Mayhem Film Festival 2018 - Full Line Up Announced

FROM THE PRESS RELEASE:
5 September 2018
 
Mayhem Film Festival reveals full line-up for 2018 edition
Mayhem Film Festival is proud to announce the full line-up for its 2018 edition, which will take place at Broadway, Nottingham on 11-14 October. The festival showcases the best features and short films in horror, sci-fi and cult cinema, through premieres, previews, and guested screenings each year.
 
Mayhem 2018 starts as it means to go on with Scottish zombie musical Anna and the Apocalypse, which opens the festival on Thursday 11 October, and will be followed by a Q&A with director John McPhail. Aislinn Clarke will present a screening of her found-footage chiller The Devil’s Doorway, set in one of Ireland’s notorious Magdalene asylums. Writer-director Marc Price (smash-hit zombie flick Colin) will also attend the festival to present his action-packed crime-thriller Nightshooters, where things get messy when a hapless film crew on a late-night shoot accidentally record a gangland execution.
 
Mayhem’s 14th edition will play host to no fewer than three UK Premieres, with exclusive first screenings of Nosipho Dumisa’s Cape Town-set Hitchcock homage Number 37, slow-burning science-fiction indie Prospect, and – as previously announced – Shinsuke Sato’s live-action manga adaptation Inuyashiki.
Already proving popular following last month’s announcement and certain to be festival highlights are Panos Cosmatos’ cosmic fever dream Mandy, starring a truly top-form Nicolas Cage, and Japanese box-office sensation One Cut of the Dead.
 
Delving into the archives, Mayhem is pleased to present a rare screening of Erik Blomberg’s strange and supernatural 1952 Finnish folktale, The White Reindeer, and the Dario Argento-produced 1985 cult classic Demons.
 
This year’s edition also includes screenings of horror anthologies Nightmare Cinema and The Field Guide to Evil – both previously announced – as well as preview screenings of Brazilian director Dennison Romalho’s macabre mortuary horror The Nightshifter, Nicolas Pesce’s darkly comic Piercing, starring Mia Wasikowska, the hilariously bad-taste splatterfest Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich, and haunted-house horror The Witch in the Window. Colin Minihan’s grueling survival thriller What Keeps You Alive will close the festival.
 
The ever-popular short film programme and Mayhem’s fiendish film quiz, The Flinterrogation - hosted by author David Flint - both return to round off this year’s line-up.
 
Early Bird passes will remain on sale at the discounted price of £65 until 10AM on Monday 10 September,  at which time individual tickets, day passes and full festival passes – at the standard price of £75 – will be made available. 

For more information, please visit www.mayhemfilmfestival.com
 
Mayhem Film Festival takes place on 11-14 October 2018 at Broadway, Nottingham.

The full line-up and schedule for Mayhem 2018 is available below:
 
THURSDAY 11 OCTOBER

7.30PM ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE + Special Guest John McPhail  Dir. John McPhail, 2017 (UK) with Ella Hunt & Paul Kaye 

10PM NIGHTMARE CINEMA  Dirs. Joe Dante, Mick Garris, Ryûhei Kitamua, David Slade and Alejandro Brugués, 2018 (US) with Mickey Rourke & Richard Chamberlain
 
FRIDAY 12 OCTOBER

2.15PM THE WHITE REINDEER Dir. Erik Blomberg, 1952 (Finland) with Mirjami Kuosmanen & Kalervo Nissila 

3.45PM PIERCING Dir. Nicolas Pesce, 2018 (US) with Mia Wasikowska & Christopher Abbott 

6.15PM NIGHTSHOOTERS + Special Guest Marc Price Dir. Marc Price, 2018 (UK) with John-Paul Ly & Rosanna Hoult 

8.30PM PUPPET MASTER: THE LITTLEST REICH Dirs. Sonny Laguna and Tommy Wiklund, 2018 (UK/US) with Udo Kier & Barbara Crampton 

10.30PM MANDY Dir. Panos Cosmatos, 2018 (US) with Nicolas Cage & Andrea Riseborough

SATURDAY 13 OCTOBER

12PM ONE CUT OF THE DEAD Dir. Shin’inchiro Ueda, 2017 (Japan) with Takayuki Hamatsu & Harumi Syuhama 

2PM PROSPECT - UK PREMIERE Dirs. Chris Caldwell & Zeke Earl, 2018 (US) with Sophie Thatcher & Jay Duplass 

4PM NUMBER 37 – UK PREMIERE Dir. Nosipho Dumisa, 2018 (South Africa) with Irshaad Ally & Monique Rockman 

6.45PM MAYHEM SHORT FILM SHOWCASE Dir. Various, 2018 (International) 

9PM THE DEVIL’S DOORWAY + Special Guest Aislinn Clarke Dir. Aislinn Clarke, 2018 (UK) with Lalor Roddy & Helena Bereen 

11PM DEMONS  Dir. Lamberto Bava, 1985 (Italy) with Michele Soavi & Nicoletta Elmi
 
SUNDAY 14 OCTOBER

12PM INUYASHIKI – UK PREMIERE Dir. Shinsuke Sato, 2018 (Japan) with Noritake Kinashi & Takeru Satoh 

2.30PM THE FIELD GUIDE TO EVIL Dirs. Ashim Ahluwalia, Can Evrenol, Severin Fiala & Veronika Franz, Katrin Gebbe, Calvin Reeder, Agnieszka Smoczynska, Peter Strickland and Yannis Veslemes, 2018 (New Zealand)  

4.45PM THE WITCH IN THE WINDOW Dir. Andy Mitton, 2018 (Canada) with Alex Draper & Charlie Tacker 

6.15PM The Flinterrogation Hosted by author David Flint 

7.15PM THE NIGHTSHIFTER Dir. Dennison Ramalho, 2018 (US) with Daniel De Oliveira & Fabiula Nascimento 

9.30PM WHAT KEEPS YOU ALIVE Dir. Colin Minihan, 2018 (Canada) with Hannah Emily Anderson & Brittany Allen 

Mayhem Film Festival was founded in 2005 by filmmakers Steven Sheil and Chris Cooke. They screen the best in contemporary horror, science-fiction and cult cinema and television from around the world. Featuring premieres, previews, masterclasses, international special guest filmmakers, and unique live cinema events, the festival has developed a reputation as one of the strongest and most innovative genre festivals in the country. They are based at Broadway in Nottingham, one of the UK's leading independent cinemas and creative hubs.

Mayhem Film Festival 2018 - Save the Date

Mayhem Film Festival announce this year's dates...

11-14 OCTOBER 2018!


Via Email:
"We are delighted to announce that we will return for our 14th edition this autumn, from 11-14 October at Broadway, Nottingham.

We're in the initial stages of planning but as always, you can expect previews, premieres, guests and special events, as we work to bring you the best of horror, sci-fi and cult cinema over our four-day weekend. We'll have more information on Early Bird Passes and film submissions soon, so watch this space for more from us. In the meantime, here are a few films to watch out for in the next few weeks..."

Mayhem Film Festival was founded in 2005 by filmmakers Steven Sheil and Chris Cooke. They screen the best in contemporary horror, science-fiction and cult cinema and television from around the world. Featuring premieres, previews, masterclasses, international special guest filmmakers, and unique live cinema events, the festival has developed a reputation as one of the strongest and most innovative genre festivals in the country. They are based at Broadway in Nottingham, one of the UK's leading independent cinemas and creative hubs.

Left to right: Chris. Me. Steven

You can check out my previous posts about past Mayhem events by CLICKING HERE

For general enquiries: mayhemfilmfest@gmail.com
For press & marketing enquiries: m.gueneau@broadway.org.uk

Mayhem Film Festival 2017 Part 2 (Day 4)

Welcome to day 4 of Mayhem Film Festival! The one day when I managed to attend in full. Except for the live reading, but we'll get to that. Starting the day was a mockumentary from the land down under...

Top Knot Detective. Dir. & Wri. Aaron McCann & Dominic Pearce.

This story of a failed Japanese TV show is done in the style of the much beloved This is Spinal Tap (1984) and the absolutely brilliant (previously shown at Mayhem), What We Do in the Shadows (2014).

Bizarrely funny with lots of cheese thrown in, the downfall of Takashi Takamoto (Toshi Okuzaki) and his TV show is a surreal roller coast ride of self obsession, forbidden love, sexual harassment, betrayal & madness.

If you're a fan of the mockumentary style of film then you'll enjoy this. It's definitely worth a watch. 

Top Knot Detective gets 3 out of 5 Stars

The second film of the day was something completely different...

Rift. Dir. & Wri. Erlingur Thoroddsen.

Starting off with a short video from the film's director, which was a nice touch as he couldn't be there, Rift (Rökkur - Original title, translated Twilight) takes place in the barren volcanic wilderness of Iceland. 

Such a desolate setting was perfect for this slow burn psychological piece which follows Gunnar (Björn Stefánsson) and Einar (Sigurður Þór Óskarsson) as they hash out their past relationship in a cabin and the surrounding area. It's not long before they are interrupted by an unwanted visitor, that lurks in the dark.

Right, I had this film figured out inside the first 10 minutes. So that slow burn soon became a very, very, slow burn, to the point that I became a little bored and was hoping for some kind of mega twist ending. But that ending never came and I was right all along.
Scroll past the next section to avoid spoilers. I have made it very small so hopefully you'll miss it...

***~~~SPOILER ALERT~~~***

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So here's the spoiler. It's basically a gay version of  M. Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense

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***~~~END OF SPOILERS~~~***

Besides that major flaw in story telling, it was beautifully shot with some stunning cinematography and both Stefánsson and Óskarsson's performances were excellent.

Rift gets a generous 2.5 Stars

 

Up next was the annual "Flinterrogtion" hosted by Mayhem regular and Reprobate, David Flint. This year's test was a quick one, but with our 7 strong team we managed 3rd place in the incredibly hard horror quiz, which meant we won some goodies which included posters, Blu-rays and more.

The live reading I mentioned before was the 3rd program of the day. Hammer's lost film...

A few of us gave it a miss as we attended the live reading of THE UNQUENCHABLE THIRST OF DRACULA back in 2015. I enjoyed that, but it was a one time experience for me. So here's Realm of Horror's take on it...

"ZEPPLIN VS PTERODACTYLS, not a film, but a live stage reading of an unmade Hammer film. Scripted by festival co-director Steven Sheil, based on the original plot outline from the Hammer films archives, the story revolves around a crew of a Zepplin, on a rescue mission to find survivors from a ship wreck at one of the polar ice caps, only to discover a lost continent filled with Pterodactyls, wild beasts, strange natives and something else...

The story was highly reminiscent of "The Land that Time Forgot", "At the Earths Core" and various other old films about undiscovered lands, but with a Dr Who inspired sci-fi twist.

Narrated by Jonny Phillips (Titanic) with a full cast providing the various voices, it was rather like watching an Audio book or Radio Play being recorded and was Mayhem's second attempt at bringing an unmade Hammer film to life (the other being 2015s Unquenchable Thirst of Dracula) and proved to be hit with the audience. Needed more Pterodactyls though."

After something to eat and a couple of pints, we headed back to catch the Mayhem at Mayhem!

Mayhem. Dir. Joe Lynch. Wri. Matias Caruso.

Starring The Walking Dead's Steven Yeun, this movie was insane, and again, very different from the first 2 films of the day.

Think the TV series The Office meets The Belko Experiment (2016) meets The Raid (2011) and you'll be pretty close to imagining what this movie is like.

The mind-twisting ID7 virus unleashes a scourge that drives the infected to extremes of uninhibited public fornication, shouting contests and, at worse case, rage fuelled fights and killing. Sounds like fun right?! Well that's what we got, an absolute shit load of fun, as this virus breaks out in an office complex. While everybody is loosing their mind, Derek (Yeun) and Melanie (Samara Weaving) are on a mission to get to the top floor to sort out some business with the big wigs of the company. Violence, brutality and blood, with a lot of laughs throughout. Let the Mayhem commence!

Mayhem gets 4 out of 5 Stars

The last film of the day and of the festival was a debut feature for the director...

Dead Shack. Dir. Peter Ricq. Wri. Phil Ivanusic, Davila LeBlanc, Peter Ricq.

This had a similar feel to it as the previous film, a fun one.

A family of 4 and their son's best mate head to the woods for a vacation. But little do they know that their neighbour is hiding her children away, till they get hungry and it's feeding time!

This is a cool edition to the Zombie sub-genre that adds a little something different to what the sub-genre has been saturated with over the past 10 years. 

Dead Shack gets 3 out of 5 Stars

To sum up, another great festival, even though I couldn't make all of it. My top 3 films in order - 1. Double Date. 2. Mayhem. 3. Habit.

Thanks once again to Steven Sheil, Chris Cooke and Meli for all their hard work and to Broadway Cinema for hosting the festival.