Heavy Metal Magazine releases "Horror Special" for issue #277

The issue, which hits comic stores today, features a horror theme and duel covers by Luis Royo and Skinner
 
To coincide with the Halloween Season, guest editor Frank Forte presents Heavy Metal Magazine #277, the October "Horror Special". Korean Comics master Silvester Song debuts in HM with a dark tale of horror in space called “THE TRANSACTION”. Steve Mannion presents an all-new science fiction tale entitled “DIRT.”  Ben Olson renders the post-apocalyptic "HALLOWEEN WEDDING". Robert S. Rhine and David Hartman deliver "MONKEY GRINDER" where a trained monkey is anything but fun and games. Dwayne Harris gives us "ROCKET REPO:SHIP OF GHOULS"  where a Starship Repo specialist finds out the ship she was sent to repo has already been possessed… by an alien virus!

 

William Broad and David Zuzelo cough up "ACSENSION OF THE BLACK DEATH" a tribute to classic Italian shock horror films. In "MARY LOU" mobsters descend on a home who's owner refuses to leave, with catastrophic results--by Craig Wilson. Owen Mackinder and Daniel Bradford  bring forth a Lovecraftian tale “BRUTALITE”. Frank Forte and Nenad Gucunja bring forth the mutant splatterfest known as “DTOX” Also continuing the fifth Chapter of "The 49th Key".  Other tales of Sci-Fi and horror by Jeff Rebner, Jason Paulos, Kevin Colden and Katrina Kuntsmann. Art Galleries by Christopher Ulrich and Skinner.  A must for all horror fans! This issue features a cover by Luis Royo and a special edition cover by Skinner.
 
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World's foremost adult fantasy illustrated magazine.  First published in 1977, Heavy Metal, the Premier Adult Illustrated Fantasy Magazine, explores fantastic and surrealistic worlds, past present and future. Illustrators from around the world take you to places you never dreamed existed.  Heavy Metal magazine is now published six times per year. Most issues feature one serialized graphic novel, several short stories, an artist gallery and artist studio section, a dossier and editorial pages.
 
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Horror Channel to premiere I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE remake & sequel

The films the other TV channels didn’t dare to show…

Horror channel will be presenting the UK TV premieres of two highly controversial films: the 2010 remake of I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE and its sequel I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE 2, both directed by Steven R. Monroe.

Stewart Bridle, Channel Manager for Horror Channel, said today: "We welcome the opportunity to bring our viewers the UK TV Premieres of 'I Spit On Your Grave' and its sequel. Both movies are controversial, disturbing and not for the faint-hearted, but as the UK television home for the Horror genre we won't shy away from the dark places that it can take us."

Full details:

 

Fri 13 Nov @ 10.50pm – I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE (2010) *UK TV Premiere

Arguably the most notorious title in horror history, the original 1979 exploitation classic became an iconic Video Nasty. So prepare for the one unrated remake everybody has been anticipating, a violent, shocking story of bloody revenge. When writer Jennifer Hills (Sarah Butler) retreats to a charming cabin in the woods to start her next book, her presence in the small town attracts unwanted redneck attention. Intending to teach the city girl a lesson, they break into her cabin to scare her. However, what starts out as terrifying acts of humiliation, uncontrollably escalates into a night of abusive assault. But against all odds Jennifer survives her ordeal and intends to turn the tables on her tormentors…

 

Friday 20 Nov @ 10.55pm - I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE 2 (2013) *UK TV Premiere

The movie you thought they wouldn’t dare remake now has an equally astounding sequel. Director Steven R. Monroe returns for another D-Day of the Woman. Katie (Jemma Dallander) has just settled into New York and she’s thrilled when she’s offered what seems like a dream assignment. But what starts out as an innocent and simple photo shoot soon turns into something disturbingly unthinkable! Brutalised, tortured and kidnapped to a distant foreign country, Katie is mercilessly buried alive and left to die. Against all odds, she manages to escape and she taps into the darkest places of the human psyche to exact the starkest and bloodiest revenge on her attackers.

TV: Sky 319 / Virgin 149 / Freesat 138 / Freeview 70

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"The Stranger" comes to UK VOD and DVD

From established producer Eli Roth and acclaimed new director Guillermo Amoedo comes a new strain of fear...

 

In The Stranger, a mysterious man named Martin arrives at a small town at the end of nowhere. He is there to eradicate a highly contagious and dangerous disease that makes sufferers addicted to human blood. His plan is to kill his wife Ana who suffers from the disease but he soon discovers Ana has been dead for a couple of years.

 

He decides to commit suicide to eradicate the disease once and for all but is brutally attacked by three local thugs led by Caleb, the son of a corrupt police lieutenant - and the incident starts a series of events that will plunge the community into a bloodbath...

 

The Stranger is Directed by Guillermo Amoedo (Aftershock, The Green Inferno) and Produced by Eli Roth (Cabin Fever, Hostel, The Green Inferno, Knock Knock).

 

Koch Media Presents The Stranger on UK VOD 5th October and UK DVD 16th November

 

View the trailer on YouTube

 

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

 

 

"Technotise: Edit & I" makes UK DVD debut 9 Nov

Filled with sex, drugs, fast cars and hover boards, Serbian cyberpunk anime hybrid Technotise: Edit & I has all the makings of a cult classic and now comes to UK DVD for the very first time courtesy of Simply Media.

Belgrade, Serbia, the year is 2074. Edit keeps failing her exams. Her parents keep nagging her. Her boyfriend’s a pothead. Her teacher is pervy. She is bored with life and no-one’s giving her a break.

 

When her drug-dealing friend offers to implant a stolen military memory chip into her bloodstream to improve her brain power, she jumps at the chance. Little could she predict just how powerful the chip was.

 

The stolen technology begins to take over her mind and body. She develops a split personality and new powers greater than she ever imagined. But, the battle is now on to retrieve the stolen technology running through her veins – and Edit has to race against time to save her life...

Meet your new hero. She’s about to blow your mind in Technotise: Edit & I.

 

Directed and written by renowned comic book author and artist Aleksa Gajić (Scrouge of the Gods), this exhilarating sci-fi animation based on his graphic novel Technotise makes its UK DVD debut on 9 November 2015

 

Buy the UK DVD from Amazon.co.uk

 

 

 

 

 

"A Date With Ghosts" - a film review

Whilst attending the Mayhem horror festival in Nottingham last month I got chatting to Director Jason MJ Brown, who was also attending and told me about his film “A Date with Ghosts”, which was shot around Nottingham. After expressing interest, he kindly gave me a review copy to look at, and having finally managed to view it, have decided to post my thoughts…

 

The basic plot goes something like this. A girl is on her way to meet her boyfriend, when she gets a frantic phone call from him, claiming he’s come across an injured girl in the grounds of a derelict abbey nearby.

 

Going back to meet him, the injured person has apparently run off, but as they explore the grounds trying to find her, they find themselves locked in. Stumbling into a nearby church, they discover another girl, bound up and trapped inside an old coffin, who informs them that evil forces are at work, and as the trio try to leave, find themselves attacked by undead apparitions wearing monks robes, who appear out of thin air.

 

Whilst this is going on, it seems there’s another couple trapped in the grounds, who are experiencing similar problems. Their paths eventually cross, and discovering the evil spirits can be thwarted using crucifixes and holy water, attempt to battle their way out together.

 

Now, whenever I review a film I am always brutally honest. The film was obviously very low budget and filmed on, what might well have been, a home camcorder (judging by the amount of shots the autofocus turned the picture blurry), though I won’t hold that against it.

 

The film does start off rather well with some atmospheric shots of old graveyards and a rather impressive title sequence and it makes the most of its abandoned location (Scarsdale Hall in Derbyshire appears to have been the principal filming location). But obviously, being a low budget film, suffers from the usual trappings. Chiefly the acting, which was far from brilliant and the “old” church, which looks very well maintained and even has modern electric lighting.

 

However, the main bug bear in this HAS to be the sheer disjointed nature of the plot. None of the characters are properly introduced. One person is called Lee, but that’s about the only name we get. We never do find out who the injured girl was they went to find in the first place. There's a mention that the police were at some point called, but no one shows up. We find that crucifixes work against the ghostly creatures, yet they seem to inhabit the nearby church which is filled with these things.

 

Then halfway through, the plot suddenly cuts to another group of people, who we had previously been unaware of, also trapped in the grounds, finding another person trapped in the church and seemingly repeating the events we just witnessed the last trio go through. It was like watching a short film, which the director decided to remake, but then decided to cobble both together to produce a feature length film.

 

Another major problem for me was the constant mixing up of day and night shots. When you’re suddenly confronted with daylight, having just spent the last 5mins in the dark, you’re never sure if its meant to be suddenly morning again, or the cameraman just got the aperture wrong when he filmed it.

 

The film was apparently shot over a 2 year period, which would explain the somewhat disjointed nature of the story and was the director’s first feature, which he managed to put together on a budget of just over £1000. Obviously the low budget shows through, but when you’re starting out, I guess you have to begin somewhere and work with whats available. The director seems to have done well for himself though, as the movie is currently on DVD in the US. Though whether you will like this will depend on your love of low budget indie horrors.

 

The director is currently working on his next feature, entitled “Dark Vale”, so we’ll have to wait and see what that is like.

Visit the Directors Twitter Page

Visit the films Facebook page

Buy the US DVD at Amazon.com


 

UK Festival of Zombie Culture - Tickets on Sale Now

After a sell-out event last year where we laughed, drank and craved brains together – the Zombie Film Festival returns to Phoenix bigger, better and bloodier than ever before for its 9th year on Saturday the 14th Nov.

 

 

We have five films confirmed

 

Maggie,

Nightmare City

Darkest Day + Q&A,

Me and My Mates vs The Zombie Apocalypse

Cooties

 

With the 6th film being decided by a public vote (see below for details).

 

Activities include...

•13 hours of Zombie Films
•Guest stars To be Announced
•The Arcade of the Dead – Retro Zombie Games to die for
•Best dressed Zombie Award – Come Dressed to Impress
•Make Up Artists
•Zombie Authors – Signing books and talking zombies
•Goodie Bags – 1st 200 people through the door get lucky
•Horror Traders – Late Halloween or Early Xmas presents!
•Spot Prizes, giveaways, themed food & drink

 

Day and individual tickets are on sale now.

For more info and to book tickets, visit the Phoenix Cinema Website

Visit their Facebook and Twitter pages.

"JeruZalem" - Film Review

Israeli horror film “JeruZalem” had it’s UK debut at Frightfest earlier this year and is also being screened at the Jewish Film Festival in London this month, and I was subsequently asked to take a peek at it.

American Teenagers Sarah (Danielle Jadelyn) and Rachel (Yael Grobglas) are going on a backpacking holiday around the middle east. But following a chance encounter on the plane with a cute American lad named Kevin (Yon Tumarkin), they decide to start their tour in the Israeli holy city of Jeruslam for the Yom Kippur weekend.

But it seems Kevin’s enthusiasm for going is not just for sightseeing. He’s heard rumors of strange goings on, which has something to do with a long fabled gate of hell under the city. And the trio soon find their holiday cut short, when strange demonic creatures start rampaging through the holy city and the group end up running for their lives as the military struggles to contain the situation.

Filmed in and around the city of Jerusalem, whilst the film makes good use of its location, there were a couple of problems I had which spoiled my enjoyment. Firstly, it’s a “found-footage” style film, which I’m not a fan of. Sarah appears to be wearing a pair of “Google Glasses” (or something similar), and the entire film is told from the webcams perspective on these (a similar idea having already been done in “Day of the Mummy” which I wasn't keen on either).

Secondly, the film takes way too long to get going, almost an hour, with most of the runtime taken up showing the trio sightseeing. When things finally do kick off, the creatures are only seen on a handful of occasions, with the remainder of the film just showing the group running through the streets, hiding in buildings and crawling through tunnels trying to get to safety.

A potentially interesting idea badly done in my view.

The film is being screened as part of the Jewish Film Festival in London, at the JW3 cinema (10 Nov) and Odeon Swiss Cottage (18 Nov).

For more info about this and other films in the festival visit http://ukjewishfilm.org/