Sweet Taste of Souls is currently out on VOD. Vincent M. Gaine spoke to the writer, Felicity Mudgett about the film and her experience as a scriptwriter. 





​Vincent Gaine 

Do you consider Sweet Taste of Souls a horror film? 

Felicity Mudgett

It was written as a horror, and always when you get down to it, you start with a script but what you’re able to film, the push and pull of the logistics and the actors, the taste of the director, they all paint different layers on top of what the original script is. I think our director, what she did was a little bit more psychological thriller. Horror has a lot of sub-genres, but it’s nice to think that it has appeal on a bunch of different frequencies if you think about it that way. I think the more that you can give an audience, the better. For the people that are looking for a slasher, for example, it’s not the film for them, but people that are looking for something a little bit more quirky, more towards Twilight Zone or Hitchcock, something that’s going to benefit them, or people who are feminist, they are going to find that more interesting. Everything I wrote the to be was multi-layered so that you could watch it and, if you were so inspired, watch it again and be able to pick up more. As a writer it’s interesting, because I love irony and set-ups and pay-offs, watch it a second or third time and pick up on that stuff. 

As a writer, what I owe an audience is kind of a sacred covenant. This is where my business background: you’re going to take twenty bucks from someone or, more importantly, their time, and time is life, it’s a deal where you say, within the confines of this genre and within the promise of the poster, you’re going to deliver that to the audience. Everything extra is bonus value. If I give them twenty dollars of entertainment, that’s my job but I want to give them $150 worth of entertainment. This is an unassuming, unpretentious type of film, we can only do so much with the budget that we were working around, and fortunately the horror genre has a very forgiving, very committed type of fanbase which I love! I want to give them more – at the end of the day are they in a different place than they were at the beginning? I hope that they would be, I wanted to deliver an ending that was perfectly understandable within the context of the premise. Throw people around and hit those marks that are prerequisites of the horror genre. I think horror calls for very deep, bone-chilling type of terror, and there’s a lot of different types of terror. The scariest movie I ever saw was The Blair Witch Project, and it had me grabbing the thigh of my poor little fourteen year-old niece! I had to get a drink after that movie, but what’s scary to one person is not going to be so scary to another, it depends on taste, so I try to hit those things. In a romance, you have to have that first kiss, otherwise people feel like they’ve been gypped, because it’s a requisite of the genre. After you hit those, then you can do a lot of things, which is what I was trying to do. Why even write to horror, because certainly the world has enough gore and terror, you don’t need to add to that, but since fright is a very deep emotion, if you can use that to make a point or to bring somebody to a different place from where they started, that’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to introduce a theme, I emphasised it more towards the end, if you can have the audience think about how does this relate to me, and without finger-wagging ‘This is really going to relate to you!’ First and foremost, entertain the audience, and if you can give them a little bit more extra value than what they paid for and secondly, at the end, are they in a different place, is what I was hoping to do, and it all turns on this age-old question of what is evil? 

VG

This was your first credited script. However, everything you were just saying indicates familiarity with genre and with script structure. How did this project come to you, and how did you approach it, incorporating all of that knowledge you had? 

FM 

I think that deep down I was always a writer, because I have always been writing. But when I was younger, I didn’t want to make it a career, I didn’t want to do it for money. People in their twenties, they think they are pretty smart, it’s not until you get to your thirties, forties, fifties, that you understand how stupid you were in your twenties. Finally, I figured I’ve got something to say. 

On the very practical side of writing, I came in, I don’t have a big body of work that’s been published but this is what I’d like to do so how do I do it? It became kind of a head-scratcher, well how I do that, I’m pretty close to LA. I read all the books, go to the seminars, talk to the people, I did every speck of learning that I could possibly do and to do it well. Particularly story structure, because that is the backbone of the story, it goes back all the way to the Greeks, the three-act structure, the hero’s journey and all that, how can I incorporate all these disparate things and put them into some project that I want to do now. Horror wasn’t my first choice although I do like horror. My first script was actually a fantasy romance, but then the very practical side, the business background, said this is never going to go anywhere, it’s going to be in a drawer, because the movie business is a business, so if it doesn’t have a place to go, if it’s going to die in a drawer somewhere, what’s the point? 

So then, in addition to the fact that horror is a very intriguing genre, it became a very practical genre for me. With horror, people don’t expect high production values, they don’t want it overproduced, they want something very visceral that they can relate to, you don’t have to have named actors, you don’t have to have buildings blowing up. Limited sets, monster in the house, they are all part and parcel of that genre. So I said, how hard can it be? It’s actually very hard. It’s like when you watch somebody with a golf swing, looks so easy. It’s hard. My background is a little bit different from most people in that I understand there’s a business side to it. This story was kind of pre-wired for the sequel, and hopefully we’ll get more money for the sequel which we’ve had overtures for and in fact, even doing this, word got out, Hollywood people called saying can we buy this project from you? My producing partner at Flying Dolphin said no, let’s just do it. You get to a certain point in life and ask how did you spend your day? Life for the audience is very important, this is the project I’d like to do, let’s do it the best we can and see what happens. We did everything the way that we could possibly do it the best we could, gave it the best chance. Of course, things come up and you think how do I overcome this obstacle? But you get older, so your bag of tricks is deeper, so it’s all good. 

VG

You mentioned earlier that you thought Sweet Taste of Souls was something that would play to fans of The Twilight Zone. Watching it, it did very much remind me of The Twilight Zone and The X-Files. I wonder, do these comparisons resonate with your own? Referring to your bag of tricks, what were further influences that you drew upon while writing? 

FM 

I don’t want to say a feminist bent, it’s so de rigeur to say I’m a feminist but I’m a feminist, because I would like to see the female story more in popular entertainment than what I do see. For me, as a feminist, it’s interesting to note, why don’t characters like Batman or James Bond have a character arc, why are they no different in the end than they are in the beginning? This is all part of the onus on the writer, to put somebody in a different place than they were at the beginning. Let’s make a world, let’s be different than they were at the beginning. The corollary is that’s how women had been written out of the definition of hero throughout the ages so that’s what I tried to turn on its head when I wrote this screenplay. As soon as I had the hook, the concept, I had the whole thing, it was just a question of writing it out, beginning, middle and end, this was good. When I started writing the character of Ellinore, now she’s the villain, but is she the villain? This was something I kind of turned on its head because you never really want to justify why somebody is doing something evil or bad, but when you get to the point where you understand why that person is doing something evil or bad, then here’s a flashlight pointing at us. This is what I wanted to give the audience, because when I was considering evil as a character, at first it’s living in our head, then it’s living in our office, then it’s in a bunch of different places, and this is what we as people, as humans, have to consider, evil is always trying to, keep evil as a separate thing, Joker, whatever, these are influences that are outside of the character where the audience is, where the protagonist is, but what if evil isn’t out there, it’s in here and it’s trying to get in here, this is what we have to guard against. That’s what I wanted to get into in my movie, turn the definition of the villain on its head a little bit and maybe people consider, this is what revenge, the main character says, you want my soul, you’re not getting my soul, you offer revenge, I’m not afraid of you and that’s a big thing to be able to say. My character Nate, he is the hero, and I want him to say I am you, that’s what we always have to guard against. 

VG 

Talking about the writing process, there’s always an assumption that the events we see in the film, the main narrative, will be the most interesting events in the characters’ lives. There were some interesting backstories here, particularly between Kyle and Nate, as well as Lily. Was there a particular challenge or balancing act between the earlier events and those of the current drama, or indeed balancing between the different characters, that of Ellinore and that of the kids? What can you tell us about the balancing act of those different dramas? 

FM 

The actors were asking me about this, I try to defer everything to the director’s interpretation of what the script was, but they were asking. If you’ve ever done stories, there’s a start, and then somewhere, towards the end of the first act, sometime in there, they make allusions to the backstory. It’s tricky to weave in a backstory if you want, first of all, the psychological aspect of the characters and you want to give the actors a basis so they aren’t just saying lines, these are the lines of a person who’s lived an entire life before this story begins. The B-line story, for those two actors, I wanted to give them a reason to be in conflict the entire movie when they have a separate thing that they have to resolve by the end. Kyle is very upset with his brother for not standing up and he’s too much in his head so, it’s very Hamlet, you’re in your head so much that you don’t act, so I tried to examine different ways that brothers have conflict on a subterranean level, they are not thinking about the thing that they are fighting about, they’re really fighting about conflicts that are unresolved between them, that’s kind of a B-story through the movie. There’s some symbolism there, I don’t know if you noticed, the handshake is very metaphorical, layered in there in a very subtle way, and different audiences want different levels so I don’t want to be too heavy-handed with that, I just want it to be entertaining, but if you look at the movie a second time and look for the symbols and what’s going on behind these characters, hopefully you’ll find a lot more going on.

VG 

In terms of getting the cast together, was it a long audition process? Were there particular actors in mind early on? At what stage in the overall production did the casting take place? 

FM 

This is an interesting question because it’s something I learned in process. I anticipated that as a writer, but I didn’t know how to deal with it. When you’re writing a character, in screenwriting you don’t have the latitude anyway because you can’t really say what’s in people’s thoughts, how constrictive do I form a character? The more constrictively the character is defined, the fewer actors will be able to fit in that part authentically. I wanted to write a part where the borders of the character are defined because the character has to tag certain plot points, realistically, but I wanted to write characters that were kind of open enough so that when we found the actor it would be just a moment of surprise. Every actor has a well of their personal experiences, so when they are trying to do a character, if the character’s loose enough so that they feel free to dig deep and bring that person to the character that’s in the thing, the character has to be written loosely enough to do that, so they feel free to examine what they have to give. So that was kind of a dichotomy I was working with. I was sure I would intuit to where the writing is still right. I’m writing about younger characters and people are different now to when I was twenty, I wanted to leave that for the younger characters to interpret. It wasn’t like I was afraid I couldn’t do it, but I didn’t want to do it because I thought it would be easier and more effective to do it the way that I did it. 

I was involved in the whole preproduction side as well and when there was picking, choosing, they would ask what did I think about, and I really tried to be standoffish because I have to turn it over because I don’t want to hamstring anybody else’s decisions. These professionals are throwing their mojo and I’m not pre-determining what it is. If you ask me my opinion, I’ll tell you but I’m going to stand back. It’s interesting, some of the characters, like for example the actor who played the character of Wendy, I saw her reel and I was like ‘Oh my god!’ and the guy who played Nate too, I was really tickled and amazed when John Salandria and Mark Valeriano developed this rapport with each other, as brothers. They are different but the chemistry was just beautiful. And the lady that played Lily, she brought this kind of simmering thing, all I wanted for the person, as I said it’s pre-wired for the sequel so she’s right there. The most interesting character that I had no conception for what they would look like, and I specifically didn’t want to, was the lady that ended up playing Ellinore Hunt, Honey Lauren, because the director took the look of that character in a much different direction than I had thought it through, and I’m really glad I stood back because she just brought another dimension. And when the actor is allowed to bring their dimension into a character like this it goes sterling and there’s are things that came out of Honey Lauren that were just like, OK, cool! 

I was on the set the whole time and I kept leaving because [mimes chewing nails]. Normally they don’t allow the writer on the set because they go nuts, I would have absolutely gone nuts, but I had my bit in the whole time. And I was very heavily involved in the editing process through the producer particularly, but I was on her shoulder. This was the footage that we have, and depending how you cut stuff, you can be very cunning, we could have turned our script into a comedy easily, and we could have turned it into a drama easily, it depends what you want to cut this to. Then I was glad to have been back on board because I saw what we had, and I saw what we had written, and what’s taking the best of both worlds? 

You might be interested to learn the happy coincidences of the edit process. When we were filming, the scene that was really seminal because it’s the climax of the third act, we were not happy with the footage that we got because there was a lot of greenscreen work there, there was some technical issue, it was not good, but by then we had worked with our computer graphics guy, or modelling guy, who said ‘You know what, I bet we could use this film and part computer enhance it. What would that give us?’ We can’t bring everyone back, it’s too expensive, how do we make this good? So then with this, what we call Shadow World, when Nate gets out of this world into the other world, what can we do with that? Oh, we could do this, we could apply this, we could put extra lines of dialogue in, it was better. I thought it was better than the original script. The original script also called for a pretty complex scene where the kids are fighting the cat as they exit the photograph. Again we were limited, it’s not Hollywood, and during preproduction I rewrote that to accommodate what we could actually do, but a lot of that was not doable, it was in my head, it wasn’t functionally doable, it will be doable for the next movie, I think we’ve got more money, which will be good! 

VG 

One of things I find most interesting about the production process is learning about the happy accidents. You’ve mentioned that certain things turned out not the way you expected – when you finally saw the finished product, did it surprise you? 

FM 

I was very happy with the finished product. When we first started editing, I thought we don’t even have a movie, but then, oh yes we do! We didn’t quite get this; we can edit it in, we can cut this. We’ve got to get from point A to point B – in the story it’s a straight line. We don’t have that, they didn’t film it. OK, well actually, if we edit this, this and this, we’ve obtained this, but we didn’t do it in a straightforward way, which is actually a more interesting way sometimes to tell a story. Not by cause and effect but by other things happening and then the audience understands this movement, they understand it in a 3D way because you went 3D to get there, so it’s better, actually. It’s not always better, but it can be, so we were fortunate about that. 

The whole process of the back side of producing the movie, which I’m now pretty familiar with has given me a great new tool to write to because again, this is back at the beginning, again it’s a business. The more tools you have as an artist, and I like to say artist, the more chance that something I make will actually go somewhere. To put a painting in the closet is no victory, even a brilliant painting in a closet, I am aghast that that’s what happens to some great works, the writers, the creators don’t understand that there are constraints that you have to work around. They are constraints but they are not really constraints, they just give you borders, you scratch your head and come up with solutions. 

VG

Now that the film is finished and on its way, what are the stages of its release and distribution?

FM 

It will be released as part of an All Souls Day marketing blitz that TriCoast is putting together for us. It’s going to be on a lot of different platforms, Amazon, AT&T Direct TV, and Hulu, which is very fortunate for us. We were picked up, which is a happy thing, but I think a lot of independent film people, they’re at all these festivals and thinking please pick me up, it just kind of happened, we just networked in the right way, we’re not even in LA, so it was kind of a miracle. They are working on an international marketing strategy, we’re in communication with them about that, because the producer, she was pretty high up in Oracle, so it’s a collaboration, well, they are doing all the work, but we’ve had two cents here and there, I think they’ve been helpful, with ideas for that. It’s been two years in the process of preproduction, production, postproduction, over a year in postproduction, and that’s what it takes. You’re so naïve about how movies are made until you’re actually in the nitty gritty of camera angles and intellectual property and W9 forms, a whole business sense. The independent film producer, they’re artistic but they don’t have necessarily the business sense to bring the whole thing to fruition which again, our extensive business background was very helpful to us. So that’s what’s going on with that and we’re talking to TriCoast, and we’re talking to other people too, about further work along what will hopefully be a series of movies based on the premise that evil can infect somebody and then it pops out in another direction, another iteration of the whole conflict: do the right thing, don’t trade in your soul or bad things happen. 

VG

However sweet they may taste. 

FM

The title, Sweet Taste of Souls, refers to evil is always hungry to convert people, and it’s more attracted to good people. So if you’ve got a good heart you need to be more aware of how it’s trying to get you. It seduces, it’s got every bag of tricks. The sinister voice changes through the movie, because evil can do anything, it’ll get you, it knows all the stuff, it’ll seduce you, you have to be careful. 

VG 

The bakery and the cherry pie, plus the broader setting of Angel Falls, I was reminded of Twin Peaks. Was that a conscious homage on your part or the director’s part?

FM

That was kind of after the fact, oh, Twin Peaks! Somebody else mentioned that, with the locus of the evil being in a small town. No, because the subsequent stories that were derivatives, they all came from different places because evil comes from different places. But I chose the pie shop for a number of different reasons. It’s a place that should be, ooh, apple pie or cherry pie is better because it’s a very sexual thing, it should be a place where you should be able to just go in, it’s these little life things, should be the most innocent place possible but it’s not. When the kids are coming into the pie shop, they have to step right over the dog puke, so when your little spidey-sense goes off, don’t go in the basement, the omens come in, I was playing with that too. You always get warned not to go in, how can I turn that on its head as well? It was all fun: learn the conventions and think OK, I’m not going to compare myself to Picasso or anything, but the thing is you learn the convention, then you can break it if you have a good reason to. A lot of people don’t learn the convention and they trample all over everything. Wheels are round for a reason, because they work. If you’re going to make a polygon wheel you’d better have a really good reason why that’s going to work, because you’re not doing wheels anymore, you’re doing hoverboards. That’s OK, but once you understand transportation you can do something new. 

VG 

As you say, you have a whole bag of tricks and background that you have drawn on for this. What kind of advice would you give to aspiring screenwriters? 

FM 

I had very good advice from a man at one of the seminars in LA. He said to me don’t go to film school. Go to film school, but don’t go to film school. Be involved in a film set, so you know, because again I will warn you, do not write a script that ends up in a drawer. Learn about business, learn about the marginal sale, learn about the genres, respect the genre and learn about story. Hollywood makes movies that sell because there are templates and plot points, and if you can write the structure that’s sound, then it will support any type of story. Think it through, do not just start writing, sketch out the map of the whole story first, because when you build a house, don’t just create a house, figure out what the buyer wants, if you can have someone commission you as an architect, because everyone’s committed to the buyer. And then, do the whole thing up, and the very last thing, dialogue, because dialogue is like throw pillows. If you’re writing and you have pithy little dialogue things here and there, don’t lose them, write them down, but you don’t want to write your whole script and think oh my god, I forgot to put a powder room in the first floor. That’s a beginner mistake. I can put that in now, but now I’m going to have to do my permitting again, put in more plumbing lines, more electrical lines. Story is like that because it’s operating on six different levels at the same time. Conceptualise the story broadly, write the story framework, make sure you honour your genre, and then write it. Then rewrite it, then rewrite it. 

To quote Aaron Sorkin, I was at a seminar with him too, he said, as a writer you sit in front of your computer, and you write, and then you rewrite, and you bash your head against the screen until blood comes out. That’s the writing process. Think about that, that’s a lot, so it seems like a little thing, it’s not, it’s a lot. And they say, of all the different careers, writers reach their peak the latest in life, they give the example, if you’re a gymnast you peak at thirteen, but writers, once you finally have something to say, you take all these disparate things, at all different levels, and then you make sense of them. Younger people write with a lot of clarity because they don’t have all of this, but older people can write on a lot of different levels because they just have the life experience. That’s my advice, learn about your craft, I don’t like the word craft because that’s beer, beer talk, everyone uses the word craft, but it really is a craft, writing is a craft, understanding the business is a craft, take advice, read the books. Writing a good story is very psychological too, read the Diagnosticians’ Dehisce manual of mental disorders, read that, that’ll throw some tabasco on your fire, read psychology, read things, understand your god, lace that in there too, good and evil. 

VG

You mentioned that Sweet Taste of Souls will hopefully get a sequel. Is that going to be your next project, or do you have something else on the go at the moment? 

FM 

We have in development a couple of different projects. We’ve been approached to a TV series on the paranormal, that’s going to be a big time-suck, although I’m very interested in that. We did some interesting paranormal things happen on set…

VG

Cool! Can you give us an example of a paranormal occurrence on set? 

FM

Oh yeah! We filmed the last scene in a tattoo parlour, and it’s an actual tattoo parlour in Ramona, California, that used to be a stagecoach stop. We talked to the owner, who was very good to us, who told us, this is a small little place, four room, one storey building, and he told us all the different people that had died in this place, several of whom committed suicide. In the last scene of our thing, somebody committed suicide in that room, two or three of them! He said the place is so haunted that he’s walked outside the place and had the door lock behind him, like watched the key turn. I’m like, OK, now we’re between scenes and there’s a lot of glass, like an aquarium in there, so I thought if there’s a spirit here, would you please manifest in our footage? I’m thinking if there’s something on camera, social media would have a heyday with that! But it wasn’t. Actually, the moment that I said that, the lightbulb above my head blew up, and something just went whoosh! I am not kidding, it went right through me, out the door, whatever it was, it’s giving me goose pimples just recollecting that. 

And that’s not the least of it. Another weird thing was, there’s a picture in the dining room, we probably took it off for copyright purposes, but there was a photograph of a lady in the dining room, it was actually the grandmother of the lady running the shop, and that lady’s name in the picture on the wall was Ellinore! It’s weird. Again and again and again, we had many of those things, but that’s the one I was personally familiar with. 

The next story’s going to be tattoo-oriented, which is very fertile. I saw once a little video of an extreme close-up of a pair of tattooing needles going into the skin of somebody, and that’s a metaphor for my recurring theme of evil getting into you, but it’s also penetrating and it’s sexual. The tattoo community is a very big, committed community, I don’t think that they’ve been honoured with a movie about them yet. It’s going to take a lot of research to get that right, because I’m outside of that. Again, if you look around, again just turn it on its ear, understand it, and what can we do that will be different and maybe tell it in a better way. 

In your story, you have to get, again, from point A to point B, because a certain thing or dialogue has to pass between people, so everybody normally thinks, well, how at about the dining room table, that’s a beginner. Think about five other locations, OK, let’s have them do that at while bowling, or jumping out of a plane. You start thinking about how can that affect the same plot point, but in a more entertaining way. That’s how I’ve been looking at the whole writing process and storytelling process: this is what I want to say, what’s the most entertaining way that I can tell it? Always honouring the audience, the audience’s opinion, whether they’ve enjoyed themselves or not, I just want to make this interesting and fun for them, for their twenty bucks, you take their time, take away somebody’s life for two hours, 98 minutes, then don’t cheat them for goodness sake! Moviemaking and filmmaking are fundamentally two different things. Hollywood moviemakers, one end at the extreme, the decision is made to go ahead, greenlight a project, those decisions are made by accountants, and that’s why oftentimes you walk out of the movie and, OK I was entertained, but I kind of feel like I just had cheap Chinese food. It’s all gone already, I’m still hungry, was that it? They’ve made their quadrants or whatever they’re trying to do, when you have two hours of entertainment decided by an accountant, I mean there’s all the other people, but versus the far other extreme where you have filmmakers who are artistic and when they make their art they make it for them. In either scenario, the audience are short-shifted, because it should always be about the audience, and I think that’s where both ends of that spectrum miss the mark a little bit. That’s another thing I would say: put your magic on something that people are going to really enjoy, and see what happens. 

VG

I like that. I think putting your magic on something that you want to enjoy is a really nice sentiment to end things on. But I do have one other question that I always like to ask: you mentioned earlier that The Blair Witch Project was your scariest film experience. Would you say that’s also your favourite horror movie? 

FM 

Oh no. My favourite horror movie is Tremors, which is a comedic horror. That’s my favourite one. Some great lines in that one. And also, we’re gonna need a bigger boat! John Williams, I’d kill him, my legs cannot go in the ocean, and I live by the ocean! Just my ankles go in and der dum der dum. I was scarred for life by that movie. Rosemary’s Baby, there are all sorts of different horror films. I’m not particularly fond of slashers, gore for gore’s sake, and I don’t want to go way off into the deep end there, not my cup of tea. But there are people who that and do that well, not me, no. 

VG 

​Thank you so much for talking with me, Felicity. This has been really interesting as always. Best of luck with the film! 

2) Martyrs (2008)

Beloved by us in the horror field and what a twisted masterpiece this is. I remember my first and only watch of Martyrs with my house mate serveral years ago and the silence that we had between us as the credits rolled. Martyrs is the depraved story of one women looking to get revenge and murder the people who tormented and tortured her as a child. What we get is a disturbing but visually stunning revenge horror that will change you as a film fan.

1) The Last House on the Left (1972)

Wes Craven’s first film and his most brutal and hard to watch. A tale a parental revenge on the scum that raped and murdered their daughter. This has one of the most harrowing scenes in horror history and righfully should be on the video nasty list, however this is a must watch for horror fans.

Creepy urban legends are known to receive plenty of attention online. If you’re a fan of a horror story, you’ll definitely enjoy taking a look at some of the most frightening folklores that have been around far longer than you’ve been alive. To celebrate the release of The Curse of La Llorona arriving in cinemas May 3rd, we’ve curated a list of some of the spookiest folktales from around the world! Read on if you dare…

1. For people who may not know you tell us about yourself and How did the podcast come about?
 
Hello! I am Kelly, aka Street Trash from the Coming to Get you Podcast. I live and breathe horror films and I have done since I was 6 years old. CTGY all started when I was in some dire office job and I'd sit there for hours listening to other podcasts and I just thought "I want to do this." Me and my best mate Rich were always having massive talks about horror films over Xbox Live when gaming so I was like "Fuck it, let's do it ourselves!"
 
2. What was your entry point into horror?
 
When I was 6 years old I went downstairs for a drink at dickhead o'clock one night. My older brother was watching a VHS tape and turned it off but I was curious about what it was. He declined me wanting to watch it but I promised I wouldn't get scared. The film was Scream. Wes Craven absolutely kick started my love of all things horror and I haven't been the same since!
 
3. What has been your favourite episode of the podcast so far?
 
I would say I had a lot of fun recording the IT: Chapter 1 episode. I was really, really looking forward to seeing it and I had a ton of fun getting to finally talk about it. My top film of 2017. Although some films we choose to watch are bad, they can be fun to rip the piss out of, too.
 

4. What is your Favourite horror subgenre? And what film would you recommend from it.
 
I am a massive sucker for the slasher subgenre. They're mostly all the same thing over and over again but it is still fun and very silly.
I would recommend the obvious mainstream slashers, of course. But I also really love Stage Fright and The Burning.
​
 
5. Favourite horror film of ALL TIME?
 
This is easy. Scream! First one I watched and it opened up a whole new world of crazy things for me. As I grew up I understood the references from other films which made me love it more. I'd also say I appreciate it because Craven saved the dying slasher genre where there were just so many stupid sequels being churned out. It was a game changer.
 
6. Worst horror film you have seen?
 
I have seen a lot of trash. Like, A LOT. I always say the remake of The Wicker Man.. because.. I mean, come on. But one I hated from last year was Slenderman. It was just fucking ridiculous. But weirdly enough.. that is the film we're going to record about next week.. and absolutely tear it apart. It'll be a laugh.

7. What advice would you give people who may want to start podcasting?
 
I had zero experience when I started CTGY. No idea about editing or promoting or anything. I think it's easier for me and Rich as we're best mates and we can just kick back and have a casual chat about horror films and it just comes naturally to us. But I'd say be confident. If it's your passion, I think it will just spill out. Smooth out the sound quality as much as you can, and promote, promote, promote. Engage with listeners a lot.
 
8. What is next for yourself and the podcast?
 
The IT: Chapter 2 trailer drops tomorrow so we're going to be watching it and then discussing it immediately after for a bonus episode. We did it for the trailer for the first film so why not do it for this one?
 
You can follow the Coming to Get You Podcast at the following social media outlets and website
 
Twitter @CTGYpodcast
Website http://comingtogetyoupodcast.wordpress.com
Kelly's Twitter @streetXXtrash
Rich's Twitter @richicrypt
​

With the Snakebite Horrorcast Podcast heading to you ear holes this month I wanted to celebrate one of the best horror podcasts out there today, and to be honest one of the big inspirations for me starting the podcast. The Evolution of Horror podcast is the brain child of BFI's Mike Muncer which takes the listener on a journey through the evolution of the horror genre covering all the subgenres that horror has to horror. So far they have covered The Slasher, Folk Horror, Supernatural and are currently covering the Zombie Sub-Genre. Mike was kind enough to give up some of his time to answer a few questions, where he talks his favourite horror, his work at BFI and his advise for budding podcasters.


For people who may not know you tell us about yourself and how you got involved in the film business.

I’m a producer, which is one of those nonsense titles that could mean a thousand different things…but I work predominantly in TV, Film and Online video. I spent several years working on a film review programme at the BBC called Film 2019 (the title would change depending on the year!) It was a bit of a dream-come-true job, I got to meet famous film stars, go on film sets, meet lots of film critics, make lots of videos and edit lots of features. Since that show ended I’ve been doing lots of other film journalism and video…I make videos for the BFI (British Film Institute), Digital Spy, MTV, Disney, Netflix and other fun places!

How did the podcast come about?

Working in TV and digital video, it’s always about making everything SHORT and SNAPPY. I’ve always been obsessed with the horror genre, and one of my favourite pieces I made for the BBC film programme was a feature on the history of horror, featuring Kim Newman, Andy Nyman and a bunch of other legends in the horror industry. I’d shot and written enough material to make an entire 60 minute programme about the subject, but I was only allowed to make it 4 minutes max! I really love the relaxed, long-form nature of podcasts, and thought, why not put my producing skills (and my contacts book of film critics!) to good use and devote hundreds of hours to my favourite genre?


What was your entry point into horror?

My first taste of the scary and the macabre was the video to Michael Jackson’s Thriller. I watched it aged 4 and was instantly obsessed. My family owned the VHS of the video and according to my parents I watched it repeatedly as a young child. It also had a ‘Making Of’ featurette after the video and I found that equally as fascinating. I think this gave birth to my love of horror and filmmaking. The first real horror movie experience was Scream (1996). I was 11 years old and terrified by the opening scene with Drew Barrymore but couldn’t stop watching. I loved it from start to finish. I didn’t get any of the “meta’ references the characters made, but it didn’t matter. In fact, it gave me titles to seek out, it was my gateway drug!


What has been your favourite seasons of the podcast?

My favourite sub-genre is probably ghostly / supernatural, so I loved doing the season on ghosts and covering some of my favourite movies like The Shining, The Innocents and The Orphanage…however, the season I’m most proud of is the one on Folk Horror. It’s such a strange sub-genre that’s hard to define and this gave me license to have so much fun with such and including such a variety of films. I got to somehow argue that The Night Of The Hunter, Straw Dogs, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Wicker Man, Get Out and The Blair Witch Project were all part of the same sub-genre. It sparked so much conversations, feedback and debates with the listeners. I loved it.

Who has been your favourite guest / favourite episode so far?

There are so many, this feels like choosing my favourite child. Can I give you five? I loved episode 1 with Kim Newman, because…it’s Kim Newman! My favourite single film discussion would be The Texas Chain Saw Massacre with Jamie Graham, because it’s my favourite ever horror film and because Jamie Graham is so incredibly insightful, funny, knowledgeable and interesting. Discussing BBC’s Ghostwatch with Boyd Hilton and its director Lesley Manning was an incredible treat, I’m proud of that episode. I always love having Jen Handorf on the show because she gives a unique insight as a film producer, so talks about movies like Dawn Of The Dead from a different perspective to most journalists and critics. I could also listen to Louise Blain all day long and she makes subjects I wouldn’t otherwise be interested in (like video games or The Conjuring movies) sound fascinating. But honestly, I love every single guest.


 Which non obvious sub-genre would you really like to look at in the future?

One that explores ‘the mind’…I’m not sure what you’d call it…psychological horror? Movies like Jacob’s Ladder, Repulsion and anything directed by David Lynch.


What is your Favourite subgenre? And what film would you recommend from it.

It’s got to be ghost movies. I love horror that scares me, and nothing is scarier than a well made ghost movie. I’d recommend The Innocents (1961) to anyone who hasn’t seen it. Don’t be fooled by thinking it’s a stuffy, old fashioned black & white movie. Watch it in the dark, with the volume up high. It’s still absolutely terrifying.

Favourite horror film

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is the greatest horror movie ever made, I truly believe that. But it’s hard to watch over and over. My personal favourites that I can watch repeatedly are The Shining, The Wicker Man, Black Christmas, The Descent and The Night Of The Hunter. I realise I cheated and just named six.


Worst horror film you have seen?

The Nun (2018). Of course there are heaps of cheap rubbish horror films out there, but The Nun had buckets of money behind it, a director with a great track record, a creepy setting, scary backstory, a terrifying character, yet they still somehow managed to make it eye-rollingly dull. It’s almost impressive that it turned out as bad as it was.


What advice would you give people who may want to start podcasting?

You might think that making a podcast that’s about a broad topic like ‘film’ is going to get you more listeners, but in fact it’s the opposite, pick a niche instead: Horror movies, comics, sci-fi, heavy metal music, rap, Grange Hill, fishing, whatever it might be…something specific, it’s much more likely to find a passionate (and loyal) audience.


What is next for yourself and the podcast?

The zombie series will be ending in the next few weeks and then I’ll be kicking off series 5 later this year! But I can’t reveal what that is yet…I’ll also be doing some work with Frightfest in London in the summer.

You can find the evolution of horror pod over at https://evolutionofhorror.libsyn.com/ along with any podcasting format i.e iTunes.

You can also follow them on Twitter https://twitter.com/EvolutionPod and over of Facebook.

As writer, director, producer Juliane Block prepares to shoot Zombie home invasion movie HOBBES HOUSE, she reveals her early obsession with monster make-up, casting for a big fantasy Xmas movie and her fascination for the dark side of the human mind. 
​

So tell us how HOBBES HOUSE was developed?
 
I always felt like I needed to get back to shooting an out-and-out horror film. There's nothing like the fun on the set of a Zombie flick. While waiting for Lyra's Wish, my next big project to be greenlit, I was talking to executive producer Malcolm Winter if he was game to shoot and finance a low budget film in between. Malcolm came back to me with a figure he felt comfortable raising in a very short time span. That was in October 2018. Wolf-Peter Arand, the writer, immediately got to work, developing the story together. He went on to write a treatment and from the treatment the script, and here we are in February 2019, fully immersed in pre-production and the shoot scheduled for February / March.
 
How would you best describe it?
 
Hobbes House is a hybrid of two classic horror themes: the spooky horror house and a classic Zombie tale: When down on her luck Jane Doherty learns about the death of her grandmother she expects a life-saving inheritance but finds herself battling bloodthirsty Zombies instead, fighting for her life.
 
This will be the first time you’ve directed a feature film in the UK. Excited?
 
I'm super excited! It's not my first British production, but different then my last film 3 Lives, this will be entirely shot with British actors on British grounds. And there's nothing as entertaining as being on set with Zombies. I’m looking forward to three very intense and fun filled weeks in Bristol.
 
Looks like you’ll continue to be based in the UK to direct a family adventure film, LYRA’S WISH, in which a little girl takes it upon herself to save Santa Claus from extinction.  What can you tell us about the project?
 

Hobbes’ House
 
I’m working very closely with screenwriter Wolf-Peter Arand. Sitting together, trying to get 3 Lives off the ground and getting somewhat frustrated about it, we thought about doing something different. Animals are commercial, family entertainment is and everyone loves Christmas. So we threw those three elements into one story and garnered it with fantastic creatures and old traditional myth around Christmas.
 
We had some very exciting news for Lyra's Wish over the holiday. Two major stars have expressed their serious interest to star in the movie. We are just waiting for the Letter of Intent from one, and I'm scheduled to have a talk to the other one possibly next week. Once that's all signed, I hope to be able to openly announce their attachment. 
You’ve recently completed two unflinching thrillers, 3 LIVES and 8 REMAINS. Both deal with the psychological trauma of sexual abuse but shot in very different ways. Can you tell us what inspired you to make them?
 
3 Lives was inspired by my own past. The story has nothing to do with what happened to me, but certainly helped me to come to terms with some ugly events in my own past. 8 Remains was written by Laura Sommer, and that she is interested in similar subjects shows the importance of this topic for all women, and subsequently also men I believe.
 
I believe the numbers out in the public about how many women had to deal with sexual abuse in their lives are only showing half the truth. For 3 Lives it was 94% of all female crew. I therefore believe we need films portraying abuse through stories written by women and through the eyes of women. When men write about or portray abuse, women almost always end up to be absolute mad revenge angels, or the victims who deal with the abuse internally. But the truth lies in between. 

You live and work in Germany. What are your thoughts about the current state of the horror genre there?
 
We have great recent developments in the Indie film scene in Germany. More and more filmmakers are looking for a way outside the common funding system, which is not appreciative of genre, and are doing their own films, funded in creative ways. I think give it a couple more years, and we might have a number of great horror films also coming from Germany.
 

3 Lives
 
What were your early influences in deciding to become a film director?
 
I had an early obsession with make-up, when I was about eight or nine. My mom gave neighbourhood parties for the local women, selling beauty make-up. I collected the left overs and used them to create my own make-ups: it was always all about monsters, never anything pretty (in the common sense.) I started to experiment with latex and foam as teenager, moving on to Zombie masks. When I finally met Marc Fehse, a fellow student at University who was working on a no budget Zombie flick, that was my introduction into the world of filmmaking, and I loved it.
 
You made your directorial debut with the short film UNSECURED LOAN in 2007. What gave you the inspiration to choose the violent world of drug-dealing in Malaysia?
 
I’m fascinated by the dark side of the human mind. When I came to Malaysia, I realised at some point that I can’t wait forever of the perfect job opportunity to come my way in the film industry. If I want things to happen, I have to do this myself.
 
My brother wrote a short story, which the film is loosely based on. I used it and adapted it for the screen in Malaysia. I think my specific interest in loan sharking was also due to the fact, that it’s something which happens a lot more aggressively in Asia than in Europe.
 
The Horror genre is enjoying a terrific global resurgence. What’s your take on this?
 
Whenever there's political turmoil in the world, horror, and specifically Zombie films become very popular. Currently, with Brexit looming, with Trump in the US and a number of populists rising in mainland Europe (not to talk about wars and conflicts on other continents) I believe it's an expression of the feeling of the people. 
 
Which directors do you admire and why?
 
One of my favourite directors is the Korean director Kim Jee Woon. I stumbled across his films in Singapore, when randomly choosing his movie The Good The Bad The Weird. I was blown away. I think he combines wit with stunning pictures and a captivating story.
 

8 Remains
 
I really like Taiki Waititi’s, who recently directed Thor 3. I was laughing throughout his film  What we do in the Shadows and I think his move from this indie film to Thor 3 is really inspiring.
 
Last but not least I really admire Patty Jenkins. I loved what she did with Wonder Woman and of course I believe there should be more women directing super hero movies.
 
What else is in the pipeline?
 
Currently I’m in the process of optioning a German Children’s book, which is kind of a nice follow up project to Lyra’s Wish and would be the first German film I’d direct. There’s a Sci-Fi Action adventure called Foster, which I started writing years ago and a Sci-Fi thriller called The Fall of Men.
 
HOBBES HOUSE will go into production on Feb 17, shooting for three weeks on locations in Bristol, UK.
​
Interview supplied by Clout Communications

Ahead of the UK premiere of Adrián García Bogliano’s hypnotic BLACK CIRCLE at Arrow Video FrightFest Glasgow 2019, star and Swedish exploitation icon Christina Lindberg reflects on memorable moments, meeting Tarantino and making a comeback.
 
How did your modelling career start and did that inevitably lead to your career as an actress?
 
I was discovered the classic way; on the beach at the age of 18. After having been photographed as a “bathing girl” for most of the newspapers in southern Sweden, I was asked to do a centrefold shoot for one of Sweden’s biggest men’s magazines, by Siwer Ohlsson, the most celebrated glamour girl photographer of the time. I said yes to throwing away my bra, despite the fact that as a young woman, I was very shy. 

The photos grabbed a lot of attention, and a Swedish film producer got in touch. He offered me a role, even though I wasn’t an actress. Since the film was directed by one the most famous Swedish directors at that time (Jan Halldoff), and the other actors were real giants of the theatre stage, 

I was suddenly in the spotlight, just a few days after completing my high school exam. The film was Rötmånad (Dog Days) (1970), and, incidentally, it had its international premiere at the Edinburgh Film Festival!
 
When did you first learn that Quentin Tarantino based the Bride character in KILL BILL on your role in THRILLER/THEY CALL HER ONE EYE? 
 
I had only seen Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction and thought it was a really good movie. But I didn’t know much about Tarantino apart from that. So it took me a while to really grasp what an incredible homage to Thriller it was, that he was inspired by it, and talked about it in interviews.

A couple of years ago I met Tarantino, in conjunction with the Swedish gala premiere of Inglorious Bastards. The film distributor set up a meeting at the Grand Hotel in Stockholm, requested by Tarantino. We talked for quite a while, and exchanged autographs. To see to it that the meeting was documented properly, he brought me out on the red carpet that night, so we could be photographed together. Something he knew I could benefit from.
 
Do you have any memories of making THRILLER/THEY CALL HER ONE EYE? Did you think it would have the longevity it has?

Oh, yes! I have lots of memories. It was a film shoot out of the ordinary…There was a lot of drama behind the camera. For example, the director never got permission to use the locations or fenced them off, so one day when we shot a scene in a park, when I threw myself out of the (fake) police car, with my leather coat, eye-patch and sawn-off shotgun, people on their casual Sunday walks actually started running for their lives!

This was a film that really stood out at the time, but that it would still be of interest and celebrated 45 years later, was something I could never have imagined.
 
When you look back at your 1970s film career, what stands out? Do you have any particular affection for any of the movies or are they now just cause for embarrassment?

I have always tried to do my best with my film roles. I have no regrets about what I did in the movies. But of course some films are closer to my heart than others.
 
You became a noted aviation journalist and animal rights activist after you ended your film career so what made you decide to come back to acting after a 30-plus year gap with BLACK CIRCLE?
 
I never really let go of my film career past. That’s why it felt completely natural to say yes, when Bogliano offered me the part in Black Circle. It was like coming home again.
 
What did you like most about the BLACK CIRCLE script?
 
It was the mystery and the darkness in the story. The role as Lena fitted me perfectly. I have some of her character in my persona.
 
Were you aware of the work of director Adrian Garcia Bogliano? What films of his did you watch before signing on to play the character of Lena?

I had only heard positive things and admiration for Bogliano, before I accepted the part. I knew he was a fan of Ingmar Bergman, as well as of Thriller. I had seen two of his films that I really liked; Scherzo Diabolico and I’ll Never Die Alone.
 
 How did you find being back in front of the camera after all these years? 
 
It was completely unproblematic. It just felt good. But I have to confess, it took some running-in…
 
And working with co-stars Hanna Asp, Hanna and Erica Midfjäll, Madeleine Trollvik, singer Johan Palm and especially Inger Nilsson, the original Pippi Longstocking!
 
The atmosphere on location was fantastic. Everyone involved in the film was eager to do their very best, especially since we had a tight shooting schedule.
 
You’re back, does that mean you are now open to other movie offers?
 
Absolutely. I just shot a short film - a drama about relations set at Christmas time. I have also been offered a part in a new Swedish feature film, Biodlaren (The Beekeeper), which will be shot this year. Black Circle has really given me an appetite for more.

BLACK CIRCLE is showing at the Glasgow Film Theatre on Sat 2 March, 3.30pm, as part of Arrow Video FrightFest Glasgow 2019.  Christina will be attending.

Despite the apparently collective feeling that Hollywood is running out of ideas and mainstream films are losing originality due to our screens being oversaturated with sequels, remakes and cinematic universes, 2018 was a pretty great year for movies. It was a particularly strong year for horror films, and even a few big budget blockbusters proved that there’s still a few gems coming from Hollywood. Here’s my top 10 movies of the year – and it was a struggle to stick to 10.

​ 10. ‘Love, Simon’


‘Love, Simon’ is a romcom starring Nick Robinson (‘Jurassic World’) as the titular character, but it’s a little different from your usual mainstream romcoms that often star heterosexual couples; Simon is gay and still in the closet. The films follows his journey of coming to terms with his identity when a classmate finds out his secret and uses it to blackmail him. He also begins falling for an anonymous pen pal who is struggling with his identity, and tries to figure out who it is. It’s like a love letter to queer teens and is a comforting story in the end, and also acknowledges the casual homophobia/stereotyping that has become normalised. It has sweet, likeable characters and a relatable story that will probably resonate with the LGBT+ community in particular for a while, while also providing a sense of understanding to audiences outside of the community as well.

 9. ‘Overlord’


‘Overlord’ is half war movie, half Cronenbergian horror film; based on the real operation Overlord during WWII, the story revolves around American soldiers who need to destroy a radio tower to cut off communication between the Nazis in a small town in France. However, it becomes apparent that disturbing experiments are taking place there which results in some amazing body horror, and used sparingly to great effect. The aesthetic and cinematography are really good, and at times feels like you’re watching a video game, particularly in one of the opening scenes when the soldiers jump out of a plane. Most elements of the films are done well, including the casting – Jovan Adepo is easy to empathise with as the moralistic protagonist, Boyce. Wyatt Russell (Kurt Russell’s son) stars as Ford, and proves himself to be a badass in his own right. This has to be one of the most underappreciated movies of the year.

 8. ‘You Might be the Killer’


This is proof that postmodern horror isn’t dead yet! ‘You Might be the Killer’ is best described as a slasher comedy that’s a cross between ‘The Mask’ and ‘Friday the 13th’, which isn’t a combination I would have imagined working, but it does. Fran Kranz stars as Sam, a camp counsellor who finds himself covered in blood, surrounded by murder victims, and experiencing memory loss. When he calls Chuck (Alyson Hannigan), his horror movie encyclopaedia of a friend, she suggests that Sam might actually be the killer. It’s a fun time that had me laughing out loud (how could I not at “The Kayak King”? You had to be there) but it also had me genuinely empathising with Sam’s character. Luckily the ending was left open, so there better be a sequel.  

 7. ‘Avengers: Infinity War’

‘Infinity War’ was easily one of the most hyped up movies of the year – after all, roughly 10 years of the MCU had been building up to this. This penultimate Avengers film brought together nearly everyone a nerd could dream of, as it also included the members of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Having the Russo brothers at the helm was a brilliant choice, since Whedon’s ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ was so disappointing. The Avengers and co. team up in this epic crossover to stop Thanos (Josh Brolin) from collecting all of the infinity stones, which would allow him to control the universe. There were a lot of concerns I had going into this film; that the tones of ‘Avengers’ and ‘Guardians’ would clash, it would be overcrowded, and that there would be too much comedy (which is usually my problem with some MCU films). Particularly after having my hopes crushed that ‘Age of Ultron’ would be darker as its trailer suggested, I thought ‘Infinity War’ was also giving me false hope for something with more depth. However, it managed to find the perfect balance between comedy and incredibly sad moments that genuinely brought a tear to my eye, and even stood up to multiple viewings. I was wonderfully surprised by how good it was, and it boasts some great performances from Zoe Saldana, Tom Holland, Karen Gillan and Robert Downey Jr. in particular. Now I can’t wait to see ‘Avengers: Endgame’, the end of the Avengers as we currently know them.  

 6. ‘Call me by Your Name’


‘Call me by Your Name’ is an adaptation of the novel of the same name, about a teenager in 1980s Italy called Elio (Timothee Chalamet) who falls for an older man that’s been hired as his father’s research assistant (played by Armie Hammer) for the summer. The film doesn’t rely on the narrative to be engaging, as not much really happens in terms of plot, but rather the chemistry between the two main characters. It’s sensual without being overly reliant on nudity or gratuitous sex scenes which is all thanks to the brilliant acting. Although Chalamet and Hammer are the main focus of the film, it’s impossible to go without mentioning Michael Stuhlbarg as Elio’s father, who delivers a beautiful monologue near the end which says what most people probably need to hear. Overall, it’s about love and cherishing moments of love while you can, and although not necessarily being a tragic movie I finished it feeling heartbroken for Elio (the last 2 minutes will do that to you, along with Sufjan Stevens’ contribution to the soundtrack). However, it’s a film that celebrates the whole spectrum of human emotion and encourages its audience to stop being afraid of getting hurt, but rather to feel pain when necessary instead of becoming numb to it.  

 5. ‘Anna and the Apocalypse’


When I heard this film was a zombie musical comedy (set during Christmas, I should add), I was already sold. While the concept is fairly simple, it’s something that could really easily have fallen flat but due to the catchy songs, incredibly talented cast and well-written script, it landed. A zombie apocalypse hits the town of Little Haven, so Anna and her friends have to fight for survival while they try to find their loved ones and make sure they’re safe. The main cast are mostly unknown but hopefully up-and-coming, because they’re all talented as hell with beautiful voices; Anna (Ella Hunt) and John’s (Malcom Cumming) voices sounds great together, and along with their friends are the most precious characters that you can’t help but root for (Sarah Swire as Steph is ridiculously adorable). Not only is it funny, but also has heart and packs an emotional punch. It’s now going to be added to my list of mandatory Christmas viewing, and I hope it becomes the cult hit that it deserves to be.

 4. ‘Spiderman: Into the Spider-verse’


You’d think after having 3 different versions of Spider-Man hitting our screens in the span of about 10 years that we wouldn’t need another one. That’s where you’d be wrong, because ‘Into the Spider-verse’ is possibly the one to beat them all. Rather than focusing completely on Peter Parker, this is Miles Morales’s story, a teenager who becomes the Spider-Man of his reality who has to team up with 5 others like him from different dimensions. Together, they need to stop the threat to their realities. Firstly, the animation is beautiful and unique. It has a comic book style that really makes it stand out in a way I haven’t seen much of before. It’s funny and emotional, and doesn’t just go over the same old story that we’re used to from previous adaptations. Bringing all the different versions of Spider-Man gave it a fresh perspective, and showed what the character is really about.  

 3. ‘Halloween’


I can’t say that a sequel to one of the most influential horror films of all time, one that defined the slasher genre, which was going to be directed by the guy behind the train wreck that is ‘Your Highness’ (2011), was something that sparked hope in me. However, I’m not too proud to admit when I’m so remarkably wrong about something, so here we go – I loved this movie. I didn’t have any expectations for it, and it surprised me in the best ways. Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) has to confront her fear of Michael Myers when he’s on the loose, and this time she has family to protect. It pays homage to the original without completely banking on nostalgia for its success, and it does a great job at reminding us of what a terrifying person Myers is. You know they did well with that when you actually think to yourself, “is Michael going to stab that baby?” at one point. The Shape returns more brutal than ever, with some violent death scenes but also retaining his fair share of off-screen kills. One thing I felt it actually improved on from the original was making me care more about the background characters who get killed off, whereas in the first film Laurie’s friends aren’t very likeable. However, the film does a good job of showing you snippets of the lives of the people who get killed through short conversations they’re having which was effective in getting more of a reaction out of their deaths. Furthermore, the film does also have an edge of comedy to it too (which isn’t a surprise considering Danny McBride of all people helped pen the script), so the characters feel more real. Curtis returns with what I believe is an Oscar-worthy performance, so this isn’t one to miss.

 2. ‘One Cut of the Dead’


The synopsis for ‘One Cut of the Dead’ goes a little something like this – when a Japanese crew are filming a low budget zombie movie in an abandoned warehouse, they end up being attacked by real zombies. However, that’s just one part of the film and it has so much more to it in ways that I didn’t expect at all. It’s best to go into this movie without knowing much about it, because you will be caught off guard by how smart, hilarious, and perfectly executed it is. According to IMDb, the first 37 minutes is one take and the whole film was shot in 8 days. If that’s true, then it’s a testament to the dedication of the cast and crew. This has quickly made it into my top 10 favourite films ever; it’s one of those ones you walk out of smiling, and reminds you of why movies are so amazing in the first place. At the end of the day, it’s about not only the difficulties of the filmmaking process itself but also the joys of it. This is a great time for anyone, even for people who might not be horror fans, and is best enjoyed in an audience.  

 1. ‘Ghost Stories’


Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman brought their stage play ‘Ghost Stories’ to the big screen in 2018, and it’s no secret how much I love it. Nyman co-wrote the script but also stars as Professor Phillip Goodman, who is asked to reconsider his scepticism of the supernatural and investigate three unexplained cases. Not only does it have brilliant performances all around – Paul Whitehouse did some of his best work here in my opinion, and Alex Lawther provides humour with his uneasy, paranoid character – but every element of the film is done well. The story is constructed well and has a good plot twist, the music will give you chills, even the jump scares don’t feel cheap. The camerawork and set designs are also something to be admired, especially in the third act. Independent horror films have had a good year to say the least.


So, it seems that 2018 was actually a pretty good year for film. Some others that I loved and are also very much worth watching are ‘Deadpool 2’, ‘You Were Never Really Here’, ‘Game Night’, ‘The Shape of Water’ and ‘The Death of Stalin’. Let’s hope the good stuff keeps coming in 2019!

The Conjuring Universe is one of the fast growing franchises in modern horror, however with prequels and sequels and spinoffs all over the damn place it is hard to figure out which film goes where in the timeline. WELL fear not dear reader as we have the full timeline wrapped up in a neat little package.
To celebrate The Nun arriving on Blu-ray and DVD January 14th, we’re taking a look back through The Conjuring Universe timeline to prepare you for the latest in the series.

Another year over and man what a good year for film. We have seen shockingly bad films (that is another list for another) but i'm my opinion we have had more joys than sorrows. We have seen the resurgence of great horror titles, violently gripping drama and some of the best comic book films in years BUT we still only have room for 10 titles on this list and what a hard choice it was.

Let my start with my honerable mentions:

The Greatest Showman: A highly entertaining musical with one hell of a soundtrack.
Jigsaw: A brilliant return to form for the Saw Franchise.
The Babysitter: A Hilarious Netflix Original that only just missed my top 10 list.  Horror fans will love this.
Red Turtle: Truly beautiful! something different for Studio Ghibli which makes you smile and will make you cry.

So what could have beat these films to the list? the following films are my own choices so with that in mind (yeah this won't make everyone happy but....opinions.....) let us start with..... 

10) Their Finest

One of many War films released during 2017, Their Finest is a sweet love story under the setting of the Second World War. The film follows A former secretary who finds herself writing propaganda films for  the British film industry. Well written, funny and heartwarming this is a film which slipped under the radar but landed in my best of.

9) Going In Style

While the story has been used a bit over the years, this trio of acting legends made this film what it is and that is a bloody funny and very entertaining comedy about three friends, screwed out of their pensions by a money grabbing boss who decide to rob the bank that holds the companies money to get what is owed to them.

There is so many laugh out loud moments in this film (I love the scene where the three men are practicing shop lifting) and is great way to spend a film watching evening . Caine does comedy really well and this film shows it.

8) Detroit

Wow...just...wow... Detroit is just one of those movies that deserves to win some oscars this year. This is such a harrowing film, so raw and gritty. The type of film that makes you feel disgusted by humanity. The racial themes of the film, the violence of an era in American history will make you talk about it, will make you feel feelings you wouldn't normal explore.

It is a hard one to watch but Detroit is one of the best true life dramas I have seen in many years.

7) Paddington 2

I went into this film wanting to hate it. I left this film totally loving it. This is the perfect family film. We have a furry hero, and mystery to be solved and a dastardly villain in the form of Hugh Grant, Paddington 2 will leave you howling with laughter and wanting Marmalade sandwiches.

The film is full of brilliant British actors and actresses and is one you should be watching straight away, even if you hated the first film.

6) Spiderman Homecoming

This was my most anticipated film of 2017 and I was not disappointed in the slightest. I am a HUGE fan of Spiderman and this film gave such a Ultimate Spiderman vibe for me. Tom Holland is a PERFECT Peter Parker and an Amazing (pun intended) Spiderman.

I also loved Keaton as Vulture and I loved the addition of Iron Man as it cements Spiderman's place in the MCU and hopefully with Avengers Infinity War, an animated Spiderman delving into the Spiderverse story and Tom Hardy led Venom coming this year I am more excited than ever to be a Spiderman fan.

5) Jumani: Welcome To The Jungle

I will not lie, I was all than ready to condemn this film the moment I saw it was going to be a thing. The trailers came along and again I was ready to write a long winded review slagging it off. How wrong I was. Jumani: Welcome to the Jungle is a perfect follow up to one of mine, and many others, childhood favorites and has a stella cast of brilliantly funny actors. Jack Black acting as a selfie loving teen girl makes the film what it is while Dwayne Johnson brings his trademark Rock-ness we all love him for. The whole cast in fact is great Hart is funny as hell and Gillan is kick arse, this on top of her role in Guardians 2 this year has cemented her place in hollywood blockbuster scene.

You need to see this, you will love this. The sleeper hit of the autumn film slate.

4) Cars 3

Again a film I was ready to pan but this time it was justified after the AWFUL Cars 2. Cars 3 however was Pixar doing what Pixar does so so well, it took a franchise are reinvents it back to its original greatness (Look at Toy Story 2 and the brillaint Toy Story 3....yeah not a fan of Toy Story 2 so there you go). This film is perfection, no doubt the best animated film of 2017 followed by The Red Turtle

3) Logan

​The greatest X-Men film of all time. One of the most heart wrenching portrayals of the Wolverine character put on screen and the best film I have seen Jackman in for YEARS. Logan takes the superhero genre and turns it into an action drama. Based VERY loosely of the Old Man Logan character (VERY VERY VERY LOOSELY) we are shown how R-Rated superhero films can be. You don't need CGI and over the top moments, just a great story, a great cast and an opening for more greatness to follow.

2) IT

Well this one was going to be brilliant wasn't it! from one of the legends of horror and modern take on what was one of the biggest tv films in horror IT blew every other horror genre films out of the water in 2017. IT was bloody creepy, it was balls to the wall scary and I can't wait till the second part. Skarsgard's portrayal of IT equals Tim Curry's killer clown, and I may even have to go as far as to say was BETTER in alot of ways.

1) Thor Ragnarok

Going down the Guardians route, and taking a leaf out of the You Tube Skits of Thor during the events of Civil War, Thor Ragnarok takes the humour and ramps it up to a million. This is by far my favourite MCU film of all time.  It was perfect! the humor is spot on, the villain was finally kick arse and this cancels out how mediocre the first two Thor films felt. We also got introduced the one of the best side characters in ages in Korg! I bloody love Korg and anything with Goldbulm is epic.