Whatever happened to those 140 unreleased British horror films? (Part 1)

Two years ago I posted a list of 140 unreleased British horror films produced since 2000 (actually there were only 139 films but I wanted a snappy headline). So I got to wondering: how many of these have now had a release? I'm going to split this over five daily posts.

1. Airborne (d.Dominic Burns) - Released on UK disc in July 2012, US disc October 2012. 
2. Alien Rising (d.Nigel Moran) - Turns out this had an uncertificated UK release in July 2007 through the director’s own website. I found this out just in time to squeeze it into my book Urban Terrors. 
3. Ambition (d.Nicolas Forzy) - There was a US disc in May 2009. 
4. Animal Soup (d.David VG Davies) - It seems there was an uncertificated UK release in November 2008 so it should have just scraped into Urban Terrors but I found out too late. 
5. Bad Place (d.Darren Winter) - Released online in August 2012. 
6. The Battersea Ripper aka Manilla Envelopes (d.Nick Tyrone) - Remains unreleased, possibly uncompleted. Here’s some more details.
7. Beast in the Basement aka Conquering Heroes (d.Robbie Moffat) - Most of Moffat’s films are available online through his euroflix website. It’s hard to determine when they were posted but my best guess for this is that it’s been up there since July 2013. 
8. Before Dawn (d.Dominic Brunt) - A terrific film released in the UK theatrically and on disc in February 2012. Check out my review. 
9. Bicycle Day aka Bad Trip (d.Damian Morter) - Remains unreleased but Damian kindly sent me a screener so you can read my review. He is currently planning a remake. 
10. Blood Army aka Nephilim (d.Will Moore) - Shot in 2009 and remains unseen. I don’t think this has ever even had a festival screening. Possibly uncompleted? 
11. The Box (d.Jason Wilcox) - Never been opened. 
12. Cockneys vs Zombies (d.Matthias Hoene) - This had a fairly high profile UK theatrical release in August 2012 and also played some US screens one year later. Now available on DVD. 
13. Collateral Consequences (d.Paul TT Easter) - Camcorder auteur Easter remains a mysterious figure. The IMDB lists this as horror but the trailer and synopsis suggest otherwise so I’ve taken it off my list. 
14. Comedown (d.Menhaj Juda) - This saw a UK release in January 2013. 
15. Community aka Final Project (d.Jason Ford) - Released on UK disc in February 2013 - check out my review. 
16. Creepsville (d.Michael J Dixon) - Back in March Mike told me this was “a couple of months away” from completion. The Facebook page still says ‘Coming soon.’ I guess we get it when we get it. 
17. The Dark Hunter (d.Duncan Cowan, Mark Jackson) - This had a UK DVD release in October 2006 which everyone missed. Shame I found out too late to get it into my book. 
18. Dark Journey aka Parkside Hell House (d.James White) - Released online in March 2011. 
19. Dark Night (d.Daniel Grant) - Can’t see anything. 
20. Dead Crazy (d.Frank Scantori) - Dear old Frank passed away recently leaving this unfinished but one of his friends is hoping to complete it. 
21. Dead Dog Blues (d.Aimee Stephenson) - Another one which would have been in Urban Terrors had I found it in time, this had a US release way back in March 2004! 
22. Dead Frequency (d.Rob Burrows) - Probably the first British horror film to premiere on Spanish television (in June 2011). No sign of a disc yet though. 
23. The Dead Inside (d.Andrew Gilbert) - Finally made it to UK DVD in October 2013.
24. Deadtime (d.Tony Jopia) - I watched this on telly the other night! Released on UK disc in May 2012 and in the States two months later. 
25. Dead Time (d.Jason Wilcox) - Another film from the director of The Box which has likewise disappeared completely. 
26. Death (d.Martin Gooch) - Now retitled After Death, this was released online in June 2012. 
27. Demon (d.Mark Duffield) - Despite a few festival screenings, this gothic horror from the director of The Ghost of Mae Nak remains unreleased. 
28. The Demon Within (d.Harold Gasnier) - Lost in limbo, but I did get to see a screener a few years ago and reviewed the film. 
29. The Devil’s Business (d.Sean Hogan) - August 2012 saw this playing a few UK theatres before its DVD release. 
30. Dreaming of Screaming (d. Lee Burgess, John Ninnis, Tuesday Burgess) - Still dreaming of a release. 
31. The Dungeon Moor Killings (d.Jim Hickey) - No sign of life. 
32. A Dying Breed (d.Katharine Collins) - VOD release in April 2010. 
33. Eldorado (d.Richard Driscoll) - This one got released twice! In January 2012 and again a few months later in a different edit as Highway to Hell. The director is currently serving three years at Her Majesty’s Pleasure... 
34. Ellie Rose aka Not Alone (d.Tristan Versluis) - Disagreement between the director and the producers means we’re unlikely to see this 2009 feature debut from my mate Tris anytime soon. 
35. Entity (d.Steve Stone) - A UK disc in June 2013.

I'll post the fate of films 36-70 tomorrow.

Supernatural horror film Haunting of Harry Payne marketed as generic gangster film

Martyn Pick's horror/gangster mash-up The Haunting of Harry Payne was originally scheduled for a UK DVD release in August 2013 with this rather groovy cover.

But someone has decided that more people buy gangster films than horror movies so it has been bumped to January 2014, given the generic new title Evil Never Dies and packaged as a straightforward gangster geezer picture in a generic sleeve design that gives no clues at all that this is a supernatural horror film. Thus ensuring that anyone who buys it will be pissed off and the sort of punters who might actually want to see this sort of film will pass it by. Smart marketing.

Synopsis: Ex-London gangster Harry Payne retires to Norfolk to be close to his wife, driven mad when he was forced to kill his best friend, psychopathic gang boss Eugene McCann. Immediately he is drawn into a murder mystery in which an obsessive local police detective targets him as the killer. Unknown to anyone, Harry has psychic abilities he has always suppressed with alcohol. Now he must confront the supernatural and his own personal demons to save his wife and free the tormented souls of the ghosts that haunt him.

Sleeves for 'The Andrew Parkinson Trilogy'

That's how it's being billed in the blurb on Amazon.com: 'Part 1/2/3 of the Andrew Parkinson Trilogy. Here are the sleeves for the US re-releases of I, Zombie and Dead Creatures and the first ever release anywhere of Andy Parkinson's extraordinary Venus Drowning. All three are out on 18th February next year.

The Addicted becomes Rehab, March release

Sean J Vincent's The Addicted is lined up for a UK DVD release next March under a new title. Safecracker Pictures will put the film out as Rehab and it's up for pre-order on Amazon now.

Vincent is in post-production on his horror/gangster feature Seven Cases, starring the unlikely pairing of top thesp Steven Berkoff and page 3 stunna Samantha Fox(!), and is planning to shoot his next film after that early next year. With the working title The Chronos File, this will be a sci-fi-conspiracy-thriller.

[Now pushed to August and retitled again - MJS, June 2014]

Art of Darkness released in Germany

For some reason, my review of Art of Darkness (which I saw as Art House Massacre) has been getting a lot of traffic lately. This turns out to be because the film has finally had a release, albeit (in the manner of these things) in Germany. Over there the movie (which was shot as Art House) is known as The Painter. Crikey, it's got more titles than a Jess Franco film!

The DVD and blu-ray were released on 7th November by Sunfilm Entertainment with both German and English soundtracks so if you're keen to see the film you can order it from amazon.de. The Amazon page has a quote from my  review, which suggests it's probably on the back of the DVD too. And that's why I've been getting the traffic.

'The Painter' also played the big screen last month at the week-long After Dark festival in Germany.

Primeval star faces Somerset crocodiles in The Hatching

The Hatching is a new British horror feature wrapping production this month: On the death of his father, Tim Webber returns to his childhood village in Somerset to find something sinister is disturbing the idyllic peace of the villagers. As people disappear and gruesome body parts mount, the horrific truth emerges that crocodiles are hunting on the moors.

Directed by Michael Anderson (not the guy who made The Dambusters), it stars Andrew Lee Potts from Primeval and Strange (plus Freakdog and The Bunker) and Laura Aikman (Casualty, Virtual Sexuality) plus Thomas Turgoose (Eden Lake) and... Justin Lee Collins(!).

Here's a set report from the Central Somerset Gazette.

Jake West and Alex Chandon contribute to The Sleeping Room

Production Company Movie Mogul (Panic Button, Shortcuts To Hell) announced today that shooting on supernatural thriller THE SLEEPING ROOM begins on Wed Dec 4, for a three-week shoot on location in Brighton.

Starring Leila Mimmock (Becoming Human), Joseph Beattie (Hex) and Julie Graham (Tower Block), this intense tale of Victorian revenge is written by Ross Jameson, Alex Chandon and John Shackleton and directed by Shackleton with Jake West directing the ’Mutoscope’ action sequences. Director of Photography is Simon Poulter (Panic Button).

Set in present day Brighton, THE SLEEPING ROOM is the story of Blue (Leila Mimmock), a call girl who falls for a new client, Bill (Joseph Beattie) But the real attraction for Blue is Bill’s apartment and a mysterious room that seems to hold the key to the dark secrets of her family’s past – a room that is about to unleash terrible physical and supernatural forces. Nobody will escape unless a score for a heinous crime is settled.

The cast also includes David Sibley, Chris Waller (Inbred, Fright Night 2), Mike Altmann and the legend that is Chris Adamson (Lighthouse, Razor Blade Smile, Evil Aliens, The Last Horror Movie, F). A Movie Mogul production, it is produced by Gareth I Davies and John Shackleton. Production Designer is Lorna Gay Copp, Costume Designer is David Blight, Production Manager is Tansi Inayat. Editor is John Gillanders and Bang Post Production are handling picture and sound.

John Shackleton, said today: “Support for the film has been first rate and we are immensely proud to be surrounded by such a talented cast and crew, particularly given the huge budget restraints, which we are operating under. Brighton is proving to be not only a wonderfully cinematic place in which to shoot, but also a very accommodating town in which to house a production”.

THE SLEEPING ROOM is the first film to be crowd funded for equity over at
https://www.seedrs.com/startups/the-sleeping-room (whatever that means...).