London Fright Fest 2000
That’s now the title of the Fantasy event of the year that will be taking place between August 25 – 28 at London’s Prince Charles Cinema in the West End. The reason why we changed it from ‘Shock Around the Clock’ is too boring to go into, but you can now access all the details from the website www.frightfest.co.uk You can leave your details, questions and thoughts by e-mail and tickets will be on sale there soon and at The Cinema Store in St Martin’s Lane.

Confirmed titles are the world première of Chuck Parello’s Ed Gein, the UK premiere of What Lies Beneath, the Australian Scream sensation Cut, the German Horror hit Anatomie, the fun Sundance entry Psycho Beach Party, the British shocker The Lighthouse (aka Dead of Night) and the Brussels Fantasy Festival favourite The Convent. More title details when we have them, plus loads of surprise guests, special events, short films – Paul Cosgrove’s Amicus homage Green Fingers starring Ingrid Pitt for one – and freebies. We’re trying to pull off a major blockbuster coup as well as other want-to-see titles, so keep in touch.

Lenore
Sony Family Entertainment has acquired the rights to Roman Dirge’s cult comic Lenore for an animated film that will be scripted by Caroline Thompson and Larry Wilson. Thompson’s scripting credits include Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas and Edward Scissorhands and Wilson’s include Beetlejuice. Their last collaboration was The Addams Family.

Described as a black comedy with heart, Lenore is a 10-year-old girl who returns from the dead, primarily because she feels her family needs her. The tone, said Thompson, is much in line with that of South Park. “We are looking to appeal to adults as much as the sophisticated 10-year-old” remarked Thompson who also directed Black Beauty.

Thompson added, “Lenore has a lot in common with the stop-motion comedy The Nightmare Before Christmas. That film had such moments as Santa being stretched on a torture rack, and while Disney couldn’t figure how to market the picture, it has done exceptionally well on video with kids who got the humour.”

True Demons!
While Peter Jackson has been directing The Lord of the Rings in New Zealand, another Kiwi director, Glenn Standring, has been making waves with his feature début The Irrefutable Truth about Demons. Shot in Wellington last October, the story revolves around a university lecturer who, since the death of his brother, has become obsessed with exposing cults.

Eventually one Satanic cult thinks he’s getting to close and send an army of demons to put him off the scent. Starring Karl Urban, Katie Wolfe, Sally Stockwell, Tony MacIver and Neill Rea, the moderately budgeted item features an array of digital devils created by the software Confuse for deep-focus 3-D animation.