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Post by carolinec on Apr 30, 2008 22:22:52 GMT
Now this is an event "up north" which it really IS worth travelling here for! You folks would love the annual Fantastic Films Weekend. Current info taken from the website as follows: The 7th Fantastic Films Weekend runs from Friday 13 to Sunday 15 June 2008. The venue, as always, is the National Media Museum (NMeM), based in Bradford, West Yorkshire.
SPECIAL GUESTS This year the FFW welcomes more Guests of Honour than ever before. Our line-up includes Jenny Agutter, Peter Duffell, Jimmy Sangster, Piers Haggard, Harry Kumel, and our good friend Robert Fuest, who makes a return visit after a hugely enjoyable appearance in 2006. Each guest is connected with a particular screening, so delegates can look forward to An American Werewolf in London, The House That Dripped Blood, Hammer’s Dracula (screened in digital), Blood on Satan’s Claw, Daughters of Darkness and a double-bill of The Abominable Dr. Phibes and Dr. Phibes Rises Again! All guests appear subject to work (and other) commitments.
WIDESCREEN SHOCKERS Thanks to the ever-growing 70mm archive here at the National Media Museum, the FFW has access to an incredible range of widescreen movies. Our links with the widescreen community means we can also cherry pick from prints held by Universal, Warner Bros and others. We are planning to screen John Carpenter’s The Thing, Peter Hyams’ Outland and Tobe Hooper’s Poltergeist. If the strand is well-received it may become a regular fixture of the weekend.
OTHER FILMS We hope to present a range of established classics alongside newer product from emerging filmmakers, so look out for Georges Franju’s Les Yeux Sans Visage, Terence Fisher’s Dracula (in digital), a package of classic short films and I Am Legend on the giant IMAX screen. There are also plans to present the Grindhouse double-bill as it was originally intended.
HAMMER MAKE-UP EFFECTS ON SHOW The National Media Museum holds the archives of Hammer make-up supremos Phil Leakey and Roy Ashton. We hope to present a modest display of some of this unique material during the FFW.
Details at: www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/fantastic/index.aspNot much on the website at present (and guests do tend to change up to the last minute) but it's worth keeping an eye on the website. I'd heartily recommend this weekend if you're into old (and new) films. I've been to every one, and they just keep getting better and better. ;D
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Apr 30, 2008 22:34:43 GMT
I get her to tell me that story every time I go round. The guy with the cleaver was behind them all the way through the morgue. She genuinely thought they were going to die - either a heart attack or by cleaver.
It sounded so bad I think I might have stayed on the dodgems
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Post by carolinec on May 1, 2008 9:43:04 GMT
I get her to tell me that story every time I go round. The guy with the cleaver was behind them all the way through the morgue. She genuinely thought they were going to die - either a heart attack or by cleaver. It sounded so bad I think I might have stayed on the dodgems Eh? I think you might have put this on the wrong thread, Craig. Either that or I've suddenly slipped into another dimension where I can't understand what anyone is talking about (didn't they do a Twilight Zone episode like that?).
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Post by Dr Terror on May 2, 2008 14:55:51 GMT
Paul Mudie is doing the poster for this.
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Post by carolinec on May 2, 2008 14:59:08 GMT
Paul Mudie is doing the poster for this. Yes, I noticed that and thought to myself "I know that name from somewhere".
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Post by carolinec on May 29, 2008 12:16:06 GMT
Just bumping this one back up to the top again as the full line-up of films and guest talks is now available at: www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/fantastic/2008/Looks like a brilliant line-up - far more horror oriented than it usually is (last year was a bit of a let-down for me as it was very SF oriented). I'd urge any of you who can get there to go to some/most of this event - it really is a great weekend of sometimes rarely seen films and great guest talks (see my somewhat enthusiastic write up of one a couple of years ago in issue 1 of Pantechnicon). I hope to be there most of the weekend. ;D
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Post by carolinec on Jun 5, 2008 19:19:28 GMT
Just another mention of FFW coming up shortly.They now have a link to the TV things they'll be showing over the weekend too. See: www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/fantastic/2008/TVHeaven.aspSome rare and interesting things there! I feel a conflict coming on as I'm sure some of the things I want to see are going to clash ... (maybe I could clone myself for the weekend )
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Post by carolinec on Jun 16, 2008 19:45:07 GMT
Here's a lowdown on all the brilliant films I saw at FFW at the weekend. I've already made some of you jealous on another thread, so let's see how many more of you I can turn green! SCHALKEN THE PAINTER I'd heard great things about this Omnibus presentation (I think it might be Ramsey Campbell who speaks highly of it?). It's fiction based on a possible paranormal explanation for a curious painting which the Dutch artist did in later life. A very nice, creepy film about necrophilia which gives a whole new meaning to the tombstone inscription "United with his beloved wife"! AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON Not one of my all time faves but I really wanted to see the transformation scene on the big screen as I've only seen it on TV before. You forget how good a scene that is given the year it was filmed. Jenny Agutter (who played Nurse Alex) also gave a brief talk about her involvement in the film which was interesting. THE MIST Well, I didn't actually see this one myself, but I know someone who did. This was a sneak preview of the film based on the Stephen King novella. The film is due on 4th July I think. Anyway, word is, it's a brilliant adaptation of the King story (he doesn't usually transfer well to film in my opinion) with a twist ending to die for! SCARS OF DRACULA Rarely shown Hammer classic - one of the late Draculas when Lee was fed up with the role. Definitely not the best Dracula, but Lee is as good as ever in the role, and I particularly enjoyed seeing Patrick Troughton (more familiar as the 2nd Doctor Who) chopping up a body with great relish! THE ABOMINABLE DR PHIBES I never liked this film until two years ago when I saw its director, Robert Feust, at FFW. I hadn't realised until I heard him speak about it that it was supposed to be a parody. Previously, I'd simply seen it as yet another nail in the coffin of the "good old films", when the trend started for all films to be simply "10 most gory ways to kill your enemy". But this time, I looked at it in a different light and quite enjoyed it. Feust was supposed to be at this festival too, but sadly he's poorly and had to pull out. When I met him previously I thought he was a most delightful man so I hope he's OK. MALPERTUIS A very curious one this, from Belgian director Harry Kumel (who also gave a talk at the festival, but I missed this as I was elsewhere at the time). Anyway, the film is very much like the BBC TV adaptation of Mervyn Peake's Ghormengast - strange old house with odd characters doing most peculiar things. Went on a bit and didn't have a lot of point to it, but quite nice to see anyway. I think his other film, Daughters of Darkness, is the more famous one. They showed this too, but I didn't see it. THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD Amicus classic - one of my favourites! Also, the director, Peter Duffell, was there to talk about it. Lovely to see Lee and Cushing on the big screen, and also the very much underrated (in my opinion) Denholm Elliott, who I think is superb (I think I said that on another thread recently when they showed the Hammer House of Horror he was in). BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW Well, we've talked about this one on another thread. Again, this is one which I didn't like on TV. Thinking about it, I think that may be due to the editing for TV. When I'd seen it previously, I'd not really followed the thread of the story - ie. that the incidents that were happening were to provide bits of the demon. I just saw it as a random series of events which didn't hang together at all for me. But seeing it again now in full, and hearing the director and writer talking about it, has made me look at this one in a new light now too. Interesting though (and the director pointed this out in his talk) that they made a big mistake in not explaining what had happened to the aunt who disappeared! HORROR EXPRESS They seem to show this every year! They were due to show a film from Pakistan, Hell's Ground, but the print didn't arrive in time - so what did they wheel out? Horror Express again! This one starts well but, oh dear, Telly Savalas! PLUS there was a collection of short films from across the globe. They do this every year too. Sometimes one or two stand out, but others are pretty non-descript. In this case, there was one called Butchers Hill (a kind of weird Hansel and Gretel story set in old time New England) which really does stick in my mind. The others were mostly forgettable. AND the Museum had opened up part of their collection of Hammer Horror make up/special effects. Quite interesting with all kinds of scars, gorgon bites (!) and a full head cast which was instantly recognisable when the curator took it out of the box - Peter Cushing! All in all, a brilliant weekend! ;D ;D
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Post by bradstevens on Jun 17, 2008 10:06:58 GMT
"MALPERTUIS A very curious one this, from Belgian director Harry Kumel (who also gave a talk at the festival, but I missed this as I was elsewhere at the time)."
Which version did they show? The director's cut (only available with a Flemish soundtrack) is appreciably superior to the English and French editions. The version released on video in the UK is the worst of all, even missing the 'it was all a dream' ending.
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Post by Johnlprobert on Jun 17, 2008 10:15:26 GMT
Caroline that sounds like loads of fun. For the record, Horror Express is a lot better than Hell's Ground - I know which I'd rather watch again.
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Post by carolinec on Jun 17, 2008 13:14:57 GMT
Brad - it was the director's cut of Malpertuis - all 124 minutes of it! - with subtitles. I couldn't stay till the end as I had to be elsewhere (there are always clashes at these events and difficult decisions to make over which films to see). Someone else told me about the "it was all a dream resulting from the bash on his head" ending - which seemed a bit corny to me!
But it was a nice film to watch though!
John - Yes, I've seen Horror Express several times so I didn't stay to watch it again as it was late on the Sunday when they showed it. It is quite entertaining, I must admit. It isn't one I'd try to avoid! I had no intention of watching Hell's Ground as that looked and sounded awful from the write up in the brochure!
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Post by bradstevens on Jun 17, 2008 16:51:27 GMT
"it was all a dream resulting from the bash on his head' ending"
Well, not exactly. After Yann is turned to stone (which is where the UK video ends), the film cuts to a hospital, and we see that Yann was a patient who had imagined the entire narrative of the film. He is released from the hospital, and returns home - only to find that he is back in Malpertuis.
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Post by carolinec on Jun 17, 2008 17:42:05 GMT
"it was all a dream resulting from the bash on his head' ending" Well, not exactly. After Yann is turned to stone (which is where the UK video ends), the film cuts to a hospital, and we see that Yann was a patient who had imagined the entire narrative of the film. He is released from the hospital, and returns home - only to find that he is back in Malpertuis. Ah, that sounds better then. I did wonder - if it was all supposed to be due to the bash on his head - how they explained him getting to that point in the brothel type place anyway, when it was meant to be a trap to get him back to Malpertuis. It makes more sense now. I had wondered whether to get the DVD to see the ending, but since you say it's not actually there, there isn't much point!
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Post by bradstevens on Jun 18, 2008 9:53:09 GMT
I had wondered whether to get the DVD to see the ending, but since you say it's not actually there, there isn't much point! It's there on the American and German DVD releases, but missing from all the British video releases. There is no British DVD release.
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