Free magazine with Urban Terrors over Easter

Hemlock Books are having a four-day Easter Egg Hunt this weekend. Items marked with a blue Easter Egg entitle the purchaser to a free copy of either Shock Horror or Shadowland. There seems to be a blue Easter Egg on top of Urban Terrors so if you haven't bought your copy yet, snap one up (at £12.95, a fiver below the cover price) and get a free mag while you're at it.

Last time I looked, Urban Terrors was no. 13 in Amazon's list of horror movie books, whatever that means.

Knackery production company facing uncertain future

This story from the Belfast Telegraph a few weeks ago is a little depressing:

• Northern Ireland horror film firm fears worst as bank closes in

Yellow Fever Productions have made four independent horror features: Battle of the Bone, The Knackery, The Last Light and Splash Area, as well as organising a regular local film festival. Apparently they've just signed a deal with Eagle One Media in the States to distribute what will now be called Zombie Games: The Knackery, The Last Light: An Irish Ghost Story and Splash Area: Night of the Freaks so maybe that will keep them afloat.

I must admit, I haven't yet seen any of these film but I do have a DVD of Battle of the Bone on my TBW pile and here are the other three on IndieReign:

Eschatrilogy-makers' zombie short promotes hospital event

Safehouse Pictures, the team behind The Eschatrilogy and Bicycle Day, have made a seven-minute short called Zombie Run.

It's pretty basic as plots go - two runners get chased by zombies - but it's smartly made and shows what the team of Damian and Nicola Morter are capable of. The film was actually made (in three days at the start of February: eight hours to shoot and a couple of days of post) to promote the Barnsley Hospital Charity Zombie Run, a 5km run in which participants will not only have to avoid various obstacles but also avoid hordes of the living dead. Several of the cast and crew also worked on The Eschatrilogy.

The Zombie Run itself will be on 19th October 2013. Tickets go on sale in a few days from the link above. There is also a Facebook thing.

Here's the video:

Sacrificed becomes The Download Horror

This is very weird. Back in 2004, Scottish film-maker Keith Bradley made a feature called Sacrificed. It won a prize at a little US horror festival in 2005, then sat on the shelf until July 2012 when it appeared on Distrify and as a self-released US DVD on Amazon. here’s the trailer and synopsis:

Sacrificed is the story of Amber, a dowdy student who buys a dagger in an antiques shop, with the knife comes Sybilinka idol. The idol soon posesses Amber sending her on a blood thirsty killing spree. She eventually invites all her female friends over to her newly aquired mansion house where they have the sleepover from Hell.

Five months later, the same film appeared on Distrify again, renamed The Download Horror. Except that this is a sort of MST3K version of Sacrificed with constant commentary by two Scottish ‘comedians’. Here's the new synopsis and trailer:

When it comes to movies, Dougie and Robbo know what they like. And there is nothing they like more than a night in watching one of Big Al's latest downloads — especially if it's a horror film featuring five babes alone in a big house. Big Al is the neighbourhood bootlegger and they depend on him for a constant diet of blood, gore, nudity and whatever else he thinks will satisfy their craving. They always expect surprises. Will his latest offering, the horror film Sacrificed, live up to their expectations?

Dougie and Robbo are soon in their element, competing to predict what is going to happen next on screen. Their spontaneous comedic roasting and daft comments mean that nothing is sacred and no one is safe. The lads' verbal sparring gives the audience a new take on the film. As the corpses mount up in Sacrificed, Dougie and Robbo's overactive imaginations and comic timing make The Download Horror a unique cinematic experience.

Although Keith Bradley is listed as one of two producers on The Download Horror, the ‘director’ is Jim Hickey - who was production designer on Sacrificed! Sacrificed itself seems to have disappeared from Distrify which is a shame because, while it doesn’t look very good, I’d rather see that as an actual film than with Tom McServo and Crow T McRobot wittering in my ear.

I could understand if the ‘comedy’ commentary (I’ve watched the trailer, and it really doesn’t sound funny at all) was just a DVD extra, but this seems to be marketed as an entirely new film, without any acknowledgement that the mickey-taking is being done by some of the people who made the original.

How odd

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!