Arrow Video FrightFest Announce 2019 Line-Up

frightfest 2019

The line-up for the 20th anniversary Arrow Video FrightFest has been announced and as expected, it’s chock full of horror goodness.

Taking place at Cineworld Leicester Square and the Prince Charles Cinema from August 22nd to August 26th, it includes 78 films from 14 countries and 6 continents, with 20 world premieres, 20 international/European premieres and 28 UK premieres.

Among the exciting titles to look out for are Ant Timpson’s deviously edgy stunner COME TO DADDY, starring Elijah Wood and reaches its bloody conclusion with the World premiere of Abner Pastoll’s superbly crafted crime story, A GOOD WOMAN IS HARD TO FIND. Other main screen international attractions include producer Guillermo del Toro and director André Øvredal’s SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK, producer Sam Raimi and director Alexandre Aja’s gruesome ‘gator yarn CRAWL, the Radio Silence gang’s lethal thriller READY OR NOT, director Kiah Roache-Turner’s futuristic Ozploitation classic NEKROTRONIC, Pedro C. Alonso’s startling captive chiller FEEDBACK, with a career-defining performance from Eddie Marsan, Kirill Sokolov’s splatterpunk action comedy WHY DON’T YOU JUST DIE! and Jason Mewes’ insanely brilliant MADNESS IN THE METHOD, starring Mewes, Vinnie Jones, Kevin Smith, Teri Hatcher, Dean Cain and with a final on-screen appearance from Stan Lee.

Making their second, very welcome appearance at the festival will be The Soska Sisters, attending for the World Premiere of RABID, their eagerly anticipated re-imagining of the Cronenberg classic. The sisters will also introduce a special retrospective screening of the original. Also attending is the legendary Dario Argento, here for a special screening of his giallo masterpiece TENEBRAE. He’ll also be in conversation with Festival co-director Alan Jones and signing copies of his autobiography, ‘Fear’, which Jones has adapted and edited.

FrightFest’s 20th year sees the return of directorial alumni like Adam Egypt Mortimer with his provocative psychological horror DANIEL ISN’T REAL, Christian Alvart with his twisted blockbuster CUT-OFF, Lucky McKee with the startling KINDRED SPIRITS, starring Thora Birch, Joe Begos with his terror trip BLISS, Larry Fessenden with DEPRAVED, a post-modern take on the Frankenstein legend, Padraig Reynolds with belligerent creature feature DARK LIGHT, producer Eli Roth with the grindhouse-inspired HAUNT, The Pierce Brothers’ bring us their chiller THE WRETCHED, Dan Bush is back with seat-edge shocker THE DARK RED, Jordan ‘Zombeavers’ Rubin teases us with tongue-in-chic horror comedy THE DRONE and ‘Level 16’ director Danishka Esterhazy gives us her fun-packed body-counter THE BANANA SPLITS. There is also the UK premiere of GIRL ON THE THIRD FLOOR, the directorial debut from returning producer Travis Stevens and DARLIN’, the directorial debut of past FrightFest ‘darling’ Pollyanna McIntosh  Plus, those fur balls with teeth are back. CRITTERS ATTACK!, with original star Dee Wallace, will enjoy its European Premiere.

FrightFest continues to present the films that are currently shaking up the genre scene and allowing it to transform and continually excite. Like Michael Goi’s MARY starring Gary Oldman and Emily Mortimer, the inventive EAT BRAINS LOVE from Rodman Flender, Seann William Scott’s stunning serial killer turn in BLOODLINE, Chelsea Stardust’s hilarious SATANIC PANIC, the unforgettable coming-of-ager KNIVES AND SKIN, THE BLACK STRING, marking the comeback of Frankie Muniz, Kelola Racela’s lustfully demonic  PORNO, the incredible animation attraction TO YOUR LAST DEATH, Emma Tammi’s critically acclaimed THE WIND, Fernando Alle’s Troma-inspired MUTANT BLAST. and the two craziest Midnight Movies you will ever see – Valeri Milev’s fabulously inventive BULLETS OF JUSTICE and Fabricio Bittar’s Brazilian gorefest GHOST KILLERS VS. BLOODY MARY.

The genre scene in the UK continues to innovate and thrive, reflected in this year’s FIRST BLOOD strand. Life coaches become dead coaches in Staten Cousins-Poe’s gem of a feature debut A SERIAL KILLER’S GUIDE TO LIFE and Graham Hughes’ viral mockumentary DEATH OF A VLOGGER, gives the found footage format a much-needed shot in the arm. Then there’s Samuel Gridley’s darkly funny CRIMINAL AUDITION, Magnus Wake’s cleverly plotted and heart-pounding DARK SENSE and making up the fearsome five is Fredi Nwaka’s ARE WE DEAD YET, a cleverly crafted supernatural comedy-crime thriller.

Other home-grown selections include the European premiere of TALES FROM THE LODGE Abigail Blackmore’s portmanteau shocker, starring Mackenzie Crook and Johnny Vegas, Carl Strathe’s disturbing DARK ENCOUNTER, starring Laura Fraser and Alice Lowe, and the world premiere of Charlie Steeds’ flesh-eating horror THE BARGE PEOPLE. There are also world premieres for Justin Edgar’s nail-biting suspense thriller STALKED (AKA ‘Unseen’), Tom Paton’s heightened horror STAIRS and producer/director Lawrie Brewster’s FOR WE ARE MANY, in which directors from around the world unleash a legion of demons.  And let’s not forget director Jack McHenry, who makes a welcome return with his crowd-pleasing HERE COMES HELL, which made huge waves at our Glasgow edition earlier this year.

Over the years FrightFest has showcased the best genre films Canada has to offer and this year a special strand has been created – ‘Canadian Chills’ – to highlight an exceptional bumper crop, which, apart from RABID, embraces the International premiere of Colin Minihan and director Kurtis David Harder’s smart chiller SPIRAL and the UK premieres of Tony Dean Smith’s sci-fi mind-bender VOLITION, Ray Xue’s entertainingly nasty EXTRACURRICULAR, starring Luke Goss, Chad Archibald’s deadly thriller I’LL TAKE YOUR DEAD, Cameron Macgowan’s dark comedy chiller RED LETTER DAY and Jordan Barker’s unrelenting assault of pure terror, WITCHES IN THE WOODS. Then there are World premieres for Jay Dahl’s malevolent HALLOWEEN PARTY and Braden Croft’s compelling TRUE FICTION, Completing the line-up are Zack Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein’s FrightFest Glasgow hit FREAKS, the International premiere of Rob Grant’s sick, sea-faring adventure HARPOON and the UK premiere of the sinister and challenging HAPPY FACE, this year’s Duke Mitchell presentation.

Another country with a fine FrightFest pedigree is Argentina and this year is no exception; with the World Premiere of producer Javier Diment’s chilling chamber piece ROCK, PAPER AND SCISSORS, plus the European premiere of Herman Finding’s IMPOSSIBLE CRIMES and the UK premiere of Pablo Pares’ apocalyptic powerhouse I AM TOXIC.

The global cabinet of fear holds more…Tunisia is represented for the first time with the UK premiere of DACHRA, an intense folk horror that has broken box office records in North Africa and Japan offers up a forgotten musical cult gem from 1985 – THE LEGEND OF THE STARDUST BROTHERS. Ireland’s entry is Paddy Murphy’s THE PERISHED. Mixing horror and pertinent social issues, the film marks the debut of a new Irish genre voice.

 

Further indie discoveries on the monstrous menu are: Australian chase chiller THE FURIES, the elegantly scary THE SONATA, social media shocker DEADCON, DRIVEN, a smart, meter-running battle against evil, Eric Pennycroft’s brooding SADISTIC INTENTIONS, with Larry Fessenden, the horrifying Christmas cracker I TRAPPED THE DEVIL, the quirky, cutting FINGERS and THE DEEPER YOU DIG, a Coen-Brothers-esque story of grief and survival  from Toby Poser and John Adams.

Documentary lovers will enjoy Dima Ballin’s THE MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION OF MICHAEL REEVES, charting the life and early death of the man who gave us WITCHFINDER GENERAL and two documentaries from director David Gregory, MASTER OF DARK SHADOWS , an in-depth look at the talents of Dan Curtis, the ‘King of TV horror’ and SICK! SAVAGE! SENSUAL! THE REEL LIFE AND GHASTLY DEATH OF AL ADAMSON, which tells the bizarre and grim demise of one of Hollywood’s exploitation bad boys.

Festival passes go on sale on Saturday July 6th at noon at http://www.frightfest.co.uk/tickets.html.

J.A. Bayona to Direct Amazon’s LORD OF THE RINGS Show

The Lord of the Rings

Amazon’s upcoming Lord of the Rings TV series has finally given us some solid new information about the small-screen take on J.R.R. Tolkien’s iconic Middle-earth.

Courtesy of Deadline, it’s been revealed that The Orphanage and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’s J.A. Bayona is to direct the first two episodes of the show and will serve as executive producer on the offering.

On this news, Bayona enthused, “J.R.R. Tolkien created one of the most extraordinary and inspiring stories of all time, and as a lifelong fan it is an honour and a joy to join this amazing team. I can’t wait to take audiences around the world to Middle-earth and have them discover the wonders of the Second Age, with a never before seen story.”

Writing duo JD Payne and Patrick McKay are serving as showrunners on the series and are on writing duties along with Game of Thrones’ Bryan Cogman. The early word is that the show will have an expected budget of $500 million as it looks to explore original stories set in Tolkien’s world.

To give some perspective on that budget, that’s essentially double the budget that was afforded to Peter Jackson’s entire Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Expect more on this show as we get it.

Halle Bailey is THE LITTLE MERMAID’s Ariel

The Little Mermaid Halle Bailey

Earlier this week, news broke that Melissa McCarthy was in talks to play the nefarious Ursula in Disney’s upcoming live-action take on The Little Mermaid. And now, we have word on who’ll be playing Ariel in the movie.

Via The Hollywood Reporter, singer-turned-actress Halle Bailey has landed the role of King Triton’s rebellious daughter in this new incarnation of an old favourite.

On this news, director Rob Marshall enthused, “After an extensive search, it was abundantly clear that Halle possesses that rare combination of spirit, hearth, youth, innocence and substance – plus a glorious singing voice – all intrinsic qualities necessary to play this iconic role.”

For her part, Bailey took to Twitter:

To be directed by Mary Poppins Returns’ Marshall, this new take on The Little Mermaid has already brought in Lin-Manuel Miranda and Alan Menken to create a soundtrack both new and familiar.

Expect more on The Little Mermaid as we get it.

Kickstarter Launches for Scott Lyus’ WALKING AGAINST THE RAIN

Walking Against the Rain

Last month we brought word that award-winning British filmmaker Scott Lyus was gearing up to make his feature film debut, and now we have news that Scott’s Kickstarter campaign for his new movie – Walking Against the Rain – has officially launched.

Having impressed many with Silently Within Your Shadow and Echoes of the Passed – not to mention anticipation being high for this year’s Black Mass – Lyus has certainly marked himself out as someone to keep an eye on. And now, with the Kickstarter campaign having begun for Crossroad Pictures and Kabal Productions’ biblical horror Walking Against the Rain, the below press released has put out:

Horror fans, the end of the world is upon us…

Crossroad Pictures, in association with Kobal Productions, have launched their debut feature film WALKING AGAINST THE RAIN on Kickstarter.

A horror movie set 6 months after a biblical plague has fallen upon the world, the film tells the story of two strangers navigating their way across a barren landscape in a desperate attempt to find each other, with their only form of communication two soon-to-die battery operated radio mics; all while trying to avoid a brand new evil – The Forsaken.

From award winning filmmakers Scott Lyus and Chris Nials, the film promises to be their most ambitious project to date, having created several successful short films, including Silently Within Your Shadow, Echoes of the Passed and this year’s Black Mass, the time to bring their first feature film to life could not be more perfect as Lyus explains:

“Walking Against the Rain is the film we’ve been working towards for several years now. We’ve been extremely lucky to build an amazing supportive fan base ever since we broke onto the festival scene with Silently Within Your Shadow, and due to this amazing support we have been able to go bigger and better with each film that followed and now we aim to break into the feature film scene with our biblical horror tale that dives deep into grief, loss and the importance of human connection.”

The film will be written and directed by Lyus and produced by both Lyus and Nials, with an award winning team once again joining them to help bring the film to life. As well as a soundtrack deal in the works from a MAJOR record company.

Walking Against the Rain stars Reece Douglas of Waterloo Road and horror hit Cruel Summer fame, with the films monsters, The Forsaken, being brought to life by monster make-up favourite James Swanton, who has had star appearances in horror hits Double Date, Frankenstein’s Creature, as well as brining Darkness to life in Black Mass.

The film’s monsters The Forsaken will be created with full practical effects, with the world being fleshed out with incredible VFX. Full details on the rest of the cast and crew will be revealed during the Kickstarter campaign.

With their last effort Black Mass a runaway success on Kickstarter, we can only imagine what a huge hit Walking Against the Rain will be. And with an award winning team behind it, a major soundtrack deal in the works and a strong theme of grief, loss and human connection at its core, this is one horror project you will want to be a part of. Horror fans take notice.

In addition to this press release, the production has also given us a sneak peek of the concept art for the movie’s monsters, the nefarious Forsaken:

Walking Against the Rain - Forsaken

For further details on Walking Against the Rain and to help support the picture, be sure to head to the project’s Kickstarter page.

 

Netflix Tasks Flanagan and Macy with MIDNIGHT MASS

The Haunting of Hill House

Well, this is certainly some great news. Having wowed with the stunning Haunting of Hill House, Mike Flanagan has a new horror series on the way.

Via Deadline, Flanagan – who also impressed with the likes of Hush, Gerald’s Game and Before I Wake – is teaming with Trevor Macy for a Netflix show titled Midnight Mass. A seven-episode offering, Midnight Mass will focus on an isolated island community that experiences a slew of miraculous events following the arrival of a mysterious young priest.

Flanagan and Macy are acting as executive producers on the series, with Flanagan to direct all seven episodes. Both men have recently signed exclusive multi-year contracts with Netflix; this being one further project for Flanagan in addition the upcoming Hill House follow-up, The Haunting of Bly Manor.

Expect more on Midnight Mass as we get it.

Animated GREMLINS Show in the Works

Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai

And now, for the rest of the day, we’ll have the famed Gremlins theme stuck in our heads.

While rumblings of a straight-up third Gremlins movie happening have been spinning their wheels for years, the famed property is now confirmed to be heading to the small screen.

As revealed by The Hollywood Reporter, WarnerMedia will be the home to a new animated Gremlins series. To be geared towards an adult audience, Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai will take place in Shanghai in the early 20th century. The show will centre on a 10-year-old version of Sam Wing – as in, the famed shopkeeper played by Keye Luke in the two Gremlins movies – and the first season will consist of ten episodes.

Gotham’s Tze Chun is on board as the series’ lead writer, with Chun to serve as executive producer along with Darryl Frank, Justin Falvey and Sam Register.

Expect more on Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai as we get it.

The CW Starting from Scratch on THE LOST BOYS

The Lost Boys

Cry little sister, indeed.

Having amassed a complete cast and shot a pilot, The CW has decided to near-enough start from scratch on their Lost Boys TV series.

Via Deadline, the show is currently looking to recast all but two of its roles. We’d heard in May how the pilot episode was to be redone, but clearly the network was majorly unhappy with what they’d seen.

Medalion Rahimi and Dakota Shapiro are the two names still attached to the series; Rahimi playing the show’s take on Star, Shapiro playing David. That means that the previously-cast Rio Mangini, Sarah Hay, Del Zamora, Haley Tju, Cheyenne Hayes, Kiele Sanchez and Tyler Posey will no longer be involved in The Lost Boys.

The current plan is for the new Lost Boys pilot to shoot by the end of the year.

HELLRAISER TV Rights Change Hands

Hellraiser

Back in 2016, early plans were being made to develop a Hellraiser TV series. And now, three years later, there’s finally some more news on just such a TV offering.

Courtesy of Deadline, Ready Player One’s Dan Farah and IT’s Roy Lee have come together to obtain the rights to take Hellraiser to TV land. The duo have nabbed the rights from Lawrence Kuppin, Eric Gardner and David Salzman.

This deal won’t play any part in the movie side of the Hellraiser franchise; those rights being separately held by Spyglass Media. On that front, David S. Goyer is currently on board to deliver a Hellraiser remake offering.

The early word from Farah and Lee is that they plan to expand on the established mythology that has been served up throughout the Hellraiser films and The Hellbound Heart over the years.

Expect more on all of this as it continues to develop.

Melissa McCarthy Lined Up for THE LITTLE MERMAID’s Ursula

Ursula Melissa McCarthy

As Disney gears up to tackle a live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, the movie is close to filling one of its key roles.

Via Variety, Melissa McCarthy is said to have entered early talks to play Ursula in the film; that role, of course, being the villain of the piece. Next to be seen in New Line’s adaptation of The Kitchen, McCarthy will have quite the task on her hands if she does indeed sign up to try and top the stunning job done by Pat Carroll in voicing the character in the 1989 animated movie.

To be directed by Mary Poppins Returns’ Rob Marshall, this new take on The Little Mermaid has already brought in Lin-Manuel Miranda and Alan Menken to create a soundtrack both new and familiar. As for cast members, though, McCarthy would be the first to officially sign up should talks go well.

Expect more on The Little Mermaid as we get it.

Netflix Developing a SANDMAN Series

Sandman

As one Vertigo original begins to come an end, another one is just getting started…

While AMC’s Preacher series is gearing up for its fourth and final season, now comes word that a Sandman show is in development.

Courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix has picked up the rights to produce a TV series based on Neil Gaiman’s iconic Sandman. Wonder Woman co-scribe Allan Heinberg has been brought in as showrunner, and Gaiman himself is on board as an executive producer alongside David Goyer.

Early details on the show are scarce, although it’s believed that Netflix and DC Entertainment are committed to putting a hefty wedge of cash behind the show.

The last we’d heard on anything to do with Sandman being brought to life was back in 2016. If you remember, back then Joseph Gordon-Levitt had departed a long-gestating movie adaptation of the beloved property. And while a big-screen Sandman offering seems to have died a death, a TV take is now full of life and heading to Netflix. If we’re being honest, the room for nuanced storytelling that episodic television offers up is likely a far better fit for something as rich and all-encompassing as Sandman.

Launched in 1989 under DC’s Vertigo imprint, Sandman initially ran for 75 issues until 1996. The focal point of the story was Dream, one of the Endless, and his brothers and sisters; Death, Desire, Despair, Delirium, Destruction and Destiny.  A strange, twisted tale of worlds within worlds, Sandman is generally seen as one of the greatest comic books of all time. So much so, it even holds the honour of being one of the few graphic novels to make it onto the New York Times Best Seller list.

Expect more on Netflix’s plans for Sandman as we get it.