Recent, unreleased British horror films Part 10

Still they come. Films which have been completed and screened (as far as I know) but not yet made commercially available.

Soldiers of the Damned (directed by Mark Nuttall)

“It’s the Eastern Front, 1944. The Russians are pushing the German Army back through Romania. Major Kurt Fleischer, war-weary commander of an elite troop of German soldiers, is ordered to escort a female scientist into a mysterious forest behind enemy lines to retrieve an ancient relic. As his men begin to disappear in strange circumstances Fleischer realises that the scientist is part of Himmler’s occult department and there is something in the forest that is far more deadly than the Russians.”

Filmed in April/May 2013, a not-quite finished version of this was trade-screened at the AFM in November 2014. From the director of CBBC’s Prank Patrol! More at www.facebook.com/SOTDfilm

This Changed Earth (directed by Ross Bradley, David Hinds)

“The earth has changed, but not for those who still stand upon it. A masked figure stalks a graveyard searching for remnants. Moths and butterflies trapped in the light. A lizard nailed to a tree. A man imprisoned by his own tired vices. A rabbit in a pantry. Seeds in a small wooden box. All these things will collide, fuse and split…and all will be born again, upon this changed earth.”

This was made in 2011 in Nottinghamshire. My notes say there was a screening in November 2013 but I can’t find any details. There’s no help to be had on the production company’s website, devilswax.com, where the most recent update is an August 2014 announcement that a second feature The House on Cuckoo Lane, is allegedly on its way to festivals.

Vampire Guitar (directed by Richard Pawelko)

“The film is a black comedy. It follows the murderous progress of a killer guitar and its attendant roadie with whom it develops a Faustian pact. The roadie’s tragic relationship with the evil instrument forms the spine of the film. The marks left on the bodies of five victims baffle both the police and an eminent vampire hunter. The mysterious villain turns out to be a musical monster with an insatiable appetite for blood, usually that of the unfortunate musicians who acquire the six stringed menace. Set in a fictitious radio station the action is brought to cinematic life through the vivid imagination of an obsessive “listener” who conjures up most of the scenes in his head. The climax features an electrifying showdown between the forces of good and evil that can turn us into angels or devils.”

This Welsh-shot horror-comedy premiered at the Bram Stoker Film Festival in October 2013 where it won Best Screenplay but it hasn’t been heard from since. There’s an e-book novelisation on Amazon! The title alone puts this on my must-see list. More at vampireguitarfilm.co.uk

Wandering Rose (directed by Corrie Greenop)

"Rose and her fiance Theo, escape the city for a weekend away to the idyllic Scottish Highlands. Theo sees it as a last chance to have some romantic alone time with Rose before she gives birth to their first child. The couple's peace disintegrates as Rose is confronted with chilling memories of her secret past. The weekend descends into a living nightmare as Rose is forced to confront her demons. "

This wonderful ghost story, which I reviewed last October, screened in London in August 2014. And over here I expressed my dismay at the US retitling and sleeve design (set for May 2015 release but not yet on Amazon). More at www.wanderingrosemovie.com