Edinburgh Zombie Club

SAVE THE GREEN PLANET (2003, dir. Jang Jun-Hwan)

This is a jaw-droppingly bizarre movie from Korea that mixes scenes of gruesome torture and violence with comedy and heartbreaking profundity.

Perhaps as a result of too many amphetamines and violent incidents in his past, beekeeper Lee Byeong Gu (Sin Ha-Gyun) has become convinced that an unscrupulous business tycoon (Kan Man-Shik) is actually an alien from the planet Andromeda. Lee’s frumpy acrobat girlfriend (Hwang Jung-Min) helps him abduct the ‘alien’ and torture him into confessing. Meanwhile, a hangdog detective is following a trail leading to Lee’s hideout high in the mountains.

Let the timid be warned: this is not the antipollution comedy that the title might indicate. Man’s inhumanity to man is certainly depicted–as in events like Korea’s 1980 Kwangju riots–but there’s more going on here than any one summation could describe: bees attack, a pet dog named Earth dines on human remains, alternate theories of evolution are posited (ie Noah’s Ark was a deep submarine carrying DNA samples); an entire lifetime of films, political turmoil, anime and manga are boiled down and distilled into one profound, multi-textual allegory.

Adventurous viewers will be in for one hell of a ride, as this film dares go where few have gone before, yet it does so with heart and intellect to match its wicked humor and headlong momentum.

RUNAWAY(1984, dir. Michael Crichton)

A police sergeant goes up against an evil electronics whiz in this fast-paced, futuristic thriller.

Ramsey is a widowed cop trying to raise his young son, Bobby. Although he suffers from a fear of heights, this condition hasn’t stopped him from becoming one of the best officers on the force. His specialty is tracking down robots that have gone bad, rebelling against their owners. And because machines have taken over many regular tasks — even cooking — in this futuristic society, there’s always a need for Ramsey’s services. Now, however, he has his toughest assignment yet. Luther, a master criminal, is terrorizing the city by controlling robots everywhere to do his bidding. And, with the help of new, diabolical creations that include electronic spiders and heat-seeking, programmable bullets, Luther seems unstoppable. Will Ramsey and Thompson, his new, female partner, be able to stop the villain?

WEDNESDAY 28th JULY
THE BANSHEE LABYRINTH
NIDDRIE STREET
EDINBURGH
7.00PM, FREE!

An extra podcast for you lovely people.

This is the Q&A session that we had with Norman J. Warren after we’d watched Terror at the recent British Horror event. Thanks again to Norman and everyone who helped put on the event.

Enjoy the Q&A!

 

 Q&A with Norman J. Warren [41:58m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I hope you all enjoyed Sunday’s event as much as we did. A good collection of films, a good crowd and a great director. Thanks to everyone for making Mr Warren feel so welcome, he sent us this message to let us know he’d had a good time.

Hi Pat,

Thanks again for inviting me to the Edinburgh Zombie Club and for making it all so easy for me. I really enjoyed every moment and its just a pity the time always goes by so fast. The members are great and I’m sure there could be interesting conversations (and a few drinks of course) going well into the evening.

Thanks again for inviting me and I hope to see you again sometime in the near future.

All the very best,
Norman

So there you have it. I’ll get that Q&A session up very soon.

The Norman J. Warren event is now sold out! Thanks to everyone who has bought tickets, if you’ve paid over PayPal then they’ll be on the door for you on Sunday.

The provisional running times are as follows;

12:45 – 14:20 – Night of the Demon

14:40 – 16:10 – Terror

16:10 – 16:40 – Q&A with Mr Warren

16:40 – 18:20 – Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny and Girly

19:30 – 21:00 – Frightmare

21:30 – 23:00 – The Devil Rides Out

And there you have it. I seem to have missed out on putting up more information about the films and so, without further ado, here it is;

Night Of The Demon (1957, dir. Jacques Tourneur)

Dr. John Holden ventures to London to attend a paranormal psychology symposium with the intention to expose devil cult leader, Julian Karswell. Holden is a skeptic and does not believe in Karswell’s power. Nonetheless, he accepts an invitation to stay at Karswell’s estate, along with Joanna Harrington, niece of Holden’s confidant who was electrocuted in a bizarre automobile accident. Karswell secretly slips a parchment into Holden’s papers that might possibly be a death curse. Recurring strange events finally strike fear into Holden, who believes that his only hope is to pass the parchment back to Karswell to break the demonic curse

Based on a MR James short short, Night Of The Demon is a bona fide classic atmospheric horror film.

Terror (1978, dir. Norman J. Warren)

A curse place spewed forth by an executed witch wreaks havoc among the descendants of her killers in 1970s London, who meet their ends in a variety of graphically brutal ways. Infamous for it’s death by celluloid scene, this giallo inspired shocker is generally regarded as one of the director’s best.

Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny and Girly (1970, dir Freddy Francis)

A wealthy, fatherless British clan kidnaps bums and hippies and forces them to participate in an elaborate role-playing game in which they are the perfect family; those who refuse or attempt escape are ritualistically murdered.

Overshadowed by the director’s better known Hammer & Amicus output, this is a lost gem of black comedy.

Frightmare (1974, dir. Pete Walker)

After spending nearly twenty years in jail for a series of cannibalistic murders, Dorothy Yates and her husband Edmund, who was jailed for his attempted cover-up of his wife’s ghoulish tastes, are apparently cured and released back into society. Their two daughters are haunted by the fiendish deeds of their ghastly parents, and soon the killings begin again. But is it Dorothy this time, or someone else?

A tale of Home Counties cannibalism often compared to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

The Devil Rides Out (1968, dir. Terence Fisher)

The Duc de Richeleau and his friend Rex discover their young charge Simon has fallen in with the powers of Darkness and is about to be baptized into the service of evil. The Duc is fortunately versed in such matters and finds himself locked in a duel with the deadly Mocata, disciple of the left-hand path.

What better way to end the day as we approach the witching hour with this classic slice of Satansplotation?

To celebrate getting more downloads than ever last month, we’ve turned in our most rambling nonsense yet. Listen as we amuse ourselves on a number of topics including backwoods horror, the upcoming all-dayer event, the scientific name for having your penis forcibly removed by a Bigfoot and stuffed monkeys in the Chambers Street museum. Happy days.

 

 Standard Podcast [56:46m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download