Film4 FrightFest 2013 announces guest line-up Ben Wheatley, Don McKay, Adam Green All Confirmed

This year’s Film4 FrightFest guest list brings together over 100 talented filmmakers, performers, writers and producers – a mix of familiar FrightFest faces and up-and-coming talent who will soon be staples on the horror fantasy scene across the world.

As individual tickets go on sale tomorrow (Saturday 27 July), the guest list boasts 34 directors from around the world including: Don Mancini (CURSE OF CHUCKY), Suri Krishnamma (DARK TOURIST), one of America’s best loved funny men Bobcat Goldthwait (WILLOW CREEK) and FrightFest soul-male and HATCHET III producer Adam Green (HOLLISTON). Also joining us is Gareth Evans, straight from the completion of principal photography of THE RAID 2 and FrightFest pant-dropper Jason Eisener, both here for V/H/S/2. We also welcome CHEAP THRILLS director Evan L. Katz, Steven R. Monroe for the world premiere of I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE 2, director Blair Erickson, on hand to launch BANSHEE CHAPTER, plus Anthony DiBlasi (MISSIONARY), Jeremy Lovering (IN FEAR), Kit

Ryan (DEMENTEMANIA) and Christopher McBride for THE CONSPIRACY. The Ford Brothers are here for opening night film THE DEAD 2: INDIA), as are co-directors Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado for closing night film BIG BAD WOLVES.

The stars of the films are out in force (with more to be confirmed). Michael Cudlitz, one of American television’s most acclaimed stars and the headliner of the independent discovery of the year DARK TOURIST, will be making his FrightFest debut. As will I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE 2 stars Jemma Dallander and Joe Absolom. Also joining us are Gemma Aitkinson and Holly Goss, who will present THE DYATOLOV PASS INCIDENT and Twilight Zone star Charlie Bewley, who will join us for HAMMER OF THE GODS, as will actors Sam Robertson, Vincent Regan and Holly Weston for DEMENTAMANIA. Then we have FRANKENSTEIN’S ARMY star Alexander Mercury, plus Game of Throne’s Alfie Allen and Hannah Tointon (‘The Inbetweeners’) for the short film THE BODY.

.The star of our opening night film THE DEAD 2: INDIA, Joseph Millson, currently attracting plaudits as Macbeth at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, will be attending, alongside his Indian co-stars Meenu, Anand Goyal &Sandip Datta Gupta. And from Israel we have the exceptional cast from our closing night film, - Tzahi Grad, Rotem Keinan & Dov Glickman, so far confirmed.

BIG BAD WOLVES

Film4 FrightFest’s Variety Award was inaugurated last year with the movie trade bible giving that honour to special effects genius Greg Nicotero. Their 2013 tribute goes to Ben Wheatley, the most distinctive and unique talent to burst on the British scene in years Ben will receive his award after an onstage interview about his career conducted by journalist Damon Wise.

He said today: “Attending FrightFest is like being plugged into the brain of Genre cinema. A true group experience. Over a thousand serious fans praying at the altar of Horror then spilling out into the Foyer to digest what they have just seen before diving back for more…it’s great”.

The Discovery strand of FrightFest is proving very popular and fans will be able a whole host of directors including STALLED director Christian James, THE DESERT director Christoph Behl, SADIK 2 director Robin Entreinger and cast members Alexandra Bialy and Chloe Gallen, DAYLIGHT director David McCracken, FOR ELISA director Juanra Fernandez, CONTRACTED producer J.D. Lifshitz, ON TENDER HOOKS director Kate Shenton, THE DEMON’S ROOK producer Katarina Gligorijevic, CANNON FODDER director Eitan Gafni, producer/star Yafit Shalev and cinematographer Tom Goldwasser, plus the director, Kevin Gates, and cast of THE PARANORMAL DIARIES: CLOPHILL.

From our short film selection in association with The Horror Channel, we welcome directors Paul Davis (THE BODY), Will Gilbey (TURNCOAT), James Moran (CRAZY FOR YOU), Dominic Brunt (SHELLSHOCKED), Mike Mort (CHUCK STEEL), Nick Gillespie (SAMUEL AND EMILY VS. THE WORLD), Toby Meakins (BREATHE) and The Hassall Brothers (IF I HAD A HEART).

Plus there’s the ever-popular ‘Quiz From Hell’ hosted by our KICK-ASS 2 star compere Andy Nyman. And ZOMBIE FLESHEATERS/Lucio Fulci composer Fabio Frizzi will be making a special appearance.

Film4 FrightFest 2013 is on from Thurs 22 August to Monday 26 at the Empire Cinema in London’s Leicester Square. Tickets for Individual films are on sale from 27 July.

Bookings: 08 714 714 714 or www.empirecinemas.co.uk

Win Escape On DVD

To celebrate the arrival of the stunning thriller ‘Escape’ - out on DVD 29th July through Entertainment One - we have a copy to give away to one lucky winner!

From the talented makers of the ‘Cold Prey’ horror trilogy and starring the utterly sublime Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, ‘Escape’ is a fast-paced rollercoaster action-thriller which follows the death-defying journey of a young girl who must escape a pack of bandits, led by the vicious and beautiful Dagmar (Berdal) before they take her to a fate much worse than death.

Ten years after the Black Plague ravaged their country, a poor family sets out on a journey for a new home. On a remote mountain pass, they are attacked by a band of merciless killers led by the vicious Dagmar (Ingrid Bolsø Berdal) and the only one spared is young Signe (Isabel Christine Andreasen), who is taken hostage. At the gang’s camp she meets fellow kidnap victim Frigg (Milla Olin) and learns that a terrible fate awaits her. There is nothing for it but to escape, but Dagmar will not let Signe go that easily…

We have a copy of Escape on DVD to give away and to win it please answer the following question:



Deadline to enter this competition is Sunday 12th August 2013 (11;59pm) and you must be 15 or older to enter

If you haven’t done already Like us and stay with us at our Facebook page (if you are already liking us just share this post)

Terms&Conditions:
1.The competition is not opened to employees, family, friends of The Peoples Movies, Cinehouse, Entertainment One employees who have the right to alter, change or offer alternative prize without any notice.2.All The Peoples Movies entries must be done via contact form. deadline Sunday 12th August 2013 (23:59pm) 15 years or older to enter 3.Failure to include any information required to enter could result in your entry been void.  4.automated entries are not allowed and will be disqualified, which could result you been banned, DO NOT INCLUDE telephone numbers as for security reason your entry will be deleted.5.If you are friend or like us at facebook for every competition you enter you get double entry, but you must stay friend/like us all the time,or future entries maybe considered one entry if you are liking us share the post on facebook and re-tweet the post.6.The Peoples Movies, Cinehouse takes no responsibility for delayed, lost, stolen prizes 7.Prizes may take from days to a few months for delivery which is out of our control so please do not complain 8.The winning entries will be picked at random and contacted by email for postal details and will be announced via facebook, sometimes we are unable to confirm winners. Uk & Irish entries only.

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The Birth Of A Nation (Masters Of Cinema) Blu-Ray Review

Rating:NR
BD Release Date (UK):
29th July 2013
Director:
D.W. Griffith
Cast:
Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh, Henry B. Walthall
Buy: (BLU-RAY)
The Birth of a Nation is one of the most notorious films in film history and rightfully so. The film is probably the most important film of the silent only possibly topped by Battleship Potemkin. The film is directed by one of the very first true masters of cinema D.W. Griffith and is rightfully included in Eureka’s Masters of Cinema range. The film over the almost 100 years since it’s release has been indicted for being just racist trash. It’s no questionably incredibly racist but it’s a film with full of such amazing cinematic craftsmanship. The racism is so over the top are times it’s laughable especially the infamous 2nd half.

The film is a nutshell is about 2 families; one is Northern Stonemans and the Southern Camerons. They are friendly and one of the Stoneman boys falls in love with one of the Cameron girls. However the American Civil War happens. Sons of both families die during the war. After the war John Wilkes Booth (played by later noted director Raoul Walsh) assassinates President Abraham Lincoln.

The radical congressmen are determined to punish the South and by doing so they alienating white Southerners. Ben Cameron forms the Ku Klux Klan to fight back against the radical congressmen giving blacks “more rights than their white counterparts.” The film becomes increasingly becomes more and more absurd especially with the fried chicken eating mostly black legislature scene and the portrayal of African Americans as basically anarchic savages. To add insult to injury most of the black characters in that lovely old technique of blackface and the “Negro speak” intertitles are absurd.

The film boosts truly stunning cinematography and composition. The battle scenes are truly stunning and the end scenes with the KKK on horseback racing down to save the white people of the town are spellbinding. D.W Griffith are invented most of the editing techniques that are still used today. The film basically started feature length films as a realistic option, they’re about a dozens attempts previously… mostly lost sadly. It started the rise of Hollywood as a dominating force in the world for better or worse.

The Birth of a Nation a is film that is very much of it’s time and that has to be taken into account when your watch it. The film is clearly racist and pro-KKK even though D.W Griffith’s own beliefs has been much debating in the almost 100 years since it’s release. However as everyone knows the time it was made was a very racist time decades before the civil rights movement. His next film Intolerance was his response to the film’s criticism over its portrayal of the KKK and African Americans. Intolerance was all about how we should all come together and be tolerant of each other.

The film is an important piece of history that shouldn’t be dismissed outright. The film still deserves to be studied by students of film. The great Charles Chaplin once said “D.W Griffith was the teacher of us all” and he had a point. Masters of Cinema as always has released the film with loads of bonus features including a documentary and many of D.W Griffith’s civil war short films on both blu-ray and dvd.

★★★★☆

Ian Schutz

Dressed To Kill Blu-Ray Review

Rating: 18
BD Release Date (UK):
29th July 2013
Director:
Brian DePalma
Cast:
Nancy Allen, Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson
Buy:
Dressed to Kill [Blu-ray]
Dressed to Kill is a film directed by Brian De Palma really at the peaks of his powers. It comes out after some of his least successful films the experimental Home Movies and The Fury (despite a glowing review by one of his biggest champions Pauline Kael) and a year before his magnum opus Blow Out. The film like many of De Palma’s films owe a clear debt to the Alfred Hitchcock, this is both unintentional and intentional on his part. Dressed to Kill was unfavourably compared to Psycho at the time because he kills the lead early on and the killer is a transvestite (Psycho) or transsexual (Dressed to Kill). The Hitchcock aspects are literally in his DNA cause Hitchcock was such a master of cinema that you can’t help but steal, as any student of cinema knows.

The film starts with Angie Dickinson (a role she considers her finest) as Kate Miller, a sexually frustrated housewife who is visiting her shrink Dr. Robert Elliot (Michael Caine). She attempts to seduce him but he refuses even though he is attracted to her. She decides to go to the New York Metropolitan museum of art. In the museum scene (which is without any dialogue) she playfully stalks a stranger. They eventually end outside and she hopes into a taxicab with him and they proceed to have sex in the cab. They continue when they get back to his place.

She awakes hours later and then tries to call her husband on the phone explaining she will be late but fells too much guilt. She leaves her fling a note but she is writing it notices a letter than says he has a sexually transmitted disease. She leaves in a rush and leaves her wedding ring goes back and retrieves it. She takes the elevator and it stops on a floor and a very manly looking woman slashes her to death with a razor. The apartments in reality are where Wall Street bankers go with call girls and a call girl Liz Blake (Nancy Allen) witnesses the crime. She is naturally the prime suspect and a target of the killer and she then though the rest of the film tries to clear her name.

Ralf D. Bode very beautifully photographs the film as expected of De Palma in his career especially at this point. It has an operatic over the top nature, which he perfected in Scarface and the earlier Phantom of the Paradise. The film boosts very fine performances from the 3 main characters which an obviously fearless performance by Michael Caine as Dr. Robert Elliot aka. Bobbi. It is brilliantly written by De Palma and has very sharp dialogue throughout. He wrote it after failing to get the rights to Cruising. There is also the right amount of sleaziness and class to make it work.

The always-impressive Arrow Video has beautifully restored the film on Blu-ray. It boosts lots and lots of bonus material including a 50-minute documentary, interviews with all the main actors except Michael Caine and one with the producer and a comparison of the different cuts. It’s a very highly recommended release and look out for later Brian De Palma blu-rays being released by Arrow soon such as Sisters, Phantom of the Paradise and The Fury.

★★★★☆

Ian Schultz

The Returned (They Came Back) DVD Review

Rating:15
DVD Release Date:
22nd July 2013 (UK)
Director:
Robin Campillo
Cast:
Géraldine Pailhas, Jonathan Zaccaï, Frédéric Pierrot
Buy The Returned (2004):[DVD]
A disappointing watch for anyone who’s got too caught up in the word zombie, Robin Campillo’s 2004 film The Returned is a haunting original tale of undead awakening. Now a major series with the same title, The Returned has obviously addressed a void in the zombie market and caught people’s imaginations, Campillo’s eye for political commentary is as sharp as Romero’s but undoubtedly less entertaining to watch. Here you will find no flesh eating denizens of grave, no Savini, Berger/Nicotero effects:  this is a film startling in its total lack of similarity to any other feature of the genre.

You can see why it arguably works better in serial format; thousands of the recently deceased return to life and are registered, accounted for, then let back to their families, jobs, etc. Campillo’s focus here is less inclined towards the chaotic Armageddon factor and more towards the quiet sombre realisation of what is happening, his script picks its way through a realistic portrayal of the bureaucracy involved, the systems of testing, the reactions of loved ones, and ultimately the effects these have on a small French town. A series would be better equipped to explore the effects on individual people and to build a bigger sense of the event; Campillo’s feature unfortunately lacks focus and scale. We don’t follow a single character well enough to feel pulled into the moment, and there’s no attempt to show the global scale of the incident.

It takes a while for anyone to ask the questions that seem to jump to mind first, but even when the opportunity pops up, it comes from a child who is quickly brushed aside. It is in this manner Campillo deals with most of the important events of The Returned, quickly serving moments of intrigue then whisking them off with no further development, leaving the viewer to put the message together in their own good time. Perhaps the film and its creator are to be lauded for a fearless disregard of the anticipated reactions: the how’s, why’s, and what’s.

The dream-like quality of the film, the slow heartfelt, dizzy feel of the look and pace, evolve not just through the docile meanderings of the dead, but by that very elusive manner of story-telling you could easily get frustrated with. No matter how you feel it’s the perfect aesthetic for a zombie film sans gruesome flesh.

By no means is a zombie film in the traditional manner, The Returned a far more emotional rendering of that tired old trope, an intriguing look at the reality behind an event such as this. However, it is difficult to enjoy a film so laconic in its method, so dull and heart-wrenching that- at its core-  it is intrinsically boring.

★★☆☆☆

Scott Clark

In The House (Dans La Maison) DVD Review

Rating: 15
DVD Release Date:
22nd July 2013 (UK)
Director:
François Ozon
Cast:
Fabrice Luchini, Ernst Umhauer, Kristin Scott Thomas
Buy: [Blu-ray] [DVD]
A talented pupil and a frustrated teacher. A tale as old as time and a mainstay of cinema ever since Robin Williams received a table striding declaration of support in Dead Poet’s Society. Francois Ozon’s In The House uses this well worn template to blur the lines between fantasy and reality, bringing an uneasy dynamic to the classroom drama.

Having scored his biggest UK hit to date last time out with gender role comedy Potiche, Ozon’s follow-up eschews the laughs in favour of a return to the more ambiguous tone found in his earlier works. It’s also as much a paean to the power of our imagination as it is a tale of mentor and student.

Fabrice Luchini shakes off the misogynous mindset instilled in his role of Catherine Denevue’s husband in Potiche to play literature teacher Mr Germain, returning to school for another year of uninspiring works from unenthused students. Or so it is until a routine ‘how I spent my weekend’ assignment unearths a rare nugget of promise among his apathetic class. While the majority of hand-ins recount the mundane adolescence of video games, pizza’s and wasted Sunday’s, one student, Claude (a suitably creepy Ernst Umhauer), bucks the trend by regaling a somewhat sinister account of voyeurism. Under the premise of maths tutorage, Claude talks his way into the home of fellow classmate Rapha, observing and rather disparagingly depicting the model middle-class life on show. Instantly catching the literary eye of Germain, Claude takes his attention for encouragement, returning time and again to this suburban ideal to portray the life behind those doors, in the house.

The comfortably domestic lives of Germain and wife Jeane (Kristen Scott-Thomas) are given a new distraction, evenings now spent ingesting and dissecting the latest work from the star pupil. While Germain, slightly in awe of his potential-laden student, somewhat neglects his teacher duties in overlooking the increasingly concerning tone of the passages, it is left to () to point out the glaring dangers of such obsessive voyeurism. Indeed it is she who at times understands the works on a far greater level than her book-loving husband.

Taking Claude under his wing, Germain gives Ozon the chance to go conduct a literature 101 class. Structures, rules and questions of authorship are all mulled over. This is literature with a capital L, to be discussed, debated and considered. It’s also where Ozon seems to be having most fun. Placing us within Claude’s writing as well as the world outside, Ozon toys with our (and Germain’s) perception of what is real what is fiction and what is pure teenage fantasy. It’s a theme he embellishes with a lightweight subplot for Scott-Thomas’s art curator. Her under threat gallery has it’s fate in the hands of two ill-informed and unappreciative identical twins with the varying works that pass through offering Ozon another chance to touch upon further themes of authorship and creative ownership.

It’s a film that encourages us to become the voyeurs, the ending an invitation to mimic the leads – peeking behind the curtain and imagining the lives being carried out. In these hands people watching takes on a whole new mindset, transcending into an art form from which great works can appear. It’s a notion that outshines the film itself, ultimately In The House never quite engrosses as much as one of the stories from the pen of it’s young lead.

★★★☆☆

Matthew Walsh

FrightFest and Horror Channel announce nine world premieres for short film programme

FrightFest in association with Horror Channel, will be screening nine specially selected short films, all World Premieres, at this year’s August event at the Empire Cinema, Leicester Sq. From James Moran’s sickly slick serial killer tale and Dominic Brunt’s ghastly vision of war time Hell, to Will Gilbey’s hard-boiled noir cop thriller and Mike Mort’s even harder puppet cop hero Chuck Steel, the line-up represents a rich tapestry of talent, with casts that include Hannah Tointon, Neil Maskell, Ed Speleers, Alfie Allen & Jack Gordon.

Paul McEvoy, Co-director of FrightFest &Horror Channel programme co-ordinater said today: “This year’s brilliant and insane mix of shorts includes outstanding World Premieres from some FrightFest favourites and some exciting new cinematic blood. Behold and enjoy!”

MAIN SCREEN
Friday August 23rd

16:15 CRAZY FOR YOU (World Premiere)
Director: James Moran. Cast: Arthur Darvill, Hannah Tointon. UK. 2013. 10 mins
It's difficult to find love when you're a serial killer - when Charlie meets the girl of his dreams, he has to keep that slight flaw a secret from her. Will true love win the day? Or will she become another of his unwitting victims?

Saturday August 24th

13:15 TURNCOAT (World Premiere)
Director: Will Gilbey. Cast: Neil Maskell, Stephen McCole, Ed Speleers. UK. 2013. 14min
Two cops break into a criminal's home, drag him out of bed and start conducting an illegal search of the premises. Cuffed to a chair, and seemingly helpless, the criminal's only chance is to play the two cops off against each other.

20:55 CHUCK STEEL: RAGING BALLS OF STEEL JUSTICE (World Premiere)
Written, directed and voiced by Mike Mort. UK 2013 13min
It’s 1986, and maverick cop Chuck Steel has his work cut out when the city’s most influential banker is kidnapped by a group of escaped convicts. With the aid of his sex obsessed robot partner, Chuck must fight a desperate battle against overwhelming odds to save the hostage.

Monday August 26th

15.35 THE BODY (World Premiere)
Director: Paul Davis. Cast: Alfie Allen, Hannah Tointon, Christian Brassington, Jack Gordon. UK. 2013. 18min
The tale of a murderer who uses the cover of Halloween night to causally transport his latest victim from the scene of the crime to his final resting place.


DISCOVERY SCREEN 1
Friday August 23rd

18:00 IF I HAD A HEART (World Premiere)
Director’s The Halsall Brothers. Cast: Min-Joong Kim UK. 2013. 12 min
A neon-noir set in the underbelly of Seoul. Sam IL is a street fighter who was abandoned at birth by his Mother in a coin locker. His life has been one of extreme violence and isolation.


Saturday August 24th

15:15 SHELL SHOCKED (World Premiere)
Director: Dominic Brunt. Cast: Geoffrey Newland, Anthony Streeter UK. 2013. 12 min
Two soldiers from opposing sides seek temporary salvation from the battle field. A tense, life or death stand off at gun point ensues with a growing realisation...they were safer where they were...

18:15 SAMUEL AND EMILY VS. THE WORLD (World Premiere)
Director: Nick Gillespie Cast: Steve Garry, Phoebe Jones & Alex Rose March. UK. 2013. 9 min
An eerie and gruesome tale about a couple who have found a new way to survive the zombie apocalypse.

Sunday August 25th

12:50 THE GUEST (World Premiere)
Director: Jovanka Vuckovic Cast: Tara Elliot, Jordan Gray & Isabella Vuckovic Canada 2013. 4 min
A man must face his personal demons as a consequence of a mysterious bargain he has made.

15:15 BREATHE (World Premiere)
Directed by Toby Meakins Cast: Jack North, Josef Altin & Orion Ben. UK. 2013. 5 min
A ghost story about a girl who only appears when you hold your breath.


DISCOVERY SCREEN 2 (Repeat showings)

FRIDAY AUG 23
15:15 SAMUEL AND EMILY VS. THE WORLD

SATURDAY AUG 24

12:50 THE GUEST

15:30 BREATHE

SUNDAY AUG 25

10:25 IF I HAD A HEART

MONDAY AUG 26

16:00 SHELL SHOCKED

TV: Sky 319 / Virgin 149 / Freesat 138
www.horrorchannel.co.uk | twitter.com/horror_channel

Film4 FrightFest 2013 runs from Thurs 22 August to Monday 26 August at the Empire Cinema, Leicester Square.

Tickets for individual films go on sale from 27th July. Bookings: 08 714 714 714 or www.empirecinemas.co.uk

The ABC's of Death DVD Review

Rating: 18
Home Release Date (UK):
22nd July 2013
Director:
Adam Wingard, Ti West, Ben Wheatey
Cast:
Erik Aude, Iván González, Lee Hardcastle, Ingrid Bolsø Berdal
Buy:[Blu-ray], [DVD]
The ABC’s of Death is probably one of the most ambitious horror spectacles ever conceived: 25 letters of the alphabet, 25 directors from all over the world, and total free reign on the choice of project other than sticking to your letter. Obviously with something this big, spanning numerous countries and cultures, the outcome was always going to be eclectic and, most of all, utterly bizarre.

Directors like Jason Eisener (Hobo with a Shotgun), Ben Wheatley (Kill List), and Ti West (House of The Devil) answer the call to add their own short vision of horror, but most important perhaps is that the ABC’s consist of new and upcoming talent. Adam Wingard and Ti West are of course no strangers to anthology horror having been responsible for two segments of last year’s VHS, however while Wingard’s humorous Q is for Quack steps out of the screen to offer a break from excessive gore and disturbia, West’s short M is for Miscarriage is a dull and disappointing attempt from an accomplished new name in horror. This perhaps best encapsulates the spirit of the project, the ABC’s is not a compendium of horror shorts, it’s an exploration of the limits and potential contents of horror. Some of the films are wonderful and leave us wanting more than the little peak we’ve had, whilst others can’t finish quick enough.

One of the most endearing qualities of the ABC’s is the vast array of styles and tones which combine to make it a true variety performance. Marcel Sarmiento’s D is for Dogfight channels Guy Ritchie-esque grit whilst boasting one of the roundest and most accomplished stories. Timo Tjahjanto’s L is for Libido is hands-down the most disturbing of the films achieving genuinely sickening reaction and proving to be the most troubling to watch. In terms of visual impact Bruno Forzani and Helene Cattet’s O is for Orgasm wins top prize, addressing the death/sex relationship in the most experimental, beautiful, and accomplished entry to the film. The ABC’s is far from perfect viewing though,  many of the films dwindle into obscurity or punch a little too high, or sometimes even achieve a level of abrasion that surpasses discomfort and goes straight to irritating. F is for Fart and Z is for Zetsumetsu, two of the Japanese entries, are so utterly bonkers and ridiculously anti-narrative that they become tiresome quickly. I could go through the whole lot but it would ruin some wonderful/awful surprises since watching the ABC’s totally blind is perhaps the best way, especially when the titles are often the punch lines to elaborate and unsettling tales.

Horror gets a bad rap as a dead-end genre with little left to say except scream, stab, and torture; there are no more lines to cross, or envelopes to push. Yet here we find a truly interesting cross-section of modern horror from across the globe addressing a varied selection of subjects. The ABC’s of Death are far from perfect, the bad films tend to be the ones that blatantly go for the shock factor, whilst the really bad are the ones that inspire no reaction what so ever. Thankfully there’s not too many of those. Somewhere in there are the makings of something great: many of the entries are unsettling, some are hilarious, others are simply batshit bonkers insane. Key to this film are the constant feelings that things are being examined, mulled over, situations are being addressed whilst the viewer tries to figure out what the hell is going on. The envelope has indeed been pushed.

★★★★☆

Scott Clark

Runaway Train Blu-Ray Review

Rating:
15
BD Release Date (UK):
22nd July 2013
Director:
Andrey Konchalovskiy
Cast:
Jon Voight, Eric Roberts, Rebecca De Mornay
Buy: [Blu-ray]

Arrow Video has given Runaway Train a loving blu-ray release stacked full of extras including interviews with most of the main cast like Jon Voight and Eric Roberts. The film is directed by Andrei Konchalovsky who is a Russian director who has worked both in Hollywood and Russia since the 60s. Runaway Train is probably his most well known film to date, he is also known for the more recent House of Fools and the recent notorious flop The Nutcracker in 3D.

Runaway Train is about Oscar "Manny" Manheim (Jon Voight) who is a notorious convict at a prison in Alaska. Manny has been in cell for 3 years (after the doors have been welded shut) after many escape attempts. A Court order makes his nemesis the associate warden to let him out back into the general population. He naturally starts to plan his next escape.

Buck (Eric Roberts) is another convict of the prison. He is naïve southern boy who has been convicted by statutory rape (sex with a underage person). He is played deliberately naïve by Eric Roberts because he wanted to make the character more sympathetic. He is recruited by Manny to help him escape because he works in the laundry room and has access to places most prisoners don’t.

They eventually escape though a sewer. They fall into a river and eventually get to a train yard and jump onto a train but don’t realise till it’s too late it’s a “runaway train”. The train is speeding along the tracks at a rapid speed and they may have company on the train and also can meet their maker any minute.

The film is not a masterpiece but any stretch of the imagination but it’s a very solid Sunday afternoon boy’s own adventure sort of film. It has a fun scenery chewing performance by Jon Voight, who was even nominated for a oscar for best actor, must have been a slow year. Eric Roberts (a normally very underrated actor) gives a very annoying performance somewhat reminiscent of portrayals of Lenny in adaptations of Of Mice and Men. He was mind boggling nominated for an oscar for his performance. It came out the same year as the greatest film ever made Brazil which boosts some great supporting performances but at last got no nominations for acting.

It’s got a slightly gritty edge, which is probably down to Edward Bunker’s involvement on the screenplay. He was a real-life convict who wrote Animal Factory and the book the great Dustin Hoffman film Straight Time was based on. He is also known as Mr. Blue in Reservoir Dogs. It was the debut of another convict turned actor Danny Trejo.

Runaway Train has an interesting backstory. It was originally meant to be Akira Kurosawa’s first colour film but due to problems with American backers it was shelved. The interesting thing is you could easy see Toshiro Mifune in the Manny role. It would have been a better film if Kurosawa did but it’s certainly worth checking out sometime.

★★★½☆

Ian Schultz

EIFF 2013 - For Those in Peril Review

Rating: N/C
Review Date (EIFF):
28th June 2013
Director:
Paul Wright
Cast:
Kate Dickie, Michael Smiley, George MacKay

British cinema is great at taking quaint environments and turning them into Hell. We also have a penchant for misery and wasted lives, both of which you’ll find abundantly in Paul Wright’s impressive feature debut For Those in Peril, a keyhole into the social mechanics of a small fishing community in Scotland.

After a tragic accident takes the lives of five young fishermen, Aaron (George MacKay), the sole survivor of the tragedy which also claimed his older brother, is left in a steadily growing state of social detachment as the town around focuses their grief on him.  Mackay shines as a social outcast, a loner before the tragedy and even more so after with little to live for in a town that sees survivors as a constant burning reminder of tragedy. Wright’s choice to include sound snippets of news coverage/interviews with locals helps explore the small town mentality and collective hatred for Aaron, who’s only crime is retaining a childish mind in a place that demands manhood sooner as opposed to later. As the film goes on and Aaron’s actions become slightly more elusive in the face of hatred, the audience starts to see that in treating someone like a monster, especially someone with serious trauma, you can end up making them one. Kate Dickie lends her talents as Aaron’s troubled mother, single-handedly providing a sort of normality bar with which to compare the rest of the town to, she’s also where most of the film’s heart comes from, hers being possibly the most heart-breaking story of all. The relationship between Dickie and Mackay is frankly one of the most impressive pairings in ages.

Aaron’s obsession with a fairy tale around a monster in the sea becomes more vivid as the film progresses, just as the town’s contempt for him does. Wright punctuates an otherwise muted cinematography with moments of vivid colour and crushing darkness to better convey the collapse of Aaron’s reality: as his guilt flares so does his anger at the “monster” and his alienation from family and friends comes full circle so that he descends into a sort of childish dream.

There’s a very honest quality to Wright’s camera and the performances of his stars, nothing out-there, nothing melodramatic, just a well worked story of people and their relationship to the world around them.  At some points the film can maintain a palate too drab and spend too much time following Aaron’s isolated wanderings to the point of angst, but by the end Wright proves he has the vision to deliver an emotionally charged whopper of a finale that allows this quant wee Scottish sea-side affair to rest on more breath-taking grounds.

Not just a run of the mill sombre British piece about rural environments, For Those in Peril is a heart-wrenching narrative of guilt and redemption with a daring final direction and stand-out performances from two of Scotland’s finest.

★★★★☆

Scott Clark

EIFF 2013 - Frankenstein's Army Review

Rating:
15
Release Date(UK):
28 June 2013 (EIFF)
24 August 2013 (Frightfest)
30 September 2013 (DVD)
Director:
Richard Raaphorst
Cast:
Karel Roden, Joshua Sasse, Robert Gwilym
Buy: [DVD]
Over the past few years there’s been a real peak in the impact of fan-boy fantasy on cinema, especially horror. We’ve seen some truly nutty visions being realised on the big screen and, for better or worse, that trend shows no signs of stopping. The recent sub-genre of Nazi zombie films is creatively tackled in first time feature director Richard Raaphorst’s endearingly titled, handheld camera shot, B-movie extraordinaire Frankenstein’s Army.

How, may you ask, is a film set during WW2 shot on hand-held camera? By the genius of a specially selected film student chosen to tag along with a Russian platoon to film some propaganda. This surmises the bonkers logic to most of Frankenstein’s Army. A good section of the film is spent getting to understand the characters and what the Russian involvement in the war was and before we get anywhere near the fateful dwelling of Baron Frankenstein there’s a breadcrumb trail of bizarre carcases to herald that the good doctor has extended his research to animalistic steampunk zombie monstrosities.

There’s a charming sort of referential stupidity involved in how unperturbed most of the Russians seem about finding these creatures. But that’s a key part of the film; it doesn’t take itself too seriously and by doing that makes itself far more effective as a horror film. By slotting the ridiculous alongside the drab hopelessness of the incredible sets and creatures, there’s room for some genuinely horrible moments of tense action and fear. Like the end of Blair Witch meets Silent Hill via Stuart Gordon. Camera handling dwindles sometimes during panic driven moments of fight and flight to unfortunately leave some sections of film messy and nonsensical, which is a shame when such care has been taken to make the visuals so striking.

Even if the film is operating on a budget it appears not to be too hindered, sets have been carefully selected and then dressed up to fit the period and aesthetic, creatures have been formed with a mind to dodging the traditional concept of zombie. This time, Frankenstein’s monsters are exactly the kind of industrial horrors you’d expect from a post WW1 corpse tinker: hulking metal and robotics, grey flesh and black leather, ridiculous appendages for the decimation of allied forces. And Karel Roden’s (Hellboy, Rocknrolla) fantastic turn as a madcap even more oblivious Dr. Frankenstein is nothing short of a hoot to watch.

Everything about this film is pretty endearing.  Once you pull yourself past the student project feel and settle into its carnival of horrors feel, you start to enjoy it for what it is; a Nazi-zombie flick. There’s no pretence here, no whimsical story, just a good old-fashioned monster film with some well-deserved scares, a great effects and set-design department and above all a good eye for humour. Frankenstein’s Army is cult classic material.

★★★★☆

Scott Clark

The Seasoning House DVD Review

Rating: 18
DVD Release Date (UK):
12th August 2013
Director:
Paul Hyett
Cast:
Sean Pertwee, Rosie Day, Kevin Howarth
Buy:[DVD]/ [Blu-ray]
Set in the War-torn Balkans in the mid 90’s The Seasoning House follows deaf mute Angel played by Rosie Day as she is torn from her home and family to work in a brothel where she must prepare the girls for customers and then clean them up after. She spends the rest of her time moving between the walls and the crawlspaces of the house observing her kidnappers. After the brutal rape and murder of her only confident she tries to escape and must fight off the brothel owner and the soldiers who butchered her family.

The first thing I have to say about this film is this. Sean Pertwee cannot do a Balkan accent. This is a sad fact and it by no means makes him a bad actor in fact I consider him one of Britain’s great actors. But his lack of ability to move away from his own gravelly English accent is evident in The Seasoning House where he stands out a little from all the other characters whose Balkan accents are much better than his. Another thing is that it seems to take forever for anything to happen in the story. We spend almost 40 minutes covering the main character, Angel’s, early life and how she came into her predicament where it could have easily be done in almost half the time. The beginning does little to develop her character and is really only there to go into great detail about the way the brothel is run.

These are pretty much the only complaints I have about Paul Hyett’s The Seasoning House. It is a rape revenge thriller that manages to be original in genre that has been rather formulaic for many years.

Let’s look at the actors. First off Sean Pertwee who, as I have already said, cannot maintain an accent that is not his own but is a terrifying villain in the role of Goran. He seems to be on the cusp of insanity at all times and worse still has a troop of killers and psychopaths at his command. His single minded pursuit of Angel in the second half of the film makes him a terrifying antagonist. Viktor is played by Kevin Howarth who portrays the dual role of ruthless pimp and obsessive lover of Angel and how these parts of his life come into conflict when Angel becomes the target of Goran’s soldiers. We see him torn as he tries to protect Angel and his own business from Goran’s insanity. Finally Rosie Day as Angel. Playing a deaf mute cannot be easy especially in a physically demanding role such as this. Angel is chased through walls, woods and factories getting beaten, shot at, stabbed and at one point strangled with a belt. But Day manages to deliver a fantastic performance despite all of this.

And that leads me to the violence. It is brutal and does not shy away from it but nor does it glorify it. The fight scenes are natural and do not look choreographed which gives a sense of panic and terror when they take place. Angel does not become a gun totting karate expert and instead fights in a frenzied fashion flaying about with knives, bricks and in one case an ornamental pig (don’t ask just watch it). Hyett’s reliance upon practical effects over rather than excessive use of CGI makes the violence more gut wrenching especially in some of the more brutal scenes.

Overall the film is fantastic and is suitable for anyone who is a fan of the rape revenge genre or anyone who likes original action films.

★★★★☆

Adam Cook

The Great Rock'N' Roll Swindle Scottish Style, UK Trailer For The Great Hip Hop Hoax

Dubbed 'The Imposter of music docs,' the film tells the real life story about how - back in 2003/4, Californian hip-hop duo 'Silibil N'Brains' secured a record deal and were set to be massive – however, what no-one really knew was that they were actually a pair of students from Dundee, Scotland, with fake American accents and made up identities.

The Great Hip Hop Hoax was one of the surprise hit film's of last month's Edinburgh Film Festival, it also received some great feedback SxSw and now it's ready for it's cinema/VOD release this September.To promote the film's release Vertigo Films have sent us over the film's UK trailer....



When it comes to mockumentary films the pedastool has been set high with the classic This Is Spinal Tap there's been no one who came close to matching or bettering that film. The Great Hip Hop Hoax might be that film to at least match proving if you want that dream, you'll do anything to succeed and 6th September you'll get that chance to see if the 2 boys from Dundee, the rapping Proclaimers will become the cities most famous sons after Desperate Dan.

The Great Hip Hop Hoax stars Gavin Bain and Billy Boyd.

Everyone's Going to Die EIFF Review

Rating: 15
Release Date:
26th June 2013(EIFF)
Director:
Jones
Cast:
Nora Tschirner, Rob Knighton, Kellie Shirley
Melanie (Nora Tschirner) is a young woman living out a dull existence in an English seaside town, her life crawls along until she meets Ray (Rob Knighton in his second feature performance), a recently divorced gangster-type back in town for one last job. Without a doubt the most charming and impressive feature to debut at EIFF this year, one of those films that comes along once in a blue moon and manages to hold its own amongst the vast array of features fighting for the spotlight. It sounds like a screwball gangster flick with a hint of Lost in Translation, which it could be billed as, but you’d be missing the point. Even though it flaunts moments of comedy and does indeed slip in a gangster undertone, it’s so much more.

                Directed by the collective Jones, Everyone’s Going to Die takes a tried and tested formula for British sob-stories and goes back to basics, narratively speaking it’s a simple enough film; Ray and Melanie potter about exploring the tedium of their lives and getting up to mischief. There’s a somber mood clinging to most of the film that is time and time again shattered with Coen brother-style cock-ups or heart-warming scenes between the film’s spellbinding central performances.

                 The opening scenes hark at Less Than Zero, a ruined house the morning after a party shot with virtually no sound in a drab palette of greys, Melanie wandering the halls dressed as Chaplin cutting a, surely iconic, silhouette. Ray is forced into black suit and tie after his enraged wife vandalises the rest of his clothes and turfs him out, forcing the gangster into a dangerously stereotypical but hilariously referential costume.  Ray goes to meet his recently deceased estranged brother‘s family only to find his brother may have reincarnated into a cat. The humour here is right on the mark, the zaniness of the script is one of its strongest features ensuring it doesn’t fade into the background as another exercise in loneliness.  There’s nothing superficial about Everyone’s Going to Die, everything has substance to it.

                The key to the whole show is the relationship between Tschirner and Knighton. Genuine care and love for the characters is inspired through a damaged but reserved performance on both counts. Both are trapped at a still point, a dead end from which they really believe there’s no escaping. The boredom of dead-end lives never transfers to the viewer though, instead the narrative throws the odd couple into bizarre waters; job changes, a reincarnated brother, a wiccan family, the hotel TV stuck on Gay chat lines, the little ridiculous details keep the two ultimately grounded characters on their toes. No matter how ridiculous the situation, Jones put the scene across in such a deadpan manner, the slightest ticks on Ray’s face are all you need to pick up on some of the driest humour put to film recently.

                If one film deserves your attention this year it should be this one. It’s a heart-warming, often hilarious, sometimes heart-breaking tale of loneliness and the human need for companionship. It’s a love film sans love and a gangster film without gangsters. A powerhouse set of performances from the magnificent Nora Tschirner and Rob Knighton ensures the film is never dull or misfired and as for Jones, the stunning look of the film and the genius of the script ensures they are a talent to keep your eye out for.

A gem of a film; bittersweet, concise, thought-provoking, and above all entirely captivating, Everyone’s Going to Die is one of the most impressive British films going about just now.

★★★★★

Scott Clark

Eden Review

Rating:15
Release Date (UK):
19th July 2013
Director:
Megan Griffiths
Cast:
jamie chueng, Matt O'Leary, Scott Mechlowicz,Beau Bridges, Grace Arends
South Korean, Cheong Kim was 19 years old when she met a man claiming to be in the United States military. Believing she had struck up a romance with the dashing stranger, she agreed to elope with him to Florida. En route she was handcuffed, had her identification destroyed and was held in captivity. Kim escaped, but with no means of identification and with no assistance, she grudgingly became an escort. Shortly after, she was raped and sold into slavery in Las Vegas, spending an horrific 2 years being transported to and from various warehouses with 40 or 50 other girls, many of whom were under 16 years of age.

Kim's captors tortured her by burying her in bathfuls of ice; they beat and even shot other girls who fell ill or didn't live up to their standards. Eventually Kim managed to escape by gaining the trust of her captors by convincing them she wanted to learn how to become a trafficker. She gained their trust, escaped and, after a decade, shared her story, going on to become a legal advocate promoting civil rights.

Megan Griffiths brings the story to the screen with an American Indie sensibility that eschews sensationalism or on-screen horror in favour of a more sombre, responsive aesthetic.

Intially you fear lack of visual punch seems to be a misstep; the absence of carnage seems to give the misery short shrift. It's Jamie Chung's heartbreaking, downtrodden performance which wrestles the film away from obscurity and offsets the lack of visual clout, delivering something which lingers and disquiets.

★★★☆☆

Chris Banks

Lotte Reiniger's The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) on BFI Blu-ray & DVD

Director:
Lotte Reiniger
Dual DVD Release Date:
19th August 2013 (UK)
Buy:
The Adventures of Prince Achmed (DVD + Blu-ray)
On 19 August 2013, the BFI will release Lotte Reiniger’s The Adventures of Prince Achmed (Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed) on Blu-ray for the first time in a Dual Format Edition (includes a DVD disc) with a newly recorded narration and the original orchestral score, along with a selection of short films and an illustrated booklet with contributors including Marina Warner.

Three years in the making, this beautiful 1926 silhouette animation brings to life magical tales from the Arabian Nights. The earliest surviving animated feature film – preserved in the BFI National Archive – it has been hailed as one of the world’s most innovative and influential animations.

Handsome young Prince Achmed is brave and eager for adventure, so when the most powerful sorcerer in the world challenges him to fly a magic horse, Achmed plunges headlong into a series of exciting escapades which take him from Baghdad to China via the enchanted spirit lands of Wak-Wak.

Made in card, cut entirely by hand, and then manipulated using sheets of lead joined by wires, Reiniger’s exquisite shadow characters move intricately through colourful worlds of demons, witches, beautiful princesses and flying castles. The incredible talent and creativity shown here has influenced the animation in other films including Snow White, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and The Sword in the Stone.

Special Features

• Presented in both High Definition and Standard Definition
• Original orchestral score by Wolfgang Zeller
• Newly recorded alternative narration based on Lotte Reiniger's own translation of her German text Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed, spoken by actress Penelope McGhie
• The Adventures of Dr Dolittle (Lotte Reiniger, 1928, 30 mins): a series of three short films based on the classic stories by Hugh Lofting
• The Flying Coffer (Lotte Reiniger, 1921, 8 mins): a poor young fisherman tries to rescue the Emperor of China's daughter who is imprisoned in a sky high pagoda
• The Secret of the Marquise (Lotte Reiniger, 1922, 2 mins): an early advert for Nivea skin care products
• The Lost Son (Lotte Reiniger, 1974, 14 mins): the New Testament parable animated in Lotte Reiniger's inimitable style
• The Star of Bethlehem (Lotte Reiniger, 1956, 18 mins): the nativity story with music by Peter Gellhorn, performed by the Glyndebourne Festival Chorus
• Illustrated booklet with newly commissioned essays by Jez Stewart and Philip Kemp and a contribution by Marina Warner