Friday 13 November 2009

The Origins of Real Frustration


The irony! Not that long after I had a go at the movie X-Men Origins: Wolverine I buy it on DVD.
Strange you might think, but I wanted to hear the commentary and watch the extras. I bought it online and didn't take much interest on the actual content. Dumb move! The DVD arrives and even with the extra disc (A wasted DVD-5 disc) there's virtually no extra material. Then I take notice of the myriad of ads for the Blu-Ray discs. Clearly, this is a marketing DVD to get people to switch over to the new format. Sadly, although I could stretch to about £100 for a decent budget Blu-Ray player, I can't also afford a HD ready television. It's my own fault, but it was either two weeks in South Florida for my vacation or a new entertainment system.

Real life Vs Virtual I believe.

Wednesday 11 November 2009

DVD Review: Colin

Check out my review of this superb nil-budget zombie movie. It's well worth your time and effort. Don't let the £45 budget comment put you off if you're a horror movie fan. Certainly watch it if you're a Romero zombie film fan;

http://www.flash-bang-movie-reviews.com/colin.html

Attention Blake's 7 fans!

Ok, so to my followers, I apologise for no updates. There's been a flurry of activity on the Zombieland poster blog post, but who knows what you've been talking about lol!

I have to share the following with Blake's 7 fans. It's a link to the reliable but not particularly well known site The Geek Files at the Coventry Telegraph. I recommend it for fantasy news updates on the fly.

Anyway, I'd heard about the intention to continue or reimagine Blake's 7 some time ago. I couldn't raise much interest, especially after the awful audio play that turned a well loved show into a stark, tedious drama that eschewed the characterisation of it's source. However, today I spy the picture that The Geek Files has posted. I saw it and let out a naughty word.

By that I mean the picture looks exceptionally cool :o)

Have a look;

http://blogs.coventrytelegraph.net/thegeekfiles/2009/11/blakes-7-remake-will-be-very-m.html#more

Sunday 6 September 2009

Movie News: Spiderhole

By accident, I came across this movie's details through a fellow Twitter user. The site:

http://www.spiderholethemovie.com

is running a competition to win a 32GB iPod Touch for visitors to choose 1 of 2 trailers, giving a good reason as to why the choice was made. I was sold on the first trailer; a moody, tense piece that gets across the horror very well. This adds to my frustration, that movies like this really need more exposure.

Check out the site and read the synopsis. I imagine this to be an exciting prospect for indie horror fans.

Friday 4 September 2009

AIRWOLF Themes News!


A long time ago, now, I missed out on the release of the Airwolf Themes soundtrack by Mark J Cairns. I joined the forum, watched as ebay prices soar; had disappointments at not winning bids, or couldn't afford the bidding war. War it was too, with prices fetching up to $500. By chance, in 2005 I happened upon an ebay sale and finally got the 2-CD set for a very reasonable price that didn't involve a bank loan.

The soundtrack not only met my expectations it surpassed them. I admit to finding a couple of tracks on the old Napster but I never knew how much work had been put into recreating themes from the show. In truth Mark J Cairns improved upon Levay's theme. This was evident upon watching the show again on DVD.

This made me even more hungry for more. Finally, this trailer proves that more is on the way. It's a great tribute to the opening scenes of the Airwolf pilot. Have a look and wait for the EP to reach digital vendors soon.






Friday 28 August 2009

Miami AdVice

Over the next couple of months, I will be off to Miami and South Florida. I'd be grateful for any tips on where to visit, especially Miami Vice related. :O)

Tuesday 25 August 2009

Faster and Furiouser

This in from Vin Diesel's Facebook page;

For those wanting more Fast and Furious films...

Universal, a great studio to work with and a studio that always believed in me, is working hard to ensure the next two chapters are quality driven…

Gracias Universal.

Justin Lin, one of my favorite directors to work with, is all over it… holding strong to the trilogy mapped out at the beginning of the last film.



Is there really much more life left in thsi franchise? More Riddick! Less Dominic Toretto

Early News: Timeless


This bit of news, in from my favourite movie news website Twitch ;
Michael Bartlett and Kevin Gates came to our attention a little while back with The Zombie Diaries, an ultra-low budget affair that nevertheless managed to put a slightly different spin on the material, breathing some fresh life into the tired genre. While The Zombie Diaries certainly shows some of the limitations of its miniscule budget it also made it very clear that Bartlett and Gates were the real thing, very talented directors with a unique spin on genre material that made them very much worth keeping an eye on. And now they’re back.
Due to shoot in 2010, they’re next picture will be a time travel picture titled Timeless and while they’re keeping tight lipped about any specifics - as they should with this sort of material, no point spoiling your own film - they have released the initial key art and allowed the fine lads over at Quiet Earth to post some impressions on the script. Very few details in there but they’re very enthusiastic and this is definitely one we’ll be keeping close eye on.
I liked The Zombie Diaries. Whilst it wasn't perfect, there was some genuinely creepy tension at the farmhouse and I liked the twist at the end. So, Timeless could well be a good film. I'll be keeping tabs on the production.

Latest Pointless Remake: Excalibur





"Bryan Singer is developing a remake of the 1981 John
Boorman-directed fantasy classic "Excalibur" for Warner Bros, Pictures says The
Hollywood Reporter
.
The project, a retelling of the King Arthur legend, is in early stages with the remake rights only just tied up. Singer's involvement is still in the talking stage and it certainly won't be his next project which will likely be the action fantasy "Jack the Giant Killer" for New Line or the "Battlestar Galactica" film at Universal Pictures.
Legendary Pictures may come aboard the project. Singer, Julie Yorn and Polly Johnsen will produce."



Remember when Bryan Singer made innovative, deep movies? No? So you never saw The Usual Suspects, Apt Pupil, Valkyrie? The X-Men movies were a cut above average too. Well most of us will soon forget if he gets involved with pointless remake after remake. I suppose that he's involved in just developing them as opposed to taking on directorial duties. Incidentally, I liked Jack the Giant Killer, when I saw it as a young boy. Excalibur is one of my favourite movies. Leave it alone!!!!!!


Monday 24 August 2009

Zombie Previews: The 4th Reich


I like the look of The 4th Reich! It stars one of my favourite actors, Sean Pertwee. Details are sketchy but a synopsis is at the official site. There are numerous links there too.

Articles:
Dread Central
Opium.org.pl

Preview: Straw Man


Another intriguing film that I'm waiting for, still not released. The movie stars Leslie Simpson (Dog Soldiers, The Descent, Doomsday) and Axelle Carolyn (Doomsday, the upcoming 4th Reich)

Synopsis:

Straw Man is the harrowing tale of one man, a lone soul in an empty world. To combat the loneliness of isolation he surrounds himself with people made out of straw, hand-crafted and moulded from faded memories of friends and family. They offer little in the way of company yet they hold insanity at bay. This Lone Man is a contradiction, his rambling thoughts battling against his need for structure and routine. In his quest for normality he spends each day teaching pupils, reading to them from the classics as they stare back at him with blank, featureless faces. But when the line between reality and fantasy is blurred by madness his ordered life is sent into a downward spiral.

Why do the straw people stare at him with blind judgement?
What are the children trying to tell him?
Who is the beautiful woman... ...and does she offer salvation?

The official site http://www.strawmanmovie.co.uk/ has the trailer and will hopefully follow with more detail. There was a myspace page but that seems to have been deleted. Watch this space for more news as it comes in.

*Please note that the image above is not official.


Invasion of the Not Quite Dead: Kent Newspaper Exposure

Kent News published a page article on the teaser trailer shoot for Invasion of the Not Quite Dead. I'm not mentioned, of course ;o)

http://www.kentnews.co.uk/kent-news/Director_s-zombies-make-village-home-of-the-undead-newsinkent27394.aspx?news=local

Review: Avatar 3-D preview



Big Mike, dutifully put up my comments on Flash-Bang, this morning. Sadly, these were phoned in from the train, on the night of the preview, using a Nokia 3120 - not the best phone for writing emails. Had I known I'd have some time to elaborate, I'd have sent this off. So, the blog gets it.

Before I set across London to catch the Avatar preview at the Wimbledon IMAX, I'd heard that "fanboys" were moaning about the online trailer saying it looked like cut scenes for a video game. I was somewhat taken aback. So, Cameron's project that was supposed to revolutionise cinema is like a video game? After 14 years of development? Nah, can't be right I thought, so off I went.

Casually, I entered the Odeon IMAX at about 17:20. There were no tickets I discovered, you queued at a "control area" and handed over the print out from SeeFilmsFirst as you went in. It appeared that people were already queuing. I wasn't having any of that and went for a wander. I returned at about 18:10 and a healthy queue had formed. I was downstairs. I spoke to a couple of women in the queue and explained why I was there, to watch the preview and do a mini-review of it. One of them handed me a card (I need to get some cards done) for her website. Looks interesting for those who need managing;

Eventually, we got in and were handed the polarising, non-tinted, 3-D glasses that I recognised from attending the IMAX screening of Superman Returns. The cinema was not as crowded as I imagined. Maybe, South London is a bit far afield for most. (I was too late for the Waterloo IMX, irritatingly). the lights went down and the preview began.

Jim Cameron introduced the 15 mins, looking a little older now than I remember. Aren't we all? We first see a briefing about the planet. A grizzled vet with a face streaked with scars from huge claws puts the fear of god into the group listening. he is Col Quaritch (played by Stephen Lang) and he's warning them that they are going into hazardous territory. The scars on his face back up his words. Immediately I could see the appeal of the 3-D. At one point it felt as if we were part of that briefing, sitting in between some of the audience.

The next two clips are of Sam Worthington, as Jake Sully, in hospital. The first is with Sigourney Weaver as Dr Grace Augustine. Here she is analysing Worthington's character after an accident has rendered him a paraplegic. The next scene is when Jake Sully wakes in his avatar body. This is where we see the Na'vi for the first time. Anybody expecting photo-realistic CGI is going to be disappointed. It's not quite that but it's the best CG rendered humanoid creature that I've seen. Sully, against orders, gets out of bed and begins to walk like a newborn, tripping up and trashing expensive looking equipment.

The next scenes are made up of Sully training as his Na'vi avatar self. This is where the 3-D shows it's power over standard 2-D presentations. The planet of Pandora is nothing short of stunning as the 3-D is highlighted by Sully's avatar being chased by Pandoran predators and observing the plant and insect life in a separate clip.

The rest of the footage is more like a trailer with a flurry of clips. The human military technology is an extension of the tech that we saw in Cameron's 1986 movie Aliens with dropships and helicopters. the space technology mirrors future versions of vehicles we are familiar with.

The synopsis of Avatar is:
Jake Sully, a former Marine, is confined to a wheelchair following a war on Earth. He is chosen to participate in the Avatar program. His mind will control a healthy Na'vi body and travel to Pandora, a rainforest-covered moon with indigenous creatures that are both beautiful and deadly.
The Na'vi are sentient, humanoid beings, but considered primitive by humans as they attempt to take the moon by force. Jake has to decide which side he is on.
The movie opens on December 18th 2009.

Incidentally, what kind of article is this, I ask you? What does it serve to do? Is this what online journalism produces now? What an ignorant waste of space. One thing I hate it's rubbish reporting. I wish these talkback generators would stick to subjects they actually know something about. "Sycophants"? Offensive woman!

Rant over.

Sunday 23 August 2009

Zombies: Revenant Zombie magazine #0

Revenant has consistently been a good source of material for zombie genre lovers. Now they've got a magazine coming out, featuring Antony Lane's Invasion of the Not Quite Dead. Please support it as there aren't any other Zombie genre specifci magazines out there, that I know of.

BTW: For those of us in the UK, shipping is $7 so a total of $13.99.

From the site:

We have been working very hard on our print debut of Revenant Magazine and we are pleased to announce that we are now taking orders for issue #0 which will be out next month.

Issue #0 is a limited edtion printing and features some amazing content!

Our cover story is a very great interview with 'Invasion of the Not Quite Dead' director AD Lane' We also talk to Marc Price about his micro budget zombie film 'Colin'. 'Breathers' author S.G. Browne spills his guts.

This issue also features some amazing zombie fiction, artwork and comics. As well as reviews and artilcles covering the world of the dead!

[CLICK HERE TO GO TO ORDER PAGE]


Saturday 22 August 2009

Invasion of the Not Quite Dead

It's been a week now since I helped film the teaser trailer for the above movie. It was a great experience and I met some new friends. The full report of this entitled "Blog of the Dead" will be up on Flash-bang sometime this week, with exclusive behind the scenes shots.

If you are indecisive about becoming a producer for this movie, then make a decision soon. From what I've learnt (and secrecy over the plot is surprisingly tight. I actually know little) this script is very British and full of snappy dialogue.

http://www.theindywoodproject.com/homepage/

New DVD Reviews at Flash-Bang


Check out the new reviews of the following;

The Admiral
Max Manus
The Ungodly

DVD Review: Fight Night aka Rigged

Check out my review for this recently released DVD. For an unknown movie it's well shot, well acted and well written. Recommended if you like this type of movie.

http://www.flash-bang-movie-reviews.com/fight_night

Incident At Laboratory 19


Check out Michael J Dowsell's blog for more moody atmospheric stills.

Thursday 20 August 2009

DVD Review: Haunting In Conneticut


I forgot to post that my review of the above DVD is up at Flash-Bang.
synopsis
Based on a true story, The Haunting in Connecticut charts one family's real-life encounter with the dark forces of the supernatural. When the Campbell family moves to upstate Connecticut, they soon learn that their charming Victorian home has a disturbing history: not only was the house a transformed funeral parlour where inconceivable acts occurred, but the owner's clairvoyant son Jonah served as a demonic messenger, providing a gateway for spiritual entities to crossover. Now unspeakable terror awaits when Jonah, the boy who communicated with the dead, returns to unleash horror on the innocent and unsuspecting family...

DVD Review: Shinjuku Incident

Big Mike has posted a review of this period thriller, set in the 90s (the 1990s).

Synopsis:

naive shy 'Jie' smuggle themselves to Japan on a container ship searching for a better life and Steelhead's lifelong crush Xiu Xiu, who has disappeared after moving to Japan a year previously. Once in Tokyo, the pair find themselves struggling to survive working for illegal labour bosses doing the worst kind of dangerous manual labour.
A chance meeting with another illegal, the excitable 'Hong Kong Boy', brings them into contact with some low level Chinese street Hoodlums. Steelhead quickly proves his reliability and courage and it is not long before he has gathered a crew of fellow Chinese together, and is moving up into petty street crime. The rest of the film follows Steelhead and the gang's rise and the inevitable collision course with the Yakuza.

Flash-Bang Action Movie Reviews: Shinjuku Incident

DVD Review: Knowing


Read what I thought of the Nic Cage movie "Knowing"
This is one of those movies that some people will find corny and a load of dross whilst others will enjoy the layered subtext within and the philosophical issues it highlights. Example: What is "Knowledge"?

Incident At Laboratory 19


Check out this moody teaser trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR6LaepqXi0

Intriguing, and I look forward to more info on this one.

Wednesday 19 August 2009

BTS Clip: Survival of the Dead








One To Watch Out For: The Five Murders of John Dawley


I had the pleasure of meeting Frank Jakeman at the weekend who told me about a film that he is;

The Five Murders of John Dawley.

Check out the intriguing trailer below;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhbJ8Dz7JMI

Synopsis (taken from imdb)

John Dawley is dead. The brutal patriarch of the notorious Dawley family is found shot through the head by his five estranged sons, during the night of a supposed reunion. Each brother has a motive and a gun and, as they try to discover the identity of the killer, past bitterness and repressed anger soon turns into a violent showdown

One To Watch Out For: The Fallow Field


Synopsis

Amnesiac Matt Sadler awakes alone in the middle of a wilderness with no recollection of the past seven days.

Again.

He finds his way home to discover a life rapidly falling apart: his wife is convinced he’s hiding an affair, the police are suspicious of his repeated disappearances and now he is plagued by terrifying nightmares when he closes his eyes.

As disturbing slithers of memory gradually return to Matt he retraces his steps to uncover his missing actions during
the blackouts.

Matt’s search leads him out of the city and in to the wild hills and harvesting fields of the countryside, to a remote farm owned by loner Calham. The cold farmer is suspicious of Matt but instantly sparks a dark sense of Déjà vu in his visitor.

But Calham turns on Matt, imprisoning and interrogating him, before forcing him on a terrible journey of abduction and slaughter to show the amnesiac the twisted games they used to play together.

As Matt’s fogged memory slowly begins to clear and he learns the two men share a violent history, the horrors of their past come skipping out of the darkness to greet them…


Check out the trailer at http://www.thefallowfield.com/Trailer.html












News: MannMade Films

Two trailers well worth a look from MannMade Films (MannMade Films is a uk based film production company, dedicated to fostering homegrown talent, by the development of promising projects and through the direction and production of our own films and shorts.);

MannMade Films on Vimeo

First up, for The Tournament;

THE TOURNAMENT Every ten years in an unsuspecting town, The Tournament takes place. A battle royale between the world’s deadliest assassins. The last assassin standing receiving the $10,000,000 cash prize and the title of Worlds No1, which itself carries the legendary million dollar a bullet price tag. All fights are monitored 24hrs a day on redirected CCTV cameras and broadcast secretly to a ring of high stake billionaire gamblers. A gritty, multistranded action-thriller, The Tournament brings together international killers from every imaginable discipline in a blood-bathed contest to the death. We follow the competition favourites through stories of love, betrayal, revenge and redemption as they finally discover the true value of life.

Starring Robert Carlyle, Ving Rhames, Kelly Hu

http://www.myspace.com/thetournamentmovie

SALVAGE -
It’s Christmas Eve and the residents of a British cul-de-sac are plunged into a visceral world of violence, terror and paranoia. Ring fenced by the military and ordered to stay indoors, a single mother must overcome all the odds to save her daughter.


Both movies are well worth keeping an eye out for.

Tuesday 18 August 2009

DVD Review: Cradle Will Fall


From the distributors;

Based on actual events, CRADLE WILL FALL, the debut feature from co-directors Lars Jacobson and Amardeep Kaleka, is a terrifying "stalk and slash" shocker with a very disturbing twist that combines elements of "The Shining" and ‘Flowers In The Attic".
For a group of four young children, danger lurks in the one place they would naturally expect to be safe: their home. Even worse, it comes in the form of the one person they would instinctively look to for protection… their mother.

With her trucker husband away on the road for much of the time, a young mother struggles alone to raise her three young children and newborn baby on their secluded farmhouse. Already suffering from a deep depression, the pressure of attending to the needs of her family finally causes her mind to snap and initiates a filicidal rampage from which there is no return. Faced with the unimaginable horror of the one person he loves most in the world threatening to kill him and his siblings, 10-year-old Jimmy is forced into protecting his little brother and sister while fending off the increasingly vicious attacks from their deranged mother. As the tranquillity of his once safe home rapidly turns into a blood-drenched night of terror, Jimmy must rely on both his wits and his courage as he prepares to take on the most unexpected enemy of all in an epic and harrowing battle between mother and son.

Loosely based on the true story of Andrea Yates, a Texan mother who drowned her five young children in the bath in 2001 while suffering from post partum depression, CRADLE WILL FALL takes the premise to "slasher" movie extremes resulting in a highly suspenseful and deeply disturbing viewing experiences.

Starring Colleen Porch (I Know Who Killed Me: Transformers; Starship Troopers 2) and Joel Bryant (Valkyrie; The Heartbreak Kid) as the children's parents, the film also features a standout performance from Ridge Canipe (Walk The Line; The Bad News Bears) as the young boy who is thrown into the middle of an unthinkable nightmare.

CRADLE WILL FALL (cert. 18) will be released on DVD (£12.99) by Momentum Pictures on 10th August 2009.
The movie is reviewed at Flash-Bang

News: Scientists Look at "Zombie Attack"

Thanks to www.redspurs.com

BBC News carry a report that Canadian scientists have been looking at the effect a zombie outbreak would have on the world. The full story is at the link below;

Science Ponders "Zombie Attack"

The paper referred to in the online story is "Infectious Diseases Modelling Research Progress". Now, hang on, surely Max Brook's book World War Z was enough "research" on this subject?

It sounds like Professors getting paid for being zombie geeks, something that really should provide me with a living (or unliving?) too.

Stay tuned for more zombie madness as I report from the set of the teaser trailer for Invasion of the Not Quite Dead. A great experience it was too.

This will be coming in the next couple of weeks.


Wednesday 12 August 2009

TV News: The Walking Dead

Thanks to Iconogeek for the image


To say I'm ecstatic about this news is an understatement but Entertainment Weekly and no doubt everyone in the genre blogosphere are/will be reporting that;




Cable channel AMC is seeing zombies with The Shawshank Redemption director Frank Darabont. Variety reports that AMC is about to seal a development deal with Darabont to write and direct a series adapting Image Comics’ graphic novel series The Walking Dead. Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead series is about a group of zombie survivors of an apocalypse who seek a safe place to live with the help of a
police officer.
Joel Stillerman, AMC’s senior VP of programming, production
and original, said: “This is not about zombies popping out of closets. This is a
story about survival, and the dynamics of what happens when a group is forced to
survive under these circumstances. The world is portrayed in a smart,
sophisticated way.”

Tuesday 21 July 2009

Future Movies: Vacation

I don't know how I missed this bit of information! Twitch report on Richard Stanley's new directorial duty. It's about time, Mr Stanley. I will reserve judgement on the casting.

Revenant Magazine

Tthe zombie-centric website Revenant are to produce their own magazine. I'm excited about this as I am a big Zombie fan. You might have noticed, loyal reader.

The first issue features an interview with Anthony Lane, about his Twitter financed project "Invasion of the Not Quite Dead".

Check out the full details at the website;

http://www.revenantmagazine.com/index.html

Friday 17 July 2009

Friday Rant: World War Z


Well, not exactly, but I can't help being pessimistic. Last year, J Michael Stracynski's draft screenplay adaption of Max Brook's excellent book World War Z had critics gushing. Now, we read that this screenplay has been handed to Michael Carnahan for a rewrite. Brooks is positive, citing that the money spent so far will mean that the movie will be made. That's a bit naieve. Many movies go through a lengthy, expensive, pre-production before getting the boot.


I hope the movie does get made. The original article: http://www.joblo.com/new-world-war-z-writer


Thursday 16 July 2009

Thursday Rant: More Wolverine Disappointments

I can get incensed by movie news, but I don't tend to blog about it much. When it comes to missed opportunities, I get quite angry. It's a condition known as "Geek-Anger" and can get set off easily when reading movie news articles.

Animated Wolverine

Ok, we've had the Fox Kids X-Men where Wolverine had a gravelly voice and got taken out by an energy rifle every time it looked like he was going to pop those claws and slash bad guys. That's cool, it was for kids.
X-men Evolution had the same gravelly voiced character do pretty much the same stuff but took more of a leadership role.
Wolverine and the X-Men took Logan's leadership qualities even further and has proved to be a fairly kidult series.
A non related Hulk Vs Wolverine animated movie has been the best so far, with Wolverine actually drawing blood! The best aspect of this show was the treatment of the Weapon X saga; it showed X-Men Origins how it should be done!

So on to an article posted by Aint It Cool News;

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/41711

it details a panel where the acclaimed writer Warren Ellis will discuss new anime projects at a Comic-Con, for Japan! Wolverine is one of these projects.

Now, I don't expect an animated feature along the lines of the recent Wolverine Unleashed game. That even surprised me with it's 3-D cut scenes and the level of violence shown. But, I would have liked to have seen Marvel produce a film series equal in quality to Hulk Vs that detailed Logan's solo adventures; Ideally, a feature based on the Madripoor adventures. Surely, there's a market out there for that. Clearly, their eyes are on the Asian market not Domestic.

AVON MAN

Next, this sounds too awful to be true. Another article posted by AICN via Variety;

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/41707

Not content with helping to screw up a perfect opportunity to bring a solo wolverine movie to the screen, Jackman now chooses this lame-ass idea for a movie, from the writer of "hitch" (cos that was a class-A comedy wasn't it folks!)

Either the script is very good or Jackman wouldn't know a good idea if it bit him on the ass. I like the bloke too. It's just disappointing. I'm now warming to the fanboy calls for Jackman to play Dirty Harry. The idea sounds a lot better than the premise of "Avon Man". FFS.

Wednesday 15 July 2009

DVD Review: Wrong Turn 2: Dead End


Thanks to Dread Central for the pic


Mike has posted a retro review of a title that I feel Horror fans should check out. It's fun! You could do a lot worse than take a trip to your local DVD store and pick up a copy, or go online.

The Exorcist: Linda Blair

There's an excellent feature posted on Twitch. It highlights an interview with Linda Blair that will appeal to fans of The Exorcist. Whilst some of the detail won't be new to hardcore Exorcist fans, it's worth reading.

http://twitchfilm.net/site/view/midnight-mass-2009linda-blair-on-the-exorcist#extended

Wednesday 8 July 2009

Italian Zombie Movie Reviews

One of the best low budget zombie make-ups I've seen. Pity it ends at the neck. Thanks to the original hoster for this image.


The Zed Word Blog reviews a number of Italian Zombie movies in inimitable style. Great stuff, if you're like me and have a strange fondness for no-budget Spaghetti Horrors!


Check em out here; The Zed Word Blog
There's a special place in my undead heart for Zombi 2, lovingly titled "Zombie Flesh Eaters" in the UK before it was snatched off the shelves by a Draconian government, and banned in it's uncut form for years. Working as a kind of prequel to Night of the Living Dead it had to inspire the end credit scenes of the Dawn of the Dead remake. If Romero's Island of the Dead comes close to evoking a similar atmosphere, I'd be pleased.


2009 Revenant Film Festival - Seattle, WA


We have a saying in the UK; "sod's law". The more polite amoungst you might use the phrase "Murphy's Law". Well, typically this applies to me once again. You might know that I'm a bit of zombie film fan and always open to new movies, even if they're a bit shite.
Normally, when I go to the US, I visit friends in Everett, WA. I love Seattle and always visit. Well, this is the one flamin year that i'm not going to Seattle and I could have gone along to this, dammit!
It looks fun, so I urge anyone in the area to check it out.

New Marillion Merchandise


Marillion have some new merchandise out in advance of the L=M tour (Less = More in case you were wondering). Very smart it is too.
Check it out and details of the tour at Marillion.Com Tickets are going fast, so don't hang about.

DVD Review: Hush (2009)


The "Best British Horror in Years"? Well, maybe, maybe not. it actually doesn't matter. It's still a good movie and worth watching. A full review here;

DVD Review: Gran Torino

This is easily one of my Top films of the year! It might appear lightweight and superficial to the casual viewer, but the more discerning amoungst us saw it for what it was.

check out exactly what I thought of it at the usual place;

Gran Torino Review

DVD Review: S.Darko

It wasn't a stretch to guess that this movie was a pointless exercise in wringing out the very last drop of interest in the first film. Find out a fuller account of my thoughts at the LINK

Wednesday 24 June 2009

DVD Review: Hardware


My review/feature for the Optimum Region 2 release of Hardware is up at Flash-Bang Movie Reviews:
Coming Soon: Reviews of Dust Devil: Final Cut, The House By The Cemetary, Dead Girl, Macabre, Knowing DVDs.

Tuesday 23 June 2009

Obsessed Commuters


I've been commuting to London for just over 20 years and I thought I'd seen it all; man's inhumanity to man. This morning took it up to a whole different level to which I had to wonder what really does go through some people's heads, if anything.
Now, I have to confess that myself and a fellow commuter know where the doors should stop when the 7.03 from Chelmsford arrives at Platform 2. As there are no markers that part of the platform it can be a bit of a lottery as each driver interprets the 8 carriage stop in a different way, sometimes in a weird and not wonderful way. I reassure myself that this is not OCD but a practical solution to ensure that we get a seat. I hate standing rooted to the spot for 40 minutes.
This morning I was a couple of minutes later than normal. We find the spot and wait for the train at about 06:45. As I walked up at the stairs to Platform 2, I saw a guy on his way up the platform. Now, i walk fast, but this guy turned, saw me behind him, and sped up. Needless to say I carried at my own hasty walking speed.
Somehow, I knew what he was going to do. As I approached I could see that John was already there (normal for a morning. he camps there I think) and next to him was a woman. The guy who noticed me and sped up stood to the right of John.
So, he sped up to get to the spot that I normally stand at. Unbelievable! How petty lol! I thought that the woman might have moved slightly to her leftto accomodate my presence and allow me to speak to John properly, but no.
There are some strange people around and you'll more than likely find them on public transport.

Monday 22 June 2009

Hardware DVD Release: Interview with Richard Stanley



Mike from Flash-Bang recently asked if I would interview Richard Stanley at Optimum Releasing's London offices in support of their release of the film on DVD and Blu-ray. I liked Hardware, so jumped at the chance. Having never done a face to face interview before, I was nervous about the whole thing. It was at this point that I realised that I had "forgotten" Richard Stanley and his subsequent career after Dust Devil. I had watched Dust Devil but didn't feel satisfied by the version that I saw. Through reading film magazines, I knew that there had been studio interference in the release of the movie and that was that. A 5-disc version was released in the US but it never blipped on my radar, strangely.

Back in 1990 I went to a screening of Hardware and it impressed me, largely because it was not a rip-off of The Terminator as the publicity implied in it's overt tagline. Instead it was a thought provoking movie that is as relevant now as it was then. However, the VHS copy was horrible. I remember the beginning sequence in the wastelnad as being orange not red. Of course I could have been rather drunk whilst watching it but the memory remains. As no decent copy had been released in the UK up until now, I had forgotten about this classic.

So, I did some research for the interview. In particular I must thank "Between Death and the Devil" for such a wealth of interesting information. Richard's MySpace page is also a treasure trove of interesting, insightful blogs.

This all made me feel as if I'd missed out on something all these years. I can't turn back the clock but I've decided to catch up by ordering the Limited 5-disc version of Dust Devil which, as I've read, contains a wealth of fascinating material.

Richard Stanley was a pleasure to interview but 15 minutes just wasn't enough. He's an extremely amiable and mesmerising person to talk to and has a lot to say on my favourite subjects.

The interview feature is here.

Other interviews and resources worth checking out if you have an interest in the career of this remarkably creative director are below;

Monday 15 June 2009

Pig Hunt News

There's a lot of buzz going around about this movie. People involved with the production are doing well to circulate articles and news about it, so I'm going to pass it on;

SFAppeal posted this article;

http://sfappeal.com/culture/2009/06/another-hole-in-the-head-pig-hunt.php

Saturday 13 June 2009

Recommended CD: Paul Cusicks's Focal Point


http://www.qrock.co.uk/

When I saw an ad on Facebook I almost carried on what i was doing, but a little voice said "check it out". I'm glad I did. The ad stated that Paul's work was akin to Blackfield and I was sceptical, but there are parallels whilst retaining an individuality. Ther are reviews on amazon and places and listeners like myself like the album.

If you're interested please support the artist direct by visiting the site above.

DVD Review: Midnight Chronicles


Mike reviews Midnight Chronicles over at Flash-Bang Movie Reviews. Can't say this is my thing, but some of you might dig it.

DVD Review: Stoic


Mike reviews this Uwe Boll movie over at Flash-Bang Movie Reviews

I had to laugh at Mike's opening line in this review; "I’ve had a dig or two at director Uwe Boll in the past"! Really? What self-respecting movie geek hasn't? But, I have to say, the trailer doesn't look all that bad. I found the trailer for Postal tasteless and amusing in a Borat kind of way. And I *cough* kinda enjoyed House of the Dead. Yep, you knows it, I'm a sucker for the Zed movie :O

Frankly I'm not going to slag off a guy's movies if I havent' seen them and clearly a lot of "reviewers" don't actually watch them. I won't name and shame, they're obvious and have talkbacks ;o)

Check out Stoic if you've got an open mind.

FEARSHOP.com podcast - Episode 13...


...the one where Flash-Bang Mike and myself get a mention. Thanks guys!

"Four reviews of some very popular movies. First, we start off with 2 Nazi Zombie movies: Dead Snow and Outpost. Both movies are relatively unknown movies, although Dead Snow will get a limited theatrical release soon. From there, we move to Toby Wilkins' Splinter, a new age monster movie that is gaining some steam these days. We round out the podcast with a discussion on End of the Line. Get our takes as well as opinions from some of our listeners on these four horror movies.

Also, we continue with our Top 50 Horror Movies of all-time list with numbers 31-35.

News includes updates on Trick 'r Treat and the new Scream trilogy."

These guys know their horror, even if they don't always agree with us ;o) Life would be boring if they did :O)

Remember that these guys sell quality T-Shirts, like this new release;

Children of Bodom Lightning Reaper All Over Print

Pig Hunt at Another Hole In The Head Festival


PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS HERE SEATS ARE GOING FAST!

The return of Pig Hunt!
"The wildest American horror movie of the year!" plays the Roxie Cinema as a selection of the Another Hole in the Head Festival.
  • Saturday • June 13th, 7:15 pm
  • Monday • June 15th, 9:30 pm
Roxie Cinema
3117 16th Street
San Francisco, CA
To purchase advance tickets: http://holehead.bside.com/2009/films/pighunt_holehead2009
Will sell out. Buy seats early...

Get on the hunt! www.pighuntmovie.com



PIG HUNT is...
"Enjoyably offbeat...unpredictably mixing disparate pacing, tones, humor and brute action. Fans tired of rote remakes and ripoffs will appreciate the pics idiocyncracy. The action is no-holds-barred muscular." – Variety

"The finest horror film to have been made this year!" – Eye for Film

"Holy Sh*t - what a f***ing crazy flick! I was on the edge of my seat...It's one seriously balls out horror/action hybrid." – Arrow in the Head

"On the verge of kick-assery...Moments so exciting they can only be described with made-up words...triptacular. It's B-movie heaven" – Portland Daily Vanguard

"Pig Hunt retains an unpredictability that no bottom-line-focused mainstream horror film would dare...or even conceive of." – San Francisco Bay Guardian

"A total gore-filled freakfest of a film." – SF Weekly

"The wildest American horror movie of the year!" – Mitch Davis, Fantasia Film Festival

"PIG HUNT is an intense and scary ride that goes places you never expect." – Tony Timpone, editor FANGORIA

"It’s a big, bloody sausage that Isaac has packed with ground up bits of plot and camera angles from Deliverance, Predator and every monster movie from Evil Dead to Black Sheep." – Willamete Week

"I really liked this movie, I did. Pig Hunt is a flawed, but really fun film, that you'll enjoy..." – Film Threat

"Damn fun from start to finish!" – IndieWeek

“One sizzling hot slice of giant killer pig mayhem you are not going to want to miss. Harkening back to flicks like Deliverence, Razorback, and Piranha, Pig Hunt is a genre bending ass-kicker that is sure to please…”
–Twitch

PIG HUNT -- : synopsis by Another Hole in the Head

"The hunt begins in San Francisco, where John is about to take his group of weekend warriors on a male bonding excursion into the outback of the Californian hills to bag wild boar. As we are ushered away from the land of pretty views, Victorian houses and perfectly formed cappuccino foam, we are quickly introduced to tattooed war vets and crazed inbred hillbillies high on biker crank, gunpowder, and gasoline. This is also a world inhabited by sexy commune girls who grow pot, raise emus and worship pleasure, pigs and mud baths. And that’s before they cross paths with the legendary “Ripper,” a three thousand pound wild hog. PIG HUNT is unquestionably the best of its breed, with sudden impact, steaming guts, and heart-pounding chase scenes. A shot of pure adrenaline with a chaser of dark, dark humor. Pig Hunt delivers the goods in dripping buckets and an XXL side of bacon!"

Thursday 11 June 2009

Interview: Jim Beaver

I stumbled across an interview with Jim Beaver, star of Supernatural and Harper's Way, and thought it was worth people looking at;

Mediablvd Jim Beaver interview

In it he talks about his recent work and a book of painful memoirs. Inspiring.

News: Deadworld Movie one step forward?


Digital Spy report:


David Hayter has signed up to write and produce zombie comic book adaptation Deadworld, says Variety.
The
Watchmen and X-Men screenwriter has joined forces with Pandemonium's Bill Mechanic to bring Gary Reed's comic to the big screen. Benedict Carver, who runs Dark Hero Studios with Hayter, is also producing.
Deadworld puts a new spin on the post-apocalypse zombie film, picking up after the undead have taken over the planet and focusing on King Zombie, a motorcycle-riding corpse with a grudge against human survivors.
"It's very much about the design of the Deadworld and creating cool, frightening but not necessarily gory creatures," Hayter said. "I am a huge fan of zombie mythology."


I read Deadworld, back in 1988(?) and still hold First Prints of the original stories. The art was a bit wacky but the story was pretty good, then Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead came along. TWD is the definitive Zombie serial as you Zombie lovers will know. Now, if HBO could produce an hourly serial drama based on that, I'd be in Seventh Heaven. I'll keep an open mind about Deadworld. I doubt it'll be much before 2011 until we see this.

Wednesday 10 June 2009

Coming Soon: Doghouse


Check out a second trailer for this fun UK horror movie;


Typically, this is not showing at The Odeon Chelmsford. Grrr!