Deep-Dive documentary STEPHEN KING ON SCREEN - Available Digitally from 26th June

STEPHEN KING ON SCREEN, which come to UK Digital outlets this, is the ultimate guide to the King of your nightmares.

Stephen King – one of the best-selling authors of the last century and undeniably a modern horror icon. His works have been translated into television shows, feature films, video games and more across the decades. 

In STEPHEN KING ON SCREEN, fans of the beloved nightmare writer are given the chance to meet the directors and creatives who brought unforgettable stories to the big screen from Carrie to IT, Misery, Stand By Me, Cujo, Children of the Corn and more. 

Join Hollywood legends Frank Darabont, Tim Curry, Tom Holland, James Caan, Mike Flanagan, and more as they discuss their own journeys into the fantastical world of Stephen King. 

STEPHEN KING ON SCREEN is directed by Daphné Baiwir (The Rebellious Olivia de Havilland).

Signature Entertainment presents STEPHEN KING ON SCREEN on Digital Platforms 26th June

View the Trailer on YouTube. 

 

Stephen Lang stars in OLD MAN - Available now, Digitally.

Director Lucky McKee's (The Woman, May) new horror thriller OLD MAN, starring Stephen Lang (Don't Breathe) is available now on Digital Download.

When a lost traveller stumbles upon an old man living in a remote cabin in the woods, the two engage in a lengthy conversation; one that will bring to light the truths they’ve been running from, the sins they’ve tried to forget, and the terrifying bond that connects them.

Stephen Lang (Don't Breathe, VFW) Marc Senter (Starry Eyes, Devil's Carnival), Patch Darragh (TV's Succession, The First Purge) and Liana Wright-Mark (Ocean's Eight) star.

View the trailer on YouTube.

Available to Download from Amazon.co.uk

 

DEINFLUENCER - Out now on Digital

Trend... or die trying in DEINFLUENCER, a slick, fear-filled new horror that finds a kidnapped cheerleader forced to take on sadistic social media challenges by her captor. From director Jamie Bailey (This Was America), this gripping thriller gets its UK digital premiere on 5 June 2023, courtesy of Reel 2 Reel Films.

An influential cheerleader Sabrina (Caylin Turner) is abducted by a fearsome masked fiend and forced to complete a series of increasingly violent tasks on social media to win her freedom and save not only her own life – but also the lives of others held captive.

Caught in a sinister game of social media survival, where the stakes are higher than ever before, Sabrina must do whatever it takes to earn likes and stay alive. But can she rise to the challenge and save herself from this terrifying trap? She must battle against the clock and only one thing is certain: every like counts... or does it?

Grab your pom-poms and popcorn for non-stop horror thrills with DEINFLUENCER, you’re guaranteed to hit like.

On UK Digital platforms 5 June 2023

Available to View/Download from Amazon.co.uk

View the Trailer on YouTube. 

 

 

WAR OF THE WORLDS : THE ATTACK (2023) - A Review

Yet another retelling of the HG Wells classic story about aliens from Mars, invading Earth in giant tripod war machines. This time, taking place in present day England, where group of Astronomy students are trying to check out a meteorite that's crashed down in some woods near to Woking, in Surrey. 

Trying to sneak around the police cordon to get a closer look, the group are extremely surprised as a door in the "meteor" suddenly opens up, and a massive tripod war machine emerges from within, which proceeds to start decimating everything in it's path with a giant heat ray.

Attempting to flee, they hook up with a soldier who is trying to get back to his headquarters, after his battalion was wiped out by one of the Tripods, and they spend most of the film trying to dodge the Martians whilst getting to safety, as the military try in vain to halt the Tripods advance.

Being a fan of the musical adaptation by Jeff Wayne, I've found most of the various film and TV adaptations over the years to be fairly disappointing, but I was actually pleasantly surprised with this, and rather enjoyed it.

Perhaps it's because I had low expectations, given the film's obvious low budget, but was able to look past the plot holes and ropey CGI effects and actually found it quite entertaining.

Although it's no action-fest, and a lot of the main fight scenes happen off camera, it still boasted some good fight scenes between the military and the aliens, even though the effects were not up to "Hollywood" standards.

Worth a watch if you enjoy sci-fi films, it was certainly better than that awful Tom Cruise borefest from 2005 in any case!

The film is currently available on DVD and to stream on Amazon prime. 

Buy the DVD from Amazon.co.uk 

View the film online at Amazon.co.uk 

Here's the trailer, to get a feel of what to expect... 

Mayhem Film Festival returns to Broadway, Nottingham on 12-15 October 2023

Mayhem Film Festival will return this autumn to showcase the best in international horror, sci-fi and cult cinema, on 12-15 October. Plans are currently underway and the Mayhem team will be heading out to Cannes shortly to programme the festival’s 19th edition.

Following on from last year’s edition that saw the UK Premieres of Jethica and Birdemic 3: Sea Eagle, as well as a special screening of Kuroneko with a newly-commissioned live score by Yumah amongst its four-day line-up, the team is excited to be back and present the best in genre cinema to Screen 1 audiences.

Chris Cooke, Mayhem’s Co-Director will be one of the team members in Cannes this year: "Mayhem is all about delivering surprises, from the bizarre to cult classics, from unique screenings to exciting premieres. This year we're hunting down the best in horror, science fiction and far more from around the globe."

Broadway’s Director of Programming, Caroline Hennigan added: "Mayhem is one of the most exciting events in our calendar and central to this excitement is the shorts programme, which gives us the opportunity to showcase some of the best new talent from across the world. We can’t wait to screen this year’s successful submissions."

In addition to announcing their 2023 dates, Mayhem Film Festival is also pleased to announce their call for short films will open on 15 May. Over the years, Mayhem has grown from a single short film programme to a four-day event, but its shorts programme remains at the heart of every edition. Mayhem Film Festival is looking for horror, sci-fi and cult short films, produced after 1 January 2022 and that are under 22 minutes long. 

More information on how to submit films is available at https://filmfreeway.com/MayhemFilmFestival

In previous years, Mayhem has welcomed many filmmakers from around the world such as Gareth Edwards (Godzilla, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) for Monsters, Mark Gatiss (The League of Gentlemen, Sherlock) for a special masterclass, Ben Wheatley for a preview screening of Sightseers, Nicolas Roeg for a special screening of Don’t Look Now at St Mary’s Church in Nottingham, and cult Canadian collective Astron-6 for The Editor and The Void. 

Mayhem Film Festival has also hosted special events such as screenings with specially commissioned live scores from 8MM Orchestra, two exclusive live stage readings of unmade Hammer Films screenplays, The Unquenchable Thirst of Dracula in 2015 and Zeppelin V. Pterodactyls in 2017, and a live performance of Tales of HP Lovecraft by The Duke St Workshop featuring British actor Laurence R. Harvey.

Planning is currently underway for Mayhem Film Festival’s 19th edition with more information and announcements coming soon.

Mayhem Film Festival will take place at Broadway, Nottingham on 12 – 15 October 2023. For more information, please visit http://www.mayhemfilmfestival.com/

SITE ANNOUNCEMENT - TAKING A BREAK

OK guys, I've decided I need to take a break from maintaining the website for a short while. So there will no more news updates or reviews until further notice. 

Life has got kinda hectic these last few months and I've had a lot of family related stuff to deal with during December, and keeping this place updated was again starting to feel like a second full time job.

So, for the sake of my own sanity, I've decided I need to give things a rest for a while. Just so I can get stuff sorted and to allow myself time to indulge in some other interests.

I'm not planning on shutting the place down, but will be using the time to consider how best to move things forward with the site and it's related social media pages.

I will still be making the occiaisonal post over on Facebook and Twitter, though not as regularly and hopefully doing the odd YouTube video, so please subscribe to me over there if you haven't already done so!

 

I've also just launched a Discord server, if you want to get chatting with us over there.

That's all for now. Friday night chat sessions will continue as normal in the chat room if you want to stop by.

 

Normal service will resume in the near future.

Best Wishes

Simon T (Dark Angel)

 

VIDEOSHOP TALES OF TERROR – A Review

An old 1980s video rental store is the setting for indie horror VIDEOSHOP TALES OF TERROR, which is currently doing the rounds on the festival circuit in the UK. 

Described as a “Loving homage to the Amicus horror anthologies of the 60s and 70s”, the basic plot centres around the shop's creepy old Proprietor (played by a heavily made up Martin W Payne), who takes on new employee Clara (Hannah Paterson), as she has racked up a load of late fees and has reluctantly agreed to work there to pay them off. 

What follows is a series of blood curdling, and downright hilarious scenes, showing how the Proprietor deals with rude customers and people who don't bother rewinding their tapes. With each one forming the introduction to 6 short films.  

The first of these, “Egghead” by MJ Dixon (Cleaver's : Killer Clowns) involves a disgraced plastic surgeon, Eggbert Humphries (or Egghead to his friends), who is forced to visit one of  his rivals, hoping to change his appearance, so he can take on a new identity. But unfortunately, his rival has other plans... 

Having been hideously deformed, he subsequently breaks free from his shackles, grabs an oversized prop spoon and goes on the rampage, turning the clinic into a bloodbath as he exacts (eggsacts?) his revenge. Boasting some hilariously gory scenes and a deluge of egg related puns. 

Next up was "The Red Lipped Moon" by Sam Mason Bell (VHS violence) which was a touch darker and a bit more serious in tone. Filmed in Black and White in the style of a Film Noir thriller, a private detective is trying to track down the person who killed one of his informants, only to find that he may be looking for a vampire. 

"Fleurs De Mal" by Andrew Elias (Tales from the Great War) was a Gothic horror, with a tongue in cheek twist. A woman, who claims to be from the future, is being cared for by the nuns at a convent, who believe she is insane. But when the patient in question appears to be horror actress Paula Valentine (Dani Thompson, in one of her several roles in the film), could there be something in her claims?