The Woman is unleashed

Tonight The Woman sees it's UK premiere, slated to be one of the hits of this year's Frightfest, after this fantastic reaction at Sundance, you know this should be a grand old film.

CB pal and Rough Trade East head honcho, Spencer Hickman, was suitably impressed, and passes his judgement below -

Regardless of how you may feel about Lucky McKee’s films, you can’t accuse him of chasing the easy dollar of franchise horror flicks. His films, deeply personal almost to the point of introspection, are about as far removed from the ‘Saw’ culture of the last ten years or so a horror film could be. Along with fellow director Ti West (House Of The Devil) it really feels like he belongs in a different decade.


His latest The Woman is a truly brave piece of cinema; it’s nuanced, intricate layers, play out on several different levels. The film focuses on the Cleek family outwardly living the apple pie American dream, father Chris is a very successful, well-respected lawyer, Belle is a doting mother and the three kids appear pretty well adjusted. But it doesn’t take long before you realise just how wrong these outward appearances are. As slowly and very, very deliberately we begin to see the father for what he really is ‘a patriarchal control freak who expects the women in the house to do as he says when he says’


While out on one of his regular hunting trips, Chris spots a woman roaming the woods, a feral creature that has roamed the wilds for 20 odd years, visibly excited he hatches his plan. Capture the woman, take her home and ‘tame’ her.

Before we know it she is chained up in an underground work shed and the family unit are ordered to keep her clean and begin to civilise her. Nobody argues or questions the fathers’ orders; they just do as they are told. The sexual tension during these early scenes are laced with undercurrents of abuse, dominance and fear; father and son bonding through the process, making for some very uneasy viewing indeed. In one particularly shocking scene, while getting ready for bed, the wife asks if they should really be doing this and Chris replies with a quick, sharp slap to her face before getting into bed and asking ‘are you coming to bed, honey?’ It’s chilling in it’s matter of fact portrayal of spousal abuse, but is positively Disney compared to what follows in the final half of the movie.


It isn’t long before things spiral out of control and unfortunately to discuss them here would only lead to spoilers, what can be said without a doubt is that you will not see what’s coming during the final 40 minutes of the film it’s a tour de force of visceral, brutal pummelling violence and degradation, that barely leaves you with a chance to gasp for air. By the final scene you’re dazed and shattered as there is not one member of the family no matter what their intentions are that does not play a complicit part in the violence as it unfolds.


The performances are uniformly excellent, Angel Bettis as the fragile mother is confused ,scared and literally lives in fear knowing fully what her husband is capable of, newcomer Zach Rand excels as the teenage son ,his sadistic streak becoming wilder as the film progresses, Sean Bridgers brings a frighteningly unhinged (yet calm) performance as the father and Pollyanna McIntosh portrayal of The Woman is as a force of nature, animalistic, sexual, violent and untamed.
McKee’s master stroke is his slow character builds, handling the abuse in a very matter of fact way managing to create a sense of dread and tension within the first half. At the midway point you are practically begging for the tone to shift, all hell break loose, and for the protagonists to get their comeuppance. Unfortunately when this happens the film has taken you to unexpected places and you begin to question why you were waiting for the explosion of violence in the first place.


Horror fans the world over talk of how there are not many truly original voices left and yet somehow we never seem to support them enough when they do manage to emerge, Lucky McKee seems to be cursed with this very problem, maybe his films are too real, too ugly, maybe we really don’t want to see how ugly the world is if we scratch just below the surface and look a little closer or maybe , just maybe all genre fans really want is a new Final Destination film at the multiplex…..
Either way support independent movies, see this and make your own mind up

If you miss The Woman tonight, it will have a short theatrical run at The Prince Charles Cinema in partnership with ourselves. The PCC has opened it's doors for thier first late night screening in almost 10 years, so you know we're working with something special here.

Fri 30th Sept 18:15
Sat 1st Oct 23:10
Tue 4th Oct 13:00
Thu 6th Oct 18:30

3D Sex and Zen - The Review

So yeah, 3D Sex and Zen exists. As hardened (steady) cineastes, we'd be remiss here at Cigarette Burns if we didn't at least acknowledge it's upcoming debut on British shores, as it is probably the first genuine cinematic milestone to arrive here since...well, Avatar. But did Avatar spend any of its $1 trillion budget on throwing any giant disembodied cocks at you? Didn't think so. So until James Cameron rectifies this in Avatar 2 you'll have to make do with 3D Sex and Zen, if not the world's first ever 3D erotic film, then the most notable one since Blonde Emmanuelle in 1978, and certainly the first one to come anywhere close to cracking the Western mainstream. In Hong Kong, meanwhile, it's become the highest grossing film of all time, beating Titanic and - yes - Avatar. Sigh...I wish I lived in Hong Kong.

Anyway, we sent Colm McAuliffe down to Soho with a disconcertingly smudged pair of 3D glasses, a dirty mac, a door number and instructions to 'ask for Babs'. He came back with this review:

3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy is a marketing person’s dream. After years of mutual indifference, the dual forces of pornography and cutting-edge 3D have finally come together, aided and abetted by some tantalising costume drama based foreplay and arresting scenes of post-coital pleasure, taking the heart-warming combination of endless nude bodies, metal plates and flying daggers to their natural conclusion.

It certainly had me sold. Instead of spending my Tuesday evening languishing in abject introspection on the Victoria Line to Brixton, I instead began to envisage this film being the key to a truly decadent and debauched phase of my life. ‘What could this mean?!’ I gasped in joy, reading the press release over and over again, imagining redemption and liberation from an existence of vexed incomprehension.

Of course, the reality hit home when I realised I was merely spending an evening in a Soho screening room, watching this 3D porn flick with, mainly, fellow males. But therein lies the problem – why should pornography penetrate the mainstream? Many of the stars of 3D Sex and Zen are full-time hardcore porn stars, and it’s not overtly difficult to track them down via the internet and, crucially, for free. So, what’s the point?

Well, firstly, this (theoretically) isn’t a standalone montage of sex scenes interspersed with sparse dialogue indicating some sort of vague plot. Set in the saucy 1600s, the film is an adaptation of the novel The Carnal Prayer Mat, although how it’s debatable as to how faithful this interpretation really is. And as for the story itself? Well, it’s that well-worn chestnut concerning a young scholar who fails to satisfy his breathtakingly beautiful wife and is taken under the wing of the local sex god who introduces our flaccid hero to a non-stop carnival of sexual delights where he discovers how to make love for entire days. Phew. However, his new found prowess goes straight to his head and crotch as he repeatedly betrays his long-suffering wife and replaces his microscopic member with that of a donkey’s. Honestly, it could happen to any of us.

3D Sex and Zen is a positively lavish affair throughout. The orgiastic gorefests take place in vast cavernous proto-Playboy Mansions supplanted with the sporadic 3D effects ensuring various phallic symbols and the occasional stray, luscious breast is thrust at the audience. The sex scenes initially are generally of the soft-pornography kind albeit interspersed with the odd moment of casual rape - one memorable scene sees someone literally fucked to death.

Indeed, a more linguistically advanced colleague of mine has referred to the film as being a little too rapey – the sex does get progressively more violent, barebacking becomes the norm and an increasing number of implements are used in support of each conquest. Does this make it one of the most offensive commercial films ever released? Not really – no one could surely take any of this seriously. The film rises above the bog-standard porn movie due to its superior production standards and the occasional moments of humour. But the subtitles are dreadful or maybe it’s just the dialogue – either way, neither amount to very much.

The film certainly deludes itself with notions of ‘high art’ throughout – there are heartfelt odes to the poeticism of love punctuating the porn – but these seem feeble and forced. Who needs wistful moments of Romanticism when you are soon faced with a pansexual Shaman, capable of extraordinary sexual tricks, and replete with an enormous penis-like appendage attached to his/her thigh which is then used to pummel men’s faces into an unrecognisable pulp?

To its credit, the savage screwing is varied in length and tone and never outstays its welcome. But I can’t see this film heralding a whole new era for pornography. Instead, this is simply glossy, unsophisticated and unintentionally funny adult vewing. But most worryingly, this is the work of a father-son screenwriting team, Stephen Shiu and Stephen Shiu Jr., which begs the question: what could Mrs. Shiu possibly think?

So there you go. A frankly insane looking mix of extreme violence and fortuitous nakedness, a heady combination not unlike that found in Japanese cinema's legendary 'pink' genre. Now if only there were some sort of pinky retrospective triple bill we could all go and watch in a couple of weeks...

Project Arrow - The Beyond

Obviously Vince is an unstoppable force of nature, ploughing through his "to watch pile" with almost no effort at all. Commendable to say the least.... though perhaps he should get a job... Today's instalment in our Project Arrow series is none other than Lucio Fulci's masterpiece The Beyond. You'll be forgiven for thinking that the timing is a tad suspicious, what with our Dead Will Rise Double Bill featuring The Beyond and Dead & Buried tomorrow eve at the Prince Charles Cinema in Leicester Square, but this was all Vince's idea. So without further waffle from me...


Project Arrow

Lucio Fulci's The Beyond (Arrow Video Blu-ray release)

The Beyond is not only one of my top-two favourite Fulci films, it's one of my all-time favourite Italian horror films. Okay, I know, The Beyond is one of every Fulci fan's favourite Fulci films. Well, with good fucking reason, I say. As far as Italian horror goes, it's one of the classics.


The film is infused with an enigmatic style, and Fulci (unlike previous endeavours) has the wherewithal as a co-writer and the films' director to keep it immersed and embedded in a solid, and classic, haunted house structure. Where his earlier City of the Living Dead was roughly artistic, his attempts to end that film on an enigmatic note only felt confused and disorienting. This time though, Fulci had a far better handle on these stylistic proceedings.


The story starts out (post-credits) on a classic note, a young woman (Catriona MacColl) comes to be in possession of an old haunted hotel in New Orleans. Predictably, things go to hell – or rather, come up from hell – and the entire film glides into this anarchic supernatural action/horror story – with zombies, a ghostly blind girl, further craziness involving the Book of Eibon and a few face-eating tarantulas. What do you expect; this is Lucio Fulci, after all.

The Beyond would later be considered one of Fulci's own Italian living dead trilogy, caught between City of the Living Dead and The House by the Cemetery. I'd argue that the only thing that makes these three very different films even a loose trilogy is the fact that they were all shot nearly within a year of each other (1980 – 1981) and they all co-star Catriona MacCall. While City of the Living Dead is a true zombie film, House by the Cemetery is more of a mad doctor/monster flick and The Beyond is a wonderfully convoluted supernatural tale, which happens to involve zombies. The zombies here are interchangeable with the ghosts of a more classic haunted house tale. But the fact that they do appear as zombies lends an even more immediate tone of horror to the general haunted house tone of the film.


That is, until we get near the conclusion, where co-star David Warbeck (and might I add awesomely cast) gets his revolver and his seemingly never-ending supply of bullets. At this point, it does begin to feel less like a ghost story and more in pace with Fulci's nearly-as-awesome Zombie (aka Zombi 2). But unlike the leave-you-hanging-in-slight-confusion conclusion of his previous City of the Living Dead, thankfully the writers (which included regular Fulci and Bava scribe Dardano Sacchetti) saw fit to place everything together and finish the film with a bit of a rug-jerking enigmatic piece that at least feels right – in the film's own supernaturally nonsensical way. I feel The Beyond's success is also due in part to the dreamy pacing of the film on the whole. Elsewhere some fans and critics think the film would've benefited from tighter editing – and I'd disagree. It's this deliberate style that gives heed to the dream-like artistry that Fulci has constructed here. So bold and shocking is the ending of Fulci's The Beyond that it was riffed by Michele Soavi for his 1992 Dylan Dog interpretation, Cemetery Man.


That all being said, I definitely want to mention Arrow's Blu-ray release on this one, it was one of the more anticipated titles for me, as it had not been made available in a high-definition format until now. The hi-def transfer here is nothing short of fucking amazing. It's rough, but in all the right ways. The print used for the transfer is obviously dated and in some spots, still a little dirty. But the Blu-ray looks detailed and rich. This is exactly as I thought The Beyond should look.


It's obvious that the folks at Arrow love the movie as much as its fans do as they've provided what I can only refer to as a shitload of extra content, not just on the Blu-ray disc but on an additional DVD and booklet packaged with. In actual fact, my Blu-ray snap-case was so stuffed it wasn't even snapped shut properly, despite it being brand-new and shrink-wrapped. You could get lost in Arrow's Beyond Blu-ray.
Totally recommended.

Amazon link
Arrow web store link

Project Arrow is a joint effort along side Videotape Swap Shop and you can follow Vince's continuing adventures here


I suppose I ought to also mention our exclusive shirt of The Beyond will be available tomorrow at the Prince Charles, and provided we don't sell out they will be on sale through our shop.

Project Arrow - Funhouse

As we in the UK gear up for Film4's Frightfest, which kicks off in earnest this Thursday, Vince has squeezed in yet another in the Project Arrow series - this time around, we have Tobe Hooper's Funhouse, take it away big guy...


Project Arrow

The Funhouse (Arrow Video Blu-ray release)

Tobe Hooper's “The Funhouse” gets a fine Blu-ray transfer from Arrow Video. Though some night scenes do appear too light – and believe be, I'm never one to normally comment on the visual presentation of a transfer, so you can be sure this must be something noticeable – but otherwise the digital viewing is above par.


Hooper's film starts off with a humorous and (unusually for Hooper) exploitation-style opening which satirizes, while simultaneously commenting on, the Hitchcock homage of John Carpenter's “Halloween”. This is extremely unusual, in fact, it's the only occurrence I can bring to mind from Hooper's entire catalogue of directorial efforts where there is a conscientious comment on, never mind the satirizing of, another director's work.


But moving speedily past this, we are then definitely into more familiar Hooper territory. If anything defines his work as a filmmaker and storyteller, it's the idea of a group of characters who venture into a proverbial – and here, a literal – carnival of horrors. We've seen Hooper's convention of this plot several times in his career, with The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Eaten Alive, Poltergeist, and even Texas Chainsaw II. There are, in fact, others, but I'm sure the point has been made.

And another validation to The Funhouse's existence is exactly where it sits in Hooper's repertoire, very close to Poltergeist and obviously smack in between his visceral Cinéma vérité Texas Chain Saw / Eaten Alive and the far more overtly tongue-in-cheek Cannon films, Lifeforce, Invaders from Mars, and Texas Chainsaw II, which all get a few miles past the dividing line between humour and sheer cinematic lunacy.


What's especially nice about The Funhouse is that at this point in Hooper's career he had a great handle on balancing a film's humour with verisimilitude. A verisimilitude that he was able to retain for Spielberg’s Poltergeist, but which alluded him for the entire Cannon series of films that followed. As well, the obviousness of The Funhouse's title (or to my expectations, at least) is amiably undermined by some genuinely quirky plot manoeuvres that were, as in now, continuously unfolding before my eyes. As if on a carnival ride itself, maybe?


If I'm sounding like I'd never seen Tobe Hooper's The Funhouse before, it's because I haven't. Sure, I'd seen a few pieces of it here and there on television and in the American horror cinema celebration “Terror in the Aisles” (circa 1984) , but other than that... Imagine my surprise, in the opening scene, at seeing starlet Elizabeth Berridge undress completely before the camera. That had certainly been censored for the Canadian television broadcast. Elizabeth is an actress (like so many others of that time and place) who would later get more work out of a television series – this one being The John Larroquette Show – co-starring, almost ironically, a leading actor who had provided the off-screen narration for Hooper's first feature film, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.


The Funhouse is a pretty intelligent and literal script with genuinely likeable characters, written by Larry Block, and of what else he might have written I know not. Though even with all of this positive raving of the script and film, it's certainly not without its flaws. In fact, the last 20 minutes or so of The Funhouse becomes somewhat disengaging, to the point of becoming a little silly. The climax of the film has not the horror of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, nor the lunacy of Texas Chainsaw II, nor the catharsis of Poltergeist nor the sheer spectacle of Lifeforce. Although I have to say this is not for lack of trying on any of these points, as you will no doubt see (or have seen). And the ending is not completely without its merits, either, somewhat fitted into the realm of off-handed cynicism and a slightly deeper sinister aspect, which I can't delve further into without giving away choice plot points. So obviously, the film in its entirety can't easily be dismissed, not only for where it lies in Hooper's directorial career, but where it lies in the time-line of horror and its cinematic sister, the slasher/dead-teenager sub-genre. Arrow's release of The Funhouse gets a hearty recommendation from this retro-horror film fan.

Amazon link
Arrow web store link

Project Arrow is a joint effort along side Videotape Swap Shop and you can follow Vince's continuing adventures here

Project Arrow - Vamp

Sat on the South Bank, in front of the NTF, film maker Vince D'Amato had a plan, he'd just returned from an impromptu spending spree at Fopp. Poking from an over stuffed bag I spied a stack of Arrow DVDs. The Creepy Six Films kingpin enthusiastically told me that he was about to embark on Project Arrow. A respectable mission which saw him reviewing as many Arrow releases as he could get his hands on, and so we begin...

Project Arrow

Vamp (Arrow Video Blu-ray release)

The idea for this series of Arrow features struck me after the unfortunate outbreak of UK riots led to the destruction of a major warehouse and distribution centre, all but depleting several indie film distro companies and record labels of their entire stock. I realize that this might be old news to most fans by now, what with the advent of social media, but that, in my mind, does not invalidate the somewhat public celebration of not only these film titles, but of the smaller companies that had laboured to get them to us, the fans and consumers, in the most entertaining (and artistically marketable) way they could. The first order of a show of support, was obviously, get some Arrow titles! As I had just moved to London from Canada only 2 months ago, I still had a list of Arrow titles I was planning on purchasing over the next, say, six or seven months. When I learned about the warehouse disaster – burned to the ground! - I sucked it up and made a single purchase in one fell swoop. I now have, sitting next to me at my dining room table in a little Brixton flat, eleven new Arrow titles with two more still to arrive. Next order of business, was obviously, watch the fucking things! So I set about doing just that, last night, with a double-feature of Richard Wenk's Vamp and the infamous video nasty Island of Death.


Vamp is a film that has been a guilty pleasure of mine since back in 1987 when I first caught it (and subsequently taped it onto a blank VHS) on the Canadian pay-television network Superchannel. After a few months, the tapes was worn out and warped. I was in grade 6/7 at the time and I thought Robert Rusler was a fucking bad-ass with his shirt sleeves rolled up, kicking albino psycho's asses and smooth-talking all the hot chicks in the movie. Charming as hell. Actually, the entire cast had been pretty damned charming, even Gedde Wantanabe, who was pretty much straight off from playing another dork in Sixteen Candles. Anyway, as grade 7 waned into the summer (which was about to lead into high school) my worn-down EP VHS recording of Vamp slipped somewhere in between oblivion and off-the-face-of-this-earth. It's just one of those things you never actually remember what happened to it.


Thankfully, now in the age Blu-ray, Arrow has seen fit to bring one of the more understated Hollywood writer/producer's first films into the glaring light of HD. And I have to say, both the HD presentation as well as Richard Wenk's vision do Vamp a hell of a lot of good. Does Vamp, as a film, stand up 25 years later? Logic might dictate not, but actually, it holds up surprisingly well. The humour is entertaining if not riotously laugh-out-loud, and both the performances and the direction have a fantastic rhythm, carrying the unfortunate characters from a collage-fraternity mission into the pits of hell that is an urban-after-dark strip club run by a nest of vampires in a cheeky take on the standard Hollywood “hero's journey”, where our lead character Keith (Chris Makepeace) is thrust from the world he knows into a world of strange, dark humour and viscous bloodsuckers, where he literally must leap through several hoops of hell in order to prevail and end up with the romantic lead (Deedee Pfeiffer)


But hold on right there. That main plot point... the one about the characters ending up at a strip club fill of vampires... sounds familiar. Ah, yes, it was riffed by Tarantino for his own From Dusk Till Dawn. And while the grindhouse-pastiche boys may have put their own spin on the ensuing mayhem, Richard Wenk's film has more in common with Argento's Inferno (visually) and Demons (both visually, thematically, and with the look of the monsters themselves), which was also released around the same time ('86/'87, depending on what country you lived in).


Among the many lovely extras on Arrow's blu-ray release is a lengthy interview with star Deedee Pfeiffer, which I would recommend sitting through the length first half to get to the much better, and more interesting, parts in the latter fifteen minutes. Robert Rusler also makes a welcome appearance in the film's new introduction as well as on his own commentary track, and Arrow has thankfully included Rickard Wenk's early short film, Dracula Bites the Big Apple, a sort of Vamp predecessor.
Check it out!

Amazon Link
Arrow Web Store Link

Project Arrow is a joint effort along side Videotape Swap Shop and you can follow Vince's continuing adventures here

3D Sex and Zen - You'll poke yer eye out kid! with EXCLUSIVE content

First Japan's crazy Erotibot and now Hong Kong's full-on 3D erotic costume drama 3D Sex & Zen Extreme Ecstasy, then next month we'll be covering Female Prisoner Scorpion.... it's beginning to feel a bit dirty here.
But we love the filth, so bring it.
And in 3D!!!


Ok, we all have our gripes about 3D, but I reckon the future for 3D is in animation and PORN!!
Giant boobies leaping out of the screen? Seriously, unless you're a boring old drip, it's like a dream come true.


As a matter of fact, 3D Sex & Zen has been heralded as the saviour of 3D by the Guardian. So I'm in fairly good company.
Released in Australia, with a staggering take of $1 million across 6 screens - that over $160k per screen.
This bad boy is hitting UK screens in an exclusive deal with Odeon Cinemas from 2nd Sept. Sure the BBFC said it was too outrageous and demanded cuts, but there's still no shortage of insanity.

There was a time in the 70s when it was perfectly acceptable to bring a date to see Deep Throat or Through the Looking Glass, Porno Chic, the Golden Age, the good times.
Like this, you could TOTALLY take a date to this. I think I may.

If you're not geared up to see this film by now.... Cigarette Burns has an exclusive clip that might just convince you.

Obviously, this is post operation. I'm guessing that there's a sword fight in here somewhere.

This looks brilliant, and you know it.
If you're not sold, I'm afraid you've come to the wrong film blog.

Pias Warehouse Fire

Last week, while the rest of London was looting and burning, a warehouse in Enfield caught fire. contained within said warehouse was stacks and stacks of CDs, records, DVDs and BluRays. The warehouse was the main distribution centre for independent labels. And as such held most of the stock for these labels.
The list of music labels affected is staggering. Many of those labels may not survive losing their entire back catalogue.
1.5 million CDs alone were lost.
One million, five hundred thousand CDs...

As much as I love music, Cigarette Burns is about film, and to be honest, the music industry has done a marvellous job of rallying support for these labels, Pias and AIM (the Association of Independent Musicians) have set up an emergency loan fund to help those affected. Then there's the grassroots Label Love who has set up a fund and is collecting personal donations for the music labels as well.

What I find surprising is that when the cuts were announced and the UK Film Council was on the chopping block, everyone complained. Now, it feels as though no one is worried that all our independent film labels have lost the majority, and in many cases, ALL of their stock.
This back catalogue stock pays for running costs, so you can pay staff, invest in future releases and make those amazing booklets that make Arrow and Masters of Cinema releases so special.
Beyond that there's the fact that all the hardwork that was put into a release has gone up, literally, in smoke.
Sony/Pias obviously have contents insured and are paying out, but that takes time and how much each label gets will vary based on whether they had their discs replicated by Sony or not. Either way, there are still day to day finances these companies have to deal with. And in an age where physical disc sales are dropping, many of these companies are running on a small budget anyway.

A fantastic explanation of the troubles facing some of the smaller distros is here:
Third Window Films
One of the more interesting points raised here is that as we enter the fourth quarter, all the major distributors will be pushing for their discs to get pressed, shove the independents further down the totem pole of replication.

Bleeding Cool has put together a list of where you can go if you fancy downloading from the various companies here.

Having spoken with Arrow Film and Video, they assured me that they do currently have stock in hand if you order from their online store here but be quick. There's also a quick little press release here
Eureka and Masters of Cinema also have limited stock in hand.
Having taken a massive blown, Network have released an announcement worth reading.
Shameless have lost ALL their stock, so what is at retailers is all there is. And a release to that effect can be read here
Amazon still has many titles, but it's not like they are stocking hundreds of copies of any given title.

Other companies affected are:
The BFI , Artificial Eye, Beez, Crabtree Films, Dogwoof, Cine-Asia, Exposure Cinema, Revolver UK, Left Films, Kaleidoscope Films, Metrodome Films, Second Run, Terracotta, Peccadillio Pictures, Warp Films and several others.

It's really important to go out and pick up as many titles as you can with a view to support these companies and help them survive.
Many of them have been super supportive to Cigarette Burns Cinema and the other film societies in the UK. But most importantly, they have been supportive to the film fans, remastering some of our favourite films with love and dedication, putting time and energy into fact tracks, documentaries, etc all so we can enjoy the film a little more, and now it's time to thank them.

Many, if not most of the films screening at the upcoming Scala Forever Season will be thanks to the above film distributors and many of them are hosting an evening.
An easy and fun way to check out what they have on offer.

Update:

Shameless have been in touch and asked that you support their recent and upcoming titles:
The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh featuring the gorgeous Edwige Fenech , Umberto Lenzi's Almost Human with Tomas Milian, Lucio Fulci's New York Ripper on BluRay, and the upcoming Cannibal Holocaust - links will take you to Amazon.
I know many of their titles are available at Fopp and HMV.
Just keep your eyes peeled for that bright yellow case.

Arrow have said the following in their newsletter:
Following the riots in north London which left the Sony distribution centre smouldering, this senseless attack has unfortunately meant that Arrow stock along with that of many distributors went up in flames.

We are working hard to ensure that new stock is manufactured as soon as possible. At this juncture we will be changing some of our releases. Arrow Video DVD versions of Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, A Bay of Blood, Deep Red and Battle Royale will not be reprinted but will be re-issued as ArrowDrome releases. Stock of these Arrow Video releases are still available from various retailers and we have a small amount of stock available from our website. Blu-ray versions will not change.



If you would like to complete your Arrow Video Collection you must hurry as there is LIMITED STOCK AVAILABILITY

Update 2:

Second Run DVD has confirmed that they have indeed lost all their stock and will be re-manufacturing all titles as soon as possible. They will be taking pains to make sure that no titles will be deleted, so fear not.
In the meantime, what little stock is left with retailers is all there is. However, they do hold stock of most of their titles and ask that you purchase direct from their in house shop, as it would be very helpful under the current circumstances

Scala Forever Calendar

We are closing in, about a week away from one of the most talked about film events in London - Scala Forever.
Everyone is sitting down and pouring over their posters and marking off what they want to see... but for some of us, it's nice to just have a list we can scroll through.

The below is accurate as of today. Events may still be added, so don't blame me if you miss something.

Since this is the Cigarette Burns blog, I see no reason why I shouldn't highlight my own events, but encourage you to go to as many as you can, there are some serious gems in here and several films that you really won't see anywhere else.


Saturday 13 August 7PM Roxy Bar and Screen
Opening Night KING KONG

Sunday 14 August 2PM Riverside Studios
Marx Brothers Double A DAY AT THE RACES/A NIGHT AT THE OPERA

Sunday 14 August 4PM The Ritzy
A-Z of Cinema: G is for Grindhouse FASTER, PUSSYCAT! KILL! KILL!/DEATH PROOF

Sunday 14 August 7.30PM Roxy Bar and Screen
John Waters Double FEMALE TROUBLE/DESPERATE LIVING

Sunday 14 August 7.30PM Dulwich Park
The Nomad presents THE GOONIES

Sunday 14 August 8.30PM Prince Charles Cinema
DR STRANGELOVE

Monday 15 August 7PM Roxy Bar and Screen
Second Run DVD’s Czech Double MORGIANA/VALERIE AND HER WEEK OF WONDERS

Tuesday 16 August 7.30PM Shortwave Cinema
Peccadillo Pictures' German Boys Double TAXI ZUM KLO/WESTLER

Friday 19 August 7PM Opera Holland Park
The Nomad presents SOME LIKE IT HOT

Friday 19 August 8PM Three Mills
The Floating Cinema presents FANTASTIC MR. FOX

Saturday 20 August 8.30PM The Portobello Pop Up Cinema
THE COLOUR OF POMEGRANATES

Saturday 20 August 11PM - 6AM Roxy Bar and Screen
Filmbar70's Zombie All-Nighter ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS/DAWN OF THE DEAD/RETURN OF THE BLIND DEAD/I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE/NIGHTMARE CITY

Sunday 21 August 2PM Riverside Studios
EXTERMINATING ANGEL/LAST YEAR IN MARIENBAD

Sunday 21 August 6PM Riverside Studios
Graham Green Double OUR MAN IN HAVANA/THE THIRD MAN

Sunday 21 August 7PM Roxy Bar & Screen
Danny Leigh introduces AFTER HOURS/SECONDS

Monday 22 August 6.25PM Riverside Studios
Almodovar Double WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS?/BROKEN EMBRACES

Monday 22 August 7.30PM Roxy Bar and Screen
Passengerfilms presents Backwoods Horror EDEN LAKE/THIS IS MY LAND

Tuesday 23 August 7PM Roxy Bar and Screen
Filmbar70's Russ Meyer Double MONDO TOPLESS/BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS

Wednesday 24 August 6.20PM BFI Southbank
The Flipside presents FRENCH DRESSING

Wednesday 24 August 7PM Kings Cross Social Club
Duke Mitchell Film Club's 4TH BIRTHDAY PARTY


Wednesday 24 August 8PM Prince Charles Cinema
Cigarette Burns Cinema's The Dead Will Rise Double
THE BEYOND/DEAD & BURIED

Thursday 25 August 7PM Roxy Bar and Screen
Shameless Films presents THE FRIGHTENED WOMAN/DON’T TORTURE A DUCKLING

Thursday 25 August 8.30PM Prince Charles Cinema
THE GENERAL with live accompaniment from Costas Fotopoulos

25-29 August Empire Leicester Square: Film4 Frightfest
Friday 26 August 10.35AM, Sunday 28 August 9.15PM Empire Leicester Square
THE MAN WHO SAW FRANKENSTEIN CRY

Sunday 28 August 1.30PM Rio Cinema
GLEN OR GLENDA?/UN CHANT D'AMOUR/KENNETH ANGER'S MAGICK LANTERN CYCLE

Sunday 28 August 4PM The Ritzy
A-Z of Cinema: H is for Hitchcock ROPE/FRENZY

Sunday 28 August 6.30PM Riverside Studios
Jeanne Moreau Double LIFT TO THE SCAFFOLD/JULES ET JIM

Sunday 28 August 7PM Roxy Bar and Screen
Filmbar70’s Western Double THE GREAT SILENCE/ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST

Monday 29 August 6.25PM Prince Charles Cinema
THE TERMINATOR/DUEL

Friday 26 August - Sunday 4 September Barbican: London International Animation Festival
Monday 29 August 8.45PM Barbican
GEORGE THE HEDGEHOG plus Q&A co-director Wojtek Wawczyzk

Tuesday 30 August 6PM Ryan's Bar, Stoke Newington
Atomic Bark! presents TOBY DAMMIT/BABA YAGA

Wednesday 31 August 7PM Roxy
Filmbar70’s Brit Psych-Fi Double THE FINAL PROGRAMME/ZARDOZ

Thursday 1 September 7.30PM Curzon Soho bar
Curzon and Faber and Faber’s Film Quiz TEN ROUNDS WITH DE NIRO: SCALA CINEMA SPECIAL

Friday 2 September 6.30PM Richmond Park
The Nomad presents THE AFRICAN QUEEN

Saturday 3 September 3PM Roxy Bar and Screen
Scala Forever presents I WANT TO START A FILM CLUB!

Sunday 4 September 3PM Roxy Bar and Screen
The Classic Horror Campaign Double BLACK SUNDAY/HORROR HOSPITAL

Sunday 4 September 7PM Rich Mix
Land In Focus presents PACKAGE DEALS: FINLAND

Sunday 4 September 7.30PM Roxy Bar and Screen
Filmbar70’s Wild World Double TETSUO: THE IRON MAN/SANTA SANGRE

7 – 18 September ICA: A Feast for Open Eyes: Jack Smith
Wednesday 7 September 8PM ICA Theatre
FLAMING CREATURES with intro by Chris Dercon and Q&A Jonas Mekas and Dominic Johnson

Thursday 8 September 7PM Roxy Bar and Screen
Duke Mitchell Film Club presents THE FLESH EATERS

Thursday 8 September 8.30PM BFI Southbank
The Flipside presents NEIL INNES NIGHT plus Q&A Neil Innes

Friday 9 September 6.30PM Fulham Palace
The Nomad presents DANGEROUS LIAISONS

Saturday 10 September 11PM - 6AM Roxy Bar and Screen
Filmbar70's All-Night of the Bloody Pint All-nighter RE-ANIMATOR/SLUGS: THE MOVIE/BASKET CASE/PHANTASM/HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP

Sunday 11 September 2PM Phoenix Cinema
Phoenix Cinema and Contemporary Films present Music Doc Double TONITE LET’S ALL MAKE LOVE IN LONDON/JAZZ ON A SUMMER’S DAY

Sunday 11 September 3PM - 11PM Roxy Bar and Screen
Filmbar70's Eastern Action All-Dayer A BETTER TOMORROW/EASTERN CONDORS/TIGER CAGE II/THE CAT

Sunday 11 September 4PM The Ritzy
A-Z of Cinema: I is for Isolation REPULSION/THE SHINING

Tuesday 13 September 7PM Roxy Bar and Screen
R.W. Fassbinder Double ALI: FEAR EATS THE SOUL/THE BITTER TEARS OF PETRA VON KANT

Wednesday 14 September 7.30PM Shortwave Cinema
Peccadillo Pictures' Naughty Girls Double HEAVENLY CREATURES/EL NINO PEZ (THE FISH CHILD)

Thursday 15 September 7.30PM - 1AM The Book Club
Amy Grimehouse presents RUSS MEYER NIGHT

Friday 16 September 7.30PM Fulham Palace
The Nomad presents THE OMEN

Saturday 17 September 2PM - 8PM, The Cinema Museum
SCALA DAY: Screenings, discussions and reminicences

Sunday 18 September 3PM Tricycle Cinema
THEATRE OF BLOOD/VIRIDIANA

Sunday 18 September 7PM Roxy Bar and Screen
Little Joe Magazine presents Sexy Sci Fi Double LIQUID SKY/CAFE FLESH

Tuesday 20 September 6.30PM. Film at 8.30PM. The Horse Hospital
Electric Sheep and Strange Attractor present THUNDERCRACK!

Tuesday 20 September 8PM Bethnal Green Working Men's Club
Close-Up presents DEKALOG I & II

Wednesday 21 September 7PM Roxy and Screen
Herzog/Kinski Double AGUIRRE, WRATH OF GOD/WOYZECK


Saturday 24 September 11.30PM Rio Cinema
Cigarette Burns Cinema presents The Female Convict Pinky Violence All-Night Triple: SCORPION/JAILHOUSE 41/BEAST STABLE

Sunday 25 September 3PM Roxy Bar and Screen
Arrow Video and Filmbar70's Argento Triple DEEP RED/TENEBRAE/OPERA

Tuesday 27 September 8PM Bethnal Green Working Men's Club
Close-Up presents DEKALOG III & IV

Wednesday 28 September 7PM Roxy Bar and Screen
THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP introduced by Tilda Swinton (tbc)

Wednesday 28 September 7PM Kings Cross Social Club
Duke Mitchell Film Club presents TURKISH GRINDHOUSE: DEATH WARRIOR

Wednesday 28 September 8.30PM, ICA
Thursday 29 September 8.45PM, ICA
ICA and ICO present BALLAD OF NARAYAMA

Saturday 1 October 7.30PM Whirled Cinema
Barney Platts-Mills Double BRONCO BULLFROG/PRIVATE ROAD

Saturday 1 October 11PM Roxy Bar and Screen
Midnight Movies and Reel Music present I Could Have Danced All-Nighter BUGSY MALONE/ROCK N ROLL HIGH SCHOOL/CAN'T STOP THE MUSIC/THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW

Sunday 2 October 8PM Roxy Bar and Screen
Closing Night A CLOCKWORK ORANGE


Get booking kids!!!