The Hellfire Caves – also known as the West Wycombe Caves – are a network of man-made chalk and flint caverns which extend a quarter of a mile (500 metres) underground. They are situated above the village of West Wycombe, in Buckinghamshire, England.

They were excavated between 1748 and 1752 for Francis Dashwood, co-founder of the infamous Hellfire Club, whose meetings were held in the caves. Many rumours of black magic, satanic rituals and orgies circulated during the life of the club. Dashwood’s club meetings often included mock rituals, pornographic materials, much drinking, wenching and banqueting.

There has been much paranormal interest and many ghost stories about the caves. In 2004 and 2007 they were visited by British and American paranormal reality TV shows Most Haunted and Ghost Hunters. Ghost Adventures visited the site in 2012 as part of the episode, “Hellfire Cave.” The caves were also featured on Great British Ghosts in January 2012.

Among the ghosts said to haunt the caves is that of Paul Whitehead, a close friend of Sir Francis Dashwood, who had been the Secretary and Steward to the Hellfire Club. When he died in 1774, as his will requested, his heart was placed in an elegant marble urn. It was sometimes taken out to display to visitors, but was allegedly stolen in 1829 by an Australian soldier. Legend holds that the ghost of Whitehead haunts the caves, searching for his heart. Numerous visitors and staff have reported seeing a man in old-fashioned clothing wandering the passageways.

The striking entrance to the caves is designed as the façade of a mock gothic church and built from flint and chalk mortar. Since 1951, they have been operating as a tourist attraction.

Wikipedia | Official site | Related: Chislehurst Caves

‘It’s a cold, cruel world – but Jackson can hack it!’

Unmasked: Part 25 – aka The Hand of Death and Jackson’s Back – is a 1988 British comedy horror film directed by Anders Palm (Deadline; Murder Blues) from a screenplay by Mark Cutforth.

The film stars Gregory Cox, Fiona Evans, Edward Brayshaw, Debbie Lee London, Kim Fenton, Anna Conrich, Robin Welch, Christian Brando, Annabel Yuresha, Adrian Hough, Helen Rochelle.

Reviews:

Mark Cutforth’s script alternates between breathtakingly banal, insulting to women, or pompously affected, whilst Anders Palm’s direction is perfunctory at best. Unmasked: Part 25 is another British failed attempt at spoofing horror tropes in the vein of The Comic, Funny Man and (much later) Stitches. The supposedly ‘outrageous’ mockery of S&M and sex play toys is just obvious and dull. “Punish me!” Yes, this excuse for a film certainly did.

Adrian J Smith, Horrorpedia

“Unmasked: Part 25 satisfies the requirements of a standard slasher film, offering up enough gore and nudity to please any fan of the genre, while adding a smirking, character-driven sense of humor that would seem to make to make it ideal for rediscovery for modern audiences. It’s got all of the charms of the ‘80s slasher era with a unique (and, despite what one would expect, consistent) tone, solid performances and genuinely clever ideas.’ Daily Grindhouse

‘There are strong hints this is actually Jason from the Friday the 13th movies, except here he’s been given a voice, just skirting close enough to parody to get away with the references, and it appears Jackson would rather be quoting Byron than going about his executions, but the lure of the machete proves too much to resist. This leads to ridiculous scenes where he’ll discuss his existential angst with the victims before doing them in, amusing enough, but the serious bits did suggest a lack of focus.’ Graeme Clark, The Spinning Image

‘A criminally obscure send-up of 80s slashers that remarkably marries sincere romantic sentiment with copious amounts of outrageous splatter without ever letting its parodic conceit wear thin, thanks in large part to the exceedingly earnestness of the production. Director Anders Palm soaks Mark Cutforth’s witty script in a pervasively gritty atmosphere that stands in stark contrast to the immediate silliness of the premise.’ The Royal

Choice dialogue:

“Turning into one of Thatcher’s little mechanicals, you are.”

“Please don’t kill me, I’ll do anything you want. I’ll make love to you, would you like that? I’ll give you a blow job.”

IMDb

The Enfield Haunting is a forthcoming British drama series that has been commissioned by Sky Living and is due to be aired in Spring 2015. Kristoffer Nyholm, who rose to fame after the popular Danish series, The Killing, is directing the new three-parter. The series is based on Guy Lyon Playfair’s book, This House Is Haunted and is about a series of bizarre events around the phenomena known as ‘The Enfield Poltergeist’ that apparently took place at a council house in North London in 1977.

The Conjuring 2: The Enfield Poltergeist film is based on the same paranormal case.

Matthew Macfadyen (Grindhouse; Ripper Street) is playing Guy Lyon Playfair, an experienced but skeptical paranormal investigator. Timothy Spall (The Bride; Gothic; Dream Demon; Wake Wood) plays Maurice Grosse, a fledgling paranormal researcher. Juliet Stevenson also joins the cast to play Maurice’s wife Betty Grosse.

Cast:

• Timothy Spall as Maurice Grosse
• Juliet Stevenson as Betty Grosse
• Matthew Macfadyen as Guy Lyon Playfair
• Rosie Cavaliero as Mrs Hodgson
• Fern Deacon as Margaret Hodgson
• Simon Chandler as Professor Beloff
• Sean Francis as Ray
• Charles Furness as Simon
• Martin Hancock as Tony
• Amanda Lawrence as Lindy Crane
• Neal Barry as John
• Sudha Bhuchar as Head of Psych
• Nigel Boyle as Graham Morris
• Myah Bristow as Girl Patient
• Karen Lewis as Dr. Anita Gregory
• Peter McCabe as Alan Crane
• Tommy McDonnell as Doug Bence
• Steven O’Neill as Psych Doctor
• Susannah Wise as Sylvie

Wikipedia | IMDb

Loch Ness Monster, also called Nessie, is a cryptid that reputedly inhabits the Loch Ness lake in the Scottish Highlands. It is similar to other supposed lake monsters in Scotland and elsewhere, though its description varies from one account to the next, with most describing it as large in size. Popular interest and belief in the animal’s existence has varied since it was first brought to the world’s attention in 1933. Evidence of its existence is anecdotal, with minimal and much-disputed photographic material and sonar readings. The creature has been affectionately referred to by the nickname Nessie (Scottish Gaelic: Niseag) since the 1940s.

The most common speculation among believers is that the creature represents a line of long-surviving plesiosaurs. Much of the scientific community regards the Loch Ness Monster as a modern-day myth, and explains sightings as including mis-identifications of more mundane objects, outright hoaxes, and wishful thinking. Despite this, it remains one of the most famous examples of cryptozoology, aided by the sheer size of the loch – equivalent to all the other lakes in the UK combined.

The first reported sighting of something unusual lurking near Loch Ness (actually the River Ness) appears in the Life of St. Columba by Adomnán, written in the 7th century. According to Adomnán, writing about a century after the events he described, the Irish monk Saint Columba was staying in the land of the Picts with his companions when he came across the locals burying a man by the River Ness. They explained that the man had been swimming the river when he was attacked by a “water beast” that had mauled him and dragged him under. They tried to rescue him in a boat, but were able only to drag up his corpse. Hearing this, Columba stunned the Picts by sending his follower Luigne moccu Min to swim across the river. The beast came after him, but Columba made the sign of the Cross and commanded: “Go no further. Do not touch the man. Go back at once.” The beast immediately halted as if it had been “pulled back with ropes” and fled in terror, and both Columba’s men and the pagan Picts praised God for the miracle.

In truth, many waterways had legends very similar to this attached to them, usually with a pious soul saving the day. It took a very long time for any further activity to be widely reported. It was only in October 1871, or 1872, that a Doctor D. Mackenzie of Balnain described seeing an object that looked much like a log or upturned boat “wriggling and churning up the water.” The object moved slowly at first, then disappeared off at a faster speed. Mackenzie sent a letter containing his story to Rupert Gould in 1934, shortly after popular interest in the monster skyrocketed.

A sighting on July 22nd 1933 can most reasonably be considered the true Year Zero of Nessie activity, though ironically, not in the water but on land. George Spicer and his wife saw ‘a most extraordinary form of animal’ cross the road in front of their car. They described the creature as having a large body (about 1.2 metres (3 ft 11 in) high and 7.6 metres (25 ft) long), and long, narrow neck, slightly thicker than an elephant’s trunk and as long as the 10–12-foot (3–4 m) width of the road; the neck had undulations in it. They saw no limbs, possibly because of a dip in the road obscuring the animal’s lower portion. It lurched across the road towards the loch 20 yards (20 m) away, leaving only a trail of broken undergrowth in its wake. Five years later, Invernesshire Chief Constable William Fraser wrote a letter stating that it was beyond doubt the monster existed and stated the potential hunting parties it would attract were of major concern.

In August 1933 a motorcyclist named Arthur Grant claimed to have nearly hit the creature while approaching Abriachan on the north-eastern shore, at about 1 a.m. on a moonlit night. Grant claimed that he saw a small head attached to a long neck, and that the creature saw him and crossed the road back into the loch. A veterinary student, he described it as a hybrid between a seal and a plesiosaur. Grant said he dismounted and followed it to the loch, but only saw ripples. Some believe this story was intended as a humorous explanation of a motorcycle accident.

Sightings of the monster increased following the building of a road along the loch in early 1933, bringing both workmen and tourists to the formerly isolated area. Sporadic land sightings continued until 1963, when film of the creature was shot in the loch from a distance of 4 kilometres. Because of the distance at which it was shot, it has been described as poor quality.

On 12 November 1933, Hugh Gray was walking along the loch after church when he spotted a substantial commotion in the water. A large creature rose up from the lake. Gray took several pictures of it, but only one of them showed up after they were developed. This image appeared to show a creature with a long tail and thick body at the surface of the loch. The image is blurred suggesting the animal was splashing. Four stumpy-looking objects on the bottom of the creature’s body might possibly be a pair of appendages, such as flippers. Although critics have claimed that the photograph is of Gray’s labrador retriever swimming towards the camera (possibly carrying a stick), researcher Roland Watson rejects this interpretation and suggests there is an eel-like head on the right side of the image. This is the first known photograph allegedly taken of the Loch Ness Monster.

In December 1954 a strange sonar contact was made by the fishing boat Rival III. The vessel’s crew observed sonar readings of a large object keeping pace with the boat at a depth of 146 metres (479 ft). It was detected travelling for 800 m (2,600 ft) in this manner, before contact was lost, but then found again later. Many sonar attempts had been made previously, but most were either inconclusive or negative.

The most iconic Nessie photo was supposedly taken by Robert Kenneth Wilson, a London gynaecologist and was published in the Daily Mail on 21 April 1934. Wilson’s refusal to have his name associated with the photograph led to it being nicknamed the “Surgeon’s Photograph”. He claimed that he was looking at the loch when he saw the monster, so he grabbed his camera and snapped four photos. Only two exposures came out clear: the first one shows what was claimed to be a small head and back, while the second one shows a similar head in a diving position. The first one was more iconic one, while the second attracted little publicity because it was difficult to interpret what was depicted, due to its blurry quality.

For many years, the photo was regarded as good evidence of the monster. However, skeptics variously dismissed it showing a piece of driftwood, a bathing circus elephant, an otter, or a bird. Another factor that was brought up by skeptics was the scale of the photo; it is often cropped to make the monster seem proportionally large and the small ripples seem like large waves, while the original uncropped shot shows the other end of the loch and the monster in the centre. Despite this, the ripples on the photo were found to fit the size and circular pattern of small ripples, as opposed to large waves when photographed up close. Analysis of the original uncropped image fostered further doubt.

In 1993, the makers of Discovery Communications’ documentary Loch Ness Discovered analysed the uncropped image and found a white object was visible in every version of the photo, implying it was on the negative. It was believed to be the cause of the ripples, as if the object was being towed, though it could not be ruled out as a blemish in the negative. Additionally, one analysis of the full photograph revealed the object was quite small, only about 60 to 90 cm (2 to 3 ft) long.

Details of how the photo was accomplished were published in the 1999 book, Nessie – the Surgeon’s Photograph Exposed, that contains a facsimile of the 1975 article in The Sunday Telegraph. Essentially, it was a toy submarine built by Christian Spurling, the son-in-law of Marmaduke Wetherell. Wetherell was a big game hunter who had been publicly ridiculed by his employers in the Daily Mail, after finding “Nessie footprints” that turned out to be those of a hippopotamus-foot umbrella stand. To get revenge on the Mail, Wetherell committed the hoax, with co-conspirators Spurling (sculpture specialist), Ian Wetherell (his son, who bought the material for the fake), and Maurice Chambers (an insurance agent). The toy submarine was bought from F.W. Woolworths and its head and neck made out of plastic wood. After testing it out on a local pond, the group went to Loch Ness, where Ian Wetherell took the photos in the vicinity of Altsaigh Tea House. When they heard a water bailiff approaching, Duke Wetherell put his foot out and sank the model. It is presumably still somewhere in Loch Ness. Chambers handed over the plates to Wilson, a friend of his who enjoyed “a good practical joke”. Wilson then took the plates to Ogston’s, an Inverness chemist, where he gave them to George Morrison for development. He sold the first photo to the Daily Mail, who then announced that the Loch Ness Monster had been photographed.

In 1960, aeronautical engineer Tim Dinsdale filmed a hump crossing Loch Ness, leaving a powerful wake. Dinsdale allegedly spotted the animal on his last day hunting for it, and described the object as reddish with a blotch on its side. When he mounted his camera the object started to move and said that he shot 40 feet of film. Many were sceptical, saying that the “hump” cannot be ruled out as being a boat and claimed that when the contrast is increased, a man can be seen in a boat.

In 1993, Discovery Communications produced a documentary entitled Loch Ness Discovered, which featured a digital enhancement of the Dinsdale film. A computer expert who enhanced the film noticed a shadow in the negative that was not very obvious in the positive. By enhancing and overlaying frames, he found what appeared to be the rear body of a creature underwater. He commented that “Before I saw the film, I thought the Loch Ness Monster was a load of rubbish. Having done the enhancement, I’m not so sure”. Some have countered this finding by saying that the angle of the film from the horizontal along with sun’s angle on that day made shadows underwater unlikely. Others pointed out that the darker water is undisturbed water that was only coincidentally shaped like a body. The same source also says that there might be a smaller object (a second hump or a head) in front of the hump causing this.

Further video footage, photographs and even sonar images continued to appear, though with the advent of advanced technology and forensic techniques, the sightings were even more vague and verifications of authenticity were often from somewhat biased collectives as US military monster experts. On 19 April 2014 it was reported that Apple Maps was showing what appeared to be the monster close to the surface of the loch. It was spotted by Andrew Dixon who was browsing a map of his home town at the time and took a moment to take a look at the loch. Possible explanations for the image are that it could be the wake of a boat, a seal causing ripples or a floating log. Some believe that the image was Photoshopped using an image of a whale shark.

Google commemorated the 81st anniversary of the release of the “Surgeon’s Photograph” with a “Google Doodle”, and added a new feature to their Google street view feature in which users can explore the lake both above water level, and below. Google reportedly spent a week at Loch Ness collecting imagery with one of their street view “trekker” cameras. They attached the camera to a boat to photograph above the water, and collaborated with members of Catlin Seaview Survey to photograph beneath the water.

Since 1934, many expeditions have sought to find Nessie for both monetary reward, fame and scientific reasons. These have ranged from lone eccentrics on rickety boats to hi-tech sonar surveys, submersible craft and large scale American investigations. Perhaps the most quaintly engaging of these was the The Loch Ness Phenomena Investigation Bureau (LNPIB), a UK-based society formed in 1962 by Norman Collins, R. S. R. Fitter, David James, MP, Peter Scott and Constance Whyte “to study Loch Ness to identify the creature known as the Loch Ness Monster or determine the causes of reports of it.” It later shortened the name to Loch Ness Investigation Bureau (LNIB). It closed in 1972. Its main activity was for groups of self-funded volunteers to watch the loch from various vantage points, equipped with cine cameras with telescopic lenses.

Although one of the most advanced sonar and mapping surveys, undertaken by the BBC in 2003, essentially proved nothing out of the ordinary inhabited the loch, the mystery still exists. Possible explanations for previous sightings include:
• Bird wakes. The effect on the water’s surface of swimming/landing and taking-off of birds producing a V-effect similar to those regularly attributed to the monster
• Giant eels. Largely discounted, though some species to live in the loch.

• The aforementioned elephant.
• Sharks. Certain species can survive in fresh water and can grow to a great size.
• Seals. Certainly an environment they could thrive in and would also account for the land sightings

• Optical effects, natural phenomena (escaping gas etc) and rotting tree debris
• Dinosaurs. Plesiosaurs are often used to represent the beast in mocked-up pictures. I am obliged to tell you why it couldn’t be an extinct creature; the logistics of the dinosaur’s body would not allow its neck to be raised out of the water; plesiosaurs would only be able to thrive in tropical waters; plesiosaurs became extinct around 66 million years ago – the loch has only existed for around 10,000 years.

The monster has appeared regularly in popular culture throughout the 20th and 21st Centuries.

Film:

• The first film to deal with the creature was Secret of the Loch (1934) an English feature film directed by Milton Rosmer, a “mildly amusing exploitation item”. The monster appeared at the end and was an iguana enhanced by special effects.

• The monster is treated in a tongue-in-cheek fashion in a 1961 film What a Whopper. The monster makes a cartoon appearance at the end of the film.

• The 1964 film 7 Faces of Dr. Lao features the monster as a small fish in a fish bowl which balloons into gigantic proportions when removed from the bowl.

• In the 1970 film The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes the monster is revealed to be a miniature submarine in disguise.

• The monster is featured in the 1981 American horror film The Loch Ness Horror, directed by Larry Buchanan.

• In Ghostbusters, (1984) the Loch Ness Monster is among the various things Janine Melnitz asks Winston Zeddemore whether he believes in.

• Nessie, das Monster von Loch Ness or Nessie – Das verrückteste Monster der Welt is a West German film made in 1985.

• The 1987 movie Amazon Women on the Moon features a sketch involving a mock TV program, Bullshit or Not?, hosted by Henry Silva in which it is postulated that the Monster was, in fact, Jack the Ripper.

• Ted Danson starred in the 1996 film Loch Ness in which he plays an American scientist trying to disprove the existence of the Loch Ness Monster, only to later disprove his own evidence when he comes to recognise that the Monster is best left alone to survive by itself.

• The 2001 horror movie Loch Ness Terror deals with a series of attack allegedly made by the monster.

• In the Disney-Pixar film Monsters, Inc., the Loch Ness monster is mentioned as one of the monsters who got banished from Monstropolis.

• In the 2004 movie Scooby-Doo and the Loch Ness Monster the characters from the Scooby-Doo The Mystery, Inc. gang travel to Loch Ness in Scotland to see the famous Blake Castle, the home of Daphne Blake’s cousin, Shannon.

• A mockumentary starring director Werner Herzog titled Incident at Loch Ness (2004) shows the director filming scenes around Loch Ness in an attempt to disprove the theories of the monster. His writer/producer continually tries to make a “blockbuster” film that Werner does not want. They eventually run afoul of the real Nessie with eerie results.

• In the 2005 film Lassie, Nessie can be seen swimming in the Loch Ness.

• The 2007 film The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep featured a young boy who discovers and hatches an egg belonging to the legendary Celtic creature, the Water Horse. Naming it Crusoe after the fictional character, he eventually is forced to release it into Loch Ness and the world begins to notice. Based on a novel by Dick King-Smith.

• Beyond Loch Ness (at one point named Loch Ness Terror is a 2008 horror television movie made for the Sci-Fi Channel, directed by Paul Ziller.

• Disney released The Ballad of Nessie along with their main feature Winnie the Pooh in 2011. It is a short cartoon narrated by Scottish comedian Billy Connolly and is a story about Nessie’s origins.

Television:

• The 1964 Gerry Anderson puppet television series, Stingray, included an episode where the crew was transported to Scotland to find the Loch Ness Monster. They discovered that the monster was secretly a robot operated by locals to attract tourists. The Stingray crew agreed to keep the secret once they left Loch Ness.
•
• In the 1971 Goodies episode Scotland, the Goodies travel to Scotland in order to capture the Loch Ness Monster as an exhibit for the new Monster House at London Zoo.

• In the 1971 Bewitched episode “Samantha and the Loch Ness Monster”, the monster turns out to be a warlock named Bruce that Serena put a spell on.

• In the 1975 Doctor Who story Terror of the Zygons, the Loch Ness Monster is revealed to be a Skarasen, an alien cyborg controlled by the extraterrestrial race known as the Zygons, who use it in a bid for world.

• The BBC television series The Family-Ness showed the adventures of a whole family of Loch Ness Monsters and their human friends, Elspeth and Angus McTout.

• An animated series, Happy Ness: Secret of the Loch, featured two groups of the creatures. The friendly Nessies included Happy Ness, Brave Ness, Forgetful Ness, Silly Ness, and Bright Ness, while the villains included Pompous Ness, Mean Ness, Devious Ness and Dark Ness

• In the TV series How I Met Your Mother one of the main characters, Marshall, has a continuing obsession with the Loch Ness Monster
• The TV series The Simpsons featured the Loch Ness Monster in the episode Monty Can’t Buy Me Love, in which Montgomery Burns captures the monster with the help of Homer Simpson, Professor Frink and Groundskeeper Willie.

• In Godzilla: The Series, which is an animated ‘continuation’ of the 1998 film, one episode features the Loch Ness monster as a foe of Godzilla.

• An episode of Disney’s Gargoyles titled “Monsters” featured a captured female plesiosaur Dr. Sevarius kept in a hidden cavern within his base of operations beneath Urquhart Castle. His goal was to collect a variety of “exotic DNA” for future mutation experiments and Nessie was merely bait to lure out “Big Daddy” – her larger and more fearsome mate.
• In “Achilles Heel”, the second story in series 7 of The Tomorrow People, a pair of aliens visiting earth to extract a rare mineral found in the vicinity of Loch Ness note that another race of aliens who had previously dominated the earth had transplanted a “giant plascadron” in the lake to ward off the natives.

• An 1978 episode of Scooby-Doo (“A Highland Fling With a Monstrous Thing”) featured a case that tied the Mystery Inc. gang between the Loch Ness Monster, and a phantom that seemed to be controlling it.

Music

• The Sensational Alex Harvey Band wrote a song based on the Loch Ness Monster called “Water Beastie”, which can be heard on their 1978 album Rock Drill. The previous year frontman Alex Harvey recorded and released a spoken-word album, Alex Harvey Presents: The Loch Ness Monster, after spending a summer at Invermoriston and interviewing locals about the Monster.

• In Spitting Image’s 1986 song “I’ve Never Met a Nice South African”, the narrator claims that he has “met the Loch Ness Monster, and he looks like Fred Astaire”.

• Lo-fi rock band Some Velvet Sidewalk included a song titled “Loch Ness” detailing the exploits of the lake’s mythical monster on their 1992 album “Avalanche”

• American progressive metal band, Mastodon, have a song titled “Ol’e Nessie”, named after the Loch Ness Monster, on their 2002 album Remission.

• The Judas Priest song “Lochness” from their 2005 album Angel of Retribution is about the Loch Ness Monster.

• The Loch Ness Monster was referenced in the Grinderman song Worm Tamer in the line “My baby calls me the Loch Ness monster, two great big humps and then I’m gone”

Literature

• In the Leslie Charteris short story “The Convenient Monster” (1959, coll. 1962) Simon Templar investigates an alleged monster attack, finding a human culprit – who is then attacked by the real monster. A 1966 TV adaptation ends more ambiguously.

• The Scottish poet Edwin Morgan published the sound poem “The Loch Ness Monster’s Song” in 1973

• In the book The Boggart and the Monster (1997) by Susan Cooper, the Loch Ness Monster is actually an invisible shape-shifting creature that has become trapped in one form.

• In the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2001) by J.K. Rowling, the “Loch Ness Monster” is said to be a misunderstanding of what is in fact the world’s largest kelpie.

• The Loch (2005) by Steve Alten is a novel about the Loch Ness Monster which incorporates many historical and scientific elements into the story line. In the book, the creature is said to be a species of gigantic and carnivorous Eel.

• The tabloid Weekly World News often reports on the creature, claiming that it has become pregnant, or been captured, sold, or killed.

• Dick King-Smith wrote a novel, The Water Horse, also the basis for a film

‘Where the student body is going to pieces.’

Slaughter High is a 1986 American/British independent slasher film written and directed by George Dugdale, Mark Ezra and Peter Litten. It closely follows the tropes of many other slasher films of the period and is mostly notable for the casting of Caroline Munro in the lead female role and the distinctive jester’s mask worn by the killer.

In an American high school populated by the usual jocks, hot girls and outcasts, Marty Rantzen (Simon Scudamore, misspelled on the credits with an extra ‘d’ – sloppy!) is most firmly the latter, the atypical, bespectacled nerd, good at complicated sums, not so good on basic human interaction. Come April Fool’s Day, Marty can’t believe his luck as he is lured by school sex siren, Carol (Munro) into the girls’ locker room for a baptism of shower-based sex. Alas, this is not the case and whilst disrobed and expectant in the shower, the curtain is pulled to reveal the school jokers armed with video recording equipment and a fire extinguisher to put a dampener on Marty’s dreams and his dignity down the toilet (which is literally where he’s heading, face down, thanks to his tormentors dangling him in).

He is ‘rescued’ by the arrival of the military instructor-like sports coach (played by Marc Smith, best known for his voice acting, of note his redubbing on Dario Argento’s Four Flies on Grey Velvet, and Deep Red) who does little to sympathise with Marty but does insist all the boys responsible report for detention that afternoon. Cleaned up, Marty is given a joint by arch bully Skip (Carmine Iannaccone) as an apology, though it is in fact laced with something less desirable. Sometime later, when Marty is diligently conducting solo chemistry experiments, he tries the joint and immediately rushes to the nearest public convenience to vomit. In his absence, Skip (even shirking detention, the rotter) enters the lab and rigs the experiment to blow up in Marty’s face. This does indeed have the desired effect but in the mayhem of the detonation, Marty knocks a jar of acid over himself, the net result being a half destroyed school and a hideously disfigured and broken nerd.

Some years later (anywhere between five and ten), Marty has disappeared from public life, doomed to a lonely existence as a scarred, damaged and apparently insane man. Meanwhile, his school ‘friends’ are enjoying their reunion, which happens to be on April Fool’s Day. Deciding to revisit their now closed school, though the corridors are still roamed by the old janitor, whose portrayal sets the racial equality movement back several decades. As the kids get down to drinking, smoking, snorting high jinks, the janitor is lifted off the ground by a jester-masked figure (actually played by co-director Ezra) and impaled on a coat hook. So begins a one-by-one slaying of the gang in occasionally inventive ways (intestinal explosion by tampered-with beer is a highlight) in a school which for reasons which are unclear, houses both a bath and a bed. The jester figure is, of course, Marty, eager to exact his revenge, though he leaves his beloved Carol until the end…

Slaughter High is a prime example of the problems which can arise from trans-Atlantic co-productions. Supposedly set in an American school, all the locations are obviousluy leafy Britain, the population of students and staff also British but tasked with adopting US accents, lest the idea of a film not set in America be an insult to the masses. The accents aren’t awful but are all underpinned by the hopelessly forced insistence that in no way is the wool being pulled over everyone’s eyes. Despite the fact that an actual school was used for the filming (remarkably, it did indeed have a bath in situ), the film feels very cramped and is largely shot in only a smattering of locations, again giving the impression that something is being kept from us.

The April Fool’s Day setting does leave the audience with that ‘one last gag’ feeling always looming on the horizon, though this could have been even more lumbering, the title having to be changed from April Fool’s Day to Slaughter High due to a genuinely unfortunate timing issue with the better-known film of that title just pipping it to the release post. Some prints retain this original title and have the replacement hastily tagged on as an apparent afterthought – Vestron’s Japanese release not even bothering with the afterthought. There is a certain irony of the film revolving around a date that so fuels the plot, time and continuity being haphazard throughout, from the eye-narrowing anniversary reunion timing to the incredulity-testing age of the students – Caroline Munro clocking in at 36 years-old at the time of filming and many of her co-stars well into their 20’s at least.

Dugdale and Ezra combined again on the curious if ultimately beige Living Doll (1990) with only the latter evidently staying in the industry, though with little in the way of breakout hits. Co-director Litten had slightly more lasting influence, his special effects creature work seen in Rawhead Rex and more significantly culturally as the co-creator of the non-more-80’s Max Headroom. Caroline Munro is sadly miscast, still radiant but a sore thumb as a school girl and barely more believable as an airhead actress who is just about savvy enough to avoid the casting couch of leering movie producer, Manny (played by actual film producer Dick Randall of Don’t Open Till Christmas and Pieces frame; never one to miss a trick, a poster for Pieces hangs behind him in his office). Munro appeared in the film off the back of The Last Horror Show, before 1987’s Faceless and Howl of the Devil signalled her all but withdrawal from the genre for some time.

Scudamore is far more serviceable in his role, a believable nerd whose character is let down by innate dumbness, belying his academic genius. Given a large school as his lair, it is weakly and unrealistically dressed, leaving him to bookend the film as Ezra, rather meanly, does the jester-masked stomping around. Sadly, aged only 28, Scudamore took his own life shortly after filming through a drugs overdose.

With a masked killer, illegal substances, lithe teens and variable morals, it is fitting that the score is composed and performed by Harry Manfredini, a huge nod to the film’s primary influence, Friday 13th. Manfredini is one of the luckiest of composers for horror films, his career largely pivoting on his work on the 1980 slasher classic, a score which, in truth, consists of piled-high stingers, pilfered exaggerated strings and the oft-repeated killer’s theme and little else of interest. Here he is rumbled somewhat, a clearly more meagre budget revealing his work to be perfunctory at best, at worst cringe-worthy tripe.

Somehow, despite all this, Slaughter High is strangely rewarding viewing. Perhaps it’s the carefree, glitch-ridden production values; perhaps it’s the contact threat of Munro relieving herself of her flouncy, voluminous dress suit (she doesn’t, instead the main nudity is, surprisingly, male and full-frontal). It’s possibly the fact that it sticks to the slasher rulebook so rigidly, the viewer can put in the least effort imaginable to watch… although the ending will jolt even the most heavy-lidded audience out of its slumber with its ridiculousness.

Daz Lawrence, Horrorpedia

Choice dialogue:

Stella: Talk dirty, Frank! Talk dirty!

Frank: Um… tits.

Stella: DIRTY dirty!

Frank: Um… fuck. Ah, tits. Screw.

The Enfield Poltergeist was the name given to claims of poltergeist activity at a council house in Brimsdown, Enfield, England during the late 1970s. Although psychical researchers such as Maurice Grosse and Guy Lyon Playfair declared some of the phenomena genuine, the case is generally considered to be a hoax by skeptics.

In August 1977, single parent Peggy Hodgson called police to her rented home in Enfield after two of her four children claimed that furniture was moving and knocking sounds were heard on walls. The children included Margaret, age 13, Janet, age 11, Johnny, age 10 and Billy, age 7. A female police constable saw a chair slide on the floor but couldn’t determine if it moved by itself or was pushed by someone. Later claims included allegedly demonic voices, loud noises, thrown rocks and toys, overturned chairs and levitation of children.

Reports of further incidents in the house attracted considerable press attention and the story was covered in British newspapers such as the Daily Mail and Daily Mirror, until reports came to an end in 1979. On Halloween 2011, BBC News featured comments from a radio interview with photographer Graham Morris, who claimed that a considerable portion of the events were genuine.

Society for Psychical Research members Maurice Grosse and Guy Lyon Playfair reported “curious whistling and barking noises coming from Janet’s general direction.” Although Playfair maintained the haunting was genuine and wrote in his later book This House is Haunted: The True Story of a Poltergeist (1980) that an “entity” was to blame for the disturbances, he often doubted the children’s veracity and wondered if they were playing tricks and exaggerating.

Still, Grosse and Playfair believed that even though some of the alleged poltergeist activity was faked by the girls, other incidents were genuine. Janet was detected in trickery. A video camera in the room next door caught her bending spoons and attempting to bend an iron bar. Grosse had observed Janet banging a broom handle on the ceiling and hiding his tape-recorder.

When Janet and Margaret admitted their pranking to reporters, Grosse and Playfair compelled the girls to retract their confession. They were mocked by other researchers for being easily duped.

Buy This House is Haunted from Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

The psychical researcher Renée Haynes had noted that doubts were raised about the alleged poltergeist voice at the Second International SPR Conference at Cambridge in 1978, where video cassettes from the case were examined. The SPR investigator Anita Gregory stated the Enfield poltergeist case had been “overrated”, characterizing several episodes of the girl’s behavior as “suspicious” and speculated that the girls had “staged” some incidents for the benefit of reporters seeking a sensational story. John Beloff a former president of the SPR investigated and suggested Janet was practicing ventriloquism. Both Beloff and Gregory came to the conclusion that Janet and Margaret were playing tricks on the investigators.

American paranormal investigator Ed Warren claimed that Janet was once “sound asleep, levitating in midair” and concluded that the children were the subject of demonic possession.

In a television interview for BBC Scotland, Janet was observed to gain attention by waving her hand, and then putting her hand in front of her mouth while a claimed “disembodied” voice was heard. During the interview both girls were asked the question “How does it feel to be haunted by a poltergeist?” Janet replied “It’s not haunting” and Margaret interrupted “Shut up”. These factors have been regarded by skeptics as evidence against the case.

Skeptics have also noted that the alleged poltergeist voice that originated from Janet was produced by false vocal cords above the larynx and had the phraseology and vocabulary of a child. Maurice Grosse made tape recordings of Janet, and believed that there was no trickery involved, but the magician Bob Couttie has written, “he made some of the recordings available to me and, having listened to them very carefully, I came to the conclusion that there was nothing in what I had heard that was beyond the capabilities of an imaginative teenager.”

Skeptic Joe Nickell has criticized paranormal investigators for being overly credulous: when a supposedly disembodied demonic voice was heard, Playfair noted that, “as always Janet’s lips hardly seemed to be moving.” Nickell wrote that a tape recorder malfunction that Grosse attributed to supernatural activity and Society for Psychical Research president David Fontana described as an occurrence “which appeared to defy the laws of mechanics” was merely a peculiar threading jam common to older model reel to reel tape recorders.

Nickell states that a remote-controlled still camera (the photographer was not present in the room with the girls) timed to take a picture every 15 seconds that supposedly “recorded poltergeist activity on moving film for the first time” was shown by investigator Melvin Harris to reveal the girls’ pranks. A photo allegedly depicting Janet “levitating” in mid air actually shows her bouncing on the bed as if it were a trampoline. Harris called the photos examples of common “gymnastics,” and said “It’s worth remembering that Janet was a school sports champion!” Nickell also wrote that demonologist Ed Warren was “notorious for exaggerating and even making up incidents in such cases, often transforming a “haunting” case into one of “demonic possession.” In an interview with the Daily Mail, the adult Janet admitted that she and her sister had faked “2 percent” of the phenomena, prompting Nickell to comment, “the evidence suggests that this figure is closer to 100 percent.”

Nickell noted that the supposed poltergeist “tended to act only when it was not being watched” and concluded that the incidents were best explained as children’s pranks. According to Nickell:

“Time and again in other ‘poltergeist’ outbreaks, witnesses have reported an object leaping from its resting place supposedly on its own, when it is likely that the perpetrator had secretly obtained the object sometime earlier and waited for an opportunity to fling it, even from outside the room—thus supposedly proving he or she was innocent.”

American magician Milbourne Christopher investigated, failed to observe anything that could be called paranormal, and was dismayed by what he felt was suspicious activity on the part of Janet. Christopher would later conclude that “the poltergeist was nothing more than the antics of a little girl who wanted to cause trouble and who was very, very, clever.”

In 2015, Deborah Hyde commented that there was no solid evidence for the Enfield poltergeist “the first thing to note is that the occurrences didn’t happen under controlled circumstances. People frequently see what they expect to see, their senses being organised and shaped by their prior experiences and beliefs.”

Popular Culture:

• In 1992, the BBC aired a mockumentary entitled, written by Steven Volk and based on the Enfield Poltergeist.
• In March 2007, Channel 4 aired a documentary about the Enfield poltergeist, entitled Interview with a Poltergeist.
• The Enfield poltergeist has been featured in episodes of ITV series Strange But True? and Extreme Ghost Stories.
• The Enfield poltergeist was the subject of the 2015 Sky Living television series The Enfield Haunting which was broadcast on the 3rd of May 2015, and the 2016 US theatrical horror film The Conjuring 2: The Enfield Poltergeist.

Wikipedia

‘Prey for Salvation’

Zombie Resurrection is a 2014 British horror film, made partly with the aid of online funding. Set in an unspecified part of the UK, eight survivors of an apocalyptic outbreak, which has seen the dead rise from their graves, attempt find sanctuary as the undead hordes thin out and make sense of the chaos that surrounds them. It is the debut feature of directors Andy Phelps and Jake Hawkins.

Fifteen months after zombies ravaged the country, eight survivors trudge through the British woodland attempting to find a place of refuge known as Imperium, the destination known only by one of their number, the upper class Major Gibson (Joe Rainbow, Stag Night of the Dead), who revels in the hold he has over the others. These include Mac (Jim Sweeney), a sweary Scottish tough guy; God-fearing Esther (Shamiso Mushambi); almost respectably middle-class Beaumont (Danny Brown), who carries a golf club just to make sure you’ve “got it”, and the shackled prisoner Dr. Sykes (Eric Colvin), plus three more utterly detestable individuals.

In a twist to the usual lore surrounding zombie outbreaks, we learn that time has taken its toll on the dead, who are now few in number and those who do survive are ineffective decaying lumps. Regardless, the disagreeable bunch of the living find getting on with one another impossible and tensions rise even further when Gibson steps in a mantrap and has his leg removed. Taking shelter in a school building (expanding the quite obviously tiny shooting area by up to twenty feet), we find that Sykes is held as a prisoner due to his role in the development of the ‘virus’ which started the apocalypse – actually an attempted cure for chemical warfare – and that he is due to be hanged. Events spiral out of their control when they realise the building actually houses some unexpectedly spritely zombies and, even more surprisingly, that one of them has a quasi-religious gift for resurrecting the more decayed of his number, threatening to send them back to the early days of the outbreak.

On the plus side, there are some interesting ideas here; the diminished threat of rotting corpses over time has been touched upon in film and fiction before but, in this case, it’s central to the plot; similarly, aside from voodoo, there hasn’t been a great deal of emphasis on religion’s part in such a scenario. Unfortunately, these really only become viable as part of a short story – at a push, a play, though presumably a rubbish one. Without zombies as an immediate threat, you have to rely on the living characters and their back-stories to provide the drama and tension, done skilfully in periods of Romero’s early zombie films and large tracts of The Walking Dead comic and television series. You’d be correct in assuming this film has none of that.

Firstly, there are far too many characters, none of whom are engaging or illicit any sympathy from the viewer. This is exacerbated by the fact that the acting is of a shockingly poor quality, veering from potty-mouthed shouting to something that resembles the farce of a drunken person assuring assembled onlookers that they’re completely sober, whilst stood in a duck-pond. This sits particularly badly when the closing quarter of Zombie Resurrection attempts to ponder the complexities of life, religion and all points between, with the film left hanging as neither fish nor fowl, though almost certainly, foul.

The gore effects and make-up are passable and indeed, if that sends your pulse racing, you may still find something of interest here. Despite this, at no point is anything in the least believable; how a compound came to be called Imperium in just over a year (surely rejected even by eager Apprentice candidates), why the filmmakers opted to omit someone in a wheelchair from their parade of abysmal stereotypes and why, four years after filming wrapped, has this been allowed to surface without anyone having the guts to recognise this simply didn’t work. It’s another nail in the coffin of a horror sub-genre that just won’t stay shut.

Daz Lawrence, Horrorpedia

Venom is a 1981 British horror thriller film directed by Piers Haggard (Blood on Satan’s Claw; 1979 Quatermass TV serial). It was adapted from the novel of the same name by Alan Scholefield.

The film stars Klaus Kinski (Nosferatu the Vampyre; Schizoid; Crawlspace), Oliver Reed (Blue Blood; The Brood; Spasms), Nicol Williamson, Sterling Hayden, Sarah Miles, Cornelia Sharpe (The Reincarnation of Peter Proud; Open Season), Lance Holcomb and Susan George (The Sorcerers; Die Screaming Marianne; Royal Jelly). 

Plot teaser:

An international criminal enlists Ruth Hopkins’ maid and chauffeur in a scheme to kidnap her asthmatic ten-year-old son Philip for ransom.

Meanwhile, Philip has just brought home a snake from a local importer, unaware that his new pet has been accidentally switched with a deadly Black Mamba destined for a toxicology lab. The lab reports the mix-up, and a police officer is dispatched to the Hopkins residence, only to be shot by the panicking chauffeur.

The London townhouse is surrounded by police, trapping the criminals, the child, and his grandfather inside with the Mamba, which is now loose in the ventilation system…

Tobe Hooper was originally attached to direct but quit because of “creative differences”. At a party at Elaine’s Restaurant in Manhattan celebrating the film’s release, Klaus Kinski boasted how he and other members of the cast and crew had ganged up on Hooper a couple of weeks into the shoot to get him replaced. Director Piers Haggard says that none of the original footage Tobe Hooper shot is still in the film.

Buy Venom on DVD from Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Reviews:

“A solid nailbiter sold as a nature-on-the-rampage horror film, this crime film with some tense black mamba action sports one of the strangest all-star casts of its era. Though virtually buried upon release (during a year crammed with superior genre fare), this adaptation of a potboiler by Alan Scholefield still stands up fairly well as a solid, low-key genre mix with some enjoyable scenery chewing from the biggest, most psychotic hams in the business.” Mondo Digital

“Venom had the potential to become a classic trash movie but the end result doesn’t quite make it. It’s fun however and that cast makes it an absolute must for fans of overheated acting.” DVD Talk

“Made in a time where extreme visual style and graphic gore was dominating the horror movement, Venom seems totally out of place. There is virtually no gore effects, and the story is directed with such a 1950’s sensibility that really makes it seem years more outdated than it really is. Rather than gore driven, it is plot driven, but with a crime story as drab as Venom’s, that just doesn’t cut it.” Horror Digital

Wikipedia | IMDb

WH

The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog is a 1926 British silent thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It stars Marie Ault, Arthur Chesney, June Tripp, Malcolm Keen, and Ivor Novello. Based on a story by Marie Belloc Lowndes and a play Who Is He? co-written by Belloc Lowndes, the film is about the hunt for a “Jack the Ripper” type of serial killer in London. The film was released on 14 February 1927 in London and on 10 June 1928 in New York City.

Originally, the film was intended to end with ambiguity as to whether or not the lodger was innocent. However, when star Ivor Novello was cast in the role, Gainsborough studio demanded alterations to the script.

Upon seeing Hitchcock’s finished film, producer Michael Balcon was furious, and nearly shelved it (and Hitchcock’s career). After considerable bickering, a compromise was reached and film critic Ivor Montagu was hired to salvage the film. Hitchcock was initially resentful of the intrusion, but Montagu recognised the director’s technical skill and artistry and made only minor suggestions, mostly concerning the title cards and the reshooting of a few minor scenes. Ultimately, Hitchcock followed these instructions, but avoided showing the true villain onscreen.

The result, described by Hitchcock scholar Donald Spoto, is “the first time Hitchcock has revealed his psychological attraction to the association between sex and murder, between ecstasy and death.” It would pave the way for his later work.

Plot teaser:

A young blonde woman, framed against a sheet of glass, her golden hair illuminated, is seen screaming. She is the latest victim of a serial killer known as “The Avenger”, who targets young blonde women.

That night, Daisy Bunting (June Tripp), a blonde model, is at a fashion parade where she and the other showgirls heard the news of the murder. The blonde girls are horrified; covering their hair with dark wigs or hats while Daisy laughs at their fears. She returns home to her parents, Mr and Mrs Bunting, and her policeman sweetheart, Joe (Malcolm Keen), who have been reading the details of the latest Avenger crime in the day’s paper.

Later that same night a man, bearing a strong resemblance to the description of the murderer (Ivor Novello), arrives at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Bunting and inquires about the room they are renting. Mrs. Bunting (Marie Ault) takes him to the room on the top floor of her house which is decorated with portraits of beautiful young women, all blondes. The man is rather reclusive and secretive, which puzzles Mrs. Bunting. However she does not complain after he willingly pays her a month’s rent in advance, and asks only for bread, butter, and a glass of milk and to be left in peace…

Reviews:

“Part of the fun here is watching Hitchcock experiment with visual storytelling so early in his career, with this representing his third film.  For instance, while the lodger paces in his room, the family below looks up at the hanging lamp as it sways. Hitchcock creates an invisible floor. It’s an interesting effects shot that shows us both the Lodger’s actions and the perspective of the family. There is also a short montage at the beginning of the film that focuses on the faces of Londoners as they contemplate the murderous work of The Avenger.  Each face conveys a powerful emotion while cross dissolving in and out of one another.” John Ary, Ain’t It Cool

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“The Lodger is a jolting mess of a film, but one that remains electrifying. Not simply because it anticipates some of the director’s best known tropes – we’ll see vertigo-inducing stairwells later in his career, as well as women rummaging through a potential killer’s belongings while they are out – but because this is a kind of cinema that has been refined out of existence, not least by Hitchcock himself.” Andrew Pulver, The Guardian

“Visually, the movie looks a lot like German Expressionism films of the time.  Dark shadows and strange uses of lights highlight the film (I liked the through the floor view of the lodger pacing). Hitchcock shows some of his style and these earlier films are fun to watch to see how he develops.” JP Roscoe, Basement Rejects

Cast:

• Marie Ault as The Landlady (Mrs. Bunting)
• Arthur Chesney as Her Husband (Mr. Bunting)
• June as Daisy Bunting, a Model
• Malcolm Keen as Joe Chandler
• Ivor Novello as Jonathan Drew (The Lodger)
• Eve Gray as Showgirl Victim (uncredited)
• Alfred Hitchcock as Extra in newspaper office (uncredited)
• Reginald Gardiner

Wikipedia | IMDb

CTRL is a 2016 British science fiction horror film to be directed by Harry Lindley.

Wanderland Productions is currently seeking funding via Kickstarter. The trailer below is CTRL: Nine Laws, a short film made to express some of the ideas in the script. Kevin Kelly, co-founder of Wired allowed the filmmakers to draw heavily on his ‘Nine Laws of God’ for the voiceover. The film was shot over 48 hours on several cameras including an iPhone 5, Sony Handicam and a Canon 7D mounted on Polecam.

Plot teaser:

Lex and her boyfriend Dru visit her reclusive brother Leo’s top-floor apartment in the heart of London. The young couple discover Leo has created a digital virus intent on gaining absolute knowledge, which is evolving at an alarming rate. The already uncomfortable family reunion turns nasty when the virus traps the trio, and begins to spy on them using disturbing ‘biological’ drones. Despite outsider Dru’s growing resentment towards the siblings’ close bond, the three must stay united to have any chance of overcoming Leo’s godlike creation.

Official website

Source: Anything Horror 

Montague “Monty” Rhodes James OM, MA, FBA (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936), who used the publication name M. R. James, was an English author, medievalist scholar and provost of King’s College, Cambridge (1905–18), and of Eton College (1918–36).

Though James’s work as a medievalist is still highly regarded, he is best remembered for his ghost stories, which are considered as among the best in the genre. James redefined the ghost story for the new century by abandoning many of the formal Gothic clichés of his predecessors and using more realistic contemporary settings. However, James’s protagonists and plots tend to reflect his own antiquarian interests. Accordingly, he is known as the originator of the “antiquarian ghost story”.

James was born in Goodnestone Parsonage, near Dover in Kent, England, although his parents had associations with Aldeburgh in Suffolk. His father was Herbert James, an Evangelical Anglican clergyman, and his mother, Mary Emily (née Horton), was the daughter of a naval officer. From the age of three (1865) until 1909 James’s home, if not always his residence, was at the Rectory in Great Livermere, Suffolk. Several of James’s ghost stories are set in Suffolk, including Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad (Felixstowe), A Warning to the Curious (Aldeburgh), Rats and A Vignette (Great Livermere).

In September 1873 he arrived as a boarder at Temple Grove School, one of the leading boys’ preparatory schools of the day. He eventually settled in Cambridge, first as an undergraduate, then as a don and provost, at King’s College, Cambridge, where he was also a member of the Pitt Club. The university provides settings for several of his tales and its insular world informs many of the often drifting souls he characterises. Apart from medieval subjects, James studied the classics and appeared very successfully in a staging of Aristophanes’ play The Birds, with music by Hubert Parry.

His academic career saw him cataloguing and translating many medieval works, the hidden texts and found knowledge echoing several of his published fiction work, as well as being very highly regarded by his academic contemporaries. He later became a director of Cambridge’s Fitzwilliam Museum before seeing out his final years as Provost of Eton College, the town where he is now buried. As with his time in Suffolk, his Cambridge surroundings, especially those within University walls, are featured in several of his tales; A School Story, Temple Grove, East Sheen and A Tractate Middoth.

Many of James’s ghost stories were written for public performance, specifically for reading to a small group of assembled friends (and occasionally, choirboys) as part of spirit-fuelled polite revelry on Christmas Eve in his private quarters at the University. Such precise and well-orchestrated behaviour is a reminder of the very Victorian quality of James’s writing, and he as a person – it was also an excuse to display his acting skills, as well as to assert his dominance in an environment of constant one-upmanship.

From his own recollection, his first written and published ghost story was Canon Alberic’s Scrapbook, which appeared in National Review magazine in 1894, with Lost Hearts appearing in Pall Mall magazine the following year. These, plus a further six tales were collected into one volume, Ghost Stories of an Antiquary in 1904:

• “Canon Alberic’s Scrap-Book”
• “Lost Hearts”
• “The Mezzotint”
• “The Ash-tree”
• ” Number 13″
• “Count Magnus”
• “‘Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad””
• “The Treasure of Abbot Thomas”

The first edition of this collection featured four atmospheric illustrations by James McBryde, a friend of James’ and one of the few who were present at the stories first Christmas readings. It was intended that McBryde would provide illustrations for each featured story but his premature death meant only four were completed. A distraught James, whom, it is said, harboured romantic feelings towards his friend, refused to allow the publisher to use images supplied by anyone else to complete the unfinished work.

The success of this volume led to three further collections:

More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1911)
• “A School Story”
• ” The Rose Garden”
• “The Tractate Middoth”
• “Casting the Runes”
• “The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral”
• “Martin’s Close”
• “Mr Humphreys and His Inheritance”

A Thin Ghost and Others (1919)
• “The Residence at Whitminster”
• “The Diary of Mr Poynter”
• “An Episode of Cathedral History”
• “The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance”
• “Two Doctors”

A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories (1925)

• “The Haunted Dolls’ House”
• “The Uncommon Prayer-Book”
• “A Neighbour’s Landmark”
• “A View from a Hill”
• “A Warning to the Curious”
• “An Evening’s Entertainment”

Despite the subjects of his stories, James claimed neither to have any real belief in ghosts or the supernatural, nor to have witnessed anything himself which could not be rationally explained. Although operating in an era when literature had several of the great practitioners in full effect, notably, Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft, James honed both a style and structure which were distinct and memorable. Relying on neither the actions of wicked, misguided individuals (much of Poe) nor the unimaginable horrors of Lovecraft, James wrote of unassuming (if, often, well-to-do) individuals who by circumstance found themselves the victim of restless spirits, none of whom were in the least welcoming or benign.

The classic Jamesian tale usually includes the following elements:

• A characterful setting in an English village, seaside town or country estate; an ancient town in France, Denmark or Sweden; or a venerable abbey or university
• A nondescript and rather naive gentleman-scholar as protagonist (often of a reserved nature). Few women appear in his tales, romance even less.
• The discovery of an old book or other antiquarian object that somehow unlocks, calls down the wrath, or at least attracts the unwelcome attention of a supernatural menace, usually from beyond the grave
• A mundane, contented life disturbed by an initially innocuous presence or occurrence, leading to a more malignant force.

Analysts have suggested that James’s sexuality and his inability to come to terms with it leant a detached malaise to his tales; a lack of, or even fear, of human contact quite a noticeable theme. Whilst this is possible, what is undeniable is the influence of Sheridan Le Fanu’s writing, which James was never slow in praising.

On the other side of the coin, James himself was no stranger to praise from high places. Foremost of these was H.P. Lovecraft, saving significant reverence for James in his extended essay, Supernatural Horror in Literature, first published in 1927. He also wrote:

“M.R. James joins the brisk, the light, & the commonplace to the weird about as well as anyone could do it—but if another tried the same method, the chances would be ten to one against him. The most valuable element in him—as a model—is his way of weaving a horror into the every-day fabric of life and history—having it grow naturally out of the myriad conditions of an ordinary environment…”

Other admirers of his work include Sir John Betjeman, Paul Theroux, Ruth Rendell and horror fiction heavyweights, Stephen King and Ramsey Campbell. More keenly, Kingsley Amis used James’s signature motifs for one of his most famous works, The Green Man. James’s character-led tales have made them ideal for television and film adaptation.

Buy Count Magnus and Other Ghost Stories from Amazon.co.uk

Television:

1951 – Lights Out – “The Lost Will of Dr. Rant”. A clear adaptation of The Tractate Middoth, starring Leslie Nielsen
1966-1968 – Four teleplays were broadcast on ITV in the UK, all of which are now considered lost in their entirety.
1968 – Whistle and I’ll Come to You – perhaps the most famous TV adaptation of them all, directed by Jonathan Miller for the BBC

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1971 – The Stalls of Barchester. From 1971, in a tradition James would most certainly approve, each Christmas saw a James tale dramatised, each directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark.

1972 – A Warning to the Curious

1973 – Lost Hearts

1974 – Treasure of Abbot Thomas

1975 – The Ash Tree

1976 – The Signalman

1977 – Stigma
1979 – Casting the Runes. Clark again, this time for ITV.

Buy Casting the Runes on DVD from Amazon.co.uk

1980 – A slightly more grown-up version of Jackanory, Spinechillers, saw three James tales read by Michael Bryant (The Stone Tape); The Mezzotint, The Diary of Mr Poynter and A School Story

1986 – Robert Powell’s partially dramatised readings of The Mezzotint, The Ash-Tree, Wailing Well, Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad and The Rose Garden were screened on BBC2 for an even older audience.
2000 – Christopher Lee took the reading reins for another series of James re-tellings, this time in front of a roaring fire with a suitably-attired small audience. These are still regularly screened around Christmas time. With Lee playing the role of James reading his own stories, the 30 minute episodes produced by the BBC include The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral, The Ash-tree, Number 13 and A Warning to the Curious

2005 – BBC4 screened updated adaptations of both A View From a Hill and Number 13
2010 – A new version of Whistle and I’ll Come to You was developed for broadcast around Christmas. Starring John Hurt (Alien), most consider it massively inferior the Miller’s earlier film, which starred Michael Hordern in the same role.

2013 – Horror fan and writer Mark Gatiss directed The Tractate Middoth, up-keeping a Christmas tradition now eagerly anticipated.

Film:

1957 – Night of the Demon (aka Curse of the Demon). Jacques Tourneur’s masterful adaptation of Casting the Runes.

Buy Night of the Demon on DVD from Amazon.co.uk

1989 – The Church (La Chiesa). Michele Soavi’s film, co-written with Dario Argento but taking significant influence from The Treasure of Abbot Thomas.

Buy The Church on DVD from Amazon.com

Forthcoming – Joe Dante has been linked with a new adaptation of Casting the Runes for several years, having already adopted the Jamesian curse for his 2009 film, Drag Me To Hell

Radio:

The performed origins and suggestive scares have made James’s work some of the most performed horror on radio.

1947 – CBS Radio – Escape – Casting the Runes
1973 – BBC Radio 3 – Lost Hearts, read by Bernard Cribbins (Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.)
1974 – CBS Radio – This Will Kill You – Casting the Runes, starring E.G. Marshall
1981 – BBC Radio 4 – The Hex – Casting the Runes, starring Conrad Phillips (Circus of Horrors)
1997–1998 – Radio 4 broadcast The Late Book: Ghost Stories, a series of 15-minute readings of M. R. James stories, abridged and produced by Paul Kent and narrated by Benjamin Whitrow (repeated on BBC 7, December 2003–January 2004, September–October 2004, February 2007, October–November 2011). The stories were Canon Alberic’s Scrap-Book, Lost Hearts, A School Story, The Haunted Dolls’ House and Rats.
1982-92 – A series of four double audio cassettes was released by Argo Records, featuring nineteen unabridged James stories narrated by Michael Hordern. The tapes were titled Ghost Stories (1982), More Ghost Stories (1984), A Warning to the Curious (1985) and No. 13 and Other Ghost Stories (1988).

ISIS Audio Books also released two collections of unabridged James stories, this time narrated by Nigel Lambert. These tapes were titled A Warning to the Curious and Other Tales (four audio cassettes, six stories, March 1992) and Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (three audio cassettes, eight stories, December 1992).

2007 – Tales of the Supernatural, Volume One, an audiobook presentation by Fantom Films, featuring the James stories Lost Hearts read by Geoffrey Bayldon (Tales From the Crypt, Frankenstein Must be Destroyed), Rats and Number 13 by Ian Fairbairn, with Gareth David-Lloyd reading Casting the Runes and There Was a Man Dwelt by a Churchyard.
2007 – Radio 4 – The tradition of James’s ghost stories for the festive period returned once more, with a series of adaptations of his most popular tales. Each lasted around 15 minutes and was introduced by Derek Jacobi (The Medusa Touch) as James himself. Due to the short running times the tales were fairly rushed, with much of the stories condensed or removed. Stories adapted included Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad, Number 13 and Lost Hearts.

2007 – A Warning to the Furious. Forty-five minute play, written by Robin Brooks, concerning a film-making team setting out to make a documentary about MRJ on the Suffolk coast.
A series of seven tales billed as Doug Bradley’s Spinechillers were released as audio downloads, read by Pinhead himself

Spinechillers

Comics:

Anna Sahrling-Hamm – Hearts/Wailing Well. Online adaptations

Scott Hampton – Spookhouse Volume One. A compendium of tales, also featuring W.W. Jacobs Monkey’s Paw, James’s The Mezzotint is included.

Kelley Jones – Eerie – Volume 6, 2014 – The Ash Tree

Daz Lawrence

‘Maintain the quarantine’

28 Weeks Later is a 2007 British-Spanish post-apocalyptic science fiction horror film, structured as a sequel to the 2002 critical and commercial success, 28 Days Later. The film was co-written and directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, with Danny Boyle and Alex Garland, respectively director and writer of 28 Days Later, now acting as executive producers.

Plot teaser:

During the original outbreak of the Rage Virus, Don, his wife Alice, and four other survivors are hiding in a barricaded cottage on the outskirts of London. They hear a terrified boy pounding at their door, and they let him in. A few minutes later, they find that the Infected have followed the boy to them. The Infected attack and kill most of the survivors, while Don, Alice, and the boy are chased upstairs. Don is separated from Alice and the boy by the Infected and jumps out of a window, abandoning them. Don desperately sprints to a nearby motorboat and narrowly escapes.

After five weeks, all the Infected have died of starvation. After eleven weeks, NATO forces headed by the United States take control of Great Britain. After eighteen weeks, the island is declared relatively safe, although still under quarantine.

Twenty-eight weeks after the outbreak, an American-led force, under the command of Brigadier General Stone, bring in settlers to re-populate the area. Among the new arrivals are Tammy and Andy, Don and Alice’s children, who were in Spain on a school trip during the initial outbreak. They are subsequently admitted to District One, a safe zone guarded by the U.S. Army, on the Isle of Dogs. As they are examined by Major Scarlet Levy, the District’s Chief Medical Officer, she notes Andy’s differently coloured eyes, a trait inherited from his mother. Sergeant Doyle, a Delta sniper and his friend, Chief Flynn, a helicopter pilot, are amongst the military presence charged with guarding the District. Tammy and Andy are reunited with their father, who, having survived the original infection, was found by the U.S. Army and has become the District’s caretaker. In their new flat, Don explains what happened to him and their mother and that after escaping, he arrived at a military camp and survived by waiting for the Infected to die of starvation…

Reviews:

“28 Weeks Later is not for the faint of heart or the weak of stomach. It is brutal and almost exhaustingly terrifying, as any respectable zombie movie should be. It is also bracingly smart, both in its ideas and in its techniques. The last shot brought a burst of laughter at the screening I attended, a reaction that seemed to me both an acknowledgment of Mr. Fresnadillo’s wit and a defense against his merciless rigor.” A.O. Scott, The New York Times

“The set-pieces, however, escalate with mostly excellent results: watching it all go wrong for the military — and their desperate response — is harrowing, but the tonal shift in a scene involving a helicopter and the infected on a heath which strays into Peter Jackson/Sam Raimi comic-horror territory is less effective. Momentum is regained, though, for a strong, dark finish.” Kim Newman, Empire

“Although the general tone might be considered anti-American, the principal sympathetic figures, apart from the fugitive children, are all in the American army – the woman doctor, a black helicopter pilot and a disgusted sniper who turns to helping his designated victims. But the movie is ruthless and not only in the way it spares no one from plague and bullet. The chilling theme is that the road to hell on earth is paved with good intentions, starting with the well-meaning scientists and the animal activists who light the fuse, and continuing with those inspired by compassion and moral decency.” Philip French, The Observer

Cast:

• Robert Carlyle as Don
• Rose Byrne as Scarlet
• Jeremy Renner as Doyle
• Harold Perrineau as Flynn
• Catherine McCormack as Alice
• Mackintosh Muggleton as Andy
• Imogen Poots as Tammy
• Idris Elba as Stone

Wikipedia | IMBb

Jekyll & Hyde is a 2015 ITV British ten-part television series written by executive producer Charlie Higson, very loosely inspired by The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.

The series stars Tom Bateman (Da Vinci’s Demons), Richard E. Grant (Doctor Who) and Natalie Gumede (Doctor Who). Tom Bateman takes the lead role as Robert Jekyll, Richard E Grant plays Bulstrode who heads the secret government department MI0 known as ‘The Invisible Men’ and Natalie Gumede takes the part of Bella who forms part of a love triangle with Robert.

Press release:

‘Set in 1930’s London at a time of Hollywood glamour, aerodynamic cars and monster movies, the drama pays homage to the Stevenson novel, and focuses on the young, attractive, troubled hero, Robert Jekyll, the grandson of the original doctor.

At the heart of the drama is Robert Jekyll’s quest to discover his real identity, his true family history and the nature of his ‘curse’.  Jekyll transforms into superhero Hyde in moments of extreme anger, stress and when his or the lives of others are threatened.

In the opening episode Jekyll is a newly qualified doctor living with his foster parents in Ceylon. He knows nothing of his family history or his inherited condition, which his foster father, Dr Vishal Najaran, is controlling with medication.

The drama follows his path to discovery, which coincides with the transformative powers of his condition growing stronger and more disruptive. His journey will take him into a dark and unforgiving place, as his alter ego seems capable of anything. At the same time there are shadowy forces trying to find Jekyll and the source of his powers.’

Scriptwriter Charlie Higson commented: “It’s a superhero Jekyll & Hyde – about Dr Jekyll’s grandson, who doesn’t know anything about who he is or why he’s like he is.

He added: “One of our models for making it was Indiana Jones,” he revealed. “You’ve got action, you’ve got adventure, you’ve got humour… But there’s also quite a lot of horror in those films, and you can use the humour to stop the horror from getting too heavy – particularly bearing in mind the sort of audience we’re looking for with the show.”

Source: Digital Spy

‘Evil doesn’t die easily’

The Redwood Massacre is a 2014 British horror film written and directed by David Ryan Keith (Attack of the Herbals; House of Shadows). It stars Mark Wood (Lord of Darkness), Lisa Livingstone (In the Spider’s Web), Lisa Cameron, Rebecca Wilkie and Alec Westwood.

In the US, Uncork’d Entertainment release The Redwood Massacre on VOD and DVD on July 7, 2015. In the UK, the film is released on DVD on July 27, 2015.

Buy The Redwood Massacre on DVD from Amazon.co.uk

Plot teaser:

For five adventurous friends, visiting the legendary murder site of the Redwood farm has all the hallmarks of being an exciting and thrilling camping weekend away. A popular site for revellers and party goers, each year on the exact date of the famous local family massacre, people from around the country head out to the site to have fun and scare each other.

Events take a bloody turn for the worse when the innocent campers discover the Redwood myth is in fact a horrible bloody reality, which turns the unsuspecting victims into prey for a mysterious axe wielding maniac that has remained dormant for twenty years…

Trailer:

IMDb | New and Upcoming Horror Releases

Pacemaker Pictures Inc. was an American distribution company that specialised in releasing imported European horror movies with lurid advertising campaigns, often many years later than their initial production/release. The company had been operating since 1952 but their first horror release was the 1960 British film The Flesh and the Fiends, starring Peter Cushing and Donald Pleasence, based on the Burke and Hare murders. The movie had already been issued in the US in 1961 by Valiant Films as Mania but for its 1965 re-release Pacemaker came up with the less subtle moniker The Fiendish Ghouls.

For the legendarily tacky German sleaze/horror film Ein Toter hing im Netz (1960, literal translation: ‘A Corpse Hung in the Web’) Pacemaker provided its 1965 campaign as Horrors of Spider Island. The film had already had a 1962 US release that emphasised its racier elements, as It’s Hot in Paradise but Pacemaker focused on the arachnid attacks.

In 1967, Pacemaker issued a double-bill of Italian imports, Il boia scarlatto (1965) and 5 tombe per un medium (1965) as Bloody Pit of Horror and Terror-Creatures from the Grave respectively. The former is a supposedly sadistic, yet amusingly camp and garish sequence of tacky torture scenes overseen by muscleman Mickey Hargitay as The Crimson Executioner. In its full version, the latter is a reasonably macabre monochrome Barbara Steele vehicle loosely inspired by Poe. Both were directed by Massimo Pupillo.

Pacemaker’s 1969 horror offerings were British Death’s head moth monster oddity The Blood Beast Terror (1967), re-titled The Vampire-Beast Craves Blood (“in frenzied color”), plus Curse of the Blood Ghouls, a renaming of Italian import Slaughter of the Vampires (1962).

Last, but by no means least, 1968 surreal Japanese sci-fi shocker Goke: Body Snatcher from Hell was given a belated 1978 outing as Body Snatcher from Hell, coupled with the aforementioned Bloody Pit of Horror as a support feature (the thirteen year-old movie must have seemed very incongruous to its late-seventies audience).

Buy Italian Horror Films of the 1960s from Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

IMDb

Blood Tide is a 1981 British-Greek film directed by Richard Jefferies (Cold Creek Manor; Living Hell aka Organizm) from a screenplay co-written with Nico Mastrorakis (Island of Death; Blind Date; Grandmother’s House). The film is also known as Bloodtide (in the USA) and Demon Island (American TV title) and is in the public domain. Original pre-release titles were The Red Tide and Red Tide.

Plot teaser:

A couple of newlyweds go to Greek Islands to look for a lost sister. They find her on an island where a monster kills people unless it is given a virgin woman for a sacrifice…

Reviews:

Although lacking in production values, Blood Tide cannot be faulted for its actors, all of whom do their best with the material they are presented. As noted previously, the concepts sketched throughout the film are fascinating and stimulating to the imagination. Sadly, the execution of the film results in a talky, bland, and tensionless movie, one that few will be able to sit through to the lackluster conclusion.” Octavio Ramos, Albuquerque Examiner

Lydia Cornell, Lila Kedrova, Martin Kove, Jose Ferrer

“The main focus of a sea monster movie should be the damn sea monster not a shirtless James Earl Jones. Therefore, the sea monster needs to look fucking amazing. Instead, the team behind this one offered up James Earl Jones, shiny bod and all, instead of giving us a great looking sea monster. The monster is the worst looking creature in cinema history and makes the killer elves in Elves look like a fucking masterpiece.” Horror Society

“A pretty bad, but rather fun, old-fashioned monster movie. The monster itself might be The Return of the Giant Claw, and is, wisely, never seen very clearly (Clearly enough, however, once for camp purposes).” Donald C. Willis, Horror and Science Fiction Films III

“Sundry killings ensue, but little tension or atmosphere is generated. Jones overplays alarmingly, while Ferrer and Kedrova have little to do as furrowed-browed locals, the latter a nun. The monster itself appears only briefly, which is perhaps just as well since it is all too obviously a rubber dummy.” Phil Hardy (editor), The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror

Cast:

• James Earl Jones as Frye
• José Ferrer as Nereus
• Lila Kedrova as Sister Anna
• Mary Louise Weller as Sherry Grice
• Martin Kove as Neil Grice
• Lydia Cornell as Barbara
• Deborah Shelton as Madeline Grice
• Sofia Seirli as Sister Elena
• Despina Tomazani as Lethe’s Mother
• Rania Photiou as Lethe
• Spyros Papafrantzis as Dionysis
• Irini Tripkou as Virgin
• Annabel Schofield as Vikki

Wikipedia | IMDb

Fiendish Feet was a British brand of low fat dairy yogurts aimed at children, produced by St. Ivel from November 1989 until 1997. Initially, the yogurt pots had printed faces on the front and were moulded with feet on the bottom.

The initial line of yogurts were sold in multipacks of four flavours: Spooky Wooky (banana flavour), Fangs a Lot (strawberry flavour), Frank ‘n’ Stein (raspberry flavour), and Rattle ‘n’ Roll (chocolate flavour).

More diary dessert varieties were then introduced: Pharoah Nuff (their spelling error – chocolate, and later replaced by Slurpy Bertie), Dooya Finkisaurus (toffee apple), Howling Wilf (banana), Horrible Herman (strawberry).

Monster Mousse followed in July 1990: Tongue Twister (strawberry), Pharoah Nuff (again – toffee), Snortilla the Grunt (blackcurrant), Melting Melvin (orange), with Tremblers (yogurt jelly with sauce) coming just under a year later: Trembling Trev (strawberry), Flossie Flame (banana and toffee), Moaning Mummy (orange) and Mesma Eyes (redcurrant and raspberry).

Fiendish Feet Fromage Frais arrived in September 1991: Tiddly Wink (raspberry), Masked Menace (apricot) and Sneaky Beaky (strawberry). Freezable strawberry mousses named Snow Joke, Freddy Frostbite, Dip Dastardly and Eski Moan came to haunt British consumers in April 1992.

In a move away from Feet and in a move to healthier dessert options, real fruit yogurts named Fiendish Faces arrived in August 1992. These used the names of the original low fat yogurts.

A couple of limited edition pots were produced with typically cringe-worthy names: Ivor Cold Toe and Hot Cross Bunny. Worse still, a cheese spread named Cheesey Wheesey was also marketed.

Collectible Fiendish spin-off items included mugs, fridge magnets, badges, a bum bag, bicycle wheel clips, stickers, and even a mini computer game!

1989 advert:

Many thanks to the Fiendish Feet tribute page for some info and images

Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors is a 1964 British anthology horror film from Amicus Productions, directed by veteran horror Freddie Francis (Nightmare; The Skull; Tales from the Crypt) from a screenplay by Milton Subotsky (The City of the Dead; At the Earth’s Core; The Monster Club).The film was a conscious attempt by Subotsky to repeat the success of Dead of Night (1945). In fact, he wrote the original stories in 1948 when he was employed as a scriptwriter for NBC’s Lights Out series.

Filming in Techniscope was completed on 3 July 1964 and the movie released on 5 February 1965 by Regal Films. The score was by Elisabeth Lutyens and a novelisation by John Burke was issued by Pan Books.

Cast:

Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Max Adrian, Ann Bell, Peter Madden, Donald Sutherland, Roy Castle, Alan Freeman, Michael Gough, Ursula Howells, Bernard Lee, Jeremy Kemp, Neil McCallum.

Plot teaser:

Five men enter a train carriage in London bound for Bradley, and are joined by a sixth, the mysterious Doctor Schreck (Peter Cushing) whose name, he mentions, is German for “terror”. During the journey, the doctor opens his pack of Tarot cards (which he calls his “House of Horrors”) and proceeds to reveal the destinies of each of the travellers…

Werewolf:

An architect, Jim Dawson (Neil McCallum), travels to a Scottish island to his former house to make alterations requested by the new owner, Mrs. Biddulph (Ursula Howells). Mrs. Bidduplh is described as a widow who bought the house to seek solitude to recover from the death of her husband. Behind a fake wall in the cellar, he finds the coffin of Count Cosmo Valdemar, who had owned the house centuries ago…

Creeping Vine:

Bill Rogers (DJ Alan Freeman), together with his wife and daughter (Ann Bell and Sarah Nicholls), returning from vacation to discover a fast-growing vine has installed itself in the garden. When the plant seems to respond violently to attempts to cut it down, Rogers goes to the Ministry of Defence, where he gets advice from a couple of scientists (Bernard Lee and Jeremy Kemp)…

Voodoo:

Biff Bailey (Roy Castle) is a jazz musician who accepts a gig in the West Indies, and foolishly steals a tune from a local voodoo ceremony. When he tries to use the tune as a melody in a jazz composition back in London, there are dire consequences…

Disembodied Hand:

Franklyn Marsh (Christopher Lee), an art critic who seems more concerned with his own devastating wit than art itself. Painter Eric Landor (Michael Gough) bears the brunt of one of Marsh’s tirades, but gets even by humiliating the critic publicly. When Landor takes it too far, Marsh responds by driving over him with his car, causing Landor to lose one of his hands. Unable to paint any more, Landor commits suicide. Marsh is then tormented by the disembodied hand…

Vampire:

Dr. Bob Carroll (Donald Sutherland) returns to his home in the United States with his new French bride Nicolle (Jennifer Jayne). Soon there is evidence that a vampire is on the loose, and Carroll seeks the aid of his colleague Dr. Blake (Max Adrian), only to find out that his bride is the vampire…

Buy Blu-ray Steelbook from Amazon.co.uk

Brand new limited numbered edition release of 4,000 with specially commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys. Includes a ‘Making of Dr. Terror’ documentary by Nucleus Films and a recently filmed appreciation of the life and career of the late Christopher Lee.

Reviews:

“Lee and Cushing add a degree of weight to the film that it would not have had with Gough and Sutherland alone, while another familiar Hammer name, director Freddie Francis, contributes a level of class and craftsmanship that is all out of proportion to the movie’s visibly tiny budget. Even with shitty film stock, cheap cameras, and cut-rate lab processing, Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors looks awfully good.” 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting

“Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors was directed by poached Hammer director Freddie Francis, and his talent as a filmmaker shines despite the low production values. The cast and script keep the movie afloat, even through the occasional weak patch, and I would recommend this movie to anyone with an eye for the quirkier end of the horror spectrum.” JC Richardson, Best Horror Movies

Buy DVD from Amazon.co.uk

“ … most of the stories are deadly dull. The last two have reasonable twists, but they aren’t really enough to save the whole from its yawn-inducing first hour. Once upon a time, Dr. Terror was a classic of its type. These days it is more of a curiosity, and a prime example of how badly a film can age.” British Horror Films

“Francis’ direction is expert and his visual flair is often in evidence, particularly at the dénouement.” Alan Frank, The Horror Film Handbook

Offline reading:

Jonathan Rigby, English Gothic: A Century of Horror Cinema. Reynolds & Hearn, 2000

Allan Bryce, Amicus: The Studio That Dripped Blood, Stray Cat Publishing, 2000

John Brosnan,The Horror People. London, 1976

Wikipedia | IMDb

The Zombie King – aka King of the Dead – is a 2012 British horror comedy film directed by Aidan Belizaire from a screenplay by actor George McCluskey (Jacob’s Hammer; Knight of the Dead), based on a story by Jennifer Chippindale and Rebecca-Clare Evans.

The film stars Edward Furlong (Brainscan; Arachnoquake) and Corey Feldman (Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter; Bordello of Blood), George McCluskey, David McClelland, Michael Gamarano (Backslasher). The film’s initial title was apparently Ed Wallace and the Z Team.

Having received several international releases, the film is being released on DVD in the UK on October 26, 2015 by High Fliers Films.

Buy DVD from Amazon.co.uk

Plot teaser:

Samuel Peters (Edward Furlong), once an ordinary man, dabbles in the laws of voodoo to bring his wife back from the grave. He soon encounters the god of malevolence, Kalfu (Corey Feldman), and makes a pact with him to destroy the underworld and bring chaos to earth. In return, he will become the Zombie King and walk the earth for eternity with his late wife.

But as the growing horde of zombies begins to wipe out a countryside town, the government creates a perimeter around the town and employs a shoot-on-sight policy. Trapped within the town, the locals, an unlikely bunch of misfits, must fight for their lives and unite in order to survive…

Trailer:

IMDb | Facebook

‘Nature. Nurture. Kill.’

The Dark Below is a 2015 British horror film directed by Stewart Sparke from a screenplay by Paul Butler.

The film is currently in post-production and will be entering the festival circuit seeking distribution in early 2016.

Press release:

A psychological horror film about a young scientist whose discovery of a malevolent entity sets her on a bloody descent into the jaws of insanity. Blending the gut wrenching futility felt in H.P. Lovecraft’s best work with slimy practical creature and gore effects, the film promises to bring you a deeply disturbing new addition to the international horror scene.

Cast:

Anna Dawson, Michaela Longden Daniel S. Thrace, Johnny Vivash, Zach Lee, David Shackleton and Libby Watts.

Plot:

During a traumatic accident whilst on a deep-sea dive in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, Olive, a gifted, young marine-biologist discovers an unearthly creature. Loosing her dream job, Olive smuggles the creature home, intent on studying it in her basement, unbeknownst to her loving boyfriend Matt. Whilst struggling to re-adjust to landlocked life and recover from her recent trauma, Olive begins to realize that she and the creature share a symbiotic bond that drives her to carry out its sinister will.

Plagued by gruesome nightmares, her fractured memories of what happened during the accident in the depths of the ocean begin to unravel and reveal an eldritch horror far older and malevolent than she could ever imagine, one which she has unwittingly set free. Olive’s obsession leads to madness as her discovery consumes her entire humanity, with deadly results for those around her…

Filming locations:

Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England

York, North Yorkshire, England

Trailer:

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