10 Questions with Tim Van Dammem, director of MEGA TIME SQUAD

Director Tim Van Dammen talks about MEGA TIME SQUAD, which is being screened at this months FrightFest.

You played a Street Demon in director Jason Lei Howden’s FrightFest favourite DEATHGASM. Is the New Zealand film community that small?

I didn’t play a street demon; I am a street demon. The film community in NZ is small enough for most active people to know most other active people – but the genre scene is small enough for us all to know each other by at least one degree of separation. Many of my friends worked on or acted in Deathgasm and they needed a night shoot of ‘street demons’ so I donned my tie-dye and offered to help out. It was a lot of fun and I think Jason and the team did an incredible job.

Have you met Peter Jackson and do you see him as the ultimate Kiwi role model?

I have met some of his major long-time collaborators like Richard Taylor (production designer) who put me in touch with Jamie Selkirk (editor/post supervisor) who mentored me through the postproduction of Romeo and Juliet, so I spent a lot of time at Park Road Post but I have never met Peter Jackson. He is certainly one of the great Kiwi legends and for filmmakers he would be the ultimate role model. His work has inspired me since I was five years old and living in a caravan when I saw a news piece about Bad Taste being selected for Cannes. I remember my dad laughing his arse off about the sheep being hit by the rocket launcher and ever since then I wanted to be a filmmaker. Then when Braindead came out I realised that filmmaking was something I might be able to do – I just needed to find a fresh approach. I still remember gagging as Tim Balme pulls the dog tail from his mother’s throat… Braindead is so good.

Not many people get to write with William Shakespeare as you did with your 2013 feature debut ROMEO AND JULIET: A LOVE SONG. That must have been a great experience? 

Haha, yeah, I think that credit was a legal thing. Shakespeare really didn’t deserve it, after all he only wrote the verse. I’ll give you a moment to recover after that hilarious joke… It was fun trying to Kiwify Romeo and Juliet but the difficult part was filming it as an opera. Coming from music videos I was used to shooting to music but to shoot the full play in its entire original text, all set to a series of songs, and to try to make it emotionally moving was a major challenge. It taught me that I had a lot to learn in terms of storytelling.

You directed over 180 music video for some top Kiwi and International acts. Can you name some we would have seen?

It’s hard to tell which videos you may know because the music scene varies so vastly from country to country. My band, Collapsing Cities, was signed in the UK around 2008/9 and we toured and did the big festivals so maybe you saw something then. I used to make at least a video a week so it’s hard to remember them all. My most popular videos were ‘Just a little bit’ - Kids of 88, ‘Standing in the rain’– Sola Rosa, ‘Autumn’ – Artisan Guns, some The Naked and Famous stuff… but these were more popular in Aus, NZ, Germany and the US… the UK is pretty unique in its music scene; when my band supported the Artic Monkeys I was surprised to see that they had platinum records hanging on the wall at XFM…so antipodean.

Where did you get the idea for the MEGA TIME SQUAD script?

I wanted to do a time travel movie and I thought it would be cool if it were about a guy who went back in time to hang out with himself. But then I wondered if it would funny if he jacked himself off... Then he would feel weird about it and go back in time again to stop himself from jacking himself off and there would be this weird love triangle between a series of copies of the same guy. Then I came to my senses and realised that there was a better way to approach this idea. What if he helped himself commit a crime or escape the punishment for committing a crime? What if he time travelled to help himself steal a bunch of cash but once he got it he didn’t want to share the cash with himself? What if he time travelled so much that the various versions couldn’t remember which version was which? Then what if they started killing each other? This seemed like a better angle than a wankfest.

Time travel stories can often be so convoluted, how did you avoid that?

I drew a kind of map of the time travel and decided that the only “rule” was that when John time travels he moves in time but not in space. I was more focused on how to make time travel new again or at least address it from a less familiar perspective. I felt like we’d seen enough time travel movies where we follow the same character going back over and over again so I wanted to show the story from more of a third person point of view. We travel with John the first couple of times but after that we follow whichever version of John is driving the story. It’s not really about time travel, it’s about a lovable idiot with a time travel device who thinks time travel is cool because he gets to hang out with earlier iterations of himself.

Any favourite time travel movies you looked at for inspiration?

I watched as many as I could find and I loved most of them but the one that influenced the way this film worked was Time Crimes. Mega Time Squad is a very different film in both tone and premise but it’s similar in that there are multiples of the same guy in the same timeline and that’s what Time Crimes achieved very well. You’ll notice a dozen or so nods to various movies in the Mega Time Squad but they are not so much influences on the film; instead they are films that I imagine that John (the main character) thinks he’s in.

Did your script have to be so vulgar, or is that the NZ way?

I didn’t notice it was so vulgar until the sound designer played it to his kids. While I was writing it I was spending a lot of time with my dad and that’s how we talk. A big chunk of the dialogue is made up of direct quotes from my dad and his mates. I wouldn’t say ‘it’s the Kiwi way’ but I do think New Zealanders and Australians have a more relaxed and cheerful attitude towards vulgarity than many other parts of the world. Etymology section of answer: I was recently in Rome where I saw an original ‘vulgar’ fresco on the wall of a church from 150AD depicting the Emperor instructing slaves who were dragging St Clemente out of the ocean and the text in the fresco read “Hurry up you sons of bitches!” That’s where the term ‘vulgar’ comes from.

MEGA TIME SQUAD features some amazing special effects considering, one assumes, the low budget. How did you manage it?

I’ve been deep into VFX software since I started my career as a video artist showing in art galleries until my band was signed and I moved into making music videos and then into making films. After spending years making VFX-heavy content and then doing the VFX on Romeo and Juliet and some more on Deathgasm I have a pretty good command of the discipline. I understood that there were going to be a lot of constraints around the formal aspects of the film because, as you mention, we had no money. So I needed to work around that with regard to camera movement, for example, while still being able to pace the film and give it a cinematic feel. It was a challenge, and if my past endeavours hadn’t taught me the limits of what I could pull off competently at this budget level, I probably would’ve felt that I’d bitten off more than I could chew. As far as conceptualisation, my only rule on Mega Time Squad was that I wanted the VFX to be inherently silly while remaining cool and being something that I hadn’t seen before. Hopefully that’s what James and I achieved.

How would you best describe MEGA TIME SQUAD?

Its an absurd time travel crime comedy with a big heart about a loveable rural idiot with modest aspirations who uses a time travel bracelet to steal the money needed to fulfil his dream of moving to the neighbouring town… but he fucks up the time travelling bit.

MEGA TIME SQUAD plays at Arrow Video FrightFest on Thurs 23 August, Cineworld Leicester SQ.

Tickets: http://www.frightfest.co.uk/2018Films/mega-time-squad.html

FrightFest website: http://www.frightfest.co.uk/

 

Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum - screening at London Korean Film Festival

The London Korean Film Festival 2018 Teaser Screenings presents smash-hit horror Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum at Picturehouse Central, Thursday 30th August

Gonjiam Psychiatric hospital, well known locally as one of the most haunted places in South Korea, gained international notoriety when CNN named it as one of the ‘7 Freakiest Places on Earth.’ Shrouded in mystery, the desolate location is the home of urban legends telling of abandoned patients, deranged doctors and horrific experiments. With all the elements for a perfect horror movie in place, director Jung Bum-shik went to work and ended up making the surprise hit of 2018 and the country’s second most successful horror movie of all time.

Charismatic Ha-joon and his fearless pals are the founders of a ghost-hunting YouTube channel. With a target to hit one million viewers, the trio enlist four willing recruits, embarking on a mission to live-stream a journey into the heart of the abandoned Gonjiam Psychiatric Asylum. Their night-time assault on the location will see their attempt to confront the myths surrounding the building and eventually open the mysterious ‘Room 402.’ However, it seems the asylum has other plans for its newest residents, and when the truth behind the stories begins to reveal itself, the desire for online likes gives way to a need for real-life survival…

The found footage format has been a horror staple since the Blair Witch Project first wormed its way into the collective fears of a generation, showing just how successful a film an original idea and a couple of video cameras could make. Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum gives the format a modern update, with GoPro cameras and drones live-streaming the action for YouTube, yet the core remains the same; take a cast of unknowns, throw in an isolated location and an urban legend, and watch the terror unfold.

Tickets: http://ow.ly/V7SK30liA6z

 

DEATH LINE and ASSAULT unleashed on UK Blu-ray 27th August

Network is proud to add two early 1970s cult favourites to their 'The British Film' collection.

First up is a brand new HD remaster of the 1972 renowned horror classic DEATH LINE (aka Raw Meat) starring Donald Pleasence and Christopher Lee, which makes its UK Blu-ray debut. Alongside that is the hard-hitting 1971 thriller ASSAULT (aka In The Devil's Garden), a lesser known gem starring Suzy Kendall and Frank Finlay, which makes its worldwide Blu-ray debut.

DEATH LINE 

Donald Pleasence gives a memorable performance as an idiosyncratic police inspector hot on the trail of a nest of inbred subterranean cannibals in this notoriously violent arthouse slasher movie from the early 1970s. A long-time cult favourite, Death Line features stylishly grim imagery from Oscar-nominated cinematographer Alex Thomson and a rumbustuously sleazy soundtrack from Wil Mallone and Jeremy Rose. Transferred from original film elements it is presented here as a brand-new High Definition restoration in its original theatrical aspect ratio.

When a philandering politician goes missing on the Underground, the subsequent police investigation uncovers a terrifying secret kept hidden since the 1800s. Who – or what – is turning the Underground tunnels into a Death Line..?

Previously available only on DVD in the UK, Death Line has been newly scanned to 2K resolution from the original 35mm camera negative and extensively restored in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 for this exclusive UK Blu-ray release. The restoration involved careful grain management, both automated and manual removal of film dirt and damage, and correction of major instability, warping and density fluctuations.

Special Features
• Mind the Doors!: an interview with Hugh Armstrong
• Limited edition, collectable booklet written by Laura Mayne
• Theatrical Trailer
• Image Gallery
• PDF Material

Mind the Doors!
A one-off interview with the incredibly friendly Hugh Armstrong, who provides insights into his life and acting career, including his portrayal of ‘The Man’ in Death Line.

Pre-order on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2M4un9h

ASSAULT 

A hard-hitting psychological thriller, Assault stars Frank Finlay as a career policeman willing to employ unorthodox methods to catch a sleazy murderer and Suzy Kendall as a plucky teacher willing to put her life in jeopardy to help him do so. Tautly directed by Sidney Hayers (Night of the Eagle), this controversial drama is presented here as a brand-new High Definition transfer remastered from the original 35mm camera negative.

When a schoolgirl rapist escalates to murder, Det. Chief Supt. Velyan (Finlay) faces an agonising choice when the girl's teacher – who saw the maniac in pursuit of his second victim – offers to put herself in harm's way in an effort to catch the killer. 

Assault has been newly scanned to 2K resolution from the original 35mm camera negative in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The restoration carried out involved careful grain management, both automated and manual removal of film dirt and damage, and correction of major instability, warping and density fluctuations. Remastered from original film materials preserved by the BFI National Archive.

Special Features
• Theatrical Trailer
• Image Gallery
• Limited edition collectable booklet written by Laura Mayne and Adrian Smith
• PDF material

Pre-order on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2AQgqqz

Network presents Death Line and Assault on Blu-ray 27th August 

 

10 Questions with Paul Hyett, director of HERETIKS

Director Paul Hyett talks about his film HERETIKS, which screens at this months Frightfest.

What first attracted you to actor Gregory Blair’s script?

When Templeheart gave me the script of HERETIKS (although it was a different title at the time), the one thing that really grabbed my interest was the opportunity to do a creepy period horror, set in 17th Century England. I’d already shot a war-set film, a contemporary werewolf film and here was an opportunity to do a film set in the 17th century where young girls were put on trial for witchcraft, of which some were drowned, hanged and so much worse. It was a truly dark and fearful time in the history of England, one that I was keen to portray on screen, and adding to that a supernatural element, was hard to resist.

What did you and your SEASONING HOUSE co-writer Conal Palmer bring to the final screenplay?

Conal and I did an extensive rewrite, as I remember, at the time it had vampiric nuns. I was keen to ground it and get rid of that story element but I loved this tale of these younger girls brought to this priory, so worked more on the relationships between the younger girls and hierarchy of the older nuns. And then we brought in the mythology of the supernatural element of the film, creating the flashbacks and why the priory was haunted. We then a did a lot of work of Persephone’s journey and the background she left behind and then really worked on all the characters one by one, we really wanted to give everyone their own unique character and background. We also brought the themes of religion more strongly forward and both Conal and I especially worked on the dialogue to give it a more olden style. And after working on the slow burn build up, I felt the film needed to go full tilt in the last act, thankfully Templeheart liked the direction we were taking it.

What a coup casting Clare Higgins, the HELLRAISER icon herself, as the Reverend Mother. What was it like working with her?

It was wonderful to have Clare. I grew up with the Hellraiser films, so to have her on a film of mine was great. She was a consummate professional, and she really anchors the film. It’s hard for an actor when they’re portraying a character that you don’t want to give away their true intentions too early, and I think Clare got it pitch perfect.

And Michael Ironside is another genre icon too, it must have been fun directing him?

It was wonderful, a childhood dream. He was so lovely to everyone, really chatty, and just was so approachable to everyone on the cast and crew. It was great talking to him about Scanners, Total Recall and so many other films of my youth. He was so full of stories and anecdotes. I’d love to work with him again in the future.

Your actress muse Rosie Day turns up again, as she also does again in your next movie PERIPHERAL. Is she your lucky charm?

Haha, yes, Rosie and I love collaborating at work together and we’re great friends, so yes, we’ll keep working together.

Hannah Arterton is your lead in both HERETIKS and PERIPHERAL, so Rosie might be replaced? Say it isn’t so?

No, of course not, there are lots of reasons why you use certain people for certain roles, sometimes due to availability, schedules and also the right fit for the role. For example I saw Rosie as the perfect person to play Shelley in PERIPHERAL and she nailed it perfectly, and Hannah I saw as the character of Bobbi, and she in turn nailed that role. I look forward to working with both Hannah and Rosie in the future. They’re truly talented actresses and lovely to work with.

The Priory is a wonderfully evocative location, where is it?

We split the shoot into two places in Wales, the upper floors were shot at Margam Castle and the lower floors were shot in Tretower, a medieval court. They were beautiful locations, we just had to be very careful, bringing in specialists just to supervise a lit candle, so you can imagine the bigger FX sequences were challenging. But the locations were beautiful, the grounds around them outside, were so vast and breath taking, I feel it gives the film a more realistic feel then if you’d just built sets.

We’re seeing a lot of nuns in horror at the moment, why has it become a trend?

I don’t know why, although I’ve noticed a trend of religious horror getting more popular over the last few years, horror seems to have these trends, whether it’s post- modern social commentary, or home invasion, torture porn etc., it’s always trying to work out what is going to be the trend in a year or two? With HERETIKS we felt you couldn’t go wrong with a retro-style religious period horror featuring nuns.

What was your biggest HERETIKS challenge?

I think mostly shooting in real locations, like Margam Castle and  Tretower court,  there could be no drilling in walls to attach anything like stunt cables, you couldn’t throw blood about in case it stained the medieval stone work, we also had to build sets within these locations but couldn’t attach or drill them into the actual location, we just couldn’t risk anything, but I think the biggest challenge was the endangered bats that were a protected species. We couldn’t harass them, distress them, and certainly not harm them. We risked a large fine and a prison sentence. So whenever one flew out, we had to call cut and let it fly about and do its thing until it was happy for us to continue. I remember one scene that we needed a fireplace roaring in the background for continuity, and a bat had got itself settled in the chimney, I did seriously consider going in with a stick if no-one was watching.

Pleased to be back at Frightfest? Tell us some of your favourite memories from past appearances.

I love Frightfest, it’s been so important in my formative years in the last decade or so and I feel so wonderfully supported by Alan, Paul, Ian and Greg, from my time as a prosthetics artists, to my first movie, and their continued support to Heretiks. If I had to choose a memory, it was the phone call telling us that we’d been selected as opening film for THE SEASONING HOUSE, and then the actual screening at the large Empire screen, was the best night of my life.

HERETIKS plays at Arrow Video FrightFest on Sat 25 August, Cineworld Leicester SQ.

Tickets: http://www.frightfest.co.uk/2018Films/heretiks.html

Frightfest website: http://www.frightfest.co.uk

 

EULLENIA – the first ever genre television series from Thailand

Thailand has produced some notable genre films, amongst them 'Shutter', 'The Eye', and the 'Art of the Devil' series. 

Now comes Thailand's first ever genre TV series Eullenia, which is being helmed by British-born director Paul Spurrier.

Spurrier, was attracted by the talents and skills of Thailand's film industry, and in 2005 made his own contribution to Thai horror genre with 'P', a story of possession set in Bangkok's seedy go-go bars. It marked the first time that a western director had made a film in Thai language. 'P' screened at film festivals around the world, and earned international distribution. (It is now available on Netflix worldwide). 

In 2016, Spurrier directed 'The Forest', which premiered at Cinequest festival in the USA. It was also a ghost story, but this time Spurrier delved more deeply into Thai spiritual belief. Top Thai critic Anchalee Chaiworaporn recognised that 'The Forest helps create a new cinematic grammar in Thai horror – the technique of silent brutality.' 'The Forest' was released exclusively through Netflix worldwide.

Recognising that some of the best stories now reach audiences on the small screen, Spurrier developed 'Eullenia', the story of a wealthy western businessman in Thailand, who uses his power and wealth to feed his darkest desires.

Playing Marcus Hammond - the head of the titular finance corporation 'Eullenia' is actor Alec Newman. 

Alec is best known for playing Paul Atreides in the miniseries of 'Dune' and 'Children of Dune', but has also become a highly respected UK theatre actor. He will shortly be seen starring in the latest series of 'Strike Back' for HBO.

Alongside Alec Newman is one of Thailand's best known talents, Vithaya Pansringarm, who created an iconic figure with his portrayal of the Angel of Death in Nicolas Winding Refn's 'Only God Forgives'.

The first three episodes of 'Eullenia' have now been completed, with a further three episodes in development. 

In spite of the fact that 'Eullenia' is produced for a television audience, Spurrier insists he did not have to 'water down' his story.

“There was a time when television had to be much tamer and safer. But I think there are now premium television channels which are taking risks, which are ready to embrace darker, more complex stories.”

Unlike his previous projects, the horror of 'Eullenia' comes from the human world, not the supernatural world. 

Spurrier says, “In the past I concentrated on the horrors of the supernatural. But I began to realise that some of the most terrifying acts come from the depths of the human soul.”

In the story of a wealthy figure using his power to exploit women, was Spurrier making a reference to the current #METOO revelations?

“In fact, 'Eullenia' was written three years ago, before the current #METOO exposures, but I think it would be wrong to think that this is a problem of just the last few years. Power has always been abused. In 'Eullenia' I wanted to talk not only about the exploitation of women, but also exploitation of the poor, of developing countries, and of all those whose voice is stifled by money and power.”

The first episode of 'Eullenia' was selected as one of the most innovative new television concepts of the last year and screened at 'SeriesFest' in Denver recently. (A feature-length cut also screened last month at BIFAN)

Spurrier admits there was a mixed reaction. Some found the story too disturbing.
 

“I'm not sure television has ever seen a character as truly dark, disturbing and complex as the character of Marcus Hammond. I think what makes him so scary is that he is not a psychotic monster. Alec Newman brilliantly portrays him as a real person with an uncontrollable addiction to death.”

Are television audiences ready for a series quite as dark as 'Eullenia'? 

“I take horror very seriously. Evil is not a monster with claws and teeth. Evil doesn't come from beyond the grave. Evil is born in the first moment you inflict pain on someone else, physically or emotionally, and realise it doesn't bother you that much, and that you might even grow to like it! So much of genre television is safe for the audience because you can switch off and know that it's only make-believe. The horrors of 'Eullenia' are very real. You can't switch them off. And I don't know if television audiences are ready for that. The first three episodes are completed, and we hope we can find a network that will be brave enough to get behind 'Eullenia' and let us continue the story with the three episodes now in development.”

For more info visit the official Facebook page

The Darkest Minds - New featurette released

THE DARKEST MINDS, starring Amandla Stenberg (The Hunger Games), will arrive in UK cinemas next Friday, August 10th, and with this new featurette from Twentieth Century Fox, you can learn more about the film's dystopian world - specifically the powers Ruby (Stenberg) and her friends possess. 

 

When teens mysteriously develop powerful new abilities, they are declared a threat by the government and detained. Sixteen-year-old Ruby, one of the most powerful young people anyone has encountered, escapes her camp and joins a group of runaway teens seeking safe haven. Soon this newfound family realizes that, in a world in which the adults in power have betrayed them, running is not enough and they must wage a resistance, using their collective power to take back control of their future.

THE DARKEST MINDS, directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson, also stars Harris Dickinson, Mandy Moore, Gwendoline Christie, Skylan Brooks, Miya Cech and Patrick Gibson, and is adapted from Alexandra Bracken's bestselling series of novels. 

 THE DARKEST MINDS arrives in UK cinemas August 10. 

HATCHET 4: VICTOR CROWLEY - coming to UK DVD September

Victor Crowley returns to his swamp in writer/director Adam Green’s triumphant return to the helm of his beloved Hatchet series.

In 2007, over forty people were brutally torn to pieces in Louisiana’s Honey Island Swamp.
 

Over the past decade, lone survivor Andrew’s (Parry Shen) claims that local legend Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder, Friday the 13th series) was responsible for the horrific massacre have been met with great controversy. But when a twist of fate puts him back at the scene of the tragedy, Crowley is mistakenly resurrected, and Andrew must face the bloodthirsty ghost from his past.
 

Featuring Laura Ortiz (The Hills Have Eyes), Dave Sheridan (Scary Movie) and Brian Quinn (Impractical Jokers), the fourth instalment of the much-loved slasher series proudly assures an all new, horrifying journey into the haunted, blood-drenched bayou.

Directed by Adam Green
Cast: Parry Sheen, Kane Hodder, Laura Ortiz, Dave Sheridan and Brian Quinn
 

Special features
• Cast commentary with writer/director Adam Green and actors Parry Shen, Laura Ortiz and Dave Sheridan
• Technical commentary with writer/director Adam Green, cinematographer Jan-Michael Losada, editor Matt
Latham, and make-up FX artist Robert Pendergraft
• Fly on the set: behind the scenes
• Raising the dead... again: an interview with Adam Green
• Trailer/teaser

HATCHET 4: VICTOR CROWLEY comes to UK DVD September 3rd.

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