Terrific ghost story Wandering Rose gets absolutely terrible new title

Coz Greenop's Wandering Rose is a beautiful, intriguing, ultimately gripping horror-thriller about a couple holidaying in the Cairngorms before the birth of their first child. In my review last October I praised the "fine, taut script ... superb performances and strong, confident direction." I said it had a "steadily growing sense of dread, some genuine effective scares and a satisfyingly bleak and enigmatic resolution." In fact I called it an almost perfect horror film.

Stu Smith over on UKHorrorScene evidently agrees with me; he picked Wandering Rose as one of his top ten films of 2014.

The good news is that Wandering Rose has been picked up for North American distribution by Entertainment One, with a penciled-in release date of April/May. The less good news is that, as is sadly almost traditional for a US release, the title has been changed to something awful and it has been saddled with a sleeve that bears absolutely no relation whatsoever to the film. I mean look at this.

There is no demon baby in Coz's film. There's no demon at all, or anything even vaguely demonic. It's a freaking ghost story for Christ's sake.

Nor is there a baby, as such. The lead female character is still in her first trimester and there is no sign of any sort of baby bump. But someone at Entertainment One has decided that what would really sell this film is a stock photo of a heavily pregnant woman that has been photoshopped to add the image of a satanic baby.

It's difficult to see what possible benefit can be gained from this. As always, it means people who buy/rent the film will be disappointed at the complete absence of babies and demons and will probably just be bored by the well-written characters and the gorgeous Scottish scenery. While those who would really appreciate a subtle and thought-provoking borderline psychological/supernatural ghost story against a background of lochs and mountains will assume this is exploitative trash and pass this one by.

I just don't get it. I mean, if they really want to change the title (and maybe Wandering Rose is a tad vague) why not call it... Phantom Pregnancy? Sums up the film. And, incredibly, the IMDB doesn't list a single movie or TV episode with that title ever.

To keep up to date with news, check the movie's Facebook page. To see how it should be marketed, take a look at the website.

Recent, unreleased British horror films Part 6

Jagoda (directed by Lex Pokane-Hefner)

“Set in London year 2021, not much has changed in the world except it has become a darker place to live where a person’s sanity is questioned and if found to have any form of mental illness they are sectioned under strict supervisions of their porters awaiting a Brain Transplant. A quick fix solution to the large numbers of Mental Illness, which Teenager Kirsty discover may be the only solution to keep away the vision that haunt her life OR is there something more sinister in her life then just Visions. We see Young Kirsty who lives with her over bearing, hyper religious sister Lauren. Lauren disapproves of the negative influences in Kirtsy Life in Particular her best friend Dana and Boyfriend Michael. Will Kirsty be able to figure out what or who is behind the haunted life she leads OR will it be to late.........”

This one’s a bit of a mystery. There’s a trailer on the website of prodco Fighting Badgers and about five minutes of clips on the website of composer Aaron Narayan-Taylor. It was shot in 2013 as The One and, according to my records there was a screening of some sort in April 2014 but I can’t find any details. The director (variously aka Lek Pokane and Lex Hefner) also shot an unreleased feature that same year called The Kill aka Female Serial Killer.

Judas Ghost (directed by Simon Pearce)

“The Carnacki Institute exists to do something about ghosts. When reports of the supernatural from an old village hall point to an apparently standard haunting, an elite team of Ghost Finders is dispatched to assess the situation. The team of four includes a cameraman and former Ghost Finder from the Carnacki Institute, who is there to document events as a training tool for new recruits. But things go from bad to worse when it becomes clear that they are facing something far more sinister than they first anticipated. The hall harbours a dark secret, and the team must use every trick they know to try and get out of there alive. Three men and one woman who think they’ve seen it all. That is, until they encounter the chilling Judas Ghost... Who will survive and what will be left of their souls?”

From a script by sci-fi novelist Simon R Green (another old oppo from my SFX days), this was shot in February/March 2012. The world premiere was at Shriekfest in LA in October 2013 and the UK premiere was at the Novacon 43 SF con in Nottingham the following month. Since then Judas Ghost has played a stack of festivals across the globe. A DVD/VOD release is apparently lined up for April 2015. More at www.judasghostmovie.com

Kerb Crawlers (directed by James Plumb)

“Hired to make a depraved snuff movie, five men abduct a young woman to be their plaything for the night. However once the cameras start rolling so do heads as they discover their victim belongs to another... something living inside of her... something monstrous. The tables now turned, the men will receive a lesson on true pain and torture as they become the ‘stars’ of the film.”

The latest feature from James Plumb (Silent Night, Bloody Night: The Homecoming, Night of the Living Dead: Resurrection) was filmed in March 2014 and premiered at SCARdiff in October. There doesn’t appear to be a website or Facebook page.

Let Us Prey (d. Brian O’Malley)

“Rachel, a rookie cop, is about to begin her first nightshift in a neglected police station in a Scottish, backwater town. The kind of place where the tide has gone out and stranded a motley bunch of the aimless, the forgotten, the bitter-and-twisted who all think that, really, they deserve to be somewhere else. They all think they’re there by accident and that, with a little luck, life is going to get better. Wrong, on both counts. Six is about to arrive – and All Hell Will Break Loose!”

Liam Cunningham from Dog Soldiers and Pollyanna McIntosh from White Settlers lead the cast of this feature which was shot in 2013. It premiered at Brussels in April 2014 with a UK premiere at Edinburgh in June and several subsequent festival screeninmgs. More at www.letuspreymovie.com

Can't wait to see... Lead Me to the Dark

Here's the first trailer and stills from Lead Me to the Dark, a vampire feature shot last year by James Twyman in collaboration with Steven M Smith (Time of Her Life) who exec.produced the movie through his Greenway Entertainment company.

Synopsis: Lead Me to the Dark is the story of Amy Cole, an investigative reporter whose life is turned upside down when her daughter Lily-Mae is struck with terminal cancer. Using every resource she has she desperately tries to find something that can save her child, be it an untested drug, a new therapy... even a miracle will do. As she searches she stumbles upon a dark and secret world that may hold the key to Lily-Mae's survival, but by the time she's done... she may wish she had let her daughter die.

The creatures that inhabit this dark culture are vampires, and not the ones we are used to in books and films. These cold super predators control everything from politics to trafficking, cultivating mankind to think they are free, making them easier to use. They agree to turn Lily-Mae in return for the use of Amy's unique set of skills, a deal that takes Amy deeper in to the bloody, horrible and frightening world of the vampire.

Lead Me to the Dark, which was shot for £3,000, stars Joanna Pickering (City of Tales, Svengali), Philip Scott-Shurety and James Bryhan (The Apostate: Call of the Revenant) plus - add another name to the 'Pop Stars in British Horror Films' ;ist - Terry Coldwell, who used to be in East 17.

“I’m incredibly proud of my team, who have worked tirelessly and with unwavering passion to help me make this film,” says James. “Without these incredible people, my dream of making my first feature film simply would not have been possible.”

Keep track of the film at www.facebook.com/leadmetothedark

Recent, unreleased British horror films Part 5

Continuing our round-up of films you have almost certainly not had a chance to watch yet.

The Hatching (directed by Michael Anderson)

“Tim returns to his childhood home to bury his father and take over the family business, with his girlfriend Lucy. However, Tim carries an old burden; a friend of his was killed by a crocodile during a kids’ prank at a local zoo and when locals mysteriously start vanishing, Tim realizes the crocodile eggs he stole as a child have now hatched and are loose on the Somerset Levels. As people disappear and gruesome body parts mount, the horrific truth emerges and for Tim it’s a race against time, to put right what went so horribly wrong.”

Shot in Somerset in November/December 2013, this “dark comedy/horror that does for the Somerset moors what Jaws did for beaches” stars Thomas Turgoose from Eden Lake and Andrew-Lee Potts from Primeval. I covered this last November when the film premiered at the Bath Film Festival, followed by a screening near Bridgewater. More at www.facebook.com/hatchingthemovie

Hungerford (d.Drew Casson)

“Cowen Rosewell lives with a small group of old friends in a scruffy flat in a small English town. Like many teens leaving school in 2014, there are few prospects or opportunities for people like Cowen and he has enrolled on a BTEC media course as a way of passing the time. His first assignment is to record everything in a week of his life. At first Cowen dismisses the random acts of violence he witnesses as the business as usual in a small English town. However, when one of his best friends is savagely attacked by a stranger, and in defending her they kill her assailant, the inexplicably serious nature of the dead assailant’s injuries alert them to a more disturbing reality. As events escalate, Cowen and his friends discover that the town has come under a mysterious malign influence which is somehow controlling organised gangs who are rounding people up and taking them to a nearby factory. The friends hide, hoping to escape, but their sanctuary is discovered and over run. Finally Cowen must make his way alone to the factory in search of his loved ones. The evil force that awaits him there has implications not just for Cowen, but for the entire world.”

Directed in 2013 by 19-year-old Drew Casson with £20,000 funding from Wildseed Studios, this alien invasion picture premiered at Sci-Fi London in May 2014. It also screened at Shriekfest in LA in October and has just been accepted into Fantasporto. I reviewed a screener in June. Originally titled Hunger Ford, I wasn’t the only reviewer to suggest that a further title change might help.

I am Cursed (directed by Shiraz Khan)

“The Story is set in a News office.  Lisa is a frustrated News writer/reporter waiting for her big break. Much to her annoyance all the bigger stories are given to other writers including Dan who has better family connections. Then Lisa's biggest story walks into the office in the form of Jay. He is incredibly introvert and mysterious. He finds it difficult to interact socially and to make friends for good reasons as Jay brings with him a deadly secret! Lisa befriends Jay and they share adventurous assignments together. Dan's jealousy takes over and Jay soon becomes a target of his gang. It is not long before mysterious killings start taking place within the office. Lisa investigates and makes a startling discovery about Jay. Lisa’s further investigation leads her into Jay's deadly secret and the connection to his Supernatural truth is revealed. Will Lisa be the next Victim? Who is the real Jay? A victim or a misguided soul?”

Filmed around Windsor in the summer of 2011, there was a single screening in London in June 2014 but no news since then. More at www.iamcursed.co.uk

Impurity (directed by Andy Remic)

“Shotgun Jimmy is a nasty piece of work. Ripping off drug dealers, killing policemen, he'd decapitate his own grandmother for a sack full of loot. Schizophrenic, psychopathic, his only friend is Mary the Shotgun - his trusty, reliable pump-action. But during a violent road-rage incident, something goes horribly wrong and Jimmy finds himself chained in shackles in a dark, grimy dungeon where he ponders over a deeply buried secret past… Tomas Sorescu's been a bad man. He likes his whiskey. And brandy. Vodka, rum or gin? Hell, he'll drink petrol if it isn't nailed down. Only now he's done a rather silly thing. He's crashed his car - and killed his wife and little girl in the process. Tomas feels pretty bad about the situation. So bad, in fact, he needs another drink. But then it gets worse as a tall, powerful, gas-mask wearing figure pulls Tomas from the wreckage and introduces him to a special place… Sophie Scott is a successful career journalist in the sleepy village of Ramsbottom. Happy and confident, she now hides a secret… For a few weeks earlier, she killed her husband. Stabbed him in the guts and buried his body in the woods. Now, his restless spirit haunts her, and she hears his mockery at every street corner. Sophie starts to believe she's going mad. Then, whilst following up a murder story in the woods, she visits an old witch called Alice - and within minutes, meets the gas-masked figure known as Chemical Man. Meets him, and ends up in the boot of his car. All three characters awake, chained and shackled in a cellar dungeon. At first they squabble like children, but soon realise their abductor is far from sane. However, Chemical Man doesn't want to kill them. Not yet. First, he wants to purify them. He sees their souls as stained by the impurity of their dark deeds… and this cleansing process promises to be a lot more painful…”

Shot in Lincolnshire in May 2013, this debut feature from horror author Andy Remic had a cast and crew screening in December of that year (at the famous Kinema in the Woods) but has otherwise remained unseen. Frazer Hines, who was Jamie in Doctor Who a thousand years ago, lends name value. Remic, who calls this “a dark, brooding, powerful feature film in the tradition of Saw, Hostel, Dead Man’s Shoes and Shallow Grave” is now prepping a second feature, The Mask Within. More at www.impuritythemovie.com

Glasgow slasher 'The House of Him' on Vimeo

Every year so many horror films get released at Halloween that it's easy to miss some. I've just discovered that The House of Him, a slasher which premiered at the Glasgow Film Festival in February 2014 was released into Vimeo On Demand at the end of October.

Written and directed by Robert Florence, writer of BBC Scotland sitcom Burnistoun (can't say I'm familiar with it), this distinctly non-comedy horror feature uses several of that series' cast and crew. It was shot for about £800 which included buying the killer's mask - a cheap paintball mask bought off Amazon.

Synopsis: A misogynistic masked killer prepares for the routine slaying of his 27th victim, Anna, in the comfort of his own home. As Anna struggles to break out of the role the killer has chosen for her, the dead women in the walls and floors play a last desperate card.

The film is available to rent or buy, with 10% of all income going to women's aid charities.

NB. The website at www.thehouseofhim.com is no more but you can keep up to date with screening and other developments at www.facebook.com/thehouseofhim

This brings the total number of British horror features released in 2014, which was 69 when I wrote this month's Devil's Porridge blog, up to 74.

Recent, unreleased British horror films Part 4

More films which are as yet unseen outside of the festival circuit.

Evil Bread (directed by Andy Ward)

“A film crew awakens an ancient evil, dormant for millennia and eager for souls.”

After a London premiere in July 2013, this horror-comedy screened to great acclaim at Horror-on-Sea in January 2014 and then at Horror-on-Sea East in November. It also played a festival in Salt Lake City in October. You can keep up to date with future developments on Facebook.

Extinction (directed by Adam Spinks)

“A research team led by a renowned and respected Professor who embark on an Expedition deep within the Amazon to study vulnerable and endangered species. However after a series of strange events, the superstitious guides abandon the team, who, faced with a tough decision, decide to remain deep in the jungle in an attempt to complete their study… but as night falls they begin to realize that all really is not as it seems and that they are in the hunting ground of an apex predator… Something they never could have imagined.”

Filmed as The Expedition, this found-footage dinosaur movie premiered at Frighfest in August 2014 and was trade-screened at the AFM in November. Adam Spinks followed this with as-yet-unseen zombie feature Survivors. More at www.facebook.com/ExtinctionTheMovie

The Final Haunting (d.Flaminia Graziadei)

“The plot consists of two parallel storylines which cleverly intermingle, revealing tantalising elements of the characters back stories.  The drama builds, driving the levels of suspense to a fever pitch with lots of fast cutaways and a discordant nursery rhyme theme used to accentuate the tension, thrill and suspense. The story centres on twenty two year old Lily Reynolds who hides a terrible secret that bursts back to her memory when she accepts a baby sitting job for unhappily married Tim and Samantha Thompson at their home, Grosvenor Grange. Echoes of Lily’s past will trigger off an horrific journey deep down into her subconscious, while we watch her struggling to protect the baby in her charge from an ever increasing danger, but is it real or imaginary?”

Shot in March 2014 in North Wales, this premiered in December at the Mumbai Women International Film Festival. More at www.thefinalhaunting.com

The Forgotten (directed by Oliver Frampton)

“When a father and son are forced to squat in an empty London council estate scheduled for demolition, 14 year old Tommy starts to hear strange noises coming from the boarded-up flat next door…”

Shot back in October/November 2011, this feature debut from a former script editor for The Bill premiered at the 2014 Frightfest. Subsequent festival screenings have included Grimm Up North and Norway in October, then South Africa, Argentina and Abertoir in November. More at www.facebook.com/TheForgottenFilm

Recent, unreleased British horror films Part 3

More British films which premiered in 2013/2014 but have not yet been released commercially.

Dwellings Close (directed by Jorge Cuaik)

“Ken an estate agent from London is mysteriously locked in one of his employer’s properties at number eight Dwellings Close. Inside he meets Gem, an eccentric young woman who claims to be the property's new tenant, together they will try to find a way out.”

Shot for less than five grand in London in 2012, this “tiny fantasy adventure film” has so far only screened at the South Texas Underground Film Festival in October 2013. The last Facebook post, in May 2014, promised “a couple of exciting announcements coming up soon.” Based on the director’s nationality, the IMDB lists this as a UK-Mexican co-production! More at dwellingsclose.com

Dying Light (directed by David Newbigging)

“When Eddie Bowen hooks up with the beautiful and sexually aggressive Suze Phillips he thinks his luck’s in. But it’s a trap! Suze imprisons them both within a specially-prepared room and before Eddie can react he’s drugged and blacks out. When he wakes he finds a symbol carved into his chest and Suze lying unconscious on the floor with a dagger in hand. While Eddie desperately attempts to break through the room’s stone walls and securely-locked door he tries to get some answers from the seemingly psychotic Suze. What has she done to him? What the hell’s going on?! The true horror of his situation gradually emerges: despite how crazy it sounds, the room is growing darker and darker and there’s something in the shadows... something that’s coming to get him. Can Eddie escape in time? Or will the darkness claim him?”

Funded with £50,000 of Lottery money, this ‘psychological thriller’ was made by unemployed young people in Greenock as part of a social enterprise project in 2012. James Cosmo from Game of Thrones provided a voice - and hence some name value – to this two-hander. There was a single screening at a local cinema in May 2013 then everything went quiet, although a second trailer posted in October suggests we may yet still see this. More at www.dyinglightfilm.com

Eden Lodge (directed by Andreas Prodromou)

“A young couple with their newborn child embark on a deadly weekend in the English countryside when their car narrowly avoids hitting an apparent body in the dark. Finding nothing on the road but a pool of blood and unable to re-start their car they seek refuge at the isolated Eden Lodge B&B run by an elderly, Bible thumping, matriarch. The couple’s fragile relationship and strained nerves are tested to breaking point by the tense surroundings and a strange assortment of characters including a seductive beauty and an intimidating handyman whose repairs to their car seem never ending. But when one by one those around them are savagely butchered by an unknown hand, the couple find themselves trapped in a deadly nightmare all too real as together they must contemplate the unthinkable in order to protect their baby.”

Shot in Enfield between October 2012 and January 2013, this was briefly retitled Breakdown before reverting to its original title. The film was trade screened at Cannes in May 2013 and there was a single UK screening (presumably also in Enfield) in September. The last item on the Facebook page was a request for a sound editor in January 2014. Since then everything has been very quiet.

Eva’s Diamond (directed by Ice Neal)

“When devout religious teenager Diamond Boaz Phillips is accused of murdering an expert in the occult and sent to prison due to credible evidence, his mother Miss Phillips, has no choice but to take matters into her own hands with no clue her quest to prove his innocence will lead her into a world of black magic and time traveling spirits.”

The director, who also stars in the film, calls this “a rich, complex and compelling mystery drama thriller which deals with christianity, dark magic, justice and motherly love.” Following a screening at the San Diego Black Film Festival in February 2013, the movie received its UK premiere at the Stratford Picture House in April 2014. There was also a screening in London in September as part of the British Urban Film Festival. More at www.evasdiamondmovie.com