Author: Peter 'Witchfinder' Hopkins

SPLIT **** USA 2016 Dir: M Night Shyamalan. 117 mins Following the success of witty found-footage chiller THE VISIT, writer-director Shyamalan stuck with the kind of smart, bold, thoughtful genre pictures that made his name. There are echoes of John Lithgow’s RAISING CAIN showcase here in the form of James McAvoy’s show-stopping tour de force as a zoo worker with 23 personalities, the most hostile of which have become dominant. Under the command of “Dennis”, he kidnaps three teenagers while his sympathetic psychologist (veteran CARRIE actress Betty Buckley making a welcome screen comeback) realises how dangerous he is becoming despite…

Manchester-based genre film festival GRIMMFEST is proud to announce the introduction of a brand new award category for their upcoming 11th edition in October 2019: the WORK-IN-PROGRESS AWARD. Grimmfest launched its very first festival awards in 2018, with the jury granting a total of 12 prizes. Winners included Issa López’s TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID which scooped the BEST FEATURE FILM prize and John McPhail’s ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE which bagged BEST DIRECTOR. The 10th edition of Grimmfest took place from 4 – 7th October 2018 at the Odeon Manchester Great Northern. Details of the 2018 award winners can be found…

Underground movie distributor/producer SRS Cinema LLC is excited to bring you cult filmmaker Mark Polonia’s latest effort, a haunted doll thriller called DEADLY PLAYTHINGS. It is Mark’s loving homage to the creepiness that is horror movies based around dolls such as ANNABELLE and MAGIC. The movie is currently in post-production with an Indiegogo campaign currently live to help recoup the production expenses as well as the upcoming wide release costs. Synopsis: A child’s mysterious doll, once home to restless and disembodied spirits, is handed down to the occupants of a new home. The doll, found hidden in the dark recesses…

UNBREAKABLE ***** USA 2000 Dir: M Night Shyamalan. 106 mins Writer-director Shyamalan’s follow-up to the widely praised THE SIXTH SENSE shared a nuanced, understated Bruce Willis performance, an autumnal Philadelphia backdrop, an impressive juvenile actor (here, Spencer Treat Clark) and a sombre, thoughtful approach to familiar genre material. An expertly constructed comic book origin story from the era before Marvel movies dominated Hollywood, it follows security guard Bruce Willis’ dramatically changing life after he emerges as the only survivor of a horrific train derailment. Brittle-boned comic book obsessive Samuel L Jackson persistently contacts Willis, insistent that he is his direct…

Later this month Severin Films will release two films that fans have been clamouring for a release for some time. Both are available from 26th February on DVD and Blu-ray and come with a whole host of extras. INVASION OF THE BLOOD FARMERS “They planted the LIVING and harvested the DEAD.” Early 70’s grindhouse patrons were greeted with that proclamation from the salacious poster for INVASION OF THE BLOOD FARMERS, a deranged no budget exercise in audacious audience abuse. Severin Films is bringing Ed Adlum’s unforgettable cult curio to home video in a gorgeous new presentation to plant it’s sinful…