Carrion Films invade ‘Philip Nutman’s Nightmares!’
Respected author and filmmaker Philip Nutman - seen by many as the authority on Amicus Horror - has chosen Carrion Film terror triptych ( Scayrecrow, The Screaming Skull & The Hairy Hands) to be part of his special prime-time “Philip Nutman’s Nightmares: My Favorite Horror Shorts“ at Atlanta’s ‘Buried Alive‘ Horror festival’s opening night. There is also a suggestion that the three films may also be screened a second time the following night as part of the competition. This marks the first time that all three films have been selected to be screened at a single festival. Philip Nutman explained some of the reasons for his decision:
“I believe he (Director Ashley Thorpe) has a unique
vision and a distinctive talent, that his works deserve to be considered alongside those of The Brothers Quay and David Lynch (especially the early works). They also contain flashes of the arcane poetry of early Kenneth Anger — at least in my eyes — but when all is said and done, they are pure Thorpe… it’s clear the blood of Hammer and Amicus run through his veins, and as a fellow Englishman I know all the influences and passions only too well. Remarkable. Superb — and very creepy. I can’t wait to see what dark delights you gentlemen will surprise us with next.” - Philip Nutman.
Full details on the ‘Buried Alive‘ screening will be posted as soon as they are officially released.
All three films have also subsequently been requested for inclusion at the Blacklist Art and Film Festival in San Diego and the Telluride Horror Show Colorado (this year guest hosted by ‘Fangoria‘ Editor in Chief Chris Alexander). More details on these festivals will follow shortly.
THE SCREAMING SKULL AT SALT LAKE CITY…
Carrion Film animation ‘The Screaming Skull‘ has also been selected to be screened at this years ‘Salt Lake City Film Festival‘. Led by a creative team of artists and event coordinators, the Salt Lake City Film Festival was designed to provide exposure and commercial avenues for independent films.
From the official site: “In 2010, the Salt Lake City Film Festival has grown in numerous ways. In addition to our usual home base of the Tower Theater, we’ll be showing films at The Post Theater at the University of Utah on Saturday and Sunday, the Broadway Theater (for our opening night film only) and Brewvies Cinema Pub for late night showings on Friday and Saturday.”
‘The Screaming Skull‘ will be screening at 07:00 pm, Friday 13th August at the Tower Theatre, Salt Lake City.
HAIRY HANDS IN THE PARK!
Exeter’s Big Screen in the Park, wherein Northernhay Gardens is turned into an outdoor cinema, will be supporting the Devon and Cornwall movie scene by showing local shorts before the main feature. Included in this years schedule is ‘The Hairy Hands‘ which will be the supporting B - movie for Guy Ritchies ‘reinvention’ of legendary Victorian sleuth ‘Sherlock Holmes‘.
Screenings, which take place from Wednesday to Saturday August 11 to 14, start at 9pm, but gates open at 7pm, giving plenty of time to settle in and nosh down on your picnic or other refreshments.
Other local shorts that will be showing are Andy Oxley and David Williams’ ‘Day of Rest‘, ‘La Legend-Dali‘ by Tom Austin, and Jerri Hart’s ‘Plan B‘, all made with support from the Exeter Phoenix Digital team.
Saturday, August 14
Sherlock Holmes (12A) 128 mins
Short film – The Hairy Hands 12 mins
Written, directed and animated by Ashley Thorpe
Dartmoor: the dead of night…953 square kilometres of desolate moorland…1,000 ghosts… and a fugitive racing a haunted road to meet one. A haunted house movie set in a moving car and based upon a genuine Dartmoor legend it draws upon such influences as Alfred Hitchcock, EC Comics and ‘The Hammer House of Horror’.
Northernhay Gardens, Exeter, Devon, UK. Entry is £2. Visit the Exeter Phoenix site for full details of each of the screenings.
SCAYRECROW RIDES IN SAN DIEGO!
The phantom Highwayman rides stateside this month as Carrion Film favourite ‘Scayrecrow‘ plays the ‘Blacklist Art & Film Festival’.
Taken from the Festival site: “The Blacklist Art & Film Festival: champions of gore and advocates of fearless creativity invade San Diego to deliver you from mainstream culture damnation. Rinse your mind of formulaic conventions by joining us in a unique multi-media blitzkrieg of unapologetic creativity and exploits. Award winning horror film atrocities, mind-bending artwork and a night of rock n’ roll mayhem await your depraved souls. The Blacklist Art & Film Festival is a celebration of the World’s emerging talents and unknown innovators of Art, Film & Rock n’ Roll in an effort to inspire the next wave of artists with original and unconventional content.”
The festival takes place August 28th, 5-10pm at the Birch North Park Theatre.
‘Scayrecrow‘ will be riding stateside again very shortly so watch this site for details!
Carrion Film goes ‘Beyond the Pale’
Carrion Film Director Ashley Thorpe has been selected by Producer Larry Fessenden (Wendigo) and Glenn McQuaid (I Sell the Dead) for New York based Horror Factory ‘Glass Eye Pix‘ (one of the indie scenes most productive and longest running companies) to contribute to their macabre radio project ‘Tales from Beyond the Pale‘ - audio theatre inspired by the vintage radio shows of Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre, Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles. The tales will delve into the twisted minds of new and established horror auteurs to present singular stories of the uncanny. Ashley joins esteemed contributors such as Stuart Gordon (Reanimator), Don Coscarelli (Phantasm), Paul Solet (Grace), Ti West (House of the Devil) and Jeff Buhler (The Midnight Meat Train) amongst other genre notables. From the official press release:
Hosted by Larry Fessenden, each thirty minute episode will transport the listener through sharp scripting and finely honed performances from actors familiar and new to the Glass Eye Pix stable. Also distinguishing these audio plays will be a concentration on the landscape of sound and music that can be taken for granted in the visual medium of film.
Larry Fessenden: “Glenn and I were driving through a fog-drenched evening with my kid,” Fessenden explains, “and we were playing an old Karloff/Lorre radio show. We turned to each other and both said how much we loved it, and how important radio plays were to us growing up. Then it dawned on us—we had to do this ourselves.”
Ashley Thorpe: “I was amazed that I was asked to be honest, astonished actually. My stuff tends to be very visual and initially I didn’t honestly think I was up to the challenge. I nearly bottled it. It almost seemed to be the opposite of what I do. The animations are image heavy and dialogue lite. But then I started re-evaluating how the animations work in terms of audio texture and I realised that the part that has always excited me the most during their creation was the point when my story was brought to life by sound; that contradictory moment when the feeling becomes bigger by the focus becoming narrower. Once I started thinking of the project in those terms, the sound painting the environment, heard and not seen, that really encouraged my imagination….and I was amazed at how receptive to my ideas Larry and Glenn were. Man, Glenn really gets my influences (he’s a Terence Fisher devotee) and shares my enthusiasm for mythology… The variety on this show is going to be amazing. You’re in for a real treat.”
Glenn McQuaid: “One of the inspirations on this project, for me, was that I believe audiences are spoiled these days,” he says. “Filmmakers are struggling to show them something new, trying to surprise people visually. To pull that rug out from under ourselves as artists, and having to channel terror in a different way, speaks to all of my influences as a filmmaker. You’ll never be able to show the most horrific thing in everyone’s minds, so leave it up to them. When we simmer everything down, this is at the core of what we’re doing.”
Glass Eye’s film composer Jeff Grace is on board for the project aswell as resident Sound designer Graham Reznick, although the Producers have encouraged each contributor to put forward a musician or even a sound that they’d like to use to sculpt the ultimate chilling aural environment. The accompanying website will feature an original poster for each story by Gary Pullin, the celebrated designer responsible for the look of Rue Morgue Magazine. Visitors to the site will also enjoy an intro by the stop-motion animator Voltaire and will find information on the shows collaborators. ‘Tales from Beyond the Pale‘ will be made available through the website and will be downloadable via i-Tunes and Amazon individually or as a series to be enjoyed however and whenever the listener wants. Radio plays for the digital age.
To read the Fangoria report and interview with Fessenden and McQuaid click here.
Production begins in August with initial broadcasts airing Halloween 2010 and downloads available on i-Tunes. For all the latest news visit: www.talesfrombeyondthepale.com
CARRION FILM DOUBLE BILL HITS RIO for ‘ANIMACURSED’ FESTIVAL.
‘The Screaming Skull‘ and ‘The Hairy Hands‘ have both been selected to be screened at this years ‘Animaldicoados Film festival‘ (Animacursed - International Festival of Horror Animation), held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The festival runs from Sep 7th to Sep 12th and features work from filmmakers from all over the world.
Director Ashley Thorpe and Producer Tom Atkinson were unavailable to comment at length but expressed heartfelt regret at not being able to attend the festival in person! More details on the screening will be posted as soon as further updates are received from Brazil. Festival website: http://www.animaldicoados.com/