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Second pandemic era edition opens on Wednesday with Pedro Almodóvar’s Parallel Mothers.

The second physical Venice Film Festival of the pandemic era opens today with the world premiere of Pedro Almodovar’s Parallel Mothers tonight.

There is the sense among festival attendees that life is beginning to retun to normal even if the global health crisis is still ongoing and the industry will have to learn to live with the impact of Covid-19.

“It’s a bigger edition than last year, in terms of films and the delegations accompanying them,” said Roberto Cicutto, president of the Venice Biennale.

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Award winning short film writer director Ian Clark (“Jenny and the Worm”) makes his feature debut with the horror thriller “The Facility”, which arrives now on region 2 DVD via eOne Momentum, having played various fests under the name “Guinea Pigs”. A claustrophobic, low budget British take on the likes of “28 Days Later”, “The Crazies” and other fast/angry/infected/non-zombie shockers, the film stars a handful of semi-recognisable faces including Alex Reid (“The Descent” plus sequel), Steve Evets (“Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”) and Oliver Coleman (“The Other Boleyn Girl”). The setup involves 7 unfortunate strangers who volunteer to take part in a clinical drug trial at the inevitably remote Limebrook Medical Clinic. Enticed by a fee of £2000 for 2 weeks in isolation and being injected with the experimental Pro9, they soon find things going very wrong indeed, as one of the group starts to convulse violently and vomit blood before attacking the others.

Guinea Pigs

Review by Andrew McArthur of The People’s Movies

Stars: Aneurin Barnard, Oliver Coleman, Steve Evets, Alex Reid, Chris Larkin | Written and Directed by Ian Clark

Debuting at this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival Ian Clark’s much anticipated first feature, Guinea Pigs finally makes it’s Frighfest debut – having originally scheduled to show in 2011 – but despite delivering some sharp moments of tension and a realistic style, the film unfortunately lacks in lasting impact.

Eight volunteers are sent to a remote medical facility to begin clinical trials on a new drug, tentatively titled Pro-9. It soon becomes apparent that this is no ordinary drug as extreme side affects begin to appear – you know, like turning into a raging psychopath. Although the subject of clinical trials has been tackled in the horror genre before, it still remains a chilling concept. Ian Clark furthers these chills by instilling a...

Arriving at a secluded ProSyntrex facility situated deep in the English countryside, seven strangers are carefully briefed on the nature of a drug trial they have each agreed to participate in: a routine, double-blind experiment run by Dr. Mansell (Chris Larkin) that aims to study the effects of Pro-9 on human subjects.

As Adam (Aneurin Barnard), Joni (Alex Reid), Jed (Oliver Coleman), Katie (Nia Roberts), Morty (Steve Evets), Carmen (Skye Lourie) and Arif (Amit Shah) receive their first round of injections, however, they soon find themselves reacting to the drug in unexpected and drastic ways. Trapped, alone and slaves to the chemicals now coursing through their veins, the guinea pigs might not survive the night, let alone the study’s fortnight-long duration.

In festivals often packed to the highest brows with pretence, pedigree and Philippine New Wave, sometimes it’s nice to kick back with a schlocky British horror movie...

Guinea Pigs

Review by Andrew McArthur of The People’s Movies

Stars: Aneurin Barnard, Oliver Coleman, Steve Evets, Alex Reid?, Chris Larkin | Written and Directed by Ian Clark

Ian Clark’s much anticipated first feature, Guinea Pigs receives its debut at this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival. Despite delivering some sharp moments of tension and a realistic style, Guinea Pigs unfortunately lacks in lasting impact.

Eight volunteers are sent to a remote medical facility to begin clinical trials on a new drug, tentatively titled Pro-9. It soon becomes apparent that this is no ordinary drug as extreme side affects begin to appear – you know, like turning into a raging psychopath. ??Although the subject of clinical trials has been tackled in the horror genre before, it still remains a chilling concept. Ian Clark furthers these chills by instilling a strong sense of realism throughout Guinea Pigs, most notably through his almost documentary style direction.

Casualty bosses have expressed their delight after the show's new era got off to an impressive start at the weekend. The BBC medical drama was Saturday's most-watched programme, pulling in 6.13m (24.9%) viewers as fans caught their first glimpse of the new-look show. Saturday night's Casualty episode was an 80-minute special featuring new titles, new cast member Oliver Coleman as Tom Kent and a refurbished Emergency Department following last year's fire. The episode was also the first to be filmed in Cardiff following the show's move from its long-time home of Bristol. Casualty's series producer (more)...

Charlotte Salt

By B Van Heusen

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The BBC have announced that Charlotte Salt is to join the cast of Casualty. The actress who has previously appeared in hit dramas such as The Tudors and Bedlam is taking on the role of an army medic named Sam Nicholls.

Joining Charlotte Salt in Casualty will be Oliver Coleman (The Other Boleyn Girl) who will be taking on the role of a Tom Kent who is a paediatric doctor. The duo will make their onscreen debuts in January. Their arrival represents the second double infusion of new blood this year after recent Best British TV Interview Gemma Atkinson and Dhafer L’Abidine joined the cast in May.

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Casualty bosses have announced that two new doctors are to join the medical drama in the coming months. Beowulf, The Tudors and Bedlam star Charlotte Salt, 26, has been cast as Sam Nicholls, a "fast-living, fearless and fiery" army medic who has a surprising link with another member of the Ed team. Meanwhile, 28-year-old actor Oliver Coleman - who has previously appeared in The Line of Beauty and The Other Boleyn Girl - will play paediatric specialist doctor Tom Kent. Billed as "gentle, calm and a brilliant children's doctor", Tom finds that his maturity at work doesn't always carry over into his private life. (more)...