The Festival of Fantastic Films Reveals Details of 2022 Event

festival fantastic event 2022

The Festival of Fantastic Films, which is held in Manchester on the weekend of October 28th – 30th, has announced further details of their 32nd event. The festival is much-loved by those who attend for having a relaxed, friendly atmosphere and a unique selection of films to watch.

Guests include The League of Gentlemen’s Jeremy Dyson, Hammer horror actress Judy Matheson, reigning British scream queen Dani Thompson, cult horror screenwriter David McGillivray, and rising British film and TV actor Dean Kilbey – as well as famed genre authors including festival president Ramsey Campbell, Adam Nevill, Stephen Laws, Mark Morris, and Stephen Gallagher.

It all takes place at the city centre’s Pendulum Hotel on Sackville Street from Friday 28th to Sunday, October 30th with a weekend of Halloween festivities. Weekend passes and day tickets are available via Eventbrite, with no booking fees payable by festivalgoers.

“We’re delighted to once again share an amazing line-up of guests and movies in Manchester,” says festival programmer Darrell Buxton. “What makes this festival so special is its unique atmosphere. It’s an informal, extremely friendly event, with fans and filmmakers mingling and chatting in the bar between screenings, perhaps sharing a meal. There’s nothing else like it. We’d love as many newcomers as possible to share in what’s on offer, so please join us!”

In addition to guest interviews, Q&As and signings, highlights of FFF Manchester 2022 include:

New and recent films being screened include the fun indie horror-comedy-musical Powertool Cheerleaders Vs the Boyband of the Screeching Dead (2022, starring guest Dani Thompson), The Mount (2021) and The Mount 2 (2022) shot entirely in Gibraltar, and the new Brit creature feature Manfish (2022) with star Dean Kilbey and director Marc Coleman in attendance.

Delta International Film Competition and inaugural Norman J. Warren Trophy: more than 1,000 films were submitted for this long-running international competition. It brings to Manchester an amazing array of horror, science fiction and fantasy short films from locations including Brazil, USA, Australia, Mexico, Iran, Spain, UK, Ukraine, Taiwan, Turkey and Germany.

The Sunday schedule boasts a Nigel Kneale centenary event with a Tomato Cain book launch in partnership with Manchester publisher Comma Press. Kneale was one of the 20th century’s most visionary screenwriters, and we’re delighted to launch this long-awaited reissue of his short stories. This includes a panel with the book’s editor, Kneale biographer (and Northern Soul writer) Andy Murray, Jeremy Dyson, Ramsey Campbell, Dr Jennifer Wallis of Headpress, and authors Stephen Laws and Mark Morris. Sunday Oct 30th at 12 noon.

The festival is also an opportunity to experience films that are rarely screened on the big screen. These include gruesome Italian giallo Death Carries A Cane, Judy Matheson’s sixties Spanish horror The Exquisite Cadaver, bizarre seventies flick Help Me… I’m Possessed, the Redgrave sisters in the nineties remake of Whatever Happened To Baby Jane …? and, to close the festival, Disney’s sci-fi disaster movie The Black Hole. A separate room is showing a programme of retrospective movies specially curated by Stuart Scott.

The festival is also remembering cult Manchester filmmaker Cliff Twemlow with a special late-night screening of his film Predator: The Quietus, introduced by Cliff’s friend and collaborator, Bolton-based actor and stuntman Paul Flanagan.

“There really is something everyone at the festival,” Darrell says. “It’s going to be a fantastic event and we hope as many fans as possible, friends old and new, can join the fun at the Pendulum Hotel. You can find the festival and more details on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Eventbrite.”

Tickets for FFF Manchester are £105 for a weekend pass, £55 for Super Saturday, and £45 for Scary Sunday. STARBURST will be there – we’ll see you in the bar!

Classic Judge Dredd Game Returns

Sir Ian Livingstone’s classic Judge Dredd Board Game

Eighties Era Judge Dredd Board Game, Judge Dredd: The Game of Crime Fighting in Mega-City One, is to finally be re-printed.

The classic boardgame was designed by industry legend Sir Ian Livingstone. The new edition features updated cards, revised rules and a new expansion that allows players to take on the roles of Specialist Judges. The new version of the game will keep the classic Brian Bolland and Ian Gibson artwork, which will also be recoloured.

Players will take on the role of a Mega City Judge and patrol the board looking for perps to bust. Action Cards will give each Judge an edge or make things tougher for the criminal scum that roam the streets of Mega City One. Each Judge has a special ability, from psychic powers of Psi Judge to the unique skills of the undercover Wally Squad.

Back in the 80’s, this game was produced by Games Workshop. The new edition will be available via Rebellion Unplugged, Rebellion’s traditional games company.

Designer Sir Ian Livingstone said, “I’m thrilled that Rebellion Unplugged is publishing my Judge Dredd board game. It’s 40 years since players first had the chance to drive around Mega-City One to arrest the Angel Gang, Judge Death and other perps for their various crimes. The additional rules, action cards and recoloured art combine to make the new edition a game that I hope every Dredd fan will want to play.”

Duncan Molloy, Head of Rebellion Unplugged, commented “It’s a delight to be working with Ian, and a real treat to revisit one of the true classics of British board-gaming. We’ve kept the gonzo spirit of the original while giving it a fresh look and adding new characters like the Specialist Judges, to make this edition a real celebration of the last 40 years.”


What’s Going on With the New RoboCop Sequel

RoboCop is one of the most iconic films of the 1980s, and its legacy has lived on long in the years since. Paul Verhoeven’s picture was loved for its brutal violence and futuristic themes. The 1987 offering about a deceased police officer being resurrected as a crime-fighting robot has influenced a variety of sequels and spinoffs in the years since.

There has long been talked of rebooting the series and developing a direct sequel to the original picture, but it is yet to come to fruition. Now could be the ideal time to bring it back, as the concept could work well as a modern multiplatform franchise.

Sequel Set to Follow on from the Events of the Original

In 2014, there was an attempt to revive the RoboCop series for contemporary audiences. José Padilha directed Joel Kinnaman in the title role, and the movie also featured big names like Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton, and Samuel L. Jackson. It was a relative failure, though, and only grossed $242.6 million against a $130 million budget. There had originally been plans to follow that with a sequel, but Sony Pictures Releasing cancelled it due to the lack of interest in the reboot.

Since then, there has been talk of releasing a new reboot, which would be written as a direct sequel to the 1987 offering. It would effectively negate all the other films in the series that had come since the first offering. This was announced in 2018, and Neill Blomkamp was planned as the director. A year later, the South African-Canadian filmmaker had stepped down from the project, and it was announced that Abe Forsythe had taken over in the chair. However, there have been few other details about the picture since then.

RoboCop Has Great Potential as a Franchise

It’s no surprise that Hollywood studios want to keep revisiting RoboCop, as it has enormous potential as a franchise. The 1987 movie had a massive influence on popular culture and was adapted into various spinoffs and related games. The same thing could happen in the modern age, and new platforms could help to boost the film’s fortunes even more.

There are already a few RoboCop games on the market that could be used to entice people to a new film about the cyborg crime fighter. These include RoboCop for mobile, which is an APK from Uptodown. It’s a third-person shooting game, and it appeals to people who like titles like Mass Effect: Infiltrator. Another popular game in 2022 is the RoboCop slot, which is one of the free slots available at VegasSlotsOnline. It’s listed among many other film-based slots like Terminator 2: Judgement Day and The Matrix. These titles attract players who want to play for fun, but they are also available for real money. To play them, players just need to pick their favourite theme and get redirected to the relative page.

Over the years, there have been several other RoboCop games, highlighting the series’ potential for this format. There was a 2014 RoboCop game released alongside the picture that year, and it acted as a tie-in to the big-screen outing. There is a planned game for next year entitled RoboCop: Rogue City.  This PC and console outing will fill players with nostalgia for the early films, as Peter Weller is set to return as the title character.

A TV Series?

There is also the chance that the RoboCop franchise could return in the form of a television series. Streaming platforms are constantly looking for ways to outdo their rivals, and one method has been picking up much-loved franchises and rebooting them. It wouldn’t be surprising to see RoboCop adapted for Netflix or another platform, perhaps alongside a cinematic release. There was a RoboCop series before, so this is something that could definitely work.

As we have previously stated here at Starburst, the series could come in the form of a prequel offering. This would be a bit of a twist on what many people would be expecting, but it is something that could easily take off if done right. It may be interesting to see the story and characters from a totally new perspective.

Everything’s quiet regarding the new RoboCop sequel at the moment, but it is likely to be on the way. The exciting news is that this could be accompanied by a load of new games and a spinoff series.

Hasbro PulseCon 2022 To unveil Marvel, Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Transformers Toys

HASBRO will announce it’s new coming toy lines in what it describes as a two-day festival for the fans. This will be entirely on YouTube.

On Friday 30th September, the show will start at 18:00 BST. The Line-Up will be

  • Marvel: Join Marvel product experts from Hasbro for exciting reveals and announcements during the 2022 Pulse Con Marvel Legends Series panel. This year’s panel promises never-before-seen Marvel figures from Hasbro, and will feature Hasbro’s Ryan Ting, Dan Yun and Dwight Stall, as well as special guests, Johnny Gargano and Brian Hoyer, as panelists to discuss exciting news around the popular Marvel Legends product line from Hasbro.
  • Transformers: Join the Hasbro Transformers Franchise, Marketing, and Design teams as we reveal the next evolution of Transformers: Legacy. Get ready for a fusion of your favorite Transformers characters into the next phase of the Transformers Generations line. We’re bringing you the next figure in the Shattered Glass collection, and we have to say… he’s pretty cool! The exclusive reveals continue as we roll out the origin story of one of the most legendary bots on Cybertron.
  • Power Rangers: You won’t want to miss this one, Ranger Nation! The Hasbro Pulse Con Power Rangers panel is packed full of news, sneak peeks and reveals brought to you by the Power Rangers team and some very special guests. Tune in for all the latest from the second half of “Power Rangers Dino Fury” season 29… and beyond. This panel is truly going to be morphinominal!
  • Starting Lineup: The wait is over. Starting Lineup is back off the bench after 22 years, and we’re back like you’ve never seen before! Join the team as we talk you through the thrilling relaunch, featuring our Series 1 NBA figures!
  • Fortnite: Ready up, #Fortnite fans! Before you hop off the Battle Bus, join the Hasbro Pulse Con Fortnite Victory Royale Series panel as we explore epic exclusive content, news and reveals brought to you by the Fortnite team themselves, joined by some super special guests.

Saturday 1st October Day 2 line up will starting at 6 p.m. BST and will include

  • G.I. JOE: It’s time again! Join the G.I. JOE team with a new series of top secret, exciting reveals from the Classified Series. After that, get to know even more with an exclusive interview from legendary Real American Hero creator Larry Hama. Let’s go, Joe!
  • Avalon Hill: Hasbro Pulse Con is kicking off the Heroscape HasLab as panelists give a broad overview of the new story of Heroscape and deep dive into lore and product offerings (miniatures and terrain pieces). After the panel ends, the conversation continues on the Avalon Hill discord server! Gather your forces, gamers, because the next adventure is coming soon! Join the Avalon Hill team plus a very special guest, the panel will focus on the big gaming news this fall: the return of HEROSCAPE as our next HasLab crowdfunding campaign!
  • Magic: The Gathering: Past, present, and future collide as members of the creative and design teams reveal secrets from the upcoming Brothers’ War expansion, a new Secret Lair and a partnership that will roll out sooner than you may think! Attendees will get a first look at previews from Brothers’ War, and maybe just a bit more as Magic kicks off its 30th anniversary celebration.
  • Indiana Jones: Join members of the Hasbro Marketing & Design teams as they discuss, for the first time, the newly announced Indiana Jones product line, celebrating the classic films. Attendees will get an in-depth look at the products arriving to the line in 2023.
  • Star Wars: During this panel, fans can join members of the Hasbro Marketing & Design teams as they talk about the popular Star Wars      line from Hasbro, including the Black Series and the Vintage Collection. Attendees will get an in-depth look at Hasbro’s latest action figure and premium roleplay offerings from throughout the saga. Word on the Holonet is there may also be a few surprises…

The show can be found on YouTube, here.