Good news; the wargaming hobby is alive and well and living in South London. Last Saturday’s Salute 2012 was not only a resounding success, but an excellent indicator that the past-time of playing with little toy soldier’s is not only still popular, it’s thriving.

Salute 2012 is organised by the South London Warlords and has grown so large that it now needs to be held at the Excel Centre in London’s Docklands. The Excel was hosting registrations for the London Marathon on the same day, and I suspect this may have been the first time so many super-fit joggers and super-geeky wargamers happened to be so close to each other.

Salute has been an annual fixture in the UK gaming calendar for more than 30 years and is famous for impressive dioramas, displays and demonstration games. Highlights at this year’s event included a beautifully detailed James Bond style villains lair (promoting the 70’s TV inspired game 7TV), a Doctor Who strategy game built entirely out of something that looked a lot like LEGO and a rather stunning Captain Scarlet miniatures game, presented by the event organisers themselves. Internet forum Frother’s UK also had a Cthullhu Mythos themed game which used stark black and white scenery to lend a truly spooky feeling to the affair. It also helped that the chap running the game looked like some sort of mad scientist, blood-spattered lab coat and all.

Exhibitors new to the show included wargaming satirist Chris “Curis” Webb (who was selling a collection of his webcomic cartoons) and Hawk Wargames, who are launching a beautiful looking 10mm sci-fi game called Dropzone Commander, which sounds like a mix of post-apocalypse sci-fi and classic alien invasion. No demo games as yet, but models look very pretty indeed. I also got a chance to play to Mantic Games’ latest entry into the world of science fiction themed gaming, Project Pandora: Grim Cargo. I’m a fan of these sort of claustrophobic games, and it’s a style of game that will be very familiar to many gamer. Other expansions are already planned, though it didn’t amaze me as much as I hoped.

Over all, Salute 2012 re-ignited my enthusiasm for playing with tiny models, and delighted the sci-fi, fantasy and horror nerd in me, and I am looking forward to next year’s event already.

Fezzes, bow-ties, tweedy jackets and, inevitably, a selection of long multi-coloured scarves were on display at the imposing and beautiful Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay across the weekend of 24th and 25th March. Three thousand Doctor Who fans from all over the world descended upon the show’s 21st century home for the first official BBC Doctor Who Convention (well, the first since the legendary and near-chaotic Longleat ‘Celebration’ from 1983). The Time Lord’s fans got a chance to mingle with the monsters and get up close and very nearly quite personal with the stars and behind-the-scenes faces of Britain’s most enduring and popular drama series. (That’s Doctor Who, by the way, not Waterloo Road.)

Unseasonably beautiful Cardiff weather greeted fans who’d travelled from America, New Zealand, France and even Russia as well as all corners of the UK to enjoy two days of panel discussions, visual effects and prosthetic displays, costume and prop presentations and, inevitably, the chance (at a cost) to get a photo and autograph of the main cast, as well as autographs of some recent guest performers. Ood, Judoon and Silurians prowled the Millennium Centre as fans gathered at informal demonstrations from the show’s prosthetic make-up team, including actor/performer Ruari Mears and, later, Millennium FX head honcho and monster-maker Neil Gorton. Costumes and masks were displayed, anecdotes dispensed and, at one point, guest star Raquel Cassidy was transformed into her Ganger alter ego live on stage. This, Starburst suspects, was nothing compared to the actress’s ignominy at having to explain who she was and who she’d played in Doctor Who to a fan who’d patiently queued up for her autograph earlier in the day! Later on, earnest-looking boffins Steve Roberts and Peter Crocker explained how the Restoration Team painstakingly restore old  damaged Doctor Who footage for DVD releases and, in the liveliest demonstration section, enthusiastic FX supreme Danny Hargreaves (see almost any edition of Doctor Who Confidential) explained his art and craft with the help of a few well-timed bangs-and-flashes, some guns, a yellow Dalek and a clattering Cyberman (they don’t really make that mechanical clumping sound, you know). Hargreaves told his audiences that he had “the best job in the world” (Pah!! Does he write for Starburst? I think not!) and his delight at blowing things up and shooting things was nothing if not infectious.

The highlights of the Convention, though, were undoubtedly the panel discussions held in the Millennium Centre’s stunning Donald Gordon Theatre, venue for the 2006 Children in Need  celebration of the show’s Murray Gold-composed musical scores. The current cast – Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill – were joined on stage by executive producer Steven Moffat (“The Moff”) for a lively and good-natured chat moderated by BBC Wales newsreader (and occasional Doctor Who star) Jason Mohammed. Audience questions were of the usual “what’s your favourite monster?” variety but the assembled cast dealt with their public inquisitors with good grace and humour and it’s clear that Matt Smith has now absolutely embraced his role and his place in the show’s legacy. A second panel featured Who writer/script editor Gary Russell, joined on stage by scriptwriter Tom Macrae and producer Marcus Wilson, for a look at how the episode ‘The Girl Who Waited’ from season six was created and brought to the screen with the help of an on-stage appearance by one of the episode’s ‘handbots’. Later in the afternoon there was the ‘Doctor Who Uncut’ session in which Dalek operator Barnaby Edwards deftly moderated a session featuring Moffat, new producer Caroline Skinner, casting director Andy Pryor and production designer Michael Pickwood (who’s done so much to give the show back its sense of visual scale over the last year or so) amongst others. This was a good-humoured session with Moffat adroitly avoiding Giving Anything Away (although news of a filming trip to New York for Amy and Rory’s finale episode was disclosed) and, most thrillingly, an early trailer for the forthcoming seventh season was aired twice to the near-orgasmic delight of the crowd, most of whom were shakily filming it on their mobile phones so they could rush home and chuck it onto YouTube. I expect. You’ve seen the clip officially by now, of course. Considering the show had only been filming for about a month at the time of the Convention it’s not only remarkable how much has been filmed in just four or five weeks, but also how quickly the team have been able to put together such a slick and exciting, fully-formed trailer.

Throw in a comprehensive display of props and outfits from the show – including a well-restored Ice Warrior costume from 1967 (the oldest old costume still surviving at the BBC) and a Tom Baker-era TARDIS prop – autograph sessions with season six guest stars Mark Sheppard, Simon Fisher-Becker, Raquel Cassidy and old favourites like Nick (“voice of the Daleks”) Briggs, and a busy merchandise area courtesy of ‘Forbidden Planet’, and the Convention offered something for just about everyone and anyone interested in the current incarnation of the show.

 Value for money? Well, at a shade under a hundred notes for one-day entry this was never going to a family outing affair, and indeed it was notable just how few children were present. But it was a packed and varied itinerary, capped off with a coach trip to the BBC Upper Boat studios just outside Cardiff where the TARDIS set is still in situ for filming. There was literally never a dull moment.

It’s always heartening to see how adored Doctor Who still is and fears that the show might have lost its appeal to the ladies with the passing of David Tennant can be dismissed judging by the number of females in attendance. One was dressed as Peter Davison’s Doctor, incidentally, but with a pair of shorts which looked rather more fetching on her than they would have done on Davison. The emphasis was very much on the current show and there was a marked and refreshing lack of slightly intense ‘old series’ fans, who watch the new show with a grumpy disapproval and really wish Geoffrey Bayldon had got the gig as the eleventh Doctor and not this current whippersnapper.

Doctor Who’s been making itself ever more accessible to its public since the 2005 resurrection with Proms, the live stage show and the Doctor Who experience (due to move into its huge new Cardiff Bay home in June). The Convention is probably the BBC’s greatest PR success for Doctor Who yet and can surely only be a rehearsal for similar, even larger-scale events for the show’s fiftieth anniversary in 2013. The Doctor Who Convention was a terrific and joyous celebration of the show’s enduring success and my credit card’s throbbing in anticipation of the announcement of the next one. See you there?

8 dancing rhinos! This could only be Douglas Adams’ virtual 60th birthday party. Where it took Tolkien 4 words to describe his seminal work, Adams needs just one: Hitchhiker’s! But there is more to the man than Vogons, paranoid androids and the number 42.

Sunday 11th March 2012 would have been Douglas’ 60th birthday and a packed Hammersmith Apollo joins his family and friends to celebrate. The evening is in aid of Save The Rhino, a charity championed by Douglas, it’s cause featured in the book Last Chance To See written with Mark Carwardine. Inspirationally introduced by a virtual Stephen Fry, who was filming in New Zealand, a short film brought Last Chance To See to life and left us with the sight of Carwardine being, “shagged by a rare parrot” with Fry and the audience in stitches.

Why are we all gathered here, celebrating the life of an writer who had a small body of work, who struggled to get words on the page and wrote unashamedly selfishly? He publicly shared the pain and torture that many writers feel, that the ideas come easy, but the writing is hard, really hard. People had respect for that honesty and the work that came was quite brilliant. It was unstructured, funny and carelessly demolished creative barriers. Douglas Adams wrote without rules. It’s obvious I’m a huge fan isn’t it? I write because of Douglas Adams, he inspires me to be better. So as the show unfolds I start to well up.

Rather like Douglas’ creative style the show is a collection of brilliant, crazy ideas hanging under his genius. The show is crisply compared by Clive Anderson and interspersed with sketches from Douglas’ career performed by a ensemble including Rory McGrath, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Angus Deayton, Michael Fenton Stevens and Philip Pope. Highlights include the Kamikaze pilot and the fantastic Hee Bee Gee Bees performing Meaning Song (In High Voices). We are treated to several performances by Jon Culshaw who gives us Tom Baker, Patrick Moore and Professor Brian Cox, who was called away to Australia to film at the last minute to, “point at things.” This leads superbly to Robin Ince, Simon Singh and Helen Keen giving us their best Infinite Monkey Cage on, aptly, the size of the universe and the big bang. Anderson then interviews Python Terry Jones and Sanjeev Baskar. Adams had written for Monty Python and been good friends with the comedy legends and Jones’ anecdotes are witty and touching about a lost friend. Producer, writer and presenter John Lloyd shares his memories of Douglas who he co-authored The Meaning of Liff with; the dictionary of things that there aren’t any words for yet where all the words listed are toponyms. This brings the house down, the audience cry with laughter. Liff competition entries highlight how inspiration serves; the majority of which are too rude to print.

It wouldn’t be a Douglas Adams celebration without a little Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. Ahead of the imminent national tour two members of the original cast: Geoffrey McGivern as Ford Prefect and Susan Sheridan as Trillian perform a short sketch with a Dalek. Remember there are no rules anymore. It is wonderful to see them performing in character, reading from a radio script but with the same amount of spontaneity that has ensured Hitchhiker’s is a timeless classic. It bodes well for the tour.

The culmination of the 4 hour show is a performance by Douglas’ dream band, introduced by writer Richard Curtis. The band headlined by Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour and Procol Harum’s Gary Brooker includes guitarist Robbie McIntosh, percussionist Jodi Linscott, synth player Paul ‘Wix’ Wickens, singer Margo Buchanan, bassist Dave Bronze and Paul Beavis on drums.

It feels strangely harmonious that we are able to sit and listen to the same wonderful musicians that Douglas would host in his home. The blues melodies sweep over us and it would be hard not to feel the interconnectness of everything, thanks Dirk. Douglas’ family in the audience having a great time, their infectious mood take us all. A simply stunning performance of Etta James’s I Just Wanna Make Love To You leads us to Gilmour and the band performing Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here.

“Suddenly in the middle of the song there was this huge orchestral climax that came out of nowhere and did not seem to be about anything. I kept wondering what was this huge thing happening in the background? And I eventually thought … it sounds as if there ought to be some sort of floorshow going on. Something huge and extraordinary, like, well, like the end of the universe. And so that was where the idea for The Restaurant at the End of the Universe came from” — Douglas Adams, Procol Harum at The Barbican

And so it is fitting we end with A Whiter Shade a Pale. Brooker’s voice spellbinding and a guitar solo from Gilmour that will soar amongst the heavens for eternity. We watch as a video shows Adams walking into the sea…naked. His bum shining down on his devotees who had come out to honour his brilliance. We brought towels, some wore dressing gowns and some of us shed a tear at the sight of Douglas’ magnificent rear. But this wasn’t a sense of morbid mawkishness, party directors Dirk Maggs and James Thrift put a stunning, uplifting show together with very little rehearsal time. The willingness from everyone involved for this to be a brilliant night was evident and only the most curmudgeonly reviewer or audience member could leave the Apollo without a huge smile on their face.

Tonight there were dancing rhinos, Pythons, Hitchhiker’s, Apple Macs and Daleks. But in the beginning there was Douglas Adams. Amen to that.

See www.hitchhikerslive.com for tickets and information for the upcoming tour.

To donate to Save the Rhino, visit www.savetherhino.org.

@kristhescript

 ***

Douglas Adams 60th Birthday Party virtual appearance by virtual Stephen Fry 

Pink Floyd’s Dave Gilmour playing Wish You Were Here

Hammer fans were in for a treat at Frighten Brighton on Saturday 25th February 2012. Centrepiece of the mini festival was a screening of Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell (1973) introduced by Shane Briant biographer, Robert Kenchington, followed by a specially recorded video introduction by the man himself.

Robert and Shane shared some terrific anecdotes about the making of the film, especially concerning the legendary star, Peter Cushing. At the time of filming, Cushing was in poor health and asked for reduced involvement in the film. Briant’s role, as the idealistic Dr Simon Helder, foil to Cushing’s unscrupulous Frankenstein, subsequently grew as many of the scenes originally written for Cushing were adapted for him. Briant more than holds his own in the film; both he and Cushing give fine performances. However, Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell was to become – as Robert rightly commented – a film of ‘lasts’; Hammer, by 1973, were beginning to ail as a company. Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell was shot in 1972 but would not be released until two years later due to distribution problems that Hammer were having with EMI at the time.

Frighten Brighton organisers Sarah James and Richard Gladman

The good news is that a Blu-ray of Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell is due for release later this year, and will feature “a fully uncut version of the film restored from a newly unearthed pristine print”. Robert revealed to Starburst that an uncensored print was recently discovered in a vault in Los Angeles and is forming the basis of the restoration. What’s more, the Blu-ray disc will feature commentaries from Shane Briant and Marcus Hearn, author of the recent Hammer Vault. Hearn is overseeing the Blu-ray.

Shane Briant biographer, Robert Kenchington

And there is more good news for fans of Hammer and Shane Briant! On Sunday 4th March a triple bill of Shane Briant movies – Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter (1972), Picture of Dorian Gray (1973) and Beyond Dorian (short, 2010) – is showing at the Roxy Bar and Screen in London Bridge, London. (Doors open at 2pm).

The screening has been organised by Frighten Brighton’s Richard Gladman and Sarah James as part of their Classic Horror Campaign. Richard set up the campaign to persuade the BBC to bring back their iconic Saturday night classic horror double bills which were so popular in the 1970s and early 1980s. The campaign has grown from an online petition and now includes a website, a Facebook page and a regular series of classic horror double bill screenings around the UK. The campaign is being  fronted by UK Scream Queen Emily Booth and is currently supported by various celebrities including: Jeremy Dyson, Andy Nyman, Reese Shearsmith, actress Eileen Daly, best-selling author David Moody and Hammer Horror stalwarts Caroline Munro and, of course, Shane Briant.

The next Frighten Brighton event is due to take place in August.

For more information visit the Frighten Brighton website or the Classic Horror Campaign.

Richard Kenchington’s Official Shane Briant Tribute Site.  

The Black Library is amongst the larger producers of sci-fi and fantasy in the UK, and has the unusual habit of annually opening its doors to the great unwashed, allowing the general public to meet the authors and learn a little bit more about new releases. They called this gathering of geeks Black Library Live! 2012 and the event is now in its fourth year.

Black Library produces tie-in fiction exclusively for Games Workshop, and this means that the event was held at Warhammer World in Nottingham, which also happens to be part of the toy-soldier manufacturer’s HQ. It’s a nice facility, filled with displays relevant to the Games Workshop fandom (as well as plenty of merchandise).  The venue has a busy but extremely pleasant bar and restaurant section, nicely decorated in a faux-fantasy fashion. Despite a relatively large footfall at the event, the support staff where friendly and professional at all times, though the staff at the bar where very busy indeed

In addition to the usual tat associated with these sort of venues, fans could purchase books usually only available via mail-order, as well product that had not been released through the usual distributors yet.  In addition a small selection of long out of print books were also on sale, though these where quickly snapped up by a small army of nostalgia junkies.

Black Library Live! 2012 was a slickly produced and well organised one-day convention, with a heavy focus on providing an insight into the firm’s forthcoming releases. Highlights of the event included the various panels, which were carefully co-ordinated and quite intimate.  Plenty of opportunity was provided for various fans to ask their favourite authors all sorts of strange questions, and the overall feel of the day was one filled with geeky fun and nerdy joy.

The seminars did suffer from some slight technical issues, a number of the larger panels lacked enough microphones for all the panellists, and there wasn’t a roaming mike for those asking questions. On the other hand, another seminar was handled via video-conferencing, and it was relatively trouble-free, despite a few sound related issues.

Revelations where dotted throughout the various panels and included the news that the firm’s submission window will now accept adventure game books, and this will be the last year that unpublished authors can submit books to the open window.

In addition, Black Library will be producing many more audio books and audio dramas through both Big Finish and Heavy Entertainment, and intend to have at least one audio release per month.

Finally, a new Horus Heresy related multi-media project will be announced in November. This has lead fans to widely speculate that a CGI movie could be on its way, but no actual hard facts have been provided as yet, and we may have to wait until the end of the year before we find out more.

Review: The Ballad of Halo Jones / Adapted by: Ross Kelly, Ian Winterton / Starring: Louise Hamer, Claire Dean, Benjamin Patterson, Zoe Iqbal, Paida Noel, Michelle Ashton, Laura Cope, Danny Wallace, Marlon Solomon, Will Hutchby, Phil Dennison, Gerard Thompson, Gemma Flannery / Venue: The Lass O’ Gowrie

Alan Moore’s unfinished science-fiction classic, The Ballad of Halo Jones, is perhaps not the obvious choice for a small stage production in a cramped Manchester pub, but Scytheplays production of the space opera has exceeded all expectations.

The Ballad of Halo Jones is an epic tale, charting the life of its titular heroine as she navigates a harsh world of slums, riots, unemployment and collapsing empires. The tale itself is nearly thirty years old, but it is as relevant as it ever was. The production pulls no punches; no time is wasted explaining the futuristic setting or the strange slang the character’s use throughout the story. This is a little disorientating at the start, but despite the futuristic gloss, hope and despair are universal and the lingo is easy to pick up.

The limited space and obvious shoe-string budget have been skilfully turned into an advantage by the production company, and though Manchester’s top geek pub The Lass O’Gowrie is hardly spacious, this adds intimacy to the show and makes a highly personal show all the more so. Rather than spending their budget on flashy effects or odd looking puppets, the more unusual aspects of the world are cunningly implied. Clever dialogue and lighting immerses the audience in Halo’s dystopian future.

The original graphic novel took advantage of the medium to give us visually striking and mesmerising characters. The production has chosen equally striking performers for each role, and the entire cast are incredible. Actress Louise Hamer is Halo Jones, and fans of the book should prepare to fall in love with the main character again. Benjamin Patterson tackles the difficult task of playing the menacing robot dog Toby with great skill, adding a menacing regional accent to the mix. Most interesting of all is Danny Wallace’s performance of The Glyph. This comic yet doomed creature is one of the more memorable characters from the book, and is handled with humour, sensitivity and care. The supporting cast are equally strong and highly flexible. It takes real skill to turn a tiny bar into an epic space opera, simply through the power of performance. Very powerful stuff, all told.

The production covers the first two parts of the three part series, and is about two hours long. The third part of the book covers a weird space war, and would be very difficult to do even with a huge budget, and has been wisely excised from the current production. The play has now ended its current run, but Scytheplays has promised that it will return. I do hope so, as I want to see it again.

(Five out of Five Stars)

The American Film Market, the US West Coast version of the Cannes Film Festival where buyers and sellers from all over the world meet to showcase their films, officially opened November 2 at the Lowe’s Hotel in Santa Monica, California.

The event draws between 4,000-6,000 people a day with 415 films being show over the eight day marketplace generating more than $800 million dollars in film sales from the companies present from all over the world.

I’ll be keeping you readers up-to-date on the events, interviews with movie stars and screenings throughout AFM. There’s a wide spectrum of films ranging from the well made to the how-did-this-even-get-financed?!

Special mention goes out to Jim Benson and his diligent, hard working team of tireless staff from the Lippin Group including Aida Abramyan, Lisa Porter and all the other ladies in the press office that keep the reporters informed of the latest events day and night. How ever do they find time for sleep?!

*****

Director/actor Ron Howard stopped by opening day to promote his upcoming Formula One racing movie Rush, and talked about how much of a fan he was of the sport, probably influenced by Eat My Dust, the first picture he directed and starred in for Roger Corman back in 1976.

Judging by Mr. Howard’s enthusiasm for his new film, it should be exciting.

*****

Flyers are abundant from the companies promoting their films in the hallways of the hotel. So far, my favorite has to be Zombie Ass: Toilet of the Dead…

It’s a wild, Japanese horror film where a group of high school girls are in search for the perfect tapeworm from the belly of a trout to swallow in order to keep their figures slim. Of course, one of the girls takes the dare and ends up in an outhouse in the barren woods to take care of business only to have a hand reach up from the muck below and try and grab her. Turns out that the worms are alien parasites that have infected the local town people turning them into zombies and the fight for survival is on.

*****

Devil’s Rock is a New Zealand horror film by first time director Paul Campion that deals with ANZAC Captain Ben Grogan (Craig Hall) and Sergeant Joe Tane (Karlos Drinkwater). During the eve of the Normandy invasion of World War II the commandos penetrate a German bunker located on a remote island only to find that all the soldiers have died horrible deaths as they hear the wail of a woman’s ghostly voice echoes through the elaborate underground tunnel system.

When the sergeant is killed and the captain captured by the only surviving member of the German outfit Colonel Klaus Meyer (Matthew Sunderland), a battle of wits ensues between the two men where the captain escapes wounding the German officer and discovers the source of the wailing woman chained to a wall… his presumed dead wife, Helena (Gina Varela) who is very much alive.

An uneasy truce is made between the two soldiers as it turns out that the facility they’re in was part of Hitler’s occult division. Centuries ago, the island they’re on was inhabited by witches that were able to raise demons with a book of the dead that Colonel Meyer discovered, and thought raising a demon from hell to do Hitler’s bidding would be a great wonder weapon. Unfortunately, it backfired and now the two enemies have to join forces to send it back to hell. 

Devil’s Rock has a solid storyline, the direction is good, and the performances are top notch all around, but it’s sometimes too dialogue heavy, which combined with sluggish editing results in stage play-like 

The lead-up to the discovery of the she-demon is good, but there should have been more build up and mystery especially surrounding the witches’ spell book. The she-demon make-up is wonderfully creepy with hats off to Miss Varela who went through the elaborate process of going through the transformation from beautiful lady to beast from hell.

The Hitler/occult mythos has always been an interesting topic, and therefore Devil’s Rock is one of those films that really should have been better.

****

I’ll be back soon with lots more from the AFM, so stay tuned!

Bob Burns is an extraordinary man. A special effects make up artist in the fifties who worked with Paul Blaisedale on many of the American International Pictures horror/sci fi films including The Astounding She Creature as well as on set for Eddie Cahn’s It! The Terror From Beyond Space. He is also a collector of rare props ranging from the only surviving 18″ armature from the 1933 version of King Kong to George Pal’s full size model of the 1960 version of the Time Machine (the miniature of the Time Machine was owned by Pal himself, but was destroyed in a fire at his home in the late 60’s.)

Bob and his lovely wife Kathy (A great cook, by-the-way!) and their passion for the genre of the fantastic began when they started creating Halloween shows in their front yard in 1967 as something extra for the neighborhood Trick Or Treaters to enjoy along with their candy filled bags, beginning with Dr. Frankenstein’s laboratory and his monster in 1967.

Highlighting some of the elaborate shows that were put together with a lot of help from Bob’s friends and the special effects community were tributes to Forbidden Planet complete with Robby the Robot on loan from director/collector William Malone, War of the Worlds where Star Trek actor, Walter Koenig played the lead discovering a crashed cylinder in Bob’s elaborately made up garage complete with a slimy, tentacled Martian crawling out of the slowly, unscrewing top and the Creature From the Black Lagoon that featured a large aquarium constructed for housing the monster (in a perfectly created latex suit from the film) as he spotted a lovely lass in the audience, crawled out of his tank and began chasing after her – terrorizing the audience.

What started out as a fun show for the neighborhood kids grew over the years to an event that had lines over a block and a half long to see Bob’s creations compete with local television news crews and newspapers covering them.

Bob’s swan song for his Halloween shows was in 2002 with a recreation of The Thing From Another World. Not only did I get to participate in constructing the interior and exterior of the sets which was a labor of love, I was able to work with many of my friends from the Roger Corman days including Bob and Denny Skotek as well as Mark Stetson. I also got to play Crew Chief Bob (Dewey Martin’s role in the film and sadly, the only surviving member from the 1951 Howard Hawks movie) during the run as well as Captain Hendry for a night.

Construction of set took well over a month working mostly on weekends and even in the dark to get the show ready for Halloween. It was like working on a Roger Corman film all over again using what we could dig out of local industrial area trash bins to use as well as making use of what we could get for next to nothing to build with. Bob’s wife Kathy was always making sure we were well fed and cooked some of the best meals I’ve ever had. I can see why Bob married her!

We were visited by William Self (Private Barnes in the 1951 version and producer of the Batman and Green Hornet television shows who sadly passed away last year) where we gave him a tour and complimented us on our work even stating that he felt he was back on the set it was that perfect and director Frank Darabont, a big fan of sci fi and horror, who was amazed at what we had done.

We had two actors around 6’6″ that alternated in the James Arness role (A role he always hated and wouldn’t talk about) as The Thing in make up and outfits that were spot on from the movie.

Actor Dan Roebuck played Captain Hendry with gusto doing a great job, but lost his voice for one night he was so absorbed in the role. Supporting actors involved alternating Dr. Carrington’s, Nikki and the other military personnel and scientists, who were top notch in their performances. We all got along as one big happy family and it was a treat to work with such talented people. With the ambiance of the set, we all felt like we were the Polar Expedition Six team from the 1951 movie at the North Pole.

Oustide the entrance, kids and adults were briefed with a video taken from the trailer of a saucer discovered in the ice. Once inside, they were led by Captain Hendry and his team where they find the empty, thawed block of ice The Thing escaped from, a dead sled dog that popped out of a wooden box, a severed Thing hand that moved on its own, Dr. Carrington and his laboratory growing tiny plant-like Things, among many other rooms with the grand finale of the group confronting The Thing under flashing strobe lights being electrocuted as it diminished into nothing. The lights would then go out and everyone was in complete darkness breathing a sigh of relief that The Thing was defeated, until they came back on and saw The Thing STANDING RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM! The lights would go out once more among the screams and laughter and the door would open where everyone would be escorted out.

Overall everyone had a great time. Audiences couldn’t stop talking about how good it was which made the attraction so much more the success. The fact that everything went so smoothly and people had fun was part of the event’s charm.

The show ran nightly Friday through Sunday past Halloween until Thanksgiving it was so popular. Burbank police department were kind enough to come out several times to handle crowd control as there were people lined up for two blocks waiting to see the show.

Sadly, all good things (No pun intended!) must end. The attraction was over, the sets torn down and many sent to a local college for their theater arts department to be recycled in future stage plays. It was a memory everyone involved in will all collectively share in with love.

Will Bob Burns ever do another show? One can only hope and wonder, for he has all the time in the world.

As Mr. Scott the reporter said: keep watching the skies.

For more information on Bob and his amazing shows here’s a link to his site:

www.bobburns.mycottage.com

You know that feeling of dread you get when you go to see a horror film in the cinema…you know, wondering what other idiots will be in the screen and probably ruin your viewing experience, well that feeling was totally void throughout my experience at FrightFest. The audience are there to watch the films and they actually make the experience better.  Clapping at cameos, delighting in devouring monsters, laughing at gruesome gore and gasping in all the right places, this is definitely the place you should watch a horror movie at.  When the villains get their comeuppance or the annoying victim finally meets their grisly end and gets applauded by the audience you can’t help but join in.  People travel from all over just to view these films at FrightFest and the directors want their approval, if you get a good response here you know you have done your job properly.

With over thirty films showing and many of those being previews or premieres there was a strong air of excitement; lots of cast members and directors milling about in the foyer and even a few random stars making an appearance to get their fill of horror films. My aim was to view as many of the smaller films as I could, I was looking for films with original ideas that were executed well.

Highlights

The Glass Man

The world premiere of Christian Solimeno’s debut feature film, starring Andy Nyman, James Cosmo and Neve Campbell opened with an introduction from the Director and the leading man.  Even Jane Goldman and husband Jonathan Ross turned up to watch the finished product.  As if all this wasn’t exciting enough, as I wandered into the cinema foyer I was greeted by Scott Bakula’s wonderful face.  He was happily signing autographs and having his photo taken with fans and it must have taken him at least thirty minutes to make his way into the screen.  As I took my seat I shared my glee with my seat buddies, “Did you know Scott Bakula is here?” I loudly exclaimed!  The lovely lady sitting next to me whispered, “Yes, he is sitting behind us.”  I turned scarlet and sunk down into my seat, too embarrassed to turn around and look, oh boy!

Solimeno has created an excellent psychological thriller that comments on the current economic climate and delves into the intricacies of the mind of a man pushed to the edge. Andy Nyman excels in his role as Martin Pyrite, and gives his most powerful performance to date. Nyman portrays a man who is a loving husband to his wife (Neve Campbell), but who is trying his hardest to hide the loss of his job and complete financial turmoil from her. He is visited by a debt collector called Pecco (James Cosmo) who offers him a way out of his dire circumstances.  Driven by desperation Martin accepts his offer and the viewer follows the events that lead him into a downward spiral of devastation. There are moments of humour injected to lighten the ever building tension and some great conversational pieces between Nyman and Cosmo that will have you laughing out loud. Nyman’s take on a man who has lost everything is captivating and twinned with the mounting tension built up by the director makes for palpable and unsettling viewing.

Released in the UK early next year

Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil

A witty and entertaining take on the hillbilly horror movie genre that manages to deliver on the gruesome kills.  Tucker (Alan Tudyk) and Dale (Tyler Labine) have finally saved up enough money to invest in a holiday home in the woody wilderness. Unfortunately a group of insufferable teens camping in the forest mistake them for in-bred killers and a bloody mess ensues.  Tudyk and Labine work well together and the characters they play are likeable, funny and have a brotherly bond that gives them some substance.  It is different to the Scary Movie spoofs as it is dealing with one particular genre of horror movie and isn’t simply trying to fill ninety minutes with as many jokes as possible. The overall story shifts along at a fast pace and the kills are inventive, amusing and gory. There is some chainsaw chasing involving bees, a splattering wood chipper incident and a death by dreadful DIY. Laugh out loud funny with endearing lead characters; the best comedy horror I have seen in a long time.

Released in the UK on Blu-ray and DVD on 26th September

Troll Hunter

This film is of the found footage variety that luckily offers something completely different and visually exciting to the usual offerings.  This is the second feature film from Norwegian director Andre Ovredal, his first being released over ten years ago, and he has certainly found his footing in this surprising and unique monster movie.  There are rules when it comes to hunting trolls which is a solid base for creating some cult following – films about vampires, werewolves and gremlins – they all have quotable rules for survival.  Trolls are averse to light, strong beams of light will deter and even destroy them and the smell of the blood of a Christian is potent, they can smell it from afar.  There are a few variations of trolls and they live in tribes divided between the mountains and forests.  Each troll is beautifully realised and imaginative in appearance.  Otto Jespersen plays the weary and wise Troll Hunter and his performance is utterly endearing; he is sick of not getting any credit or good benefits from his secret trade so allows some student filmmakers to film his routine.  An entertaining voyage into the mythological Norwegian world of Trolls.

Out in the UK now

The Innkeepers

A couple of slackers who work in a haunted hotel go about their daily routine with some ghostly and chilling encounters. Ti West was inspired to make this film after his stay in a Connecticut hotel whilst filming The House of the Devil; in a Q&A after the film he said that strange occurrences and a ghostly presence were felt in the hotel throughout his stay and there was no denying it.  He has based the two hotel workers on their real life counterparts and it shows. Luke (Pat Healy) and Claire (Sara Paxton) are wry and lazy in their work ethic, but when it comes to the paranormal they portray a strong passion for it. Luke is a strawberry candy cable chewing, witty, porn loving guy with a good heart and Claire is his clever and curious work colleague. Ti West develops his characters so you actually care when they face dangerous situations. He has utilised three different chapters and an epilogue in this slow burner to present a creepy set of circumstances that will have you jumping out of your seat.

No UK release date at time of going to press

Kill List

Violent, clever, atmospheric, unpredictable and properly messed up; Director Ben Wheatly’s second feature film builds tension with precision and the performances are all magnificent.  The less you know about this film, the better, just go and watch it.

Out in the UK now

Special Mentions

Sennentuntschi: Curse of the Alps

The first Swiss horror movie did not disappoint; based on an alpine legend about three men living in a desolate cabin who when starved of female attention create a woman-like doll out of household objects.  When they wake up in the morning with some serious absinthe induced hangovers their doll has come to life. French actress, Roxanne Mesquida takes on the role of the sex slave or Sennentuntschi, and does a very good job at being sweet, anguished and badass throughout the film. The local cop who takes pity on her is played so convincingly by Nicholas Ofczarek and it is this relationship that creates intrigue and suspense, allowing a certain amount of empathy to be felt for the position she is in.  The setting is beautiful and the imagery is dark which creates a strong contrasting vista for the viewer, and also one that is rarely viewed in this format.  The direction is strong for the most part, Michael Steiner keeps the viewer guessing throughout, but the big reveal at the end could have been handled better as it got a bit messy and confusing.

No UK release date at time of going to press

The Woman

Director Lucky McKee delivers an interesting and thought provoking take on American suburbia and the evil that may be lurking behind closed doors.  A tale about a man who finds a primitive woman living in the woods and brings her back to his family home , locks her in the cellar and attempts to civilize and domesticate her.

Chris Cleeker (Sean Bridgers) is the patriarch who runs his family like a sadistic army major and rules it with fear. He abuses his wife (Angela Bettis) and eldest daughter (Lauren Ashley Carter) in the privacy of his own home whilst carrying on a career as a lawyer in the public eye.  Sean Bridgers performance is outstanding, he delivers passive aggressive evil and violent outbursts with a persuasive swagger.

McKee tackles issues of gender inequality and the role of women to varying degrees of success.  The violence against women shown in this film is not just simply inserted for the sake of it and moves the story along albeit brutally. I applaud McKee for deciding to cover this difficult subject matter, violence and outdated attitudes to women are still rife and it does bring these issues to light, but overall I didn’t feel it reached the heights of a great film. There were some great performances, but the way some scenes were delivered fell short of great cinematography and felt more like music video cool.

For example, we are first introduced to “the woman” with some slow motion and speed up effects which are used along with some loud music to fully familiarize you with her powerful stance. This stylized filming is injected throughout and just felt out of place and almost immature. Dealing with such a serious subject, these musical interludes almost overshadow the strength of the family story of pain and abuse.

Released in the UK on 30th September

Panic Button

A cautionary tale about the amount of data we share on the internet and how it can be tracked and used against you.  Four strangers win a competition on the social networking site all2gethr.com for an all expenses paid trip to New York.  Little do they know that on boarding a private jet for an exciting and relaxing holiday they will instead face a terrifying ordeal.

It’s low budget horror that plays with some interesting and relevant ideas to do with social networking.  Delivering on some decent acting along with a claustrophobic plane ride makes this tense viewing.  Intriguing Saw like psychological thriller that moves along at a fast pace.

No UK release date at time of going to press

And the rest

Fright Night 3D

This loose remake of the 1985 classic takes the original concept of “what would you do if a vampire lived next door to you” and delivers an enjoyable enough watch that unfortunately lacks the wit and excitement of Tom Holland’s original comedy horror.  Colin Farrell plays Jerry the vampire who lives next door to Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin) a teenager who is given the role of saving the girl (Imogen Poots), the world and his mother (Toni Collette).  David Tennant delivers his version of Peter Vincent with all his usual zeal, he plays an unlikeable, sex obsessed Las Vegas showman with a hidden past and really has some fun with the role.  The 3D slightly marred the experience, as I couldn’t see much of the background as it was so dark and murky at points, I seriously had to strain my eyes to get some sense of what was going on at times.  Fast paced fun that uses special effects, prosthetics and some good one-liners make this a decent enough vampire flick.

The Holding

Cassie Naylor (Kierston Wareing) is struggling to run her farm along with her two daughters after the disappearance of her husband. Faced with financial problems and a couple of stereotypical inbred like neighbours trying to take over her farm she makes the decision to welcome a Scottish stranger into her household to help with the chores. Turns out this chap has some psychotic tendencies and all is not as it appears to be.  A generic British thriller directed by Susan Jacobson that delivers mostly predictable viewing and an obligatory rape scene.  Lifted by a strong central performance from Vincent Regan as a man with some serious issues.

Out in the UK now

Midnight Son

A low budget romantic vampire flick directed by Scott Leberecht, visual arts director for Spawn and Sleepy Hollow.  Jacob is forced to work the night shift as a security guard due to a skin disease that makes him averse to light. The leading man, Zak Kilberg, is lovely to look at and nails the evolving role of Jacob from shy to assured with conviction.  This is a slow burner full of quiet moments and a pace that only quickens in the last bloody act. Some of the visuals and effects are great, but the film never really takes the vampire genre anywhere original.  Just as a side note, the people sitting either side of me at this screening both fell asleep.

Urban Explorers

A Creep/Hostel style horror directed by Andy Fetscher who looked suitably forlorn by the fact that the wrong copy had been sent to the festival.  Unfortunately the version shown at the festival was without subtitles and I think some of the back story and reasoning for the villain’s actions were lost in translation and it ended up feeling like a replica of the previously mentioned torture horrors.  Great location shooting in the underground tunnels in Berlin gave it an interesting visual edge. As with many of the other films showing at the festival, the director was available for a Q&A at the end of the film and he recounted a story of the time he got shot protecting the booze for the cast and crew.

Chillerama

I was looking forward to some Drive-in B-movie horror in this anthology directed by Adam Rifkin, Tim Sullivan, Adam Green and Joe Lynch. Unfortunately what was delivered here was an immature and misguided attempt at homage that has been done better elsewhere.  With shorts showing at the drive-in titled Wadzilla, I Was a Teenage Werebear, The Diary of Anne Frankenstein and Zom-B-Movie I was well aware bad taste would be on offer but it lacked any sense of fun or wit.

No UK release date at time of going to press

Deadheads

An original take on the Zombie genre, a light-hearted look at the life of a zombie as he takes a road trip to rekindle a romance and solve the mystery of his death. He is accompanied by a wisecracking loudmouth and a zombie with lesser intelligence called Cheese who acts as the muscle on their mission. It manages to be entertaining enough with the budget it has been given, but the acting, soundtrack and script were obviously overlooked in favour of some special effects and makeup. The slapstick style keyboard music started grating pretty quickly and the dialogue was pretty juvenile. They used the one original idea they had about Zombies having different levels of intelligence and didn’t do anything else original with it.

No UK release date at time of going to press