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Hail there fellow film fiends! The first new post of the year, so a belated happy new year from me! Lots to look forwards to this year, not least the long anticipated reimagining of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi classic DUNE from Denis Villeneuve. The project looks very promising judging from what little has leaked online, the director looks to have lined up a top notch cast in what will be a two film adaptation of the novel, the first part of which will release in November. 
On the horror side, the genre has had an underwhelming start to the year with the BLACK CHRISTMAS remake, UNDERWATER and the latest GRUDGE entry all underperforming. Out of all these the Kristen Stewart vehicle UNDERWATER looks the most interesting, but it seems to have been withdrawn form the circuit already so I’ll have to wait for the Amazon release to review it. Shades of VHS classics like DEEPSTAR SIX and LEVIATHAN, both of which I always loved, so I’ll look forwards to that.
Looking forwards on the site, I have lots of content lined up with reviews of Brit director Richard Rowntree’s NEFARIOUS, his follow up to 2017’s understated folk horror DOGGED, 80’s retro horror HOUSE OF THE DEVIL and BEYOND THE GATES, along features on Charles Band classics like RAGEWAR and METALSTORM: THE DESTRUCTION OF JARED-SYN. Watch this space and subscribe to get new content in your inbox!

Now that I’ve whetted your appetite, feast your eyeballs on this boatload of new and upcoming I’ve sought out from the cinematic depths –

From director Stephen Gallacher, and in the tradition of HARD TARGET and THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME, comes the nail-biting crime thriller NOTHING MAN.
Available January 14 2020 on DVD and Digital, the film stars Daniel Hall as Noam, a frightened amnesiac who has taken himself away from society, living life as a homeless man. When his only friend is murdered in cold blood, Noam sets out in search of justice and truth, but at the cost of unlocking his own checkered past.

https://youtu.be/EEv_HU7niII

Jennifer Jordan, Ric Vince and Tony Goodall co-star in a Stephen Gallacher film, out now from High Octane Pictures.

This January, the sky opens for an almighty battle between good and evil. 
This Valentine’s Day, Cupid is shooting straight for the…heart.

Writer/director Scott Jeffrey presents the horrifying true story of Venus and Mars’s offspring.
Everyone knows the legend of Cupid.. But do they know his dark side?
After being horrendously embarrassed by the mean girls at school, Faye, a practicing witch, summons the evil Cupid to take revenge on all those who wronged her. On Valentine’s Day Cupid does in fact rise and will stop at nothing until the walls are covered in blood. The students must figure out a way to stop Cupid and undo the spell before their hearts get broken…very literally.
Georgina Jane, Bao Tieu, Michael Owusu,  Abi Casson Thompson and Sarah T. Cohen star in a Scott Jeffrey written/directed film, produced by Jeffrey and Rebecca Matthews (PET GRAVEYARD).

https://youtu.be/e7loZg7IspY

CUPID will be released on DVD and Digital February 11 from Uncork’d Entertainment.

From writer/director Harley Wallen, and featuring genre icons Laurene Landon (MANIAC COP) and Yan Birch (THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS), AGRAMON’S GATE premieres On Demand February 11.


A psychic reader and Medium is invited to a party. Something goes very wrong and something comes over from the other side to haunt the people from the party. They must solve the mystery before it’s too late. Agramon will not be easy to stop.
Also starring Kris Reilly, Calhoun Koenig, Harley Wallen and Kaiti Wallen, AGRAMON’S GATE will be available on digital platforms 2/11 from Midnight Releasing.

https://youtu.be/qtDYHkBJi5k


Martin Gooch’s award-winning sci-fi epic ATOMIC APOCALYPSE premieres On Demand and Disc this February from High Octane Pictures

Described by critics as both an “absolute joy” (CNN) and “eccentric & effervescent” (Projected Figures), the electrifying film is set a post-apocalyptic world where a woman fights to survive and be reunited with her family.
In Post Apocalyptic North America, one family fights for survival in this sci-i road trip of epic proportions in a nightmare world without gasoline, electricity, or humanity.

Sheltered mother Kate (Krista DeMille, Best Actress IIFA, SIFF, BSFFF) loses her injured survivalist husband Sam (Ron Roggé, 13 REASONS WHY, STRANGER THINGS) and love struck daughter Suzi (Andrea Sweeney Blanco) in a matter of days after they join handsome loner Joe (Jesus Lloveras) in search of a rumored hidden nuclear bunker full of food and medicine. Suddenly alone and lost, Kate fights to stay alive and reunite with her family. Nature will survive. Would we?

https://youtu.be/gyXQ6EReqHk

Following its world premiere screening at Sitges International Film Festival, and numerous award wins around the globe, ATOMIC APOCALYPSE comes home to digital and disc February 4.

There’s horror under the roof at this deadly domicile.
From Three Hair Production and One Chameleon Entertainment comes A PERFECT HOST releasing February 4 on DVD and Digital by Uncork’d Entertainment.

In director Chad Werner’s film, a group of friends rent an isolated lake house owned by a fitness obsessed man with mysterious intentions.
Four friends rent an isolated lake house for a weekend getaway. While the dramas of the friends’ relationships unfold, they are continually interrupted by the home’s owner: a health-obsessed bodybuilder named Tad. Throughout the group’s short stay, Tad’s seemingly affable gestures take an eerie and sinister twist, turning their dream vacation into a nightmare. Mystery entangles this tale that questions the blind acceptance of modern-day practices.

https://youtu.be/DnZ6HhnyysQ

On a final note –  to any aspiring independent filmmakers, podcasters or film related writers out there out there reading this, let me know if you’d like me to publicize and/or review your projects, The Stricken Land is always happy to promote new talent and ideas! And please feel free to share this post and any others on here that you like.

Spread the Word!

Ian

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Good morning bad movie hombres and hombrettes! Just going through my backlog of new release emails, hence the two newblast in a single week. Feast your eyes and souls…

The witchcraft-centric horror film Blood Craft, featuring Dominique Swain (Face-Off), Dave Sheridan (The Devil’s Rejects), Mark Rolston (Aliens) and Twilight’s Michael Welch (The Final Wish) is out now!.

Directed and co-written by genre specialist James Cullen Bressack, the film tells of two witchcraft-practicing sisters (Madeleine Wade and Augie Duke) out to get revenge on their already dead father. Madeleine Wade, who also stars in the film, co-wrote the screenplay.

The film, which will first play festivals through March, on digital April 9th.

The film was produced by James Cullen Bressack, Micah Brandt, James Thomas, and Madeleine Wade.

Official synopsis : Two sisters who suffered abuse as children at the hands of their sadistic father decide, after his death, to use witchcraft to bring his spirit back to get revenge.

Luciana Faulhaber’s unique, female-directed twist on horror films DON’T LOOK releases on VOD and DVD May 14 from Wild Eye Releasing.

Scripted by Jessica Boucher and Danielle Killay, DON’T LOOK centers on five New York City Millennials who escape the big city for a rustic Thanksgiving weekend in the country. But as will happen in horror, something threatens to shatter their peaceful getaway and they are targeted for murder.

The film, Faulhaber’s debut, recreates “the pure fun of 80’s classics like Friday the 13th, The Burning or April Fool’s Day” (Nightmarish Conjurings) with a modern twist.

Director and co-producer Faulhaber says of the film: “It was important for me to create work that shows the female characters as they are in real life – none of us are waiting to be saved by some prince charming.”

Faulhaber stars in the film alongside Jeff Berg, Jarrod Robbins, Curtis K. Case, Lindsay Eshelman, and Javier E. Gómez.

Don’t go into the deep end!

A creature lurks within a swimming pool in Georges Padey’s chlorine-infused frightfest Drowning Echo.

During a visit to friends, Sara (Itziar Martinez) begins having visions and is attacked by an unearthly creature in her friend’s swimming pool. She soon discovers that anyone who comes into contact with the water is in danger and she is driven to confront the mystical and malevolent creature lurking in the depths.

Also starring Jane the Virgin’s Dennis Mencia, Drowning Echo is available now on VOD and DVD from High Octane Pictures.

An atomic blonde is gunning for a kill in Impossible Mission, available On Demand and VOD May 7 from High Octane Pictures.

Rosa, a master assassin with a knack for poisons sets out on a search and destroy mission against a spiritual leader, but conflicts within her own organization may spell disaster for her long before she ever closes in on her target.

From writer/director Gilles Gambino, and starring Jimena Gala, Ben Vinnicombe, and James Giblin, Impossible Mission gets underway May 7 on VOD and DVD.

A horror legend returns this April when writer/director Dan Allen awakens the dead in The Mummy Reborn.

Written by Dan Allen and Scott Jeffrey, The Mummy Reborn tells of a group of teens in financial ruin that decide to rob the local antique store of an ancient amulet. But what they don’t realise is that this tomb is cursed, and when the amulet is separated from it’s master he will do anything to get it back. Our burglars must save the day and return the Mummy to it’s tomb before it is too late to save the world.

Becca Hirani (The House on Elm Lake), Tara MacGowran (Mandy the Doll), and Rita Siddiqui (Pet Graveyard) star in a Proportion Productions release.

Packed with adventure and coffined with scares, The Mummy Reborn is available on now VOD and DVD from High Octane Pictures.

On a final note –  to any aspiring independent filmmakers, podcasters or film related writers out there out there reading this, let me know if you’d like me to publicise and/or review your projects, The Stricken Land is always happy to promote new talent and ideas! And as ever, please feel free to share this post and any others on here that you like, far and wide.

Spread the Word!
Ian

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Hail there film fiends, and a very merry bank holiday to you!

As promised last week here’s a boatload of new releases to wet your appetite –

PET GRAVEYARD concerns a group of friends tormented by the Grim Reaper and his sinister pet after they undergo an experiment that allows them to revisit the dead.  The film marks the directorial debut of Rebecca J. Matthews (producer of MOTHER KRAMPUS), from a screenplay by Suzy Spade.  Scott Jeffrey (THE BAD NUN) produces.  Jeff Miller (THE TOYBOX, OUIJA HOUSE) is executive producer.

The movie stars Jessica O’Toole, David Cotter, Rita Siddiqui, Hindolo Koroma, Kate Milner-Evans, Georgina Jane, T’Jean Uter-Dinh, and Hattie Willow.

PET GRAVEYARD is on release on dvd/digital in North America now.  Uncork’d Entertainment is handling worldwide distribution.

Award-winning* dystopian thriller Division 19, starring Mandy’s Linus Roache and Alison Doody (from Indiana Jones and the last Crusade), heads to theatres and digital this April from Uncork’d Entertainment.

In the future, prisons have been turned into online portals where paying subscribers get to vote on what felons eat, watch, wear and who they fight. Panopticon TV is so successful it is about to be rolled out to a whole new town. When the world’s most downloaded felon escapes, the authorities set a trap to reel him in. The bait is his little brother who has so far managed to avoid detection.

Also starring Jamie Draven (Billy Elliot), Lotte Verbeek (Outlander), Clarke Peters (Jessica Jones), L. Scott Caldwell (Lost) and Will Rothhaar (Grimm), District 19 is written and directed by S A Halewood.

Division 19 in theatres and available on demand now.

*WINNER Critics’ Award, Fantasporto Film Festival, WINNER Best Director Suzie Halewood, Boston Science Fiction Film Festival 2018

Widely regarded as one of the goriest films in years, Brazilian horror hitCannibal Club, directed by Guto Parente, premieres in North America this March via Uncork’d Entertainment.

Otavio and Gilda are a very wealthy couple of the Brazilian elite who have the habit of eating their employees. Otavio owns a private security company and is a notable member of The Cannibal Club. When Gilda accidentally discovers a secret from Borges, a powerful congressman and the Club’s leader, her and her husband’s lives are in grave danger. 

Cannibal Club is on US release now.

The Hallucinatory Epic From Writer/Director/FX Master Gabe Bartalos comes home this May!
Warwick Davis (Leprechaun) features in the hallucinatory new horror epic Saint Bernard, releasing this May!

From legendary FX Master Gabe Bartalos (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Darkman) comes a “must-see for the truly adventurous” (UnseenFilms.net), premiering on Blu-ray, DVD and digital platforms May 14 from Severin Films.

Shot on Super 16mm and 35mm film, the highly-anticipated horror jaunt fixes on a classical musical conductor who unravels into the abyss of insanity.  Jason Dugre (Bosch), Katy Sullivan (Last Man Standing), Peter Iasillo Jr. (HellBilly 58), Bob Zmuda (Man on the Moon) and Warwick Davis (Leprechaun, Solo, Return of the Jedi) star.

Gabe Bartalos, the film’s director, writer and special effects artist pulls heavily from his ripe imagination, creating extraordinary characters, bizarre set designs, and incredibly inspired prosthetic effects. Amid a palette of dark themes, the film takes its audience on a turbulent ride through Bernard’s surreal adventures as he spirals into madness.

Saint Bernard’s marvellously hypnotic tone displays influences characteristic of prior collaborations with art world icon Matthew Barney, horror aficionado Frank Henenlotter, and renowned photographer Mark Seliger, yet carves out a distinct new voice for Bartalos.

Saint Bernard out May 14 from Severin Films.

Highly-anticipated suspense thriller Room for Rent, starring veteran actress Lin Shaye (the Insidious franchise, Ouija), will be released in theatres and on digital this May.

Room for Rent, stars Shaye as a lonely widow who rents out a room in her house and becomes dangerously obsessed with one of her guests.

The Uncork’d Entertainment release, also starring Oliver Rayon, Valeska Miller, and Ryan Ochoa, opens May 3 in select theatres and releases May 7 on digitalin the US.

Lonely widow Joyce rents out a room to make easy money.  She meets mysterious drifter Bob and takes him in as a long-term tenant.  She becomes obsessed with her much younger guest, making him the object of her deepest romantic fantasies.  When a friend’s betrayal derails Joyce’s fantasy world, she seizes control of her own destiny with a deadly mission to finally get what she deserves.

Long-awaited Horror fantasy Flay, from director Eric Pham, will be released April 2 from Phame Factory.

Flay hails from a filmmaker who cut his teeth working VFX work on some of Robert Rodriguez’s best known films, including Grindhouse and Sin City.

The film features Alita : Battle Angel‘s Elle LaMont, Violett Beane (The Flash) andPhantasm star A. Michael Baldwin. Dalton Gray (Lazer Team, Dumber and Dumber To), Johnny Walter, Aaron Spivey-Sorrells, Peggy Schott, Kaylee King and Noe de la Garza also star.

After the death of her mother, an estranged daughter struggles to save her brother, and those around her from a malevolent faceless spirit.

Flay available digitally now from Phame Factory.

On a final note –  to any aspiring independent filmmakers, podcasters or film related writers out there out there reading this, let me know if you’d like me to publicize and/or review your projects, The Stricken Land is always happy to promote new talent and ideas! And as ever, please feel free to share this post and any others on here that you like, far and wide.

Spread the Word!
Ian