills Have Eyes, Swamp Thing shows Craven adapting his style from less rough 'n' ready thrills and spills - and the result is an adventure thriller featuring a mutant-monster with good intentions, and a supporting cast of fan-favourites including Adrienne Barbeau (The Fog, Escape from New York), Ray Wise (Twin Peaks, RoboCop) and David Hess (The Last House On The Left) in one of his best-remembered villainous turns.

Released in 1982 to an appreciative cult following, Swamp Thing remains one of Craven's most mesmerising achievements - with a faithful DC-comic look and action-packed special effects. 88 Films is delighted to present Swamp Thing in a very special edition Blu-ray release that packs a pristine punch and highlights this creature feature classic in all of its bayou-tinged brilliance!

SPECIAL FEATURES

High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and standard definition DVD presentations
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
Audio commentary by director Wes Craven, moderated by Sean Clark
‘Swamp Screen: Designing DC's Main Monster’ - an interview with Production designer Robb Wilson King
‘From Krug to Comics: How the Mainstream Shaped a Radical Genre Voice’ - interview with critic Kim Newman
Original theatrical trailer
Picture booklet

Pre-order the UK BD Amazon.co.uk