Driving force behind Hammer's horror hits
WRITER, producer and director. Born December 2, 1927. Died August 19, aged 83.

ONE of the British film industry's most influential and self-effacing talents, Jimmy Sangster discovered that he was something of an unknown quantity when he relocated to Hollywood in the late 1960s. At a party he met a studio executive and introduced himself as a scriptwriter.

"So how many scripts have you written?" asked the cynical executive.

"Oh, 40," replied Sangster, off the top of his head.

"And how many have been produced?" Sangster was baffled.

"Er, 40 . . ."

Continued at The Australian.

(Press Release) - 1937, Spain is in the midst of the brutal Spanish Civil War. A "Happy" circus clown is interrupted mid-performance and forcibly recruited by a militia. Still in his costume, he is handed a machete and led into battle against National soldiers, where he single handedly massacres an entire platoon. This absurd and disturbing scenario raises the curtain on a twisted tale of love, revenge, and psychopathic clowns that could only spring from the mind of filmmaker Álex de la Iglesia.

Fast forward to 1973, the tail end of the Franco regime. Javier, the son of the clown, dreams of following in his father's career footsteps, but has seen too much tragedy in his life - he's simply not funny and is only equipped to play the role of the Sad Clown. He finds work in a circus where he befriends an outlandish cast of characters, but as the Sad Clown he must take the abuse of the brutish Happy Clown Sergio, who humiliates Javier daily in the name of entertainment.

It is here that he meets Natalia, a gorgeous acrobat, and abused wife of Sergio. Javier falls deeply in love with Natalia and tries to rescue her from her cruel and violent husband, unleashing Sergio's jealousy. But Natalia is torn between her affection towards Javier, and her lust for Sergio.

With neither man willing to back down, this twisted love triangle evolves into a ferocious battle between Sad Clown and Happy Clown, escalating to unbelievable heights in this absurd, shocking, irreverent and unforgettable film.

After appearing on television and in bit parts with the Royal Shakespeare Company, McDowell burst onto the big screen in "If…," Lindsay Anderson's savage 1968 satire of British boarding school life. That performance caught the attention of Stanley Kubrick, who then chose McDowell to portray Alex DeLarge, the leader of a merry band of thugs who relish a bit of "ultra-violence," in his adaptation of Anthony Burgess's controversial novel A Clockwork Orange.

Kubrick's film, which was rated X when it was released in 1971 (now rated R), features a striking juxtaposition of classical music (including that of Alex's cherished 'Ludwig van') with violent imagery, and hinges upon McDowell's riveting performance as the hoodlum who is subjected to an experimental behavior modification program. "A Clockwork Orange" garnered four Academy Award® nominations and solidified McDowell's status as one of the most versatile young actors of the 1970s.

McDowell has gone on to enjoy a dynamic and busy career in film, television and theater, and has played a wide range of characters in such films as "O Lucky Man!" "Time after Time," "Cat People," "Star Trek Generations" and "Easy A." McDowell also appeared in a 2001 documentary profiling Kubrick's extraordinary career.

VIZ Media invites fans to savor the lavish, gothic-inspired illustrations of manga (graphic novel) creator Matsuri Hino in THE ART OF VAMPIRE KNIGHT, scheduled for release on September 6th.

THE ART OF VAMPIRE KNIGHT is an ideal companion to the bestselling manga series, and contains your favorite images in color plus never-before-seen artwork in the United States. The new book features an extensive character gallery with author comments, a how-to tutorial, and an exclusive full-color VAMPIRE KNIGHT poster.

Cross over into this mysterious and dangerous world of vampires with the lush artwork of Matsuri Hino. VAMPIRE KNIGHT takes readers to Cross Academy, which is attended by two groups of students: the Day Class and the Night Class. At twilight, when the students of the Day Class return to their dorms, they cross paths with the Night Class on their way to school. Yuki Cross and Zero Kiryu are the Guardians of the school, protecting the Day Class from the Academy's dark secret: the Night Class is full of vampires!

VAMPIRE KNIGHT (rated 'T+' for Older Teens) was created by Matsuri Hino, who burst onto the manga scene with her debut title, When This Dream Is Over, in LaLa DX magazine.

Continued at WireService.

AND

'Glee' creators are scaring up a 'Horror Story'
When Ryan Murphy was a child, his grandmother forced him to watch the daytime horror soap "Dark Shadows."

"She would make me sit through it to toughen me up," he recalled. "And when I was bad, I had to watch 'The Waltons.' "

Murphy, whose credits include "Nip/Tuck" and "Glee," is now the co-creator of an upcoming FX series, "American Horror Story."

Continued at Washington Examiner.

PLUS

Silent Hill: Downpour design director dissects horror
Who was there: At this GDC Europe 2011 panel Brian Gomez, design director for Silent Hill: Downpour developer Vatra Games, talked about the history of the horror genre and what the development team has learned from previous Silent Hill games. Gomez is an industry veteran with over 15 years of experience. His projects include the unreleased, horror-themed brawler Thrill Kill and 2008's remake of Alone in the Dark.

Continued at GameSpot.

ALSO

Hub burb a real horror show!
What's so horrific about Holliston? Apparently a lot, if you grew up there!

Filmmaker Adam Green (HATCHET, FROZEN), who was born and bred in the picturesque Boston burb, is using his hometown as the setting for his new six-part "horror sitcom" series on thriller-dedicated cable channel Fear Net, appropriately titled "Holliston."

Continued at Boston Herald.

WASSMOR

'The Thing' Trailer and Poster
Seemingly dormant since appearing at the New York Comic Con last year, Universal's prequel to John Carpenter's The Thing has started to show signs of life this week. A teaser poster arrived and now there is a trailer.

The movie tells the tale of an ill-fated Norwegian research camp that dug up a shapeshifting alien something in the permafrost of Antarctica, as seen in the early scenes of John Carpenter's movie.

Continued at Slash Film.

FINALLY

John Carpenter is doing his thing again
John Carpenter ventured to Hollywood in the 1970s to make Westerns, ended up as a pioneering master of horror and now has a regained sense of enthusiasm, even with a bunch of battle scars.

"When I was young, I was frightened of everything. I was able to take that fear and turn it into a lucrative career. There is nothing wrong with that. Better than being a masked killer," says Carpenter, 63.

Continued at USAToday.

Anchor Bay Films announces the acquisition of the much-anticipated follow-up THE WICKER TREE. The film reunites producer Peter Snell with the original helmer, Robin Hardy. Directed by Hardy, based on his acclaimed novel "Cowboys for Christ," and produced by venerable UK company British Lion (who also produced the original), THE WICKER TREE will be released theatrically in early 2012, Anchor Bay Entertainment President Bill Clark announced today. Anchor Bay Films has acquired all rights in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. to The Wicker Tree.

"The original Wicker Man set a standard for literate horror cinema that is still unsurpassed," said Clark. "Now, with The Wicker Tree, we're thrilled to present the follow up of this haunting tale to a new generation."

THE WICKER TREE tells the story of singer Beth (newcomer Brittania Nicol) and her cowboy friend Steve (Henry Garrett, VISIONS), two virginal Texans who come to Scotland to spread the gospel. These two innocents don't know what they're getting into as they find themselves trying to spread their chastity message at the estate owned by Sir Lachlan Morrison (Graham McTavish: LARA CROFT TOMB RAIDER: THE CRADLE OF LIFE, PANDEMIC, DEAD SPACE: AFTERMATH), who has revived ancient local religious practices when an accident at the nuclear power plant he runs rendered the area men infertile. The Wicker Tree was produced by Peter Snell and Peter Watson-Wood and executive produced by Alistair Gourlay.

Christopher Lee (HORROR HOTEL, TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA, THE WICKER MAN, DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE, GREMLINS 2, SLEEPY HOLLOW, THE LORD OF THE RINGS [all], CORPSE BRIDE, ALICE IN WONDERLAND [2010]) who played the mysterious Lord Summerisle in the original (in a career that includes Count Dracula, The Mummy, and the Frankenstein monster in the classic Hammer films, Count Dooku in Star Wars Episodes II & III, and Saruman in the Lord of the Rings trilogy as well as the upcoming pair of films based on The Hobbit), returns again in a dramatic cameo as the "Old Man." Rounding out the cast are Jacqueline Leonard as Lady Delila Morrison, Clive Russell (THE 13th WARRIOR, SHERLOCK HOLMES [2009], THE WOLFMAN [2010]) as Beame and Honeysuckle Weeks as Lolly.