Volume 23: Progress Report 1: Spring 2012 The longest-running independent film festival dedicated to sci-fi and horror Welcome to the first progress report for the 23rd festival. The Festival plans are still in the early stages but we are pleased to announce that Derren Nesbitt (Where Eagles Dare, Special Branch, Dr Who, The Blue Max) has confirmed that he will attend. Also confirmed is Teri Scoble (Village of the Damned, Timeslip, The Elephant Man). After having to cancel last year Derek Fowlds (Yes Minister, Frankenstein created Woman, Tower of Evil) has indicated that he would like to attend this year and we hope to take him up on that offer.

Derrin Nesbitt Teri Scoble Derek Fowlds Picture taken at FOFF 20 Picture from Teri’s Website Picture from TV.COM

Breaking News: two more guests have just agreed to attend. Mary Maude (Terror, Crucible of Terror, Freewheelers (TV) ) and Martin Potter (Fellini Satyricon, Satan’s Slave, Cruel Passion)

The Venue The Festival returns to the Manchester Conference Centre on Sackville Street in Manchester. A purpose built conference centre and hotel. The hotel has indicated that the following prices will apply during the festi- val. £60 B&B per room, per night, for 3 nights £75 B&B per room, per night, for 2 nights These rates are valid up to 1st September after that the Hotel may alter these. The Hotel has 117 bedrooms and it is expected that these will book up quickly. You are advised to book as soon as possible. Advance payment is not required and cancellation is possible up to 2 weeks before the festival. For more details check out the Centre’s website

1 The Programme The programme for the next Festival is still being developed so it is too early to publish any details. What can be expected is that the Committee will build on the successful formula of past Festivals to bring you an exciting mix of movies and guests. When that’s added to a bar with long opening hours then the result is a memorable weekend. The report below, from last year’s Festival gives a flavour of what you can expect.

Retrospective Programme (So far) By Tony Meadows

Hello Folks, Just a few words about some of the items you may get to watch in Weston 2, at the 2012 Festival of Fantastic Films. As most of you will know that the original version of 'London After Midnight', was destroyed by fire in the 1930'5. This was the last known print that existed, But the film was reconstructed by using pictures of the film along with a musical soundtrack. I hope to show this along with the sound remake of 'Mark of the Vampire', I will let you know about this one. 'Reptilicus' (1962) hopes to drop in to celebrate his 50th anniversary (this will raise lots of laughs, no doubt) Of course there will be TV related items, along with a visit to the realms of German Krimi, I know that some of you enjoy these great little outings.

Image from screened.com Image from classic-horror.com Image from gigglepedia.com

The Festival endeavours to identify the copyright holder of all materials used, so appropriate acknowledgement can be made. It may not be possible to identify the appropriate party in all cases. If you are the copyright holder of any material used and want acknowledgement or object to its use then please contact us and we will give appropriate credit or remove it on request.

2 Alternative accommodation Manchester city centre is a short walk from the venue, and there are numerous hotels, offering cheap rooms. Further information can be found from the Visit Manchester Website .

The informal atmosphere encourage the guests to relax and makes for an enjoyable experience for all. The report below, from last year’s Festival gives a flavour of what you can expect.

Festival Report - 22nd Festival, October 2011

First of all, the committee would like to thank everyone who attended last year’s Festival and we look forward to seeing you all again in 2012. It is only thanks to your support that the event is able to continue and we would like to take this opportunity to ask you to spread the word about how much fun the Festival is. Encouraging others to attend is to everyone’s advantage as increased numbers will allow us to keep prices down. Good to see so many old friends, some of whom originally came along as guests but enjoyed the festival so much that they have returned just for the fun of it. Among these alumni are Norman J Warren, Stephen Volk and Richard Gordon. Richard had hoped to attend last year’s festival but doctor’s orders finally prevented his crossing the Atlantic from his home in New York. Sadly, Richard died, just over a week later, on November 1. Born in London in 1925, Richard had relocated to the USA in the late 1940s, producing a string of cult classics including , and Corridors of Blood, both starring Boris Karloff. His other films include , , Devil Doll, Horror Hospital and Norman J. Warren’s sci-fi horror classic Insemenoid.

A great friend of the Festival, he will be greatly missed. Richard Gordon 1925 - 2011

The Opening Ceremony From America, Ireland, Canada, Germany, even from Glasgow and beyond they came, for the opening ceremony on the evening of October 21, 2011 with Tony Edwards and Gil Lane- Young presiding. The Festival proper began with a short compilation film from Darren Perry

3 Hugh Harlow The first guest of honour, Hugh Harlow, took the stage to be interviewed by Wayne Kinsey. Having entered the film industry straight from school in 1955, Hugh went on to become an Assistant Director, Production Manager and Producer spanning classic Hammer movies to James Bond films and James Cameron’s Aliens. “Jim was a tough guy, but a very talented man – you can see that in his work,” said Hugh. “Three weeks before shooting Jim put them through an army training course – he wanted realistic attitudes that would come across on the screen through their demeanour and it worked. “All the artists playing the space crew were American, Sigourney Weaver is a lovely lady, a really nice person. Lars Erickson and Bill Paxon were great guys.” Hugh’s first job straight from school was in the mail room of Exclusive Films before moving upstairs to Hammer under the illustrious James “The Colonel” Carreras. Hugh recalled that during the making of The Curse of Frankenstein, Hammer’s Bray studio often resounded in the early morning to Christopher Lee singing operatic arias, in a duet with fellow opera-fan, make-up expert Roy Ashton, during the hours it took to transform the actor into the monster. In Hammer’s 1959 version of The Hound of the Baskervilles, the devil dog of the title was rendered even more hugely impressive by the having a midget stand in for super- tall Christopher Lee. Hugh fondly remembered his time in Manchester that same year working on Val Guest’s definitive crime thriller Hell Is a City, starring Stanley Baker. “It’s one of my favourite films, it was a very happy experience.” In his next film with Val Guest and Stanley Baker, Yesterday’s Enemy, set in the Japanese occupied jungles of the Far East during WWII, everything was shot in the studio, but fooled one distinguished figure. “When Lord Mountbatten saw the film, he said to Val, ‘I know that place, I was there during the war,’” said Hugh. RENEÉ GLYNNE Wayne was back in the interviewer’s chair with Saturday morning’s special guest, the incomparable Renée Glynne. Over her 60 years in the British film industry, Renée has become recognised as one of the finest script supervisors and continuity women ever.

Her career began as a teenager, in 1943, working as a “very junior reader of any book that came into Welwyn Studios. “I got a job with Two Cities Films and when I went to Denham to see Laurence Olivier shoot Hamlet, a mogul grabbed me by my long hair – it was Gabriel Pascal, who was preparing to film George Bernard Shaw’s play Caesar and Cleopatra, starring Claude Rains and Vivien Leigh.” Renee was soon having afternoon teas with the great George Bernard

4 Shaw in his Pall Mall flat, but she was far from intimidated by the grand old man and waspish wit of British theatre. “I was a fearless 18-year-old, but realised he was very special.”

When Renee moved on to what was then the small independent Hammer Films, she worked on a myriad of their classic productions including the studio’s first film in colour, Val Guest’s Men of Sherwood Forest, in 1954 and his Quatermass Xperiment the following year.

Renee had fond memories of Bette Davis at the post-production party of The Nanny. “She said, ‘This is as happy a film as ever I’ve worked on,’ she had such respect for the director Seth Holt, cameraman Harry Waxman, everybody in the crew.”

Another fond recollection was her work in Hong Kong, on Hammer’s co-production with Sir Run Run Shaw, 7 Brothers of Dracula, nicknamed “Black Belt v Black Magic” and directed by Roy Ward Baker, who was nicknamed “The Screaming Skull.” Working with Lon Chaney Jr on Witchcraft in 1964, he had trouble remembering his lines, but one evening excelled himself. “In the bar, after shooting at Shepperton, he stood up to his full fix-foot- three and faultlessly performed soliloquy from Of Mice and Men which had us all in tears.” Renee has since said what a great time she had at the Festival.

Bobby Rhodes On Saturday afternoon, Gil Lane-Young interviewed the impressive Bobby Rhodes.

Born in Italy in 1947, Bobby was the son of a black American soldier and he spoke extensively of his impressive Italian film career. Bobby’s imposing presence led him into Italy’s burgeoning film world of the 1960s.

Frequently cast as larger-than-life tough guys in a whole range of Italian action, war 5 and horror films over the following decades, Bobby also worked as a stuntman. He had a lot of fun playing Tony the Pimp in Lamberto Bava’s cult horror picture Demons. In fact, he was so good that Bava brought him back to play a gym instructor in the sequel Demons 2.

Robin Askwith Robin Askwith was a big hit on his first appearance at the Festival a couple of years ago and his much-anticipated return in 2011 was even more of a success. He entered into the informal spirit with great good humour and his on-stage interview with Darrel Buxton was a hoot, as roguish Robin recounted a fund of anecdotes from his long and illustrious film career.

Ranging from his work with Val Guest to Lindsey Anderson and Pier Paulo Passolini, there’s certainly a lot more to Robin than the somewhat gormless sex-machine Timmy Lee of the “Confessions” series. However, it was his starring role in Confessions of a Window Cleaner and its sequels which firmly established Robin as a screen presence in the public’s mind.

Awarded the London Evening Standard’s Most Promising Newcomer Award in 1975. Three more Confessions films followed, but Robin’s diverse career goes way beyond these, from the role of Ray Faye in Queen Kong, up to recent appearances in Coronation Street and Benidorm.

6 Johnny Legend Interviewed by Paul Barrett, Johnny Legend spoke of his unique career as film producer, director, writer, musician, actor, wrestling manager and promoter. When “The Rockabilly Rasputin” formed his original band in the 1960s, they were in competition with such up -and-coming L.A. groups as The Doors. So Johnny brought into play his trump card – an old Outer Limits monster costume, bought at an auction. Wearing this Giant Garbage Eater outfit, one of the band would hand out fliers encouraging people to attend their next gig on Sunset Strip. Johnny finally entered the film industry in the early 1970s, using his extensive knowledge of horror movies to write trailers for AIP. He also appeared as a stoned hippy falling down a flight of stairs in the then topical “shockumentary” Pot Parents and Police. By 1973 Johnny was at the heart of LA’s rockabilly revival and a few years later was touring Europe wearing a Confederate-general’s uniform, proclaiming “The South Will Rise Again”, the mantra from Herschell Gordon Lewis’ 1964 schlocker Two Thousand Maniacs. As an actor, the great bearded one went on to various grim fates in horror films such as Children of the Corn III. Playing a demented Country & Western singer in the 1998 giant killer cockroach confection Bug Buster, he included his unforgettable ditty “I Itch Like a Sonofabitch”. Johnny co-produced, co-directed and co -wrote the movie My Breakfast With Blassie, which also starred Andy Kauffman in what turned out to be his last film. It featured Andy chatting over breakfast about the kind of stuff that didn’t make it in to My Dinner With Andre – wrestling, pancakes and how to keep your hands clean. Johnny now runs the DVD label Legend House and continues to tour and perform music on stage all over the world.

7 C.P. Lee Sunday morning got off to a roaring start with Christopher Lee (Dr C P Lee, Sal- ford University’s Senior Lecturer in Film Studies, that is).

Dr Lee took to the stage to speak of the man known as “Salford’s Orson Welles.”

The incredible Cliff Twemlow was a true Renaissance man, a nightclub bouncer, composer, stuntman, novelist, actor, screenwriter and much more.

Single-handedly, Cliff created his own mini Hollywood-on-a-shoestring from 1982 until his untimely death in 1993.

The unsung hero’s astonishing output of feature films spanned sci-fi, horror, gangster and spy films.

The amusing Dr Lee, who has co- authored a book about Cliff, was the very opposite of a dry academic and was highly entertainingly, speaking with- out notes.

Festival Website

The Festival website has had a makeover. Instead of having all information on one long page the new format splits information across different pages to help users quickly find the information they need. Check it out and let us know what you think.

Click Here

8 Norman J. Warren When Norman J. Warren took to the stage, he humorously recalled one disaster - making the 1986 film Gunpowder. “If you watch it with a few drinks it’s quite fun,” he said. “It was a Bond spoof to be shot in summer with helicopters and boats, so I signed a contract to do it. “But it got delayed, as films do and finally it was shot in December – in Macclesfield.

“During casting sessions, the first thing the producer asked the actors wasn’t ‘What have you done?’ it was ‘Where do you live?’ “If it wasn’t Macclesfield or Manchester, they didn’t get the part. “And it didn’t stop raining for three weeks – day and night – it was a total disaster from beginning to end. “Props were being sent back when we still needed them, and the stunt driver seemed to hit the brakes whenever he reached 25 mph. “In one scene, the explosives man had to blow a lock off to get into a warehouse, but the entire door blew off in a huge ball of fire that singed the actors’ eyebrows. “For the next explosion, we all made sure we were about 50 miles away, but it went off like a tiny firework. “The producer got some stock footage of a military helicopter and guys getting out, but our five-man army were of assorted shapes, in assorted suits – they played both armies, the villains and the good guys, most of them dying twice.” Note: Norman’s first feature, Her Private Hell, has just been released on DVD and Blu-Ray by the British Film Institute.

Over 20 Years of Film Fandom A Tribute to .... The Festival of Fantastic Films

Book by George Houston & George Gaddi

There will be over 100 pages DELTA & Independent Winners DELTA Film Group Articles (with Pictures) Hammer Connection Article Women/Men of Hammer Guest List with attendance years Pictures of past and present, SOFFIA, tickets, Ramsey's Infamous Auction and much, much, more. It will be available for collection at the 23rd Festival of Fantastic Films. If you cannot at- tend and require the book to be posted then this can be arranged. The price of the book will be £25

If you want to reserve a copy a non-refundable deposit of £10 is required. The balance will be due on collection. Please send your cheque with your name, and address to: Mr Keith Mather 8 Farndon Road, Reddish, Stockport SK5 6LY Please include an email address to confirm receipt. Printing deadlines require all orders are received before 1st June 2012.

9 David McGillivray Gallantly struggling against a heavy cold, David McGillivray began 2011’s final celebrity interview on Sunday afternoon by extolling the interesting effects of Day Nurse. However, the medication certainly didn’t affect his recall of his career in and out of films. Beginning with his early days writing for Monthly Film Bulletin, proceeding to his film work with Pete Walker on the scripts House of Whipcord and Frightmare, David went on to talk of writing Norman J Warren’s Satan’s Slave and Terror. Actor, playwright, TV, radio and film scriptwriter, this cornerstone of classic British classic exploitation and horror movies took the audience through his writing and acting career with waspish relish, culminating in stories of his present work writing for comedian Julian Clary.

Membership Information

Rates are £70 for the full weekend of the 2012 Festival.

Day membership is available Friday £20 Saturday £35 Sunday £30 Please remember to include an email address for receipt and for future updates.

You can download the registration from by clicking on the image above

Contact Us: For more information on the membership email: Tony Edwards: [email protected] For more information on the Guests/Films email: Gil Lane-Young: [email protected] To suggest stories for publication, letters or comments email: [email protected]

Next issue is expected before Summer 2012

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