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This is the fictional story of five strangers picked to live in a house and have their lives taped to find out what happens when people stop being polite and start getting murdered… My Little Eye. And if you haven’t seen this one, it’s the Best Horror Movie You Never Saw.

Reality shows are nearly unavoidable these days, but back in the ‘90s they were still rare. Aside from MTV’s The Real World and episodes of Cops, we hadn’t been exposed to much reality programming yet. And when word started leaking out about the development of shows like Big Brother and Survivor, they sounded odd. A little twisted, potentially dangerous. Big Brother was offering the chance to watch its contestants on 24/7 live streams. Survivor was taking its contestants out to isolated locations and leaving them to provide basic survival necessities for themselves. While the concept of Big Brother just seemed weird,...

Here in the US, James Watkins’ directorial debut Eden Lake went straight to DVD and was distributed by Dimension Films. Of all the titles to fly under the Dimension Extreme banner though, this one was the most deserving. The movie turned out to be more of an endurance test than I could have ever anticipated. Eden Lake also manages to be both acclaimed and despised. Anyone who knows what became of Michael Fassbender and Kelly Reilly’s characters very well understands the mixed sentiments surrounding this movie.

British horror was struggling to hold on after the original closure of Hammer and the Video Nasties period, yet by the early 2000s, a revival had begun. It was as if the reluctance to do genre movies had been replaced with a kind of fever. Dog Soldiers, My Little Eye, Deathwatch, 28 Days Later, Shaun of the Dead, Creep, The Descent. There was...

The last decade saw Bradley Cooper shifting to more nuanced and complex projects, which allowed him to put his dramatic chops to display, and has now scored a total of 12 Oscar nods, 4 of them being for acting. However, if it wasn’t for one 2009 comedy that put him on the map, the actor might’ve never transitioned into the prolific A-lister he is now.

Bradley Cooper | Credit: Burnt/The Weinstein Company

Interestingly, the Silver Linings Playbook star initially feared that this was indeed the case, as he wouldn’t get any definitive response from Todd Phillips for four months.

Bradley Cooper Initially Felt He Missed out on the Hangover Bradley Cooper | Credit: The Hangover/Warner Bros.

Prior to The Hangover, Bradley Cooper was fairly notable for starring in raunchy comedies, including the likes of Wet Hot American Summer and Wedding Crashers. While some did get to see a glimpse of...

As the intense survival thriller The Group prepares for its UK digital release, we caught up with writer and director Will Higo to discuss his horror inspirations. Known for his work on films like Nsfl and World of Death, Will has a deep love for the horror genre, which has significantly influenced his filmmaking journey. In this special edition of “Horror Favourites,” Will shares the horror film that left a lasting impact on him and inspired his latest work, The Group.

The Group is a harrowing story that delves into the dark side of recovery and redemption. The film follows Kara, a recovering heroin addict who returns to an addiction support group after a six-month relapse. As the group begins their session, what should have been a safe space for healing quickly descends into chaos when a newcomer, Jack, arrives with a loaded gun and a personal vendetta. What ensues is a tense,...

Feature incarnation of the Idris Elba cop drama sees a ropey but savage snuff-porn plot get too much explicit attention

Neil Cross’s smash-hit BBC TV crime drama now gets its own standalone feature film, with Idris Elba returning as the troubled London police officer John Luther, effectively continuing the story from the end of the fifth season. This may well play very effectively to the show’s fanbase and there’s certainly an alpha supporting cast including Cynthia Erivo, Andy Serkis and Hattie Morahan.

But I have to say – and those squeamish about spoilers and cliches had better look away now – that without the extended context of longform TV, the greater emphasis on explicit, violent horror is a bit exhausting. The serial-killer accessories feel hand-me-down; the Scandi noir touch is spurious and storylines in the movies about evil criminal plans to livestream snuff-porn are frankly always lame and implausible.

HBO’s superhero series “Watchmen” is finally making its premiere on Oct. 20, joining a slew of other television shows and movies being added to the service just in time for Halloween.

The Home Box Office is also debuting “Catherine the Great” starring Helen Mirren on Oct. 21, and the sixth and final season of “Silicon Valley” on Oct. 27.

A handful of shows will have their season finales this month — on Oct. 13, Season 2 of “Succession” and Season 1 of “The Righteous Gemstones” have their season finales. Season 1 of “Our Boys” ends Oct. 7, and the third and final season of “The Deuce” comes to an end Oct. 28.

Also Read: News & Documentary Emmy Awards: Complete Winners List

Leaving HBO throughout the month are films like “A Time to Kill,” “Bruno,” “The Danish Girl,” and “Waking Ned Devine.”

Here’s the full list of everything new to and leaving HBO in October:

Oct. 1

Kin, 2018

Diego Maradona

Abuela’s Luck,...

In the latest installment of his ongoing interview series, host Stuart Wright talks with Starfish writer/director Al White about his 5 Great British Horror Films, which include:

28 Days Later (2002) My Little Eye (2002) Shaun Of The Dead (2004) The Descent (2005) Monsters (2010)

Starfish is out now from all good VOD platforms … full details here www.starfishmixtape.com/release.html and Spotify users can get a playlist of all the fantastic music we talk about in the podcast right here.

With March in full swing, we have another big batch of horror headed home this week that genre fans should keep an eye out for, including one of my most anticipated releases of the month: Scream Factory’s Collector’s Edition of The Craft (so excited to call the corners with this new Blu-ray!). Beyond that, we have even more great titles to get excited about, including the criminally underseen Kolobos from Arrow Video, Man’s Best Friend, featuring one of my favorites—Ally Sheedy—and Nicolas Pesce’s Piercing, which features some brilliant performances from the likes of Mia Wasikowska and Christopher Abbott.

Other Blu-ray and DVD releases for March 12th include Garden Party Massacre, She Wolf, The Greasy Strangler: Special Director’s Edition, Lifechanger, Silk Scream, and The Wild Pussycat.

The Craft: Collector’s Edition (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)

Sarah has always been different. So as the newcomer at St.

While its predecessor eschewed a framing device, host or lead investigator—utilizing only its awesome, melodramatic opening titles as intro—the upcoming new iteration of Tales from the Darkside will see Kris Lemche star as the only regular, a “tortured young man.” Deadline reports Lemche, who’s appeared in Existenz, Ginger Snaps and My Little Eye, the “weathered…

The post Kris Lemche to be only regular on new Tales from the Darkside appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.

The Machine

Written and directed by Caradog W. James

UK, 2013

Some maudlin producers must be kicking themselves given recent events, as the post-credits blurb of the new science-fiction future-shock film The Machine sets the context of a near-future Britain locked into a new cold war with China. Can’t we simply revert back to the 1980s-era Soviet aggressor, just like the good old days? In fact, this visually striking but slightly constricted work has clearly been deeply influenced by the selfish decade’s most accomplished sci-fi movies, as Blade Runner and Escape From New York echo through the chrome-plated antechamber, with a deeper umbilical link to the titular feminine form shadowing Fritz Lang’s Metropolis.

Brilliant neural programmer graduate Ava (Caity Lotz) successfully secures a job at a secret government installation after her creation passes the Turing test, impressing senior robotics employee Vincent (Toby Stephens), who has been frantically searching...

Odd List Ryan Lambie Simon Brew 13 Feb 2014 - 06:39

Our voyage through history's underappreciated films arrives at the year 2008 - another great year for lesser-seen gems...

For some, 2008 will be memorable as the year of The Dark Knight, with its astonishingly unhinged turn from the late Heath Ledger. Alternatively, it could be remembered as the year a legion Indiana Jones fans left cinemas glum-faced, having sat through Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull.

Elsewhere, Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan sang and danced on a Greek island in Mamma Mia!, while Will Smith played an alcoholic superhero in Hancock. But as usual, 2008 offered plenty of watchable movies outside the top 10, which is where we swoop in - like Hancock after a bottle of gin.

So as usual, here's our selection of 25 underappreciated films from the year 2008 - starting with a British horror film starring Michael Fassbender...

25. Eden Lake

James Watkins had written...

Tiff’s Midnight Madness program turned 25 this year, and for two and half decades, the hardworking programers have gathered some of the strangest, most terrifying, wild, intriguing and downright entertaining films from around the world. From dark comedies to Japanese gore-fests and indie horror gems, the Midnight Madness program hasn’t lost its edge as one the leading showcases of genre cinema. In its 25-year history, Midnight Madness has introduced adventurous late-night moviegoers to such cult faves as Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused and Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs. But what separates Midnight Madness from, say, Montreal’s three and half week long genre festival Fantasia, is that Tiff selects only ten films to make the cut. In other words, these programmers don’t mess around. Last week I decided that I would post reviews of my personal favourite films that screened in past years. And just like the Tiff programmers,...

News

Soon, there will be more than 24 seconds of the Arrested Development song, “Getaway.” TV Guide reports that there’s an Arrested Development soundtrack that’s sending Gabriel Mann back to the studio (yes, that Gabriel Mann from Revenge, he’s the singing voice of Mark Cherry) to co-write and perform a full-length version of the song. The soundtrack will likely also include a medley of songs from the Fantastic Four musical and the power-anthem “Balls in the Air”.

Mark-with-a-k-not-a-c Cherry

There are a bunch of pilots getting a second chance but the most disappointing rejection was the untitled pilot starring and written by John Mullaney. Reports said the pilot was really good, plus it starred Ellott Gould as Mullaney’s gay neighbor, so it helps make up for all the gay representation we lost this season. Thus, I was pretty thrilled to see Deadline‘s report that Fox is...

Satisfactory Endeavor: Evans’ Latest Enjoyable Fluff

Welsh director Marc Evans explores 1970’s rural Wales with his latest film, Hunky Dory, following his 2010 film Patagonia. While Evans is somewhat of a genre jumper, oscillating between thrillers like My Little Eye and Trauma to indie drama like 2006’s Snowcake, his films don’t quite seem to bear a directorial signature. His latest, which is a sort of coming of age story about a group of high school students staging an ambitious musical that, on one hand feels much more sincere than any number of similar American examples (yes, like Glee), lacks any sort of real depth. As its title implies, everything seems to be moving along quite alright, which perhaps is only evidence that Evans’ film isn’t trying to be anything more than it simply is, a kindhearted film about a friendly, progressive minded teacher helping kids explore emotions through art.

Image Entertainment releases The Frankenstein Theory, written and directed by Andrew Weiner and executive-produced by The Last Exorcism scripters Huck Botko and Andrew Gurland, on VOD and in the theaters listed below March 1. Kris Lemche of Ginger Snaps, Final Destination 3 and My Little Eye, Heather Stephens, Eric Zuckerman, Brian Henderson, Joe Egender, Christine Lakin, Roger Morissey and Timothy V. Murphy star in the documentary-style saga of a professor who leads a film crew to the Arctic Circle, determined to prove that the original Frankenstein is a chronicle of true events. Needless to say, they run into a real monster amidst the frozen wilderness. A DVD follows on March 26; see the trailer below the listings.

Cedar Rapids, Ia: AMC Star Dubuque 18

Charlotte, Nc: AMC Carolina Pavilion 22

Chicago, Il: AMC Loews Streets of Woodfield 20

Columbus, Oh: AMC Easton Town Center 30

Dallas, TX: AMC Grapevine Mills 30

Evansville, Il: AMC Evansville 16

Grand Rapids,...

Image Entertainment releases The Frankenstein Theory, written and directed by Andrew Weiner and executive-produced by The Last Exorcism scripters Huck Botko and Andrew Gurland, on VOD and in the theaters listed below March 1. Kris Lemche of Ginger Snaps, Final Destination 3 and My Little Eye, Heather Stephens, Eric Zuckerman, Brian Henderson, Joe Egender, Christine Lakin, Roger Morissey and Timothy V. Murphy star in the documentary-style saga of a professor who leads a film crew to the Arctic Circle, determined to prove that the original Frankenstein is a chronicle of true events. Needless to say, they run into a real monster amidst the frozen wilderness. A DVD follows on March 26; see the trailer below the listings.

Cedar Rapids, Ia: AMC Star Dubuque 18

Charlotte, Nc: AMC Carolina Pavilion 22

Chicago, Il: AMC Loews Streets of Woodfield 20

Columbus, Oh: AMC Easton Town Center 30

Dallas, TX: AMC Grapevine Mills 30

Evansville, Il: AMC Evansville 16

Grand Rapids,...

As its name suggests, the camera lens has almost irrevocably associated itself with the human eye. Every angle, track and close-up directs our attention. We watch who we’re told to watch, whether we like it or not. Nevertheless, as the camera lingers through a bedroom window, we are the breathless accomplice in the shadows. Cinema has made voyeurs of us all. For a film-maker, it’s the ultimate tease. After presenting us with the forbidden, they then take an impish pride in admonishing our lack of restraint. We reach out for a reward but receive a rap on the knuckles. An audience can understandably grow uncomfortable with this trap - yet we keep coming back for more.The rise of reality TV (or rather, a newly-emerged form of exhibitionism) has simultaneously robbed and reinforced voyeurism of its immediate sexual implications, with cinema quick to exaggerate its extremes. A world...

Many film websites published “decade’s best horror films” lists in late 2009/early 2010. While these lists collectively provided a rough snapshot of the genre’s ups and downs during that time, with more time to reflect, it becomes increasingly clear what an important period the 2000’s were for the horror genre on a global scale.

Not only did this decade easily and obviously eclipse the comparatively arid 1990’s in both volume of production and overall quality, the 2000’s can also be looked at as a crucial one for horror cinema despite the justified outrage about the American film industry’s widespread strip-mining of classics and foreign films for remakes/re-boots and its saturation of the market with teen-friendly PG-13 rated horror films.

While by no means as groundbreaking as the 1970’s or as sentimentally regarded as the 1980’s, the 2000’s will be recalled as the decade that, despite well-founded criticisms...

After much speculation, it seems that we now know the identity of Marvel's secret film that's been long targeted for a May 2014 release. And it's not "Ant-Man," or "Black Panther," or "Runaways," or "Doctor Strange." It's "Guardians Of The Galaxy," the cosmic adventure that was a favorite in the 1970s before being revived recently.

Originally, the Guardians were a group of superpowered individuals from an alternate timeline in the 31st century, including human astronaut Vance Astro, humanoid crystal Martinex T'Naga, soldier from Jupiter Charlie-27, and Yonda Udonta, a savage from Beta Centurai. The team (whose lineup would have other shifts), battled a number of adversaries, including alien race the Badoon, and teamed up with The Avengers before the series was cancelled in the 1990s. A more recent 2008 update relaunched the property with a new lineup, including long-time characters like Star-Lord, Adam Warlock, Gamora and Quasar, and it's been suggested that...

The Woman in Black; Carnage; Safe House; House of Tolerance

After scaring the jeepers out of parents who couldn't believe their Harry Potter-loving offspring were allowed to watch this kind of thing, The Woman in Black (2012, Momentum, 12) ships up on DVD in the same slightly trimmed version that avoided a 15 certificate through judicious shortening. Having co-written the supremely nasty My Little Eye and gone for the jugular in the viscerally satirical Eden Lake, director James Watkins here foregrounds atmosphere over shocks, looking toward the templates of The Orphanage and The Others with impressively shiversome results.

Deftly adapted by Kick-Ass screenwriter Jane Goldman from Susan Hill's novel (which itself owed a debt to Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House), this gas-lit period creeper sees Daniel Radcliffe's dowdy lawyer Arthur Kipps sent to close the affairs of an abandoned house whose grounds are separated from the world by a foggy causeway.

While pickings have been slim lately, there are several interesting things to check out over the long Memorial Day weekend.

How about a dark comedy about a pedophile and his kidnapped sex slave and a documentary about a legendary housing project?

Read more on Your Netflix Instant Weekend: Michael (2011), The Pruitt-igoe Myth, and more...

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Other articles that you might like: Your Instant Netflix Weekend: Flash Point, Mandrill, and more Your Netflix Instant Weekend: The Long Goodbye, My Little Eye, and more Your Netflix Instant Weekend: Rampage (1987), Into The Abyss, and more...

Despite a week light on new releases to Instant Netflix, there were still two absolute must-sees added. It's only by mere coincidence that both of them touch on the same controversial subject of the death penalty and both were made by master filmmakers (William Friedkin and Werner Herzog). This weekend be sure to check out a serial killer/courtroom drama that's both violent and thoughtful and a documentary about a brutal crime and the effects of capital punishment.

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The March 1st drop of new titles onto Netflix brought some real gems. Who needs Starz when you have such an incredible list of certifiable, forgotten or lost classics? In fact, there have been so many additions in the past week, I've had to pass over many great titles that I'll be running through in next week's column. In the meantime, be sure to check out a noir with a labyrinthine plot with which it seems wholly unconcerned and a reality (internet) TV-based thriller that's actually very good.

Read more on Your Netflix Instant Weekend: The Long Goodbye, My Little Eye, and more...

Welsh director Marc Evans (Patagonia, My Little Eye) returns with a nostalgic take on growing up in small-town Wales in 1976 in the midst of the summer heat and raging hormones.

Schooldays films are ten-a-penny and ever enticing as we get to reminisce at a safe distance at the thrills and fears of our teenage years. Indeed, what this promises is a healthy inject of 1970s glam rock for David Bowie fans – much like a 70s Glee. For admirers of the ever-fearless Minnie Driver, the actress plays an attractive, inspirational drama teacher who (surprise, surprise) stirs more than a few notes. However, aside from a noteworthy performance from swooning, rising star Aneurin Barnard as well, that’s pretty much all Hunky Dory has to offer. It’s surprisingly forgetful for the most part.

In the sweltering summer heat of 1976, keen drama teacher Vivienne (Driver) fights general teenage apathy and frayed tempers to put on an end-of-year,...

James Watkins is the director of The Woman in Black, ghost-story horror in U.S. Theaters on Friday, February 3 2012. Watkins, 31, is at the beginning of his career as a filmmaker having mostly writing credits on his brief resume (My Little Eye, Gone, The Descent Part 2) and one directing credit (Eden Lake) but the impact of these films is strong, and he’s stepped directly into the Hammer Studios resurgence The Woman in Black. James talks with Don Sumner of Best-Horror-Movies.com in an exclusive interview, discussing the glory days of Hammer, working with Daniel Radcliffe in his first “non-Potter” role, and how to make a horror movie very scary by allowing the audience’s imagination to do much of the work.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Sit up and take note folks, the first truly awesome film of 2012 is about to be unleashed upon unsuspecting audiences. The Woman in Black, the new movie from Hammer Film Productions no less is a sublime, suspenseful, spook-a-thon horror that lives up to its creepy Susan Hill written source material novella but even more amazingly, lives up to its bloody terrifying stage play adaptation that has inflicted nightmares on kids in Britain for decades.

This is a ghost story of the highest caliber. Any film that can reduce a grown woman to Scream out loud as if her own life was in danger and induce at least ten jump-out-of-your-seat moments is a worthy chiller. This alone though, of course, does not make any film a must-see, or even a great film; however, combine this ability to cause emote in audiences with a haunting score, a taught...

Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard’s tongue in cheek, genre bending horror film The Cabin in the Woods may soon actually be coming to a theatre near you soon with Lionsgate announcing earlier this year that they have acquired the distribution rights for an April 13th, 2012 release. It’s being a helluva long time coming.

The Cabin in the Woods wrapped shooting in May 2009, with a release date slated as February 5th, 2010. That date was put back nearly a year so the film could be converted to 3D. However, MGM, who originally owned the rights, announced the film had being delayed indefinitely due to ongoing financial difficulties at the studio. The sale of the rights were confirmed by Lionsgate in April of this year, with rumors of a Halloween 2011 release. They proved to be false, but this new release date seems to be sticking.

Whedon produced and co-wrote the film with Goddard,...

I’m going to start by boldly/naively stating that I am not as big a fan of horror as I could be or indeed as many of you are likely to be. Yet I do have faith in the genre, I believe it to have the possibility and potential to make classic cinema, the obvious likes of Alien and The Shining are fine examples of that. As horror continues on into the 21st century there are one or two pieces of cinematic gold for every dozen appalling slasher sequels, monster mash-ups and vampire flicks.

Below is a list of 10 filmmakers, writers and actors who I guestimate could be crucial to the future of horror. So here it goes, a horror rookie looking into the possible future crystal ball of the genre with some very safe predictions (filmmakers that have already proven their craft) and a few more riskier suggestions.

Shrouded in mystery and bearing all the signs of a sure fire chill-fest, first-time writer/director Dominic Perez brings us Evil Things – a found footage shocker that hopes to join the ranks of the now legendary Blair Witch Project and the multiplex-filling Paranormal Activity when it hits DVD in the UK on October 10th courtesy of Scanbox Entertainment.

Judging from the press release below, this could be an intriguing slasher angle on the found footage sub-genre in the vein of the underrated but awesome My Little Eye.

From the Press Release

They Were Never Seen Again... Until Now! Described as “really creepy stuff” (Stephen Susco, screenwriter of The Grudge 1 and 2), “very tense… engaging” (Terror Firmer) and full of “sheer ‘s**t your pants’ scares” (Arrow In The Head), the critically acclaimed horror-thriller Evil Things comes to DVD on 10th October 2011, giving genre fans plenty of time to line it up...

“Hangover” and “Limitless” star Bradley Cooper is reportedly signing up for a another horror movie “Umbra” Bloody Disgusting, experts in all things gory has reported that he’s in talks and will soon sign. This will be one in a long line of horror flicks for Bradley including “My Little Eye”, “The Midnight Meat Train” and “Case 39”. He’s also lined up to play Lucifer in “Paradise Lost”. ----------------------- Read More: Paddy Powers gives odds on who’ll design Lady Gaga’s wedding dress The new ‘Twilight? Spielberg’s Dreamworks snaps up Irish fantasy series Weather Channel's coverage of Hurricane Irene spiced up by streaker - Video ----------------------- Cooper will play the character of David Underwood “An investment banker finds himself mixed up in a major government conspiracy - one that's life changing. His world unravels when he is accidentally delivered an audio cassette which reveals the government's complicity...

'The Hangover' and 'The A-Team' star Bradley Cooper is reportedly looking to take part in yet another horror feature. Cooper (below) whom has previously notched up a string of genre appearance including 'My Little Eye', 'The Midnight Meat Train' and 'Case 39' is set to take on an alien invasion. Bloody Disgusting are reporting that the actor (and one of those 'ok to have a man-crush' kinda guys) is in talks to play the role of David Underwood in Endgame's new sci-fi horror flick 'Umbra'. Cooper will also be seen in Alex Proyas' 'Paradise Lost' adaption, where he'll star as Lucifer. Check out the plot details below....

This film is the first outing for Daniel Radciffe since Harry Potter. It's based on Susan Hill's novel and looks suitably spooky, but what do you think?

The Woman in Black teaser trailer materialises from the shadows, checklist of horror genre staples in ghostly hand. There's the gloomy mansion, there's the spooky kids, there's er ... Harry Potter.

Still, we're looking forward to this one. It's Daniel Radcliffe's first feature role post-wizard, directed by James Watkins (Eden Lake, My Little Eye) and based on the popular novel by Susan Hill. Radcliffe plays Arthur Kipps: a Victorian lawyer sent to Eel Marsh House to manage the affairs of a deceased client. He's young, dashing and clerical – the Victorian equivalent of today's buxom, blond and nubile – so inevitably comes a cropper to a wronged spirit looking to exact her revenge for an unspecified injustice. Step away from the ledger Dan!

Kicking off in 2000 in the humble Prince Charles CInema in the heart of London, Frightfest has been the burning bastion of horror and cult cinema in the UK for the past eleven years and is now in the lead up to it’s twelve come August bank holiday weekend.

During that time its been forced to relocate to larger and larger cinemas, resolving in a hostile takeover of London’s biggest cinema – the Empire a few years back which it stuffs full with passionate geeks, devotee film-lovers, hordes of critics and press and celebrity guests. It’s been called by Time Out London “The best thing to do all summer long” in our bustling city. But why does it garner such incredible praise and attendance?

It could be the insanely long list of incredible UK, European and even Worldwide Premieres it secures (Pitch Black, The Eye, Insomnia, Pan’s Labyrinth,...

Patagonia could be a worryingly hard sell to the popcorn chomping public. Its brilliant cast rarely use the Queen’s English; preferring the Spanish and Welsh tongue as we follow the intertwining stories through Wales and Argentina’s Patagonia.

Marc Evans (My Little Eye) has the directorial reigns here; taking the viewer on a intriguing journey that plays out the lives of two women, at very different stages – an old lady’s quest to find the birthplace of her mother and the relationship of a young couple, still treading the early complicated waters of their potential life together.

Evans is a marvel behind the camera. As the parallel journeys play out, the screen is filled with stunning panoramic landscapes that lend themselves as a beautifully artistic backdrop. The contrast between the harsh farmland desert of Patagonia, against the sweeping valleys of deepest darkest Wales act as striking mood ring for the movie.

With The Hangover Part II breaking box-office records in theaters, now’s a good time to look back at one of star Bradley Cooper’s earliest big-screen credits: the horror film My Little Eye. Far from an embarrassing skeleton in the closet, Cooper’s turn in Eye (made shortly after the actor began his regular role on TV’s Alias) is a memorable part of a seriously underrated movie; read on for Michael Gingold’s original review.

Originally set for release in October 2009 (!) but then stuck in MGM’s financial mire where they couldn’t even afford to distribute and market the film, including the last proposed release of this past January – Deadline are now reporting that Lionsgate have stepped in and will release Joss Whedon’s and Drew Goddard’s horror film Cabin in the Woods, perhaps as early as October.

And as actor Chris Hemsworth is gaining universal plaudits for his lead performance in Thor right now with what is likely to be a big hit and his breakout role, you can see why Lionsgate have suddenly got excited about the film that has been completed but stuck on the shelf for way too long.

How a movie from the creator of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Firefly and the writer behind Cloverfield and who was a lynchpin in Lost and Alias has been on the...

Here's a collector's item, a drama in which the only languages spoken are Welsh and Spanish. It's also two road movies for the price of one, running the parallel stories of pilgrims on a search for identity. Gwen (Nia Roberts) and her photographer boyfriend Rhys (Matthew Gravelle) journey from hometown Cardiff to Patagonia, having packed some unspecified sadness that comes to the boil when Gwen meets Welsh-Patagonian rancher dude Mateo (Matthew Rhys). Meanwhile, travelling in exactly the opposite direction is elderly Argentine native Cerys (Marta Lubos) who wants to connect with her ancestral Wales before she dies, and takes along her shy young neighbour Alejandro (Nahaul Perez Biscayart) as companion. Wonderfully shot by Robbie Ryan (Fish Tank), the film displays a lyrical sensitivity both to the desert landscapes of Patagonia and to the remote, rain-glazed hills of Wales, and the unlikeliness of their ancient connection (the Welsh settled in Patagonia in 1865) becomes rather moving.

Rejuvenated Hammer Films franchise launches publicity campaign as part of a summer of hair-raising new releases from UK directors and writers

Hammer Films are to launch a summer publicity campaign ahead of what is being billed as a full-blown revival of the alternative British horror genre. A welter of horror films are scheduled for release this summer, while Ghost Stories, the theatrical show whose programme carries a warning to those of a nervous disposition, is packing in audiences for its West End run.

Joe Cornish, of the comedy duo Adam and Joe, is to make his directorial debut with Attack the Block, a film produced by the team behind Shaun of the Dead, and a reborn Hammer Films, once the greatest film studio in British horror, is to make a 3D feature film based on Susan Hill's modern gothic novel The Woman in Black.

The ghostly thriller, which became a long-running West End hit,...

Low-key concepts and limited budgets have given British horror films a gritty realism that is the envy of the industry – but can they ever really compete with their Us rivals?

Unlike the western or the musical, the horror movie never seems to be under threat of extinction. The occasional phenomenon – a Blair Witch Project or a Paranormal Activity – helps to fortify its commercial appeal, as do hits like Scream or Hostel, which refresh the familiar conventions. But horror remains in perpetually good nick, not least in its UK outpost, from which some of the most inventive shockers of the last 10 years have emerged. Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later kicked off a new wave of Brit horror in 2002, but it fell to emerging film-makers to properly paint the town blood-red, from Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead) to Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers, The Descent), Michael J Bassett (Deathwatch, Wilderness) and Christopher Smith (Creep,...

James Watkins’ Eden Lake was one of the best films of 2008 and a fantastic debut feature. The clever mixing of thriller genre traits with contemporary social fears created a nerve-shattering experience helped by the performances of Michael Fassbender and Kelly Reilly and a particularly bleak ending. It also made you think twice about visiting the woods for a day out.

It was 2002’s My Little Eye that got him noticed as a new talent to watch in British cinema and Eden Lake established him as a director of great promise.

He’s currently working on an adaptation of Susan Hill’s spine-tingly ghost story classic, The Woman in Black. James Watkins very recently chatted to FilmShaft about his career to date, Eden Lake and his plans for The Woman in Black.

How did you start out in the film industry?

It was a variety of things. I’d always had a long-standing interest in film,...

Always on the lookout to post a picture of an adorable monkey. The other guy, the one smiling, is actor Bradley Cooper, and with his slate of upcoming movies, he has quite a lot to smile about. Add one more to that slate, as, according to Heat Vision, the actor is set to star in Neil Burger’s next film, Dark Fields.

The film, written by Leslie Dixon (The Thomas Crown Affair) and based on the book by Alan Glynn, centers on a writer who uncovers a top secret drug that instantly makes one smarter. Of course, as the writer soon discovers, the drug has strange side effects including “trip-switching”, in which time seems to move at a stop-motion pace.

Not entirely sure how the story plays out, but this sounds like a possibility for the beginning of a pseud-realistic superhero movie, if, in fact, the protagonist learns at some...

Right off the bat, it should be noted: Neil Marshall did not direct the sequel. That's not to say anything nasty or negative about The Descent: Part 2, but if you're looking for a reason to whine about how "It'll never be as good as the first one," then there you go.

Beyond that, however, my anticipation of this sequel just got elevated by this brand-new trailer clip the new trailer clip that Lionsgate just yanked from YouTube, darnit, although this site seems to still have it posted. The director is first-timer Jon Harris, who worked as editor on several films (including the very well-cut Eden Lake), and one can't help but feel for the guy. His first big feature and everyone's already whining about the absence of Neil Marshall. Also, one of the credited screenwriters is James Watkins, he of the underrated My Little Eye and (also) Eden Lake.

No matter what I say, I think most of us out there are never going to believe that the follow-up to Neil Marshall's The Descent could ever live up to the original. But, these latest stills from the sequel certainly make me feel a little better about the whole idea -- well, that and the fact that Marshall acted as a 'hands-on' producer for the flick. Still photographer Ollie Upton recently released a whole whack of still photographs from the flick on his website (check them out below) and it looks like things certainly haven't gotten any better for our heroine since we last saw her.

James Watkins' (My Little Eye) script centers on Sarah Carter (Shauna Macdonald), who has emerged from the Appalachian cave covered in her friend's blood, and borderline catatonic. When she is forced to go back down in the caves to help locate her missing companions,...

As part of a bumper crop of Halloween theatrical releases, two movies dealing with young people have arrived—one that explores and elicits anxieties over out-of-control teenagers, and one aimed directly and simplistically at the mindset of that age. Guess which one is better? And guess which one is getting the wider break?

Eden Lake, the directorial debut of My Little Eye scripter James Watkins, is slinking into very token theatrical release like a beaten child—in the New York area, its sole venue is somewhere in Queens—prior to its wider DVD exposure in January. Like so many films granted such negligible big-screen treatment, it deserves better. In the film, it’s the children who deliver the beatings, as writer/helmer Watkins presents a scenario ripped from British headlines about violent youth sometimes referred to as “chavs,” junior hooligans who have no respect for authority or compunctions about reacting...

Dimension Extreme gave Fango the scoop on the specs for its DVDs of Pulse 3, streeting December 23, and Eden Lake, hitting disc January 6.

The former film, the second sequel to the remake of Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s modern ghost classic, is set several years after Pulse 2, with young Justine now a teenager (played by Brittany Finamore) living in a primitive settlement in a world overrun by technologically unleashed phantoms. When she discovers a working laptop, her curiosity leads her to unleash a new spectral nightmare. Rider (Cabin Fever) Strong also stars, with Joel Soisson once again writing/directing; the widescreen transfer with Dolby 5.1 sound will be accompanied by a behind-the-scenes featurette.

Eden Lake, the directorial debut of My Little Eye/The Descent 2 scripter James Watkins, is about a couple vacationing at the title locale who are terrorized by a group of brutal teenaged thugs. This one will also be in widescreen with Dolby 5.1 sound,...

The ironically titled Eden Lake is anything but ironic in its execution. A horror genre hybrid, that seamlessly mixes elements of backwoods horror (Deliverance, Southern Comfort, Calvaire), slasher (Friday 13th, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and yuppie-in-peril movies (Pacific Heights, Single White Female) it would be easy for such a film to be smothered under the weight of its influences. But James Watkins’ (writer of 2002’s My Little Eye and 2007’s Gone) directorial debut anchors it all to a very topical, very British threat and tabloid favourite, the ‘hoodie’ – a clothing based moniker beloved of the British media to represent all that is 21st century yob culture. Watkins transports these typically urban pests to the countryside, and in doing so relieves them of their hoods but none of their menace.

Usually when an original creator walks away from a sequel, it is a good sign that maybe a sequel isn't the best idea to begin with. Well, that's exactly what happened with the follow-up to Neil Marshall's 2005 horror-hit, The Descent. But it is not all bad news because Shock Till You Drop got the chance for a set-visit, and by the sounds of things it's looking pretty good for our group of traumatized spelunkers. (You can read the about the full visit over at Shock.)

The sequel picks up where the first film left off (that is if you are following the events of the North American release of the original film). The story follows the return of a mute and unbalanced Sarah as she heads back down to the caves with a rescue party to locate the rest of her group. Of course, this being the ricketiest cave on earth,...

Colin Firth and Mena Suvari have signed on to Trauma, a psychological thriller set to shoot in London and on the Isle of Man, Variety reports. Helmed by Marc Evans (My Little Eye) and co-financed by BBC Films, the supernatural drama revolves around a man (Firth) who awakens from a coma to find that his wife apparently died in the same accident that left him unconscious for years. Soon, he's haunted by images of his dead wife, and a neighbor (Suvari) helps him get in touch with his wife through a medium, with surprising results. Shooting starts at the end of April, with Warner Bros. set to take on U.K. theatrical and video rights.