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Stars: Marta Svetek, Ayvianna Snow, Charlie Bond, Ciaron Davies, Annabella Rich, Ben Manning, Ray Whelan, Jasmine Sumner | Written and Directed by Steve Lawson

On a trip to Dublin to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, four friends agree to spend the night in an abandoned tavern, where they are stalked by an undead killer in search of revenge for a tragedy that occurred centuries before

In the rich vein of holiday-themed slashers, dating back to the original Halloween, through to more modern fare, as bloodily illustrated by Eli Roth in, Thanksgiving (2023), we have a new entry in killer days, with, St Patrick’s Day Massacre, directed by Steve Lawson ( ).

A rich tale, with compelling characters and a real reflection of modern-day Ireland…this is not. Being of Irish descent and a huge fan of the stalk and slash format, I can stomach, tolerate and happily consume many a substandard Friday the 13th rip-off.

Stars: Hannaj Bang Bendz, Jacob Anderton, Martyn Luke, Sean Tizzard, Ben Manning, Vicki Glover | Written and Directed by Steve Lawson

Ship of the Damned opens with a brief prologue set on board a pirate ship in 1622. As the ship sails through a storm, the crew prepare for dinner. Which for them means rather tamely hacking a bound woman to death and eating her raw flesh. In the present, Elena has her martial arts training interrupted by a phone call from her ex, Michael. He hasn’t taken the breakup well and keeps finding reasons to call her, but this time it’s legit, even if it doesn’t sound like it.

The Coast Guard have found what appears to be a seventeenth-century sailing ship drifting off the coast and towed it into port. Since she’s an expert in such things, he’d like her to come down and be part of the investigation.

Stars: Pat Garrett, Ellie Jeffreys, Pete Bird, Ben Manning, Michael Coombes, Pable Raybould, Ayvianna Snow, Keith Temple, Oliver Robert Russell, Emily Lane, Katy Dalton, Lewis Booton | Written by Keith Temple | Directed by Jonathan Zaurin

From the opening shots of the film you know you’re in for something special with Wyvern Hill, as director Jonathan Zaurin gives us snippets of… something. Something sinister, something torturous, something evil, that’s happening to a handful of terrified people. That footage is intercut with newsreel talking about mysterious deaths and possibly Hertfordshire’s first serial killer…

The film tells the story of Beth (a wonderful Pat Garrett), a mother in her sixties who is showing signs of early Alzheimer’s. Worried about her, her daughter Jess (Ellie Jeffreys) and son in law Connor (Pete Bird), try to find a way to help her. Together they purchase an old house on Wyvern Hill so...

‘The Whooper Returns’ is a supernatural thriller from Samuel Krebs.

UK-based genre specialist Devilworks has boarded worldwide rights to two thriller titles, which it will introduce to buyers at the Marche du Film physical event in Cannes (July 6-15).

It has secured rights to supernatural thriller The Whooper Returns from US writer-director Samuel Krebs. Produced by Krebs, Heidi Scheuermann and Michael X. Schmitt for US company Patio Pictures, the film follows four estranged siblings who, after inheriting their family home, are confronted by an eccentric stranger who claims the house was left to her. Krebs previously co-directed 2013 film Milk Mustache.

Stars: Laurence Saunders, Chris Simmons, Ben Manning, Pablo Raybould, Ste Johnson, Joel Beckett, Julie Peasgood, Julia Deakin, Stephan Bessant | Written and Directed by Pablo Raybould

Werewolf movies aren’t generally the most popular sub genre of horror and there doesn’t seem to be half as many made as say, zombie movies. So when a new one is made I do like to check it out. An American Werewolf In London is arguably the most well known of the genre and probably the best to (it certainly has the best transformation scene) but Britain has produced a few other decent ones to. Most notably 2002’s Dog Soldiers and the more recent Howl. The Snarling chooses to go down a much more comedic route.

With The Snarling we see a new zombie film (it’s not quite as confusing as it might sound) being filmed in a small village. Unfortunately, the...

The Snarling is coming. And it looks pretty awesome! There's a full moon out in the first trailer for this horror comedy thriller. We've got zombies, werewolves, and one very disturbed director who just wants to finish his movie. We could be looking at a cult classic in the making.

Let's hope The Snarling lives up its trailer. There's a lot of potential for fun to be had here. We have bickering crew members on a zombie movie set, plenty of death by fangs, and one very cool looking werewolf that owes more than a little to Wolfen and The Holwing.

When Halloween's over, the party won't stop. Coming this November from Wild Eye Releasing, a bristled comedy-horror jaunt like no other. It truly is Shaun of the Dead meets An American Werewolf in London when The Snarling, from writer-director Pablo Raybould, hits Us shores.

Laurence Saunders, Chris Simmons,...

Following the showing of The Snarling at Horror-on-Sea I got a chance to talk with writer and director Pablo Raybould and producer Ben Manning about the screening of The Snarling, the impending DVD release and the planned sequel The Last Twitch.

Photo courtesy of J.Douglas Imagery

You had The Snarling premiere at Horror-on-Sea how do you think it went?

Ben – Really well, we are really pleased

Pablo – It was nearly a full house as well

Ben – I think it was a mix of a few people who had seen it previously and then a lot of people who were seeing it for the first time which was great. What was nice, before that we had a few people saying that had been told about it and told to look forward to it, so it was nice that there was a bit of expectation there

Pablo – What was also nice,...

The Snarling is new horror comedy from Director Pablo Raybould and Producer Ben Manning, which debuted at the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival on Saturday 20th January. The screening was the official launch of The Snarling (and screening of the final release version). I got chance to talk with actor Laurence Saunders a few questions about what we can expect from The Snarling, the characters he plays and how he prepared for the role.

What can we expect from The Snarling?

A lot of laughs. It’s a comedy horror. One review said The Snarling was “laugh a second,” which is quite a lot of laughs. I’m not sure if it’s technically possible to achieve a laugh a second, it might be dangerous and lead to deaths in the audience. I guess we’d prefer it if the deaths remained on screen.There are scary moments too. Things that’ll make you jump.

The Snarling is new horror comedy from director Pablo Raybould and producer Ben Manning, which has been selected to play at the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival on Saturday 20th January. This will be the official launch of The Snarling (and screening of the release version).

I got chance to ask a few questions about why they decided to write a horror comedy, working several jobs on a small budget production and Easter eggs in the film.

What can we expect from the film?

Pablo: Well, firstly, it has its pre-launch special screening at Horror-on-Sea Film Festival on January 20th at the Park Inn in Southend and this is where the whole thing began. So, what can you expect well… so many things. Comedy – first and foremost. There are also lots of same genre film references in there for those that get them. A good balance of comedy and suspense coupled with some great,...