Film at Eleven

Universal Pictures (UK) will release Richard Kelly’s Southland Tales on DVD on 31st March 2008.

Writer and director Richard Kelly’s debut feature film Donnie Darko grew from cult status into a phenomenal smash hit when released on DVD. And DVD is the perfect way to experience his new film, as its multi-layered story demands repeat viewings and the crystal clear picture and awesome sound quality will further heighten the impact of the special effects and soundtrack. The film will be accompanied by a 30 minute making-of documentary.

Southland Tales is a multilayered vision which defies categorisation. A visceral experience, with stunning production values, special effects and a heavy nod to pop culture, the film is part dark comedy, part sci-fi, part thriller, part fairy tale, and even part musical and it is the singular vision of one man.

Los Angeles, 2008: The city stands on the brink of social, economic and environmental disaster. Southland Tales is an epic story narrated by Iraq veteran Private Pilot Abilene (Justin Timberlake) and is set over the course of three days centered in Los Angeles that culminate in an apocalyptic 4th July climax. Together with Abilene (Timberlake), the large ensemble cast of characters includes Boxer Santaros (Dwayne Johnson), an action star stricken with amnesia, Krysta Now (Sarah Michelle Gellar), an adult film star developing her own reality television project, and Roland Taverner (Seann William Scott), a Hermosa Beach police officer who holds the key to a vast conspiracy.

Richard Kelly comments, “What is it all about in the end? I think it’s about where our country is going, our current dilemma when you’re talking about alternative fuel, terrorism, our civil liberties being taken away from us, and the potential effects of environmental degradation on human behaviour, neurological responses, global warming. You know, there’s a lot going on here.”

The X Fest - Extreme, Underground and Cult Film Festival will feature a select group of films March 28-30, 2008 in Cape Town, South Africa.

Over the three days, the festival will show a dozen films including the classic Reefer Madness, the Tarantino/Rodriguez 70’s throwback Grindhouse, Takashi Miike’s Ichi The Killer, and the first first feature film from Alter Ego Cinema, Amateur Porn Star Killer.

Shameless Screen Entertainment is proud to announce that their 14th April DVD release of The Frightened Woman (aka Femina Ridens) has been approved by Piero Schivazappa, the director of the film.Witness the ultimate subjugation of a woman to serve the most twisted desires of man in the achingly hip ‘n’ horny Femina Ridens, where the kinkiest urges are played to a deadly conclusion…

The beautifully sensuous Dagmar Lassander stars as Maria, the living sex toy of Dr Sayer (Philippe Leroy) who delights in killing women at the point of orgasm. Sayer’s prolonged campaign of degradation pushes Maria right to the edge of death but the spell she casts on him will lead to the most extraordinary climax of a lifetime!

Stylish, imaginative and deliciously twisted, this kitschy 60s pop art erotica-fest boasts gorgeous set design, an even more alluring leading lady and a heady desire to please the viewer with increasingly bizarre and dangerous sex games.

Shameless Screen Entertainment will release The Frightened Woman on DVD at £12.99 on 14th April, 2008. The Shameless director approved cut will run at 86m 03secs and is being released uncut by the BBFC for the first time in the UK. Presentation of the film is in restored 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen with a restored 2.0 mono soundtrack. The DVD includes an original theatrical trailer. Also included on the disc is a Shameless original trailer gallery.

A forgotten classic and never before released in the UK, the uber-trashy Ratman is a guilty horror pleasure of gory delights proudly brought back into your hands by Shameless Screen Entertainment to cherish forever.

Pint-sized cult hero Nelson De La Rosa stars as the horrific genetic mutation that is Ratman! Created to win a Nobel prize; the only awards he’ll be picking up will be for slaying showering beauty Eva Grimaldi but not before she’s soaped up for your pleasure! Janet Agren plays her sister out to discover what has happened to Eva and who or what is devouring the residents of a lush Caribbean island.

A glorious exploitation fest of bad taste, worse acting, needless nudity and tense wince-inducing slaughter, please welcome and give the loveable Ratman a home in your horror collection today.

Ratman (cert. 18) will be released on DVD (£12.99) by Shameless Screen Entertainment on 31st March 2008. The film will be presented remastered in 1.85:1 with English 2.0 sound. Also included on the disc is a Shameless original trailer gallery.

Red Princess Blues Animated: The Book of Violence, the 7 minute animated film starring Paula Garces, will be screening at the Cannes International Film Festival 2008 Short Film Corner.

Because of potential postal delays, the EcoVision Festival has extended its deadline for submissions to March 28th.

The topic of the festival is “the environment” and its aim is to promote cinematographic and documentary production in addressing the relationship between man and the environment, the safeguard of the territory, human rights, the felling of forests, the relationships with the city and new technologies, the radioactive tests in the several worlds’area, the eco-sustainable development, how the concept of environment in rich countries differs from that belonging to poor countries, but also mere descriptions of meaningful environmental areas, and all the productions concerning any aspect of environment and nature.

The festival will take place from 5th to 10th June and regulations and entry forms are available from the Download section of their site.

From Keith Crocker, director of 1997’s The Bloody Ape comes a brand-new Nazi exploitation flick for 2008! For nearly 30 years no one has dared tackle the genre, leaving us rerunning Ilsa in our VHS, laserdisc and DVD players. Now, dressed in authentic period costumes and refashioning New York, Long Island locales, Crocker has fathomed a return to the glorious ’70s when the Nazi genre was more grindhouse fodder rather than a political nod. Handing his feature opus over to Wild Eye, the film has been pistol-whipped into shape for a limited theatrical release.

During the final days of World War II, Helmut Schultz and his cohorts in Nazi crime terrorize the prisoners with biochemical weapons experiments and shoot-on-sight torture for entertainment. After a captured showgirl, the voluptuous Southern belle Candice, escapes her captors and hides out in the women’s camp, other ragamuffin defenders bolster up their wits to overthrow on the Nazi demons, even if it means leaving the camp on a slab… while Russian POW Natasha takes on soldier after soldier using only her body and her wits as she tackles the brown and black shirts all on her naked own.

Featuring fan favorite Brandon Slagle (guest at the 2008 Austin Fangoria’s Weekend of Horrors), and a cast willing to get naked and bloody, Blitzkrieg: Escape from Stalag 69 has all the violence, gore and torture you would hope for a Nazi exploitation flick, filtered through the underground auteur sensibility of Nathan Schiff contemporary Keith Crocker. Which means it’s got just a teench (okay, maybe a pinch) of that good ol’ John Waters camp touch.

Wild Eye Releasing is platforming the release with several playdates across the US with professional movie posters and lobby card sets, just like they used to make ‘em. This grindhouse treat comes complete with absolutely no rating system in place, no judge nor jury except for the viewers themselves.

The official poster for Danish retro-thriller, No Right Turn has been released. And here it is…

The film is currently in post-production and will - hopefully - be released very soon. In the meantime, check out these stills