Weekly Horror Round up – Saturday 4th July 2015

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From Film 4 Frightfest to Criterion Czech New Wave, Bradley Hadcroft delivers his latest Weekly Horror Round Up from the world horror…

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– Film4 Frightfest 2015 line up

This week saw the the release of the full line up for the biggest horror movie festival in the UK calendar as it returns for it’s 16th year with seventy-six films across five screens.The festival runs from Thurs 27 August to Mon 31 August and you can see the full line up here.

With such a massive selection to choose from i will be posting a separate article early next week on what not to miss.

 

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 – Wrath of the Gods

Director Robin Hardy launched an IndieGoGo campaign this week in order to crowdfund the third of a trilogy of films that began with The Wicker Man ,a film that many consider to be the quintessential British horror film,and continued with The Wicker Tree,a film that many do not.Despite the disappointment of the sequel Hardy is always going to be a director to watch and this project does have some interesting ideas.

Here is a summary of the general plot of the movie :

The Whimsey Company of Burbank California decide to create a theme park featuring the Norse Saga, a story of warring Gods and Giants and sly, scheming Elves. A group of intrepid Californians journey into their sub-arctic world completely unprepared to deal with the descendants of the warrior Vikings, a people who believe in the supernatural. 

Whimsey CEO Herb Boden (James Mapes) and his son Ziggy (Christopher Leveaux) are led into this doomed enterprise by the lovely Bryn (Halla Williams), herself a Scandinavian who sings like an Angel. Her father, Oscar, chief of Police, tries to keep the peace between the Whimsey crowd and the resentful Vikings. He is diverted by the arrival of the beautiful Clarissa, who shares his passion for Steam Punk and is a kindred spirit..

Music, some of it Richard Wagner’s, some of it Blue Grass, Folk, Pop – even Barber Shop help move this tale of Gods frustrated and humans finding love in unlikely places. The film ends with a scene, as horrific in its way, as the burning of The Wicker Man.

Here also is a fascinating breakdown of how the $250,000 is to be spent that clearly shows that steampunk motor bikes do not come cheap:

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– The Gallows 

Put your headphones on watch a clip from this soon to be released horror flick – you will be just fine – honest.

Here is the official synopsis:

20 years after a horrific accident during a small town school play, students at the school resurrect the failed show in a misguided attempt to honor the anniversary of the tragedy – but soon discover that some things are better left alone.

The Gallows Hits UK cinemas on July 17th 2015.

 

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Ghost Shark 2: Urban Jaws

This crazy but entertaining movie was released worldwide this week on VOD Don’t worry this is not another Syfy crap-a-thon though it does sound for all the world like just that.Described as a sequel to the totally fictitious  Ghost Shark 1: Port Massacre things get all the more confusing when you throw Syfy’s Ghost Shark into the mix which has absolutely no connection to this project despite bearing the same title as the fictitious first film but minus the subtitle of Port Massacre– come on keep up.

In fact Ghost Shark 2: Urban Jaws is an hysterically funny indie horror comedy that was conceived by filmmakers Andrew Todd and Johnny Hall on road trips to see screenings of Antichrist and Enter The Void respectively.

Here is the official synopsis :

Nine years after the events of Ghost Shark 1: Port Massacre, Jack Broody is the mayor of Auckland, New Zealand, and former Lieutenant Commander Tony Palantine is down and out on the streets. The mayoral electoral campaign is underway and Broody is down in the polls, with newcomer Marco Guerra winning the hearts and votes of the public.

But people start turning up dead all over the city, and it soon becomes clear that Ghost Shark is back. Desperate not to repeat the mistakes from his former life, Broody calls in expert ghost shark hunter Tom Logan to defeat the undead beast once and for all. But Logan carries with him demons of his own.”

With the election fast approaching and Ghost Shark taking more souls by the day, can Broody and Logan save both the mayoralty and the city?

You can order it now from here.

 

– Trailer Watch :

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 – LUDO

Throwing their collective hat’s into the ring for coolest named director of the year comes the dual challenge from film makers Nikon and Q (Gandu) with this grisly Indian horror thriller.

Here is the official synopsis :

Four desperate teenagers. A night of sexy mayhem. The big city. Or so the plan goes, until a series of misadventures later, Babai, Pele, Ria and Payal end up in a locked shopping mall in the dead of the night. Alone at last… until an old couple appears out of nowhere with a piece of folded leather and a glass container with two dice made of bone. A game. Simple, but deadly. They call it Ludo. A game defiled by a young couple centuries ago. An unbreakable curse, a living board, eons of bloodbath spanning the subcontinent. A game that has reached this city. Not just monsters, but prisoners of fate. Immortal lovers existing under a curse that will not die. They live within the game. Blood must spill. Bone must shatter. Beware the rattle of the Ludo dice.

 

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– The Wave

The Norwegian disaster movie from director Roar Uthaug(Cold Prey) increased it’s profile this week with this new trailer that is drenched in epic.Uthaug was also responsible for the quite brilliant but little seen T.V. series Hellfjord and if this horror comedy has drifted under your Radar then you can put that right here.

Here is the nearest thing to an accurate synopsis we have :

Based on the fact that mountain pass Åkneset, located in the Geiranger fjord in Norway, one day will fall out and create a violent tsunami of over 80 meters that will crush everything in its path before it hits land in Geiranger. A geologist gets caught in the middle of it and a race against against time begins.

The Wave will be released in Norwegian theaters on August 28, 2015.

 

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– Sharktopus vs. Whalewolf

This week Casper Van Dien(Starship Troopers) and Catherine Oxenburg(The Lair of the White Worm) saw their careers become nothing more than bobbing turds in the Syfy toilet pan with the release of the trailer for this killer whale turned lycanthrope effort.

Sharktopus get’s tentacle-happy on the hybrid orca in the states on Sunday July 19th at 9 p.m. EST.No doubt it will out in the UK soon after on Anchor Bay.Me I’m holding out for Africanised Honey Beehinoceros vs Cape Buffalomamba.

 

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– Monster Hunt

This Chinese fantasy film from Edko Films is helmed by Raman Hui who previously co-directed Shrek the Third.The movie boasts a monster budget and the trailer that dropped this week is nothing if not entertaining.

 

 – Blu-ray release of the week

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The Criterion Collection turns it’s auspicious head in the direction of the Czechoslovak New Wave this week as it gives the 4K digital restoration treatment to Valerie and Her Week of Wonders.This gorgeous manifestation of early 70’s dream cinema is directed by Jaromil Jires who also made the obscure porcine brain swap movie Double Role.

The plot is completely non linear, making any synopsis redundant, but no example of surrealism soaked cinema nor indeed vampire fantasy has been shot with any more style and vigor before or since.

Extras include :

  • Three early shorts by director Jaromil Jireš: Uncle (1959), Footprints (1960), and The Hall of Lost Footsteps (1960)
  • New interview with Czechoslovak film scholar Peter Hames
  • Interviews from 2006 with actors Jaroslava Schallerová and Jan Klusák
  • Alternate 2007 psych-folk soundtrack to the film by the Valerie Project, with a new video piece on the music’s origins
  • New English subtitle translation
  • PLUS: An essay by critic Jana Prikryl

You can sign up for the horror head trip here.

Bradley Hadcroft