Rock Band vs Vampires is a new British horror feature shooting this year for release in 2014, written and directed by, and starring, Malcolm Galloway who is apparently lead singer with an actual rock band. He previously directed a sci-fi short called Mask.
The cast also includes Paul Beaumont (who was in shorts Evil of the Vampires and Vampire Gang Origins), Dani Thompson (Monitor, Three's a Shroud, Forest of the Damned 2, Zombie Women of Satan 2), Angela Holmes (The Crypt, I am Cursed) and - apparently - the chunky-jumpered legend that is Gyles Brandreth. There is a Facebook thing at www.facebook.com/RockBandVsVampires
Here is some concept art by Jake Rundle:
A couple of stills:
The brand new trailer:
And I believe that this, thought it may look like a cross between Ozzy Osbourne and Emperor Palpatine, is actually the Gylester!
Here are some stills from a new British horror, The Last Showing, which stars Robert Englund, making his second UK frightflick after Strippers vs Werewolves (or third if your count The Killer Tongue). Written and directed by Phil Hawkins (The Butterfly Tattoo), the film also stars Keith 'Lilly's Dad' Allen with special effects from Scott McIntyre (The Holding, Dead Cert, Tower Block etc).
Synopsis: When a young couple, Martin (Finn Jones: Hollyoaks, Game of Thrones, Wrong Turn 5) and Allie (Emily Berrington), have a night out at their local cinema, they become unwitting stars of their own horror story at the hands of Stuart (Robert Englund), a disturbed projectionist. Trapping them in the cinema complex, Stuart uses hidden cameras to play his two victims off against one another, directing them to a finale where there can only be one survivor.
The second Horror-on-Sea festival has a bunch of brand new British horror features, several of which even I have never heard of. The festival runs 17th to 19th January 2014 in Southend on Sea and the programme includes:
The Haunting of Harry Payne (Martyn Pick) - UK premiere "Ex-gangster Harry Payne confronts his violent past by taking vengeance from beyond the grave."
Lock In (Mark Howard) - world premiere "An ambitious young executive, working through the night, realises she’s not alone."
Evil Bread (Andy Ward) - world premiere "A film crew awakens an ancient evil, dormant for millennia and eager for souls."
The Casebook of Eddie Brewer (Andrew Spencer) "Eddie Brewer, an old-school paranormal investigator, is trailed as part of a documentary."
Molly Crows (Ray Wilkes) "Jess and her alcoholic mother are easy targets for bullies. But there's something different about Jess."
All the Fear of the Fair (Chris Jupp) "After a roller-coaster accident the ghosts of the dead children torment an unscrupulous developer."
KillerKiller: The Special Edition (Pat Higgins) "In a secure facility for captured serial killers, someone, or something, is picking off the inmates." (This is a brand new cut of Pat's terrific film from 2006.)
C.A.M. (Steve Du Melo/Larry Downing) "Police are deployed when a rare parasite contaminates a meat processing plant."
Plus the following British shorts:
Dystopia St. (David Cave) "Lost in a nightmare world, a man must unravel the mystery of his plight before he can escape."
Rats! (Stewart Sparke) - world premiere "When a young woman tackles a rat infestation she gets more than she bargained for."
Frostbite (Stewart Sparke) "Faux trailer: An Arctic research vessel discovers a submarine lost during World War II."
Sleepworking (Gavin Williams) "A ‘sleepworker’, programmed for menial labour while she is asleep, suffers disturbing side effects."
Somebody to Love (Phil Haine) "Love has found Sebastian. It just wasn’t the love he was expecting."
Grime Horror Trilogy (Richard Elson) "Three tales of terror – short but deadly."
Belly of the Wolf (Mark Fisher) "On an abandoned airbase, a young boy stumbles across a blood stained jacket."
Doll Face (Louis Paxton) "On a dinner date, Lilly expects Henry to declare his love. But he has an unsettling confession to make."
One Careful Owner (Mike Tack) - UK premiere "At Hammers Motors, has Terry the salesman met his match in Chris the awkward customer?"
All this plus numerous other new features and shorts from around the world and the brand new live show from the legendary Pat Higgins, Fake Blood and Real Guts! Writing and Filming Your Horror Classic. By all accounts last year’s Horror-on-Sea was a terrific event and I’d love to get there one year but not with my current family commitments alas.
The following weekend, the same folks are organising two days of ‘Salty Shorts’, plus another brand new British horror feature: Return of the Ghost (Jason Wilcox) "In a haunted mansion, a couple realise it isn’t only ‘occupied’ by the dead."
British short films on offer over 24th/25th January include:
The Collector (Sarah Goodall)
You are going to Die (Cameron Richardson)
Television (Graham Gunner)
Voodoo Moustache (Louis Paxton)
Profile in Darkness (Graeme Noble)
Sticky Fingers (Grahem Gunner)
Sweet 6Teen (Pantelis Hapeshis)
Pinot Rouge (Jordan Cochrane)
Yule (Steven Lancefield)
Monomania (Ben Vokes)
and a brace from my old pal Molly Brown: Haunted Hospital and Your Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse
Here's a treat which I've just found - a teaser trailer for Webkam. This feature was shot way back in August 2008 in Birmingham by a chap named James D Layton, and until now pretty much all that has existed to prove the film is a real thing have been these three stills which I was sent at the time.
You will probably recognise BHR regular Eleanor James there. The film also stars Kim Sonderholm (Deadly Pursuit) and Joanne Gail (When Evil Calls). The synopsis I was sent in 2008 reads as follows: "Victoria is a bit sad due due to a break-up with her boyfriend, Matt. Her best friend Lilly tries to cheer her up, but fails. One day a strange character wearing a clown mask appears on her computer screen. He calls himself Kam and he wants to play a game - it is the beginning of grueling nightmare for Victoria."
I have long wondered whether this was ever completed and what happened to James D Layton. Well, casual googling tonight revealed this teaser posted by Layton on YouTube in August this year. This raises my hopes that Webkam could one day actually see the light of day.
Jinga Films, the fine label run by Julian Richards, is planning to release three features by Andrew Parkinson next year, and all of them are excellent films worthy of your attention.
I, Zombie is still, after all these years, one of the very best British horror films of the past 20 years, a bleak, powerful tale of horror, introspection and social realism. And of historical interest as the debut credit for the UK's number one prosthetic make-up guy (and now director too) Paul Hyett, who was just a teenager when he worked on Andy's film.
Dead Creatures was the follow-up (but not sequel) and is a second brilliant slice of post-modern zombie horror: a study in contrast between dark, brutal savagery and caring companionship. Not as iconic as I, Zombie but just as good. A superb example of the burgeoning millenial rebirth of British horror cinema.
Both zombie films have been released before (I, Zombie was originally on VHS!) but this will be the first release of Parkinson's third feature. Enigmatic, Cronenbergian body horror science fiction set in an evocatively desolate British seaside locale, Venus Drowning is an extraordinary film, sort of The Brood meets Liquid Sky.
The success of Little Deaths has raised Andrew Parkinson's profile recently. If you haven't seen these earlier features, buy them when released. And hopefully we won't have to wait five years for the next Andy Parkinson movie.
The Shadow of Death, directed by Gav Chuckie Steel, is the latest BHR title to be posted in its entirety on YouTube. Gav posted it online back in June but I've only just become aware.
Gav actually sent me a screener of this a while back but I didn't review it because it's a bit of a marmite film. You really need to be a major slasher fan to appreciate it, and I'm not. Anyway, you can see the film for yourself now. It was shot in 2011 and premiered in May 2012.
Synopsis
Set in an English woodland countryside, Debra and her best friends Jamie and Nancy pick up Dan, Nancy's ex, to go out to the woods to score some weed. Unknown to them a killer who resembles death is cleansing the countryside. With a wannabe policeman and an assortment of the public out for some fresh air, the woods are no place to go down today.
"The Judas Curse is a horror film that seeks to recreate the classic, down and dirty style of the 1970s typical of the John Carpenter style where the suspense is relies heavily on atmosphere and suggestion, and of course the music.
"It will be shot on location in the dark and mysterious ruins of Horio which are largely unknown to filmmakers but which provide the perfect backdrop to a story that draws inspiration from some of the historic myths and legends that have built up around Judas Iscariot over the centuries. On Symi there is still an annual and controversial ritual involving the burning of Judas.
"Of particular interest to dedicated horror fans is an extremely challenging cryptic competition involving famous quotes from classic films of the genre. This is no walkover and even the most dedicated horror fan will be up against it to solve the ten clues. But to the person who manages to get the most correct answers will be awarded the prize of being able to name a character in the film and deciding to whom the behind-the-scenes lavishly illustrated book about the making of the film shall be dedicated."
Attached cast are Rebecca Grant (Holby City), Wookie Mayer (Heimat 2) and Lorna Doyle (The Tudors). The script is by James Collins, the DP is Felix Schmilinsky (My Brother the Devil) and the composer is Michael Bishop.
Synopsis “When a renegade father dies investigating an ancient myth, he leaves behind a mystery that only his son will be able to unlock. But some secrets are best left buried as Chris Trelawney discovers when he comes to a remote Greek island to collect his late father’s belongings.
"Meeting a beautiful and mysterious woman, Stavroula, he slowly learns to accept that there are stranger things in heaven and earth than he ever dreamed possible. It is not long before he is forced to question everything he holds to be true as one by one the remaining villagers take their own lives, in violent, horrifying ways.
"But will simply unlocking the secret be enough to save the village, Stavroula, and his own son as a dark force 2,000 years old stalks the island, growing stronger with every suicide until there is only one way out. Death. But when under the Judas Curse, death is the easy option.”
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