TagHorror-on-Sea Film Festival
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EventsFilm FestivalsNews
Horror-on-Sea returns this coming year with a loaded slate of international independent horror features and short films. From ghosts to gorefests and monsters to murderous mayhem, there’s something for every fear-fare fanatic at the Southend fest. Following is the official press release. Following a hiatus in 2021 due to the pandemic, Horror-on-Sea will be making a welcome return to Southend in 2022 with what promises to be its biggest yet. Horror-on-Sea is recognised by many as the true home of independent horror and remains one of the UK’s biggest independent film festivals. Horror-on-Sea was originally formed to promote independent horror films and will continue to uphold that tradition, giving the horror fans an opportunity to see independent titles which would not normally be played on the big screen. Hosted once again at The Park Inn Palace Hotel (Southend-on-Sea) the festival will be running over two weekends from Friday 14th January to Sunday 16th January and Friday 21st January to Sunday
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMovies
Day of the Stranger Fans of Weird West films (such as Billy the Kid Versus Dracula [1966] and Curse of the Undead [1959]) and psychedelic westerns (for example, High Plains Drifter [1970]) should find plenty to enjoy in ultralow-budget U.K. outing Day of the Stranger. Advertised as “the only British guerilla-shot acid western ever made,” this film from writer/director Thomas Lee Rutter (Bella in the Wych Elm short [2017]; The Forbidden Four [2012]) delivers a haunting, surreal vision that begins as a boisterous, brutal take on western tropes before going into full-on phantasmagorical territory. Bounty hunter Caine Farrowood (Dale Sheppard) is under the employ of sadistic outlaw Loomweather (Gary Shail of The Bride [1985] and Shock Treatment [1981]) when things go south after a job and he finds himself on the edge of death. He then awakens to find himself at home with his pregnant wife Christina (Maryam Forouhandeh), who disapproves of his work. He soon heads out on a
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMovies
U.K. shocker The Barge People is director Charlie Steed’s follow-up to his 2017 gorefest Escape from Cannibal Farm. In this new offering, Steed takes the basic premise for the original 1977 version of The Hills Have Eyes, moves the vacation location to British countryside canals, and adds some cool-looking monsters to the mix. The result is a fast-paced effort driven by one brutal onslaught after another, but greatly aided by some nice dramatic sequences involving loss and grief, and the breakdown of class differences. Sisters Kat (Kate Davies-Speak in a riveting performance) and Sophie (Natalie Martins) go on a canal barge trip with their boyfriends. The two men — nice guy Mark (Mark McKirdy) and obnoxious Ben (Matt Swales) — don’t get along from the start. When they accidentally bump the barge of some “You think you’re better than us?” types including hot-headed Ricky (Kane Surry) and Jade (Makenna Guyler) and later encounter the group in a watering hole that
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignIndieMovies
Lonnie Knutsengripper: Man, Myth and Movies This U.K. comedy focuses on Lonnie Knutsengripper, the fictitious, hard-drinking American producer and director of more than 300 “classic” horror films. He reminisces about two films that he made in England: Interred (1982) and its sequel, the Sh–house Strangler (1990). In the first film, a maniac flushes hapless victims down the toilet in his bar. The victims are “going down the pipe . . . alive!” according to one police officer. In the follow-up movie, the same killer escapes from an insane asylum and targets homosexual victims. As readers might guess, the comedy here is broad and occasionally lewd, but director Richard Rowbotham (who plays Knutsengripper) and screenplay writer David Fenn (who plays the killer) fearlessly keep the gags coming at a frantic clip in this microbudget tribute to microbudget shot-on-video horror features of yesteryear. Off Fleek Teenager Emma (Shona O’Sullivan) is having a “no phones at mealtime” dinner on her birthday with her
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignIndieMovies
Horror-on-Sea Film Festival, which runs January 10th–19th at Park Inn by Raddison Palace, Southend-on-Sea, U.K., features an incredible program of horror and horror comedy features and shorts from around the world. Following are reviews of three of the short films that will screen at the festival. Bitten When a woman’s (Francine Torres) dog returns home with a bite after a mysterious struggle with an offscreen foe, she lovingly treats the injury before heading out on a first date. While she is away, Iggy the dog transforms into a man (Michael Curran) and the adventures he gets up to in this supernatural comedy are nothing compared to the hijinx that ensue when his owner returns home, to put it mildly. Curran gives a fearless, fully unclothed performance that hilariously captures canine traits and tendencies. Torres deals out a good deal of laughs, too, and the pair provide fine comical chemistry in Bitten, a superbly crafted, great-looking short from director Sarah K
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesNews
Horror-on-Sea returns to Southend once again in 2020 with its biggest blood-soaked line up yet of independent film as the fest celebrates its eighth year. One of the UK’s biggest independent film festivals, it was originally formed to promote independent horror films. The fest gives an opportunity to fright-fare features and shorts that are not normally played on the big screen. Taking place at The Park Inn Palace Hotel (Southend-on-Sea), the festival will run over two weekends, from Friday, January 10 to Sunday, January 12, and then Friday, January 17 to Sunday, January 19. Many of the screenings of more than 36 features and 62 shorts will include introductions by the filmmakers themselves. I have reviewed the incredible Bloodsucker’s Planet for Horror Fuel (read here), and can highly recommend adding that film to your must-see list. Among the other announced features that I am greatly looking forward to are Peruvian fear-fare anthology Witch Tales, U.K. home invasion horror outing Nefarious,
Continue reading →
More from Horror-on-Sea Film Festival
EventsFilm FestivalsNews
Horror-on-Sea returns this coming year with a loaded slate of international independent horror features and short films. From ghosts to gorefests and monsters to murderous mayhem, there’s something for every fear-fare fanatic at the Southend fest. Following is the official press release. Following a hiatus in 2021 due to the pandemic, Horror-on-Sea will be making a welcome return to Southend in 2022 with what promises to be its biggest yet. Horror-on-Sea is recognised by many as the true home of independent horror and remains one of the UK’s biggest independent film festivals. Horror-on-Sea was originally formed to promote independent horror films and will continue to uphold that tradition, giving the horror fans an opportunity to see independent titles which would not normally be played on the big screen. Hosted once again at The Park Inn Palace Hotel (Southend-on-Sea) the festival will be running over two weekends from Friday 14th January to Sunday 16th January and Friday 21st January to Sunday
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMovies
Day of the Stranger Fans of Weird West films (such as Billy the Kid Versus Dracula [1966] and Curse of the Undead [1959]) and psychedelic westerns (for example, High Plains Drifter [1970]) should find plenty to enjoy in ultralow-budget U.K. outing Day of the Stranger. Advertised as “the only British guerilla-shot acid western ever made,” this film from writer/director Thomas Lee Rutter (Bella in the Wych Elm short [2017]; The Forbidden Four [2012]) delivers a haunting, surreal vision that begins as a boisterous, brutal take on western tropes before going into full-on phantasmagorical territory. Bounty hunter Caine Farrowood (Dale Sheppard) is under the employ of sadistic outlaw Loomweather (Gary Shail of The Bride [1985] and Shock Treatment [1981]) when things go south after a job and he finds himself on the edge of death. He then awakens to find himself at home with his pregnant wife Christina (Maryam Forouhandeh), who disapproves of his work. He soon heads out on a
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMovies
U.K. shocker The Barge People is director Charlie Steed’s follow-up to his 2017 gorefest Escape from Cannibal Farm. In this new offering, Steed takes the basic premise for the original 1977 version of The Hills Have Eyes, moves the vacation location to British countryside canals, and adds some cool-looking monsters to the mix. The result is a fast-paced effort driven by one brutal onslaught after another, but greatly aided by some nice dramatic sequences involving loss and grief, and the breakdown of class differences. Sisters Kat (Kate Davies-Speak in a riveting performance) and Sophie (Natalie Martins) go on a canal barge trip with their boyfriends. The two men — nice guy Mark (Mark McKirdy) and obnoxious Ben (Matt Swales) — don’t get along from the start. When they accidentally bump the barge of some “You think you’re better than us?” types including hot-headed Ricky (Kane Surry) and Jade (Makenna Guyler) and later encounter the group in a watering hole that
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignIndieMovies
Lonnie Knutsengripper: Man, Myth and Movies This U.K. comedy focuses on Lonnie Knutsengripper, the fictitious, hard-drinking American producer and director of more than 300 “classic” horror films. He reminisces about two films that he made in England: Interred (1982) and its sequel, the Sh–house Strangler (1990). In the first film, a maniac flushes hapless victims down the toilet in his bar. The victims are “going down the pipe . . . alive!” according to one police officer. In the follow-up movie, the same killer escapes from an insane asylum and targets homosexual victims. As readers might guess, the comedy here is broad and occasionally lewd, but director Richard Rowbotham (who plays Knutsengripper) and screenplay writer David Fenn (who plays the killer) fearlessly keep the gags coming at a frantic clip in this microbudget tribute to microbudget shot-on-video horror features of yesteryear. Off Fleek Teenager Emma (Shona O’Sullivan) is having a “no phones at mealtime” dinner on her birthday with her
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignIndieMovies
Horror-on-Sea Film Festival, which runs January 10th–19th at Park Inn by Raddison Palace, Southend-on-Sea, U.K., features an incredible program of horror and horror comedy features and shorts from around the world. Following are reviews of three of the short films that will screen at the festival. Bitten When a woman’s (Francine Torres) dog returns home with a bite after a mysterious struggle with an offscreen foe, she lovingly treats the injury before heading out on a first date. While she is away, Iggy the dog transforms into a man (Michael Curran) and the adventures he gets up to in this supernatural comedy are nothing compared to the hijinx that ensue when his owner returns home, to put it mildly. Curran gives a fearless, fully unclothed performance that hilariously captures canine traits and tendencies. Torres deals out a good deal of laughs, too, and the pair provide fine comical chemistry in Bitten, a superbly crafted, great-looking short from director Sarah K
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesNews
Horror-on-Sea returns to Southend once again in 2020 with its biggest blood-soaked line up yet of independent film as the fest celebrates its eighth year. One of the UK’s biggest independent film festivals, it was originally formed to promote independent horror films. The fest gives an opportunity to fright-fare features and shorts that are not normally played on the big screen. Taking place at The Park Inn Palace Hotel (Southend-on-Sea), the festival will run over two weekends, from Friday, January 10 to Sunday, January 12, and then Friday, January 17 to Sunday, January 19. Many of the screenings of more than 36 features and 62 shorts will include introductions by the filmmakers themselves. I have reviewed the incredible Bloodsucker’s Planet for Horror Fuel (read here), and can highly recommend adding that film to your must-see list. Among the other announced features that I am greatly looking forward to are Peruvian fear-fare anthology Witch Tales, U.K. home invasion horror outing Nefarious,
Continue reading →
