UK Horror CRUCIBLE OF THE VAMPIRE Director’s Cut Released

crucible vampire director's cut

The 2019 UK horror film Crucible of the Vampire has been given the director’s cut treatment and is available now on AVOD channels.

From British Independent production company Ghost Dog Films – who were also behind the brilliantly atmospheric The Singing Bird Will Come and the recent award-winning choose-your-own-adventure video game, I Saw Black Clouds – has given the film an audio and visual makeover. The film was nominated for Best Thriller at the National UK Film Awards 2020 after its original release and we reviewed it here.

Crucible of the Vampire stars Katie Goldfinch, Larry Rew, Florence Cady, Aaron Jeffcoate, and Neil Morrissey. It’s written by Darren Lake, Iain Ross-McNamee, and John Wolskel.

Director Iain Ross-McNamee said “When Crucible of the Vampire was released in 2019 I realised not everyone was understanding the tone of the film. Lockdown was a great opportunity to go back and rework it in a way that explained the story more clearly. As well as re-cutting the picture edit, I wanted to go further with the atmosphere by changing the colour grade on several scenes to create a far moodier feel for the film. We’ve also pushed the emotion with an overhauled soundtrack and mix that features additional music from my frequent collaborator, Michelle Bee. There are various other tweaks and enhancements, including two entirely new scenes and other additional footage and effects. This is my preferred version of the film which I feel brings a much better energy and flow to the story.”

Amanda Murray, producer with Ghost Dog Films says: “Crucible of the Vampire is a fresh take on classic horror and favours story and mood over cheap shocks or gore. It’s a creepy and intelligently crafted tale of mystery and terror.”

You can check out the new trailer below.

Crucible of the Vampire is available on AVOD streaming channels including Tubi, Plex, and Google TV.

Hear New Fabio Frizzi Track from THE EYES OF THE CAT

Though both men have been working in psychotronic cinema and the arts for well over five decades each, it’s only now that multi-hyphenate Alejandro Jodorowsky and composer Fabio Frizzi have been paired together on a project. Appropriately enough for two artists known for challenging perceptions of what they’re known for, this album is not the score to a film, but for a comic book, and one published nearly 45 years ago, at that. Jodorowsky’s The Eyes of the Cat also marked his first collaboration with the legendary French artist Jean “Moebius” Giraud, making this a coming-together of not just two, but three titans of genre entertainment, what Frizzi himself calls in the liner notes, “an ambitious luminaria.”

To appropriately capture the sounds he wanted, Frizzi reached back to utilize some of the very equipment he was using at the time of Eyes of the Cat‘s original release, meaning that many of the synthesizers on which this score was recorded were also those which soundtracked the films on which he worked with director Lucio Fulci. The end result are compositions which have a familiar tone, but with 40 years’ worth of skill behind them. “Meduz and the Crime” pairs metal guitar, violin, and a subtly percolating synth sting into something absolutely sinister. Coming at the album’s midpoint, Frizzi utilizes these three very different sounds to create a piece which evokes deep sadness, as well, tugging at the listener’s heartstrings while all the while hinting at what’s taking place.

We’re excited to premiere “Meduz and the Crime,” the third track on The Eyes of the Cat, ahead of the album’s official on-sale this Thursday, June 23, from Cadabra Records. Follow Cadabra on Instagram for official on-sale information or check their website.

Frizzi, here, has crafted the perfect audio interpretation for Eyes of the Cat. Much as Jodorowsky and Moebius allowed the artwork to tell the story, here one can follow the tale, simply by listening. Aptly, the album comes in at just around 25 minutes, meaning one can read the comic while listening, and really immerse themselves in the experience, allowing the story, images, and music to unfold and take hold. As Aaron Lupton writes in the liner notes, “This is stuff old dreams were made of, so put the needle on the record and let them soar once more.”

Tolkien Takes Over Bradford Literary Festival

Bradfod Literature Festival

The spirit of J.R.R. Tolkien comes to the Bradford Literature Festival this month, with a series of events exploring his connections to Yorkshire, a chapter of the good professor’s live that many of us know nothing about.

J.R.R. Tolkien taught at the University of Leeds for five years (1920-25) before he moved to Oxford. During that time, he wrote A Middle English Vocabulary and, with another scholar E. V. Gordon, a definitive edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. It is also believed by many that the beautiful landscapes across West Yorkshire were partly the inspiration for the Shire.

The Bradford Literature Festival has been running since 2014 and it’s quietly become one of the UK’s cult bookish events. This year, (just ahed of the release of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on PrimeTV) they’ve gone hobbit crazy, with a list of Tolkien events sure to delight the fans.

The events feature top names in fantasy scholarship including John Garth and Catherine McIlwaine, as well as world-class fantasy writers such as Samantha Shannon and David Barnett.

Bradford Literature Festival 2022: Tolkien events

What was Tolkien’s intended ending for The Lord of the Rings? What was the audience’s response to the first ever adaptation of The Lord of the Rings – a radio dramatisation that has now been deleted forever from the BBC’s archives? The University of Oxford’s Grace Khuri will be joined by Tolkien Archivist Catherine McIlwaine and biographer John Garth to explore J.R.R. Tolkien’s mammoth legacy and his son’s tireless work in sharing it with the world.

Catherine McIlwaine, John Garth, Grace Khuri: Tolkien: The Great Tales Never End (Saturday 25th June at 10.30am). More information and tickets available here

From Norse mythology and Christian faith to his fellow fantasy writers and the very real battlegrounds of World War I, join us as we explore the varied and unlikely inspirations that shaped J.R.R. Tolkien’s much-loved fantasy worlds – including Catherine J. Blatt, John Garth, and Alaric Hall.

Catherine Batt, Alaric Hall and John Garth: Where Did Tolkien Find His Inspiration? (Saturday 25th June at 11.45am). More information and tickets available here

Author of The Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien, John Garth will take audience on a journey through the places that inspired the Shire, Rivendell, Helms Deep and Mordor and will discuss how the West Midlands and Oxford, alongside Yorkshire, played their part in the creations.

John Garth on The Worlds of JRR Tolkien: The Places that Inspired Middle-Earth (Sunday 26th June at 11.45am). More information and tickets available here

Tolkien has inspired many writers across all genres to follow in his footsteps. Samantha Shannon, Courttia Newland and David Barnett will discuss Tolkien’s vast impact within literature, and how his writing has influenced them personally as writers.

Samantha Shannon, Courttia Newland and David Barnett: Inspired By Tolkien (Sunday 26th June at 4pm). More information and tickets available here