Monday 21 February 2022

COMPETITION: Win Caveat on Blu-ray - A Shudder Original


Caveat  - Released from 28th February

And to celebrate we have a great competition for you and 3 copies on Bluray to give away.

Synopsis: 
Damian Mc Carthy makes his dramatic directorial debut with the ‘impressive and often terrifying’ (The Guardian) Caveat, a Shudder Exclusive set for its UK Blu-ray debut from Acorn Media International on 28 February 2022. It will also be available on DVD and digital.

Amnesiac drifter Isaac (Jonathan French – A Soldier’s Voice, The Anniversary) struggles to recall his recent past after a traumatic event, but shifty ‘friend’ Barret (Ben Caplan – Murder on the Orient Express, Ghostbusters) offers to help him back on his feet with a profitable babysitting job. All he has to do is look after his adult niece (Leila Sykes – Missing Something, Lancaster Skies). 

But there is a Caveat: The isolated house is plagued by a gruesome past which has left Olga psychologically disturbed, andIsaac must wear a leather harness and chain restricting his movement to certain rooms.

Once in the harness and left alone with Olga, a terrifying game of cat and mouse ensues, and Isaac must fight for survival amid the unsettling resurgence of his own memories. Can Isaac piece the fragments together before it’s too late? 

A Caveat for viewers: there’s deeply unsettling forces at work in this eerie and evocative nightmare-fuelled feature.  
 
Pre-Order from Amazon at https://amzn.to/36mTrDr

For your chance to win just answer the question below.

COMPETITION CLOSED

Quick Terms and conditions - For full T&C click here
1. Closing date 07-03-22
2. No alternative prize is available
3. 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.
4. Winners will be chosen randomly and will be informed via email.
5. Entries that come directly from other websites will not be accepted.

Thursday 17 February 2022

Interview with Paul Hyett


Ahead of Horror Channel’s UK TV Premiere of PERIPHERAL, director Paul Hyett talks about directorial ambitions, twisted technology, and why aliens aren’t interested in us.

How did you become attached to Peripheral?
The producer Craig Touhy and I had been friends for a while and we’d nearly done another movie together. He’d liked the claustrophobia and tension of The Seasoning House so we met up to discuss Peripheral. When he pitched it to me, very much a low budget, contained movie, in one apartment. I must say I was a little hesitant. I wanted to broaden my directing and do bigger scope. Craig persuaded me to at least read it. I did and loved the script. The story, the character of Bobbi, of this writer blocked, being forced to adjust to what is wanted of her, and having to succumb to a technology that ultimately fucks her in so many ways and being forced to write for a corporation that she hates. It all felt so very relevant.

Was the cast already in place and what’s it like directing legends such as Jenny Seagrove and Tom Conti?
No we cast from the ground up, Jenny Seagrove was the first cast, I was so happy we got her. She loved the script and the character of Merlock. She was an absolute joy, so professional, so excellent and willing to discuss everything

The film looks incredible, did you have much budget to play with?
No, it was soo low budget. But we were lucky, we had a great DOP, Peter Taylor who is Ridley Scott’s camera operator of choice. He shot it so beautifully. And in general we had a great crew, all the departments really did great work to make the budget look a lot more then it was.

It’s a very technical movie, was it a tough shoot?
No, not compared to Howl or The Seasoning House. It was nice to be able to concentrate on the drama and performances

There is a conspiracy element to the story, do you have a favourite conspiracy theory?
Yeah but to be honest, I will keep those to myself as they could cause offence. Although I do believe aliens have visited and thought we were too backward to bother with.

Do you think there will be a time when AI does take control?
I think technology will continue and AI is going to be a very valuable tool. Do I think it will ever take control as per Skynet, no. Technology will slow down. There’s only so much space on a computer chip. Even with nanotechnology there needs to be a breakthrough in how technology can be furthered without it being made in the current methodology. It would need to be something organic, like biological mechanics.


It’s very different to other movies you’ve directed, is this a deliberate choice?
Yeah I try to diversify as much as I can. I like to try to do something different each time. I can’t see the point in repeating the same thing over and over.

How does it feel that it’s having its UK TV premiere on Horror and how would you describe it to our audience?
I am so happy for Peripheral to land on the Horror Channel. It will hit a whole new audience. I would describr it as a fusion of reality and fantasy, whereas an isolated writer faces a bizarre and surrealistic predicament against incomprehensible socio-bureaucratic powers with shades of Cronenberg and Demon Seed.

All your movies have a distinct British edge to them, would you agree?
Yes I would agree with that.

You’re a multi-talented creative, you have one job you prefer above all others?
Very kind of you. I love directing more than anything. Its way above anything I’ve done, and more satisfying and soul crushing than anything I’ve ever done.

So, what are you up to at the moment?
I have a few projects in development. The Black Site, a gritty war-horror with Grimmfest Films. I’m also developing a project with Balagan Productions. a revisionist take on the afterlife and our perceptions of it, and Unnatural Selection, a Carpenteresque new England horror. All very different, all in different stages of development 

Paul Hyett, thank you very much. PERIPHERAL will be broadcast on Horror Channel on Sunday Feb 20, 11.05pm.

Tuesday 15 February 2022

Horror Channel announces Killer Thriller week for March


Horror Channel turns up the tension in March with KILLER THRILLER WEEK, featuring the UK premiere of mystery thriller PARADISE COVE, staring Mena Suvari and the channel premiere of cat-and-mouse road thriller COP CAR, starring Kevin Bacon. The ultimate 7-day suspense ride also includes Gus Van Sant’s revival of the Hitchcock classic PSYCHO (1988), the 2014 version of erotic thriller THE LOFT starring Karl Urban, Colin Minihan’s deliciously warped WHAT KEEPS YOU ALIVE, Rod Lurie’s 2011 pulsating remake of STRAW DOGS and BAD SAMARITAN, starring a cunningly murderous David Tennant.

Plus, there are four additional UK TV premieres, highlighted by the late Johnny Kevorkian’s last film, AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS, a powder keg of throat-grabbing suspense, Cronenbergian intensity and mind-bending body horror, starring Sam Gittins, David Bradley, Grant Masters and Holly Weston, slasher thriller WIRED SHUT, CASTLE FREAK, Tate Steinsiek’s reboot of the 1995 Stuart Gordon film by the same name and Jesse Thomas Cook’s dark zombie thriller DEADSIGHT.

There are also channel premieres for Abner Pastoll’s superbly crafted urban crime story, A GOOD WOMAN IS HARD TO FIND, which showcases a tour-de-force performance by Sarah Bolger, murderous high-school horror comedy COOTIES, starring Elijah Woods, and German survival horror thriller PREY.

Full film details in transmission order:

Saturday 5 March @ 21:00 – PREY (2021) *Channel Premiere
After his father is tragically killed, Toby is left stricken with guilt. He is begrudgingly enrolled in a program, in which he will spend three days on a remote jungle island. Toby soon finds that this uninhabited island is not so lonely when he meets a mysterious girl. It soon becomes clear that neither of them are safe and time is running out. Someone or something bloodthirsty lurks in the jungle..

Sunday 6 March @ 21:00 – WIRED SHUT (2021) *UK TV Premiere
A disillusioned famous novelist, Reed Rooney, unable to talk while recovering in his remote mountain home from major reconstructive jaw surgery, is exposed to a life-threatening secret when he receives an unexpected visit from Emma, his estranged daughter.

Friday 11 March @ 21:00 – A GOOD WOMAN IS HARD TO FIND (2019) *Channel Premiere
Recently widowed mother of two Sarah (Bolger) is desperate to know who murdered her husband in front of their young son, rendering him mute. Coerced into helping low-life drug-dealer Tito (Andrew Simpson) stash narcotics stolen from the local Mr. Big, she’s forced into taking drastic action to protect her children while learning the awful truth about her spouse.

Saturday 12 March @ 21:00 – AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS (2018) *UK TV Premiere
It’s Christmas Day and the dysfunctional Milgram family wake to find a mysterious black substance surrounding their house. Something monumental is clearly happening right outside their door, but what exactly – an industrial accident, a terrorist attack, a nuclear war? All their limited information now comes from the television. But as the ominous gogglebox exerts an ever more sinister grip on their psyches, their terrified paranoia escalates into bloody carnage.

Friday 18 March @ 22:55 – CASTLE FREAK (2020) *UK TV Premiere
After she’s permanently blinded in a tragic car accident, it seems like Rebecca’s young life has ended just as it was beginning. However, a second chance arises when she’s told that her long-lost-mother has recently passed away, leaving her their family’s ancestral castle in her will. Rebecca hopes that it will be an opportunity for her to reconnect with a past she never knew, and a mother who seemingly left her behind. As mysterious happenings begin to occur, she must unravel her family’s secrets before she falls prey to… the Castle Freak.

Saturday 19 March @ 21:00 – COP CAR (2015) *Channel Premiere
When two rebellious young boys stumble across an abandoned cop car hidden in a secluded glade they decide to take it for a joyride. When the small town sheriff (Kevin Bacon) goes looking for his missing car, the boys find themselves in the center of a deadly game of cat and mouse and the only way out is to go as fast as their cop car can take them.

Sunday 20 March @ 21:00 – PARADISE COVE (2011) *UK TV Premiere
A contractor (Todd Grinnell) and his wife (Mena Suvari) move to Malibu to rebuild his mother's beach house but Paradise Cove is far from paradise as they are terrorised by the deranged homeless lady living under the house. Also stars Kristin Bauer van Straten of True Blood fame.

Friday 25 March @ 23:10 – DEADSIGHT (2018) *UK TV Premiere
A man with partial blindness and a young pregnant police officer must work together to escape from a deadly virus that has spread across Grey County. Starring Adam Seybold and Liv Collins, director Jesse Thomas Cook’s take on the zombie genre explores an unthinkable question – how would one survive the apocalypse without eyesight?

Saturday 26 March @ 21:00 – COOTIES (2014) *Channel Premiere
Elijah Wood stars as the substitute teacher Clint Hadson whose first day on the job at his new elementary school turns into a killer...Literally! A virus spawned from a diseased chicken nugget quickly spreads through the school turning all the children into a swarm of savages. This murderous high-school horror comedy is directed by Jonathan Milott & Cary Murnion.

Monday 14 February 2022

COMPETITION: Win Sweetie, You Won't Believe It on Blu-ray


Sweetie, You Won't Believe It - Released from 21st February

And to celebrate we have a great competition for you and 2 copies on Bluray to give away.

Synopsis: 
Berserk, bloody hilarious and not for the faint hearted;  Sweetie, You Won’t Believe It gets its UK release on digital and Blu-ray release from 101 Films on 21 February 2022, following its barnstorming UK Premiere at FrightFest 2021.

Lauded as the breakout favourite on its premiere, this hysterical killer Kazakhstan thriller from director Yernar Nurgarliyev brings us head-rolling laughter and a bucket load of gore.

Bickering husband and wife Dastan (Daniar Alshinov) and Zhanna (Asel Kaliyeva) are expecting their first child and Dastan is desperate to get away for one last weekend of fun before the baby arrives and he must finally settle down.  He rounds up his two best pals for a boys’ weekend of fishing and fun, but little do they know their plan for a chilled trip to the lake is about to turn into mad and deadly mayhem.

After accidentally witnessing a murder by a group of thugs, the three friends are suddenly on the run to escape their violent clutches and then things turn even wilder.  With a mysterious one-eyed man out for blood and a desperate wannabe bride and her pushy father in the mix, the body count starts to rise. Never mind fishing, will Dastan make it out alive and get to the hospital in time for the birth of his baby?

Filled with copious amounts of blood, sweat and tears of laughter Sweetie, You Won’t Believe It is madcap mayhem and  unapologetically brutal – you really won’t believe it.
 
Pre-Order from Amazon at https://amzn.to/3LJKggT

For your chance to win just answer the question below.

COMPETITION CLOSED


Quick Terms and conditions - For full T&C click here
1. Closing date 28-02-22
2. No alternative prize is available
3. 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.
4. Winners will be chosen randomly and will be informed via email.
5. Entries that come directly from other websites will not be accepted.

COMPETITION: Win Shepherd on Blu-ray, plus an exclusive T-Shirt


Shepherd - Released from 21st February

And to celebrate we have a great competition for you and 3 copies on Bluray and 3 Exclusive T-Shirts to give away.

Synopsis: 
British horror film Shepherd from Darkland Distribution will be released on Blu-ray and Digital Download from 21st February.  Shepherd stars Tom Hughes (Red Joan, Victoria), Kate Dickie (Game of Thrones, The Witch), Gaia Weiss (Vikings, Medici) & Greta Scacchi (The Player) and is directed by Russell Owen. 
 
Since its Premiere at BFI London Film Festival and its theatrical release in November, critics have heaped praise on the British independent title.  Total Film described the film as a "disturbing watch" with "truly nightmarish" visual effects, Starburst called it a "brooding, bleak, atmospheric nightmare that grips with ease" and SciFiNow reviewed it as a "physiological horror that hauntingly portrays the madness of isolation with striking visual clarity" and "not for the faint hearted."
 
Film critic Mark Kermode was also full of praise for the film, awarding it his 'Film of the Week' on his Radio 5: Live Show, lauding Kate Dickie's 'fantastic' performance and the 'eerie' atmopshere created by filmmaker Russell Owen; "...you can feel the cold, you can feel the lonliness, you can smell the air of the island."
 
Running from grief after the mysterious death of his wife, Eric Black (Tom Hughes) takes a job as a shepherd. Trapped alone on a majestic weather-beaten island with an ominous secret. One man's spiralling madness meets a vengeful supernatural force. What starts as the perfect wind-swept escape becomes a race to save his sanity and his life.
 
Shepherd will be available on Blu-ray and Digital Download from 21st February
 
Pre-Order from Amazon at https://amzn.to/3oPfMjD

For your chance to win just answer the question below.
COMPETITION CLOSED


Quick Terms and conditions - For full T&C click here
1. Closing date 28-02-22
2. No alternative prize is available
3. 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.
4. Winners will be chosen randomly and will be informed via email.
5. Entries that come directly from other websites will not be accepted.

Tuesday 8 February 2022

COMPETITION: Win The Accursed on DVD


The Accursed - Released from 14th February

And to celebrate we have a great competition for you and 3 copies on DVD to give away.

Synopsis: 
Inspired by Eastern European folklore, an unthinkable betrayal leads to a maleficent curse being placed upon a family’s bloodline. Decades later, a wedding unites the next generation of the estranged family. When one of them unknowingly awakens the dark forces that start picking them off one by one, matriarch Hana (Yancy Butler, Kick Ass, Hard Target) must figure out who is working against them before the bloody curse takes hold of them forever.

The Accursed is a fresh, female-driven supernatural horror written and directed by Kathryn Michelle and Elizabeta Vidovic.

Dazzler Media presents The Accursed on DVD & Digital Download from 14th February
 
Pre-Order from Amazon at https://amzn.to/3HQOSPq

Buy & Watch early on new streaming service Dazzler+ from 7th February
For more information visit https://www.dazzlerplus.tv

For your chance to win just answer the question below.

COMPETITION CLOSED


Quick Terms and conditions - For full T&C click here
1. Closing date 24-02-22
2. No alternative prize is available
3. 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.
4. Winners will be chosen randomly and will be informed via email.
5. Entries that come directly from other websites will not be accepted.