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Showing posts from December, 2017

FrightFest & Glasgow Film Festival send out challenge to aspiring Scottish filmmakers

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FrightFest, in association with Glasgow Film Festival, are delighted to announce an exciting new initiative to discover the next wave of emerging Scottish talent. FrightFest has always championed new film-makers since its inception in 2000. Now, for the very first time they are encouraging talent to rise to the challenge of creating an entertaining film within just 90 seconds. The winning shorts will be screened both at the Horror Channel FrightFest Glasgow Film Festival event, held at the Glasgow Film Theatre on the 2nd/3rd March 2018 and FrightFest’s London event in August 2018. The rules for submission are that films should be no longer than 90 seconds and be in the Horror, Thriller, Science Fiction or Fantasy genres. Films must be shot in Scotland by Scottish residents and entries must not currently be available online. All submissions are free and must be received by Tuesday 13th February 2018.  Filmmakers of entries selected to be screened will be notified by 23rd February 2018.

FrightFest & Glasgow Film Festival send out challenge to aspiring Scottish filmmakers

Image
FrightFest, in association with Glasgow Film Festival, are delighted to announce an exciting new initiative to discover the next wave of emerging Scottish talent. FrightFest has always championed new film-makers since its inception in 2000. Now, for the very first time they are encouraging talent to rise to the challenge of creating an entertaining film within just 90 seconds. The winning shorts will be screened both at the Horror Channel FrightFest Glasgow Film Festival event, held at the Glasgow Film Theatre on the 2nd/3rd March 2018 and FrightFest’s London event in August 2018. The rules for submission are that films should be no longer than 90 seconds and be in the Horror, Thriller, Science Fiction or Fantasy genres. Films must be shot in Scotland by Scottish residents and entries must not currently be available online. All submissions are free and must be received by Tuesday 13th February 2018.  Filmmakers of entries selected to be screened will be notified by 23rd February 2018.

Interview with Matt Mitchell - Writer/Director The Rizen

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Laura Swift (The Snowman), Sally Phillips (the Bridget Jones series), Bruce Payne (Warlock III, Passenger 57), Julian Rhind-Tutt (Lucy), Tom Goodman Hill (Everest) and The Young Ones’ Adrian Edmondson star in writer-director Matt Mitchell’s “fast-paced and thoroughly entertaining”* action-horror The Rizen, invading VOD this January from Uncork’d Entertainment. The year is 1955. NATO and the Allied Forces have been conducting secret, occult experiments in a bid to win the Arms Race. They have finally succeeded, but what they have unleashed could tear our world apart. Now one woman must lead the only other two survivors past faceless horrors that threaten to kill or capture them at every turn. They are the only ones left who can fight to close a door that should never have been opened. The Rizen available on VOD January 2 from Uncork’d Entertainment. Where did the idea for the film come from? Hi, what a great question! Well the story of The Rizen actually grew out of a much smaller scrip

Interview with Matt Mitchell - Writer/Director The Rizen

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Laura Swift (The Snowman), Sally Phillips (the Bridget Jones series), Bruce Payne (Warlock III, Passenger 57), Julian Rhind-Tutt (Lucy), Tom Goodman Hill (Everest) and The Young Ones’ Adrian Edmondson star in writer-director Matt Mitchell’s “fast-paced and thoroughly entertaining”* action-horror The Rizen, invading VOD this January from Uncork’d Entertainment. The year is 1955. NATO and the Allied Forces have been conducting secret, occult experiments in a bid to win the Arms Race. They have finally succeeded, but what they have unleashed could tear our world apart. Now one woman must lead the only other two survivors past faceless horrors that threaten to kill or capture them at every turn. They are the only ones left who can fight to close a door that should never have been opened. The Rizen available on VOD January 2 from Uncork’d Entertainment. Where did the idea for the film come from? Hi, what a great question! Well the story of The Rizen actually grew out of a much smaller scrip

Horror Channel brings in New Year with Wes Craven season

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Throughout January, Saturday nights at 9pm will be devoted to a WES CRAVEN SEASON as Horror Channel presents a retrospective of the late great genre director’s career. Four of his supernatural shockers and scream-filled slashers wlll be broadcast, including the network premieres of serial killer chiller MY SOUL TO TAKE, his macabre masterpiece THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW, his diabolically electrifying SHOCKER and the goofy, gory satire THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS. There are also network premieres for Franck Khalfoun‘s superior psychological horror MANIAC, starring Elijah Wood as a scalp-loving serial killer, David S. Goyer’s pulsating possession thriller THE UNBORN, starring Gary Oldman and Hammer Films’ powerfully eerie Vampire tale THE KISS OF THE VAMPIRE. WES CRAVEN SEASON Sat 6 Jan @ 21:00 – THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW (1988) *Network Premiere Horror master Wes Craven directs this chilling supernatural thriller, based on the best-selling book by Wade Davis, about a Harvard research

Horror Channel brings in New Year with Wes Craven season

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Throughout January, Saturday nights at 9pm will be devoted to a WES CRAVEN SEASON as Horror Channel presents a retrospective of the late great genre director’s career. Four of his supernatural shockers and scream-filled slashers wlll be broadcast, including the network premieres of serial killer chiller MY SOUL TO TAKE, his macabre masterpiece THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW, his diabolically electrifying SHOCKER and the goofy, gory satire THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS. There are also network premieres for Franck Khalfoun‘s superior psychological horror MANIAC, starring Elijah Wood as a scalp-loving serial killer, David S. Goyer’s pulsating possession thriller THE UNBORN, starring Gary Oldman and Hammer Films’ powerfully eerie Vampire tale THE KISS OF THE VAMPIRE. WES CRAVEN SEASON Sat 6 Jan @ 21:00 – THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW (1988) *Network Premiere Horror master Wes Craven directs this chilling supernatural thriller, based on the best-selling book by Wade Davis, about a Harvard research

Hex Media announces launch of new UK Horror Studio

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Hex Media, the outfit behind Lord of Tears, The Unkindness of Ravens and The Black Gloves, today announced they are to establish Hex Studios, the UK’s only dedicated genre studio, committed to developing, producing and distributing horror and fantasy content, with a focus on bold, original storytelling, and nurturing diverse voices in the genre. Having acquired a historic Gothic revival church in Fife, Scotland as their base, Hex plan to develop both a studio company and production space which will house a green screen studio, sound recording facilities and special effects workshop, as well as serving as a hub for the genre with regular events and screenings. First on the Hex Studios slate is horror anthology For We Are Many, featuring segments from up-and-coming filmmakers from around the world. The feature-length film is to star horror legends Eileen Dietz (The Exorcist) and Laurence Harvey (The Human Centipede II) with many more to be announced. Legendary filmmaker Roger Corman, a s

Hex Media announces launch of new UK Horror Studio

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Hex Media, the outfit behind Lord of Tears, The Unkindness of Ravens and The Black Gloves, today announced they are to establish Hex Studios, the UK’s only dedicated genre studio, committed to developing, producing and distributing horror and fantasy content, with a focus on bold, original storytelling, and nurturing diverse voices in the genre. Having acquired a historic Gothic revival church in Fife, Scotland as their base, Hex plan to develop both a studio company and production space which will house a green screen studio, sound recording facilities and special effects workshop, as well as serving as a hub for the genre with regular events and screenings. First on the Hex Studios slate is horror anthology For We Are Many, featuring segments from up-and-coming filmmakers from around the world. The feature-length film is to star horror legends Eileen Dietz (The Exorcist) and Laurence Harvey (The Human Centipede II) with many more to be announced. Legendary filmmaker Roger Corman, a s

Interview with Al Sirois - By David Kempf

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Picture by Bill Stank When did you first become interested in writing? That question takes me back a long way. When I was a boy, not yet ten years old, I started messing around with an old typewriter I found in the attic. It was one of those big old back jobs, with a two-color ribbon (red and black). I was already a big reader, and although there was a dedicated children’s library in my home town of Fairfield, CT, I loved to go to the main library with my mother, who was a big reader. These trips were almost weekly. I wasn’t old enough to get a library card from the adult library, so I would load my mother up with things like SCIENCE NEWS and James Thurber’s books, and Robert Benchley, and books of Al Hirschfeld’s theatrical caricatures. (The library didn’t have any Charles Addams cartoon books, but a family friend had some, and I loved them.) The Hirschfeld stuff led me off into books about Broadway and plays, so I read things like Moss Hart’s autobiography, Act One, and so on. All th

Interview with Al Sirois - By David Kempf

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Picture by Bill Stank When did you first become interested in writing? That question takes me back a long way. When I was a boy, not yet ten years old, I started messing around with an old typewriter I found in the attic. It was one of those big old back jobs, with a two-color ribbon (red and black). I was already a big reader, and although there was a dedicated children’s library in my home town of Fairfield, CT, I loved to go to the main library with my mother, who was a big reader. These trips were almost weekly. I wasn’t old enough to get a library card from the adult library, so I would load my mother up with things like SCIENCE NEWS and James Thurber’s books, and Robert Benchley, and books of Al Hirschfeld’s theatrical caricatures. (The library didn’t have any Charles Addams cartoon books, but a family friend had some, and I loved them.) The Hirschfeld stuff led me off into books about Broadway and plays, so I read things like Moss Hart’s autobiography, Act One, and so on. All th

Interview with Ruth Platt - Director of The Lesson

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The Lesson received its World Premiere at FrightFest. How did you react when it was chosen? And what was the experience like? I was really excited when I found out we'd been picked – we got a call from the team, and they were passionate about the film, and they are such a knowledgable and experienced small team, Greg, Paul, Alan and Ian, and it meant so much. Especially when the making of it had been such an arduous and difficult process! I had no idea how people would react to the film – it was such a tiny budget, and put together on sheer determination rather than any actual means. But the whole FrightFest festival was amazing – the fans were so supportive and friendly, and the reception to the film was so generous, it was a really brilliant experience. How did you develop the idea for the film? Did your own experiences at school influence the story? So my love of the horror genre stems from the satirical, metaphorical nature of the genre – how you can make a comment or observati

Interview with Ruth Platt - Director of The Lesson

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The Lesson received its World Premiere at FrightFest. How did you react when it was chosen? And what was the experience like? I was really excited when I found out we'd been picked – we got a call from the team, and they were passionate about the film, and they are such a knowledgable and experienced small team, Greg, Paul, Alan and Ian, and it meant so much. Especially when the making of it had been such an arduous and difficult process! I had no idea how people would react to the film – it was such a tiny budget, and put together on sheer determination rather than any actual means. But the whole FrightFest festival was amazing – the fans were so supportive and friendly, and the reception to the film was so generous, it was a really brilliant experience. How did you develop the idea for the film? Did your own experiences at school influence the story? So my love of the horror genre stems from the satirical, metaphorical nature of the genre – how you can make a comment or observati

Interview with Patrick O’Bell - Director of The Blessed Ones

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An isolated cult prepare for the prophesied apocalypse in Patrick O’Bell’s frightening The Blessed Ones, now available on Amazon Prime from Wild Eye Releasing. An isolated cult hiding in a desert enclave prepare for an prophesied apocalypse, led by a charismatic Jim Jones-like leader. As the end of the world allegedly approaches, he binds them all to a suicide pact, in hopes of transcending earth for a new life in paradise. Two dissenters flee through the vast desert wasteland on the eve of the ceremony, hunted by the cult’s enforcer – who will stop at nothing to insure that they keep their part of the bargain. Where did the idea for the film come from?  I was watching a documentary on the Heaven's Gate cult and found it terrifying.  That's when I decided I had to make a film on the subject of cults. What about the script? How did it change, if it all, in the time between that initial draft and the shoot? When you shoot on location, it often changes .  That was always the bigge

Interview with Patrick O’Bell - Director of The Blessed Ones

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An isolated cult prepare for the prophesied apocalypse in Patrick O’Bell’s frightening The Blessed Ones, now available on Amazon Prime from Wild Eye Releasing. An isolated cult hiding in a desert enclave prepare for an prophesied apocalypse, led by a charismatic Jim Jones-like leader. As the end of the world allegedly approaches, he binds them all to a suicide pact, in hopes of transcending earth for a new life in paradise. Two dissenters flee through the vast desert wasteland on the eve of the ceremony, hunted by the cult’s enforcer – who will stop at nothing to insure that they keep their part of the bargain. Where did the idea for the film come from?  I was watching a documentary on the Heaven's Gate cult and found it terrifying.  That's when I decided I had to make a film on the subject of cults. What about the script? How did it change, if it all, in the time between that initial draft and the shoot? When you shoot on location, it often changes .  That was always the bigge