Horror Channel Articles
Soundstage Events Presents The Evil Dead And The Rise Of The Video Nasties
By James Whittington
Posted in: News, Saturday 27th Oct 2012

Evil Dead EventHeld on Sunday October 28th at Brighton's Duke of York’s cinema at 1pm, this special event marks thirty years since the rise of the video nasties. Following a rare cinema screening of The Evil Dead, a panel of guests will discuss the horror classic's impact and the video nasty phenomenon. The special guests are the British Board of Film Classification's Senior Examiner Craig Lapper, Kill List and Sightseers director Ben Wheatley and Empire Magazine's Chris Hewitt. The event will be hosted by director Jonathan Glendening.

Tickets at £9 are available by clicking here www.soundstageevents.co.uk

Released in 1982, The Evil Dead is a highly popular cult horror film, and the debut from director Sam Raimi. Raimi went onto direct the original Spider-Man trilogy and the acclaimed western The Quick And The Dead. Because of its graphic violence and terror, the original version of the film was banned in several countries. In spite of being passed 'X' for cinema release by the BBFC, the VHS version was prosecuted for obscenity, leading to the film being unavailable on video until the 1990s.

Craig Lapper is the Senior Examiner with the BBFC, the British Board of Film Classification, which is one hundred years old. He has been with the BBFC since 1997, starting there as assistant to the then director, James Ferman, who oversaw the '80s video nasty explosion. Senior Examiners are responsible for reading the reports submitted by examiners, viewing any borderline or contentious material, and deciding whether works needs further consideration, for example by the Head of Policy or the Director. They also undertake advice viewings of unfinished films, so they can give companies an early steer on any changes they need to make to achieve their preferred category.

Ben Wheatley is one of the most acclaimed British filmmakers in recent years, mainly due to his horror thriller Kill List, which was released in 2011 to a great critical reception. Ben directed, wrote and produced the film, as well as Sightseers, his eagerly awaited dark comedy, produced by Edgar Wright, which is released this November. His debut feature, Down Terrace, was a bleak low-budget thriller made in Brighton. Ahead of these films, he directed Ideal, the BBC TV comedy series that starred Johnny Vegas, and Channel 4's Modern Toss, based on the popular adult cartoons.

Chris Hewitt is News Editor of Empire, the world's bestselling film magazine. He is also a contributor of the BBC's Film 2012 programme. During his time at Empire, he has held a variety of posts, including a stint as West Coast Editor which brought the Northern Ireland native to Los Angeles, and Co-Editor of the award-winning Empire Online. He also writes and presents award-losing video diaries from the Cannes Film Festival, Comic-Con and the London Film Festival, with various on-set specials along the way.

Jonathan Glendening is the event's host. He is an emerging, award winning film director and screenwriter. His two latest feature films are 13HRS, starring Gemma Atkinson and Simon MacCorkindale and Strippers Vs Werewolves, a horror comedy, released in April 2012. 13HRS was released in the US in April 2012, under the title Night Wolf and received its UK TV première on the Horror Channel in March of this year.

Winstones, Romero and Grindhouse - June On The Horror Channel
Wonder Woman - May 20th On The Horror Channel
Motel Hell - Now Open On DVD And Blu-ray
The Dead 2: India - New Trailer
Dario Argento: The Man, The Myths & The Magic - Book Review
The House Of Psychotic Women - Book Review
New Interview With Paul Andrew Williams Director Of Cherry Tree Lane
Brand New Interview With Paul Hyett Director Of The Seasoning House And Judge on 666 Short Cuts To Hell Competition
Ten UK Premieres Usher In A Knock-Out FrightFest Glasgow Programme
American Mary UK Cinema Tour News
2013 / 2012 / 2011 / 2010 / 2009 / 2008 / 2007 / 2006