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		<title>The Boy And The Heron: Trailer released for Hayao Miyazaki’s dark fantasy</title>
		<link>https://scifitips.com/2023/09/12/the-boy-and-the-heron-trailer-released-for-hayao-miyazakis-dark-fantasy/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[admin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 12 Sep 2023 16:49:51 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Cinema]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hayao Miyazaki]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[London Film Festival]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Studio Ghibli]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Boy And The Heron]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Toronto International Film Festival]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://scifitips.com/2023/09/12/the-boy-and-the-heron-trailer-released-for-hayao-miyazakis-dark-fantasy/</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>From Hayao Miyazaki, the man behind classic Studio Ghibli films such as Spirited Away, My Neighbour Totoro, Howl&#x2019;s Moving Castle and Princess Mononoke comes a brand new dark fantasy for the studio with The Boy And The Heron. Watch the trailer now&#x2026; [embedded content] The movie follows a young boy named Mahito who is yearning</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://scifitips.com/2023/09/12/the-boy-and-the-heron-trailer-released-for-hayao-miyazakis-dark-fantasy/">The Boy And The Heron: Trailer released for Hayao Miyazaki’s dark fantasy</a> appeared first on <a href="https://scifitips.com">Sci-Fi Tips</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>From Hayao Miyazaki, the man behind classic Studio Ghibli films such as <em><strong>Spirited Away, My Neighbour Totoro, Howl&#x2019;s Moving Castle</strong></em> and <em><strong>Princess Mononoke</strong></em> comes a brand new dark fantasy for the studio with <em><strong>The Boy And The Heron</strong></em>.</p>
<p>Watch the trailer now&#x2026;</p>
<p><iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/f7EDFdA10pg?si=lvSrK_ryCKEoRS3W" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen">[embedded content]</iframe></p>
<p>The movie follows a young boy named Mahito who is yearning for his mother and ventures into a world shared by the living and the dead. There, death comes to an end, and life finds a new beginning.</p>
<p>Hayao Miyazaki&#x2019;s first feature film in 10 years,&#xA0;<strong><i>The Boy and the Heron</i> </strong>is a hand-drawn, original story written and directed by the Academy Award-winning director. Produced by Studio Ghibli co-founder Toshio Suzuki, the film features a musical score from Miyazaki&#x2019;s long-time collaborator Joe Hisaishi. The theme song for the film &#x2018;<a href="https://open.spotify.com/track/6x7SB38tuekpu4xpH9OIPY?go=1&amp;sp_cid=8fad73e57b65ba8906d5925639fbb449&amp;utm_source=embed_player_p&amp;utm_medium=desktop&amp;nd=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Spinning Globe</a>&#x2018; was penned and performed by global J-pop superstar Kenshi Yonezu.</p>
<figure id="attachment_130281" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-130281" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-130281" src="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Miyazaki.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="450" srcset="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Miyazaki.jpg 750w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Miyazaki-300x180.jpg 300w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Miyazaki-616x370.jpg 616w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Miyazaki-600x360.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-130281" class="wp-caption-text">The Boy And The Heron is Hayao Miyazaki&#x2019;s (pictured) first feature film in 10 years. Image by: Nicolas Gu&#xE9;rin.</figcaption></figure>
<p>The movie has been described by Studio Ghibli as a &#x2018;semi-autobiographical fantasy about life, death, and creation, in tribute to friendship&#x2019; and though it was supposed to be Hayao Miyazaki&#x2019;s last movie, recent reports seem to suggest that may not be the case after all.</p>
<p dir="ltr">During the Toronto International Film Festival (where the movie has its international premier)<em>,</em>&#xA0;Studio Ghibli&#xA0;executive Junichi Nishioka told <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/miyazaki-still-working-1.6960501" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CBC&#x2019;s Eli Glasner</a> that Miyazaki is currently working on something new</p>
<p dir="ltr">&#x201C;Other people say that this might be his last film, but he doesn&#x2019;t feel that way at all,&#x201D; said Nishioka through a translator. &#x201C;He is currently working on ideas for a new film. He comes into his office every day and does that.</p>
<p dir="ltr">&#x201C;This time, he&#x2019;s not going to announce his retirement at all. He&#x2019;s continuing working just as he has always done.&#x201D;</p>
<p dir="ltr"><em><strong>The Boy And The Heron</strong></em> is written and directed by Miyazaki and stars Soma Santoki (<em><strong>Idaten: Tokyo Olympics Story</strong></em>), Masaki Suda (<em><strong>Misuteri to iunakare</strong></em>) and Takuya Kimura (<em><strong>The Swam</strong></em>).</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://scifitips.com/2023/09/12/the-boy-and-the-heron-trailer-released-for-hayao-miyazakis-dark-fantasy/">The Boy And The Heron: Trailer released for Hayao Miyazaki’s dark fantasy</a> appeared first on <a href="https://scifitips.com">Sci-Fi Tips</a>.</p>
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		<title>BFI London Film Festival 2024: Genre highlights</title>
		<link>https://scifitips.com/2023/09/12/bfi-london-film-festival-2024-genre-highlights/</link>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 12 Sep 2023 00:21:46 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[London Film Festival]]></category>
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					<description><![CDATA[<p>The BFI London Film Festival (LFF) returns for its 67th iteration this October and as usual, the film festival has a brilliant line-up of movies over its 12 days. Taking place from 4-15 October in a multitude of London cinemas, this year&#x2019;s festival includes genre movies from Garth Davis, Yorgos Lanthimos,&#xA0;Hayao Miyazaki and more. Here</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://scifitips.com/2023/09/12/bfi-london-film-festival-2024-genre-highlights/">BFI London Film Festival 2024: Genre highlights</a> appeared first on <a href="https://scifitips.com">Sci-Fi Tips</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The BFI London Film Festival (LFF) returns for its 67th iteration this October and as usual, the film festival has a brilliant line-up of movies over its 12 days.</p>
<p>Taking place from 4-15 October in a multitude of London cinemas, this year&#x2019;s festival includes genre movies from Garth Davis, Yorgos Lanthimos,&#xA0;Hayao Miyazaki and more.</p>
<p>Here are some of the top genre picks from this year&#x2019;s London Film Festival&#x2026;</p>
<h3>Asog</h3>
<p><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-130255" src="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Asog-02.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="450" srcset="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Asog-02.jpg 750w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Asog-02-300x180.jpg 300w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Asog-02-616x370.jpg 616w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Asog-02-600x360.jpg 600w" sizes="(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px"></p>
<p>Set in the wake of a destructive typhoon, <em><strong>Asog</strong></em> is a witty combination of road movie and docu-drama that is a marvel of trans cinema.</p>
<p><strong>Where/when</strong></p>
<p>Wednesday 04 October 2023 | 20:40 | Prince Charles Cinema</p>
<p>Saturday 07 October 2023 | 12:10 | BFI Southbank.</p>
<h3>Birth/Rebirth</h3>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-130256" src="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Birth-Rebirth-01-hero.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="450" srcset="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Birth-Rebirth-01-hero.jpg 750w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Birth-Rebirth-01-hero-300x180.jpg 300w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Birth-Rebirth-01-hero-616x370.jpg 616w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Birth-Rebirth-01-hero-600x360.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px"></p>
<p>Mary Shelley&#x2019;s <em><strong>Frankenstein</strong></em> gets a new lease of life in <em><strong>Birth/Rebirth</strong></em>, a chilling morality tale from debut director Laura Moss.</p>
<p>Pathologist Rose and nurse Celie work at the same hospital, but they are strangers to each other. Brusque and antisocial, Rose is the antithesis of Celie, a natural caregiver. However, when her daughter&#x2019;s death leads Celie to discover her colleague&#x2019;s sideline in reanimation, the two women are thrust together.</p>
<p><strong>Where/when</strong></p>
<p>Wednesday 11 October 2023 | 20:45 | Vue West End</p>
<p>Friday 13 October 2023 | 20:45 | Curzon Soho Cinema</p>
<p>Friday 13 October 2023 | 21:00 | Curzon Soho Cinema.</p>
<h3>Deep Sea</h3>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-130257" src="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Deep-Sea-05.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="450" srcset="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Deep-Sea-05.jpg 750w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Deep-Sea-05-300x180.jpg 300w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Deep-Sea-05-616x370.jpg 616w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Deep-Sea-05-600x360.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px"></p>
<p><em><strong>Deep Sea</strong></em> is an &#x2018;enthralling&#x2019; 3D animated movie that will be shown on the biggest screen in Britain, BFI IMAX.</p>
<p>On a cruise to celebrate her birthday, Shenxiu can&#x2019;t shake off the loneliness she&#x2019;s felt since her mother left, while her father enjoys time with his new family. She falls overboard and into a swirling ocean of vibrant colours, where magical creatures and the sinister Red Phantom await.</p>
<p><strong>Where/when</strong></p>
<p>Saturday 07 October 2023 | 11:00 | BFI IMAX, Waterloo</p>
<h3>Fingernails</h3>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-130133" src="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Apple_TV_Fingernails_key_art_16_9.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="450" srcset="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Apple_TV_Fingernails_key_art_16_9.jpg 750w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Apple_TV_Fingernails_key_art_16_9-300x180.jpg 300w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Apple_TV_Fingernails_key_art_16_9-616x370.jpg 616w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px"></p>
<p>In&#xA0;<em><strong>Fingernails</strong></em>, Anna and Ryan have found true love. It&#x2019;s been proven by a controversial new technology. There&#x2019;s just one problem: Anna still isn&#x2019;t sure. Then she takes a position at a love testing institute, and meets Amir.</p>
<p>Directed by Christos Nikou (<em><strong>Apples</strong></em>), the movie stars Jessie Buckley (<a href="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/cinema/men-jessie-buckley-rory-kinnear-on-alex-garlands-nightmare-ride/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em><strong>Men</strong></em></a>), Riz Ahmed (<em><strong>Rogue One</strong></em>), Jeremy Allen White (<em><strong>The Bear</strong></em>) and Luke Wilson (<em><strong>Stargirl</strong></em>).</p>
<p><strong>Where/when</strong></p>
<p>Monday 09 October 2023 | 17:45 | BFI Southbank, NFT1</p>
<p>Thursday 12 October 2023 | 20:40 Curzon Soho Cinema</p>
<p>Thursday 12 October 2023 | 20:55 | Curzon Soho Cinema</p>
<h3>Foe</h3>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lk8xIQmXkJE?si=b-4tnhjLgTU9q1EX" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen">[embedded content]</iframe></p>
<p>Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal shine as a couple who receive an unexpected guest in Garth Davis&#x2019; unsettling science fiction thriller <em><strong>Foe</strong></em>.</p>
<p>Set around 40 years in the future, the movie explores the lives of a married couple &#x2013; Han and Junior, played by Ronan and Mescal &#x2013; that is turned upside down when a stranger, Terrance (played by <em><strong>The Underground Railroad&#x2019;s</strong></em>&#xA0;Aaron Pierre) arrives at their rural farmhouse and informs the husband he will be sent to a large space station, and his wife will be left in the company of someone else.</p>
<p><strong>Where/when</strong></p>
<p>Tuesday 10 October 2023 | 21:00 | Southbank Centre, Royal Festival Hall</p>
<p>Wednesday 11 October 2023 | 11:30 | Southbank Centre, Royal Festival Hall</p>
<h3>Late Night With The Devil</h3>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-130258" src="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/late-night-with-the-devil-01.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="450" srcset="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/late-night-with-the-devil-01.jpg 750w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/late-night-with-the-devil-01-300x180.jpg 300w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/late-night-with-the-devil-01-616x370.jpg 616w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/late-night-with-the-devil-01-600x360.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px"></p>
<p>This found-footage comedy is set in October 1977 when waning late-night talk show host Jack Delroy made television history when his audience-baiting Halloween special spiralled fatally out of control. Four decades on, a rediscovered master tape finally reveals what really happened the night all hell broke loose on live TV&#x2026;</p>
<p><strong>Where/when</strong></p>
<p>Monday 09 October 2023 | 18:20 | Prince Charles Cinema</p>
<p>Saturday 14 October 2023 | 20:15 | Curzon Soho Cinema</p>
<p>Saturday 14 October 2023 | 20:30 | Curzon Soho Cinema</p>
<h3>Molli And Max In The Future</h3>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-130259" src="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/molli-and-max-in-the-future-01.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="450" srcset="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/molli-and-max-in-the-future-01.jpg 750w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/molli-and-max-in-the-future-01-300x180.jpg 300w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/molli-and-max-in-the-future-01-616x370.jpg 616w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/molli-and-max-in-the-future-01-600x360.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px"></p>
<p>After a half-fish-man collides with a crystal harvester&#x2019;s spaceship in <em><strong>Molli And Max In The Future</strong></em>, their on-off relationship spans multiple years, dimensions and planets, in this lo-fi, sci-fi romcom &#x2013; featuring Zosia Mamet and Aristotle Athari.</p>
<p><strong>Where/when</strong></p>
<p>Sunday 08 October 2023 | 17:45| Prince Charles Cinema</p>
<p>Wednesday 11 October 2023 | 20:45 |&#xA0; BFI Southbank</p>
<h3>Nightwatch &#x2013; Demons Are Forever</h3>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-130260" src="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/nightwatch-demons-are-forever-01.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="450" srcset="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/nightwatch-demons-are-forever-01.jpg 750w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/nightwatch-demons-are-forever-01-300x180.jpg 300w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/nightwatch-demons-are-forever-01-616x370.jpg 616w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/nightwatch-demons-are-forever-01-600x360.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px"></p>
<p><em><strong>Nightwatch &#x2013; Demons Are Forever</strong></em> provides a journey into the Nightwatch universe. Frustrated by her father Martin&#x2019;s tight-lipped indolence, forensic medicine student Emma gets a job covering the night shift at the mortuary where Martin previously worked, and from where the horror that has blighted her family emerged. When she opens the door to a monster from the past, Emma unwittingly sets off a gruesome chain of revenge.</p>
<p><strong>Where/when</strong></p>
<p>Sunday 08 October 2023 | 18:00| Vue West End</p>
<p>Monday 09 October 2023 | 20:35 | Prince Charles Cinema</p>
<h3>Starve Acre</h3>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-130266" src="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/starve-acre-01-1.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="450" srcset="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/starve-acre-01-1.jpg 750w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/starve-acre-01-1-300x180.jpg 300w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/starve-acre-01-1-616x370.jpg 616w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/starve-acre-01-1-600x360.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px"></p>
<p>Starring Matt Smith, Morfydd Clark, and Erin Richards, writer and director Daniel Kokotajlo follows his award-winning debut <em><strong>Apostasy</strong></em> with a haunting adaptation of Andrew Michael Hurley&#x2019;s acclaimed novel.</p>
<p>After relocating to their remote family estate Starve Acre, archaeologist Richard and his wife Juliette find their relationship tested when their young son starts exhibiting strange behaviour. As familial fractures deepen, Richard digs into the dark and disturbing folklore surrounding his childhood home.</p>
<p><strong>Where/when</strong></p>
<p>Thursday 12 October 2023 | 18:10 | BFI Southbank</p>
<p>Sunday 15 October 2023 | 15:00 | Prince Charles Cinema</p>
<h3>The Kitchen</h3>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-130267" src="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/kitchen-the-01.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="450" srcset="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/kitchen-the-01.jpg 750w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/kitchen-the-01-300x180.jpg 300w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/kitchen-the-01-616x370.jpg 616w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/kitchen-the-01-600x360.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px"></p>
<p>From Kibwe Tavares and Daniel Kaluuya <em><strong>The Kitchen</strong></em> is set in a dystopian London in 2040, when the gap between rich and poor has been stretched to its limits. All forms of social housing have been eradicated and only The Kitchen remains.</p>
<p>The movie follows Izi, a hardworking loner who is counting down the days until he can leave The Kitchen and move to one of the sleek luxury penthouses that are popping up all over London. But when he discovers through his job at an ecological funeral home that his ex-girlfriend has passed away, Izi finds his path colliding with that of Benji, her young son.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the residents of The Kitchen fight back against those trying to destroy it. When Benji comes to The Kitchen in search of his father, Izi is forced to step out of his isolation and become a de facto guardian. But is his bond with Benji actually stronger than he wants to admit?</p>
<p><strong>Where/when</strong></p>
<p>Sunday 15 October 2023 | 19:15 | Southbank Centre, Royal Festival Hall</p>
<p>Sunday 15 October 2023 | 21:00 | Curzon Soho Cinema</p>
<h3>Poor Things</h3>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_klfx5sGzFk?si=R1aBMrNDt_xjto6y" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen">[embedded content]</iframe></p>
<p><em><strong>Poor Things</strong></em> follows the incredible tale and fantastical evolution of Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe).</p>
<p>Under Baxter&#x2019;s protection, Bella is eager to learn. Hungry for the worldliness she is lacking, Bella runs off with Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), a slick and debauched lawyer, on a whirlwind adventure across the continents. Free from the prejudices of her times, Bella grows steadfast in her purpose to stand for equality and liberation.</p>
<p><strong>Where/when</strong></p>
<p>Sunday 15 October 2023 | 19:50 | BFI Southbank</p>
<p>Saturday 14 October 2023 | 17:30 | Southbank Centre, Royal Festival Hall</p>
<p>Sunday 15 October 2023 | 10:30 | Southbank Centre, Royal Festival Hall</p>
<h3>Red Rooms (Les chambres rouges)</h3>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/w8zAIU0Hy5A?si=BQwaMFXeTnunsnXg" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen">[embedded content]</iframe></p>
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<p class="sc-466bb6c-3 llCpwq" data-testid="plot"><span class="sc-466bb6c-2 eVLpWt" role="presentation" data-testid="plot-xl">In <em><strong>Red Rooms</strong></em>, the high-profile case of serial killer Ludovic Chevalier has just gone to trial, and Kelly-Anne is obsessed. When reality blurs with her morbid fantasies, she goes down a dark path to seek the final piece of the puzzle: the missing video of a murdered 13-year-old girl, to whom Kelly-Anne bears a disturbing resemblance.</span></p>
<p data-testid="plot"><strong>Where/when</strong></p>
<p data-testid="plot">Sunday 08 October 2023 | 20:15 | Prince Charles Cinema, Downstairs Screen</p>
<p data-testid="plot">Monday 09 October 2023 | 15:00 | BFI Southbank</p>
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<h3>Robot Dreams</h3>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/M0TNOeCl9a0?si=BgI_XFIB7Tps2pFV" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen">[embedded content]</iframe></p>
<p>Adapted from Sara Varon&#x2019;s graphic novel <em><strong>Robot Dreams</strong></em> follows Dog, who is lonely so buys himself a companion in the shape of Robot, delivered in parts for home assembly but soon transformed into a Robotic friend!</p>
<p><strong>Where/when</strong></p>
<p>Sunday 08 October 2023 | 12:00 | BFI Southbank</p>
<p>Sunday 08 October 2023 | 17:00 | BFI Southbank</p>
<p>Sunday 15 October 2023 | 18:20 | Curzon Mayfair</p>
<h3>Stopmotion</h3>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-130262" src="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/stopmotion-01.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="450" srcset="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/stopmotion-01.jpg 750w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/stopmotion-01-300x180.jpg 300w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/stopmotion-01-616x370.jpg 616w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/stopmotion-01-600x360.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px"></p>
<p>Robert Morgan&#x2019;s British horror <em><strong>Stopmotion</strong></em> centres on a filmmaker spiralling into a nightmare of delusions after the death of her domineering mother.</p>
<p><strong>Where/when</strong></p>
<p>Saturday 07 October 2023 | 20:45 | Prince Charles Cinema</p>
<p>Tuesday 10 October 2023 | 20:30 | BFI Southbank</p>
<h3>The Animal Kingdom</h3>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-130254" src="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/animal-kingdom-the-01.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="450" srcset="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/animal-kingdom-the-01.jpg 750w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/animal-kingdom-the-01-300x180.jpg 300w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/animal-kingdom-the-01-616x370.jpg 616w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/animal-kingdom-the-01-600x360.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px"></p>
<p>A strange condition sweeps the world, as people begin sprouting wings, scales, tentacles&#x2026; Meanwhile a father and son travel south to confront their own trauma in writer-director Cailley&#x2019;s fantasy drama starring Romain Duris (<em><strong>The Beat That My Heart Skipped</strong></em>) and Paul Kircher (<em><strong>Winter Boy</strong></em>).</p>
<p><strong>Where/when</strong></p>
<p>Thursday 12 October 2023 | 18:00 | ICA, Screen 1</p>
<p>Friday 13 October 2023 | 14:45 | BFI Southbank</p>
<h3>The Beast</h3>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-130268" src="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/beast-the-01.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="450" srcset="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/beast-the-01.jpg 750w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/beast-the-01-300x180.jpg 300w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/beast-the-01-616x370.jpg 616w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/beast-the-01-600x360.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px"></p>
<p>France&#x2019;s Bonello&#x2019;s latest uses a Henry James story as the springboard for a leap into the science-fictional unknown. L&#xE9;a Seydoux plays a fin de si&#xE8;cle socialite entangled with an admirer (George MacKay). But that&#x2019;s just one of her lives in this blend of period drama and conceptual crystal-gazing.</p>
<p><strong>When/where</strong></p>
<p>Friday 13 October 2023 | 20:45 | Prince Charles Cinema</p>
<p>Saturday 14 October 2023 | 15:20 | BFI Southbank</p>
<h3>The Boy And The Heron</h3>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/f7EDFdA10pg?si=bx61xz4JSTyZzs2C" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen">[embedded content]</iframe></p>
<p>From Hayao Miyazaki (<em><strong>Spirited Away, Howl&#x2019;s Moving Castle</strong></em>) comes <em><strong>The Boy And The Heron</strong></em> which follows a young boy named Mahito who is yearning for his mother and ventures into a world shared by the living and the dead. There, death comes to an end, and life finds a new beginning. This is a semi-autobiographical fantasy about life, death, and creation, in tribute to friendship.</p>
<p><strong>When/where</strong></p>
<p>Sunday 08 October 2023 | 14:45 Southbank Centre | Royal Festival Hall</p>
<p>Sunday 15 October 2023 | 14:30 | Southbank Centre, Royal Festival Hall</p>
<h3>The End We Start From</h3>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">The teaser for THE END WE START FROM is here,</p>
<p>Mahalia Belo&#x2019;s directorial debut is set to premiere at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TIFF23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TIFF23</a> on Sunday, 10th September.<a href="https://twitter.com/SunnyMarch_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SunnyMarch_</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/HeraPicturesLDN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HeraPicturesLDN</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/C2MotionPictureGroup?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#C2MotionPictureGroup</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/BFI?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@bfi</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/BBCFilm?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BBCFilm</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MahaliaBelo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MahaliaBelo</a> <a href="https://t.co/TdkXGSsaKf">pic.twitter.com/TdkXGSsaKf</a></p>
<p>&#x2014; Anton (@AntonCorpLtd) <a href="https://twitter.com/AntonCorpLtd/status/1700683025481134163?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 10, 2023</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Starring Jodie Comer and Benedict Cumberbatch, Mahalia Belo&#x2019;s feature debut brings Megan Hunter&#x2019;s acclaimed 2017 dystopian novel <em><strong>The End We Start From</strong></em> to the big screen in the ultimate disaster movie. Jodie Comer leads the cast as a young woman with her newborn baby who is struggling to find a safe haven in a crumbling, dangerous society as catastrophic floods submerge Britain.</p>
<p><strong>When/where</strong></p>
<p>Saturday 14 October 2023 | 11:30 | Southbank Centre, Royal Festival Hall</p>
<p>Friday 13 October 2023 | 18:00 | Southbank Centre, Royal Festival Hall</p>
<h3>The Sacred Cave</h3>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8hUN41nyXWc?si=5nSZyR6gYLF08Qxl" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen">[embedded content]</iframe></p>
<p>When the King of Mabuna is poisoned, his nephew and son journey to a sacred cave where they believe a remedy can be found. While travelling, they encounter sorcerers, an attack by panther men and a bewitched toad princess &#x2013; can they overcome these magical obstacles to save their King?</p>
<p><strong>When/where</strong></p>
<p>Sunday 15 October 2023 | 14:50 | BFI Southbank</p>
<h3>Tiger Stripes</h3>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rZDSa9q-jMk?si=gGvJWdF4zpvYZX8-" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen">[embedded content]</iframe></p>
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<p>12-year-old Zaffan is the school rebel in Malaysian first-time director Amanda Nell Eu&#x2019;s <em><strong>Ginger Snaps</strong></em>-esq horror. However, her strict teachers have more than illicit TikToks to worry about when Zaffan&#x2019;s body starts changing in unexpected ways.</p>
<p><strong>When/where</strong></p>
<p>Thursday 05 October 2023 | 20:25 | BFI Southbank</p>
<p>Friday 06 October 2023 | 15:10 |&#xA0; BFI Southbank</p>
<h3>Tuesday</h3>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-130263" src="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/tuesday-01.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="450" srcset="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/tuesday-01.jpg 750w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/tuesday-01-300x180.jpg 300w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/tuesday-01-616x370.jpg 616w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/tuesday-01-600x360.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px"></p>
<p>Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Lola Petticrew star in Daina O. Pusi&#x107;&#x2019;s feature debut, <em><strong>Tuesday</strong></em>, which follows terminally ill teenager Tuesday, whose imminent death sparks a chain of events that leads mother and daughter on a wild, strange adventure.</p>
<p><strong>When/where</strong></p>
<p>Wednesday 11 October 2023 | 21:10 | Curzon Soho Cinema</p>
<p>Thursday 12 October 2023 | 15:30 | ICA</p>
<h3>Vincent Must Die</h3>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-130264" src="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/vincent-must-die-01.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="450" srcset="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/vincent-must-die-01.jpg 750w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/vincent-must-die-01-300x180.jpg 300w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/vincent-must-die-01-616x370.jpg 616w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/vincent-must-die-01-600x360.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px"></p>
<p>Random strangers have suddenly started attacking Vincent with murderous intent in St&#xE9;phan Castang&#x2019;s dark comedy <em><strong>Vincent Must Die</strong></em>. His existence as an unremarkable man is overturned, and as things spiral violently out of control, he is forced to flee and change his life completely&#x2026;</p>
<p><strong>When/where</strong></p>
<p>Thursday 12 October 2023 | 20:40 | Prince Charles Cinema</p>
<p>Saturday 14 October 2023 | 20:45 | Vue West End</p>
<p><em><strong>The BFI London Film Festival 2023 will be taking place on 4-15 October. Buy tickets and find out more at the LFF website <a href="https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/lff/Online/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>.&#xA0;</strong></em></p>
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<p>The post <a href="https://scifitips.com/2023/09/12/bfi-london-film-festival-2024-genre-highlights/">BFI London Film Festival 2024: Genre highlights</a> appeared first on <a href="https://scifitips.com">Sci-Fi Tips</a>.</p>
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		<title>Piper review at FrightFest: An uncanny intersection of fantasy and reality</title>
		<link>https://scifitips.com/2023/08/27/piper-review-at-frightfest-an-uncanny-intersection-of-fantasy-and-reality/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[admin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 27 Aug 2023 19:00:36 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Elizabeth Hurley]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrightFest]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Piper]]></category>
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					<description><![CDATA[<p>Director: Anthony Waller Writer: Anthony Waller, Duncan Kennedy Cast: Elizabeth Hurley, Mia Jenkins, Jack Stewart, Robert Daws Running Time: 105 mins In Piper, a car speeds alongside woods in the rain at night. Inside Kerry Weiss (Alma Rix) tries to stay in command of the vehicle, while preventing her manically humming young son Matty (J&#xE9;kabs</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://scifitips.com/2023/08/27/piper-review-at-frightfest-an-uncanny-intersection-of-fantasy-and-reality/">Piper review at FrightFest: An uncanny intersection of fantasy and reality</a> appeared first on <a href="https://scifitips.com">Sci-Fi Tips</a>.</p>
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<dt>Director:</dt>
<dd>Anthony Waller</dd>
<dt>Writer:</dt>
<dd>Anthony Waller, Duncan Kennedy</dd>
<dt>Cast:</dt>
<dd>Elizabeth Hurley, Mia Jenkins, Jack Stewart, Robert Daws</dd>
<dt>Running Time:</dt>
<dd>105 mins</dd>
</dl>
<p><i class="fa fa-star"></i><i class="fa fa-star"></i><i class="fa fa-star"></i><i class="fa fa-star-o"></i><i class="fa fa-star-o"></i></aside>
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<p>In <em><strong>Piper</strong></em>, a car speeds alongside woods in the rain at night. Inside Kerry Weiss (Alma Rix) tries to stay in command of the vehicle, while preventing her manically humming young son Matty (J&#xE9;kabs Grigalis) from throwing himself onto the road. At the Hamelin hospital, Kerry &#x2013; and Kerry alone &#x2013; sees a hooded piper and a swarm of rats, and then Matty hangs himself with electrical wire right before her eyes.</p>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamelin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hamelin</a> is of course both a real town in Germany and a place of myth &#x2013; and when three weeks later, Liz Haines (Elizabeth Hurley) arrives to replace Kerry as history teacher at the International School, the very first assignment that she gives her class is &#x201C;to separate fact from fiction&#x201D; in the legend of the <a href="http://www.apple.com/uk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pied Piper</a>. &#x201C;Come up with your own theory,&#x201D; she tells the students, who now include her own teenaged daughter Amy (Mia Jenkins), reluctantly dragged here from her American home.</p>
<p>In a sense, <em><strong>Piper </strong></em>is also coming up with its own theory on the myth, if one that is neither plausible nor even economic. For far from being an aggrieved ratcatcher who lures to their deaths the children of locals who did not pay him for his services, here the piper is a demonic entity (played by Arben Bajraktaraj and a bunch of CGI) who punishes adults for their sins and guilt, first with hallucinatory plagues, then with the suicide of their children &#x2013; and there are other ghosts, too, in this mirror world where past and present coexist. Liz&#x2019;s guilt is what drove her to flee America in the first place, and as Amy starts to settle in, and to embark on a relationship with local horse-riding magician Luca (Jack Stewart), something is going very wrong in their new home &#x2013; the very one that Kerry and her son had previously occupied. History seems doomed to repeat, as Liz starts to see rats, and Amy begins to be infested with insects.</p>
<p>&#x201C;Think of them as metaphors,&#x201D; suggests Auntie Aishe (Tara Fitzgerald), the Romani wise woman to whom Luca has brought Amy for advice. &#x201C;Metaphors don&#x2019;t bite,&#x201D; replies Amy. Yet here, as Aishe insists, &#x201C;Metaphysically they can. Fundamental fears, beliefs, even wishes can manifest themselves in this world from a parallel reality.&#x201D; In other words <em><strong>Piper </strong></em>is a film where emotions and affects are reified, where the psychological is made real, and where love &#x2013; whether maternal or romantic &#x2013; is tested to its limits by a horror that is no less eternal.</p>
<p>Yet the film&#x2019;s very abstraction &#x2013; the way it keeps pulling the rug from under anything or anyone who seems real &#x2013; makes it hard for the viewer to find a purchase. If this character is just a ghost, and that character but a demon of the imagination, then the drama shared between mother and daughter seems oddly weightless, with even its potential consequences perhaps little more than a figure.</p>
<p>Director Anthony Waller (<em><strong>Mute Witness</strong></em>, 1995; <em><strong>An American Werewolf in Paris</strong></em>, 1997) certainly knows how to shoot stylised twilight zones (often washed with rain), or to confuse the corridors of a house or hospital above with the tunnels of catacombs below &#x2013; but his screenplay, co-written with Duncan Kennedy (<em><strong>Deep Blue Sea</strong></em>, 1999), consists mostly in gruelling repetitions or raw exposition, leaving the cast with too little bone to flesh out convincingly.</p>
<p>It does not help that the accents are all over the place, with American Liz and Kerry&#x2019;s German husband Peter (Robert Daws) sounding decidedly English, and the Romani traveller Luca speaking with a broad Scots brogue. With even the Piper himself reduced to a boogeyman archetype, in the end some will wonder why this was set in Hamelin at all (in fact most of it was shot in Riga, Latvia).</p>
<p>Still, a succession of mid-credits codas plays further upon the uncanny intersection of fantasy and reality that the film has constantly been traveling, leaving the viewer utterly disoriented as to what actually happened beyond all the overt artifice.</p>
<p><em><strong>Piper has its <a href="https://www.frightfest.co.uk/2023FrightFestLondon/piper.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world premi&#xE8;re</a> at FrightFest 2023. Find more reviews at <a href="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SciFiNow</a>.</strong></em></p>
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<p>The post <a href="https://scifitips.com/2023/08/27/piper-review-at-frightfest-an-uncanny-intersection-of-fantasy-and-reality/">Piper review at FrightFest: An uncanny intersection of fantasy and reality</a> appeared first on <a href="https://scifitips.com">Sci-Fi Tips</a>.</p>
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		<title>Farang review at FrightFest: Revenge-fuelled rampage</title>
		<link>https://scifitips.com/2023/08/27/farang-review-at-frightfest-revenge-fuelled-rampage/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[admin]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 27 Aug 2023 10:51:57 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Farang]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrightFest]]></category>
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					<description><![CDATA[<p>Director: Xavier Gens Cast: Nassim Lyes, Olivier Gourmet, Loryn Nounay, Vithaya Pansringarm Running Time: 96 mins &#x2018;Farang&#x2019; is the Thai word for &#x2018;Caucasian&#x2019;, or more generally for &#x2018;foreigner&#x2019; &#x2013; and while Xavier Gens&#x2019; film of the same name begins in France, its Algerian protagonist Samir &#x2018;Sam&#x2019; Darba (the extraordinary Nassim Lyes) is already an outsider,</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://scifitips.com/2023/08/27/farang-review-at-frightfest-revenge-fuelled-rampage/">Farang review at FrightFest: Revenge-fuelled rampage</a> appeared first on <a href="https://scifitips.com">Sci-Fi Tips</a>.</p>
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<dt>Director:</dt>
<dd>Xavier Gens</dd>
<dt>Cast:</dt>
<dd>Nassim Lyes, Olivier Gourmet, Loryn Nounay, Vithaya Pansringarm</dd>
<dt>Running Time:</dt>
<dd>96 mins</dd>
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<p>&#x2018;Farang&#x2019; is the Thai word for &#x2018;Caucasian&#x2019;, or more generally for &#x2018;foreigner&#x2019; &#x2013; and while Xavier Gens&#x2019; film of the same name begins in France, its Algerian protagonist Samir &#x2018;Sam&#x2019; Darba (the extraordinary Nassim Lyes) is already an outsider, even if we first see him on the inside, in prison on a drugs rap. There he is cleaning up his act: working out his aggressions practising <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muay_Thai">Muay Thai</a> in the prison gym, while carefully avoiding trouble, so that he can be released on good behaviour and get a legitimate job at a building site. Yet Sam&#x2019;s criminal past keeps catching up with him, and a violent clash with one of his former criminal acquaintances forces him to flee abroad.</p>
<p>Five years later, in East Thailand, Sam appears to be nearing his goal of living a straight life, despite having to face local prejudice. He is married to half-Thai, half-French Mia (Loryn Nounay) who is pregnant with their baby, and he is lovingly accepted as a father by Mia&#x2019;s young daughter from a previous marriage Dara (Chananticha Tang-Kwa). He works for a local hotel driving tourists to and from the airport, he has put a downpayment on a beachside plot of land where Mia wants to build her own bar, and in his spare time he continues to box.</p>
<p>Yet much as he is occasionally tempted by his friend Sombat (Sahajak Boonthanakit) to throw a match for cash, he is also drawn into the orbit of French criminal kingpin Narong (Olivier Gourmet). When things go south and Mia and Dara get caught in the aftermath, the left-for-dead Sam will be nursed back to health by his boxing coach Hansa (the ever astonishing Vithaya Pansringram) and set out on a path of vicious vendetta, as he tries to recover whatever may be left of his family.</p>
<p>The plot of <em><strong>Farang </strong></em>is woven from clich&#xE9;s that we have seen many times before: the one last job, the rage-fuelled revenge, the corridor fight, the father searching for his daughter. Indeed there is fun to be had in recognising what it has borrowed from, e.g., Paul Schrader&#x2019;s <em><strong>Hardcore </strong></em>(1979), Prachya Pinkaew&#x2019;s <em><strong>Ong-bak </strong></em>(2002) and <em><strong>Warrior King </strong></em>(2005), Pierre Morel&#x2019;s <em><strong>Taken </strong></em>(2008), Park Chan-wook&#x2019;s <em><strong>Oldboy</strong></em> (2003), Gareth Evans&#x2019; <em><strong>The Raid </strong></em>(2011) and Nicolas Winding Refn&#x2019;s <em><strong>Only God Forgives </strong></em>(2013). Yet all those tropes are stripped down to their very quintessence, as St&#xE9;phane Cabel, Guillaume Lemans and Gens&#x2019; script proves as spare and spry as Sam in the ring.</p>
<p>It is also played entirely straight, refusing to nod and wink to the audience or ironise itself in any way. For the film&#x2019;s back-to-basics simplicity and determined earnestness are key to its relentless intensity, as misfit Sam is always having to fight hard for his dream of a normal life.</p>
<p>Building and building to Sam&#x2019;s rampage, and then unleashing an explosion of gasp-inducing, bone-crunching violence (including close combat in an old lift unprecedented for its bloody ferocity), <em><strong>Farang</strong></em> may start in jail, but it takes no prisoners.</p>
<p><em><strong>Farang had its <a href="https://www.frightfest.co.uk/2023FrightFestLondon/farang.html">UK premi&#xE8;re</a> on Saturday 26 August for FrightFest 2023</strong></em></p>
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<p>The post <a href="https://scifitips.com/2023/08/27/farang-review-at-frightfest-revenge-fuelled-rampage/">Farang review at FrightFest: Revenge-fuelled rampage</a> appeared first on <a href="https://scifitips.com">Sci-Fi Tips</a>.</p>
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		<title>Transmission review at FrightFest: Seeking answers in the Void</title>
		<link>https://scifitips.com/2023/08/27/transmission-review-at-frightfest-seeking-answers-in-the-void/</link>
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		<pubDate>Sun, 27 Aug 2023 02:49:51 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FrightFest]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Transmission]]></category>
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					<description><![CDATA[<p>Director: Michael J. Hurst Cast: Vernon Wells, Felissa Rose, Dave Sheridan, Sadie Katz Running Time: 73 mins Transmission begins with a satellite flashing a red light over Earth, and a large radar dish below picking up its signal &#x2013; which is to say that, as the film&#x2019;s very title suggests, here the medium is the</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://scifitips.com/2023/08/27/transmission-review-at-frightfest-seeking-answers-in-the-void/">Transmission review at FrightFest: Seeking answers in the Void</a> appeared first on <a href="https://scifitips.com">Sci-Fi Tips</a>.</p>
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	<img decoding="async" class="reviewPoster" alt="Transmission review at FrightFest: Seeking answers in the Void" src="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Transmission-posterart.jpg"></p>
<dl>
<dt>Director:</dt>
<dd>Michael J. Hurst</dd>
<dt>Cast:</dt>
<dd>Vernon Wells, Felissa Rose, Dave Sheridan, Sadie Katz</dd>
<dt>Running Time:</dt>
<dd>73 mins</dd>
</dl>
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<p><em><strong>Transmission </strong></em>begins with a satellite flashing a red light over Earth, and a large radar dish below picking up its signal &#x2013; which is to say that, as the film&#x2019;s very title suggests, here the medium is the message, along with its means of distribution.</p>
<p>As text announces that many years ago something strange happened on every television screen, and promises to show what one channel-surfing old man witnessed that night, we are made to realise that this is to be, apart from the scenes right at its beginning and end, a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screenlife">screenlife</a> film &#x2013; except that instead of switching between windows on a computer screen, it shows in real time what is being broadcast across multiple TV stations, as remixed by one casual &#x2013; or perhaps not so casual &#x2013; viewer.</p>
<p>What follows is a serial montage of live news reports (on murder suicides across the city and an armed hostage siege in a woman&#x2019;s suburban home), a black-and-white sitcom about a married couple struggling to tune in their TV set, a children&#x2019;s show with puppets doing a jigsaw puzzle, an evangelical preacher talking fire and brimstone, a dumb-assed Eighties teen romance called <em><strong>Nutballs! </strong></em>(somewhere between <em><strong>Say Anything&#x2026;</strong></em> and <em><strong>Screwballs</strong></em>), porn and ads.</p>
<p>Yet if our unseen viewer is desultory, restless and impatient, there are two related programmes on which he settles the longest: the premi&#xE8;re screening of the sci-fi horror <em><strong>Transmission</strong></em>, long believed lost but now being introduced by an Elvira-like presenter (Jennifer Nangle) on her show <em>Malvolia&#x2019;s Movie Madness</em>; and meanwhile, over on <em>Incredibly Strange Movies</em>, a documentary made by Rachel Roth (Nicole Cinaglia) which uncovers the story of her grandfather Frank Tadross Roth (Vernon Wells), the cult (and occult-obsessed) horror director who went missing under mysterious circumstances before his final film <em><strong>Transmission </strong></em>could be completed and released.</p>
<p>&#x201C;So, are you sure all these pieces are gonna fit together?&#x201D; wonders an on-screen muppet of the puzzle he is trying to assemble. &#x201C;Oh they will, I promise,&#x201D; replies his fellow puppet, &#x201C;You&#x2019;ll see.&#x201D; Anyone who has ever flipped between channels, bleary-eyed in the wee hours, will know the strange experience of cross-talk that can ensue, as the brain synthesises disparate programmes as though they were all presenting a single if fractured narrative customised for and by the holder of the remote control. This is the effect of watching <em><strong>Transmission</strong></em>, whose varied programming starts to echo and blur with maddening metacommentary, as these different shows reflect each other in surprising ways.</p>
<p>Malvolia is not only presenting the film-within-a-film <em><strong>Transmission</strong></em>, but also appears as a talking head in the documentary on its director, while other participants in the documentary will appear on the live news, and all these broadcasts will bleed into each other in an unexpected manner.</p>
<p>Indeed, it is not unlike one of Frank&#x2019;s films, in which, according to Malviola, &#x201C;there are usually three or four different storylines that come together in some crazy way, and then they usually build up to some sort of dark, twisted ending.&#x201D; Even though Frank&#x2019;s last film, which riffs on Mario Bava&#x2019;s <em><strong>Planet of the Vampires </strong></em>(1965) and Paul W.S Anderson&#x2019;s <em><strong>Event Horizon </strong></em>(1997), is said to have been shot from a script whose last five pages were never written, and is thought never to have been fully filmed, everything here comes with the strong sense of an ending, as numerous signs point to an ominously approaching if unguessable apocalypse which in the end will be duly, yet impossibly, delivered.</p>
<p>There are different traditions (all niche) feeding into writer/director Michael Hurst&#x2019;s feature. First there is the paradoxical notion of a lost <em>film maudit </em>which, Medusa-like, has a baleful effect on anyone unfortunate to cast eyes upon it. This is an idea explored in the pseudo-documentary features of&#xA0; Fabien Delage&#x2019;s <em><strong>Fury of the Demon </strong>(<strong>La rage de d&#xE9;mon</strong></em>, 2016) and David Amito and Michael Laicini&#x2019;s <em><strong>Antrum: The Deadliest Movie Ever Made </strong></em>(2019) &#x2013; except that here there are layers upon layers of forbidden film, as Hurst&#x2019;s <em><strong>Transmission</strong></em>, Frank&#x2019;s <em><strong>Transmission </strong></em>within it, and another illicit piece of video placed within several programmes, all threaten to endanger viewers (including us) with pernicious content that &#x201C;wants to be seen&#x201D;.</p>
<p>Second, there is a variation on the haunted broadcasts seen in Lesley Manning&#x2019;s <em><strong>Ghostwatch </strong></em>(1992), Damien LeVeck&#x2019;s <em><strong>The Cleansing Hour</strong> </em>(2019), Cristian Ponce&#x2019;s <em><strong>History of the Occult </strong>(<strong>Historia de lo Oculto</strong></em>, 2020) &#xA0;and Cameron and Colin Cairnes&#x2019; <strong><em>Late Night With The Devil</em> </strong>(2023) &#x2013; films where live transmissions either unleash or expose a diabolical underpinning to our mediated reality.</p>
<p>As a long-term genre fan on a transgressive quest for essential horror that gets past cheap thrills and easy catharsis, Frank will &#x2013; at least up to a point &#x2013; be a figure of identification for any hardened horror viewers, and his hidden collection of VHS hauls from abroad will seem familiar to anyone who grew up in the Video Nasty era. Even his obsessive search for a film made by Dario Cozzi (Robin Hill), whose very name conflates Italian genre directors <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dario_Argento" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dario Argento</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luigi_Cozzi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Luigi Cozzi</a>, will be relatable to the very particular audience of <em><strong>Transmission</strong></em>, as will his proselytising desire to have horror seen in everything and by everyone.</p>
<p>Yet in this film, set in the conventionally fictive Californian twilight zone of Santa Mira, it is not just horror viewers, but also the infinite, insatiable emptiness of their desires, that is being revealed. For here we are all seeking answers in the Void, yet finding them in the most unexpected and innocuous places. What greater display could there be of humanity&#x2019;s worst side than a cavalcade of inane witching-hour viewing? You are, after all, what you choose to watch &#x2013; and if you choose not to watch Hurst&#x2019;s (and Frank&#x2019;s) multimedia feature to its bitter end, you might miss out on one hell of a Lovecraftian punchline &#x2013; or what Malvolia describes as &#x201C;the never before seen conclusion&#x201D;. What self-respecting horrorhound can resist staring into that abyss?</p>
<p><strong><em>Transmission had its <a href="https://www.frightfest.co.uk/2023FrightFestLondon/transmission.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world premi&#xE8;re</a> at FrightFest 2023 on 26 August</em></strong></p>
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<p>The post <a href="https://scifitips.com/2023/08/27/transmission-review-at-frightfest-seeking-answers-in-the-void/">Transmission review at FrightFest: Seeking answers in the Void</a> appeared first on <a href="https://scifitips.com">Sci-Fi Tips</a>.</p>
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		<title>Hostile Dimensions review at FrightFest: Scary, funny sci-fi on a budget</title>
		<link>https://scifitips.com/2023/08/26/hostile-dimensions-review-at-frightfest-scary-funny-sci-fi-on-a-budget/</link>
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		<pubDate>Sat, 26 Aug 2023 18:46:43 +0000</pubDate>
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		<category><![CDATA[Hostile Dimensions]]></category>
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					<description><![CDATA[<p>Director: Graham Hughes Cast: Graham Hughes, Stephen Beavis, Annabel Logan, Andy Stewart Running Time: 80 mins Much like writer/director Graham Hughes&#x2019; previous feature Death of a Vlogger (2019), Hostile Dimensions begins with intradiegetic camerawork, as unseen cameraman Brian follows graffiti artist Emily (Josie Rogers) into an abandoned building where they discover a door and frame</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://scifitips.com/2023/08/26/hostile-dimensions-review-at-frightfest-scary-funny-sci-fi-on-a-budget/">Hostile Dimensions review at FrightFest: Scary, funny sci-fi on a budget</a> appeared first on <a href="https://scifitips.com">Sci-Fi Tips</a>.</p>
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<dl>
<dt>Director:</dt>
<dd>Graham Hughes</dd>
<dt>Cast:</dt>
<dd>Graham Hughes, Stephen Beavis, Annabel Logan, Andy Stewart</dd>
<dt>Running Time:</dt>
<dd>80 mins</dd>
</dl>
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<p>Much like writer/director Graham Hughes&#x2019; previous feature <strong><em>Death of a Vlogger</em> </strong>(2019), <em><strong>Hostile Dimensions </strong></em>begins with intradiegetic camerawork, as unseen cameraman Brian follows graffiti artist Emily (Josie Rogers) into an abandoned building where they discover a door and frame standing bizarrely in the middle of an otherwise empty, dilapidated room. Distracted by a noise, Brian turns the camera away for a moment, and by the time he has turned it back, Emily has vanished screaming into thin air. Brian points the camera at the now open door, and a red-eyed monster appears on the other side.</p>
<p>At this point the film becomes both literal found footage and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screenlife" target="_blank" rel="noopener">screenlife</a>, as we realise we have been watching, along with Sam Shields (Annabel Logan) and Ash Shah (Joma West), a clip of Brian&#x2019;s video published online. &#x201C;I think that&#x2019;s our new film,&#x201D; says Sam, who acknowledges that the footage looks like a prank, but also points out that Emily has been missing for a month since. After the failure of their last documentary, Sarah can see something &#x201C;more marketable&#x201D; in this mystery, as though a new door were opening for these filmmaking friends.</p>
<p>Indeed, just as Brian&#x2019;s film had seemed to feature a portal to another world, Sarah and Ash&#x2019;s film &#x2013; which has already started, given that they record everything and what we are seeing is what they are shooting &#x2013; also contains screens and windows, on phones and computers, to other people&#x2019;s footage and the other worlds which that footage contains. It is all very involuted, but the warning here is constant: be careful what you open, and who &#x2013; or what &#x2013; you might let in.</p>
<p>The door and frame from the abandoned building are brought into the living room of Sam&#x2019;s flat, soon to be opened and even tentatively entered by the two women as they try to find and rescue Emily. Discovering miracles and monsters &#x2013; Sam&#x2019;s dead mother still very much alive, a talking dog, a panda &#x201C;that just shoots spikes out of its hands&#x201D; &#x2013; they realise that they are out of their depth, and turn for help to the lecturer Dr Innis (Paddy Kondracki). Soon all three of them are navigating a doorway to multiple possible worlds, as they both pursue and are pursued by another interdimensional traveller (Hughes himself) through more than one portal, while trying to keep a god-sent apocalypse from overwhelming their own world.</p>
<p>Pitting women&#x2019;s solidarity and creative energy against a toxically masculine impulse to destroy, <em><strong>Hostile Dimensions </strong></em>imagines a series of mirror worlds &#x2013; some frightening, others appealing, all fanciful &#x2013; and lets its misfit characters try to find not just a missing person or persons, but also their own place in the multiverse. As such, it is a little bit like Daniels&#x2019; <strong><em>Everything Everywhere All At Once</em> </strong>(2022), and a little bit like James Ward Byrkit&#x2019;s<em><strong> Coherence </strong></em>(2014), revealing lives where flaws are ever present, and perfection is a fantasy just on the other side of screen or door. Told in nine formally headed chapters plus an epilogue, this is scary, funny sci-fi on a budget, conjuring surreal, literally otherwordly cosmoses while anchoring everything to the mundanities of the Scottish everyday.</p>
<p>&#x201C;You do not know existential pain,&#x201D; Sam will say, &#x201C;until you&#x2019;ve produced a film.&#x201D; She is no doubt speaking for Hughes too, but when the results are as chaotically compelling as this, perhaps all that grief and anguish come with their own rewarding teleology in shifting our perceptions, realising the imaginary and &#x2013; maybe just maybe &#x2013; changing the world.</p>
<p><em><strong>Hostile Dimensions has its <a href="https://www.frightfest.co.uk/2023FrightFestLondon/hostile-dimensions.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world premi&#xE8;re</a> at FrightFest 2023. Find more <a href="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/type/quote/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reviews</a> at SciFiNow.</strong></em></p>
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<p>The post <a href="https://scifitips.com/2023/08/26/hostile-dimensions-review-at-frightfest-scary-funny-sci-fi-on-a-budget/">Hostile Dimensions review at FrightFest: Scary, funny sci-fi on a budget</a> appeared first on <a href="https://scifitips.com">Sci-Fi Tips</a>.</p>
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		<title>Doctor Jekyll review: Social drama and possession horror</title>
		<link>https://scifitips.com/2023/08/26/doctor-jekyll-review-social-drama-and-possession-horror/</link>
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		<pubDate>Sat, 26 Aug 2023 02:24:31 +0000</pubDate>
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					<description><![CDATA[<p>Director: Joe Stephenson Cast: Eddie Izzard, Scott Chambers, Lindsay Duncan, Simon Callow Running Time: 90 mins From the very outset, Doctor Jekyll is concerned with class, and with the illusory notion of its boundaries. We know this because it opens with a journalist (Simon Callow) asserting the need to quash &#x201C;the idea that human beings</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://scifitips.com/2023/08/26/doctor-jekyll-review-social-drama-and-possession-horror/">Doctor Jekyll review: Social drama and possession horror</a> appeared first on <a href="https://scifitips.com">Sci-Fi Tips</a>.</p>
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<dl>
<dt>Director:</dt>
<dd>Joe Stephenson</dd>
<dt>Cast:</dt>
<dd>Eddie Izzard, Scott Chambers, Lindsay Duncan, Simon Callow</dd>
<dt>Running Time:</dt>
<dd>90 mins</dd>
</dl>
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<p>From the very outset, <strong>Doctor Jekyll </strong>is concerned with class, and with the illusory notion of its boundaries. We know this because it opens with a journalist (Simon Callow) asserting the need to quash &#x201C;the idea that human beings are essentially divided up into different groups, some of whom are superior to others&#x201D;. Watching this daytime television from the sofa, young Rob (Scott Chambers) appears to be a living embodiment of the underclass. An ex-thief and ex-junkie, he is just recently released from jail, unemployed, with few prospects, and only has a place to stay thanks to the good will of his older brother Ewan (Morgan Watkins). Ewan has also secured Rob an interview for a carer&#x2019;s job that might see the ex-con moving up in the world &#x2013; for it is with Doctor Jekyll (Eddie Izzard), the controversial CEO of big pharma company Athanatos (from the Greek for &#x2018;immortal&#x2019;), who now lives as a recluse in a country mansion.</p>
<p>Of course, the film&#x2019;s title instantly conjures Robert Louis Stevenson&#x2019;s novella <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_Case_of_Dr_Jekyll_and_Mr_Hyde">Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde</a> (1886), and as readily as Ewan&#x2019;s television switches from a contemporary discussion of &#xE9;lite hierarchies to a broadcast of Ed Wood&#x2019;s <strong>Plan 9 From Outer Space </strong>(1959), Rob himself will play out a contemporary drama of social mobility, of class exclusion and inclusion, through the idioms of campy gothic &#x2013; campy because Blair Mowat&#x2019;s over-the-top score of sweeping orchestrations and choral extravagance steeps everything in irony, even as both (Nina) Jekyll and (Rachel) Hyde have been regendered, taking even further the adaptive innovations of Roy Ward Baker&#x2019;s <strong>Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde </strong>(1971). While Nina herself is not transgender (in a flashback to her childhood, she is clearly a girl), Izzard is famously genderfluid, and their casting in the r&#xF4;le(s) of this dual character &#x2013; oscillating between ego and id &#x2013; serves to underscore Jekyll and Hyde&#x2019;s transitional, bipolar nature.&#xA0;As this character essentially plays herself (in every sense of that phrase), Izzard gives us a performance of a performance, yielding high camp precisely through self-consciously hammy theatricality, yet remaining sly and hard to pin down.</p>
<p>Where Dan Kelly-Mulhern&#x2019;s screenplay is certainly an updating of Stevenson, it is also a sequel of sorts, with Nina the granddaughter of the novella&#x2019;s notorious Dr Henry Jekyll, and heiress to both his medical experiments and his peculiar condition. The echoes of the original operate even at the level of production: the surname of director Joe Stephenson (Chicken, 2015) is a homophone of the Scottish novelist&#x2019;s, even as a character in the film also shares the novelist&#x2019;s name, and the actor who plays Henry Jekyll in flashback, Jonathan Hyde, may have been cast in part for his evocative surname.</p>
<p>Unread, na&#xEF;ve and more than a little dim, Rob is outclassed at every turn in this new environment of privilege and affluence. Even Nina&#x2019;s estate manager Sandra (Lindsay Duncan) looks down on him, rudely treating him with unconcealed contempt &#x2013; but Nina is far more welcoming and kind, while the hidden Rachel too, for whom all humans are mere bodies, sees only Rob&#x2019;s &#x2018;potential&#x2019; and remains entirely undiscriminating about his background and status. Given room to move and opportunity to make something of himself, Rob wants in.</p>
<p>When Rob first arrives at the Jekyll mansion, he is distracted by a framed illustration of the monstrous cockroach from Franz Kafka&#x2019;s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Metamorphosis">Metamorphosis</a> (1915) &#x2013; and like the protagonist of that short story, Rob is set on a course of personal transformation, from outlaw to upright citizen, and maybe even from rags to riches, if his past &#x2013; in the form of Maeve (Robyn Cara), who is his ex and the mother of his daughter &#x2013; does not drag him back down again into addiction and criminality. Yet Rob is also the guest and employee of a woman who is herself subject to frequent metamorphosis &#x2013; and his evolving relationship with her, unfolding like a chess game in which she is always two steps ahead of her opponent (and even of herself), is at the core of Stephenson&#x2019;s film.</p>
<p>You can take <strong>Doctor Jekyll </strong>at face value, and see it as a supernatural tale of rapid class elevation, brought about through a soul-destroying Faustian contract &#x2013; or you can read it allegorically as the story of one man internalising cynical lessons of calculation and manipulation which he has learnt from those around him. Either way, it shows Rob as an outsider looking in, with equal abhorrence and envy, at all the callous malevolence that he witnesses. One might say that these are two parts of a single person, as this bad boy, for all his outward appearances of having rehabiliitated and bettered himself, might never in the end come good, but merely learn to embrace &#x2013; and hyde &#x2013; his dark side.</p>
<p><em><strong>Doctor Jekyll has its <a href="https://www.frightfest.co.uk/2023FrightFestLondon/doctor-jekyll.html">world premi&#xE8;re</a> at FrightFest 2023. This review is based on an early festival cut of the movie.</strong></em></p>
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<p>The post <a href="https://scifitips.com/2023/08/26/doctor-jekyll-review-social-drama-and-possession-horror/">Doctor Jekyll review: Social drama and possession horror</a> appeared first on <a href="https://scifitips.com">Sci-Fi Tips</a>.</p>
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		<title>The J-Horror Virus review: Delving into a cultural phenomenon</title>
		<link>https://scifitips.com/2023/08/25/the-j-horror-virus-review-delving-into-a-cultural-phenomenon/</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 25 Aug 2023 18:20:54 +0000</pubDate>
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		<category><![CDATA[The J-Horror Virus]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://scifitips.com/2023/08/25/the-j-horror-virus-review-delving-into-a-cultural-phenomenon/</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Director: Sarah Appleton, Jasper Sharp Cast: Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Takashi Shimizu, Rie Inoo, Shinya Tsukamoto Running Time: 95 mins J-Horror typically features alienated individuals and viral curses, and uses technology &#x2013; whether outgoing and analogue, like hand-me-down VHS cassettes, or incoming and digital, like the internet &#x2013; as the medium for its uncanny hauntings. As its</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://scifitips.com/2023/08/25/the-j-horror-virus-review-delving-into-a-cultural-phenomenon/">The J-Horror Virus review: Delving into a cultural phenomenon</a> appeared first on <a href="https://scifitips.com">Sci-Fi Tips</a>.</p>
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	<img decoding="async" class="reviewPoster" alt="The J-Horror Virus review: Delving into a cultural phenomenon" src="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/TheJHorrorVirus-posterart.jpg"></p>
<dl>
<dt>Director:</dt>
<dd>Sarah Appleton, Jasper Sharp</dd>
<dt>Cast:</dt>
<dd>Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Takashi Shimizu, Rie Inoo, Shinya Tsukamoto</dd>
<dt>Running Time:</dt>
<dd>95 mins</dd>
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<p>J-Horror typically features alienated individuals and viral curses, and uses technology &#x2013; whether outgoing and analogue, like hand-me-down VHS cassettes, or incoming and digital, like the internet &#x2013; as the medium for its uncanny hauntings.</p>
<p>As its very title implies, the key thesis of Sarah Appleton and Jasper Sharp&#x2019;s documentary <em><strong>The J-Horror Virus </strong></em>is that this distinctive form of Japanese ghost movie, emerging around the turn of the millennium, spread through not only Japan&#x2019;s film culture, but the world&#x2019;s, like one of those infectious, self-replicating viruses that so often propel its narratives, and that leave their sinister trace everywhere even as they mutate.</p>
<p>Of course, every pandemic has its index case, its patient zero, its epicentre &#x2013; and for this genre, it is Hideo Nakata&#x2019;s <em><strong>Ring </strong></em>(1998), placed literally at the film&#x2019;s centre. Yet if, both in its title and in its central image of the round entrance to a deep, dark well, <em><strong>Ring </strong></em>foregrounds absence &#x2013; like the hole in a donut &#x2013; capturing the emptiness of its characters&#x2019; lives and of their last-ditch efforts to go on living, then there is also a conspicuous absence in <em><strong>The J-Horror Virus</strong>.</em> For while an impressive array of J-horror directors appears in the film, including Teruyoshi Ishii (<em><strong>Psychic Vision</strong></em>), Kiyoshi Kurosawa (<em><strong>Sweet Home</strong>; <strong>Cure</strong>; <strong>Pulse</strong></em>), Norio Tsuruta (<em><strong>Scary True Stories</strong>, <strong>Ring 0</strong></em>), Joji Iida (<em><strong>Spiral</strong></em>, 1999), Takashi Shimizu (<em><strong>Ju-on: The Grudge</strong>; <strong>Marebito</strong></em>), and while comments are solicited in the discussion of <em><strong>Ring</strong></em> from its screenwriter Hiroshi Takahashi and actress Rie Ino&#x2019;o (who played Sadako), Nakata himself, who is the director of <em><strong>Ring</strong></em> &#x2013; and of my favourite J-horror <em><strong>Dark Water</strong> </em>(2002) &#x2013; is notably absent, even if his influence, like that of a ghost, can still be felt.</p>
<p>Perhaps, though, there is a point, besides no doubt the pragmatics of his unavailability, to Nakata&#x2019;s absence. For even if <strong><em>The J-Horror Virus</em> </strong>correctly privileges <em><strong>Ring</strong></em> &#x2013; now sequelised, satirised and remade &#x2013; as the film that put J-Horror on the international map and economically established for a broader audience what were coming to be the tropes of this new genre, Appleton and Sharp are just as interested in the periphery of J-horror, its antecedents and afterlife.</p>
<p>With help from the filmmakers, as well as scholarly commentary from Lindsay Nelson, Tom Mes and Sharp himself, the film traces the traditional iconography of the vengeful female spirit, with characteristic white robes and long black hair, right back to classic <em>kaidan </em>(ghost stories) or <em>kabuki </em>plays like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yotsuya_Kaidan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yotsuya Ghost Story</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botan_D%C5%8Dr%C5%8D" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Peony Lantern</a> or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banch%C5%8D_Sarayashiki" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The House of Broken Plates</a>.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the revolutionary shift to a modern setting, to a haunted tape reel, and to ghosts that just stand in the background of ordinary daylit settings, goes back to the mockumentary video <em><strong>Psychic Vision </strong></em>(1988) and was developed further by <em><strong>Scary True Stories </strong></em>(1991), whlle Tsuruta&#x2019;s influential <em><strong>Super Horror Experience 4: Psychic Video</strong></em> (1995) featured a haunted video. Meanwhile, the <em>Haunted School </em>television miniseries took J-horror conventions from V-cinema to the much broader audience of television, popularising the genre and giving rise to the term &#x2018;J-horror&#x2019;, as well as spawning a series of adapted theatrical versions.</p>
<p>Another popular made-for-television J-horror was Joji Iida&#x2019;s feature-length <strong><em>Ring: Kanzenban</em></strong> (1995), screened three years before Nakata and Takahashi would adapt the same source novel into <em><strong>Ring</strong></em>, and one year before Nakata would direct the first theatrical J-horror <em><strong>Don&#x2019;t Look Up </strong></em>(1996) &#x2013; and then there is the odd excellent outlier like <em><strong>Cure </strong></em>(1997), not quite J-horror but certainly drawing on the genre&#x2019;s imagery and alienating vibe. Takashi Miike&#x2019;s <em><strong>Audition </strong></em>(1999), released a year after <em><strong>Ring </strong></em>came out, similarly strikes its own tortu(r)ous path.</p>
<p>Still much J-horror that comes out after <em><strong>Ring </strong></em>is in its shadow while chasing its success. A string of J-horror remakes &#x2013; Gore Verbinksi&#x2019;s <strong><em>The Ring</em> </strong>(2002), Takashi Shimizu&#x2019;s <strong><em>The Grudge</em> </strong>(2004), Walter Salles&#x2019; <em><strong>Dark Water </strong></em>(2005), Jim Sonzero&#x2019;s <em><strong>Pulse </strong></em>(2006) and Eric Vallette&#x2019;s <em><strong>One Missed Call </strong></em>(2008) &#x2013; all convert their Japanese models into American horror idioms, while their excess exposition and more aggressive ghosts ensure that the subtlety and irrationality of the originals become lost in translation (something which <em><strong>The Grudge</strong></em>, with its Americans disoriented and doomed in Tokyo, literalises). Being able to see these film side by side exposes national difference, while highlighting what makes the Japanese films so special. Yet J-Horror has become a globalised phenomenon, its motifs and mannerisms, its spooks and sensibilities, now a recognisable feature of horror cinema the world over.</p>
<p>&#x201C;The J-Horror film genre could be made in any country,&#x201D; Kurosawa observes, &#x201C;I think that is the greatest significance of J-Horror.&#x201D; With their team of articulate interlocutors, Appleton and Sharp tap into, and tease apart, just what it is about this expanding body of films that is both so culturally specific, and so universally appealing.</p>
<p><strong><em>The J-Horror Virus has its <a href="https://www.frightfest.co.uk/2023FrightFestLondon/the-j-horror-virus.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world premi&#xE8;re</a> on Friday 25th August at FrightFest 2023. Read more reviews at <a href="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SciFiNow</a>.</em></strong></p>
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<p>The post <a href="https://scifitips.com/2023/08/25/the-j-horror-virus-review-delving-into-a-cultural-phenomenon/">The J-Horror Virus review: Delving into a cultural phenomenon</a> appeared first on <a href="https://scifitips.com">Sci-Fi Tips</a>.</p>
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		<title>Hostile Dimensions: Delving into found-footage with director Graham Hughes</title>
		<link>https://scifitips.com/2023/08/24/hostile-dimensions-delving-into-found-footage-with-director-graham-hughes/</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 24 Aug 2023 10:02:01 +0000</pubDate>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://scifitips.com/2023/08/24/hostile-dimensions-delving-into-found-footage-with-director-graham-hughes/</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Graham Hughes&#x2019; (pictured above)&#xA0;found footage sci-fi horror Hostile Dimensions sees two documentary filmmakers &#x2013; Sam and Ash &#x2013; deciding to investigate the disappearance of a graffiti artist who has seemingly &#x2018;vanished&#x2019;. However, as they delve deeper into their research, they encounter an ominous freestanding door which leads them on a dark journey through the dimensions</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://scifitips.com/2023/08/24/hostile-dimensions-delving-into-found-footage-with-director-graham-hughes/">Hostile Dimensions: Delving into found-footage with director Graham Hughes</a> appeared first on <a href="https://scifitips.com">Sci-Fi Tips</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Graham Hughes&#x2019; (pictured above)&#xA0;found footage sci-fi horror <em><strong>Hostile Dimensions</strong></em> sees two documentary filmmakers &#x2013; Sam and Ash &#x2013; deciding to investigate the disappearance of a graffiti artist who has seemingly &#x2018;vanished&#x2019;.</p>
<p>However, as they delve deeper into their research, they encounter an ominous freestanding door which leads them on a dark journey through the dimensions behind it. Determined to uncover the truth the pair soon realise they have stumbled across something far more terrifying than they could have ever imagined&#x2026;</p>
<p>We spoke to Hughes about his favourite found footage movies, finding a pyramid in Scotland (?!) and whether we&#x2019;ll be seeing anymore multiverse adventures via freestanding doors&#x2026;</p>
<h3>How did everything begin for you with <em>Hostile Dimensions</em>?</h3>
<p>I was developing a project with Blue Finch, the sales agents on <em><strong>Hostile Dimensions</strong></em>, and trying to get financing for that. Everything moves really slowly in film and I realised I could squeeze in another smaller film in between getting that bigger one off the ground.</p>
<p>So I thought I&#x2019;d do something similar to my last film, <em><strong>Death of a Vlogger</strong></em>, keeping the mockumentary format, using the same cast and crew. Also because it&#x2019;s so difficult with all the other producing skills going on and trying to make things as simple as possible, the key thing was that most of the film [could be] shot here in my flat!</p>
<p>So that was the jumping-off point but I also wanted it to be different from <em><strong>Death of a Vlogger</strong></em>. I was looking at ways to expand the idea so the idea of a portal to other worlds came into being and everything spiralled from there.</p>
<h3>What&#x2019;s the writing process like for you?</h3>
<p>Usually it [starts with] a high-concept idea. I&#x2019;ll think of something that&#x2019;s just combining two things and then it&#x2019;ll just sit in my brain for sometimes months or years. Until it grows enough to be an idea that&#x2019;s worth taking down.</p>
<p>Then usually I&#x2019;ll start with a spreadsheet. Just thinking out loud, writing down ideas that come to me. I&#x2019;m more of a set-piece director than a story director. So usually I&#x2019;ll write a list of scenes that I would want to see within this idea. I&#x2019;m all about structure and I love structuring things and that&#x2019;s kind of how it gets put together.</p>
<p>The pub helps as well &#x2013; it loosens me up. I&#x2019;m less critical. Then the next day when I sit down sober and look at the ideas I can throw out all the shite [haha]! I still have a full time job so going from sitting at a desk till five at home, then having dinner and coming back to the same desk to write is sometimes a bit intimidating. So getting the laptop and going somewhere makes it a bit more fun and appealing.</p>
<figure id="attachment_130081" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-130081" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-130081 size-full" src="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Hostile-Dimensions-Blue-Finch-Film-Releasing-1.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="450" srcset="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Hostile-Dimensions-Blue-Finch-Film-Releasing-1.jpg 750w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Hostile-Dimensions-Blue-Finch-Film-Releasing-1-300x180.jpg 300w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Hostile-Dimensions-Blue-Finch-Film-Releasing-1-616x370.jpg 616w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-130081" class="wp-caption-text">Graham Hughes&#x2019; movies usually start with a high-concept idea&#x2026;</figcaption></figure>
<h3>What are the positives and negatives of directing a found-footage mockumentary movie?</h3>
<p>So a positive is I think that it&#x2019;s a much more visceral and immediate kind of medium. I find that most of the scariest films I&#x2019;ve ever seen are found footage. It&#x2019;s just much more of an immediate connection with characters for me.</p>
<p>It&#x2019;s also a massive win for low-budget productions. You don&#x2019;t need to worry about coverage so much. For instance, if you&#x2019;ve got a dialogue scene with two characters, usually you&#x2019;d have three setups and you would need to get coverage from different angles. Whereas in fiction mockumentary, usually there&#x2019;s only one camera in the scene.</p>
<p>That can be very useful for production but there can also be a lot of problems in the edit if your single setup isn&#x2019;t particularly good. The genre has so many rules &#x2013; you&#x2019;ve probably seen some of the worst found-footage examples where cameras are always glitching. I don&#x2019;t think I&#x2019;ve ever recorded any video that has a glitch in it. Yet in so many bad found-footage films the cameras are glitchy and they use it to cover edits.</p>
<p>Obviously, I want to set the rules for myself where I want it to be realistic &#x2013; it&#x2019;s obviously a sci-fi film but the parts of the world that we will connect with, I want it to be realistic, I just want it for the audience. But that can cause some issues with production.</p>
<h3>What are your favourite found-footage movies?</h3>
<p><em><strong>The Dirties</strong></em> is one of my favourite. And I like <em><strong>Lake Mungo, Hell House LLC, Savage Land</strong></em>&#x2026;</p>
<p>I liked a few before making <em><strong>Death of a Vlogge</strong></em>r but it was <em><strong>The Dirtie</strong><strong>s</strong></em> that really opened my mind to the possibilities of it as an art form. After watching that, I just dived into the rabbit hole and started devouring everything I could get my hands on.</p>
<p>There are just so many &#x2013; some of the best horror films ever made [are found-footage] like <em><strong><a href="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/dvd-and-bluray/flashback-rec/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">REC</a>,</strong></em>&#xA0;<em><strong>Troll Hunter</strong></em> and <em><strong>Chronicle</strong></em> and some of the bigger ones like <em><strong>Cloverfield</strong></em>, there&#x2019;s such a variety.</p>
<figure id="attachment_130082" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-130082" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-130082 size-full" src="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Hostile-Dimensions-Blue-Finch-Film-Releasing-2.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="450" srcset="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Hostile-Dimensions-Blue-Finch-Film-Releasing-2.jpg 750w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Hostile-Dimensions-Blue-Finch-Film-Releasing-2-300x180.jpg 300w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Hostile-Dimensions-Blue-Finch-Film-Releasing-2-616x370.jpg 616w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-130082" class="wp-caption-text">There can be a lot of problems and positives when making a found-footage mockumentary.&#xA0;</figcaption></figure>
<h3>There are some stunning locations in the movie &#x2013; what were they like to source those?</h3>
<p>That was really fun. Because of the nature of how the film was made (being that it was low budget and the cast and crew were set and we had all these elements in place), there was quite a bit of flexibility with the other worlds and what they could be because as long as they fit the story then it was fine!</p>
<p>A lot of the time the only headline for our location would be that it needs to be kind of alien or interesting. The other restriction was the catchment area &#x2013; we couldn&#x2019;t really travel much more than three hours out of Glasgow, just for logistical reasons.</p>
<p>A lot of the sourcing was done on Atlas Obscura, just scrolling for ages looking for distant known locations that I&#x2019;ve not seen on film and that people maybe aren&#x2019;t aware of.</p>
<p>I think my favourite was the pyramid location. A few people already have been like &#x2018;the effects of that pyramid are really good&#x2019;. They&#x2019;re so good because it&#x2019;s real! It&#x2019;s not an effect. It&#x2019;s a real pyramid that&#x2019;s in Scotland. When I saw it, I was like &#x2018;Why has no one ever mentioned this before?&#x2019; [haha]!</p>
<h3>What is your favourite world that Sam and Ash visit?</h3>
<p>I think just in terms of location [the pyramid world] was a favourite because it was so surprising to me. I do like the soft play [world] as well. That initially came from a particular scene I wanted to do. A backroom kind of piece, like Kane Pixel&#x2019;s short, <em><strong>Backrooms,</strong></em> [which] I absolutely loved. It got me into Liminal Horror on Instagram. I was just like, &#x2018;oh, this is such a great horror idea&#x2019;, like new lore.</p>
<p>I wanted to do something with that. So I was looking for white boxy locations and they&#x2019;re really difficult to find.</p>
<p>So that led to just being on Liminal Horror Instagrams and they&#x2019;d have abandoned swimming pools or swimming pools at night, schools at night, and soft plays as well.</p>
<p>Soft plays are pretty creepy. Inherently. And there&#x2019;s loads of them around Glasgow so I just started getting in touch with folk and [soft play] Pandamonium wrote back and said they would let us film there.</p>
<p>Then weirdly enough, I&#x2019;d always planned for the backroom scene to have a giant teddy bear in the corner. It was just a total coincidence that we booked Pandemonium and I saw that they had a big panda suit. It was one of those great, nice coincidences of an improvement to the film coming from something that was just a surprise and something I hadn&#x2019;t planned for.</p>
<p>It&#x2019;s much better than a brown bear in a backroom space. It&#x2019;s a nice example of being flexible and letting your ideas go when something better comes in.<br /><iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LBXEQx4h_XQ" width="375" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen">&lt;span data-mce-type=&#8221;bookmark&#8221; style=&#8221;display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;&#8221; class=&#8221;mce_SELRES_start&#8221;&gt;&amp;#65279;&lt;/span&gt;</iframe></p>
<h3>The ending leaves the movie open &#x2013; would you ever be tempted to come back to the world(s) of <em>Hostile Dimensions</em>?</h3>
<p>I don&#x2019;t think so. I think there&#x2019;s a very latent, if ambiguous, message in the film and I think exploring that world anymore might just dilute that.</p>
<h3>What do you want audiences to take away from the movie?</h3>
<p>The general state of the world has put me in a state of anxiety. It&#x2019;s also put me in a feeling of helplessness and it&#x2019;s breeding apathy in me. I think maybe on the sides of the political spectrum, most people don&#x2019;t really have much control. For me, I feel almost like I just want to disengage and look after myself &#x2013; I can&#x2019;t help anything anyway, so I may as well just give up.</p>
<p>That was kind of where the central idea came from. I just wanted to explore and then I didn&#x2019;t want to say one way or the other, which is better. I just wanted to explore these two characters. They&#x2019;re both given the option of leaving this world and landing right into their perfect world.</p>
<p>If you were given that option, would you stay in this place and try and fix it? Or would you jump ship to the place where you fit? I don&#x2019;t want to land on either side of that [but] I <em>do</em> want to just ask that question. And that&#x2019;s something I&#x2019;m still asking myself. Do I want to continue banging my head against the wall and fight for what I think is right? Or do I just keep my head down and look out for me? That&#x2019;s the struggle that I was trying to get into the film, but I don&#x2019;t want to tell anyone what to think.</p>
<p><em><strong>Hostile Dimensions will have its world premi&#xE8;re on 26 August FrightFest 2023. Get your ticket <a href="https://www.frightfest.co.uk/2023FrightFestLondon/hostile-dimensions.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.</strong></em></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://scifitips.com/2023/08/24/hostile-dimensions-delving-into-found-footage-with-director-graham-hughes/">Hostile Dimensions: Delving into found-footage with director Graham Hughes</a> appeared first on <a href="https://scifitips.com">Sci-Fi Tips</a>.</p>
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		<title>“I’m glad we got the amount of blood we were able to get.” Erik Bloomquist on his new slasher Founders Day</title>
		<link>https://scifitips.com/2023/08/21/im-glad-we-got-the-amount-of-blood-we-were-able-to-get-erik-bloomquist-on-his-new-slasher-founders-day/</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 21 Aug 2023 16:23:27 +0000</pubDate>
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					<description><![CDATA[<p>The Bloomquist Brothers &#x2013; Erik and Carson &#x2013; (She Came From The Woods) are back with another horror this summer as their political slasher Founders Day heads to London for its international premier at the UK&#x2019;s top horror festival, FrightFest. The movie sees a small town shaken by a series of ominous killings in the</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://scifitips.com/2023/08/21/im-glad-we-got-the-amount-of-blood-we-were-able-to-get-erik-bloomquist-on-his-new-slasher-founders-day/">“I’m glad we got the amount of blood we were able to get.” Erik Bloomquist on his new slasher Founders Day</a> appeared first on <a href="https://scifitips.com">Sci-Fi Tips</a>.</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The Bloomquist Brothers &#x2013; Erik and Carson &#x2013; (<em><strong>She Came From The Woods</strong></em>) are back with another horror this summer as their political slasher <em><strong>Founders Day</strong></em> heads to London for its international premier at the UK&#x2019;s top horror festival, FrightFest.</p>
<p>The movie sees a small town shaken by a series of ominous killings in the days leading up to a heated mayoral election. As accusations fly and the threat of a masked killer darkens every street corner, the residents must race to uncover the truth before fear consumes the town.</p>
<p>We spoke to Erik Bloomquist about his love of slasher movies, taking on multiple filmmaking responsibilities and how the killer&#x2019;s wig was the biggest diva on set&#x2026;</p>
<h3><em>Founders Day</em> has taken around 10 years for you to make, is the version we see today the version you and your brother originally created?</h3>
<p>It very much still is a love letter to formative slashers in autumn in New England but over the years, it&#x2019;s evolved as our sensibilities sharpened and then a relatively recent infusion of this election that&#x2019;s happening in the town.</p>
<p>There was a mayor, there was this crisis about what the town was going to do in terms of going forward with this festival after the first body turns up, but in terms of it being a hot-button election issue, that happened in the last year or two. We thought of that probably two years ago and everything just popped into place when that happened in terms of putting the commentary we want to make and raising the stakes and making characters more defined.</p>
<p>So it still very much has the same heartbeat that it&#x2019;s always had. It&#x2019;s now a fully formed version as it evolved, as <em>we</em> have evolved. I think the path for all the other movies that we&#x2019;ve made has led us full circle here.</p>
<h3>What were your slasher influences?</h3>
<p>I would be remiss if I didn&#x2019;t mention [<em><strong>Scream</strong></em>]. I mean, they&#x2019;re huge for me. We watched it a little too young and we got it from the library on a winter afternoon.</p>
<p>We&#x2019;re definitely different in the sense that we&#x2019;re not referencing movies. I love how they do it. It&#x2019;s perfect but Roger Jackson isn&#x2019;t on the other end of the phone in our movie. I think what we really glean is this sense of mischief and play and curiosity and intrigue and puzzle, and having a degree of fun in the whole thing too.</p>
<p>We definitely want to scare people, but we also want it to be a bit of an adventure, like everything we make. We want it to be something that people watch maybe when they&#x2019;re a little too young for it, but in a good way&#x2026;</p>
<h3>What do you think it is about <em>Scream</em> and those classic slashers that have resonated with people to create their own?</h3>
<p>I think people, certainly me and Carson, love speculating and seeing all the different paths people are going to go down. We loved Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid and I think it&#x2019;s similar to that, where it could be anything and then seeing what it is and people having multiple identities, like metaphorical masks and when those metaphorical masks are off, it just feels like play in a really fun way.</p>
<p>Horror in general is just a really great way to have a community experience and an individual experience at the same time. That&#x2019;s why I&#x2019;m really drawn to the genre in general. But this one&#x2019;s been a long time coming, so we are very excited to see it with a crowd.</p>
<h3><em>Founders Day</em> has a very unique mask &#x2013; how did the idea for that come about?</h3>
<p>It was really important to us. The idea originally was that it&#x2019;s like a comedy/tragedy mask fused together so that on one side there&#x2019;s a frown and then if you turn, he&#x2019;s smiling. We wanted to make the look that was very, as Carson says &#x201C;distinct but not gimmicky&#x201D;. Which is very hard to do.</p>
<p>We thought about it a lot. We liked the idea of simple, tactical, and something that applied to judges&#x2019; robes and the mask had to feel worn but not necessarily old.</p>
<p>We worked with Tony Gardner&#x2019;s company which was amazing and we decided to go red instead of white with the mask. Going red just felt really right to us both in terms of being distinct and in terms of camouflage and in terms of being a devil judge. There was just something about it. We wanted it to be simple but distinct and I&#x2019;m very happy with how it came out.</p>
<p>There&#x2019;s also a fun weapon &#x2013; that was something that developed as we did the movie. So all these little touches will hopefully work together to create something that is very distinct for people and has a character of its own.</p>
<h3>The slasher&#x2019;s costume also comes with a wig&#x2026; is this the first killer with their own wig?!</h3>
<p>It might be! Yeah, because it&#x2019;s usually the hood right? That wig was fun to shoot with and there are outtakes where we&#x2019;re in the middle of a kill and the wig just falls off and then the person behind the mask would look at the camera and just shrug. So there was a lot of tape and adjusting. Probably in real life it would fall off a lot if someone was actually killing in that wig, but movie magic is good.</p>
<h3>So the wigs were the biggest divas on set&#x2026;?</h3>
<p>Exactly. We had three of them. They&#x2019;re in my closet right now. We have three masks and three wigs. Hopefully, we&#x2019;ll be able to do some publicity stunts with them at some point but there won&#x2019;t be quite as much violence so hopefully, that won&#x2019;t be as much of an issue!</p>
<figure id="attachment_130060" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-130060" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-130060" src="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Founders-Day-Blue-Finch-Film-Releasing.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="450" srcset="https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Founders-Day-Blue-Finch-Film-Releasing.jpg 750w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Founders-Day-Blue-Finch-Film-Releasing-300x180.jpg 300w, https://www.scifinow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Founders-Day-Blue-Finch-Film-Releasing-616x370.jpg 616w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-130060" class="wp-caption-text">A lot of thought went into creating a unique mask in Founders Day&#x2026; though the wig was a bit of a pain!</figcaption></figure>
<h3>What&#x2019;s the writing process like with you and your brother Carson?</h3>
<p>It changes as we go. We write relatively chronologically, but sometimes we&#x2019;ll work on a linchpin scene first and work backwards from there. Sometimes we&#x2019;ll be in the same room and just pass a laptop back and forth. We refine all this work and at some point, we&#x2019;ll have a draft and we&#x2019;ll just go through it together and redline it and change it.</p>
<p>Then working very closely with the actors &#x2013; I have a real acting background, I still act. I act in this movie and it informs the way I direct and change the script as we go, just to fit the voices of the characters. There are things that I think are really important that we try to keep in there &#x2013; structurally and character-wise &#x2013; but it&#x2019;s really cool when we can have that marriage between voice and actor.</p>
<h3>You directed, co-wrote, produced, edited and starred in <em>Founders Day</em>. What&#x2019;s your favourite role in the filmmaking process?</h3>
<p>For me, the most foundational part of it all is acting. I&#x2019;ve been acting since I was little and that evolved into me directing and knowing how to work with actors and then writing my own stuff and then producing and learning how to do that out of necessity.</p>
<p>I really enjoy wearing multiple hats. I know it might be perceived as fatiguing to an extent but for me, in a lot of ways, it&#x2019;s energising. Because if I&#x2019;m in the middle of problem-solving a scene and can just jump in and act for a second, I get to act on instinct and then I get to look at the monitor and make sure the shot looks right.</p>
<p>It&#x2019;s a really fun way to make sure that I&#x2019;m staying fresh. I find that when I&#x2019;m acting within a scene that I&#x2019;m also directing and I can set a tempo or tone from within the scene. Then Carson&#x2019;s behind the monitor just making sure I&#x2019;m not making weird faces!</p>
<h3>Was it always planned for you to star in <em>Founders Day</em>? Was the character written for you?</h3>
<p>He was a relatively new character actually, as it became an election movie we just figured that [mayor] Blair Gladwell needed a right-hand man. It made sense for me because we have these two ensembles &#x2013; we have the high school ensemble and we have the adult ensemble. And deputy Miller played by Adam Weppler and I kind of bridge those two and live in both of those generations just to unite the town.</p>
<p>It was important to us to establish that everybody in this town kind of knows of each other. Has an opinion about each other. I think that the fact that we are both adults in the town but also still kind of the younger generation is a way to just establish scope and intimacy at the same time. I just thought that&#x2019;d be really fun to do.</p>
<h3>How would you describe the movie&#x2019;s main protagonist, Allison?</h3>
<p>I think that she is somebody who in some ways feels bigger than this town but is also tied to this town and is a very loyal person. And I think that that makes for a really interesting person to follow &#x2013; there is a loyalty to this place, to her dad, to her girlfriend, to her teacher, to her school, and that really makes her believably want to figure out what&#x2019;s actually happening, even though she&#x2019;s on the route out of there.</p>
<h3>What was it like having Naomi Grace, who plays her, on board?</h3>
<p>Naomi is wonderful. She brought a real goodness and enthusiasm in front and behind the camera. She made it happen in a really engaging way and she was just so lovely to work with. I know she&#x2019;s so excited &#x2013; she is going to be in London and I am very excited to have her see it!</p>
<h3>The movie has lots of great kills! Do you have a favourite?</h3>
<p>They were so fun to do, and I wish we had even more time to do them. But I&#x2019;m really happy that we were able to do as many pieces as we did.</p>
<p>There is one in particular that is pretty theatrical, almost choreographed to music and that one I&#x2019;m particularly excited to see. There are kills in the movie that I didn&#x2019;t think would necessarily jump out as the first piece of the conversation and I love that everyone&#x2019;s going to have their own.</p>
<p>Some are fun and some are particularly brutal. But I like that they&#x2019;re all character driven to an extent. That they feel distinct not just because of how they happen but because of who they&#x2019;re happening to and when they&#x2019;re happening and I can speak more about that if you catch me after FrightFest!</p>
<p>I&#x2019;m just very excited to see those and I&#x2019;m glad we got the amount of blood that we were able to get. I mean it&#x2019;s not it&#x2019;s <em><strong>Terrifier</strong></em>, but there&#x2019;s blood!</p>
<h3>What do you want audiences to take away from the movie?</h3>
<p>I&#x2019;m excited for people to have the conversation about &#x2018;who did you think it was? And when did that change and why?&#x2019; I&#x2019;m excited for me to hear that, just to overhear those side conversations.</p>
<p>Ultimately [I want] for people to be energised and to continue to think about things. We don&#x2019;t want to be preachy, but we do want to be outspoken. I think the ultimate feeling we want people to take away is that it was fun and thoughtful and ultimately has a little bit of bite beyond when the final credits are over&#x2026;</p>
<div><em><b>Blue Finch Film Releasing presents the International Premiere of Founders Day at FrightFest on 28 August 2023. Tickets are available <a href="https://www.frightfest.co.uk/2023FrightFestLondon/founders-day.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.</b></em></div>
<p>The post <a href="https://scifitips.com/2023/08/21/im-glad-we-got-the-amount-of-blood-we-were-able-to-get-erik-bloomquist-on-his-new-slasher-founders-day/">“I’m glad we got the amount of blood we were able to get.” Erik Bloomquist on his new slasher Founders Day</a> appeared first on <a href="https://scifitips.com">Sci-Fi Tips</a>.</p>
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