Weekly Horror Roundup – Saturday 13th June

From the passing of a Horror legend to body horror Kevin Smith style, Bradley Hadcroft is here with another edition of his weekly horror roundup….

 – Christopher Lee 

Much sadness this week with the loss of screen legend Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee.The late actor  may have been best known for his ten portrayals of Count Dracula but his versatility,talent and enthusiasm enabled him adapt to any role with ease.From Bond to the Star Wars franchise and just about everything else in between his films have made a staggering amount of money.

Here are some memories of the man that have appeared on my news feed this week.

Horror writer Phil Morrison wrote:

“Sad sad day. One of my heroes has passed. CHRISTOPHER LEE. I will never forget the enjoyment you have given me through your films, sitting with you drinking wine at the book launch of Cowboys for Christ, slipping in a DVD cover of Dracula for you to sign (which you never do) but you did on this occasion. You will be missed. R.I.P. Go and have a drink with Peter and Vincent.”

Novelist and horror journalist Kim Newman had this to say :

“When Peter Cushing died, Christopher Lee and I did a radio obit show – and the host (can’t remember who) was tactless enough to ask ‘well, Vincent Price has gone and now Peter Cushing … what do you think people will say when it’s your turn, Mr Lee?’ His response – amazingly polite in the circumstances – was to say that since he wasn’t as nice as Price and Cushing were he wouldn’t rate the kind of outpouring of affection and respect they got. As it happens, he was wrong about that.”

August Underground’s Fred Vogel had this simple message :

“RIP Christopher Lee. Thank you for the nightmares.”

His death leaves Patrick Macnee(The Howling) as the only surviving cast member of Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet.

Lee would have found this compilation highly amusing :

 

– Waterborne

I was privileged to get an early watch of this cool little micro-short from Octopod films and i can report it is a whole lot of fun.Some great practical effects and a decent twist make this well worth seeking out.The short also doubles as a proof of concept video so it’s possible we could have a full scale Zombieroo invasion to look forward to.You can view the marsupial madness for your self when the film becomes free online for a short period at www.waterbornemovie.com on Monday 15th June 2015.

 

– Jason Banker

One of the most interesting young directors working today Banker has announced a new project financed by Revolver and Random Bench.According to Variety the director will follow up his much praised Felt with an as yet untitled film set in the jungles of South America.

 

 

 

– Final Girl

Fangoria reported this week that this much anticipated horror film finally has a release schedule.Things kick off on August the 14th 2015 when the movie receives a simultaneous theater, VOD and Digital HD  unveiling.Expect a UK release around the same time.

 

 

 

 

– Trailer Watch :

This weeks trailer binge is all about the press release detailing the second wave of movies announced for Montreal’s Fantasia 2015.Here are the films to watch out for with an official synopsis courtesy of the hugely influential film festival.

 

 – Wild City

“It’s been a long wait, but the dark god of hard-edged Hong Kong cinema is back. Alongside John Woo and Tsui Hark, Ringo Lam was key in defining the spirit of HK film in the late ’80s. Now, after a near-decade hiatus from feature filmmaking, he’s ready to show the world once again what happens when high-octane action and a hard-knock social conscience collide.”

 

 

– Hostile

“One of the most talked about horror works at the Cannes Film Market this year, HOSTILE marks the impressive debut of 14 year old director Nathan Ambrosioni. A TV show host answers the call of a mother terrified of her two adopted daughters. What starts with the familiar slowly builds into a poignant horror tale.”
Before the trailer here is a picture of  the sickeningly talented 14 year old prodigy Nathan Ambrosioni.

– Ojuju

Proving that the reach of the zombie bite knows no boundaries either culturally or geographically here comes Nigeria’s first walking dead flick.The movie is directed by C.J. ‘Fiery’ Obasi who was raised on a diet of Steven King and Hammer house of horror and quite frankly has the coolest name in cinema.

“OJUJU is a fascinating and well-staged transposition of the flesh-eating Zombie Film, bringing the living dead to Nigeria’s slums following what initially appears to be rabid river blindness due to a contaminated water supply. Winner for Best Nigerian film at the Africa International Film Festival.”

 

 – Cruel

“For years, timid Pierre Tardieu has been brutally slaughtering men and women without ever getting caught. The time to obtain his long due recognition has come. Crime novelist Eric Cherrière takes us on a dark journey into the disturbed mind of a serial killer.”

 

 – H

“Two women sharing the same name see their lives change for the worse when a strange occurrence seems to affect a small city. Both disturbing and poetic, H. is an imaginative tour de force that left a strong impression at Sundance and Berlin this year.”

– Ava’s Possessions

“Ava is recovering from demonic possession. With no memory of the past month, she is forced to attend a Spirit Possessions Anonymous support group. Ava’s life was hijacked by a demon, now it’s time to get it back in this horror farce from the creator of Fantasia favorite Alter Egos. ”

DVD release of the week :

 

 

Kevin Smith is a much maligned director but one accusation that can’t be laid at his door is that his work is dull.Tusk was conceived during a podcast conversation about a Gumtree post where a landlord offered free lodgings to anyone that would dress as a walrus.The advert turned out to be a joke initiated by the co-founder of the world’s first poetry brothel Brighton’s own Chris Parkinson.With warped imagination fully engaged Smith launched a Twitter vote to decide the concepts fate and one overwhelming “#WalrusYes” result later Tusk became film reality.

The whole man morphs into marine mammal idea is deliciously insane and the movie is as much of a comedy as a horror but by the time effects master Robert Kurtzman(Misery,Scream) has worked his magic you will be crying out for the brain bleach.

Tusk is the first salvo in Smith’s Canadian based “True North Trilogy” with the other two entries sounding equally as deranged.Yoga Hosers is about teenage Yogis fighting a malevolent evil to save their party and features a character called Yogi Bayer.Moose Jaws stars Epic Meal Time host Harley Morenstein and is essentially the film Jaws re-imagined with a giant elk.You might as well get on board with this madness now and buy Tusk here.

I don’t understand…..who in the hell would want to be human !!!

 

Bradley Hadcroft