Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies – London unveils fall 2017 line-up

Miskatonic Fall Season 17

Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies – London

Fall 2017 season:
Sept – Dec 2017

Dates: 14 September, 12 October, 9 November, 14 December

Time: 7-10pm (Doors 7pm, no admittance after 7:30)

Venue: Horse Hospital

Address: Colonnade, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 1JD

Prices: £10 advance / £11 on the door / £8 concs / £35 full season ticket (includes Miskatonic student card)

Single advance and season tickets are on sale now at WeGotTickets.com

Miskatonic website

THE MISKATONIC INSTITUTE OF HORROR STUDIES – NEW LONDON PROGRAMME REVEALED FOR AUTUMN 2017

The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies – London returns to the Horse Hospital from September to December this year for a new term of film seminars, covering a range of exciting and esoteric topics, led by renowned critical luminaries from the world of fantastique and horror cinema. After closing the spring season last May with author John Cussans’s sold out class, Chimerical Optics: Haiti, Colonialism and Voodoo Terror, a new programme of provocative and thrilling lectures awaits daring audiences.

The term will launch with a seminar examining the oft-misunderstood auteur of the French fantastique, Jean Rollin, hosted by Miskatonic London co-director and Electric Sheep Magazine editor Virginie Sélavy and genre journalist Marcelle Perks (Fangoria, Kamera, The Guardian), from Germany. Both presenters are contributors to the new book Lost Girls: The Phantasmagorical Cinema of Jean Rollin, which reappraises Rollin’s oeuvre from a uniquely female perspective.

In October, expert film critic and prolific author Kim Newman discusses various current and historical approaches to the criticism of what Michael Weldon termed ‘psychotronic cinema,’ and the role of the independent curator in shaping this discourse. This event will also launch his new book, Video Dungeon, published by Titan Books.

November will see Nag Vladermersky, Director of the London International Animation Festival, examining the largely untapped history of horror in animation, including some rarities from the LIAF vaults. We will close the season – rather fittingly – with a celebration of holiday horror as renowned author and musician (Coil) Stephen Thrower, broadcast scholar Derek Johnston and special guests, talk Santa slashers and ghost stories for Christmas to coincide with the new book Yuletide Terror: Christmas Horror on Film and Television. This festive-themed conclusion will also feature the UK premiere of a new Christmas horror short called We Always Find Ourselves in the Sea, written and directed by Sean Hogan in the wintry tradition of the classic M.R. James hearthside tales.

Named for the fictional university in H.P. Lovecraft’s literary mythos, The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies is a non-profit, community-based organisation that started in Winnipeg and Montreal, Canada, founded by Kier-La Janisse in March of 2010. Miskatonic London operates under the co-direction of Kier-La Janisse and Virginie Sélavy.

All classes take place at the historic Horse Hospital, the heart of the city’s underground culture. Registration for the full season is £35. Individual class tickets are £10 advance / £11 on the door / £8 concessions and will be available 30 days in advance of each class.

For the full details of the courses please check the Miskatonic website. For all enquiries, please email Miskatonic.london@gmail.com.

Rendez-vous du cinéma suisse 2017

die goettliche ordnung
Die Göttliche Ordnung

audioOn Monday 7 August 2017, Electric Sheep‘s Managing Editor Pamela Jahn, Allan Hunter (Screen International) and Boyd van Hoeij (The Hollywood Reporter) took part in a panel of international film journalists to discuss five Swiss productions in this year’s Locarno Festival programme with SWISS FILMS director Catherine Ann Berger. The films included:

Goliath by Dominik Locher (International Competition)

Those Who Are Fine by Cyril Schäublin (Cineasti del Presente)

The Song of Scorpions by Anup Singh (Piazza Grande)

The Divine Order by Petra Volpe (Panorama Suisse)

The Congo Tribunal by Milo Rau (Semaine de la Critique)

FrightFest 2017 announces line-up

Fright Fest 2017
Cult of Chucky

Horror Channel FrightFest 2017

24-28 August 2017

Cineworld Leicester Square, The Prince Charles Cinema, London

FrightFest website

Horror Channel FrightFest 2017 returns to the West End this year, with a packed programme of 63 films including 17 World, 20 European and 17 UK Premieres. Here’s the line-up announcement from FrightFest:

‘Back in the heart of London’s West End for its 18th ‘adults-only’ anniversary, the world renowned horror and fantasy film festival will take place at the Cineworld Leicester Square and The Prince Charles Cinema from Aug 24 – Aug 28 2017, taking over five screens to present 63 films including 17 World, 20 European and 17 UK Premieres. Fourteen countries are represented spanning five continents, reflecting the current global popularity of the genre.

The opening night attraction is the World Premiere of Universal’s criminally entertaining CULT OF CHUCKY, with director Don Mancini and stars Jennifer Tilly and Fiona Dourif in attendance, alongside the iconic deadly doll of destruction himself.

Mancini said: “It’s a true pleasure to be hosting the world’s first screening of Cult of Chucky at FrightFest. I have fond memories of unveiling Curse of Chucky there in 2013 so it’s great to be returning to the UK’s acknowledged home of horror – especially as this film picks up from where Curse…left off.”

Two more of the horror genre’s most popular and beloved franchises are given their World Premieres: To celebrate a decade of his cursed Victor Crowley creation, writer/director Adam Green is returning to FrightFest with a version of HATCHET never seen before. Plus, there is a presentation of Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo’s LEATHERFACE, the stunning prequel to the terror classic THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE.

FrightFest unveiled a bright new directorial talent when it screened Tyler McIntyre’s PATCHWORK at the Glasgow Film Festival and the closing night film is the European premiere of his amazing TRAGEDY GIRLS, where HEATHERS meets SCREAM in a dream combo. It stars super-powered heroines Alexandra Shipp and Brianna Hildebrand.

FrightFest also welcomes back Adam Wingard with the World Premiere of his supernatural manga DEATH NOTE, Joe Lynch with the European Premiere of his highly infectious action thriller MAYHEM, Mickey Keating with the European Premiere of his eye-shattering PSYCHOPATHS, Graham Skipper with the European Premiere of his surreal sci-fi romance SEQUENCE BREAK and genre favourite Barbara Crampton, who stars in Norbert Kell’s skin-crawler REPLACE, receiving its UK Premiere.

In a programme packed with innovation, uniqueness and individuality, other tips of the ice-pick are Ryan Prows’ powerful cult-in-waiting LOWLIFE, Trent Haaga’s stunning 68 KILL, high voltage THE VILLAINESS hot from Cannes, Alex de la Iglesia’s bleakly comic THE BAR, Miguel Angel Vivas’ remake of the French extreme thriller INSIDE, Daniele Misischia’s undead Romageddon THE END? Todd Tuckers’ affectionately creepy THE TERROR OF HALLOWS EVE, Brandon Christensen’s terrifying STILL/BORN, Sebastien Landry & Laurence Morais-Lagace’s head-exploding GAME OF DEATH, Kurtis David Harder’s provocative sci-fi horror INCONTROL and Royce Gorsuch’s kaleidoscopic mindbender MINDHACK.

Continuing the festival’s important and vital commitment to highlighting the cream of the homegrown crop, our British strand is well-populated with World Premieres for Dominic Brunt’s perverted shocker ATTACK OF THE ADULT BABIES, Christian James’ prison-set bloodsucker comedy FANGED UP and Matthew Heaven’s scorching revenge study ACCOUNTABLE. There are also European Premieres for Dominic Bridge’s debut dark morality tale FREEHOLD, Tom Paton’s nerve-shredding REDWOOD and Benjamin Barfoot’s hilariously blood-soaked DOUBLE DATE. And the ‘First Blood’ strand Is back on the menu with five tasty titles:, actor Jason Flemyng’s blood-sucking feature debut EAT LOCALS, Louis Melville’s squaddie shocker BOOTS ON THE GROUND, Hendrik Faller’s ice-cold thriller MOUNTAIN FEVER, Michaël Boucherie’s tattoo-terror WHERE THE SKIN LIES and Peter Stray’s alien-invading black comedy CANARIES.

The festival’s accent on rising talent is further enriched with Preston DeFrancis’ extreme slasher RUIN ME, Natasha Kermani’s sci-fi gender-blender IMITATION GIRL, Clay Staub’s supernatural detective thriller DEVIL’S GATE, Caroline Labrèche and Steeve Léonard’s mesmerising RADIUS, Samuel Galli’s devilishly shocking OUR EVIL, Andrés Goteira’s dazzling DHOGS, David Chirchirillo’s Tinder Terror GOOD MATCH, Tini Tuellman’s spine-chilling psycho suspense thriller FREDDY/EDDY, Haritz Zubillaga’s car-killing giallo THE GLASS COFFIN, Scott Poiley’s chiller EXHUME, Adam Graveley’s Aussie outback shocker 3RD NIGHT, Michael Mongillo’s audacious and haunting DIANE, Peter Ricq’s stark comedy DEAD SHACK and Carlos Algara and Alejandro Martinez-Beltran’s gripping psychological twister VERONICA.

Three documentaries will receive their eagerly awaited premieres at FrightFest this year. KING COHEN: THE WILD WORLD OF FILMMAKER LARRY COHEN is a dazzling career overview of the maverick director behind such classic horrors as IT’S ALIVE, Q THE WINGED SERPENT, fantasy television series like ‘The Invaders’, HELL UP IN HARLEM Blaxploitation, recent releases CELLULAR and soon the MANIAC COP remake. We welcome back on screen Kane Hodder, everyone’s favourite Jason Voorhees in the FRIDAY THE 13th series, with his moving and eye-opening TO HELL AND BACK: THE KANE HODDER STORY. Finally there’s the extraordinary MANSFIELD 66/67, a super Hollywood Babylon-style whisk through the final years of movie goddess Jayne Mansfield’s life and untimely, possibly Satanic, death.

Other attractions include Emilia Clarke in VOICE FROM THE STONE, Robert Englund in NIGHTWORLD, the French graphic novel adaptation ALONE, the outrageous gore-fest MEATBALL MACHINE KODOKU, the Aussie chiller KILLING GROUND, the hilarious TOP KNOT DETECTIVE and the Japanese TV series ‘Crows’ Blood’. Plus two FrightFest Glasgow hits are being rescreened: Simon Rumley’s FASHIONISTA and Colin Minihan’s IT STAINS THE SANDS RED.

This year’s retrospective restoration strand highlights the underrated British horror DREAM DEMON, RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD III, two classic Hammers, BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY’S TOMB and DEMONS OF THE MIND, plus the longest version found of the seminal proto-giallo DEATH LAID AN EGG, lovingly restored by Nucleus Films’ Jake West and Marc Morris.

The Duke Mitchell Film Club is back with a hosted presentation of the UK premiere of Stefan Ruzowsky’s COLD HELL, a gripping serial killer thriller.

Alan Jones, co-director of FrightFest, said today: “The whole cinema landscape is changing and Horror Channel FrightFest is listening. We know the fans want to see the films first, see them fast and see them in an environment that is second to none. That’s why we have what we believe is the finest line-up ever assembled and are showcasing the superlative selection in premium surroundings. So, the West End becomes the Dark Heart of London once again. And we’ve made it to our 18th birthday. It’s going to be quite some party.”

Festival and day pass sales will go on sale Sat 1 July at noon and and are only available to buy on the FrightFest website.

Single tickets will go on sale on Sat 29 July from 9am.’

For full programme details amd timetables go to the FrightFest website.

Locarno Festival 2017 Preview

logo-locarno
Locarno 2017

Locarno Film Festival 2017

2 – 12 August 2017

Locarno, Switzerland

Locarno website

The line-up for the 70th Locarno Festival promises a range of excting home-grown films amongst some big hitters and some hidden gems.

Electric Sheep will be at the Locarno Film Festival for the first time this year, and with its 16 title-strong Piazza Grande features and 11 world premieres, the 70th edition of the festival promises to be intriguing, fun and hugely exciting.

Opening tonight with Tomorrow and Every Other Day directed by Noemie Lvovsky, the Locarno competition line-up usually focuses on content rather than big names and this year is no exception. We are particularly looking forward to the new film by John Carroll Lynch, Lucky, starring Hary Dean Stanton and David Lynch, and other promising works by exciting new and established filmmakers such as Aaron Katz ( Gemini) and Jim McKay (En el Séptimo Día), Swiss director Dominik Locher ( Goliath, Quebec –based Denis Côté (A Skin So Soft), French auteur Serge Bozon ( Madame Hyde, starring Isabelle Huppert), Romanian director Andrei Cretulescu (Charlston) and Travis Wilkerson, whose latest work Did You Wonder Who Fired The Gun concerns a crime that has haunted his personal life since his childhood.

The Piazza Grande films in this 70th anniversary edition include Atomic Blonde with Charlize Theron, Cannes festival hit Good Time starring Robert Pattinson, Kumail Nanjiani’s refreshingly unusual romantic comedy The Big Sick, What Happened to Monday? with Glenn Close, Willem Dafoe and Noomi rapace, and the world premiere of Anup Singh’s The Song of Scorpions, starring Irrfan Khan, who will be one of the festival’s special guests this year.

Actor and director Mathieu Kassovitz, who stars in Samuel Jouy’s debut feature Sparring, will receive the festival’s 2017 excellence award, while Nastassja Kinski will be honoured with a lifetime achievement award and Adrien Brody will receive the honorary 2017 Leopard Club award.

The festival’s retrospective is dedicated to B-movie legend Jacques Tourneur (1904 – 1977), whose 1943 classic I Walked With A Zombie also plays in the Piazza Grande section.

Check out the line-up below, along with our reviews where available.

PIAZZA GRANDE
Stories of Love That Cannot Belong to This World, Francesca Comencini, Italy
Atomic Blonde, David Leitch, U.S.
Chien, Samuel Benchetrit, France
Tomorrow and Thereafter, Noemie Lvovsky, France
Three Peaks, Jan Zabeil, Germany, Italy
Good Time, Josh and Ben Safdie, U.S.
Gotthard – One Life, One Soul, Kevin Merz, Italy
I Walked With a Zombie, Jacques Tourneur, U.S.
Iceman, Feliz Randau, Germany, Italy, Austria
Let The Corpses Tan, Helene Cattet and Bruno Forzani, Belgium, France
Lola Pater, Nadir Mokneche, France
Sicilia!, Jean-Marie Straub, Italy, France, Germany
Sparring, Samuel Jouy, France
The Big Sick, Michael Showalter, U.S.
The Song of Scorpions, Anup Singh, Switzerland, France
What Happened to Monday, Tommy Wirkola, U.K.

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
9 Doigts, F.J. Ossang, France, Portugal
Good Manners, Juliana Rojas & Marco Dutra, Brazil
Charleston, Andrei Cretulescu, France, Romania
Did You Wonder Who Fired The Gun, Travis Wilkerson, U.S.
Freedom, Jan Speckenbach, Germany
Gemini, Aaron Katz, U.S.
Gli Asteroidi, Germano Maccioni, Italy
Goliath, Dominik Locher, Switzerland
Good Luck, Ben Russell, France, Germania
La Telenovela Errante, Raul Ruiz, Chile
Lucky, John Carroll Lynch, U.S.
Madame Hyde, Serge Bozon, France
Mrs. Fang, Wang Bing, China, Germany
Dragonfly Eyes, Xu Bing, Cina
A Skin So Soft, Denis Cote, Canada
Winter Brothers, Hlynur Palmason, Denmark, Iceland
Wajib, Annemarie Jacir, Palestine, France
En el Séptimo Día (On the Seventh Day), Jim McKay, U.S.

For more Information about this year’s programme visit the Locarno website.

Pamela Jahn