This is an article I wrote for ONE OF US for their yearly Halloween magazine. Hallowzine.
Seriously Scary
When I was asked to write something for Hallowzine my mind when into overdrive over the possible subject, films, genre's, sub-genres, themes and icons that I could tap. And then as quickly as it revved up it shut down. Horror is too wide and varied a topic for me to suddenly drop anchor in one particular area. So I had to think. What about horror is it that I love? The stories, the characters, the effects, the gore, the directing, the acting? But the answer was obvious. It's scary. Or at least it's meant to be. It hit me that I couldn't remember the last time I was truly scared by a horror film. That's not to say I haven't enjoyed many. Sinister, The Purge, Cabin in the Woods, The Guest, The Babadook. All solid films. But not a single one lingered in my psyche for much longer than the credits. I didn't go home and find myself looking over my shoulder after turning of the lights to go to bed. Or avoiding the small window that leads to the garden. And these are the good films. I'm not going to waste words on the hundreds of bad ones that spill out into the world like the guts of human sacrifice on the alter of a satanic despot. And I so I came to the conclusion that whilst I love horror not a lot of it is done very well. Horror should change the way you see the world. You should wander around feeling the razors edge a little more. Going to bed should have a frisson of terror. A walk in the countryside should feel just a little bit like it could be your last walk ever. Going in the water sshould make you at least wonder about the lurking terrors slithering beneath the surface. And this brings me to the first film that caused me to question the safety of the world in which we live. JAWS. An obvious and commonly referenced film. But that only goes to show the power of it. As many of you will also know, going in the water after seeing Jaws (and Jaws 2, which is also great) became a much more terror filled prospect. Such was the impact of Jaws on my imagination that the older I get the worse I get. So much so that I can now no longer go into any natural body of water past my knees.
I had a similarly visceral reaction to what has been called the Australian Jaws. Razorback. Razorback is the tale of a small town in the Australian outback that is being terrorised by a giant and seemingly indestructable wild boar. As a youngster is scared the hell out of me and for a time all I could see in the dark were huge boar tusks. Fortunately since I have no desire to go to the Australian outback the film hasn't impinged on my ability to have fun in the same way as Jaws did. But the memory of my first watch has stayed with me since. And after revisiting it not so long ago I saw that it was a wonderfully made film. Stunning cinematography, an iconic beast kept in the shadows by director Russell Mulcahy until the tension was appropriately ramped up and characters you could root for and care about. So a lot like Jaws. And this commonality of quality filmmaking transferred to many other of the films that I would call classic horrors. A select few are An American Werewolf in London, The Descent, The Omen, Martyrs and Eden Lake. All of those films in there own individual way have there their claw marks in my psyche. And all without exception are excellent examples of cinema in any genre. Unlike so many horror films they have memorable characters, good and evil, that are three dimensional. And these parts are played by great actors. The list is a who's who of old greats, future stars and amazing character actors such as Gregory Peck, Griffin Dunne, Jack O'Connell, Michael Fassbender, Roy Scheider too name but a few. And the perhaps most importantly they have directors who are at the top of their game but in the majority of cases not predominantly horror directors. Spielberg has thrown his genius at every genre going. Landis' heart seemed to lie in comedy, Donner is a premiere action director. Only Neil Marshall could be classed as a true horror director. Pascal Vaugier may end up on that list but Martyrs was so unique that it is hard to tell where his career might go. But if his debut American film 'The Tall Man' is anything to go by he should stay in Europe where he clearly has more creative freedom. And Mulcahy peaked with Highlander and has been jobbing in low end genre pieces since (Someone give the man a great script and budget please).
So what point am I making? I think it is that horror needn't be the trashy, exploitative and unimaginative money making machine that studios seem to think it is. It is a serious business that has attracted the likes of Kubrick, Rob Reiner, Coppola and more. Jaws was nominated for Best Picture. Razorback won the Aussie Oscar for Best Cinematography. The Omen has Oscar, BAFTA and Grammy nominations coming out of its satanic behind but we'll go for Billie Whitelaws BAFTA nom for Best Supporting Actress. An American Werewolf had a whole new award category invented for it for God's sake. You can't imagine Saw 9, another remake of Texas Chainsaw or any one of the hundreds of Mega-Cockney's vs Zombiestrippersaurus' getting anything more than a Razzie or worse, an MTV award. People say horror is in good health but good box office does not mean good films. I say horror is falling into laziness again. There is hope in some of the new wave such as It Follows (pure Carpenter although I do agree with Tarantino that it breaks it's own rules too much) and Borderlands (one of the best endings in years). But as most of these films are made by first time directors who's to say that they will continue in the gnre at all. Horror is still the best way to break into the industry for a new filmmaker as it always sells. It is a well trodden path walked by many a legend but most of them step on it once and then veer off to make more heavy weight dramatic fayre. But horror can be heavy weight. It can be dramatic. It just needs to be taken seriously.  

As Cannes 2015 signals another year gone by it's alway a good time to reflect on whether or not the previous 12 months have been a flop or a hit. And the answer is always A Bit Of Both. From a festival point of view it's been a hit. 42 and counting since this time last year. And there have been a few awards thrown in to sweeten the pie. So long may that continue. The flops have been not that floppy to be honest. The end of the Braine Hownd Film nights was a sad moment but unfortunately inevitable as time constraints became to tight. That's what having kids will do to you. My little beauty joined us Nov 2014 and my brothers followed in January. It changed a lot. He (writer of the award winning I Am Lonely) decided London was too pricey and so upped stick and moved to York. And I realised that something had to give way in my life if I was to continue making films whilst being an awesome dad (which I am, obviously). So the Braine Hownd Film Nights were the thing that gave. It left a big gap in some peoples lives. Our compere Matt Prendergast has taken to leaping on stage at any given moment to spout expletives and bare his buttocks to an unsuspecting crowd.  He blames this compulsion entirely on the fact that he can no longer vent his frustrations and indulge in public nudity since the Braine Hownd Nights went. We all deal with things in our own way. So if you have a similarly anarchic event that needs a compere of boundless energy and smooth white buttocks then give him a shout. 

a new era has begun for the Braine Hownd Short Film Nights. What began as a way to show Braine Hownds and our mates films and get drunk has evolved into us acquiring an actual cinema and a second venue in South London. The Art House Cinema, Crouch End and The Hob, Forest Hill repsectively. Both have been a step up. No disrespect to our first venue The Hideaway. A brilliant bar that I will continue to frequent. But we had a bed sheet for a screen and a cheap projector to show the films on. So now we have in house projection, real screens, lots of seats and people doing the door for us. 
Of course with great power comes great responsibility. While we want to retain the feeling of the original nights. The informal atmosphere. The anything goes quality control. The desire to give anyone a chance. Matt Prendergast off the leash. The focus on chatting and mingling as much as the films. We have had to narrow the field when it comes to choosing films as the projection is so shit hot at the Art House that we can't show stuff shot on camcorders or with poor sound. Particularly our own stuff. That is why we went for the Hob. It's a bigger venue with it's own projection and sound system but it has an easy going attitude similar to the Hideaway where we can still give almost anyone a chance to get their film shown. And it means we can cherry pick from the Hob selection and give a few of the films the chance to be shown at the sexy Art House. 
All has gone well so far. Both Hob night have been success and the first Art House night was a sell out with 15 people on the waiting list. It remains to be seen whether or not it was a one off or a new trend. Hopefully the latter. The next nights are May 6th (Art House) and May 14th (The Hob) so hopefully see you at one of those. And keep sending us your films. brainehownd@gmail.com

And so it approaches once again. The festival of festivals. A blaggers paradise. A sane man's nightmare. Cannes. I love it. But then I have never been described as a sane man. My attitude is that as long as you don't get hypnotised by the glitz and the promises it is a really nice sunny place full of filmmakers and free booze. I've met more good friends and useful people mingling in some random countries tent than all the networking nights in London. 
Last year was a bit of a watershed year for me. Success and disappointment all in one. My first feature film. Actually made. I got actually paid. And it got screened in Cannes. A life moment. A line of the bucket list crossed off. The fact that nothing else has happened since then is the downside. I could throw the blame around but won't. I have just chalked it up to the nature of the business and have moved on to the next thing. The next thing being my film Corinthian. The teaser is made and the script is on it's way. (Check out the Corinthian page on the main menu if you're curious). I've got confidence in the project (but I've said that before). And hopefully Cannes will help move it along a little. I'm not expecting to find some big benefactor to shower me with gold. Just a couple of cool people who get what we are trying to do and are up for giving us a hand. That's the way it's worked for me in the past and I'm happy to continue on in this vein (but a rich benefactor wouldn't be unwelcome). I will write more on Corinthian later. This is about Cannes and so for anyone who's reading this and is going then feel free to get in touch. The Braine Hownd crew (in this years case it will be myself, David Whitney, Victoria Johnston and John Terence) are always up for a drink and a chat. Email us as brainehownd@gmail.com

So as well as moving to the new Curzon cinema in Crouch End in March we are also expanding the Braine Hownd Film Night to South London. On March 12th we will be holding the first of hopefully many of our film nights at the Hob, Forest Hill. If you haven't been it's a great pub and venue home to many great comedians such as Daniel Kitson and Eddie Izzard. We were introduced to the Hob by David Whitney who is regular performer there. It has a lovely pub downstairs and a cool room upstairs with it's own bar and odd little array of tiered seating as well as the usual chairs. It's a friendly place and we look forward to a long relationship with the venue. Check it out here. http://thehobforesthill.co.uk/

Black John is progressing nicely. We had the first read through and it went well. Better than expected. There was the usual criticism of course but generally it was well received. We have also been in talks with some excellent producers who seem interested in working with us. A great Exec and a hands on producer is what we want and hopefully that is what we have found. More on that later when things have been confirmed. 
James and I had a good trip out to some potential locations around the Docklands and Greenwich. Aside from some weather based obstacles the trip was very useful. 
In between the Black John stuff I have managed to fit in a short play that is being performed at the Lost theatre 5min play festival. It stars Black John-ers Alex Hughes, Chris Spyrides and Victoria Johnston and is directed by Sophia Stocco.  It's been a bit of a rush job but fun nevertheless. I thought it would be a nice way of getting the actors to get to know each other a bit and to develop a relationship with a new director. 
I am looking forward to Christmas but not from a work point of view and nothing gets done and I really want to get things kicked off with Black John. We are pushing ahead but you can't fight Santa. He is a ruthless overlord. Anyway Merry Christmas. See you in 2014. 

Busy times and they're only going to get busier it seems. The last few weeks been a series of opportunities and life shifting moments. First up Black John is picking up steam. The odd little crime thriller that I'm working on with director James Rumsey is finally kicking off. Well, it will be in two weeks. We got a pretty solid script done, perpetual tweaking aside and we got some investment interest which could change the stature of the film from micro-budget to slightly less micro micro-budget. It means more control I suppose and being able to give people something resembling a wage. But nothing is certain yet and we are not thinking about it until James comes back from working with the excellent Fizz and Ginger Films (Ones to watch 2013 - Screen International) on their debut feature Two Down. James is 1st AD-ing with the endlessly versatile Fred Fournier as his 2nd. It is a great opportunity for James to jump back into the world of the film set after finishing his long term job at the Associated Press. He will be super match fit when he comes off the film in November and so we can blast Black John off into the stratosphere. So expect to be hearing a lot more about Black John come November till May 2014. It's going to be fantastic. 

Another bit of good news we had was that Somebody To Love was accepted into the excellent Horror-on-Sea festival so if you're in the Southend area in January come along and see it. We had a great time there last year when we had I Am Lonely screened there. 

There is more big news coming relating to the Braine Hownd Film Nights but I'm keeping that under my hat until a few things have been sorted.  

So the Edinburgh fringe festival is done and dusted for another year. The place where time does not exist and the bars never close. This year was only my second year and I was merely a punter up there to see my girlfriend Victoria in her play 'Wyrd' and my friends Mike Shephard and Fiona Magee in their respective shows 'Everything that happened in the 20th Century seen through the eyes of a liar' and 'Pole Factor. They all did themselves proud in very different shows. Wyrd is a interactive ghost story involving three witches and and their unknowing clients who are searching for answers to a long dead mystery. It has great atmosphere and Victoria does great things with her part as the eccentric hippie witch Lilith. Pole Factor suffers a little from a lack of focus and too many ideas but it is an adventurous piece that questions fame, religion and reality TV. Fiona storms the stage as the rival dancer trying to get ahead. Mike's show (I'm not going to type the title out again) is an hour of history based stand up and is truly excellent and original. Considering this is Mike's first crack at an hour long solo show it is a huge achievement and should, if there is any justice, propel him into the upper echelons of the comedy world. But as taste and daring are generally in short supply in the world of the stand up it will probably take him a little longer. sadly I could only be there for a few days and so missed out of Matt Prendergasts crazy play Zero Hour. So many plays so little time. 
There is so much money and effort put into these plays I often wonder if its worth it, particularly if you live in London but on the other hand there is no other festival in the world like Edinburgh and to be part of it only for a couple of days is a life experience not soon forgotten. 

Since we won't be hearing back from all the horror/Halloween festivals about our success (or lack of) for another month or two here is a review of the short in question 'Somebody To Love' from Left Hand Horror.