Archive for September, 2009
Surprise!
Another horror short that recently jumped out of my monitor, grabbed my attention and made it smoke a thought-provokingly-enhanced tobacco stick was Surprise! from the limey and hick duo Mike and Ike.
Surprise! is a six minutes of fuckedupness from the perspective of a floor based and accidentally left on camcorder watching a distraught female having an personal moment with that which is behind the door. What is behind the door sounds like a conventional undead or a chronic meat-beater trying to knock out the fifth one of the day, but as the film progresses suspicions are introduced via the choice of blood splattered clothing that the woman is wearing.
Once again I was amazed that six minutes could leave me in the thoughtful silence sometimes an intense horror movie can inspire (although it was a short silence because it was a short movie). Possibly due to the aforementioned happy-stick, I didn’t get the surprise that I was expecting, it wasn’t the kind of surprise that you get when a Chinese businessman jumps out of a bush and tries to sell you supplies!, it was more of a thoughtful surprise that sneaks up on you after the movie finishes and you realise that subliminal messages on the right of the screen made your malleable mind jump to conclusions too early on… or I’ve totally jumped to a conclusion that involves a greater amount of wrong.
Another whole story captured in a few minutes that has inspired me to investigate further the short horror movie scene that I’ve ignorantly ignored.
Bedfellows
Ignorantly I have passed up many an opportunity to take a look at horror movie shorts as I never believed that they could encompass enough horror to get me foaming at the eyes. HOW STOOPID WAS I?
I recently (and belatedly) decided that I could spare 3 minutes out of my heavy schedule of intensive sofa stress testing and individually reviewing every bottle of Kopparberg that I drink. So I watched Bedfellows and was amazed at how much “cool” can be achieved in a few minutes.
Firstly, and probably most importantly in a horror film, Bedfellows definitely sent a frostiness from my lower lumbar to the top of my thoracic. I was genuinely dumbfounded at how much story and tension could be injected into such a small space of time and the fellow in the bed really freaked the faecal fallow flapjacks out of me. It was all of the coolness of a quality independent movie crammed into a space smaller than Hank Hill’s urethra.
The talent behind Bedfellows is director Drew Daywalt of Fewdio fame and I will definitely be checking out some more from Fewdio.com… and more horror shorts.
Due to my tardiness there’s only two days left to vote for Bedfellows as the top chiller in the “Halloween Horror Nights-Chiller Scary Good Film Competition”… so go and watch some movies and vote.
Classic British Horror Film Season
We recently found out that you naughty northerners are being blessed with a Halloween horror film fest at the Star and Shadow Cinema in Newcastle upon Tyne. Here’s what we’ve heard…
CLASSIC BRITISH HORROR FILM SEASON
11th – 31st OCTOBER 2009
STAR AND SHADOW CINEMA, STEPNEY BANK, NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, NE1 2NP
www.starandshadow.org.uk//info@starandshadow.org.uk//0191 261 0066
October at the Star and Shadow is a month that celebrates the Great British Horror Film.
Over recent years, we have seen a resurgence of a very British horror genre that plays on our fears of society, youth culture, family and the ‘other’. We celebrate this by looking back to British horror’s cinematic history (1950s to 1980s). From the kitsch and cult to the disturbing and ghostly, our season culminates in a HALLOWE’EN DOUBLE BILL PARTY. Be prepared to be scared…
Sunday 11th October 2009, 7.30pm
Hammer Horror’s Dracula
(T. Fisher, 1958, Cert.12, 82mins)
To start our Classic British Horror Season in style, we will screen the quintessentially British ‘Dracula’! Brought to you by Hammer Horror, starring Christopher Lee as the bloodsucker and Peter Cushing as possibly the best cinema Van Helsing! Don’t dare see it…alone!
+ Special Guest: Gail-Nina Anderson
Sunday 18th October 2009, 7.30pm
Peeping Tom
(M. Powell, 1960, Cert.15, 101mins)
A British masterpiece, Peeping Tom is a psychological thriller/horror, which explores voyeurism and violence. Michael Powell’s extraordinary film is the story of a lonely psychopathic cameraman—his childhood traumas, sexual crises, and murderous revenge as an adult.
Sunday 25th October 2009, 7.30pm
Tales from the Crypt
(F. Francis, 1972, Cert.18, 92mins)
Five unfortunate people find themselves lost in a vault with a mysterious crypt-keeper as their host. As each is told the story of their last moments, we look on in horror… DEATH LIVES in the vault of horror! A classic ‘horror-omnibus’ from Amicus Productions. Starring Joan Collins, Peter Cushing and Ralph Richardson.
+ Special Guest: Professor Peter Hutchings
Saturday 31st October 2009, 9pm
An American Werewolf in London
(J. Landis, 1981, Cert.18, 97mins)
The first film in our HALLOWE’EN DOUBLE BILL PARTY!
One of the most memorable 1980s horror/comedies to come out of our foggy moors. A cult classic! Two American students backpacking across Europe wander across English moors at night, against the warnings of the locals, and are attacked by a… well… could it be..?
Saturday 31st October 2009, Midnight
The Haunting
(R. Wise, 1963, Cert.12, 112mins)
The MIDNIGHT MOVIE to our HALLOWE’EN DOUBLE BILL PARTY!
(Please note that this is the original and not the remake, which isn’t scary at all!)
Researching paranormal activity and the existence of ghosts, Dr Markway investigates Hill House – a mansion with a history of insanity and violent accidents. He brings with him three others and together they fall victim to the house.
You may not believe in ghosts, but you cannot deny terror.
Hallowe’en Double Bill Party
October has been leading up to this… A double bill of horror to end the Classic British Horror Season and, of course, Hallowe’en! Come dressed to horrify, enjoy Bloody Marys and the Star and Shadow’s very own Slaughter Todd cocktail (in honour of the North-East’s very own horror actor), hang out with your friends, chat, dance, trick or treat and prepare yourselves for what’s to come…
The cult classic An American Werewolf in London will be screened at 9.30pm, and following this at midnight is the terrifying ghost film, The Haunting.
Doors open at 8pm until the end of the night. One film: £4/£3; double bill party: £7/£5.
Entry for all films is £4/£3 concessions, unless otherwise stated. Everyone who comes to the Star and Shadow must become a member: this is only £1 for the calendar year. The Star and Shadow will not turn anyone away through a lack of funds and entry for Asylum Seekers is free.
The Star and Shadow is run entirely by volunteer members, with all members having a say in what we do and how we do it.
Horror movies that should be made and their sequels that shouldn’t #1
Title: Doc Horror
Tagline: The Doctor is In
Synopsis: Middle aged, crazily religious, softly spoken, gentle giant doctor (probably played by John Goodman) snaps under the pressure of losing a pretty girl patient that was nice to him, locks everyone in the hospital and goes on a silent killing spree in the name of God. There is a final girl who manages to escape the doc’s reign of terror with merely a facial disfigurement from a scalpel to the face. No near death for the doc and no retribution for his heinous crimes, he simply puts on a clean suit, grabs his briefcase and lets himself out feeling stress free and appreciative of the sun-soaked city.
Title: Doc Horror 2
Tagline: The Doc is Back… and this time he’s Pissed
Synopsis: Seven years later Doc Horror returns to the hospital, facially reconstructed to look like David Hasselhoff and armed with a talkative wit, a briefcase full of surgical tools and a new found interest in Voodoo over Christianity. He proceeds to murder all in the hospital by performing unnecessary surgery accompanied by a comical commentary. Survivor of the first movie manages again to be the sole survivor and kills Doc Horror with some surgery and witty banter of her own. Voodoo power brings Doc back to life but he is killed again when he is pushed into the furnace in the basement. Doc’s CGI soul leaves his body, accompanied by Voodoo music and possesses a nearby corpse whose eyes open just before the credits roll.
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