Friday 28 August 2015

THE HALLOW - FIRST LOOK CLIP, NEW POSTER & FRIGHTFEST DEBUT‏


First playing at Frightfest this Saturday (29th). The film is being released in the UK on Friday 13th November

Synopsis
When a London-based conservationist is sent to Ireland to survey an area of ancient forest believed by the superstitious locals to be hallowed ground, he unwittingly disturbs a horde of terrifying beings and must fight to protect his family.

Cast
Bojana Novakovic, Michael McElhatton, Joseph Mawle, Michael Smiley

Social
www.facebook.com/TheHallowUK
www.twitter.com/TheHallowUK

Trailer


Clip

Monday 24 August 2015

Competition: Win Odysseus - Voyage to the Underworld on DVD

Odysseus - Voyage to the Underworld is released on DVD on August 31st, and to celebrate we have a great competition for you and 3 copies to win on DVD

Synopsis:
Troy has been defeated and Odysseus has begun his 10 year journey to return home to Ithaca. Accompanying Odysseus and his small team is the poet Homer, who is acting as the scribe and recording Odysseus' adventures as they travel along. The story about to unfold is so horrifying that Homer decided to leave it out of his Odyssey.

During their travels, they become lost in a deep fog and encounter horrific winged creatures that kill several men and drink their blood. In disarray, the crew lands at the Isle of the Mists, a terrible place where death is in the very air.

Eventually, they become imprisoned by Persephone, Queen of the Underworld, who was banished to the Isle of the Mists and sealed there by the Hellfire. Now the men must find a way of killing her and escape the island before she is freed to enslave humanity.

Win This:
Odysseus - Voyage to the Underworld [DVD] 
 
To enter all you have to do is answer this easy question...

Who is the director of Odysseus - Voyage to the Underworld?

To enter Email us on competition@mastersofhorror.co.uk with your answer, along with your name and address.

When the competition ends as indicated on this page, any and all entries received after this point will not count and emails blacklisted due to not checking this page first.

Winners will be chosen randomly and will be informed via email.

Barbara Crampton Interview

On the eve of Film4 FrightFest 2015, Barbara Crampton talks about part of  the ‘horror club’, scary scripts, still doing the laundry and why Abner Pastoll is one to watch.

Q: Welcome to FrightFest Barbara. What was your initial reaction when told you were this year’s special Icon guest?

A: First of all, I want to say thank you for having me. The importance of these film festivals for young directors to get their work seen and recognized is of the upmost importance in today’s film market. The competition to be included in one of the major genre film festivals is extremely high. When I was a young actress there were a handful of festivals where people could showcase their work. Today, there are many genre festivals across the globe that introduce the hungry audiences to their deepest fears, anxieties and monsters in the bedroom. That being said, to be invited to one of the best genre festivals around today, to be remembered for my past horror movies and to share some of my recent work, to support the new young film makers that I have had the wonderful opportunity to work with is very meaningful to me. I have worked in this genre for a long-time but only recently have come to realize how important these movies have been to me and continue to be for so many people. Finally, I feel like I am part of a club I didn’t realize I have been in for a long-time. To be this year’s special guest is an honour and one for which I am truly grateful.

Q: You have four films at FrightFest. You seem busier than ever. What is the secret to your career longevity?

A: My longevity is a complete surprise to me. About 15 years ago when I moved up to San Francisco with my husband I thought I was done. I got married, I had two kids back to back; that was something I felt was really missing from my life. So the years with my growing family were very precious and important to me. I completely lost myself in being a mom, happily so. When I got the call to appear in YOU’RE NEXT, I thought it would be a brief diversion from family life. Little did I know how much fun I was going to have playing with all of these burgeoning, creative film makers and that I would easily be lured back a few more times. Currently, I am able to balance my home life and work life. I do have a few other acting jobs coming up and I am producing one movie and have another in development. My family has been incredibly supportive and I, in turn, keep coming back to do their laundry, shop for their back to school supplies and organize their after school activities. I am even planning a get-a-way vacation with my husband! I think for me the longevity is about doing all of these things that I really love, leaving space for all that comes up in life.

Q: SUN CHOKE is getting a lot of positive reaction and you are brilliant in the film. What made you choose to play that role?

A: When I first read the script it really scared me, the role I mean. The film is very dark and explores some very fearsome inclinations in one’s psyche. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go there or even if I could. But it is so different than any other character I have ever played that I didn’t want the fear of playing the role get in the way. So with a lot of trepidation, I said yes and was treated to an amazing, collaborative experience with one of the best actresses I have ever worked with and some of the best material that’s been offered to me. I am glad it’s getting so much positive response. I think the writer/director Ben Cresciman is extremely talented and the production team I worked with was top notch. I am glad my fear didn’t get in the way of being scary.

Q: WE ARE STILL HERE has been very popular on the festival circuit. Is that because director Ted Geoghegan is a horror buff and knows all the fanboy tricks?

A: Potentially there’s a small amount of truth to that but is too simplistic a statement to make. My friend Ted has a rich knowledge of the genre, that is true, but he also has a deep heart and soul that can connect to varying characters and their motivations. The story he created works on many levels. It has a grounded foundation in two people’s grief and loss, and many supernatural scares. It has a connection to history, first of the genre and to something endemic to the story. Not to mention the fact that Ted was aided by two of the most important people that made WE ARE STILL HERE a festival favourite, Karim Hussain, our stylish and formidable Director of Photography and our Producer, Travis Stevens whose guidance, smarts and kindness improved every aspect of the film.

Q: ROAD GAMES is Abner Pastoll's feature debut as a director? You seem to like supporting first time directors?

A: I have worked with one of the best horror directors of the 1980s but I think it’s important to support the young filmmakers of today. They have interesting stories to tell that reflect their state of mind and current popular culture. When Abner reached out to me personally to ask me to play a part in his movie, I read the script and was completely floored by it. It was one of the most well crafted screenplays I ever read and had a unique sense of humour. I think Abner is one to watch in the coming years.

Q: You only have a small cameo in TALES OF HALLOWEEN. You are in Axelle Carolyn's episode at a party scene with directors Stuart Gordon and Mick Garris and actress Lisa Marie. Fun to do?

A: Yes! We had a great evening all together, it is a party scene so we acted like we were at a party. I know these people quite well and we had a great time between set-ups, getting caught up and reminiscing. Two people in the scene that I didn’t know very well were Lin Shaye and Alex Essoe. I was excited to work with both of them as I am a fan of both actresses. I had just seen Alex in STARRY EYES and she impressed me with her work as a starving actress who will do anything to get what she wants. Also, I really wanted to support my friend, Axelle Carolyn. She’s the one who came up with the original premise for TALES OF HALLOWEEN. She put it all together. She’s a woman, she’s fierce and I wanted to help her see her vision realized, no matter how small a part I ultimately had to play. The movie itself has been getting a great response and I am so happy and proud of her.


Q: What keeps drawing you back to the Horror Genre and how do you feel being crowned a ‘Scream Queen’?

A: Horror movies are like a thrill ride, they’re fun and exciting and you don’t know exactly how your body is going to feel after dipping off the high precipice of some downward spiraled roller coaster of scares. At first I was surprised to find myself in this genre. Then I felt warmed and welcomed by the creatives making these spectacles and also the audiences who appreciate them. It is now a genre that I proudly call my home. I find myself watching more horror movies on my off time than any other genre. In an odd way, I actually feel relaxed after watching one. Your body tenses up and is on high alert and at the end when everything is safe you can finally relax because the hero/heroine has won. Another thing horror movies does for you is prepares you for tragic things to occur, including the loss of a loved one or even your own death. If you can go through the experience of watching a horror movie subjectively than objectively it could soften the potential blow of horrific things to come, you’ve been prepared. People always ask me this question about how I feel being crowned a ‘Scream Queen,’ I don’t know if I have ever come up with the ultimate answer. But the fact that people keep asking me to be involved is completely gratifying and satisfying. You can call me Barbara, Miss Crampton or Miss Queen, just keep calling me…

Q: You grew up on the Carnival circuit. Can you describe what that was like?

A: Fun, exciting, weird. We were always in a new town every week so I would make friends with the ride boys, the fried bread dough sellers and the bearded lady. I could ride any ride I wanted on the lot for free, play any game, see any show and I had hundreds of stuffed animals in my room at home. The carnival world was full of questionable and interesting characters mostly living on the fringe of life. A lot of people working in that industry felt like they didn’t belong; being on the road and constantly moving oddly gave them a sense of peace. There was a unity and camaraderie that we all experienced coming from different backgrounds. It enabled me to completely put myself in other’s shoes and be non-judgemental which is one of the greatest gifts my family has ever given me. I hope it continues to afford me the momentum of treating all others with respect and kindness no matter who they are, where they come from, what bodies they choose to inhabit or whom they want to love.

Q: You have a stage background. How important an influence has this been and continues to be?

A: I am very happy that I had a full education for my acting background. Scene study, character analysis, stage combat, movment, voice lessons. All these things help inform every role I have ever played. To have a classic background and education in acting is something I think is missing in the young actors of today. Everyone seems to just act as who they are naturally. Where is the character development? I think sometimes the British actors are a little more advanced in that area than we are. Working on the stage really prepares you to engage your whole physical being in the process of creating a character.

Q: We all remember you from RE-ANIMATOR and FROM BEYOND of course but how do you reflect on what those two films did for you?

A:  A loose quote, but as Herbert West once said, “They gave me life!” I don’t think I would be where I am today without having had the glorious opportunity of working on two beloved films by Stuart Gordon. Those films, especially RE-ANIMATOR launched my career as an actress. I am forever grateful to both Stuart Gordon for giving me the role of Megan Halsey and for the other girl who had it first and turned it down.

Q: How do you think the Horror genre has changed/evolved over the years since you started out?

A: That’s a big question! Do you have an hour? In short, as far as I can tell, there are some major things that have evolved. It’s easier than ever to make a movie, anyone can do it, perhaps not well, but anyone can. We have digital instead of film so it’s a faster process. It’s more collaborative than it’s ever been and everyone seems to understand each other’s jobs. There are many more platforms on which to show your work and also one thing has never changed: no one is ever completely satisfied, the artist or the audience. We are smarter and more difficult to please than ever.

Q: What has been your favourite role so far?

A: My favourite role so far is the one I am doing right now.

Q: And the favourite role you’d love to play?

A: I probably won’t know that until after I have finished it because it’s in the doing of things and the immediacy of performing that I think we get our deepest personal rewards.

Friday 21 August 2015

Competition: Win Zombie Fight Club on DVD

Win a copy of Zombie Fight Club on DVD!

The Raid meets Dawn of the Dead in this crazy zombie smackdown!

While the zombie apocalypse brings Taipei to the brink of collapse, an apartment block in the corner of the city becomes riddled with crime. But things go from bad to worse when it’s overrun by zombies; infecting the residents, bystanders and even a SWAT team sent in to help. Surrounded by zombies and with no way out but down, the last remaining survivors Andy (Andy On) and Jenny (Jessica C) soon find themselves trapped in an underground arena of the undead. With nothing left to do but fight, can they battle their way through the hordes of zombies and escape the apocalypse?

Zombie Fight Club is out on DVD from 31st August 2015

Win This:
Zombie Fight Club [DVD]

To enter all you have to do is answer this easy question...

Competition Closed

Winners will be chosen randomly and will be informed via email.

Thursday 20 August 2015

Film News (UK): Saws, psychos & nasty spirits invade the Horror Channel in September


Autumn just got a lot darker as Horror Channel unleashes three UK TV premieres and eight network premieres across the weekends during September – including network premieres for fear-franchise hits SAW V, SAW V!, a 15th year anniversary broadcast for Mary Arron’s sickly slick adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ AMERICAN PSYCHO and the menacing erotic thriller AFTER.LIFE, starring Christina Ricci and Liam Neeson.

There are also UK TV premieres for Alex Chandon’s teeth-clenching horror-comedy INBRED, controversial director James Cullen Bressack’s blood-soaked PERNICIOUS and the found-footage shocker DARK FEED directed by Michael & Shawn Rasmussen. Other network premieres are the creepy CATACOMBS, starring Pink, THE DEVIL’S TOMB, starring Cuba Gooding, Jr., Ron Perlman, and Ray Winstone, SUNDOWN: THE VAMPIRE IN RETREAT, starring Bruce Campbell and David Carradine and Glenn Standinf’s Vampire tale PERFECT CREATURE, which stars Dougray Scott, Saffron Burrows, and Leo Gregory


Sat 12 Sept @ 22:50 – AMERICAN PSYCHO (2000) * Network Premiere


Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) is young, white, handsome and indistinguishable from his Wall Street colleagues. Shielded by conformity, privilege, and wealth, Bateman is also the ultimate serial killer. After a colleague presents a business card superior in ink and paper to his, Bateman's blood thirst sharpens, and he steps up his homicidal activities to a frenzied pitch. Hatchets fly, butcher knives chop, chainsaws rip, and surgical instruments mutilate-how far will Bateman go? How much can he get away with? Also stars  Willem Dafoe, Reese Witherspoon, Jared Leto and Chloë Sevigny. This broadcast marks the film’s 15th year anniversary.


Sat 19 Sept @ 23:00 – SAW V (2008) *Network Premiere


Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) might be dead, but his traps live on in this fifth Saw entry, which finds the series' production designer David Hackl at the helm for his directorial debut. Costas Mandylor reprises his role as Hoffman, the detective whose involvement in the string of grisly murders turns out to be more than meets the eye. Picking up where the fourth entry left off, Hoffman is revealed to be a hidden accomplice in Jigsaw's grisly games of death. Saw IV scribes Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan return to pen the screenplay.


Sun 20 Sept @ 21:00 – AFTER.LIFE (2009) *Network Premiere


After a horrific car accident, Anna (Christina Ricci) wakes up to find the local funeral director Eliot Deacon (Liam Neeson) preparing her body for burial. Confused, terrified and still feeling very much alive, Anna doesn’t believe she’s dead, Trapped inside the funeral parlour, she is forced to face her deepest fears and accept her death. With an unrelenting edge of menace, this stylish and erotic chiller provocatively questions the line between life and death. Directed by Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo.


Fri 25 Sept @ 22:45 – INBRED (2011) *UK TV Premiere


From Alex Chandon, director of Cradle of Fear and Pervirella, a screamingly hilarious warped nightmare with nowt taken out. Four young urban offenders and their two care workers embark on a community service weekend in the remote Yorkshire village of Mortlake. Before you can say ‘Ey up’, they upset the yokels with their city ways and put themselves in the gravest of dangers. This best bad taste un-PC gore-soaked riot is more fun than a ferret down the trousers. Starring Jo Hartley, James Doherty, Seamus O’Neill, James Burrows and Nadine Rose Mulkerrin.


Sat 26 Sept @ 23:05 – SAW VI (2009) *Network Premiere


Saw VI concludes the second trilogy of the series that focused on the posthumous effects of the Jigsaw Killer and the progression of his successor, Mark Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) Hoffman sets a series of traps for an insurance executive, William Easton (Peter Outerbridge), and his employees. Meanwhile the FBI trails Peter Strahm, now suspected of being Jigsaw's last accomplice, and Hoffman is drawn into a violent, sadistic battle to protect his secret identity.

TV: Sky 319 / Virgin 149 / Freesat 138 | Freeview 70

www.horrorchannel.co.uk | twitter.com/horror_channel








Monday 17 August 2015

Competition: Win Infernal on DVD

Infernal is released on DVD on August 24th, and to celebrate we have a great competition for you and 3 copies to win on DVD.

Synopsis:
A newlywed couple Sophia have just moved into their new home together when Sophia delivers the news that she’s pregnant. Nathan digests the news, proposes to her and they get married, hoping to live happily ever after...

The couple welcomes their first child into the world shortly after getting married, but their joy quickly turns to panic when the girl starts acting strangely and unexplainable things start happening around the house. Fearing their daughter could be possessed, the parents call in a priest to perform an exorcism, but when that goes horribly wrong, the parents start to wonder if they will ever be able to rid their daughter of the evil power lurking within her?

Will the hidden demons ever leave their presence?  Find out for yourself when INFERNAL is released on DVD on 24th August.

Win This:
Infernal [DVD]

To enter all you have to do is answer this easy question...

Who is the director of Infernal?

To enter Email us on competition@mastersofhorror.co.uk with your answer, along with your name and address.

When the competition ends as indicated on this page, any and all entries received after this point will not count and emails blacklisted due to not checking this page first.

Winners will be chosen randomly and will be informed via email.

Trailer:

Sunday 16 August 2015

Full Movie - The Perfect Letter (2015)


A writing assignment leads an author on a frightening quest for answers and sanity in this experimental horror project. Starring Kelsey Zukowski, Monique Dupree, Anita Nicole Brown, BEKA, Kaylee Williams and Nathyn Masters with Elena Chernyakova and Deann Baker

Tuesday 11 August 2015

Competition: Win Treasure of the Black Jaguar on DVD

Treasure of the Black Jaguar is out on DVD on 24th August! and to celebrate we have a great competition for you and 3 DVDs to give away

Synopsis:
Dubbed “Sergio Leone meets Robert Rodriguez”, TREASURE OF THE BLACK JAGUAR follows the violent quest of buddies Anthony (Cameron Van Hoy) and Shlomo (Michael Drayer) to uncover a valuable but cursed artifact.

They break out of prison with famed treasure hunter Blake West (Timothy V. Murphy) and journey into the unforgiving Californian desert. There they come up against Blake West's former employer, a Japanese industrialist (Masayuki Imai), who is determined to beat them to the treasure by any means necessary…

Cited as a “real gem of indie cinema” by Flickering Myth, the film is directed by Mike Bruce, whose video for Noel Gallagher's AKA...What a Life! made the Top 20 Most Awesome Videos of 2011

Win This:
Treasure of the Black Jaguar [DVD]


Winners will be chosen randomly and will be informed via email.


Competition Closed

Sunday 9 August 2015

Goodnight Mommy - Official Trailer (2015) Horror Movie


In Theaters - September 11

In the heat of the summer lays a lonesome house in the countryside where nine year old twin brothers await their mother’s return. When she comes home, bandaged after cosmetic surgery, nothing is like before and the children start to doubt whether this woman is actually who she says she is. What ensues is a terrifying observational struggle with fatal consequences on par with THE SHINING and DEAD RINGERS.

Genre: Horror, Thriller
Directors: Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz
Writers: Veronika Franz (screenplay), Severin Fiala (screenplay)
Stars: Susanne Wuest, Elias Schwarz, Lukas Schwarz