lemon tree passage ( film )
here' s a look at some film meetups happening near lemon tree passage .
films like lemon tree passage signal the death of the good horror film. so far 2015 has been a mixed bag and lemon tree passage along with previously reviewed titles e. g .
lemon tree passage – aka death passage – is a 2014 australian horror film directed by david campbell from a screenplay co - written with erica brien .
writer - director david campbell is in post - production on the australian supernatural thriller lemon tree passage .
i completely feel indifference towards lemon tree passage, a decent enough if not over done idea that’s poorly executed .
lemon tree passage premieres at the nelson bay cinema, october 31st 2014, at 7. 30pm and 9. 30pm .
the girls never mentioned it until about 15 years later when someone brought up the legend of the lemon tree passage light .
indeed this is the plot of the movie lemon tree passage, filmed last year and starring jessica tovey and pippa black .
whether the tale is true or not, it has inspired the plot for a new film, lemon tree passage, which is making its australian premier in nelson bay .
a true believer, mr byfield has investigated lemon tree passage and doesn' t believe it' s an act of the paranormal .
as the legend goes, the' ghost' of lemon tree passage in port stephens has haunted many a traveller over the years .
news that the legend of the lemon tree passage
ghost
has inspired a movie brought back chilling memories for charlestown resident tanya locking .
odin’s eye entertainment has acquired worldwide sales rights to lemon tree passage, an australian supernatural thriller directed and co - written by david campbell .
it was after midnight when joe finn saw what looked like the light from a harley davidson motorcycle approaching in the distance along lemon tree passage road .
like all urban legends the lemon tree passage ghost has a contested history, but the one constant is the death of a motorcyclist on the strip .
lemon tree passage might have been scarier if the actors - - outside jessica tovey, who was great - - would have bought in a little bit more .
after speeding down lemon tree passage, a remote road surrounded by dense woods, their jubilation turns to terror as one by one each passenger begins disappearing in violent ways .
the special effects in lemon tree passage are well - handled, making the events seem not only believable, but downright scary. along with a solid plot based on legend, the film is also well - acted by a young cast who portray a real emotional intensity in the film, which builds the suspense in each scene right up to the surprising end. to the delight of viewers, there are plenty of twists and turns as well as plenty of blood and gore for horror fans. lemon tree passage is another shining example of the excellent film production that australia has developed, particularly in the horror genre. hopefully the film will receive an american release very soon. crypticrock gives lemon tree passage 4 out of 5 .
after speeding down lemon tree passage, a remote road surrounded by dense woods, their jubilation turns to terror as one by one each passenger begins to disappear in a violent fashion .
in the dead of night, when only a few cars rumble along the long, eerie stretch of bitumen - lemon tree passage rd - a mysterious light is said to follow you .
lemon tree passage is an australian set “ghost story” surrounding two locals oscar (andrew ryan) and geordie (tim phillips) who introduce three american tourists maya (jessica tovey), amelia (pippa black) and toby (tim pocock) to the legend of lemon tree passage; an infamous road that saw the tragic death of a motorcyclist who supposedly still haunts the area .
mr finn didn' t realise at the time, but he' d witnessed the legend of the lemon tree passage ghost, an urban myth that has captured imaginations in port stephens for years, and is now the inspiration behind a feature film .
lemon tree passage road is long and straight - there' s a stretch of about four kilometres that runs dead straight and flat - from rookes road in the west to oyster cove road in the east .
a couple of australians introduce three american backpackers to the local legend of lemon tree passage where a ghost of a motorcyclist warns young drivers to slow down. after seeing the... see full summary »
like the legendary first novel ernest hemingway allegedly tore up and tossed into the sea and the first film that quentin tarantino claims he was advised never to show anyone, lemon tree passage might be a vital steppingstone for its debuting director. but an unheralded masterpiece this is not. which maybe why this australian film hasn’t secured a local release yet .
someone from australia will probably have to confirm this for me, but apparently there' s a ghost story involving lemon tree passage road, one where, if a group of teenagers drive really fast down the road, a ghost will appear in the form of a bright light, because a motorcyclist was killed by a bunch of teenagers years earlier. whether this is a real ghost story or simply made up for the film, it works well enough as a hook for lemon tree passage .
the south australian - shot film inspired by an urban legend had its first screening on saturday at the european film market in berlin .
the main problem with lemon tree passage is its audio. dialogue was inaudible then in contrast any soundtrack music blasted out. not an enjoyable experience watching a movie where you’re constantly having to turn the sound up and down .
the plot for the horror film centres on a couple of young australian men who introduce the legend of the lemon tree passage ghost to a group of american backpackers. after going in search of the spirit, supernatural events begin to happen to the group, leaving them at the centre of drama .
the plot to this movie is based on a real supernatural occurrence that is often reported on' lemon tree pasage' in new south wales, australia .
lemon tree passage, filmed last year and starring jessica tovey (wonderland) and pippa black (law and order: special victims unit), follows three american backpackers who learn about the ghost of a motorcyclist that stalks young motorists .
australian film lemon tree passage premiered at south korea’s primary genre festival pifan (pucheon international fantastic film festival). a festival that highlights some of the most warped films from around the world, pifan often prizes the shock of the new over narrative lucidity. but it’s not a good sign when during the q & a, the director starts to explain everything that didn’t make sense in his film… and it still doesn’t makes sense. but lemon tree passage does have verve, a strong performance by jessica tovey, and a handful of startling sequences (one involving a rear - view mirror stands out). unfortunately, those compelling incidents fail to thread together in any sense that satisfies dramatically .
campbell and erica brien wrote the screenplay after he saw a segment on today tonight in 2010 dealing with teenagers who were caught speeding in lemon tree passage road in port stephens, nsw, and told the cops they saw a ghostly light .
in recent times, nicholas has top billing in the australian feature film ‘ lemon tree passage ’, where he stars opposite jess tovey (‘ wonderland ’), tim pocock (‘ camp! ’) and andy ryan (‘ inxs: never tear us apart ’). ‘ lemon tree passage ‘ has secured top tier distributor universal studios and had its premiere at uk’s frightfest. it is expected to have a blu - ray release in 2016. nicholas has also recently appeared on the hit soap program ‘ neighbours ‘ as regular guest ‘forrest jones’ & working dog’s ‘ utopia ‘ .
ozon' s provocative film can do much to improve attitudes towards lgbti people .
mr campbell said there' s already been a lot of interest in the film .
david campbell co - wrote the film with erica brien, and is also the director .
odin’s eye entertainment’s michael favelle says he has not yet shown the film to australian distributors .
rating: 4 / 10 – a good idea that’s left by the wayside in favour of a confused, improbable plot, lemon tree passage is a disappointing entry in the urban legend horror sub - genre; absurd and unnecessarily confusing, it struggles to make sense throughout and has too many wtf? moments for comfort .
i also met tom wadlow. tom has directed his first feature film wasteland. i had met him briefly last year when he was showing a trailer for the film and trying to raise some cash. the film is finished, and he is back this year trying to sell it. i liked tom and his friends, and i' m looking forward to seeing the film once back in the uk .
the film has been shown at south korea' s pifan festival but is looking for an australian distributor .
“despite the lack of a coherent plot, and undeveloped dialogue, lemon tree passage has enough effective frights to pass the time as a nuts and bolts horror, which could have done with a few more bolts just to tighten up the script. it’s a film that wants to send shivers down your spine (and certainly the promotional artwork does that in spades), but your brain is too preoccupied trying to figure out what’s going on…” andy caley, screen relish
there’s nothing more disheartening than being presented with a generic, “ghost” story that heavily overcompensates with convoluted ideas due its lack of story. lemon tree passage is rather messy, the plot is incoherent and it’s distracting while being difficult to follow. rather than a plot, it feels like a trip of segments that don’t quite fit together to create a slick narrative .
whenever a film claims to be ‘based on a true story’ or ‘inspired by real events’ (as opposed to unreal events ?), that essentially means nothing in the film is either of the above. when a horror film says ‘based on a true story’ or ‘inspired by real events’, what it really translates to is ‘based on an urban legend’, i. e. narnia has a better chance of proving its validity than the urban legend does. lemon tree passage opens with a youtube video of a recording of a bright light, said to be the ghost of a dead motorcyclist, who was killed in 2007 in an accident at film’s title. but, of course, as is the nature of these unexplained mysteries, the story went viral and attracted millions of embellished and nonsensical theories, to the point that we now have a film about the legend in question. related merchandise, i’m sure, will be available soon .
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despite the lack of a coherent plot, and undeveloped dialogue, lemon tree passage has enough effective frights to pass the time as a nuts and bolts horror, which could have done with a few more bolts just to tighten up the script. it’s a film that wants to send shivers down your spine (and certainly the promotional artwork does that in spades), but your brain is too preoccupied trying to figure out what’s going on, that it ultimately proves to be a somewhat dissatisfying experience .
lemon tree passage is a turd of film. an absolute turd. 2014 was a glorious year for australian cinema, and yet it managed to produce this - arguably the worst i' ve seen. ever. i' m not even being hyperbolic, i haven' t seen a worse aussie film than this. not even you & your stupid mate is as bad as this, because at least that has angus sampson in it. this is an incredible weak attempt at ghost horror, looking like it was made by a bunch of 10 year olds playing make - believe with a camera they got from santa. i can' t even be bothered typing words about why it is bad, because everything about this film is inept .
taking as its basic premise the real - life urban legend of the ghost of lemon tree passage road in new south wales, campbell’s debut feature soon abandons its spooky set up in favour of a more convoluted and awkwardly presented storyline involving a murdered teenager, possession, revenge from beyond the grave, a lot of aimless wandering in the woods, tepid scares, and ridiculous plot developments. the reason for all this is sound enough, but in the hands of campbell and co - screenwriter erica brien, is extrapolated into a complicated mess that cries out for some well - judged simplicity. lemon tree passage is yet another movie where strange things happen either out of context, or because the script can’t come up with anything else to help move the plot forward more effectively .
walter huston once said, “i ain’t paid to make good lines sound good. i’m paid to make bad lines sound good. ” regardless of the flaws of the script and the flummoxed look of her co - stars, tovey is always believable as she carries lemon tree passage past most of its more ridiculous moments. directorially, campbell pulls his weight. the film has a stylish look and competently portrays the action. but for his next venture campbell and co - writer erica brien (who also acted as the film’s production designer) need to figure out how to prevent their story from pulling in too many directions at once .
the film stars a mostly australian cast, with jessica tovey, pippa black, andrew ryan and tim phillips in leading roles .
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with many believing the urban legend could be connected to the death of a real person, mr campbell says the film could prove controversial .
a couple of australians introduce three american backpackers to the local legend of lemon tree passage where a ghost of a motorcyclist warns young drivers to slow down. after seeing the ghost first hand they uncover a malevolent force that posses the area and threatens to wreak havoc on the final days of their vacation. isolated and ten thousand miles from home, the tourists find themselves caught in the clutches of an evil force much more heinous than the local myth believed .
it' s frightfest' s first trip to the european film market at the berlinale and proved to be a great success. read all all about the goings on as alan jones and paul mcevoy brave the winter weather at one of the top five film festivals in the world .
we rounded the day off by attending the toronto film festival party where we caught up with colin midnight madness geddes and his wife, kat .
lemon tree passage was working for me, albeit on a second screening. don' t expect anything too revolutionary, and the plot is a bit of a jumble, but otherwise pretty decent ghostly outing. this movie comes as recommended to those who dig flicks like lost things or the others, dive on in kids there ain' t no sharks in these waters. will definitely be catching whatever director campbell rocks out next, fingers crossed he sticks to the dark genre .
the idea for the film came in 2010 when youtube clips popped up showing terrified teenagers screaming as a single circular light follows them through the night .
american backpackers amelia (black), maya (tovey), and her brother toby (pocock) meet aussie mates oscar (ryan) and geordie (phillipps), and after spending an evening with them, are invited back to oscar’s house, where he lives with his brother, sam (gunn). geordie has told them the story of lemon tree passage, a stretch of road nearby where the tale goes, if you drive fast enough you’ll see the ghost of a man who was killed there several years before. deciding that it’ll be a good idea to see if the story is true, all five travel out to lemon tree passage and put the legend to the test. on their first try they see a bright light that appears out of nowhere and follows them along the road before disappearing. when they try it again, but with geordie left at the roadside at the spot where they first saw the light, things take a strange turn .
geordie disappears, and the rest of the group begin to experience strange phenomena happening around their car. maya begins to have strange visions of a young girl called brianna (forde) who may or may have not been killed in the woods that surround them. supernatural events continue to occur, and sam is drawn to the area as well, leading to a revelation and a confrontation that proves to have nothing to do with the ghost of lemon tree passage, but which is far more dangerous .
when a group of young american backpackers learn of a ghost, which is said to appear in the rearview mirror of a speeding car, they set out to experience it with the help of some locals. after speeding down lemon tree passage, a remote road surrounded by dense woods, their jubilation turns to terror as one by one each passenger begins to violently disappear. isolated and ten thousand miles from home, the tourists find themselves caught in the clutches of a malevolent force much more heinous than the local myth would have them believe .
when a group of young backpackers learn of a ghost said to appear in the rear - view mirror of a speeding car they set out to recreate it with the help of some locals. after speeding down lemon tree passage, a remote road surrounded by dense woods, their jubilation turns to terror as one by one each passenger begins to disappear in a violent fashion. isolated and ten thousand miles from home, the tourists find themselves caught in the clutches of a malevolent force much more heinous than the local myth they set out to experience .
lemon tree passage isn' t a particularly good horror movie. it' s not scary enough, first and foremost, often substituting loud noises for genuine scares. the actors don' t buy in to the events that are happening around them, so why should the audience? there' s sometimes a lack of logic to the proceedings, even if there are some wonderfully set up scenes. it feels too long even at a brief 85 (or so) minutes. the main mystery is too easy, even though the film bills it as something that we should care about. this isn' t a success, but it will hopefully give its director the experience necessary to do something better next time .
by the time you learn exactly what' s happening - - and you' ll guess it far before the movie explains it, as those flashbacks aren' t quite as incoherent as the film wants you to think - - you' re likely to have stopped caring. lemon tree passage only runs for around 85 minutes, but it feels long. it' s a one - note horror movie, and once it beats that drum enough, you' ll have given up caring. it doesn' t help that it' s also not particularly scary. there won' t be many screams coming from you or anyone you watch it with. maybe you' ll jump once or twice, but that' s about it .
whether you' re a sceptic or not, a ghostly urban legend that' s gripped the imagination of port stephens for decades is coming to life in a feature film .
it developed and it grew, and it got a life of its own to a point where it became a feature film, which was really exciting for me .
i can imagine that being a story in your own backyard that you' ve known of for years turning into a feature film would be quite exciting for people .
a couple of australians (andrew ryan, tim phillipps) introduce a group of american backpackers (jessica tovey, pippa black, tim pocock) to the local legend of lemon tree passage where the ghost of a motorcyclist warns young drivers to slow down. after seeing the ghost first hand, they uncover a malevolent force that possesses the area and threatens to wreak havoc on the final days of their vacation. isolated and ten thousand miles away from home, the tourists find themselves caught in the clutches of an evil force that' s much more heinous than the local myth .
the film has a couple of false starts. first, an apparently authentic youtube clip (discovered during post - production) that centres on a modern myth about teenagers driving past a certain speed to cause a ghost to appear. lemon tree passage uses this story as its point of departure as its five protagonists, two australian mates and some american backpackers (two female and one male, a brother to one of the women) do exactly the same thing. between the clip and the meeting of the american backpackers and the locals, there is the second false start that seems completely disconnected from what becomes before an after: a brutish man, sam (nicholas gunn), rifles through his garage, loads his pistol and attempts to shoot himself only to find his bullets are missing .
twenty something american teens get trapped in a haunting in australia. that' s just one plot out of two hundred thousand something other stories, which the film keeps confusing itself with .
our group of young people are about to find out some urban legends are real and might not be the most dangerous thing out there. revelations will be made, deaths will occur, and just what is geordie' s elder brother sam' s connection to the hauntings going down in backwoods australia? a decent supernatural film ensues, let' s hit warp factor nine down the passage .
the film follows the exploits of three american tourists - - maya (jessica tovey), sam (nicholas gunn), and amelia (pippa black) - - who meet two locals - - geordie (tim phillipps) and oscar (andrew ryan) - - and decide to speed down lemon tree passage road. they see the ghost, but aren' t satisfied. oscar gets out of the car to do some
roadside reporting .
he' s never heard from again. the ghost is seen, the car speeds past oscar, and then his phone drops dead. a frantic search ensues, and soon enough more of the group is either dead or missing. what' s going on? is the ghost real? is this an elaborate prank? or is something else afoot ?
the performances are competent enough for the one - dimensional characters, and it’s well shot. the cinematography manages to create some sort of atmosphere; however, the actual scares are lacking making the whole film seem somewhat empty. it’s difficult to invest in a film when the characters are so uninspiring and you don’t care what happens to them or aren’t even affected by the villainous presence .
three american tourists - maya, amelia, and toby - are hanging at the beach trying to decipher a map of the local region and not having much luck. they attract the attention of geordie and oscar, two aussies who involve them in a game of beach cricket as the day progresses. as night falls the group starts trying to scare each other with ghost stories around a camp fire. oscar, tiring of the yank' s made up urban legends, tells a true ghost story about a spectre who races after speeding teens down lemon tree passage, and naturally the group has to go check out the validity of the yarn .
lemon tree passage might have been scarier if the actors - - outside jessica tovey, who was great - - would have bought in a little bit more. few scenes had the actors looking scared, there' s both overacting and underacting - - often back - to - back with one another, and sometimes from the same person - - and it was hard to buy at least two of the
americans
as, well, american, since they were very obviously being played by australians. being american didn' t even have any impact on the plot; why not just have it be five local teenagers who want to have a bit of fun ?
it' s the biggie; it' s the annual all things film extravaganza in the south of france that is the festival de cannes. team frightfest is here in force. follow us as we scour the screening rooms of the festival and le marché du film. each day we will report back on the films we see, the people we meet and, of course, the late night mindless shenanigans .
“doing the sound post production for our feature film at sound disposition is a treat. their enthusiasm and attention to audio detail is truly inspiring, and has got me excited about this project all over again. ”
jessica tovey, nicholas gunn, pippa black, tim phillipps, andrew ryan, tim pocock, and piéra forde star in the australian chiller and we' ve got the first artwork from the film below for your perusal .
the producer jeremy ervine and campbell gave up secure, well - paying jobs in the advertising industry to make the film without the assistance of any state or federal agency. ervine and campbell have formed their own production company, thirteen disciples .
set for release friday, january 26th through vertical entertainment, the neighbor is certainly a film that will stand out among the rest of the drama / thrillers set to hit theaters and video on demand in early 2018. winner of several awards ...
yesterday i caught the slash produced first feature nothing left the fear, which alan had watched and enjoyed the day before - a different film from what i was expecting but once the story kicks into high gear it does have some great creepily effective moments .
lemon tree passage, while inspired by the ever - growing urban legend, also references genre films like paranormal activity, poltergeist, and a little bit of the woman in black thrown in for good measure, which should make it more accessible to a wider audience, as well as horror fans. it clearly puts itself in the mind - set of these good chilling ghost stories – so why is it that i came out of it feeling unquenched? probably because the story is so messy and the dialogue so clunky that i just couldn’t follow what was happening to whom, or why it was happening, to the point that my concern for the characters and events slowly diminished. when there were points of tension and potential scares, it was ruined by a character explaining the convoluted plot, which still failed to make much sense .
the halloween screening in the hunter is the culmination of a series of international debuts for the film. so far, the motion picture has screened in south korea, canada and london, and is due to have a full theatrical release in the near future .
the film is a little bit stylish, and there are a couple of scenes set up really, really well, but most of the time we' re randomly running around the bushes as the sound design tries to make us feel scared. this is the type of film that feels very much like a debut feature (it is). there is often a lack of logic and the attempts at scaring us aren' t the most solid, but there' s some good work here that will hopefully be built upon the next time out .
rushed over to see v / h / s / 2 which i thought was even better than the first one - the film festival mafia (our cohorts, friends and partners on the international film circuit) seemed to agree. zero weak links this time and some clever riffs on the tried (and sometimes tired) and tested found footage motif - a particular stand - out is the offering from timo tjahjanto and gareth huw evans (the raid) - which throws just about everything it can at the screen in a deliriously enjoyable shock segment. there' s life in that genre strand yet. .
what have we got our eyes on? well, some of the movies we’ve already seen like stagefright, a brilliant slasher musical, the babadook, the creepy monster book australian sensation, and the mo bros’ superbly suspenseful killers, which of course we are showing in glasgow later this month. even so there’s loads to see over the next six days and we’ll be watching cooties, the pact 2, goal of the dead, the samurai, starry eyes, lemon tree passage, the guest, dead snow: red vs dead, parts per billion and espectro to name the tip of the massive market iceberg. hopefully we’ll catch christophe gans’ the beauty and the beast with vincent cassel and lea seydoux, and fabrice du welz’s new action flick colt 45 too. plus we’ll be meeting up with all the people, producers and sales agents who have given us movies in the past and have new titles for us to ponder. exciting times ahead and you can read all about it here every day .
strangely lemon tree passage reminded me of lost things in that on first viewing i wasn' t impressed but on a subsequent viewing was nodding my head in approval. one of those movies then that is worth a second look if you didn' t get the full enjoyment first time round. even knowing the ending didn' t detract from my second run through, if anything i picked up on a few extra elements i had missed and could groove to the visuals more. yeah we' re talking low budget aussie indie, but the production values here outshine a lot of flicks coming at us from the boredwood conveyor belt studios. sure there are a couple of minor problems, we' ll get to them, but overall highly impressive debut feature from director david campbell who is really going to rock if his follow up feature is a haunted house yarn. okay that might be just me, sucker for a haunted house tale, pretty much i' ll watch any dark genre flick with the director attached to it .
creates a very compelling set up, with a mysterious urban legend that manages to create some sort of atmosphere for the film. but leave to amateur human nature to fuck it up in its quest to find some sort of hackneyed clichéd storyline to fall back on, too incompetent or too afraid to delve into such atmospheric filmmaking .
in 2009, he was cast as one of the lead actors in ‘ the dream children ’. the groundbreaking australian feature follows the story of alex thomson (nicholas gunn) and steven evans (graeme squires), a same - sex couple who desire to further their love by secretly raising a family. this controversial film premiered at the melbourne queer festival in march 2015 to a sold - out crowd & the reception it received was exceptional. the dream children has screened in six film festivals thus far including miami, indianapolis, mumbai and torino where nicholas received a ‘best actor’ nomination. the distributor, media lunar films, have successfully managed to secure screenings in both europe and the united states .
mpi who are selling hatchet iii and frankenstein’s army here have just announced three interesting projects. starry eyes is to be directed by kevin kolsch and dennis widmyer about a desperate actress who is promised fame and fortune by a satanic cult. late phases is a werewolf horror by penumbra / cold sweat director adrian garcia bogliano. and cherry tree is the latest from wake wood director david keating .
the big palais screening today was the much anticipated follow up to drive from mr winding - refn - only god forgives which seems to have split the crits in the usual way - but i absolutely loved this glorious slab of pure cinematic genius - every second of the film looks and sounds phenomenal right the way through to the very last closing credit. unmissable !
today it' s the european fantasy film federation meeting, which is as about exciting as watching paint dry. we need to attend and make the effort each year, but i never look forward to it. there were a few laughs though this year. alan was labelled that big scary person by an attendee and then nominated to be a bouncer on the door of the federation cocktail party tonight .
the film follows two australians telling this chilling ghost story to three travelling americans, the moral of which being a warning to teens to slow down where their driving is concerned. but, after the group see the ghost for themselves on the woodland road, strange and terrible things begin to happen to them. as these horrifying events pursue, they learn that it is something much more sinister that is haunting the group .
wilkommen, bienvenue, welcome to the 64th berlin film festival. not that i planned it this way at all, but it’s exactly twenty years ago that i attended this banner german festival the last time. then i was working for sky movies (chris smith of severance fame took over from me eventually once barry norman arrived) and they had sent me to cover one of the films in competition, peter weir’s fabulous fearless, in which jeff bridges played a man whose personality is dramatically changed after surviving a major airline crash. i’ll never forget it as weir was an absolute gentleman and remembered me years later on the truman show. and rosie perez who i adored gave me the greatest interview and went on to win a major berlin award for her performance. we met up again later that year at the venice film festival where she graciously posed for my christmas card that year. have a rosie christmas was the theme .
well, you' ll have to watch the film to find out, won' t you? i' ll say this: this is pretty standard horror movie affair. weird, incoherent flashbacks tell us that there' s certainly something going on. traps are set that cause injury and death. hallucinations are rampant. ghosts pass by the camera and the characters don' t see them. we' re trying hard to scare the audience, but not necessarily the characters .
the acting is also a little wooden in places, but jessica tovey, playing the central role as maya, is the one who steals the show; someone who shows a good judge of dramatic tension, successfully toning her performance in accordance to each event. however, the film is not completely devoid of scares: there are some moments that really do make you jump, and even a little tense in places, although perhaps not enough to make it a standout piece within the horror genre .
mercifully short, but no less terrible. dtv horror titles today are all the same. come up with an uninspired urban legend or supernatural origin story, and use it as an excuse for seventy minutes of random jump scares that do not follow any internal logic, and aren' t linked in any way. i' m tired of films like this. they are a complete waste of time, with even the enjoyment of picking them apart growing stale. one of these days i' m going to learn to stop watching a horror film just because it exists .
yesterday was a day of meetings and catching up with old festival friends. i ran into frightfest guest from last summer dominic brunt, robbie moffat, an old friend from scotland, paula devonshire, a guest from our last year at the prince charles and michael doherty, film editor of many many films including several by george romero. recently he has been working on hannibal for abc in the states and is just waiting for the nod to start on a second series. we also learned last night that the said mr romero is working on a prequel to land of the dead with his son cameron .
from the directors of macabre - the mo brothers - is the new masked serial killer film killers which also looks very interesting indeed as does stage fright a full blown rocky shockerer horror musical with minnie driver and meat loaf in the first feature from jerome sable the director of the must see short the legend of beaver creek - please hunt it down if you haven' t seen this gem. . talking of shorts the lovely team behind last years ff world prem yellow have a feature in development - projection where a projectionist obsessed by a mysterious woman is drawn into a sinister hidden world of murder and dark sexual desire…
but the most exciting news as far as i’m concerned is the continuing rise in giallo productions. while helene cattet and bruno forzani are still editing their amer follow - up the strange colour of your body’s tears – we see the promo reel that everyone is raving about on monday – word reached me from park entertainment that those astron - 6 boys matthew kennedy and adam brooks (manborg, father’s day) are about to direct the editor an all - out giallo homage. something akin to berberian sound studio, the story concerns a newsreel / stag film editor with four wooden fingers who finds a dead body in the suite he’s working in. but there’s more to his reality than meets the eye in this meta - movie that builds to a frenzied climax according to the synopsis .
it was an early start for us at the 64th berlin film festival today. i must make it quite clear that we are on the market section, nothing to do with the competition strand, as i' ve see quite a few of those already. my tip even though my review is embargoed for the time being? hossein amini' s the two faces of january based on the patricia highsmith thriller from 1964. we had already seen stagefright so gave that a miss while telling all our festival programmer friends to make sure they didn' t. lots of people went to see nacho vigalondo' s open windows and gave it the thumbs up. but paul and i decided to do the rounds of our sales agent friends instead to see what they had on the horizon for us .
quite the best movie so far in the market is till kleinert' s the samurai, a unique and startling essay in german small - town mores and sexual funny games. a package arrives at the home of young police officer jakob (a remarkable michel diercks) addressed to lone wolf. the phone rings, it' s a guy asking if his package is there, and could it be delivered straight away. intrigued more than put out jakob goes to a lonely house in the woods and finds a man in a dress waiting for the samurai sword hidden in the parcel so he can cut a swathe through the local village population. but this extraordinary item is a lot more than that and as the heads roll so does the intrigue and puzzlement. who is this maniac and what does he want? the final answer is shocking, hard as nails and thrilling. best described as dressed to kill through a jorge buttgereit filter, you will not believe pit bukowski' s incredible performance as the wild - eyed psycho that goes way beyond the call of acting duty. plus it looks fantastic, the soundtrack is a dance club dream and the gore effects are unusual to say the least. every genre film festival will want this movie, only the brave will dare show it .
on saturday, i had a real cannes moment. i was at the variety party, one of our sponsors, and i get a text from terry bird. i met terry down here many years ago when he returned my wallet, which i had left in a taxi, and we have stayed in touch. he also produced and starred in community, which we showed last year in august. fancy catching up for a beer. of course, i replied. ok, be in touch later. an hour later my phone pings. meet me at 9. 30pm at the palais. so, off i go and arrive at the appointed hour. after all the normal pleasantries i say ,
so where do you fancy going ?
come with me ,
terry says. we head off down the pier, right to the end where there' s a flash motor boat waiting to take me out into the bay to this huge blue boat anchored about a mile off shore. i have been on yachts here before, but this one was in another league. i have never seen such opulence. the yacht was being rented by a new film studio setting up to rival pinewood, who have a yacht here every year, so this new outfits one had to be bigger. why was i invited, other than a nice gesture from terry, i have no idea, but you don' t look a cannes gift horse in the mouth? a real cannes moment to rival my often told christopher lee story. wait, you haven' t heard that one? well, mr mcevoy and i were at this party and … maybe another time .
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the actors run the gamut from under - trained to overplaying and largely look unconvinced by the movie themselves. several times, phillipps and black seem unable to reconcile the words they have to say, with the emotions they are called upon to emit. this is where jessica tovey stands out .
a whirlwind tour of europe through the tales of celebrated filmmakers. all movies are available to stream right now at sbs on demand .
audiences are rejecting this summer’s procession of tired sequels, and international grosses won’t be enough to keep studios afloat forever .
it was saturday night, he' d had a couple of beers and was sitting in the passenger seat of his mate' s car - a p - plater - on the way to a party .
i was looking in the side mirror and then all of a sudden this light appeared, approaching really fast behind us ,
the anna bay resident told the newcastle herald .
it came from nowhere, i' d been watching it for about 20 seconds when my mate noticed too, it was sitting maybe 20 or 30 metres off the car, i couldn' t see anything but the light .
they hit a bend in the road and another car went by in the opposite direction; the light vanished the moment it passed .
the story usually involves two young men in an accident in the late 1980s: the rider supposedly lost his leg while the other, a pillion passenger, died .
you must have p - plates on the car and be driving after midnight on a saturday .
mr finn' s encounter took place back in 2007. he' d never heard of the legend but later he realised all the rules fit the description of his experience - and he was
creeped out
by what he was told .
but there' s one other crucial element of the story that makes it a particularly controversial tale .
all versions of the legend include the same dangerous element - that you must be doing in excess of 100km / h .
it has made the legend a burden to police - in one night in 2010 police caught seven motorists speeding on the road .
inspector guy flaherty from the port stephens local area command knows all about the ghost, like most port police he' s spent plenty of cold nights patrolling the dangerous road .
he' s never seen a ghost, but has seen plenty of young people doing stupid things .
i think it would be prudent for people to realise the basis of this myth - and it is a myth - was that someone died exceeding the speed limit ,
he said .
the whole thing has arisen because of someone going beyond their abilities as a driver, breaking the law, and tragically paying the price for that .
locals know that police maintain a heavy patrol of the road and the most common lights sighted in the rear - view mirror are blue and red .
according to newcastle paranormal investigator murray byfield, motorists don' t need to speed to see the famous apparition .
he' s seen the light but says that rather than being a ghost, it' s a trick of the terrain .
because your line of sight isn' t interrupted for that whole stretch, you can see the light in the distance, but because it' s so far away you can only see the one beam of light coming towards you ,
mr byfield explained.
lemon tree passage is a 2014 australian horror/thriller film that was directed by david james campbell and is his feature film directorial debut . the film received an australian release and stars andrew ryan , tim phillipps , pippa black , jessica tovey , and tim pocock as a group of backpackers that find themselves in the midst of strange occurrences . the movie 's premise is based upon an urban legend that claims that if a motorist speeds along lemon tree passage road in lemon tree passage , new south wales , they will see a ghost . 
lemon tree passage is a 2014 australian horror/thriller film that was directed by david james campbell and is his feature film directorial debut. the film received an australian release and stars andrew ryan, tim phillipps, pippa black, jessica tovey, and tim pocock as a group of backpackers that find themselves in the midst of strange occurrences. the movie's premise is based upon an urban legend that claims that if a motorist speeds along lemon tree passage road in lemon tree passage, new south wales, they will see a ghost.
lemon tree passage is a 2014 australian horror/thriller film that was directed by david james campbell and is his feature film directorial debut. the film received an australian release and stars andrew ryan, tim phillipps, pippa black, jessica tovey, and tim pocock as a group of backpackers that find themselves in the midst of strange occurrences. the movie's premise is based upon an urban legend that claims that if a motorist speeds along lemon tree passage road in lemon tree passage, new south wales, they will see a ghost.