The Bay DVD Review

The Bay is one of those films that, for a while, refused to dismount all your favourite horror sites, instead riding a wave of publicity that saw its posters, trailers, and clips trickle down to a (generally) not-too-bothered fan base. Considering the fact that Barry Levinson (Rain Man) is in the director’s chair it’s easy to see why The Bay is getting so much attention.

The Bay takes Jaws, Piranha, our terror for ecological disaster and conspiratorial governments, mixes them up, plants them in an adorable wee fishing town in Maryland then lets everything spiral out of control. Amateur reporter Donna Thompson recalls all this three years later, narrating the patchwork of news coverage, home movie, and CCTV that has been salvaged since the terrible events of July 4th 2009, when a mysterious plague swept through the town.

Levinson tackles the beginnings of the epidemic with ease, carefully constructing a community so idyllic its almost queasy. The initial signs of trouble slip quickly into a fully-fledged plague-like affair but it’s those first moments of panic and terror that are presented in a much more sombre tone to help to set the film’s regretful mood. Unfortunately the last half skips on tension: suddenly everyone is dead and people blowing their brains out on first signs of itchy patches. The film just seems to lose itself in the imagery of chaos, enjoying the sight of panic and eventual silence more than trying to relay that disorientation to the audience.

Cut with all the finesse of a five year old with ADHD, The Bay squanders a nice tense first half by trying to spread itself over too much ground in the last. Jumping between perspectives should have given the story a much needed scope but it doesn’t pull off. ‘From the producers of Insidious and Sinister’ is what you’ll find proudly flaunted close to the film’s title in any publication, notice the pattern of naff third acts emerging here. Hopefully the producers will too.

One of the more interesting found-footage escapades of the past few years, The Bay fails to close the curtain on a successful feature, losing its way after a great set-up. However there are still a good few moments and a squeamish enough creature to sustain some frights.

★★1/2☆☆

Scott Clark

Rating:15
Release Date: 15th March 2013 (UK Cinema) 18th March 2013 (UK DVD)
Director: Barry Levinson
Cast: Will Rogers,Kristen Connolly,Kether Donohue
Buy The Bay:Blu-ray/ DVD

GFF 2013 - Rob Zombie's The Lords Of Salem Trailer 2

We're impressed by the visual style of Rob Zombie's The Lords Of Salem first trailer which played to the sounds of Mozart's Requiem playing like an homage to horror Maestro Mario Bava. Tonight we have an second trailer for The Lords Of Salem which possess the atmosphere, visual qualities of the previous trailer but now going for a more conventional approach.

The Lords of Salem stars Sherri Moon Zombie (wife of director) plays a radio DJ who receives a strange gift in a wooden box, within the box is a record 'gift to the lords' which awakens a 200 year old coven of witches.

This new trailer has given us a better understanding in what the film is all about you can see the plot is delving into old school giallo , near enough arthouse style horror but the question is The Lords of Salem more style over substance? Hopefully not as this looks insane film, he does have an uphill battle with cinephiles convincing his film making skills are as worthy as his musical talents, we're convinced!

No word on a UK Release just yet however on 22nd February The Lords Of Salem will make its UK Premier at Glasgow Film Festival during Film4 Frightfest strand. The Lords of Salem also stars  Bruce Davidson, Jeffrey Daniel Phillips, Ken Foree, Patricia Quinn, Dee Wallace, Maria Conchita Alonso, Judy Gleeson, Meg Foster, Griffin Boice.

Synopsis

Hard rock Boston DJ Heidi Hawthorne co-hosts a late-night radio show. One day she receives a promo record from a mysterious band called The Lords whose music is strange and sinister. It transpires the droning tune was composed during the Witch Trials to turn all the local Salem women into satanic acolytes. When she plays it on the air, Heidi spirals into drug addiction and starts having nightmare hallucinations about the demon seed. Cult director Rob Zombie returns with his darkest horror – a journey to the unfathomable depths of terror in the tradition of Rosemary’s Baby and The Devils. 

source: Bleeding Cool

GFF2013 - ABCs Of Death Getting A UK&Irish April Release

Monster Pictures announced today that The ABCs of Death, an anthology of 26 short films, directed by 26 Directors depicting 26 ways to die will be released theatrically in the UK & Eire in 26 cinemas nationwide on the 26 April 2013.

· 26 Directors

· 26 ways to die

· 26 cinemas

· 26 April 2013

The ABCs of Death is perhaps the most ambitious anthology film ever conceived with productions spanning fifteen countries and featuring segments directed by over two dozen of the world's leading talents in contemporary genre film, including the directors of House of the Devil, Hobo with a Shotgun, A Serbian Film, Tokyo Gore Police, You’re Next & four British Directors - Ben Wheatley (Sightseers), Simon Rumley (Red, White & Blue), Jake West (Doghouse) & Leeds based Lee Hardcastle, who with his claymation short, won a competition to be the final Director. Inspired by children’s educational books, the motion picture is comprised of twenty-six individual chapters, each helmed by a different director assigned a letter of the alphabet. The directors were then given free rein in choosing a word to create a story involving death.

This alphabetical arsenal of destruction orchestrated by what has been described as "a stunning roll call of some of the most exciting names in horror across the world." is one of the most hotly anticipated releases for 2013. When the trailer received its first UK airing, last year, it was screened to a packed audience at the 13th Frightfest, Empire Cinema, Leicester Square, the 2 minute clip received rapturous applause from the attending audience. The film will receive its UK premiere at the this year’s Glasgow Film Festival as part of Film4Frightfest (Tickets for this event are now sold out) and its Irish premiere at the inaugural Twisted Celluloid Film Festival at the Triskel Arts Centre.Cinehouse & The People's Movies will be attending the whole of Film4 Frightfest @Glasgow Film Festival so stay tuned for our review but if you enjoyed the recent V/H/S film you'll dig this one, If your attending do say hello as I'll be one of The Ushers during the weekend.

Monster Pictures UK have also gave us the list of  26 cinemas you can catch ABCs Of Death at before that check out the full list of short films and the 26 directors behind them....

The Short Films & Directors
Apocalypse by Nacho Vigalondo (TimeCrimes), Spain
Bigfoot by Adrían Garcia Bogliano (Cold Sweat), Mexico
Cycle by Ernesto Díaz Espinoza (Mirageman; Mandrill), Chile
Dogfight by Marcel Sarmiento (Deadgirl), USA
Exterminate by Angela Bettis (Roman), USA
Fart by Noburu Iguchi, (Robo Geisha), Japan
Gravity by Andrew Traucki (The Reef), Australia
Hydro-Electric Diffusion by Thomas Malling (Norwegian Ninja), Norway
Ingrown by Jorge Michel Grau (We Are What We Are), Mexico
Jidai-Geki by Yudai Yamaguchi (Yakuza Weapon), Japan
Klutz by Anders Morgenthaler (Princess), Denmark
Libido by Timo Tjahjanto (Macabre), Indonesia
Miscarriage by Ti West (House of the Devil; The Innkeepers), USA
Nuptials by Banjong Pisathanakun (Shutter), Thailand
Orgasm by Bruno Forzani & Héléne Cattet (Amer), Belgium
Pressure by Simon Rumley (Red, White & Blue), UK
Quack by Adam Wingard (A Horrible Way to Die), USA
Removed by Srdjan Spasojevic (A Serbian Film), Serbia
Speed by Jake West (Doghouse), UK
Toilet by Lee Hardcastle (T is For Toilet), UK
Unearthed by Ben Wheatley (Kill List), UK
Vagitus by Kaare Andrews (Altitude), USA
WTF! by Jon Schnepp (Metalocalypse; The Venture Bros.), USA
XXL by Xavier Gens (Frontiers; Hitman), France
Youngbuck by Jason Eisener (Hobo With A Shotgun), Canada
Zetsumetsu by Yoshihiro Nishimura (Tokyo Gore Police), Japan

26 Cinemas
ABERDEEN, The Belmont Picturehouse http://bit.ly/12mkxl8
BELFAST, QFT http://www.queensfilmtheatre.com/films/theabcsofdeath/
BRIGHTON, Duke of York's Picturehouse http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Duke_Of_Yorks/
BRISTOL, Watershed http://www.watershed.co.uk/
CAMBRIDGE, Arts Picturehouse http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Arts_Picturehouse_Cambridge/
CANTERBURY, Gulbenkian Cinema http://www.kent.ac.uk/gulbenkian/
CARDIFF, Chapter http://www.chapter.org/index.html
DERBY Quad www.derbyquad.co.uk
EDINBURGH, Cameo Picturehouse http://bit.ly/WSBz6o
EXETER, Exeter Picturehouse http://bit.ly/Tyl2EQ
GLASGOW, The Grosvenor Cinema http://www.grosvenorcafe.co.uk/cinema.php
LEEDS, Hyde Park Picture House http://bit.ly/YwrT0s
LEICESTER, Phoenix Square http://phoenix.org.uk/
LONDON, Stratford East Picturehouse http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Stratford_London/
LONDON, Clapham Picturehouse http://bit.ly/WSqUbN
LONDON, Hackney Picturehouse http://bit.ly/X9y0ai
LONDON, Greenwich Picturehouse http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Greenwich_Picturehouse/
LONDON, Ritzy Picturehouse, Brixton http://bit.ly/URkpFN
LONDON, Prince Charles Cinema http://www.princecharlescinema.com/index.php
LIVERPOOL, Picturehouse at FACT http://bit.ly/VyFZME
NEWCASTLE, Tyneside Cinema https://www.tynesidecinema.co.uk/
NORWICH, Cinema City http://bit.ly/WLv1U5
OXFORD, Phoenix Picturehouse http://bit.ly/Y4RoUN
SOUTHAMPTON, Harbour Lights Picturehouse http://bit.ly/11AGZa2
STRATFORD-UPON-AVON, Stratford Picturehouse http://bit.ly/XiCVnl
YORK, City Screen Picturehouse http://bit.ly/Y4RMCC

Tickets for many of the venues are available to pre-order now. The ABCs of Death will also be previewed in selected cities around the UK. Further details will be announced shortly.

Provocative, shocking, funny and ultimately confrontational, The ABCs of Death is the definitive vision of modern horror diversity.

For further information and details about The ABCs of Death go to the film’s official website www.26waystodie.com and follow on Twitter @26waystodie

A DVD and Blu-ray edition of The ABCs of Death are set to be released on 3 June 2013. Pre-order now from Amazon and other online outlets DVD or BLU-RAY. Details about extras and special features will be announced later this year.

GFF2013 – UK Trailer Barry Levinson’s Eco Horror The Bay

Barry Levinson's unnerving eco-disaster thriller The Bay hits UK cinemas on 1 March 2013 and before then Saturday 23rd at Film4 Frightfest at Glasgow Film Festival and we've been sent the new  UK trailer from Momentum Pictures!

Synopsis:The quaint coastal town of Claridge, Maryland thrives on the safe, tranquil and abundant waters of Chesapeake Bay. During their annual Independence Day celebrations, a gruesome plague is unleashed, quickly infecting the residents and turning them against each other. A brutal and harrowing creature feature for the 21st century, “The Bay” graphically chronicles the descent of a small town into absolute terror.

You may cringe at this been referred to as been a found footage however it's a spin on that sub-genre using the like mobile phones, TV reports and CCTV police emergency recordings and even the old web cam. It's effective, chilling and one of the highlights we're looking forward too at this years Glasgow Frightfest plus you can't go much wrong with Oscar winning film director behind the camera for this one!

The Bay stars Kristen Connolly (The Cabin in the Woods), Christopher Denham (Sound of My Voice), Kether Donohue (Pitch Perfect), and Jane McNeill (The Walking Dead).produced by  Jason Blum (Paranormal Activity; Sinister; Insidious), Steven Schneider (Paranormal Activity; Insidious), Oren Peli (Paranormal Activity; Insidious), The Bay will be with us on 1st March.

Film4 FrightFest Glasgow 2013 Line-up announced: Neil Jordan, Gemma Arterton, Eli Roth Head Guest Line Up

Press release:

From Friday Feb 24 to Saturday Feb 25, the UK’s favourite horror fantasy festival returns to its second home at the Glasgow Film Festival for the 8th year with an impressive slate of the hottest new horror films, plus the hit Norwegian TV series HELLFJORD, stripped across the two days.

Some of the genre’s biggest hitters take centre-stage this year, with UK premieres for Eli Roth’s re-calibrated Disaster Movie, AFTERSHOCK, Neil Jordon’s surreal vampire myth, BYZANTIUM and Rob Zombie’s darkest horror yet, THE LORDS OF SALEM.  Plus the mother of all anthology movies THE ABCs OF DEATH, receives its first showing in the UK and there’s the chance to sample red-hot Chilean grindhouse in BRING ME THE HEAD OF THE MACHINE GUN WOMAN. Then there is the creepiest found-footage feature of them all - THE BAY, the best US documentary of the season AMERICAN DREAM and the Scottish-based SAWNEY: FLESH OF MAN, which was a surprise hit at the August FrightFest event., Also, there are UK prems for zombie splatter-fest DETENTION OF THE DEAD and the newly restored edition of Mario Bava’s classic horror anthology BLACK SABBATH.

Finally, FrightFest is proud to present Norwegian TV sensation, HELLFJORD, in which seven of Norway’s finest directors team up for writer/producer Tommy (DEAD SNOW) Wirkola’s Nordic Noir fusion of HOT FUZZ and TWIN PEAKS. All seven episodes will be screened as supporting features to the main FrightFest line-up with the last two parts showing as a stand-alone event.

This year’s guest line-up is headed by the Guru of Gore himself, Eli Roth, making his first ever appearance in Scotland. Eli is taking time off from finishing his latest directorial assignment THE GREEN INFERNO to present the UK premiere of AFTERSHOCK, which he produced, co-wrote and headlines as leading actor.  And he’ll be bringing with him director Nicolas Lopez and his co-star Lorenza Izzo.

Film4 FrightFest also welcomes the legendary director Neil Jordon, who will be presenting the UK premiere of his latest film BYZANTIUM. He will be accompanied by two of his leading cast members Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan

Also attending, to introduce the UK premiere of THE ABC’s OF DEATH, are directors Simon Rumley, Lee Hardcastle and Jake West, plus Jake’s ‘S is for Speed’ star Lucy Clements.  And to help us celebrate out unique presentation of HELLFJORD we have director Patrik Syversen (MANHUNT) and stars Stig Frode Henriksen and Zahid Ali in attendance.

Finally, to celebrate the first Scottish showing of SAWNEY: FLESH OF MAN. director Ricky Wood, writer Richard Wood and stars David Hayman and Gavin Mitchell will be in the house to celebrate their gory serial killer thriller.

Alan Jones, FrightFest co-director says, "Film4 FrightFest is thrilled to be part of Glasgow Film Festival for its eighth straight year, defining horror fantasy for our lovely neighbours north of the border. 2013 sees Team FrightFest building on the massive support our Scottish fans have consistently given us to make this shock-around-the-clock event the must-see brightest and best ever. And our 2013 edition is no exception to that heady mix of mirth, menace, monsters and mayhem that has now come to characterize the exhilarating and exciting Film4 FrightFest Glasgow experience".

With surprises on screen and off, and the festival’s unique community feeling, FrightFest at the GFF has now become a must-attend occasion on the horror fantasy fan's calendar.

To book tickets:
+44 (0)141 332 6535 / boxoffice@glasgowfilm.org

For full programme & timetable log onto www.frightfest.co.uk

The full line-up

FRI 22 FEB

13:30   THE AMERICAN SCREAM (UK Premiere)

From Michael Stephenson, director of the BEST WORST MOVIE, comes another charming and hugely entertaining documentary. Meet the Brodeur, Souza and Bariteau families who live in the seaside town of Fairhaven, Massachusetts. Every year they spend fortunes turning their homes into stunning haunted houses for the Halloween holiday, determined to dazzle and impress their neighbours through their imaginative uses of quaintly simple and clever scare tactics. Watch them as they plan, slave, obsess and suffer trying to outdo each other in the fearful fun-ride department. An engaging, inspiring, heart-warming examination of creativity, community and love of Halloween horror.

Director: Michael Stephenson   USA 2012   84 mins

Cast: Matthew Brodeur, Victor Bariteau, Manny Souza

15.00   SAWNEY: FLESH OF MAN  (Scottish Premiere)

Religious psychopath Sawney stalks Scotland abducting unholy souls for his communion of sacrifices. With his insane family of inbred killers, Sawney tortures and eats their victims saving the best morsels for a chained-up figure in their cavernous Highlands lair. As the Missing Persons list rises investigative crime journalist Hamish MacDonald writes sensational and damming headlines against the police, due to their incompetence in handling the case. After his fiancée is kidnapped Hamish investigates the heinous crimes on his own with disastrous results. For there’s something he doesn’t know about the case that’s crucial to solving it…

Director: Ricky Wood Jr   UK 2012   89 mins   

Cast: David Hayman, Samuel Feeney, Gavin Mitchell

17.30   THE LORDS OF SALEM  (UK Premiere) + HELLFJORD Ep 1

Hard rock Boston DJ Heidi Hawthorne co-hosts a late-night radio show. One day she receives a promo record from a mysterious band called The Lords whose music is strange and sinister. It transpires the droning tune was composed during the Witch Trials to turn all the local Salem women into satanic acolytes. When she plays it on the air Heidi spirals into drug addiction and starts having nightmare hallucinations about the demon seed. Cult director Rob Zombie returns with his darkest horror – a journey to the unfathomable depths of terror.

Director: Rob Zombie   USA 2012   101 mins   

Cast: Sherri Moon Zombie, Bruce Davison, Judy Geeson

20:15   BYZANTIUM (UK Premiere)

From Neil Jordan, director of INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE and THE COMPANY OF WOLVES, comes a haunting, visually sublime, unique take on ancient undead mythology. Clara is a 200-year-old vampire who works in sleazy strip clubs and prostitutes herself to support her vampire daughter, Eleanor. But this deadly duo are no ordinary vampires; Clara drains the scum of the earth and Eleanor

acts as an angel of death preying on the suffering elderly. When the two daughters of darkness open up a bordello in the seedy Byzantium seaside guesthouse, shocking secrets going back through tortured centuries must be suppressed.

Director: Neil Jordan   UK 2012   118 mins  

Cast: Gemma Arterton, Saoirse Ronan, Jonny Lee Miller

23.00   DETENTION OF THE DEAD (UK Premiere) + HELLSFJORD Ep 2

When there’s no more room in hell, the Dead will go to Detention! SHAUN OF THE DEAD meets THE BREAKFAST CLUB in a ‘School’s Out Completely’ knock-down, drag-out fight for survival when a student body gather in detention just as a zombie plague kicks off in the outside world. Packed with full-bore splatter moments to keep even the hungriest of gore-hounds satisfied - no more pencils, no more books, no more teacher's dirty looks, just the flesh-eaten Walking Dead on the hunt for more brains and Class body parts to feast on! Bloody perfect as late-night scream-and-shout-out-loud entertainment.

Director: Alex Craig Mann  USA 2012   87 mins   

Cast: Christa B. Allen, Jacob Zachar, Alexa Nikolas

SAT 23 FEB

11.00   BLACK SABBATH (Retrospective Premiere) + HELLFJORD Ep 3

FrightFest proudly presents the newly restored edition of Mario Bava’s classic horror anthology BLACK SABBATH, for the first time ever in English. A beautiful woman is terrorised by her psycho ex-lover…. A family becomes a feeding ground when their wounded father returns from vampire hunting…  A thieving nurse is haunted by the spirit of a dead medium… Join horror icon Boris Karloff as he hosts and stars in a trilogy of terror from the Golden Era of Italian Shockers. You’ll be absolutely amazed by how scary it still is in this stunningly pristine presentation.

Director: Mario Bava  Italy 1963   92 mins   

Cast: Boris Karloff, Mark Damon, Michele Mercier

30. BRING ME THE HEAD OF THE MACHINE GUN WOMAN (UK Premiere)

+ HELLFJORD Ep 4

Get ready for a real blast! After accidentally overhearing Argentine gangsters talk bloody assassination, a nightclub DJ and video game addict avoids execution only by offering to kill the object of their hatred himself. But the scantily clad, femme-fatale bounty hunter Machine Gun Woman is not going to become a sitting target that easily, especially when her favourite fashion accessories are shiny multiple weapons. The most ruthless killer to ever wear stilettos, she’s Hell-on-Heels in an all-guns blazing, sexy, violent slice of neo LatinXploitation. Flashy and trashy grindhouse fare the way they used to make ‘em.

Director: Ernesto Diaz Espinoza Chile 2012   74 mins   

Cast: Fernanda Urrejola, Matias Oviedo, Sofia Garcia

15.45   THE BAY (UK Premiere) + HELLFJORD Ep 5

Trust Oscar-winning director Barry Levinson to embrace the found-footage genre and give us its scariest spin EVER! The sea is the livelihood of a small coastal town in Chesapeake Bay. But even when an extremely high level of toxicity is found in the water, the mayor refuses to halt the Independence Day celebrations to avoid spreading panic. Too late: a plague of flesh-melting, tongue-chewing, stomach eating parasites is about to contaminate the population with devastating blood-vomiting consequences. Gross, disturbing, creepy and chilling, yet punctuated by a dark sense of humour, THE BAY is true issue-raising nightmare horror.

Director: Barry Levinson   USA 2012   84 mins   

Cast: Will Rogers, Kristen Connolly, Kether Donohue

18.45   THE ABCs OF DEATH (UK Premiere)

A is for Ambitious, B for Brilliant, C for Courageous: 26 letters, 26 directors, 26 ways to die in a lightning-paced anthology showcasing death in all its vicious wonder and brutal beauty. The idea is simple; a range of international genre filmmakers given a letter of the alphabet, $5000 and total freedom to create a short film about dying. From sex-fuelled murder and claymation toilet humour to artful giallo orgasm and sobering drug orgies, the twisted visions are funny, bad taste, controversial and confrontational. But all provide bloody, provocative and shocking fun on a carnival ride to the other side. 

Directors: (UK) Ben Wheatley, Jake West, Simon Rumley  USA 2012   129 mins

21:00   AFTERSHOCK (UK Premiere)

Producer, co-writer, star and genre guru Eli Roth becomes the new Master of Disaster. Four tourists and their two Chilean guides head to Valparaiso for the last days of their South American vacation. But as they dance the night away in a crowded nightclub, a massive earthquake hits the area causing wholesale death, destruction and urban anarchy. Who will survive in this dark, intense, and unpredictable mix of disaster flick and horror thriller that looks fantastic, grips with the excitement of those classic Irwin Allen 1970s epics and delivers the bloodiest of shocks as buildings collapse along with society. 

Director: Nicolas Lopez   USA 2012   90 mins

Cast: Eli Roth, Nicolas Martinez, Lorenza Izzo

23.15   HELLFJORD  - THE FINALE – Eps 6 & 7 (PLUS Q &A ) (UK Premiere)

Seven of Norway’s finest directors team up for writer/producer Tommy (DEAD SNOW) Wirkola’s Nordic Noir fusion of HOT FUZZ and TWIN PEAKS. Now you can see all seven episodes of this Scandinavian TV sensation as supporting features to the main FrightFest line-up with the last two parts showing as a stand-alone event. MANHUNT’s Patrik Syversen and COLD PREY’s Roar Uthaug are among the talented helmers focusing on the weird adventures of disgraced Sergeant Salamander posted to Hellfjord, a small town where family restaurants double as strip clubs, the average age is 67 and the sun never, ever goes down.

Directors: (Include) Patrik Syversen, Roar Uthang, Sebastian Dalen  Norway 2012   7 X 30 mins

Cast: Zahid Ali, Stig Frode Henriksen, Ingrid Bolso Berdal