Urban Terrors nominated for Rondo Award!

I am thrilled to report that my book Urban Terrors: New British Horror Cinema has been nominated for Book of the Year in the annual Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards. The Rondos have been going for more than a decade now, recognising excellence in films, DVDs, magazines, websites, models and all other aspects of classic horror.

I know that Urban Terrors won't win: partly because the tastes of Rondo voters skew heavily towards older movies; partly because it's up against some terrific volumes including books by Jonathan Rigby, John Hamilton, Kirk Hammett and Ray Harryhausen; and partly because it only came out in December and hardly anybody has bought it.

So I'm under no illusions, but nevertheless it's immensely pleasing to receive my second Rondo nomination (my first was a few years ago for a feature I wrote for Video Watchdog).

Anyone can vote for the Rondos. You can find the full ballot and voting details on the awards website.

Pat Higgins comes alive!

Pat Higgins, director of some of the best films in the British Horror Revival, is celebrating ten years of his company Jinx Media - congratulations, Pat and Pippa! Without even taking a trip to IMDB-land, I can tell you that Pat is the man behind TrashHouse, KillerKiller, HellBride, The Devil's Music and one segment each of Bordello Death Tales and Nazi Zombie Death Tales, meaning that the total number of films he has directed is, rather bizarrely, four and two-thirds.

At the Horror-on-Sea festival earlier this year Pat presented, and filmed, his live show Werewolves, Cheerleaders and Chainsaws, and this is now available to view online. And here it is!

It's just over an hour long, it's hugely entertaining and informative, it has been nicely shot by Paul Cousins and I get a name-check in the thank you credits, which is very kind. Find out more about Pat and his previous and forthcoming word at http://jinx.co.uk

Dark Side gives Urban Terrors 'thumbs up'

Issue 152 of The Dark Side arrived this morning, in which Allan Bryce devotes almost his entire editorial to praising my book Urban Terrors. Which has certainly made my day.

"Respected film journo MJ Simpson does a fine job of chronicling the dawn of a new age of cheapie creepy home grown horror fuelled by the easy availability of digital technology," writes young Mr Bryce, adding "In fact I'm pretty awestruck by what he has done here ... MJ's unearthing of a vast array of shoestring wobblycam wonders so obscure that their biggest viewing audience was probably at the cast and crew screening."

Allan calls the book a "fascinating tome", says that "what I like most about MJ's writing is his sense of humour" and finishes with "Urban Terrors gets a big thumbs up from me."

Thanks Brycey, your cheque is in the post!

Watch 'Alone' online for free

Alone is an obscure 2002 British horror movie directed by Phil Claydon several years before he made Lesbian Vampire Killers. It was written by Paul Hart-Wilden (Living Doll) and features John Shapnel, Miriam Margolyes and Rick Wakeman among its cast.

It can't in all honesty be said that it's very good (in my book I call it a "dreary serial killer film") but if you're looking for something odd, or you're a British horror completist, here it is online.

Community - hoodie horror on DVD, 11th March

Jason Ford's hoodie horror feature Community is released on UK DVD next month. Matchbox films release the disc on 11th March, certificate 15.

Shot in August 2011 as Final Project, Community debuted at last year's Frightfest. It stars Elliott Jordan (EastEnders, The Toybox), Jemma Dallender and Terry Bird Find out more at http://newtownfilms.co.uk

Synopsis

The Draymen Estate has become an urban legend. Amongst the sinister stories of unsavoury locals and brutal violence, several people have apparently gone missing. Even the police won't go there. Enter two naive student filmmakers, Isabelle (Dallender) and Will (Jordan), with a well-meaning plan to make a sympathetic documentary of life on the estate.

The unlucky duo quickly discovers that problems of drugs and crime in this community go way beyond the norm. This is a community which is about to present the students with material of unimaginable horror - turning their final project into their darkest nightmare.

Making Monsters - forthcoming documentary on modern low-budget UK horror

I hadn't heard of this but it ties in brilliantly with this site: Making Monsters is 'a documentary that lifts the lid on micro-budget horror filmmaking'. This four-minute excerpt includes contributions from Damian Morter (The Eschatrilogy), Liam Regan (Banjo), Adam A Park (Zombie Mutation) and Dan Brownlie (Three's a Shroud) plus a couple of online reviewers (but not me, for some reason...).

It looks like this specifically covers the past few years so probably doesn't overlap too much with the remit of my book, which finishes at the end of 2008. This is what I call the British Horror Boom, 2009 and onwards - the period when the profusion of micro/zero-budget films available through new distribution channels has resulted in an unkeep-upable profusion of British horror movies, adding up to one a week for the past four years.


A Quick look at "Making Monsters" from safehouse pictures UK on Vimeo.

The excellent 'Fallow Field' finally makes it to DVD

It's over three years since I reviewed The Fallow Field and I have long been puzzled why it hadn't seen a release. Well, it finally hits DVD in March, including a Making Of, trailer, stills gallery and a commentary by director Leigh Dovey and producer Colin Arnold. Here's the synopsis and the trailer. Highly recommended.

‘MEMENTO meets WOLF CREEK set against the backdrop of English harvest time’

THE FALLOW FIELD is one of the most original but twisted British horror films to be seen in years, and the debut feature from British filmmakers Leigh Dovey & Colin Arnold.

Not for the first time, amnesiac Matt Sadler (Steve Garry) awakes alone in the middle of a wilderness with no recollection of the past seven days. Finding his way home he discovers a life rapidly falling apart: his wife is convinced he’s hiding an affair, the police are suspicious of his repeated disappearances and now he is plagued by terrifying nightmares when he closes his eyes.

As disturbing slithers of memory gradually return to Matt he retraces his steps to uncover his missing actions during the blackouts. Matt’s search leads him out of the city and in to the countryside, to a remote farm owned by loner Calham (Michael Dacre). The cold farmer is suspicious of Matt but instantly sparks a dark sense of déjà vu in his visitor. But Calham turns on Matt, imprisoning and interrogating him, before forcing him on a terrible journey of abduction and slaughter to show the amnesiac the twisted games they used to play together. As Matt’s fogged memory slowly begins to clear and he learns the two men share a violent history, the horrors of their past come skipping out of the darkness to greet them….

Genuinely dark and quintessentially English, The Fallow Field is a throwback to brutal horrors and thrillers made in the ‘70s. Capturing some of the genre’s bleak tones and threat, its twisting plot, slowly building sense of dread as well as sudden shocks and visceral scenes make The Fallow Field a genuinely terrifying film.

THE FALLOW FIELD will be released by Monster Pictures in the UK on DVD on 11 March 2013.