Richard Driscoll convicted of fraud, awaiting sentence

It couldn't happen to a nicer guy. Richard Driscoll, the most colourful character in British horror cinema, has today been found guilty of defrauding the Inland Revenue to the tune of £1.5 million.

According to this HMRC press release, Driscoll was arrested in June 2011 for fraudulent activities which took place between January 2009 and September 2011. Bear in mind that between then and his first appearance at Southwark Crown Court, shortly before Easter 2013, he:

• Re-released Evil Calls in 3D as The Legend of Harrow Woods
• Re-released Kannibal in 3D as Headhunter
• Sent abusive emails to my webhost and ISP forcing the temporary removal of my reviews of his films
• Announced a DVD release for Eldorado
• Shot some scenes for, and announced a DVD of,  Grindhouse 2wo
• Launched the eldorado3d.com website
• Re-released Cold Light of Day
• Released a trailer for Eldorado and announced a fictitious London premiere
• Shot some green-screen footage for Death Ship: The Real Pirates of the Caribbean
• Announced a screening and after-show party in Bournemouth featuring performers who rigorously denied they would be there
• Falsely laimed the BBFC had rejected Eldorado as too strong for an 18 certificate
• Finally released Eldorado!
• Put Higher Nanpean Farm up for sale
• Re-edited and re-released Eldorado as Highway to Hell
• Announced a 'new' film, The Devil Rides Out (aka When the Devil Rides Out) which was actually the still unreleased Devil's Disciple.

That's all after he was arrested for fraud! Details of the case are still emerging but it seems he claimed VAT repayments on £9 million of costs even though Eldorado only cost £1 million to make.

The story is starting to appear on news sites although most of them are getting basic facts wrong, notably:

• They think Eldorado was David Carradine's last film (to be fair, that's in the HMRC press release)
• They think it was never released (apparently because US rights holders Fantastic Films International said they never received the film)
• They think, for some bizarre reason, that US actress Kerry Washington is in it(?).

Driscoll will be sentenced on 1st July. Three men charged with him have been found not guilty. I'll post more details in the coming days. For now, here's some media coverage, which I'll update as it spreads:

• Daily Telegraph
• Daily Mail
• This is Cornwall
• West Briton
• The Australian (paywall)

First trailer for The Dead 2!

The Ford Bothers' The Dead is, in my judgement, the best British zombie film ever made. So you can imagine how excited I am to see the new trailer for The Dead II: India, which transposes the action to a new continent.

So hot it's not even listed on the IMDB yet, The Dead II stars Joseph Milson, making his fourth foray into the British Horror Revival after Dead of the Nite, SNUB and Devil's Bridge with Indian actress Meenu (Love Aaj Kal) as his pregnant girlfriend.

British horror titles on The Horror Show VOD services

The Horror Show, a UK-based VOD service "created for, and curated by horror fans", officially launches next month and they already have a few titles online including three interesting BHR titles.

There's David Bryant and friends' Dead Wood, which I reviewed back in August 2007: "The characters are likeable, the acting naturalistic, the horror subtle at first then increasingly dreadful. ... Thoroughly enjoyable, decidedly spooky and heartily recommended."

There is also Ozgur Uyanik's absolutely brilliant Resurrecting 'The Street Walker', one of my favourite films of recent years: "an imaginative, original, clever, gripping film ... the most realistic portrayal of a British feature film production company that I have ever seen."

And the third BHR title is one I haven't seen, which is exclusive to The Horror Show. That's Andrew Spencer's 'paranormal thriller' The Casebook of Eddie Brewer. I've heard good things about that one and am delighted to move it from the 'unreleased' file to the list of 2013 BHR releases.

The service also has a 'Short Stack' of ten great short films from around the world including British titles Beer and Nuts, Suckablood, SatanV, The Wilds, The Dorset Toothclaw Massacre, Devil's Grip and Him Indoors. Nearly two hours of horror for just 99p!

The Horror Show launches on 14th June.

Rue Morgue 'British horror' special

The next issue of Rue Morgue magazine is a subtly branded British Horror Special. And while most of the contents is predictably about old horror topics, including The Wicker Man and Peter Cushing, there is evidently some BHR coverage in there including Harold's Going Stiff, Sightseers and, slightly bizarrely, Simon Pegg-starring flop A Fantastic Fear of Everything.

The irony is that Rue Morgue generally hates British horror.

When I was researching and writing Urban Terrors: New British Horror Cinema, most of the reviews I found in Rue Morgue were extraordinarily negative. According to the mag's warped view of modern British horror, apparently, Dog Soldiers "plays dead with the best of them", Doctor Sleep has a "pedestrian idea of scariness", The Zombie Diaries is "inconsistent", Evil Aliens is "an abortion of piss-poor CGI, outlandish 'acting' and imaginative yet crappy effects", Nature Morte is a "formulaic police procedural" and a "lame-ass murder mystery", The Devil's Chair is "straight-to-video calibre nonsense", The Devil's Tattoo is "a shipwreck of a movie" (to be fair, it is) and - most point-missingly of all - 28 Days Later is "a colossal wankfest from start to finish, easily one of the biggest disappointments of the calendar year"!

Rue Morgue, which is generally an okay magazine, despite their antipathy towards British films, is available in the UK from the fine folk at Hemlock Books. This issue is published on 1st May.

Kim Newman on British horror

Here's an interesting interview with Kim Newman, ostensibly about old British horror films but with some discussion of the British Horror Revival too.

BHR titles which he mentions include Eden Lake, Harold's Going Stiff, Long Time Dead, Nine Lives, Mum and Dad, Cockneys vs Zombies and The Devil's Business.

Derby festival presents four top British horror directors

Derby Quad is staging a new film festival next month called iD Fest ("celebrating identity through film") and among the programme is a discussion panel with four leading lights of the British Horror Revival. It is being billed as 'Directing Independent British Features' but all four panelists have solid horror cred (though some have done non-horror too).

• Jake West directed Razor Blade Smile, Evil Aliens and Doghouse (as well as Club Death, Pumpkinhead 3 and one segment of The ABCs of Death)
• Johannes Roberts directed F and Storage 24 (as well as Forest of the Damned, Darkhunters and When Evil Calls, and co-directed Sanitarium and Hellbreeder)
• Paul Andrew Williams directed The Cottage and Cherry Tree Lane (and wrote the original script of The Children)
• Dominic Burns directed Cut, Airborne and UFO (and, as an actor, appeared in The Reverend, Kill Keith, Strippers vs Werewolves, Cockneys vs Zombies - and is producing The Devil's Tower)

The panel is at 4.00pm on Saturday 11th May, tickets are four quid a pop. Find out more at www.idfest.co.uk

Summer Scars - new UK DVD next month

Julian Richards' Summer Scars gets a UK re-release on 6th May. I said in my original review that I don't consider this a horror film (which I stand by, and which is why it's not included in Urban Terrors) though it is undoubtedly borderline and I have certainly seen it filed under 'horror'. This new release is playing up that angle with the sleeve which calls it an "unsettling, realistic terror flick". It's certainly a fine movie so if you haven't seen it, pick up a copy and make up your own mind.

Press release

Soda Pictures has announced the UK DVD re-release of Julian Richards' BAFTA winning hostage horror SUMMER SCARS with a street day of May 6th 2013.

SUMMER SCARS tells the story of a gang of delinquents who ditch school to hang out in the woods where some hot rodding on a stolen moped changes the fate of their day. They crash into Peter, an ex-army loner, who is delighted to have some company. First he gains their trust by joining in their games, but then his behaviour begins to change. Peter uses what he has learned about the kids against them, bullying the aplha boys, belittling the weaker ones and saving his worst for the only girl of the group. As events spiral out of control the youths resort to extreme measures in order to survive the ordeal.

SUMMER SCARS re-unites Richards with lead actor Kevin Howarth, the dynamic director/actor team behind cult sensation THE LAST HORROR MOVIE. Richards has since directed the forthcoming Hollywood thriller SHIVER starring Danielle Harris, John Jarratt and Casper Van Dien, whilst Howarth has starred alongside Wesley Snipes in GALLOWWALKER and Sean Pertwee in THE SEASONING HOUSE.