UK’s Celluloid Screams Announces Full 2014 Programme
Gearing up for another year at Sheffield’s Showroom Cinema, horror film festival Celluloid Screams has announced the full line-up of blood-soaked goodies it has in store for the weekend of October 24-26 – and boy, is it Astron-omically good!
Here it comes… straight from the press release to your eyeballs:
OPENING GALA: THE EDITOR (UK PREMIERE)
Director: Adam Brooks & Matthew Kennedy | Canada | 2014 | 1hr 42 mins
Kicking off Celluloid Screams 2014 in fine style, we proudly present the mind-boggling new opus from Canadian filmmaking collective Astron-6 – an affectionate tribute to the Italian giallo thrillers of the 1970s and 1980s.
Rey Ciso was once the greatest editor the world had ever seen, but after a horrific accident left him with four wooden fingers on his right hand, he’s had to resort to cutting low budget trash pictures. When the lead actors from the film he’s been editing turn up murdered at the studio, Rey is fingered as the number one suspect. As the bodies continue to pile up, Rey struggles to prove his innocence and learn the sinister truth lurking behind the scenes.
We are delighted to welcome Adam Brooks, Matthew Kennedy and Conor Sweeney to Celluloid Screams to introduce the film and participate in a Q&A afterwards.
HOUSEBOUND
Director: Gerard Johnstone | New Zealand | 2014 | 109 mins
Few films nail the perfect balance between the creepy and the comical, but Gerard Johnstone’s terrific debut feature achieves this feat effortlessly.
After a botched robbery, Kylie Bucknell is forced to return to the house she grew up in when the court places her on home detention. Her punishment is made all the more unbearable by the fact she has to live there with her mother, Miriam – a well-intentioned blabbermouth who’s convinced that the house is haunted. Kylie dismisses her mother’s superstitions as nothing more than a distraction from a life occupied by boiled vegetables and small-town gossip. However, when she too becomes privy to unsettling whispers and strange bumps in the night, she begins to wonder whether she’s inherited her overactive imagination or if the house is in fact possessed by a hostile spirit who’s not particularly thrilled about her return.
CREEP
Director: Patrick Brice | USA | 2014 | 88 mins
Looking for work, videographer Aaron (played by director Patrick Brice) comes across a cryptic online ad: $1,000 for the day. Filming service. Discretion is appreciated. Low on cash and full of naiveté he drives to a cabin in a remote mountain town where he meets Josef (Mark Duplass), his cinematic subject for the day. Josef is sincere, and the project seems heartfelt so Aaron begins to film. But as the day goes on, events take a disturbing turn, and it becomes clear that Josef may not be who he claims to be.
Mesmerizing and at times unbearably tense, Creep’s strength lies in the chilling interplay between its two protagonists and the feeling of dread that permeates much of the film’s running time. Soon to be continued with two further films to complete the trilogy, this sinister shocker will linger in the memory for a long time…
CHOCOLATE STRAWBERRY VANILLA
Director: Stuart Simpson | Australia | 2013 | 88 mins
In this brilliantly unique psycho thriller, awkward ice cream van driver Warren Thompson’s only respite from his drab existence comes in the form of gorgeous soap star Katie George. Besotted with the young actress, Warren can’t help but imagine what life would be like with Katie at his side. After suffering another in a long line of savage beatings from local thugs, Warren’s fragile psyche cracks under the strain, and his infatuation with Katie turns into psychotic obsession. As the lines between reality and fiction blur, Warren’s quest to make Katie his will have catastrophic implications for all who populate his simple world.
STARRY EYES
Director: Kevin Kolsch, Dennis Widmyer | USA | 2014 | 96 mins
From the producer of CHEAP THRILLS comes a tale of desperation and sacrifice in the dark heart of Hollywood. Struggling actress Sarah (Alex Essoe) works as a waitress whilst doggedly answering casting calls in pursuit of her big break. Battling rejection and the jealous backbiting of her so-called friends, Sarah finally secures her dream part after a series of strange auditions for enigmatic production company Astraeus Pictures. However, this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity comes at a horrifying price that will transform Sarah in mind, body and soul until the glamorous career she’s always dreamed of becomes the stuff of nightmares.
WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS
Director: Taika Waititi, Jemaine Clement | New Zealand | 2014 | 86 mins
Meet Viago, Deacon and Vladislav – three flatmates who are just trying to get by and overcome life’s obstacles- like being immortal vampires who must feast on human blood. Hundreds of years old, the vampires are finding that beyond sunlight catastrophes, hitting the main artery and not being able to get a sense of their wardrobe without a reflection, modern society has them struggling with the mundane like paying rent, keeping up with the chore wheel, trying to get into nightclubs and overcoming flatmate conflicts. A dryly hilarious mock-doc from the makers of “Flight of the Conchords” and Eagle Vs Shark.
COOL GUYS: THE SHORT FILMS OF ASTRON-6
Directors: Astron-6 | Canada | Various | 90 mins
Our obsession with Astron-6 continues as we dedicate our 2014 Short Film Retrospective to them. Expect cool guys, laser ghosts and much more! (Plus a Q&A afterwards)
SOCIETY (followed by Q&A with director Brian Yuzna)
Director: Brian Yuzna | USA | 1989 | 99 mins
Bill Whitney (Billy Warlock) is a privileged teenager growing up in Beverly Hills with everything he could possibly desire. Despite his family’s wealth and status, Bill has a nagging feeling that something is not quite right with them, something he explains at length to his therapist. When Bill’s friend presents him with apparent evidence of bizarre and disturbing goings on involving his parents and sister, he decides to investigate the truth about them, but nothing could have prepared him for what he discovers… With outrageous, landmark special effects by Screaming Mad George, SOCIETY is a film once seen, never forgotten.
Brian Yuzna is Celluloid Screams’ Guest of Honour and will introduce this special screening and participate in a Q&A afterwards.
SUBURBAN GOTHIC
Director: Richard Bates Jr. | USA | 2014 | 90 mins
From the director of EXCISION comes a quirky oddball horror comedy that couldn’t be more different than its predecessor. Raymond (Matthew Gray Gubler) is having a tough time. His college degree hasn’t paid the dividends he’d hoped, and he is forced to make what he believes is the ultimate backward step: moving back in with his parents. This temporary setback is compounded when the supernatural visions that have plagued him since childhood return with a vengeance to make his stay as miserable as possible. Raymond’s only solace is his friendship with former schoolmate Becca (Kat Dennings), who leads them on a quest to solve a century-old murder mystery and resolve Raymond’s problems for good.
DAGON (with introduction by Brian Yuzna)
Director: Stuart Gordon | Spain | 2001 | 98 mins
Paul (Ezra Godden) and his girlfriend, Barbara (Raquel Rabal), are on a boating holiday off the coast of Spain. Following an accident they pitch up at the small village of Imboca to seek assistance. But there is something strange about the people of the town, and as night falls, Paul finds himself the target of occult worshippers. Will Imboca’s darker secret envelope both Paul and Barbara, or can they find a way to evade the ancient god of the sea, Dagon?
One of a slate of films produced by guest of honour Brian Yuzna in Spain in collaboration with Spanish production company Filmax, Dagon is a stylish and scary tale from the pen of author H.P. Lovecraft.
SPRING
Directors: Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead | USA | 2014 | 109 mins
A young man in a personal tailspin flees the US to Italy, where he sparks up a romance with a girl hiding a dark secret. What begins as a naturalistic romance in an idyllic Mediterranean town takes an unexpected turn as the two lovers confront figurative and literal relationship monsters. Balancing dark humor, heart and visceral thrills, SPRING evokes undercurrents of Beauty and the Beast by way of Linklater and early Cronenberg, while retaining a highly original style that we’ve come to expect from two of contemporary horror’s most interesting voices.
We are delighted to welcome back Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead to Celluloid Screams to introduce the film and participate in a Q&A.
CELLULOID SCREAMS SECRET FILM
Director: TBC | Country TBC | Year TBC | Running Time TBC
Much like the alien lifeform in John Carpenter’s The Thing, our annual secret film lies in wait in amongst our line-up, waiting to take shape and reveal itself. It could look like anything, and you’ll only know what it is as it’s about to begin…
THE ABCs OF DEATH 2
Directors: Larry Fessenden, Todd Rohal, Marvin Kren, Jim Hosking, Julien Maury, Alexandre Bustillo, Julian Gilbey, Soichi Umezawa, Lancelot Imasuen, Jerome Sable, Robert Boocheck, Aharon Keshales, Navot Papushado, Bill Plympton, Rodney Ascher, Erik Matti, Steven Kostanski, E.L. Katz, JULIAN Barratt, Hajime Ohata, Vincenzo Natali, Chris Nash, Jen Soska, Sylvia Soska, Robert Morgan, Kristina Buozyte, Bruno Samper, Alejandro Brugues, Dennison Ramalho, Juan Martinez Moreno | Various | 2014 | 125 mins
In 2013 the craziest anthology ever created was released to an unsuspecting public. It immediately divided audiences. Some claimed it was a much-needed adrenaline shot to the heart of genre film, while others claimed it was reprehensible and the death knell of cinema as we know it.
In 2014 it’s happening again. This time with an all-new line-up of international directors. Twenty-six NEW directors. Twenty-six NEW ways to die.
CLOSING GALA: DEAD SNOW 2: RED VS. DEAD
Director: Tommy Wirkola | Norway/Iceland | 2014 | 100 mins
If the worst day of your life consisted of accidentally killing your girlfriend with an axe, chain-sawing your own arm off and watching in horror as your closest friends were devoured by a zombified Nazi battalion, you’d have to assume that things couldn’t get much worse. In Martin’s case, that was only the beginning. Dead Snow 2 is an improvement on its predecessor in every conceivable way. Like the very best sequels, it takes everything that was great about the first film and ramps it up to another level. It’s extremely gory, very funny and a perfect way to close Celluloid Screams 2014.
The Celluloid Screams weekend also brings with it the now-customary all-nighter, during which this year those with superhuman eyelid strength or the Bottomless Flask of Caffeine +3 can catch:
BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR (with introduction by director Brian Yuzna)
Director: Brian Yuzna | USA | 1989 | 95 mins
Doctor Herbert West is back… Having absconded to Peru with fellow doctor Dan Cain to continue his experiments under the cover of being a medical volunteer, West and Cain travel back to Arkham to resume their roles at Miskatonic Medical School. Once there, West discovers he can reanimate individual body parts and sets about creating a living being from disparate body parts, including the heart of Cain’s dead fiancée, Megan. Along the way West incurs the wrath of the police and the evil Dr Hill, whose severed head is all that remains of his body after the “Miskatonic Massacre”…
MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE
Director: Stephen King | USA | 1986 | 97 mins
For his one and only directing credit, horror legend Stephen King chose to adapt his own short story in which machines take on a life of their own and become homicidal. Emilio Estevez stars as Bill Robinson, an ex-convict who ends up leading a band of survivors trapped in a truck stop diner surrounded by murderous machinery.
NIGHT OF THE CREEPS
Director: Fred Dekker | USA | 1986 | 88 mins
Two college students, Chris and J.C., accept a fraternity challenge to break into a cryogenics lab in order to steal a cadaver, but the trial goes wrong when the duo unleash a decades-old frozen corpse that is possessed by an alien parasite. Pretty soon the campus is overrun by flesh-eating zombies, and only one man can save everyone: Detective Ray Cameron (Tom Atkins), a cop haunted by the past. We guarantee by the end you’ll be screaming like banshees…
KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE
Director: Stephen Chiodo | USA | 1988 | 88 mins
We round off our 2014 all-nighter with the Chiodo Brothers’ iconic 80s schlockfest. When Mike and his girlfriend, Debbie, turn up at the local police station warning that a gang of homicidal alien clowns have arrived in the town of Crescent Grove, the cops are naturally skeptical. Talk of popcorn-firing guns and a spaceship shaped like a circus tent out in the woods hardly helps to convince them. Before long, however, reports start coming in from anxious locals reporting similar run-ins with the colourfully-dressed, large shoe-wearing assailants. There can no longer be any doubt – the Killer Klowns from Outer Space are here, and they’re out to turn the population into candy floss.
Celluloid Screams festival passes are now on sale at the Sheffield Showroom Cinema website. You can pick up an Ultimate Pass, which is a full weekend pass including the all-nighter, for £80 (£70 concessions), or a reduced rate pass is £65 (£55 concessions) if you’re planning to get some sleep instead.
Standalone all-nighter tickets are available for £25 (£20 concessions) and can be purchased at Showroomworkstation.org.uk.
For more info, check out the official Celluloid Screams website, give them a ‘Like’ on Facebook, and hit up @SheffHorrorFest on Twitter.
We’ll see you there!
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