The plot and photography may fall short, but the tension between the two leads gives this horror a racy magnetism
Adding a racy dose of queer eroticism to the suspenseful dread of the horror film, Alex Birrell’s second feature settles on a familiar location: an isolated cabin nestled in the deep, dark woods. In the throes of a writer’s block, novelist Ben – played by the film’s co-writer, Joshua Tonks – is interrupted by the arrival of Jay Clift’s enigmatic stranger, who might or might not be a murderous sadist.
With his typewriter and vintage film camera, Ben is a self-professed lover of analogue gadgets. His clean-cut and generic T-shirt-and-jeans look makes for an interesting juxtaposition with his visitor, whose black mane and leather jacket cuts a classic 1970s serial killer figure. While the costuming choices are astute, other aspects of the visuals are forgettable: apart from a few canted Pov shots,...
Adding a racy dose of queer eroticism to the suspenseful dread of the horror film, Alex Birrell’s second feature settles on a familiar location: an isolated cabin nestled in the deep, dark woods. In the throes of a writer’s block, novelist Ben – played by the film’s co-writer, Joshua Tonks – is interrupted by the arrival of Jay Clift’s enigmatic stranger, who might or might not be a murderous sadist.
With his typewriter and vintage film camera, Ben is a self-professed lover of analogue gadgets. His clean-cut and generic T-shirt-and-jeans look makes for an interesting juxtaposition with his visitor, whose black mane and leather jacket cuts a classic 1970s serial killer figure. While the costuming choices are astute, other aspects of the visuals are forgettable: apart from a few canted Pov shots,...
- 10/2/2023
- by Phuong Le
- The Guardian - Film News
After a successful festival run which included the London Soho Horror Festival, Miami’s OUTshine and Portland’s Queer Screams Film Festival, The Latent Image, the Indie British thriller by Alexander McGregor Birrell, is now out on DVD and VOD/Streaming.
Called, “A deliriously dangerous game…a voyeuristic thrill.” by The Horror Revolution and “A compelling thriller…the final 10 minutes or so, revealing all the cards in play, are stupendous.” by Film Threat, The Latent Image is a cat-and-mouse thriller about a mysterious man who break into a a gay writer’s secluded cabin. Danger, excitement and potential inspiration flood the writer’s mind. Has he found the perfect character for his new book or are his darkest and most dangerous fantasies about to come to life?
The Latent Image is available on DVD and on most major Streaming Platforms including Amazon Prime Video, YouTube and Apple TV
The post...
Called, “A deliriously dangerous game…a voyeuristic thrill.” by The Horror Revolution and “A compelling thriller…the final 10 minutes or so, revealing all the cards in play, are stupendous.” by Film Threat, The Latent Image is a cat-and-mouse thriller about a mysterious man who break into a a gay writer’s secluded cabin. Danger, excitement and potential inspiration flood the writer’s mind. Has he found the perfect character for his new book or are his darkest and most dangerous fantasies about to come to life?
The Latent Image is available on DVD and on most major Streaming Platforms including Amazon Prime Video, YouTube and Apple TV
The post...
- 9/18/2023
- by Peter 'Witchfinder' Hopkins
- Horror Asylum
Alexander McGregor Birrell’s homoerotic thriller Latent Image has landed distribution deals for North America, the U.K., as well as Australia and New Zealand in deals brokered by U.K. sales outfit 7&7 Producers’ Sales Service.
Latent Image — which is having its premiere market screening at the European Film Market in Berlin — stars Joshua Tonks as a crime fiction author struggling with writer’s block. Inspiration comes in in the dead of night in the form of a mysterious, dangerously handsome, stranger (Jay Clift) who offers to act out scenes for the writer’s serial-killer novel. As the night unfolds, their connection becomes intense as life begins to mirror the writer’s imagination with brutal consequences.
Raymond Murray’s Cinephobia Releasing has acquired rights for North America and the U.K., while Tony Romeo’s Bounty Films will be releasing the film in Australia and New Zealand.
Latent Image is...
Latent Image — which is having its premiere market screening at the European Film Market in Berlin — stars Joshua Tonks as a crime fiction author struggling with writer’s block. Inspiration comes in in the dead of night in the form of a mysterious, dangerously handsome, stranger (Jay Clift) who offers to act out scenes for the writer’s serial-killer novel. As the night unfolds, their connection becomes intense as life begins to mirror the writer’s imagination with brutal consequences.
Raymond Murray’s Cinephobia Releasing has acquired rights for North America and the U.K., while Tony Romeo’s Bounty Films will be releasing the film in Australia and New Zealand.
Latent Image is...
- 2/17/2023
- by Alex Ritman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A new film distribution company, Cinephobia Releasing, have announced that they have acquired Alexander McGregor Birrell's gay thriller, The Latent Image. A thriller writer finds his story coming to horrifying life when a mysterious drifter arrives at the door of his isolated cabin. The Latent Image is expected to hit the genre and specialty festival circuit this spring and into the summer. This should be of specific interest to LGBTQ+ festivals looking to bolster any midnighter programming they wish to have this year. Cinephobia Releasing, the new film distribution company founded by Ray Murray, announces the acquisition of the USA/UK gay thriller The Latent Image. Adapted from his 2019 short film of the same name, Alexander McGregor Birrell...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 1/17/2023
- Screen Anarchy
Stars: Sara Silva, Shawn Thomas Diefenbach, Alana Johnson, Kimberley Aria Peterson, Yevgeniya Kats, Steven Anderson, Peter Angelinas, Steven Wody, Raleigh Cain, Mackenzie Gilmore, Conor William Wright, David Alan Madrick, Demi Edwards, Jason A. Coombs | Written by Alyssa Amer, Kabir Chopra, Ryan Crash, Catherine Delaloye, Anthony Dimieri, Carrie King, Zoe Lasden-Lyman, Ericka Mitton, Mia Sorensen, Prashant Thakker, Mariana Trevino | Directed by Alexander Birrell, Eugen Bräunig, Emma Hall-Martin, Hayley Monek, Martin Murray, Michael Newton, Christina Reilly, Ben Venturina, Kerey Viswanathan
We kick off this slasher film on firm ground, with a crying woman (with bosoms slightly visible) running around the woods, crying. She promptly runs afoul of some rather splendidly attired cultists dressed in remarkable red velour cloaks. We then skip to an audience, who are watching this ripe old movie, clapping, and giving it looks of appreciation and reverence as if it were directed by Kubrick himself. It turns out this is a film festival,...
We kick off this slasher film on firm ground, with a crying woman (with bosoms slightly visible) running around the woods, crying. She promptly runs afoul of some rather splendidly attired cultists dressed in remarkable red velour cloaks. We then skip to an audience, who are watching this ripe old movie, clapping, and giving it looks of appreciation and reverence as if it were directed by Kubrick himself. It turns out this is a film festival,...
- 1/13/2021
- by Chris Thomas
- Nerdly
Braincell was shot in Liverpool and subsequently the film also is staged in this Merseyside locale. This horror production will be shown on DVD April 20th and the film's short synopsis involves deadly experiments at a local college (Fangoria). The trailer shows off some of the viciousness and sexiness of the production. All the details on this Limey based production are below.
The synopsis for Braincell here:
"Dr. Joseph Cornwall is a scientist at a Liverpool college where his niece Hannah (Raine Brown) comes to visit and discovers he is up to some seriously nasty experiments" (Fangoria).
Release Date: April 20th (DVD).
Director: Alex Birrell.
Writers: Alex Birrell, and Iacopo Di Girolamo.
Cast: Eileen Daly, Billy Garberina and Eleanor James.
A very low budget trailer with no sound. The clip will give fans a better sense of what Braincell (sexy):
Extras include:
-Audio commentary by Brown and Zaso
-Audio...
The synopsis for Braincell here:
"Dr. Joseph Cornwall is a scientist at a Liverpool college where his niece Hannah (Raine Brown) comes to visit and discovers he is up to some seriously nasty experiments" (Fangoria).
Release Date: April 20th (DVD).
Director: Alex Birrell.
Writers: Alex Birrell, and Iacopo Di Girolamo.
Cast: Eileen Daly, Billy Garberina and Eleanor James.
A very low budget trailer with no sound. The clip will give fans a better sense of what Braincell (sexy):
Extras include:
-Audio commentary by Brown and Zaso
-Audio...
- 3/27/2010
- by Michael Ross Allen
- 28 Days Later Analysis
After a year of planning, the schedule for the East Coast edition of Fangoria’s Weekend of Horrors convention, which will be held this coming June 5-7 (three monstrous days!) at New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center (11th Avenue between 34th and 39th Streets; use Javits’ Crystal Pavilion entrance; panels and vendors’ area are in Hall 1-d), is ready to be unveiled. All guests/events listed here are tentative.
More stars are still joining the fun at this late stage, so expect a few surprises all weekend long. Details for the jam-packed film schedule (Room ID05 in Hall I-d), including several world premieres and more unannounced bonus guests, can be found here. For more information on the Weekend of Horrors, including details for autograph signings, seminars, photo ops and special late-night parties, go here. It’s gonna be a killer!
Friday, June 5
5:00 P.M.: Greetings
With our hosts,...
More stars are still joining the fun at this late stage, so expect a few surprises all weekend long. Details for the jam-packed film schedule (Room ID05 in Hall I-d), including several world premieres and more unannounced bonus guests, can be found here. For more information on the Weekend of Horrors, including details for autograph signings, seminars, photo ops and special late-night parties, go here. It’s gonna be a killer!
Friday, June 5
5:00 P.M.: Greetings
With our hosts,...
- 6/3/2009
- by no-reply@fangoria.com (Tony Timpone)
- Fangoria
Wrong Turn 3 director Declan O’Brien will be previewing his new Fox DVD splatter sequel at the fast-approaching East Coast edition of Fangoria’s Weekend of Horrors, to be held June 5-7 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center (11th Avenue between 34th and 39th Streets) in New York City. O’Brien (pictured below with friend), the director of the Sci Fi Channel original movies Rock Monster, Monster Ark and Cyclops, will debut exclusive clips from Wrong Turn 3 (about another group of lost travelers facing off against inbred hillbilly maniacs) at the convention on Sunday.
In addition to his directing chores, O’Brien has also scripted Harpies, The Snake King and Savage Planet for Sci Fi. Stop by this site again over the next couple of days as we begin posting the full schedules (auditorium panels and film programs) for the Fango show.
In other convention news, Trick ’R Treat...
In addition to his directing chores, O’Brien has also scripted Harpies, The Snake King and Savage Planet for Sci Fi. Stop by this site again over the next couple of days as we begin posting the full schedules (auditorium panels and film programs) for the Fango show.
In other convention news, Trick ’R Treat...
- 6/1/2009
- by no-reply@fangoria.com (Tony Timpone)
- Fangoria
New York-based indie genre actor/filmmaker Joe Zaso gave us the first look at the poster for his latest feature Braincell (pictured left), which he recently produced and starred in for director Alex Birrell. He also passed on a pic from a genre short he recently appeared in called Immune; you can see both images below.
Braincell is a sci-fi chiller filmed in Britain and Italy, starring Zaso as a professor at a university where his niece (Zaso’s frequent co-star Raine Brown) encounters grotesque experiments. You can check out the trailer and more info here; Birrell, Zaso and Brown will talk up the feature, which Zaso will release Stateside through his Cinema Image company, at our New York City Weekend of Horrors, running this Friday-Sunday.
Immune, meanwhile, is a zombie short recently lensed for the prestigious New York Film Academy (under the guidance of Penny Dreadful’s Bryan Norton...
Braincell is a sci-fi chiller filmed in Britain and Italy, starring Zaso as a professor at a university where his niece (Zaso’s frequent co-star Raine Brown) encounters grotesque experiments. You can check out the trailer and more info here; Birrell, Zaso and Brown will talk up the feature, which Zaso will release Stateside through his Cinema Image company, at our New York City Weekend of Horrors, running this Friday-Sunday.
Immune, meanwhile, is a zombie short recently lensed for the prestigious New York Film Academy (under the guidance of Penny Dreadful’s Bryan Norton...
- 6/1/2009
- by no-reply@fangoria.com (Michael Gingold)
- Fangoria
A panel devoted to the Canadian slasher flick Smash Cut has been added to the lineup of the fast-approaching East Coast edition of Fangoria’s Weekend of Horrors, to be held June 5-7, 2009 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center (11th Avenue between 34th and 39th Streets) in New York City. Representing the film will be stars David Hess and Jennilee Murray, plus director Lee Gordon Demarbre (Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter), writer Ian Driscoll and the Godfather of Gore himself, Herschell Gordon Lewis!
In Smash Cut (an ode to the films of Herschell Gordon Lewis, who has a cameo in the movie), Hess (pictured below) plays Able Whitman, a troubled filmmaker losing his mind in an extraordinary way. After accidentally killing an exotic dancer, he decides to use her body parts in his newest horror picture. But when her sister (played by porn star Sasha Grey) begins investigating, Able must...
In Smash Cut (an ode to the films of Herschell Gordon Lewis, who has a cameo in the movie), Hess (pictured below) plays Able Whitman, a troubled filmmaker losing his mind in an extraordinary way. After accidentally killing an exotic dancer, he decides to use her body parts in his newest horror picture. But when her sister (played by porn star Sasha Grey) begins investigating, Able must...
- 5/29/2009
- by no-reply@fangoria.com (Tony Timpone)
- Fangoria
A panel devoted to the Canadian slasher flick Smash Cut has been added to the lineup of the fast-approaching East Coast edition of Fangoria’s Weekend of Horrors, to be held June 5-7, 2009 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center (11th Avenue between 34th and 39th Streets) in New York City. Representing the film will be stars David Hess and Jennilee Murray, plus director Lee Gordon Demarbre (Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter), writer Ian Driscoll and the Godfather of Gore himself, Herschell Gordon Lewis!
In Smash Cut (an ode to the films of Herschell Gordon Lewis, who has a cameo in the movie), Hess (pictured below) plays Able Whitman, a troubled filmmaker losing his mind in an extraordinary way. After accidentally killing an exotic dancer, he decides to use her body parts in his newest horror picture. But when her sister (played by porn star Sasha Grey) begins investigating, Able must...
In Smash Cut (an ode to the films of Herschell Gordon Lewis, who has a cameo in the movie), Hess (pictured below) plays Able Whitman, a troubled filmmaker losing his mind in an extraordinary way. After accidentally killing an exotic dancer, he decides to use her body parts in his newest horror picture. But when her sister (played by porn star Sasha Grey) begins investigating, Able must...
- 5/29/2009
- by no-reply@fangoria.com (Tony Timpone)
- Fangoria
We need more movies about violent experiments, damnit! Luckily that's exactly what we get when it comes to Alex Birrell's new film Braincell! Fangoria.com got the first peek at the trailer, and I've gotta say it looks pretty damned violent!
"Braincell stars Raine Brown as a young woman who discovers horrifying experiments with violent results taking place at a university where her uncle (Joe Zaso) is a professor.
Dig the trailer below, and hit up the above link for more info!
- Uncle Creepy
Check Out Dread Central’S New Poster Store!
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"Braincell stars Raine Brown as a young woman who discovers horrifying experiments with violent results taking place at a university where her uncle (Joe Zaso) is a professor.
Dig the trailer below, and hit up the above link for more info!
- Uncle Creepy
Check Out Dread Central’S New Poster Store!
Got news? Click here to submit it!
Experiment in the Dread Central forums!
- 3/6/2009
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
The producers of the new sci-fi shocker Braincell gave Fango the exclusive first look at the movie’s trailer; check it out below the cut. The preview features a nice amount of blood, and also a bit of skin, so it ain’t work-safe!
Directed by Alex Birrell and lensed in Liverpool, England and Naples, Italy, Braincell (which we last covered here) stars Raine Brown as a young woman who discovers horrifying experiments with violent results taking place at a university where her uncle (Joe Zaso, also one of the producers) is a professor. Darkness Surrounds Roberta’s Eileen Daly, Necroville’s Billy Garberina and Colour From The Dark’s Eleanor James co-star; the music is by Marco Werba, who’s also scoring Dario Argento’s new Giallo. “There’s a lifetime’s worth of horror-film watching in Braincell,” Birrell tells us, and Zaso adds, “It’s a very savage...
Directed by Alex Birrell and lensed in Liverpool, England and Naples, Italy, Braincell (which we last covered here) stars Raine Brown as a young woman who discovers horrifying experiments with violent results taking place at a university where her uncle (Joe Zaso, also one of the producers) is a professor. Darkness Surrounds Roberta’s Eileen Daly, Necroville’s Billy Garberina and Colour From The Dark’s Eleanor James co-star; the music is by Marco Werba, who’s also scoring Dario Argento’s new Giallo. “There’s a lifetime’s worth of horror-film watching in Braincell,” Birrell tells us, and Zaso adds, “It’s a very savage...
- 3/5/2009
- Fangoria
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