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The Lords Of Salem Poster

The return of the legendary Rob Zombie is here, with his most ambitious and accomplished work to date – the chilling and atmospheric The Lords of Salem out in select UK cinemas April 26th.

A huge departure from his previous movies, ‘The Lords Of Salem’ firmly establishes Rob Zombie as a unique and truly gifted filmmaker with a groundbreaking horror that slowly works its way under the viewer’s skin. There’s an almost European feel to ‘The Lords of Salem’ and it owes more to Roman Polanski, Dario Argento and Ken Russell than to the American “grindhouse” cinema one would most associate with Zombie. Of course, this being Rob Zombie, classic horror movie references abound and fans will be delighted to notice nods to the likes of “Rosemary’s Baby”, “The Shining”, “The Sentinel”, “The Devil Rides Out” and John Carpenter’s “Prince Of Darkness”, amongst others.

A former drug user, Heidi is now clean and works as a rock DJ at the local radio station along with fellow DJs, Herman Whitey Salvador and Herman Jackson. Following one of their regular evening shows, Heidi receives a square wooden box containing a vinyl record, the only indication as to its origin is a note proclaiming “A gift from the Lords”. Assuming it is merely a PR stunt by an ambitious band, Heidi gives the record a spin and immediately begins to experience bizarre flashbacks to a past, long-forgotten trauma triggered by the haunting sounds contained on the record.

The poster is below.

Rob Zombie’s new album ‘Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor’ is also out April 22 2013 on Zodiac Swan/T-Boy/Universal Music.

ALERT –

Rob Zombie’s new film, The Lords of Salem, has changed it’s release date. It will now be hitting selected UK cinemas on 19 April 2013.

This is to bring it in line with the release of Zombie’s new album – Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor – which is out on 22 April 2013.

13th March 2013
Crawl – Review

Crawl or “Beware the Man in the Big Hat” as it’s not known as but will be now for the purposes of this sentence is a surprising crime/thriller/horror from Australia.

Following two stories; one about a stern Croatian hitman (George Shevtsov) complete a hit for the local scum-bag-bar-owner Slim (Paul Holmes). The other plot revolves around waitress at said bar Marilyn (Georgina Haig) who believes that tonight is the night that her fiance, who’s returning from his travels, will pop the big question. You know. The question. Oooooo. It’s exciting! Anyway some stuff gets ballsed up and the the Croatian hitman ends up holding Marilyn hostage in her own home for some reason. Yeah it really does seem to happen just like that.

Crawl has been getting some good press off the festival circuit and it’s easy enough to see why. Without knowing too much about it you may expect a low-budget horror thriller called simply Crawl to be some kind of low-grade monster movie or torture porn that brings little new to either respective party. Instead Crawl is a surprisingly well observed crime thriller that borrows more from horror films than being one its self. Many comparisons have been made between Crawl and the Coen Brothers Blood Simple. A quick glimpse at IMDB trivia reveals that the director asked the cast & crew to keep it in mind when making the film which actually does Crawl a dis-service. Sadly the nods to Blood Simple are so blindingly apparent that it’s hard to shake it from your mind whilst trying to take Crawl as a work in it’s own right. Even as the film switches from crime-thriller to home invasion horror it manages to retain memories of the Coen’s classic noir. Right down to the sartorial elegance of our focal hitman which kept reminding me of M. Emmet Walsh.

The film starts well, whilst it plays out as a slickly shot crime caper. Nice banter and the characters of likeable and unlikable as the writers want. It’s when we hit the home invasion portion of the film that it seems to “crawl” to a halt. Director/Writer Paul China certainly knows his horror onions. Rather than turning the scenes where the hitman holds Marilyn hostage are played as still and tense as possible, this ain’t Panic Room. No dazzling camera sweeps or smash cuts. He allows the camera to linger and for long passages of time to play out in silence as the two play cat and mouse. Unfortunately rather than being creepy or tense it feels really dull. It reminded me of the scene in Hitchcock’s Torn Curtain where he wanted to show how hard it was to kill a man. The scene in question has Paul Newman taking several minutes to kill an assassin. Instead of being a thrilling scene of death played out in real time my deranged movie brain just thought “can we kill him already?”. Much of the same here “either kill the girl or be on your way sir”. Apart from the occasional outbursts of over-dramatic music that you may find cheesy or delightfully referential of old school horrors.

Ultimately a disappointing experience. I was rooting for Crawl to work. It’s snappy criminal start is spoiled by a over cooked home invasion plot that shows the director has the knowledge but not the skills yet to execute them. I look forward to seeing what Paul China comes up with next. It’s worth giving Crawl a try to seeing an emerging talent, but just be ready with a copy of Blood Simple for afterwards.

12th March 2013
The New Trailer For VINYL, Out 15 March

Here is the official trailer for festival favourite VINYL, released on 15 March, starring Phil Daniels, Keith Allen and Jamie Blackley.

Based on the story of Mike Peters’ true rock and roll hoax of 2004, VINYL tells how a group of washed-up rockers hoodwinked top record labels, radio DJs, and the entire rock music world by releasing a pop punk single under a fictitious teenage band’s name….…now they just need to teach this rowdy bunch of kids what true punk spirit is all about!

In Sara Sugarman’s VINYL, much-loved British icons Phil Daniels (Quadrophenia) and Keith Allen (Trainspotting) return to the big screen, supported by a sensational young cast, with charismatic newcomer Jamie Blackley (Snow White and the Huntsman, London Boulevard) delivering a standout performance that’s sure to mark him out as one to watch in 2013

11th March 2013
Space Precinct Legacy

Space Precinct Legacy is the story of the most ambitious British television series ever made, a feature length documentary about Gerry Anderson’s short lived, live action series Space Precinct. Featuring all new interviews with cast and crew and never before seen behind the scenes material. Space Precinct Legacy is a must see for all Gerry Anderson and science fiction fans.

“I think we honour Gerry Anderson, his epic vision and ambition in Space Precinct Legacy, our upcoming documentary about Gerry Anderson’s Space Precinct,” says Paul Cotrulia. He adds: “The Space Precinct crew each tell stories about Gerry Anderson in the documentary, not just about working with him but also about their personal relationships with the man himself too.”

The trailer for Space Precinct Legacy premiered at the popular Sci-Fi Weekender science fiction convention on March 1st followed by a Q&A session with director Paul Cotrulia.

Space Precinct Legacy will premiere at the Prince Charles Cinema in London on March 13th followed by a Q&A session with original Space Precinct composer Crispin Merrell. Tickets are available from www.princecharlescinema.com

Cotrulia comments: “The premiere will be unique experience to learn more about Gerry Anderson and to meet some of the Space Precinct cast and crew in attendance. There will even be a Q&A session with some of the cast and crew after the screening.”

Space Precinct Legacy will be release on Blu-Ray DVD on April 1st. The Blu-Ray is available to pre-order from www.amazon.co.uk now.

Space Precinct Legacy is dedicated to the memory television icon Gerry Anderson. A legend has passed but his legacy remains.

11th March 2013
Fast & Furious 6 Cars Zoom Into View

The “Fast and the Furious” film franchise seems to be one that will never end, as the sixth installment is due out this summer to much fanfare. All the old cast members will be returning, as will a long list of exotic, classic and unique automobiles that the characters will crash, survive in and generally show off throughout the film. This is nothing new for a Fast and Furious film—featuring the finest automobiles ever made is something the franchise relishes and car fans flock to see. So in this sixth installment, the automobiles are as much the highlights as the A-list talent.

Jensen Interceptor

The Jensen Interceptor was a GT-class car from the UK built in the late ’60s and early ’70s. Its body was designed by an Italian company, however, giving it a very stylish, rounded look and making it a true classic at car shows today, as well as in a big budget action movie. A powerful V8 Chrysler engine was offered in the original models of the car, but for the cameo it makes in “Fast and Furious 6,” it is rumored to have a Viper engine under the hood, making it a true speed demon.

Ferrari 360 Modena

This exotic gem is seen only in a passing shot in “Fast and Furious 6” and probably for good reason: they are more rare and valuable these days. Considered to be one of the more beautiful automobiles Ferrari has ever produced, the 360 Modena was manufactured between 1999 and 2005. It was incredibly fast, with a zero-to-60 acceleration clocked at 4.2 seconds and is considered on par with a Porsche GT3 RS model in both design and through road tests. However, it’s always great to see this work of art from Ferrari again, as a car as beautiful as the Modena never gets old.

BMW M5

The beast of a touring sedan known as the BMW M5 also has a role in “Fast and Furious 6.” BMW’s M-class automobiles are generally considered to be some of the best speedy muscle cars that also handle incredibly well. While the M3 is quite popular, the more expensive M5 model is truly where some of BMW’s finest work can be found. If you can’t afford a BMW, but want a sleek sedan to imitate the “Fast and Furious” scenes, according to a Dallas Toyota dealer, Camrys and Avalons sell for as little as $23,000.

Ferrari FXX (Replica)

A Ferrari FXX is also seen in “Fast and Furious 6,” but no, it is not one of the 30 $1.8 million race cars that car lovers have heard about: it’s a replica, because the cost and risk of putting a car like that in a movie was not a gamble the film’s producers wanted to take. The actual FXX models have V12 engines that go up to 790 horsepower and have a top speed of 243 mph. Seeing one of these real FXX cars racing through a film is something that “Fast and Furious” fans will just have to wait to see in the seventh installment, assuming there is one.

11th March 2013