The Bay swims on to DVD and Blu-ray!

We're delighted to announce that The Bay is coming to UK DVD and Blu-ray on Monday 18 March 2013 after making a splash at Glasgow FrightFest and hitting cinemas on 1 March.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, you find out you can’t even drink it! The producers of horror hits Sinister and Insidious and the award-winning director of Rain Man, Barry Levinson, team up to deliver a stark, disturbing and truly nerve-shredding tale of an ecological nightmare.

The quaint coastal town of Claridge, Maryland thrives on the safe, tranquil and abundant waters of Chesapeake Bay. During their annual Independence Day celebrations, a gruesome plague is unleashed, quickly infecting the residents and turning them against each other. A brutal and harrowing creature feature for the 21st century, The Bay graphically chronicles the descent of a small town into absolute terror. An intelligent and thought-provoking horror movie with enough gore and stomach-churning imagery to satisfy even the most hardened horror fans, The Bay could put you off seafood and even drinking water for quite some time after the credits roll.    



 

“Director Barry Levinson deploys found footage to startling new effect, conveying terror of an ecological phenomenon that might easily be real… This is horror for grown-ups.” 5 Stars

The Guardian

The Bay

On DVD & Blu-Ray 18 Mar 2013

The producers of horror hits “Sinister” and “Insidious” and the award-winning director of “Rain Man” team up to deliver a stark, disturbing and truly nerve-shredding tale of an ecological nightmare.

Academy Award winning director Barry Levinson (Rain Man; Sleepers), producers Jason Blum (Paranormal Activity; Sinister; Insidious), Steven Schneider (Paranormal Activity; Insidious), Oren Peli (Paranormal Activity; Insidious) and rising star Kristen Connolly (The Cabin In The Woods).



Synopsis:

The quaint coastal town of Claridge, Maryland thrives on the safe, tranquil and abundant waters of Chesapeake Bay. During their annual Independence Day celebrations, a gruesome plague is unleashed, quickly infecting the residents and turning them against each other. A brutal and harrowing creature feature for the 21st century, “The Bay” graphically chronicles the descent of a small town into absolute terror.


Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, you find out you can’t even drink it! Veteran Hollywood blockbuster director Barry Levinson brings a rare pedigree to the horror genre utilising a variety of footage formats – from mobile phones, TV reports and CCTV to 911 recordings and web cam transmissions – to present a realistic and totally believable shocker. An intelligent and thought-provoking horror movie with enough gore and stomach-churning imagery to satisfy even the most hardened horror fans, “The Bay” could put you off seafood and even drinking water for quite some time after the credits roll.



:“A well-crafted eco-horror film. The scares linger long after the credits roll.” – Slashfilm.com.

“An unnerving eco-disaster thriller that refreshes the found footage trend with surprisingeffectiveness.” – The Hollywood Reporter.

“Provocative… generates significant dread.” – Indiewire.

“A chilling tale of something nasty mutating in the waters… thrilling and provocative.” – ScreenDaily.

“Exciting and compelling… genuinely scary and effective.” – Twitchfilm.

“A real creepfest, joins the suggestive company of eco-terror entries like Hitchcock’s ‘The Birds’ and 1979’s ‘Prophecy’… The body count is massive, the gore voluminous.” (Four Stars) –Time Out, New York.

Special Features:
Inside The Bay - an 8-minute making-of featuring interviews with Barry Levinson and Jason Blum.
Trailer

Premiers of Clip And Vanishing Waves from Artsploitation Films.

Hello Folks,

Jonny T here,

Do you live in NY, Chicago or L.A? If so i have news of a couple of premiers that you really should attend!

I was recently contacted by my good friends over at Artsploitation Films and informed of a couple of screenings coming up this March, They are Clip and Vanishing Waves, I have put all the details you need below and if you do attend please feel free to share you thoughts an also feel free to drop me review,

Many thanks and Enjoy,

Jonny T.

Both films premiere theatrically in NYC for one week only: March 15-21, 2013

At Cinema Village

22 East 12th Street

NY NY 10003

Tickets are on sale now http://27.formovietickets.com:2235/

Opens NYC, March 15!Vanishing Waves makes its US theatrical debut in New York at the Cinema Village playing alongside CLIP from March 15-21, 2013. Showtimes 3:45 and 9:05 Daily. Tickets on sale now!

OPENS CHICAGO, MARCH 29!Vanishing Waves makes it’s Chicago Premiere at The Patio Theater.

Presented by The Chicago Cinema Society.

Showtimes are March 29th at 10:00PM and April 1st at 7:30PM only.

Tickets are on sale now http://27.formovietickets.com:2235/

Tickets are $7.00 at the door.

OPENS LOS ANGELES, APRIL 12!Vanishing Waves makes it’s LA Premiere at The Laemmle NoHo 7.

Showtime and ticket info coming soon.



Original TitleAurora
A bold, visionary work of science fiction cinema that recalls the genre in its cerebral 1960s and ’70s golden age, just as it simultaneously forges new territory with its unique fusion of emotional melodrama and hallucinatory widescreen spectacle, Vanishing Waves is one of the most accomplished and distinctive European films in recent memory. The second solo feature from Lithuanian director Kristina Buozyte, following her acclaimed 2008 debut The Collectress, the 2012 production Vanishing Waves confirms Buozyte as a major young talent whose frequently breathtaking visual and technical gifts are thankfully also matched by her interest in complex characterisations, adventurous narratives, and challenging themes.

Her new film is a science fiction romance that is equally occupied by the erotic as well as the fantastic. Lukas (Marius Jampolskis) is assisting a scientific research team by functioning as a patient in a series of heavily monitored (and medicated) sensory deprivation experiments wherein he is attempting to make some form of contact with the subject, Aurora (Jurga Jutaite), a young woman who has been locked in a comatose state for some time. Doctors initially hope for just a vague reaffirmation of consciousness, but the experiment takes an unexpected twist when Lukas and Aurora actually develop a strong psychic link in their mutually altered forms of consciousness…and their link quickly evolves into a romantic, sexually charged relationship. As Lukas hides this data from his researchers, he and Aurora meet secretly and passionately in a series of surreal dreamscapes created by their collective minds, but their union is tragically doomed to collapse around them. Exploring the tantalising possibilities of forming a true, all-encompassing bond with one’s lover, Vanishing Waves is hypnotic, erotic, wholly engrossing, and wildly thought-provoking cinema that transcends any perceived limitations of the science fiction genre, becoming one of the year’s most provocative films in the process.

CreditsDirector: Kristina Buožytė
Running time: 124 minutes
Country: Lithuania, France, Belgium
Language: Lithuanian with English subtitles
Screenwriters: Kristina Buožytė & Bruno Samper
Cast: Marius Jampolskis, Jurga Jutaitė, Rudolfas Jansonas, Vytautas Kaniušonis, Brice Fournier, Philip Lenkowski, Martina Jablonskytė, Macej Marczewsky, Frédéric Anscombre, Frédéric Andrau, Darius Meškauskas
Creative Director: Bruno Samper
Producer: Ieva Norviliene
Cinematography: Feliksas Abrukauskas
Editor: Suzanne Fenn
Music: Peter von Poehl

Opens NYC, March 15!CLIP makes its US theatrical debut in New York at the Cinema Village playing alongside VANISHING WAVES from March 15-21, 2013. Showtimes 1:30 and 6:40 Daily. Tickets on sale now!

Original TitleKlip
Clip is a dynamic, disturbing portrait of contemporary youth. Jasna, played fearlessly by Isidora Simijonovic, is a pretty girl in her mid-teens. With a terminally ill father and dispirited mother at home, she is disillusioned by her unglamorous life in a remote Serbian town. Opposing everyone, including herself, she goes experimenting with sex, drugs and partying.

CreditsDirector: Maja Miloš
Running time: 101 minutes
Country: Serbia
Language: Serbian with English subtitles
Screenwriter: Maja Miloš
Cast: Isidora Simijonovic, Vukašin Jasni, Sanja Mikitišin, Jovo Maksic, Monja Savic, Katarina Pešic, Sonja Janicic, Jovana Stojiljkovic, Vladimir Gvojic, Nikola Dragutinovic
Producer: Jelena Mitrovic
Cinematography: Vladimir Simic
Editors: Stevan Filipović

Press Quotes

“An explosively energetic tale of dysfunctional love and explicit sex among the post-Facebook generation…imagine Larry Clark’s Kids directed by Emir Kusturica. – The Hollywood Reporter


“Combining fast, explicit imagery with an atmosphere of dreamy melancholy, Maja’s upcoming film is sure to raise some eyebrows in Balkan and European cinema alike.” - BTurn

“Sex, Drugs and Videotapes. A different kind of Serbian Film.” - Chorus & Echo

“Brimming with energy, anger and a sense of youthful frustration, Serbian film Clip (Klip) will court controversy due to its young teenage cast and sequences of highly explicit sex acts. It is a film that will divide opinion, but it is also one that demands attention. - Screen International

NewsClip Banned in Russia!By Sydney Levine of www.indiewire.com – August 26, 2012

Clip, a Serbian arthouse movie that swept a prestigious European festival this year was banned from screening in Russia by the Culture Ministry, prompting allegations of censorship. Banned over indecent language and scenes of drug and alcohol abuse, as well as “pornographic” depictions of sex between minors, the decision spells a new era for the Culture Ministry, headed since May by Vladimir Medinsky, a conservative-minded PR specialist with a controversial reputation. The ban was signed by Deputy Culture Minister Ivan Demidov, known for his radical Orthodox Christian views, Sam Klebanov, the prospective Russian distributor of Maywin, said.

“This is the first case of such censoring, and an attempt to introduce moral censorship in the country,” he said, adding that explicit arthouse fare never had any screening problems in Russia.
Neither Demidov nor Medinsky commented on the censorship allegations as of Saturday.
Clip, directed by Maja Milos, tells the story of a provincial teenager experimenting with drugs and sex in order to forget her near-dysfunctional family.

In January, the film split the main prize of the International Film Festival Rotterdam with two other movies. The jury touted it for an uncompromising and honest insight into the life of the “mobile generation”.

The film was set to premiere in Russia on August 30. Klebanov said the release is postponed, but not canceled because his company intends to sue.

The risk of not obtaining screening permits in Russia was previously limited almost exclusively to pornographic films with obscene titles. On important exception was Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat (2006), a scathing satire of Kazakhstan and the United States, denied the screening permit in what critics said was Moscow’s gesture of solidarity with official Astana, which was outraged by the mockumentary.

Wide and Eye on Film will show the film inToronto along with others (see below).

Russian Ministry of Culture accused the Rotterdam winning film of being child pornography.

The team behind award winning Serbian feature Clip have reacted with dismay to the news last week that the film has been banned inRussia.

A representative of the Russian Ministry of Culture publicly accused Clip of being child pornography, violating both Russian and international law.

Maja Milos’s movie, a Tiger award winner in Rotterdam earlier this year and now due to screen in Toronto and San Sebastian, had already provoked controversy because of its graphic depiction of teenage sex. However, director Milos has made it clear that she used body doubles and prostheses. Critics and festival programmers have applauded the film, which has sold briskly since its Rotterdam debut.

The film’s sales agent, Paris-based WIDE Management, issued a release containing the letter from the Ministry of Culture to the film’s Russian distributor, Maywin.

“The Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation has considered an application by LLC “Cinema Without Frontiers” for a distribution certificate for the motion picture Clip by the Serbian director Maja Milos and notifies you as follows: The film contains the scenes of swearing, drug use and alcohol consumption as well as scenes of a pornographic nature. According to the storyline these scenes feature underage teenagers and thus violate the norms established by the Federal Law ofDecember 29,2010№ 436-FZ on “The Protection of children from information which is harmful to their health and development.”

Clip’s producers, Belgrade-based Baš Čelik Production House, refute angrily the charge that the movie is in any way pornographic.

“The intention of the authors, scriptwriters, their cooperatives including producers as well as of the actors and their families’ intention was to make a film conveying a strong message about the severe problems of modern youth generations, even beyond borders of ‘transitional countries’ including Serbia,” the producers declared in a statement. “The one and only purpose of certain scenes in the film is NOT to “propagate” any kind of pornography but ON THE CONTRARY – to STRONGLY OUTLINEAND CRITICIZE violent and deviant influence of modern ‘commercialculture’ of a society affected by crisis.”

The producers also pointed out that the film has not encountered censorship problems elsewhere and has already won multiple awards on the Festival circuit.

Clip has already been sold to the US (Artsploitation), France (KMBO), Japan (Fine Film), South Korea (Thanks and Love), Sweden (Njuta), Poland (Tongariro), Republic Czech, Slovakia (Artcam) and Bulgaria (M.A Media).

Director Milos has now issued her own statement. “The problems that young people in Eastern Europe are growing up with are severe,” she declared last week. “They are surrounded by great social turbulence and violence, and Clip is a film that is very honestly speaking about that. I’m sure that not showing the reality won’t protect any young person because the grave problems are still all around them. Clip is a film that raises questions and can provoke discussions on what can we do to understand and help today’s youth.”

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Maja Miloš was born in Belgrade, Serbia in 1983 and graduated in Film Directing at the University of Arts in Belgrade in 2008. She directed 11 short films during her studies, including Interval (2003) and Si Tu Timazin (2004). In 2005, she took part in the Berlinale Talent Campus and in 2006 she attended the Documentary Film School in Paris. Clip is her first feature-length film.

Regarding Clip: I’m interested in making films in which the social aspect is very important. I want to tell stories about people who live in a society that haves a lot of problems and on which way those problems determinate their lives. - Maja Miloš





Memories of – Freaks



Hello Folks,


Jonny T here with another instalment of “Memories of”. This time I shall be talking about another one of my all-time top 5 films Todd Browning’s Classic Freaks.

My first introduction to Freaks was thanks to a neighbour of ours that lived on the same street, his name was Lloyd he was a policeman and a huge film fan, He had a collection of horror movie books which when I used to go around and he babysat me and spend hours going through all the books

He had a vast array of movie books ranging from Hammer Horror to classic Hollywood horror, I remember the book to this day, the cover had the classic shadow image from Nosferatu slowly creeping up the stairs, upon opening the book you were greeted by the double page image from The Cabinet of DR Calagari, I was hooked.

The book started with focusing on the classic silent era onto the William Castle movies of the 50’s, so half way through I came across Freaks, The images were of the “Pinheads sat around the table, the bird lady and the guy who had no limbs but could roll cigarettes with his mouth and fathered many children and the film that effectively ended Todd Browning’s career, I don’t know what it was but it was a section of the book that I came back to time and time again.

I asked Lloyd about all the films in the book and he told me of great stories of him and his dad going to see many of the movies but had only managed to see Freaks once before it was banned, Now this was the time of Video Nasties in the UK and I was perplexed to why it had been banned in the UK for near on 30 years as well as many other countries, I learned that it was because it was seen as been exploitative to the so called disadvantaged which I found quit amazing seeing as films like The Wizard of Oz was heralded as a classic with the cute Munchkins a major part of the film, still baffles me to this day!

Now the basic outline of Freaks is that they are a travelling circus which attraction includes A bearded lady, Siamese Twins, The world’s strongest man and the half man played by the legendary Johnny Eck.

And it tells the tale of an evil as you could call able bodied lady who tries to persuade one of the midgets that she is madly in love with him knowing all the time that he is very wealthy and plots with another circus member to fool him into falling in love the killing him and taking all his money, bitch! So the story pans out wherein she treats them all like shit, they all get wind of her plan and decide to take revenge, SPOILER ALERT Her plot backfires when on a cold dark rainy night the exact revenge on her by slicing her up and transforming her into a bird lady that we see at the end of the film and she has now become the main attraction of Freaks, The scene in the night when the attack has to be in my opinion one of the best most creepiest scenes in horror history, we see them all emerging from under caravans whilst the rain buckets down, light by lighting and covered in mud the emerge from the darkness carrying blades ready to take revenge for what she has done to one of their own.

So in saying that, I still can’t see why it was seen as exploitative, obviously the attitude in the 1930’s was different from today but when you watch the film it’s only the so called able bodied lady that ends up being the stupid one and the togetherness of the so called Freaks as a real close knot community real shines through, not only their attitude towards each other but the attitude to outsiders whom they try and be nice to and welcome with open arms but unfortunately it is those people that are the exploiters and revenge is handed out only when it was necessary. A true classic.

Now I eventually got to see it when Lloyd informed one day a good few years later when UK TV station Channel 4 were doing a season of The Banned where the showed Freaks as well as the likes of A Clockwork Orange and Texas Chainsaw massacre as part of the season, all the titles were now no longer banned but heralded as the should be as classics. So I remember it was on around 10pm and from the very 1st frame until the last I was transfixed, loved it. It eventually led to it getting a UK Video release which I brought and now on the restored DVD, It also lead to me buying a book called Very Special People in which many of the actors in Freaks are featured, their life stories are told and it gives the movie an even more fascinating edge, Stories such as I mentioned and the likes of Johnny Eck going on to have a long and great Career, sadly the same was not to be for Todd Browning. The film has gained a huge following over the years and is still referenced to this day as well as influential I music with lots of bands using the imagery non more so then The Ramones back in the day with the song Pinhead and what become their trademark “Gabba Gabba Hey!”
You can View the whole movie below which i have found on YOU TUBE, It's not the best print out there but certainly worth a watch.

So on summing up if you have yet to do so as yet I can’t recommend this highly enough, Not just for the fact that it is a truly great movie but all the back stories about it being banned and the fate of the director and the actors being shunned by the great HOLLYWOOD, Shame on you!



10/10 a true classic

Thanks for reading

Jonny T.

Freaks - Full Movie

The classic "REVENGE" scene

Image gallery.

Some intersting reading on Wikipedia

The page of Shlitze Surtees - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schlitzie

The page of Daisy and Violet Hilton - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daisy_and_Violet_Hilton

The page of Prince Randion - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Randian

The page of Johnny Eck - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Eck

The page of Jane Barnell - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olga_Roderick

An Interview with Ian Brooker, Star of The Casebook of Eddie Brewer.

Hi Ian. We met at last year’s Mayhem Horror festival in Nottingham where you were promoting the most excellent The Casebook of Eddie Brewer. It seemed to go down very well Indeed. How did you come to get the role?

IB: In the late summer of 2010 I met up with my friend Sean Connolly in Birmingham City Centre for a coffee and a chat. I had been out of work for a while and was keen to get involved in projects. He mentioned to me that there was a local film that was going to be made that autumn and asked if I would like to be involved. I said that I would. He didn’t say what it was about. Some weeks later I was sent the script written by Andy Spencer. I was delighted that it was about the paranormal – a favourite subject of mine. It was very impressive: well researched, well written with interesting and convincing characters and a disturbing plot. It worked for me: I felt uncomfortable as I read it. I was particularly impressed with the character of Eddie Brewer and wondered who they might have in mind to play the role. I have been fascinated by the subject of the paranormal since I was a teenager and had for a time had been a member of the Society for Psychical Research. Although I had never been involved in investigations, I knew a lot about the subject and knew what worked in film and TV dramas. However, I thought they must have already cast the role. I hadn’t realised that Andy as writer/director and Sean as Casting Director had thought of me for the role all along. However, I held off making the commitment as I was somewhat in two minds as to whether I really wanted to do it. The part was huge. I hadn’t played anything that size on screen before and hadn’t worked to camera for several years. I went away to Norfolk for a holiday and didn’t get back to Sean, who was keen that I make a decision, until my return. Back home, I thought hard and decided that it was a great opportunity and I should take it. So I phoned Sean to say yes.

I see it has yet to have a DVD release but is still getting great worldwide reviews at festivals. Is there any plan on a DVD release yet?

Yes. We are working on producing the DVD extras at the moment. The commentary will be recorded next month. We hope that the DVD and Blu-rays will be ready for release around Halloween 2013.

I see that you have done lots of great voice work: everything from Dr Who to The Archers! What was it like doing the Dr Who ones and is it true that you were the shortest lived Dr Who in History?

From 2001 onwards I recorded about fifty audio dramas on CD for a company called Big Finish which during Doctor Who’s absence from the TV screens kept the flag flying for the Doctor in all his surviving incarnations, and still continues today. I worked with several of the old and new Doctors: Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Paul McGann, and worked with David Tennant on a Dalek Empire series back in 2004 before he became the tenth incarnation. For the fortieth anniversary of the TV series back in 2003, Big Finish devised a series of Doctor Who Unbound dramas featuring actors that fans had always wanted to see (or hear) play the Doctor: such as Geoffrey Bayldon, David Warner and Derek Jacobi etc. At the end of one play called Full Fathom Five, in which David Collings played a particularly unpleasant version of the Time Lord, his assistant shot him dead and he re-generated into me. I had a few lines: “Hello, I’m the Doctor. Who are you?” before she shot me dead. So I lasted ten seconds. I believe that is the shortest lived incarnation ever.

Audio and radio drama has absolutely no limit for the actor who has a wide range of characters – you can play anything, anywhere – on any planet and at any time. It’s wonderful. Pictures are always better on radio.

You have mentioned to me before that you love the  A Ghost Story for Christmas stories. Which one would you say sticks out the most for you?

The Ghost Stories for Christmas were broadcast on Christmas Eve every year from 1971 until 1978. My favourite adaptation is A Warning to the Curious from 1972. It always was my favourite Jamesian story but I loved the adaptation and the use of the North Norfolk coast in the drama. The original story is set in Suffolk but the Norfolk coast around Holkham and Wells-next-the-Sea is a splendidly atmospheric location. It works so well. Peter Vaughan makes an unconventional Paxton but it’s a fascinating performance. The music is particularly effective.

Eddie Brewer had a great old school A Ghost Story for Christmas feel to me, not lots of mindless gore just really good story telling/Direction and acting of course! What do you think of the state of Horror movies today?

It’s all a matter of individual taste and judgement. I am not interested in blood and gore – it doesn’t do it for me - but many horror fans love those films. I like supernatural dramas that don’t show too much, are subtle, nuanced and intelligent and leave plenty to the imagination of the viewer. I’ve recently watched quite a lot of current horror films and have frankly been rather disappointed. I’ve seen some very effective films like The Pact, Absentia, The Innkeepers and Outcast – all well written and acted, but I’ve seen much that didn’t work for me. I think it’s a good rule of thumb that the more you see - the less disturbing a ghost story is. One of the very best ghost story adaptations for the screen was Nigel Kneale’s version of The Woman in Black (Central Films, 1989). It worked so well because of a wonderful script, great performances and a convincing location and community. It has bags of atmosphere and enough shocks to satisfy. And it has one of the most terrifying scenes in all supernatural TV and film drama. You only see the Woman five times but you somehow know that she’s there all the time. Less is definitely more. In the recent Hammer version, the plot is messed about, the performances are hysterical, the community only exists to respond to the haunting, the location is unconvincing and you see the Woman twenty five times – far too much. In my opinion it just doesn’t work. But today horror cinema has to have plenty of jump shocks. It’s counterproductive.

Your body of work really does scan a whole host of fantastic looking projects. What would you say has been your personal highlights of either the projects or the people who you have worked with?

There’s been so much. I have been very lucky to have the chance to work on great projects with really great actors: Peter Jeffrey, Norman Rodway, Philip Madoc, David Warner and Derek Jacobi etc. Personal highlights have been working in Languedoc playing Saint Dominic opposite Brian Blessed as the leader of the Cathars in the Channel Four series Gnostics; working with David Tennant and Celia Imrie in the play Facade for Radio 4; Dr Who: Embrace the Darkness in which I played a huge security system called ROSM and two foot high aliens called Cimmerians opposite Paul McGann’s Doctor; playing Sydney Newman, a Juliet Bravo fan and a Dalek type creature (with ring modulator) opposite a great cast that included Derek Jacobi in Big Finish’s Deadline; playing an old actor, Sir Jack Merivale, in a Doctor Who adventure called Special Features with Peter Davison and James Fleet. And then there is The Casebook of Eddie Brewer – probably the best role I have ever had.

Without me giving spoilers The Casebook of Eddie Brewer left me hanging for more. Is there any plans for a sequel and if so when?

There are plans for a sequel. We are hoping to go into production some time in 2014. I am not saying anything more about it. I’ve left you hanging for more.

The setting for The Casebook of Eddie Brewer in the old mansion was fantastic. Could you tell us how you managed to get to film there and where it was?

Andy Spencer – our director – lives in Erdington and has a long association with Rookery House. I believe he is on the committee for the renovation of the building. It’s a remarkable venue – full of character and atmosphere. It dates from 1725 and was the home in the early Nineteenth Century of the Spooner family. One of the daughters married William Wilberforce.

Have you been able to go to any of the overseas festivals to see The Casebook of Eddie Brewer; and, if so, what was the experience like?

Sadly, I haven’t been able to afford the flights to America. I would have loved to have been at the festivals in person. It would have been very special.

The film is based on Eddie Brewer, an old school paranormal investigator. Now on TV there are a ton of so called reality shows from Most Haunted to Ghost Adventures and Ghost Hunters that use every kind of equipment, but Eddie being old school has none of the Gizmo’s. Was this intentional from the outset?

Yes. The film satirises the Most Haunted series and shows the benefits of experience and sound judgement over sensational and contrived TV happenings.

Do you yourself believe in The Paranormal?

It depends what you mean by “the paranormal”. I believe that people see and hear things that cannot be easily explained. What they see may or may not be hallucinations. My beliefs on the matter have changed. I used to believe in ghosts but now I am not so sure. I do not believe in the survival of a soul or personality after death. I tend more to believe in The Stone Tape theory – that visual or audible hauntings are recordings in stone and earth replaying for the witness. It’s often the case that a witness to an apparition will be on their own and in a semi-dream state: part conscious and part unconscious. Many sightings occur when the witness has just woken up. So the image may be triggered by the unconscious. However, regarding poltergeists, I believe that they exist, but, in my opinion, that has more to do with puberty than demonic possession.

Could you tell us of any future projects you have coming up?

I have just recorded for BBC AudioGo a Doctor Who adventure called Destiny of the Doctor: Shockwave with the Seventh Doctor’s companion, Ace, played by the lovely and very talented Sophie Aldred. It’s an epic.

Any final words for the readers of Jonnys Cult Films?

I think I have run out of words.



The Casebook of Eddie Brewer will be showing at the Midlands Arts Centre on Thursday 28 Feb.

Please Click the link below for more info.

http://www.macarts.co.uk/event/departure-lounge-the-casebook-of-eddie-brewer

Ian Brooker official site---- http://www.ianbrooker.com/

The Casebook of Eddie Brewer official site---- http://www.thecasebookofeddiebrewer.com/



The Casebook of Eddie Brewer official Trailer.

MAMA - Horror Scream Queen feature



SCREAM QUEENS – Horror’s leading ladies

Executive-produced by Guillermo Del Toro, supernatural thriller MAMA opens in UK cinemas this Friday 22nd February. MAMA stars Jessica Chastain, tipped by many for Oscar glory this weekend, and to celebrate the release, we take a look at some of cinema’s most memorable performances from leading ladies in frightening films.

Jessica Chastain – Mama (2013)

Oscar-nominated twice over a career spanning a mere 3 years, Jessica Chastain turns her eyes to becoming a horror leading lady. Produced by maestro Guillermo Del Toro, Mama focuses on the resurgence of two young girls who move in with their uncle after a 5-year disappearance. Chastain stars as their uncle’s girlfriend Annabel, left alone with the young girls as it becomes clearer that they may not have been alone during their absence. Chastain successfully delivers a memorable performance in a chilling horror that’ll leave you sleepless.

Tippi Hedren – The Birds (1963)

Much has been spoken about Tippi Hedren’s on-set experiences with her director on The Birds, Alfred Hitchcock. What people may forget however is that Hedren turns in an incredibly nuanced performance as a woman embroiled unsuspectingly in horror when birds begin attacking bystanders without reason. Her status as leading lady is enhanced by Hitchcock’s skill of fooling the audience into believing that they are watching a drama, not a horror, shaping the actresses presence as a beacon of bravery by the film’s end.

Mia Farrow – Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

  Mia Farrow plays Rosemary Woodhouse, the woman who fears that her husband has made a pact with their occultist neighbours to sacrifice their unborn baby upon its birth. Farrow, with her petite appearance serving well to depict her increasing frailty as the film goes on, conveys her hysteria perfectly; as the lines between dream and reality blur for Rosemary, they do for the watching viewer also, fearing not only for Farrow’s Rosemary – but her unborn baby too.

Sissy Spacek – Carrie (1976)

Adapted from the Stephen King novel, Sissy Spacek is a differing leading lady in the sense that Carrie White is the vulnerable, attacked innocent – who by the end has evolved into the one to be feared. Brian De Palma skilfully tracks her evolution by showing the horror through the way in which Carrie is bullied and humiliated by her school friends, to her climactic telekinetic payback at the school prom. Spacek tows the line between victim and tormentor to an Oscar-nominated degree.

Jamie Lee Curtis – Halloween (1978)

Michael Myers is the deranged killer who returns to Haddonfield, Illinois on the 31st October following his escape from a mental institution; targeting babysitters, a then-unknown Jamie Lee Curtis played Laurie Strode, a schoolgirl who is relentlessly pursued by the masked killer, culminating in a classic climax in which she shows why she is the quintessential ‘Scream Queen’ (no surprises – she’s the daughter of Psycho’s Janet Leigh.)

Sigourney Weaver – Alien (1979)

In what was Sigourney Weaver’s first screen role, Ellen Ripley has endured as one of the most memorable leading ladies, not only in horror, but in film. When an alien begins dispatching of crew members onboard spaceship Nostromo, Ripley transforms from damsel in distress to action heroine who happens to be stuck in a horror film by the climax. A pioneering role as much for the genre as it was for the actress.

Jodie Foster – The Silence of the Lambs (1990)

Clarice Starling is Jodie Foster’s defining role, an FBI trainee agent who seeks the advice of cannibal Dr. Hannibal Lecter to assist in the hunt of a serial killer on the loose. Her innocence translates well in order to become a leading lady audiences can root for, fear for and like all in one – it is debatable whether another actress in Foster’s shoes could have achieved the same feat.

Neve Campbell – Scream (1996)

Although there have been four Scream films, the most memorable scene takes place right at the very start, in the 1996 original where Drew Barrymore meets her maker in the form of a horror-movie obsessed Ghostface masked slasher. Sidney Prescott is the franchise’s female hero though, played by Neve Campbell. Evading death over four films, Campbell plays Sidney with the perfect amount of innocence, ensuring the audience fear for her safety but trust in her ability to get away. She’s pretty good on her horror movie trivia aswell.

Katie Featherston – Paranormal Activity (2009)

Leading lady in the original, cameo in every entry since (and counting,) Katie Featherston plays, er... Katie Featherston in 2009’s Paranormal Activity. Believing she is haunted by a paranormal entity, her sceptic boyfriend Micah buys a video camera, leaving it to run throughout the night -unveiling some horrifyingly strange goings-on. Relentlessly taunted like many others on this list, Katie conveys the fear of someone who isn’t safe in their own home with serious conviction.

Nicole Kidman – The Others

Originally supposed to be played by Jodie Foster, Nicole Kidman’s appearance as Grace Stewart in The Others is an effective one, successfully toeing the line between scepticism and suspension of disbelief when she grows convinced her house is being haunted. Grace is our viewpoint as the film transpires – we follow suit to her reactions, meaning the film’s success lies on Kidman’s skills as an actress. As it stands, The Others is a brilliantly-crafted chiller.

MAMA is in UK cinemas from Friday February 22.

'Vulgaria' screening at Terracotta Film Club on February 27

'Terracotta Film Club’ presents Pang Ho-Cheung’s VULGARIA at the Prince Charles Cinema on Wednesday February 27th

Comedy centered on a veteran film producer with major financial and family troubles who is lured into remaking a classic adult movie for the leader of a triad gang.

To (Chapman To Man-chak), a long-time film producer, has yet to produce anything resembling a hit. Beset by financial troubles, he has become desperate for money - so much so that he is unable to pay the alimony to his ex-wife (Kristal Tin). Despite his former spouse's bitterness, their daughter still clings onto her faith in him - and wishes to see him on TV once his new movie premieres. To is soon introduced to a potential Mainland Chinese investor, Tyrannosaurus (Ronald Cheng), by his buddy Lui Wing-shing (Simon Loui Yu-yeung), but Tyrannosaurus is not only the head of a Guangxi triad gang, he turns out to have very particular tastes in food and sex. Regardless, To is determined to woo this investor, even if it means giving into his every demands. Tyrannosaurus eventually tells them to cast his childhood idol Yum Yum Shaw (Susan Shaw) in a remake of a classic pornographic film. He even gives the film the title Confessions of Two Concubines...   Terracotta Distribution launched in January 2013 the “Terracotta Film Club”, a monthly film residency at the legendary, cult Prince Charles Cinema in London.
Following the sell out of Jackie Chan’s POLICE STORY last month, this month “Terracotta Film Club” will be showing Pang Ho-Cheung’s VULGARIA.

Link to event page: http://www.princecharlescinema.com/events/events.php?seasonanchor=terracottafc

Wednesday 27th February at 8.45pm doors open / 9pm film starts


Ticket price: £ 6.50 (Prince Charles cinema members £ 4.00)

Cast: Chapman To (Infernal Affairs Trilogy, A Simple Life), Dada Chan, Kristal Tin, Ronald Cheng, Susan Shaw, Lam Suet.
Runtime: 92 mins, cert 15, comedy, 2012
Country: Hong Kong; Cantonese language with English subtitles.

Courtesy of Third Window Films: http://thirdwindowfilms.com/films/vulgaria

About Prince Charles Cinema

From cult festivals to the latest box office hits, the Prince Charles Cinema is the heart of independent film in London. The Prince Charles Cinema is located at 7 Leicester Place, WC2H 7BY. www.princecharlescinema.com

Next Terracotta Film Club will be on Wednesday 27th March: CHOCOLATE by Prachya Pinkaew (Thailand).

Come Out and Play - Poster, Trailer and Images.

Hello Folks,

Jonny T here with the newly released poster  (above) for the upcoming Come out and play, A remake of Narciso Ibáñez Serrador's Spanish horror Who Can Kill A Child?,Which is one of my all time favourite films i have to say, now from the trailer that i have stuck below as remakes goes this looks pretty damn good an i personally cannot wait to see what they have done, it does look pretty close to the original, so anymore info or release dates i find out i will be sure to let you know and if you find anything out please let me know! And also if you have yet to see the original i can't recommend it highly enough so it is well worth tracking down.

Jonny T




 

IMAGES GALLERY.

Reign of Assassins comes to DVD 25 February!

Hello Folks,

Jonny T here with great news that the Produced and Co-Directed movie Reign Of Assassins is to get a UK DVD release on 25th Feb! Now for me personally it is great to see John Woo and Michelle Yeoh returning to Asian Cinema, whilst there Hollywood Movies for me personally have been so-so there is no doubting there legacy in Asian Cinema, From the trailer it looks great!So i have stuck all the details below and watch this space for a review coming very soon and a MEGA contest!

Jonny T.



 The best wuxia film since Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

The Global Times.

Reign of Assassins

On DVD 25 Feb 2013

John Woo co-directs an all-star cast in this period-set martial arts actioner that combines the action-comedy and romance of “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” with the identity swap thrills of “Face/Off”.

Co-directors John Woo (Red Cliff; Paycheck; Mission Impossible II; Face/Off) and Su Chao-pin (Silk), producer Terence Chang (Woo’s regular producer) and and stars Michelle Yeoh (The Lady; Memoirs Of A Geisha; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Tomorrow Never Dies), Jung Woo-sung (The Good, The Bad, The Weird; The Warrior), Wang Xueqi (Bodyguards And Assassins; The Founding Of A Republic), Shawn Yu (Dragon Tiger Gate; Initial D – Drift Racer; Infernal Affairs), Kelly Lin (Sparrow; Triangle) and Barbie Hsu (My Kingdom).

Synopsis:

In Ancient China, “Drizzle” is the most deadly and ruthless assassin of the Dark Stone gang. After a life of theft and murder, she seeks to atone for her ways and leave the gang forever. Undergoing a drastic procedure to alter her appearance, she changes her name to Jing and starts a new life in the capital.

Even with her newfound life as a shopkeeper and a budding romance to Ah-Sheng, the Dark Stone gang is hot on her trail. She alone holds the secret of the mystical Buddhist monk’s remains, which legend says the possessor will gain control of the whole world. The gang will stop at nothing in their pursuit to control this power.

Nominated for ten Hong Kong Film Awards (including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Action Choreography, Best Cinematography), this is far and away the classiest and best-choreographed martial arts extravaganza we’ve seen since “House Of Flying Daggers”. John Woo’s inimitable directorial touch, sumptuous visuals, astonishing action set-pieces and a beautiful and extremely talented cast featuring the cream of Asian cinema, all performing at the top of their game, make this a must-see.

“The beautifully balanced story finds time for humour and a piercingly romantic finale… lush visual treat.” – The Hollywood Reporter.

“A delightful martial-arts romp that makes up in wit and exuberance what it occasionally lacks in clarity and finesse.” – Variety.

“Its scenes of sword-play are wonderful… absorbing and entertaining.” – Screen International.

“Without heavy resort to visual effects, and without going too far down any one stylistic road, the film gives new life to a genre that's been pulled every which way in the past 20 years in search of new thrills.” (9/10) – Derek, Elley, Film Business
Asia.

Special Features:

Preparing The Story

Challenging The Strongest

The Characters

Destiny

Sword Fighting & Magic

Box-office sensation Sinister starring Ethan Hawke! Limited edition prizes to be won!

Hello Folks,
Are you feeling SINISTER? Well if not you certainly will be with this contest!!
On offer for you luck people to win is a copy of the awesome SINISTER on Blu-Ray as well as a chance to win a LTD edition uber creepy SINISTER T-Shirt!So to be in with a chance to win just answer the simple competion question,
Name the Male lead role in SINISTER

A-HUDSON HAWKE
B-ETHEN HAWKE
C-LARRY GRASON

Simply send me the answer to jonnyscultfilms@gmail.com with the header "SINISTER COMP"
By Monday 18th Feb with your chance to win.
Winner will be notified by email on Tuesday 19th Feb,And if you already own SINISTER get yourself on Twitter for Valentines day SINISTER fun and your chance to win win win!! All details below.
Good Luck!
Jonny T.

The “Genuinely terrifying” (5*, Daily Mail) box-office sensation that terrified cinema goers and critics alike is shortly upon us; the Ethan Hawke-starring Sinister arrives on DVD, Blu-ray and Download February 11th through Momentum Pictures.

To celebrate the release of Sinister, we’re giving away a limited edition t-shirt and a copy on Blu-ray! Plus, one lucky runner-up will also receive a limited edition t-shirt.

#SurviveSINISTER On Valentine's Day! From 8.00pm Thursday 14th Feb press play and watch your copy of Sinister and join in the fun on twitter following the hashtag #SurviveSINISTER. Share the fear and win prizes. Our team will be online from 7.30pm tweeting from @Sinister_UK to help you get ready!

GET SINISTER ON Blu-ray From Amazon!