Thursday, 5 September 2019

FilmFear 2019 programme announced - Halloween Horror Fest at HOME Manchester in association with Film4

The HOME arts cinema and Film4 are excited to announce the programme for the fourth annual FilmFear season – the biggest programme yet will comprise six days of horror, extreme cinema, cult favourites and special guests coming to Manchester this October.

Kicking off the season on Tuesday 29 October will be a special preview of The Lighthouse, director Robert Eggers’ much-anticipated follow-up to his folk-horror debut The Witch (2015). Starring Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe as lighthouse keepers battling the elements, isolation, inner demons and more on a remote and mysterious Maine island in the 1890s, the eerie period tale will be on general release in January 2020 making HOME audiences amongst the first to see the film in the UK. FilmFear and HOME will also tour the film to Hyde Park Picture House in Leeds the following evening.


Following in its wake over the course of six nights through to Sunday 3 November come more previews of highly anticipated films, including: the creepy imaginary-friend horror Daniel Isn’t Real, a SXSW hit from the producers of last year’s FilmFear hit Mandy, starring Patrick Schwarzenegger (Midnight Sun) in the title role alongside Miles Robbins (Halloween) and Mary Stuart Masterson (Some Kind of Wonderful); the twisted noirish thriller Come to Daddy, the directorial debut from The Greasy Strangler producer Ant Timpson, starring Elijah Wood (The Lord of the Rings); and, a Halloween night preview of Doctor Sleep, based on the Stephen King novel and starring Ewan McGregor (Trainspotting) as Danny Torrance, 40 years after his terrifying stay at the Overlook Hotel in The Shining, alongside Rebecca Ferguson (Mission: Impossible series) and Jacob Tremblay (Room).



With a strong focus on new talent this year, FilmFear includes four directorial debuts from the hottest new voices in horror. In addition to Ant Timpson’s Come to Daddy, the line-up also includes: Tilman Singer’s Luz, a tale of demonic possession that morphs into a brilliant, bewildering puzzlebox; All the Gods in the Sky from French director Quarxx, marking the return of the ‘French Extreme’ and winner of Best Feature at the Dead by Dawn Horror Festival 2019; and, Jagoda Szelc’s hushed yet dread-filled Tower. A Bright Day., an intense family drama from Poland that blurs the boundary between horror and high-art.

And there’s plenty more to haunt and disturb in Denis Côté’s wintry Ghost Town Anthology, about a sparsely populated Quebecois village experiencing unnerving visitations following a young man’s suicide, and Billy Senese’s propulsive The Dead Center, starring Primer director Shane Carruth as a troubled doctor who becomes obsessed with the resurrected corpse of a suicide victim (Jeremy Childs, Preacher).



Screening alongside these hot new titles is a trio of classic horrors for film fans to revisit or discover on the big screen.  Masters of horror Vincent Price and Christopher Lee will feature in The Tingler (1959) and The Wicker Man (1973) respectively, with Werner Herzog's 1979 take on the Transylvanian count, Nosferatu the Vampyre, bringing the season to a chilling finale on 3 November.

Special events accompanying the screening programme include a “Bring the Family” screening of Nicolas Roeg’s The Witches on Sunday 27 October, selected by HOME’s Young Programmers, and a one-man show from filmmaker Daniel Cockburn, How Not to Watch a Movie (or, All the Mistakes I've Made, part 2). Starting off as a look at 1990s horror films, Cockburn will take the audience down a cinephilic rabbit hole, resulting in a weird, funny, mind-bending autobiographical journey through two decades of over-interpretation and paranoia.

The FilmFear season also returns to Film4 from Monday 28 October, with a week of screenings including: Darren Aronofsky’s Mother!; The Midnight Man, starring Robert Englund; shark shocker 47 Meters Down; Sabrina star Kiernan Shipka in February; and previous FilmFear favourite Brawl in Cell Block 99, from writer-director S. Craig Zahler (Bone Tomahawk). More titles are still to be announced.

FilmFear is curated by David Cox, Film4 Channel Editor, in partnership with HOME.

FilmFear takes place between 29th Oct - 2 Nov at the HOME arts Cinema Manchester.

Tickets are now on sale now via http://www.homemcr.org/filmfear 
or the HOME Box Office on 0161 200 1500



Thriller ISABELLE starring Adam Brody and Amanda Crew coming to UK Digital outlets Sept.

Kew Media is thrilled to announce the upcoming release of thriller feature ISABELLE on UK digital platforms from 30th September.

A Wanting Film Inc production, ISABELLE is about an all-American couple whose dream of starting a family is shattered after they move into the perfect neighbourhood in upstate New York. Once settled, they soon descend into the depths of terror as they struggle to survive a genuine threat from a dark presence that appears to want to end their very lives. 

Starring Adam Brody (The O.C., Shazam!), Amanda Crew (Silicon Valley), Zoë Belkin (Carrie) and Sheila McCarthy (The Umbrella Academy), the haunting psychological thriller is directed and produced by Rob Heydon (Ecstasy) and written by Donald Martin (Never Too Late)

A long-time fan of scary movies, Donald Martin’s screenplay is his homage to Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist, two classic films that loomed large in his imagination while he was growing up: “Rosemary's Baby isn’t a story about Satan. It's about a marriage. The Exorcist isn't a story about a possession. It’s about a mother and a daughter. These stories are firmly rooted in reality. Similarly ISABELLE is about a couple, who are in a situation where the husband can no longer say 'Everthing is going to be allright' anymore"

ISABELLE will be available on Sky Store, iTunes and UK digital platforms from 30th September

View the trailer on YouTube

Nicholas Vince explores his 'monstrous world' in new one-man show at Pleasance Theatre, London

Genre legend Nicholas Vince, famed for his roles as ‘Chatterer’ in Clive Barker’s HELLRAISER and ‘Kinski’ in NIGHTBREED, is to open the London Horror Festival with his one-man show, I AM MONSTERS! 


He will be performing for three nights only – from 8th October to 10th October, 7pm. Tickets are now on sale. https://www.pleasance.co.uk

I AM MONSTERS! charts Vince’s life from a monster-obsessed child, born undershot, through to an out of the closet actor, propelled to fame by Clive Barker’s ground-breaking films. He speaks openly about being a bullied outsider, the life-threatening operation to reconstruct his face, his battle with being gay in Thatcher’s Britain and reveals what it takes to be a monster. He will also be reading extracts from his favourite horror classics.

Vince said today: ““This show is about my fascination with the monsters I first read as an 8 year-old in The Golden Treasury of Myths and Legends, and later, the classic horror novels and films, and how they helped me deal with being bullied at school, through my facial reconstructive surgery and a near death experience to the fun we had making the films.

I’ve told the stories about the challenges of makeup on Clive Barker’s Hellraiser, Hellbound and Nightbreed over the years, but I hadn’t put them in the context of the times we filmed in and been able to celebrate the profound effect they've had on me and so many people.”

Clive Barker added: “Nicholas Vince has played monsters both bizarre and blood-thirsty, and has brought both his life-long passion for horror and his immense skills as an actor to every role. Now, in this extraordinary confessional, we meet the man behind the terrifying masks, as he traces his journey from a troubled youth to a man who now embodies creatures known world-wide, Nick charms and chills us, mingling the witty and the nightmarish, So go see the man who laughs behind the mask. He has such tales to tell.”

Performances: 8th to 10th October at 7:00pm | Running time: 1 hour

Venue: Pleasance Theatre, Carpenters Mews, North Road, London N7 9EF

Box Office: 020 7609 1800 | https://www.pleasance.co.uk

Tickets: Full Price: £12.00 | Concessions: £10.00

Mayhem Film Festival reveals full line-up for 2019 edition

Mayhem Film Festival is proud to announce the full line-up for its 2019 edition, which will take place at Broadway Cinema, Nottingham on 10-13 October. The festival showcases the best features and short films in horror, sci-fi and cult cinema, through premieres, previews, and special events each year. 


Mayhem is delighted to open this year’s festival with hilarious horror comedy Extra Ordinary on Thursday 10 October. A small-town driving instructor with supernatural abilities tries to get through life without communicating with the dead - but the spirits have other ideas. Also screening on Thursday is the brain-twisting Daniel Isn’t Real, in which a deeply troubled student summons his childhood “imaginary” friend but his grip on reality slips as the malignant alter ego unleashes a vicious, evil side.

From the producers of hallucinatory fever dream Mandy (a sell-out at Mayhem 2018) comes the most sought-after – and similarly psychedelic - genre film of the year, Richard Stanley’s Color Out of Space, screening at this year’s festival on Friday 11 October. This eerie H.P. Lovecraft adaptation sees a meteor fall to earth and onto the property of a New England family — its increasingly unhinged patriarch played by the one-and-only Nicolas Cage — with insidious and delirious results. It’s a doublehelping of Cage this year as his 1989 cult black comedy Vampire’s Kiss takes the coveted Saturday late-night slot - it’s Nic Cage at his full-powered, cockroach-eating, and utterly insane best. 

The 15th edition of Mayhem will play host to three UK Premieres, with exclusive first screenings of high-octane serial killer thriller The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil, Polish historical drama Sword of God (The Mute), and outrageous survival horror The Pool – all previously announced.

Taking a look back into the archives, Mayhem is pleased to present a rare screening of 1967 Russian folk horror Viy, and 1987’s cult sci-fi favourite The Hidden, featuring a standout performance from Twin Peaks’ Kyle MacLachlan as an alien-hunting FBI agent. 

Mayhem 2019’s final day will begin with the unclassifiable Bullets of Justice. Having created human-pig hybrid super soldiers, mankind now finds itself dominated by these “Muzzles” who farm and eat human beings – a truly “what did I just watch?” experience to start off your Sunday morning. 

Mayhem’s 15th edition also includes screenings of female-led horror She Never Died and genre-bending monster movie, Something Else – both previously announced – alongside preview screenings of the gleefully explosive revenge rampage Why Don’t You Just Die!, high-suspense thriller Door Lock, and sci-fi nightmare Vivarium, starring Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots. 


Vengeful spirits are stirred into gory action in haunted house horror Girl on the Third Floor, and twisted thrill-ride Come to Daddy, starring Elijah Wood, will close the festival on Sunday.

Mayhem’s ever-popular Short Film Showcase and the fiendish film quiz, The Flinterrogation - hosted by author David Flint - both return to round off this year’s line-up.

Early Bird passes will remain on sale at the discounted price of £70 until Sunday 8 September 2019. Individual tickets and full festival passes – at the standard price of £80 – will go on sale at 10AM on Monday 9 September. We will also be introducing a new ‘Frankenstein Ticket Package’ for this year’s festival – piece together your choice of five films over the weekend for just £30. 

Full schedule...

THURSDAY 10 OCTOBER
7.30PM EXTRA ORDINARY
Dirs. Mike Ahern, Enda Loughman, 2019 (Ire)
9.45PM DANIEL ISN’T REAL
Dir. Adam Egypt Mortimer, 2018 (US) with Miles Robbins, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sasha Lane

FRIDAY 11 OCTOBER
1.45PM VIY
Dirs. Konstantin Yershov, Georgi Kropachyov, 1967 (Russia)
3.30PM SWORD OF GOD – UK PREMIERE
Dir. Bartosz Konopka, 2019 (Pol)
6PM GIRL ON THE THIRD FLOOR
Dir. Travis Stevens, 2019 (US) with CM Punk, Trieste Kelly Dunn
8PM COLOR OUT OF SPACE
Dir. Richard Stanley, 2019 (US) with Nicolas Cage, Joely Richardson
10.45PM THE HIDDEN
Dir. Jack Sholder, 1987 (US) with Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Nouri

SATURDAY 12 OCTOBER
12PM THE POOL – UK PREMIERE
Dir. Ping Lumpraploeng, 2019 (Thai) with Theeradej Wongpuapen, Ratnam Ratchiratham
1.45PM SHE NEVER DIED
Dir. Audrey Cummings, 2019 (Can) with Olunike Adeliyi, Peter MacNeil
3.30PM SOMETHING ELSE
Dirs. Jeremy Gardner, Christian Stella, 2019 (US) with Jeremy Gardner, Brea Grant
6PM MAYHEM SHORT FILM SHOWCASE (2019 line-up TBA)
Dirs. Various, 2019 (International)
8.15PM THE GANGSTER, THE COP, THE DEVIL – UK PREMIERE
Dir. Lee Won-tae, 2019 (Kor) with Kim Mu-yeol, Ma Dong-seok
10.30PM VAMPIRE’S KISS
Dir. Robert Bierman, 1989 (Italy) with Nicolas Cage, Jennifer Beals

SUNDAY 13 OCTOBER
12PM BULLETS OF JUSTICE
Dir. Valeri Milev, 2019 (Kazakhstan/Rus/Arg) with Timur Turisbekov, Danny Trejo
1.45PM DOOR LOCK
Dir. Kwon Lee, 2018 (Kor) with Hyo-jin Kong, Seong-oh Kim
3.45PM WHY DON’T YOU JUST DIE!
Dir. Kirill Sokolov, 2019 (Rus) with Aleksandr Kuznetsov, Vitaliy Khaev
5.20PM The Flinterrogation Hosted by author David Flint
6.30PM VIVARIUM
Dir. Lorcan Finnegan, 2019 (US) with Imogen Poots, Jesse Eisenberg
8.45PM COME TO DADDY
Dir. Ant Timpson, 2019 (NZ) with Elijah Wood, Stephen McHattie

The Mayhem Film Festival will take place at Broadway, Nottingham on 10 – 13 October
2019. 

For more information, please visit www.mayhemfilmfestival.com 

Arrow Video - November Releases

Hitch-hiking horrors and the insane future of law enforcement - November’s fantastic Arrow Video line-up includes a newly-restored exploitation crime curio and a smash hit sci-fi thriller. The Blu-rays are positively groaning with extras, as well as lavishly illustrated booklets, stunning sleeve artwork and special edition collector’s items.

Hitch Hike to Hell – On Blu-ray 18 November

Be careful who you hitch a ride with! All roads lead to terror in Hitch Hike to Hell, the delightfully sleazy cautionary tale from cult director Irvin Berwick (Malibu High, The Monster of Piedras Blancas).

Howard is a mild-mannered momma’s boy whose job running deliveries for a cleaning agency affords him a lot of time out on the road. 

It’s not until he picks up young women who’ve run away from home that he transforms into a twitching, homicidal maniac, hellbent on meting out punishment for their “transgressions”. Can the cops put a stop to Howard’s demented spree before he claims yet another victim?

Influenced by the depraved crimes of the likes of "Co-ed Killer" Edmund Kemper, Hitch Hike to Hell is a bona fide American nightmare from the vaults of legendary exploitation producer Harry Novak (The Child, Toys Are Not for Children).

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

• Brand new 2K restoration from original film elements
• 1.33 and 1.78 versions of the feature
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• Original uncompressed mono audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Newly-filmed appreciation by Nightmare USA author Stephen Thrower
• Road to Nowhere: Hitchhiking Culture Goes to Hell - brand new video essay by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas exploring the dark side of hitch-hiking in the real world and on the screen
• Original theatrical trailer
• Original press book (BD-ROM Content)
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by The Twins of Evil

FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Heather Drain 

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


RoboCop – On Limited Edition Blu-ray and Blu-ray Steelbook 25 November

RoboCop, from Orion Pictures, marked director Paul Verhoeven’s (Flesh + Blood) Hollywood debut and instantly became an enduring sci-fi/action classic when it landed in theaters in the summer of 1987. Verhoeven’s peerlessly exciting and kinetic visuals were matched by a sharp script, iconic cast and exceptional special effects by Rob Bottin (The Thing) and Phil Tippett (The Empire Strikes Back).

The film takes place in Detroit in the not-too-distant future. Heroic cop Alex Murphy (Peter Weller, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai) is gunned down in the line of duty, only to be resurrected as RoboCop – a cybernetic mix of spare human parts and Motor City steel, and the latest defense against crime designed by the all-powerful OCP Corporation. 

As RoboCop’s memories of his former life as Murphy resurface, only his ex-partner (Nancy Allen, Dressed To Kill) stands beside him to fight against the vicious thugs responsible for his death, as well as a nefarious top-level OCP executive orchestrating the chaos from above.

Unsurpassably thrilling, unexpectedly moving and unforgettably hilarious in equal measure, the future of law enforcement is back in a definitive Blu-ray™ presentation packed with hours of brand new bonus features and exclusive collectable packaging.


LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS

• 4K restoration of the film from the original camera negative by MGM, transferred in 2013 and approved by director Paul Verhoeven
• Newly commissioned artwork by Paul Shipper
• Director’s Cut and Theatrical Cut of the film on two High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray™ discs
• Original lossless stereo and four-channel mixes plus DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround sound option on both cuts
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing on both cuts
• Six collector’s postcards (Limited Edition exclusive)
• Double-sided, fold-out poster (Limited Edition exclusive)
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork
• Limited edition collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Omar Ahmed, Christopher Griffiths and Henry Blyth, a 1987 Fangoria interview with Rob Bottin, and archive publicity materials (some contents exclusive to Limited Edition)

DISC ONE – DIRECTOR’S CUT
• Archive commentary by director Paul Verhoeven, executive producer Jon Davison and co-writer Ed Neumeier (originally recorded for the Theatrical Cut and re-edited in 2014 for the Director’s Cut)
• New commentary by film historian Paul M. Sammon
• New commentary by fans Christopher Griffiths, Gary Smart and Eastwood Allen
• The Future of Law Enforcement: Creating RoboCop, a newly filmed interview with co-writer Michael Miner
• RoboTalk, a newly filmed conversation between co-writer Ed Neumeier and filmmakers David Birke (writer of Elle) and Nick McCarthy (director of Orion Pictures’ The Prodigy)
• Truth of Character, a newly filmed interview with star Nancy Allen on her role as Lewis
• Casting Old Detroit, a newly filmed interview with casting director Julie Selzer on how the film’s ensemble cast was assembled
• Connecting the Shots, a newly filmed interview with second unit director and frequent Verhoeven collaborator Mark Goldblatt
• Composing RoboCop, a new tribute to composer Basil Poledouris featuring film music experts Jeff Bond, Lukas Kendall, Daniel Schweiger and Robert Townson
• RoboProps, a newly filmed tour of super-fan Julien Dumont’s collection of original props and memorabilia
• 2012 Q&A with the Filmmakers, a panel discussion featuring Verhoeven, Davison, Neumeier, Miner, Allen, star Peter Weller and animator Phil Tippett
• RoboCop: Creating a Legend, Villains of Old Detroit and Special Effects: Then & Now, three archive featurettes from 2007 featuring interviews with cast and crew
• Paul Verhoeven Easter Egg
• Four deleted scenes
• The Boardroom: Storyboard with Commentary by Phil Tippett
• Director’s Cut Production Footage, raw dailies from the filming of the unrated gore scenes
• Two theatrical trailers and three TV spots
• Extensive image galleries

DISC TWO – THEATRICAL CUT

• Archive commentary by director Paul Verhoeven, executive producer Jon Davison and co-writer Ed Neumeier (originally recorded for Theatrical version of the film)
• Two Isolated Score tracks (Composer’s Original Mix and Final Theatrical Mix) in lossless stereo
• Edited-for-television version of the film, featuring alternate dubs, takes and edits of several scenes (95 mins, SD only)
• Split screen comparison of Theatrical and Director’s Cuts
• Robocop: Edited For Television, a compilation of alternate scenes from two edited-for-television versions, newly transferred in HD from recently-unearthed 35mm elements

Pre-order ROBOCOP Limited Edition UK BD from Amazon.co.uk



Monday, 2 September 2019

ASH VS. EVIL DEAD and TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE apparel available from Fright-Rags

Fans mourning the loss of Ash vs. Evil Dead will be happy to learn that Fright-Rags has created new merchandise from the show, including trading cards, as well as apparel from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Pet Sematary, and The Warriors.



Fright-Rags has created Ash vs. Evil Dead wax packs. Available from each of the show's three seasons, every trading card pack contains a variety of photo cards plus a sticker. Four new Ash vs. Evil Dead shirts are also available, featuring Ashy Slashy, faithful sidekicks Pablo and Kelly, and Ash himself.


Celebrate 45 years of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre with two new shirts from Fright-Rags. One features the chainsaw-wielding Leatherface chasing after Sally, while the other is inspired by Tales from the Crypt.


Fright-Rags digs up more Pet Sematary apparel for the Stephen King adaptation's 30th anniversary. The line includes a reprint of Justin Osbourn's popular design, a new Pascow shirt, a pair of socks, and a Pascow enamel pin.

Come out to play with new The Warriors merchandise from Fright-Rags. Choose your side with Warriors and Furies enamel pins, along with a pair of The Warriors socks.

Ash vs. Evil Dead, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Pet Sematary, and The Warriors collections are on sale now at Fright-Rags.com.

Sunday, 1 September 2019

20th Century Fox reveals brand new trailer for TERMINATOR : DARK FATE

20th Century Fox is pleased to launch a brand new trailer for the upcoming film Terminator: Dark Fate.


Terminator: Dark Fate is coming to UK cinemas 23rd October Linda Hamilton (“Sarah Connor”) and Arnold Schwarzenegger (“T-800”) return in their iconic roles in Terminator: Dark Fate, directed by Tim Miller (Deadpool) and produced by visionary filmmaker James Cameron and David Ellison. 

Following the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Terminator: Dark Fate also stars Mackenzie Davis, Natalia Reyes, Gabriel Luna, and Diego Boneta.