Norman J Warren - LIVE at the Festival Of Fantastic Films!

This weekend sees the annual get-together of like minded folk that is the Festival Of Fantastic Films.
This year star of the weekend is Norman J Warren, director of such amazing fayre as Satan's Slave, Inseminoid and Prey. You might remember I interviewed Norman recently.
Unfortunately, I won't be able to attend this year, but at 20 quid a day, why don't you? Manchester's lovely this time of year, and how often to you get to meet a bona fide legend in the flesh?
What's more, other guests include Robin "Relax, I'm not going to rape you" Askwith and Richard "I made the film he says that line in, you know" Gordon.
Get along and show your support, you know you want to!
More information available here...

Demons Never Die trailer

Here's a trailer for some kind of grime Scream rip-off (by the look of it) which is going to get far more attention than it deserves due to it featuring a certain lady off've The X Factor (whatever that is).

The Hike competition

Regular reader (yes, you) might remember that earlier this year I met some of the stars of upcoming Brit movie The Hike. Woo, get me.
Well, it looks like it might finally be getting a release. Christ knows whether it's any good... some of the acting in the trailer is a bit off, and you'd have thought they'd at least pick the best thesping to promote the bloody thing.
Still, if you're the kind of person who enjoys films about people getting killed in the woods (because let's face it, there aren't fucking millions of those around these days, are there?), you might also like the idea of going to the star-studded premiere. The details are below. If you're male and heterosexual, I can recommend some of the female stars. Is "recommend" the right word? Does it make me sound like a Serbian pimp? Especially when one of them was in Hostel?

28-30 OCTOBER EXCEL LONDON ROYAL VICTORIA DOCK


Win The Hike Premiere Tickets and Meet the Stars at London Comic Con


The MCM Expo London Comic Con lands on Halloween weekend this year, and what better way to celebrate the spookiness than by giving away a pair of tickets to the premiere of ace new British horror movie, THE HIKE?


Starring Tamer Hassan (Clash of the Titans), Ben Loyd Holmes (Torchwood) and Barbara Nedeljakova (Hostel), THE HIKE follows an all-female hiking expedition that takes a horrific turn for the worse when the girls discover they are not alone in the woods and if you'd like to be the first to find out what happens next and are 18 or over, check out our competition on MCM Buzz:


http://wp.me/p1aFQf-2NX


THE HIKE premiere takes place at the Prince Charles Cinema, Leicester Square, on 19 October. THE HIKE will also be screened free for London Comic Con visitors at the show on Friday 28 October, and director Rupert Bryan and the cast will all be on hand to meet fans and talk about the movie.


For more information about THE HIKE, which goes on general release on 24 October, visit www.thehikemovie.com

Sacrelicious! Fancy catching some classic horror on holy ground?

He famously kicked up a bit of a fuss when his folks tried to get him into church (sorry the above is in Italian, but you get the gist), but now it looks like young Damien Thorn has lost the fight. Cos classic Brit horror The Omen is getting an airing on the big screen, right there slap bang in God's house. Who'd've thunk it? Here's some info...

HALLOWEEN SCREAMINGS!


CLASSIC HORROR MOVIES IN A REAL CHURCH!


THE ROUND CHAPEL, HACKNEY


FRI 28TH, SUN 30TH & MON 31ST OCTOBER 2011 AT 7.30PM


Screening of 'The Exorcist' (1973) Friday 28th October at 7.30pm
Screening of 'The Omen' (1976) Sunday 30th October at 7.30pm
Screening of 'Halloween' (1978) Monday 31st October at 7.30pm
PLUS Special matinee screening of 'The Blair Witch Project' (1999) - Sunday 30th October at 4.45pm
A new alternative movie experience in the scariest of locations
Classic horror movies on the big screen
Licensed bar
Tickets: 11.50 per screening available online at www.experiencecinema.com
Times: Doors: 6.45pm. Screenings: 7.30pm
Tickets for matinee screening: 9.50
Times for matinee screening: Doors 4pm. Screening: 4.45pm
Nearest Tube/Rail: Hackney Downs/ Hackney Central
'Halloween Screamings' @ The Round Chapel: Powerscroft Road, London E5 0PU
For tickets and further information please go to: www.experiencecinema.com


From the creators of the Rooftop Film Club comes a brand new film experience especially for Halloween! Prepare to be scared as we unleash four classic horror movies in a real church! It is time to get seriously spooked and feel the suspense as we screen the Holy Grail of horror movies; a film which claims to be the scariest movie of all time 'The Exorcist' on Friday, then the imcomparable 'The Blair Witch Project' and the satanic 'The Omen' on Sunday and then the grand finale on Halloween night itself with the 1978 classic 'Halloween'!


Don't miss this chance to see some of the greatest horror films ever made on the BIG SCREAM (sorry we meant screen!) in this completely unique environment.


Fancy dress is not essential but we do encourage you to get in the Halloween spirit for these special Halloween screenings. Just don't forget to pack your cross, holy water, garlic, salt and practice those 'Hail Mary's' as you may just need them all!`

Flesh and Blood... new comic with Brit horror sensibility

This looks interesting... the makers describe it as being based on Brit horrors from the 60s and 70s, and the artwork looks gorgeous.

Human Centipede II gets 18 certificate

Well, we can all now see what all the fuss was about... Brit horror the Human Centipede II Full Sequence will be out in the UK at some point after the BBFC granted it an 18 certificate after a few judicious cuts. Hoorah and an eclaire for everyone. Made out of poo and dead babies.

Kill Keith teaser trailer

And lo, the strange compulsion for faded stars to de-construct their public personas continues...



I remain to be convinced with this one!

Grimm Up North 3 this weekend!

It’s Grimm Up North, in case you shandy drinking southerners hadn’t realised. And nowhere is it Grimmer than Manchester, particularly this coming weekend.
And I’m not talking about the Conservative party conference (ho ho little bit of politics). No! Cos as well as that, this weekend is the weekend that the Grimm Up North festival takes place, which includes all manner of Brit horror goodness.
The event opens on October 6 with the UK premiere of Retreat (mentioned t’other day on this very blog), a tale of the end of the world as experienced by two yuppies on a remote Scottish island. Sort of like Gregory’s Girl, except completely different. The evening will give you the opportunity to cross examine some cast members (I assume this means either Thandie Newton, Jamie Bell or Cillian Murphy or a combination, but I suppose it could mean the bloke who takes the couple to the island in his boat, which would be somewhat of a letdown). It’s also being hosted by that doyen of the feeble minded, emotionally retarded or recently bereaved, Yvette Fielding (is it right to describe Blue Peter viewers like that?) who has a vague link to my good self, in that she now lives in the town I grew up in. Get me with my showbiz mates. Why not go along and get all left-field on her ass by insisting on asking questions about Seaview?
And the closing night film on Sunday, October 9 will be none other than the long-unanticipated, and frankly unwanted, sequel to The Wicker Man, The Wicker Tree. Apparently it’s dreadful, but why not make up your own mind? And while you’re at it, take something to chuck at director Robin Hardy during the inevitable question session happening after the film.
But putting aside my inarticulate attempts at humour, there should be much to enjoy during the weekend for Brit horror, and indeed other-kinds-of-horror, fans.
A quick glance at the website Grimmfest.com reveals it’s going to be a hoot, and Manchester is actually a lovely place. Get yourself along to it and help support a thoroughly worthwhile cause – e.g. making sure that not everything happens in bloody London.

A very unhappy birthday, to you

Word reaches me of a new release which is described as a hip new take on that perennial fave, The Wicker Man. It also, apparently, has a "Hammer vibe", although by the look of it, the sexuality of the whole thing would have had those old cardigan wearers at Bray choking on their pipes.
It also stars, by the look of it, Brit horror legend David McGillivray, perhaps better known for his work behind (or at least to one side of) the camera. So it, one would imagine, worth a look. Unhappy Birthday comes out on DVD on October 24.
Here's the gen:
A refreshingly queer take on the classic British horror film and inspired by cult classics such as The Wicker Man and Hammer House of Horror, Unhappy Birthday has a playfully retro vibe, a healthy irreverence and a deliciously deviant heart.
A surprise birthday party becomes a living nightmare for city-dwelling couple Sadie and Rick and their friend Jonny. They are invited to visit the remote tidal island of Amen by Corinne, an enigmatic local who hopefully holds the answers to long-buried family secrets. Amen is populated by a historically close-knit community who discourage strangers from visiting. So why have these three outsiders really been allowed on to the island? Despite the bucolic nature of the island the trio have a growing sense of unease, but they find themselves trapped by the tide and at the mercy of the islanders. As the horror of their situation unfolds, these visitors will wish they'd never been born!

New Brit horror dungeon launched

John Probert writes to tell me of a site he's set up to review old British horror films. Sounds like a familiar concept, wonder why no-one's thought of it before?
Then again, if people want to take a pop at the champ, why not? Bring it on, that's what I say (not literally, you might be an enormous nutter with an axe).
I'm joking, of course. It's nice to hear from fellow enthusiasts, and let's face it, I've done bugger all for quite a while now, so someone needs to keep the torch burning!
You can read John's first post here:
http://johnlprobert.blogspot.com/2011/09/psychomania-word-mother-is-daft.html

Sound The Retreat

If you like your psychological thrillers taut and claustrophobic, with a soupcon of killer plague, a dash of “nutjob in combat fatigues” and a peppering of Thandie Newton, then upcoming Brit flick The Retreat might be just what you’re looking for.
It’s “hitting cinemas” on October 14 and stars Ms Newton (someone I always think of as becoming famous in secret, as she suddenly seemed to crop up in films as the star and everyone else apparently already knew who she was) along with Cillian “Hello?!” Murphy and Jamie “Goodness, but he’s grown up in the last decade or so, who’d have thought that a child actor would actually turn into an adult actor? Not the Daily Mail, anyway, or your gran” Bell.
The synopsis I’ve been sent actually gives away the plot of the entire film, so suffice to say that grieving professional couple (yes, another one) Murphy and Newton decide to get away from it all, meet a soldier who claims the end of the world is nigh, and much high-jinks ensue.
Personally, I’m looking forward to a day when people making horror films stop putting professional couples in peril and start creating something a bit different. But perhaps that’s just me.