FRIGHTFEST TO PREMIERE THREE ORIGINAL PRODUCTIONS FROM SEVERIN FILMS
New Work from Sean Hogan, Jake West and David Gregory To Screen At UK’s Biggest Genre Festival
Severin Films will be in attendance August 24th through 28th at the UK’s celebrated FrightFest to premiere three original productions as part of this year’s Discovery Showcase: TO FIRE YOU COME AT LAST directed by Sean Hogan will have its World Premiere on August 26th), while Sunday, August 27th sees both the World Premiere of the Jake West-directed documentary MANCUNIAN MAN: THE LEGENDARY LIFE OF CLIFF TWEMLOW and the UK Premiere of ENTER THE CLONES OF BRUCE directed by David Gregory. Full details on each film below.
TO FIRE YOU COME AT LAST: In rural 17th century England, a group of men gather to carry a coffin on the long walk to the local graveyard for burial. A great deal of ancient folklore and superstition surrounds the route to the church, and several of the men are afraid to walk it after dark. Squire Marlow, the grieving father of the dead man, promises to double their wages if they agree to make the journey.
The group comprises of Holt, a young carpenter from the local village, who was also the best friend of the deceased; Ransley, a drunken peasant; Pike, the Squire's thuggish manservant; and the Squire himself. As they set out on the walk, their conversation quickly becomes argumentative, and even violent. In the course of their quarrelling, it is gradually revealed that Ransley and Holt had each wronged the dead man, and Squire Marlow threatens them with retribution upon their return to the village.
After the sun sets, they begin to be plagued by a series of unexplained events. An unseen hound – according to legend, an omen of ill fortune – seems to be following them, and Ransley starts to catch glimpses of what appears to be a spectral figure. Panic quickly sets in amongst the group, despite the Squire's increasingly brutal attempts to maintain order. As the darkness closes in around them and further revelations come to light, the men eventually come to realise they may be the victims of a mysterious plot. But just who is behind the plot, and why? And will any of them survive to see the following dawn?
MANCUNIAN MAN: THE LEGENDARY LIFE OF CLIFF TWEMLOW: Bouncer. Novelist. Composer. Screenwriter. Producer. Star. In ‘80s UK, Cliff Twemlow was all of these and more. In fact, for over a decade, Twemlow was the UK’s most prolific indie filmmaker. But in Manchester, he was – and remains – a legend.
Between 1992 and 1993, Cliff Twemlow gathered a devoted team of local doormen, martial artists, variety performers, club DJs, models, girlfriends, gym friends, family members and industry B-listers to build his own cut-rate Hollywood empire. Shooting on early pioneering video technology, composing all the music himself, and working on nearly nonexistent budgets, Twemlow and his unlikely ensemble of misfits tackled gangster films, horror films, spy thrillers, sci-fi epics and beyond. Perhaps best known for 1983’s ultra-violent G.B.H. (GREVIOUS BODILY HARM) – which was banned as one of UK’s notorious Video Nasties – Twemlow’s unbelievably true story is now told by Jake West (RAZOR BLADE SMILE, MIDNIGHT PEEPSHOW) through exclusive interviews, insane film clips, rare behind-the-scenes footage and more.
ENTER THE CLONES OF BRUCE: When Bruce Lee died in 1974, he’d completed only four films. But within hours of his funeral, Hong Kong studios began producing hundreds of unauthorized biopics, sequels, prequels, and spin-offs starring Lee lookalikes. Over the next decade, ‘Bruceploitation’ would become a staple of global cinema.
Director David Gregory – who’d explored cinema’s transgressive edges in his award-winning documentaries LOST SOUL and BLOOD & FLESH – now examines this uniquely ‘70s phenomenon via interviews with the performers, producers, directors, and distributors – with copious clips from the films themselves – that for the first time reveals one of the most bizarre genres in movie history.
About FrightFest: The UK’s biggest, best and most beloved community-driven horror & fantasy film festival, returns to the Cineworld Leicester Square, London, for its 24th edition, this year with pioneering technology & entertainment company Pigeon Shrine as its headline sponsor. This year, over five days, audiences can explore the magic of menace, mayhem, and mischief with seventy films programmed across four screens. There are twenty-five world, twenty-three International / European and twelve UK premieres, with fourteen countries represented, spanning five continents.