Archive for the ‘Site News’ Category

Since I (Frank) am feeling pretty sick, we’re not going to be able to do a show tonight. Sorry for the late notice but our hope was to be able to do one but I’m just feeling too bad. Thanks again.

Frank

You’ve heard us mention them, now you can get them for yourself.  The Spooktalkular Screen Saver by our great friend Jake Wheat.  Click on our Promo Items menu at the top of the page and you’ll find them there.  Thanks Jake!

With all the changes lately, it got me thinking of how our good friend Pottsie the Ghost has changed over the years.  Just like you and I look much different than we did a few short years ago, Pottsie has change styles some also as he has struggled to find his identity.

Pottsie on day one!

Pottsie looked a little plain when we started.  Much like a newborn baby.  As Pottsie grew into his youth, he entered a video game phase.

Pac-Man Pottsie

Pottsie resembled a Pac-Man ghost during this phase of his life.  He could have been rebelling since at this point, he still didn’t have a permanent name.  Once Pottsie was named, he sort of matured and became the mascot we always wanted.

Pottsie Grown Up

At this point, he’s all grown up.  It’s been great watching our little mascot Pottsie grow into what he is today.  Much as Laura and I have grown, the entire show has just matured and has become something that we can be proud of.  Thank you all for being a part of it.

What more can be said besides Wow!!!?  Our good friend Jake Wheat sat down and made the PERFECT theme to work with the graphics that Mark Hayden has been doing lately.  My graphics and design talent in general is even less than my vocal talent so up until today, we would surf themes until we found something that kinda fit but never really did.  We always just settled for something close.

The Spooktalkular or Franken-Laura theme as Jake affectionatly called it is spot-on for the mood and feel that I always wanted to convey.  I hope you all enjoy it as much as we do!

Again, a special thanks to Jake Wheat for his incredible new theme!  It makes us so happy that we have so many friends who want to help us out!

As you know, we didn’t do an episode on Monday night.  It was our last Monday and I was running behind with the 30th blizzard of 2010 so we decided to do it next Sunday on our new night and time.  Our good friend Mark Hayden created us a couple of banners to use.  First off, to remind everyone of Sunday, check this one out!

In prep for our episode, Mark also did us an incredibly cool Saw themed banner.  Man, I wish I had an ounce of the talent that he has.  ;)

Thanks again Mark!  We really appreciate your hard work!  Be sure to join us on Sunday the 21st at 6:00PM for our first Spooktalkular Live on Sunday.

October is upon us. The nights are drawing in….
There’s a sudden chill in the air. Visitors to the city are discovering that the old saying is actually true. It really is Grim Up North. But this year, for the very first time, it’s also GRIMM UP NORTH!
This Halloween, something dark and deadly is slithering towards the Printworks. Manchesters very first full-on, hell-bent, red-in-tooth-and-claw Horror Film Festival is all set to grab you by the throat and drag you along with it on a journey into the blackest night.

We’ve heard the screams and smelled the blood in the air, and we know. We know where the bodies are buried, we know where evil dwells, we know where the bad things are. And we’re all set to take you there.
Join us for three days of the best in horror and experience some of the worst nightmares you’ve ever had. We’ve bloodsoaked red carpet film premieres, ghoulish guest appearances from cast and crew members, and the chance to preview one of the gaming industrys hottest unreleased titles. You can even stock up on sinister supplies at our horror fair. Why not become one of the undead at the Zombie aid walk of death or party on at the Zombie Ball. It’s all happening at GRIMM UP NORTH! You want to know more? Of course you do.

Check it out, if you dare!

• THE FULL SCHEDULE GOES LIVE! It’s been one hell of a job to cram all of that gore, mayhem and chaos into an organised three day event, but we’re bloody-minded enough to have succeeded where others might fail. Check out our Programme Page RIGHT NOW and see whats screening when. There are premieres galore, Q&A session with cast and crew after many screenings, along with the odd competition for ticket holders (We have got goodies from many of the films to win!). We are also screening some mighty disturbing short films with many of the features. Its a veritable catalogue of horrors, and you can subject yourself to it HERE!
• TICKETS ON SALE. 5th OCT from Odeon Box office. Your best bet is to go straight to the GRIMMFEST SITE, for a comprehensive and ghoulish guide to our full Halloween horror show, and from there you”ll be directed to the right place on the ODEON online ticket shop to buy all the tickets you need!
• THE OPENING NIGHT! Starting as we mean to go on, mix celebs and press as we present a gala screening of DESCENT 2, with drinks reception, Q+A with cast and crew and apocalyptic after-party! Join stars Myanna Buring, Anna Skellern, and director Jon Harris for this exclusive screening of the much-anticipated sequel to Neil Marshalls claustrophobic classic, well before its December release. This is your chance to ask the team a few awkward questions and win a signed movie poster. Seats are strictly limited for this one off event, so be sure to book early! There will be limited access to the after party, which will take place at an undisclosed PRINTWORKS venue. If you have purchased a screening ticket, you’ll have a chance to get in at a reduced rate but space WILL be very limited. 
• LET THE DARKSIDE OUT! We have partnered with games company CAPCOM to bring you an exclusive chance to try out their new game in the Resident Evil franchise, RESIDENT EVIL: DARKSIDE CHRONICLES, which promises to be their bloodiest, most challenging release yet. The game isn’t released until end of November on the Nintendo Wii, so this is your chance to get your clammy hands on it before anyone else! And to top it all off, all players will be entered into a prize draw to win a Wii console and a copy of the new game! Check out the Games page for more info. Don’t miss out!
• AUTUMN GUESTS. To celebrate the premiere screening of Steve Rumbelow’s AUTUMN, we are pleased to welcome the film’s stars Dexter Fletcher (Lock Stock, Layer Cake) and Dickon Tolson (The Bill, Casualty, Peak Practice), together with author David Moody, whose cult novels were the basis for the film. David has just had the option on his novel HATER picked up by Mexican master of the macabre Guillermo del Toro, and will be on hand to sign copies of his books. Then he and the film’s stars will all attend a Q&A after the screening on the Sunday!
• STRIGOI MEETS ITS MAKERS! Strigoi are the Vampires of Eastern European mythology, far removed from the familiar creatures of cinema cliché. Director Faye Jackson and producer Rey Muraru have been turning heads and blowing minds with their film at festivals around the world, and we are delighted that they will be joining us for the Premiere UK screening at GRIMM UP NORTH, to give us the low-down on blood-sucking in darkest Romania!
• UK PREMIERE. Just to prove that it really is Grimm Up North, we celebrate the local talent, with the UK premiere SPLINTERED- award winning horror from our own Simeon Halligan. There’ll be a big turn out for this one, including Holly Weston (Madonna\’s Filth and Wisdom), Sacha Dhawan (The History Boys) Jonathan Readwin (Dread), Sadie Pickering (Waterloo Road). The director, producer and many other members of the crew will be on hand to answer all your questions. There’ll even be a few SPLINTERED goodies to win! And we’ll also be offering you a chance to feast your eyes on….
• SEE BEHIND THE SCENES. ….forbidden fragments from SPLINTERED! A chance to see behind the scenes, with storyboards, visuals, props and documentary material. You’ll not find any of this material anywhere else until the release of the film next year – and perhaps not even then. So, if you want to take a look where you shouldn’t and find out how a horror film is spawned, stitched together, and finally unleashed, check out our exclusive SPLINTERED exhibition at the Odeon Printworks through out the weekend.
• CLIVE BARKER. Back in the 80s, Clive Barker revolutionised the world of horror. And he”s set to do so again. We are proud to be screening an exclusive premiere of DREAD, the latest cinematic horror from his dark and deadly imagination, as well as a chance to relive that first terrifying glimpse of the Cenobites, in the classic HELLRAISER. Both on the same night. Can your already flayed and frayed nerves stand the strain? If were luck we might just have a celebrity guest or t wo! Watch this space.
• COLIN. You’ve heard the hype, you’ve read the press, now see the film. The infamous £45 Zombie movie will be shambling onto the screen at Grimm Up North. Now is your chance to discover for yourselves the trials and tribulations of being COLIN, just a normal rotting face in the crowd of the undead apocalypse. Director Mark Price and members of his cast and crew will be joining us for this exclusive screening to launch the film”s UK release. If we’re lucky, they might even join us at Zombie Aid 2, the charity Zombie walk of death!
• COMPETITIONS: Plus if you sign up to our group on Facebook, sign up to our newsletter or follow us on Twitter, you can enter exclusive competitions to win great prizes like free tshirts from Last Exit To Nowhere and festival tickets!

More announcements (and maybe a few dire warnings!) to come from the GRIMM Office as we draw ever closer to the abyss, but for now, we wish you unpleasant dreams…

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Lynsey Jefferies at info@grimmfest.com. Fax: 0845 017 6769. Grimm Up North!, 4 Acton Square. The Crescent. Manchester M5 4NY, UK.

As you know, we are working on moving over to a live show.  We had our first one on Episode 29 last week which showed us a few things we needed to work on.  We’re taking the extra week to get ready.  I’m sure the extra time won’t help a bit but, one can hope, can’t they?  ;)  So, as of right now, we’re planning on Monday night the 24th at 8:00PM eastern time.  Tomorrow, the live show page should be updated with a chat client to use during the live show as well.

Thanks for listening!!!

Wow, what an episode.  It’s our longest to date, clocking in at a little over two and a half hours.  Spooky news is no more.  Listen to see what the replacement is.  ;)  For Classic Cinema this week, we take a look back at the groundbreaking independent picture ‘The Blair Witch Project‘ which hits it’s ten year anniversary this month.  It’s hard to believe that it has been ten years!

We have an incredible treat for television this week.  We start off with discussions on ‘The Listener’ and ‘Ghost Hunters International’ then we head into a cool episode of  ’Ghost Adventures’ who are in Savannah Georgia’s own Moon River Brewing Company.  We have a bonus little treat this week for ‘Ghost Adventures’, we are very pleased to share an incredible interview that we did with Nick Groff from the team.  Nick actually gives us some insight into the episode that we discuss this week.

That in itself would make for an awesome show but since we had missed the ‘Harper’s Island’ finale discussion last week, we dedicate over an hour alone to discussing the last three episodes including some audio and another awesome interview from ‘Harper’s Island’s’ own Sheriff Mills, the incredibly talented actor Jim Beaver.  I know some people were wondering about the song in the Chloe/Cal death scene on episode eleven.  It is ‘Letters from the Sky’ by Civil Twilight which was a great choice to set the mood.

We figured one week of music from ‘the Devil Himself‘ wasn’t enough so we’re proud to feature them again this week with another incredible track named ‘Bulletproof’.  As always, be sure to support independent music!

So, do you see now why it was such a long episode now?  ;)  Seriously, it was a blast so we hope you enjoy it!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

I’ve been working on the site today trying to dress it up a bit and make it a little more readable. Let me know if anything is not working or just let me know what you think.