Mayhem Film Announcements

It's time for Halloween month excitement again!

Ahead of the full line-up announcement in a couple of weeks, Mayhem Film Festival have announced five more feature films and a special guest. They all look good but I'm particularly looking forward to The Devil's Doorway as it's had a lot of festival buzz & another anthology movie. Early bird tickets still available here: www.mayhemfilmfestival.com 

As its 14^th edition creeps ever closer, Mayhem Film Festival is proud to announce the next set of titles from this year's programme.

Mayhem is to present a screening of Aislinn Clarke's found-footage chiller The Devil's Doorway. In rural Ireland in 1960, two Catholic priests are sent from the Vatican to investigate reports of miraculous activity in a remote home for 'fallen women', only to discover that altogether darker forces may be at work. Mayhem is pleased to welcome director Aislinn Clarke to take part in a post-screening Q&A.

Showing in the festival's coveted Friday late-night slot, Nicolas Cage goes full... well, Nicolas Cage with a fantastically high-octane performance in Panos Cosmatos' cosmic revenge thriller Mandy. Pacific Northwest, 1983 AD. Outsiders Red Miller and Mandy Bloom lead a loving and peaceful existence. When their pine-scented haven is savagely destroyed by a cult led by the sadistic Jeremiah Sand, Red is catapulted into a phantasmagoric journey filled with bloody vengeance and laced with fire.

Next up in this year's programme is Colin Minihan's grueling survival thriller What Keeps You Alive. On the eve of their first wedding anniversary, Jules and Jackie become embroiled in a merciless fight for their lives against the most unexpected of adversaries - each other. As violence rains down upon their idyllic forest getaway, the women engage in a frenzied physical - and psychological - battle that tests the very limits of their instinct to survive.

Also screening at this year's festival is Shin'inchiro Ueda's unmissable micro-budget zombie movie, and Japanese box-office sensation, One Cut of The Dead. Playing to sell-out audiences since its release, the film has made more than 250 times its budget, and counting. During the making of a small-scale zombie flick, all hell breaks loose when a real zombie outbreak erupts on set - a gleeful horror-comedy packed with seriously entertaining monster mayhem and an epic 37-minute single-take opening.

Wrapping up this second wave of announcements, Mayhem presents Nightmare Cinema, a new horror anthology uniting masters of genre cinema - including Mick Garris (Sleepwalkers, Masters of Horror) and Joe Dante (Gremlins) - for five gruesome tales of terror featuring sinister surgeons, brain-spiders and killer nuns.

Unfriended: Dark Web Review

                                                   Unfriended: Dark Web (2018)

IMDb genre: Horror
Director: Stephen Susco
Writer: Stephen Susco
Starring: Betty Gabriel, Rebecca Rittenhouse, Colin Woodell
IMDb summary: A teen comes into possession of a new laptop and soon discovers that the previous owner is not only watching him, but will also do anything to get it back.

Let's start this review by saying I'm well aware of all the hate Blumhouse gets and, while they don't always hit the mark, I am a fan. 

I enjoyed the first Unfriended movie (which came out in 2014 somehow, I'm getting old!) but it was more of a typical silly teen slasher; it was entertaining and I liked the gimmick of it all being on a computer but to be honest I didn't really think about it a lot afterwards. However, cut to four years later and they really pulled it out of the bag. A change in writer/director has clearly made an impact but the smartest change was to really make use of the computer gimmick with dark web chatrooms, hidden sinister files etc instead of a supernatural theme. This means it's not overly scary at the time but it stays with you, it's one of those that could happen so you can't quite fully dismiss it. There's still several tense moments though, have no doubt.

The acting this time round, after Get Out we always knew Betty Gabriel would knock any other film out the park but the only one that didn't work for me was Connor Del Rio's AJ but I think that was more in the writing as he was just an annoying character! Representation is important in movies and this movie features a deaf woman and a lesbian couple that aren't treated any differently and I really liked that.

The deaths are enjoyable and inventive but I do think the film would have benefited from a little more gore in those scenes.

I don't want to give anything a way but I do think the ending seemed rushed and was particularly unfair on one character (I will come back to edit this when the film's been available longer to explain more what I mean.)

So, I'd definitely recommend this one, if for no other reason than there's an English character talking about Craigslist with a different pronunciation to everyone else & I appreciated that!

General Opinion:
   

Scare Factor:

More tense than scary but definitely gives you something to think about.

Gore:

The little bit of gore we do get isn't very good, could have done with less cutting away at the critical moment.

Clowns:

Not funny throughout but there's some funny interactions during the set-up.

Unfriended: Dark Web is currently in selected UK cinemas.

Mayhem Film Festival Announcements

Guess what? It's Halloween month excitement again!

Mayhem Film Festival have made their first three film announcements, we get a UK premiere (I haven't seen the anime it's adapting but I think it will be a good watch), a zombie musical (yes please!), and an anthology movie (I'm a sucker for a horror anthology & the teaser images look dark with great visuals).

Below is the official announcement and some teaser images for each movie respectively. I for one am excited, early bird passes are still available at www.mayhemfilmfestival.com for the festival on 11th-14th October.

"With its 14^th edition now just a few of months away, Mayhem Film Festival is proud to announce the first three titles from its 2018 programme.

Mayhem will host the UK Premiere of Shinsuke Sato's Inuyashiki. A turbo-charged live action adaptation of the best-selling sci-fi manga series, Inuyashiki follows a downtrodden middle-aged man and an isolated teenager reborn as indestructible cyborgs after an apparent alien encounter. But whilst one uses his powers for good, the other seeks to wreak murderous havoc on humanity.

Also in this year's line-up is the British zombie musical taking international horror film festivals by storm, Anna and the Apocalypse. When the zombie apocalypse hits the sleepy town of Little Haven, Anna and her friends must brutally battle - as well as sing and dance - their way to safety with an ever-growing horde of the undead in relentless pursuit. It's a 'High School Musical Of The Living Dead' - yes really.

Concluding Mayhem's first round of announcements, the festival will screen the folklore-inspired horror anthology The Field Guide to Evil. From the creators of the cult classic The ABCs of Death, the film sees eight of the finest international directors – including Agnieszka Smoczyńska (The Lure) and Peter Strickland (Berberian Sound Studio) – explore the universal nature of human fear with stories inspired by myths, legends, and strange tales from around the world."

Hereditary Review

                          Hereditary (2018)

IMDb genre: Drama/Horror/Mystery
Director: Ari Aster
Writer: Ari Aster
Starring: Toni Collette, Milly Shapiro, Gabriel Byrne
IMDb summary: After the family matriarch passes away, a grieving family is haunted by tragic and disturbing occurrences, and begin to unravel dark secrets.

I can definitely see why this is one of those 'Marmite' movies but I'm going to be one of those people & say I'm in the middle! The acting was too outstanding for me to say I hated it but the last thirty minutes went too off the rails for me to say I loved it.

First of all let's talk about Toni Collette. She is the glue that holds this film together. Her acting is out of this world; she makes sure you feel the grief right along with her character. We watch this woman fall apart and it hurts. She's also not afraid to get ugly towards the end which I liked.

Although Toni Collette is top of the pile there's no bad acting here. I'm amazed Milly Shapiro is an unknown & she really holds her own. Gabriel Byrne plays his character a little too uptight for my personal liking but it does make an interesting comparison with Toni Collette's character. Last but not least, Alex Wolff is responsible for, in my opinion, the most horrifying moment of the film, it all hangs on his facial expressions & he nails it. Quite the difference from Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle!

This one's definitely a slow burn that keeps you entertained by dropping subtle hints, a confusing timeline & some downright gorgeous shots. However, as it picks up speed in the last half an hour it derails for me. It all gets a bit confusing and loud and the payoff just wasn't there for me.

Speaking of loud, the soundtrack is incredibly unsettling but you're constantly aware of it because it's irritating so it depends what you want in your horror movie soundtrack, for me it was too distracting.

I'd say this is definitely worth a watch, to see what the fuss is about if nothing else!

General Opinion:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Toni Collette pushes this above average.

Scare Factor:
🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️
Not a jump scare movie but it's unsettling & I've been thinking about it for days which is a good sign.

Gore:
💉💉💉💉
Surprisingly gory but in my opinion it didn't add anything and felt added purely for shock value.

Clowns:
🤡
This is not a funny movie.

Mayhem Festival New Logo & Tickets

It's time to start thinking about Halloween month again my friends!
Mayhem film festival have released their early bird tickets, link to buy below. Just £65 secures you entry to all screenings for the full festival, Thursday-Sunday.

Not only that but they also want your shorts for their always spectacular shorts showcase, national & international welcomed. Your film must be less than 18 months old & under 25 minutes long. Horror, sci-fi & cult shorts requested, there's always a good range.
The deadline is 17th August & you can submit them to Melissa Gueneau at mayhemfilmfest@gmail.com

And if that still wasn't enough excitement for you they also have a stunning new logo by Forecast Designs to celebrate 200 years since the publication of Frankenstein.

If that's whet your appetite buy your early bird tickets here: http://www.mayhemfilmfestival.com/

The Strangers: Prey at Night Review

            The Strangers: Prey at Night (2018)

IMDb genre: Horror
Director: Johannes Roberts
Writer: Bryan Bertino & Ben Ketai
Starring: Christina Hendricks, Bailee Madison, Martin Henderson
IMDb plot summary: A family of four staying at al secluded mobile home park for the night are stalked and then hunted by three masked psychopaths.

I know a lot of people rave about the first installment but I was never a huge fan. Maybe I watched it after it was hyped up to me too much so it couldn't live up to those expectations. Regardless, the trailer for this one looked good so I gave it a go.
Unfortunately it was completely average and forgettable.
The actors really do try their hardest, I loved Bailee Madison in Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (and some of the terrible Christmas movies that she's been in) and she showed the same talent here.
The gore is also there, there's plenty of blood & a couple of really gross close-ups.
To be frank though what's not there is an interesting plot or any significant scares.
This movie felt like it wanted to be an 80's horror movie with the credits font & the music choices, plus a scene 'inspired by' (read ripped off from) Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which I know is 1974 but you get my drift. However, because it's not actually set in the 80's we instead have a very forced reason why they can't just use their phones & what feels like a rehash rather than nostalgia.
There's no real effort made for characterisation but there's also not enough deaths for it to be a mindless slasher so it sits awkwardly in the middle.
It's not very eloquent but my overall opinion on this movie is: meh!

The Strangers: Prey at Night is in UK cinemas now.

General Opinion:
⭐⭐⭐
Without Bailee Madison this would have been a two.
Scare Factor:
🕷️🕷️
A couple of jump scares but not many & one they gave away in the trailer.
Gore:
💉💉💉💉💉💉💉
It does do its gore well.
Clowns:
🤡🤡
A couple of throwaway funny lines at the beginning but not hugely funny.

Happenstance Horror Festival 2018

CALL TO SUBMIT HORROR SHORTS TO A COOL FESTIVAL. Happenstance Horror Festival is happening in June in the US & it's had great reviews in the past. It's run by a guy who makes horror shorts so you know you'll have a blast if you go. Full press release, submission details & wonderfully creepy promo picture below.

The 2018 Happenstance Horror Fest

June 12 2018

Chunky's Cinema and Pub

Haverhill, Massachusetts

The third annual Happenstance Horror Fest is here. Presented by George James Fraser of Stained Glass and Blood Bath Productions. The HHF features the very best of independent horror short films from around the word. Taking pride in its punk rock party atmosphere the HHF hosts of variety of artists and horror themed vendors from the New England area. Special guests and judges will be in attendance as well as many filmmakers.

George James Fraser started the film festival in 2016 as a way to present independent horror to a large audiences. Each year a Fraser/Stained Glass and Blood Bath film is premiered. This year that film is Salt and Iron starring William DeCoff and Marissa Joy. 

Awards are presented for best local, national, and international. The audience will also get the chance to vote for their favorite films in various categories including best death, best score, best FX, and more. 2018 will feature the very first recognition of women in horror award sponsored by Morbidly Beautiful.

Chunkys Cinema and Pub has been home to the HHF since the beginning. Offering a full menu of food and adult beverage, the venue has a comfortable atmosphere where servers will keep your drinks full as you enjoy sitting in the seats that are actually pulled from old Cadillacs and other classic cars. 

Fraser's goal in this event is to hold a film festival that stands out from the rest. The HHF encourages a rowdy crowd and hopes to hear every bit of screams and laughter without concern. And there will be plenty to be had. 

The festival is taking submissions for films under 20 minutes as well as trailers. HHF is also seeking sponsors that are available to take part at any budget.

Facebook Facebook.com/happenstancehorrorfest

Entries Filmfreeway.com/happenstancehorrorfest

Tickets happenstancehorrorfest.ticketbud.com

Stained Glass and Blood Bath Facebook

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