The month of August means only one thing to me, my Film4 FrightFest event that has taken place over the last holiday weekend for the past eight years. This horror fantasy festival started small as an offshoot of my previous efforts Shock Around The Clock and Fantasm but has now grown into the UK’s biggest genre experience. The Odeon West End in the heart of London’s Leicester Square is where it all happens – five days of previews, premieres and presentations. Think a genre-focused Cannes on a smaller scale for what our ambitions are. Anyone interested can find the full line-up here www.frightfest.co.uk.

Alan Jones will be recording an audio commentary for the British DVD of HATCHET.

Hghlights include Juan Antonio Bayona’s wonderful THE ORPHANAGE, produced by Guillermo del Toro (the subject of my next book by the way, when we finally sit down and talk post his HELLBOY 2 commitments), Jonathan Levine’s retro grindhouse dazzler ALL THE BOYS LOVE MANDY LANE, the unusual gore effort STORM WARNING (written by veteran Australian scripter Everett de Roche of PATRICK and ROADGAMES fame) and the quite brilliant WAZ, Stellan Skarsgard and Selma Blair giving amazing performances in Tom Shankland’s SE7EN riff. Continue Reading »

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