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By the time Toby Wilkins’ 2008 film Splinter first arrived on the scene — a limited theatrical premiere on Halloween — zombies were everywhere. Yet the first-time director managed to rework the already overused concept into something fresh, not to mention plain creepy. And with its preference for practical effects wizardry, Splinter stood out from its fellow high-concept horrors made on a low budget.

Splinter references the grandfather of cinematic zombies, George A. Romero’s iconic Night of the Living Dead, in a number of ways, apart from the most obvious. Indeed the characters are holed up and fighting for their lives against the walking dead, although in this case, an isolated gas station rather than a farmhouse serves as their refuge. Other films tend to use these pitstops as we do in real life; they are temporary detours before heading off for a proper destination. Instead the director and screenwriters bring the journey to a screeching halt,...

As I get older, I find it harder and harder to find horror movies from the 80s and even 90s to qualify for a recommendation towards a best horror movie you never saw. First is the influx of all these great companies like Vinegar Syndrome, Arrow, and Severin Films, not to mention Kino and Scream Factory, who pull out all the stops finding the most hidden of hidden gems to clean up and release. Second, we have a ludicrous amount of streaming services, and the free ones typically can find these smaller movies that cost way less to license a streamable version. Between my generation recommending everything under the sun to their coworkers, friends, and family as well as newer generations being willing to stream something if its easy to find, the 80s is well represented, for better and for worse. The 2000s are Chock Full of movies that came...

Returning for its 18th year this October is Hollywood's Screamfest Horror Film Festival, a celebration of horror cinema's past, present, and future. Back in May, we teamed up with Screamfest for a 10th anniversary screening of Gregg Bishop's Dance of the Dead, and now we're thrilled to share the first wave of programming for this year's festival, as well as the exciting news that Lin Shaye will be the festival's 2018 ambassador!

Taking place October 9th–18th at Tcl Chinese 6 Theaters in Hollywood, Screamfest's first wave of programming includes Padraig Reynolds' Open 24 Hours, Daniel Robbins' Pledge, Timothy Woodward Jr.'s The Final Wish, a 10th anniversary screening of Toby Wilkins' Splinter, and much more!

You can read the official announcement below, visit Screamfest's website for more information, and stay tuned to Daily Dead for more Screamfest news!

Press Release: Hollywood, Calif. – September 25, 2018 – America’s largest and longest running horror film festival,...

Opening Raindance film festival has to be virtually every up and coming filmmakers dream, (well that and actually getting their film funded). For director Kai Barry (Stem, Splinter) that dream came true, opening this yes festival with his latest, nitty, gritty spy-thriller, Newcomer. Newcomer follows many twists and turns after rookie agent Alex (James Floyd)

The post Interview with Newcomer director Kai Barry, and star Noemie Merlant appeared first on HeyUGuys.

World premiere of Us spy thriller to open independent film festival.

Raindance Film Festival (Sept 23 - Oct 4) has unveiled the programme for its 23rd edition, with 90 features and nearly 200 short from 48 countries set to screen at London’s Vue Piccadilly.

The festival will open with the world premiere of Us spy thriller, Newcomer, starring Screen Star of Tomorrow James Floyd (My Brother The Devil) and Anthony Lapaglia, directed by Kai Barry.

Raindance’s international programme this year includes the world premiere of Rickie Lee Jones: The Other Side of Desire, a portrait of the poet-musician and rock star; the UK premiere of Mexican film Alice in Marialand, starring new Bond girl Stephanie Sigman; and new titles from upcoming British filmmaking talent.

Films dealing with the digital age feature prominently throughout the programme, with highlights including Alex Winter’s Deep Web, narrated by Keanu Reeves; Digital Dissisents, a documentary looking at the “warriors of the digital age” featuring...

Exclusive: Kai Barry’s thriller, starring James Floyd [pictured], starts shooting in Serbia this week.

Content’s sales team has introduced another title to Efm buyers and has been talking up the espionage thriller Newcomer.

Srdjan Stakic will produce in association with Dominion Pictures and Emote Productions, while Brian Kavanaugh-Jones serves as executive producer with Greg Chou, Taylor Hart, Carl Moellenberg, Brandon Powers and Bobby Sain.

Director Kai Barry will start shooting in Serbia this week (Feb 12) on the story of a rookie on a botched special ops mission in Belgrade who is interrogated by his own agency and battles to prove his innocence.

James Floyd from My Brother The Devil will star alongside Noémie Merlant, Predrag Ejdus and Anthony Lapaglia. ICM Partners represents Us rights.

“Kai, Brian and Srdjan have created a really compelling world of intrigue and action and we believe this could be the launch of an enduring character,” said Content...

Blu-Ray Rating: 4.0/5.0 Chicago – “Splinter” has been steadily building buzz since audiences first had a chance to see this twisted creature feature and now it’s destined to become a cult phenomenon on Blu-Ray and DVD. The film won six awards at Screamfest 2008 and earned praise from Variety, CBS-tv, Entertainment Weekly, and New York Magazine on its theatrical run. Horror fans are going to love this film for years to come.

Why? What does director Toby Wilkins do with “Splinter” that so many horror directors miss? He understand how to build tension and the power of the unseen. “Splinter” works because it places the focus on the well-rounded, believable characters instead of just their trap or their enemy. It’s a modern film take on what filmmakers have been doing for years and feels like a movie John Carpenter and Sam Raimi would love.

There are major echoes of both Carpenter...

Making a low-budget horror feature that neither succumbs to nor strains to transcend its financial restrictions is harder than it appears, but the people behind Splinter make it look easy. Modest but not unambitious and put together with care on every level, it’s smart, scary and altogether satisfying creature feature of the type we don’t see enough of these days.

Director Toby Wilkins and screenwriters Kai Barry and Ian Shorr do have a bit of fun with genre expectations in the early scenes, as young lovers Seth (Paulo Costanzo) and Polly (Jill Wagner) set out for a camping trip in a rural area that we know is the hunting turf of a small, vicious creature that mauls a gas station attendant in the opening scene. The couple, however, is defeated by their tent, and they seem to be heading back to the safety of civilization when they’re...

Release Date: Oct. 31

Director: Toby Wilkins

Writer: Kai Barry, Ian Shorr, and Toby Wilkins

Cinematographer: Nelson Cragg

Starring: Shea Whigham, Paolo Costanzo, and Jill Wagner

Studio/Run Time: Magnet Releasing, 82 mins.

Splinter begins with a strong, though bordering on cliché, hook. Two (naturally, young) people driving from a campsite spot a woman in the road and are soon carjacked by her hick cohort. When forced to drive away, they hit and kill something monstrous in the road, quickly combining both the “something’s in the woods” theme with the less politically correct but frequently more frightening “rednecks are serial killers” concept. From here, though, the film becomes less interesting, as the cast ends up locked into a gas station, fighting to escape the monster.

Year: 2008

Release date: October 31st (limited theatrical)

Director: Toby Wilkins

Writers: Toby Wilkins & Kai Barry & Ian Shorr

IMDb: link

Trailer: link

Review by: quietearth

Rating: 7 out of 10

While Splinter may be very formulaic and adds nothing new to the horror canon, I can happily tell you that it is a great little horror film. But herein lies a problem, there's not much I can say without giving the film away. It has a slow start, all superficial setup, and jumps into the action straight away. From there it crescendos to a literal bang right at the end, so let me tell you what I can.

The story starts with Polly who's a tomboy and her ineffectual boyfriend Seth attempting to camp for their anniversary. The tent breaks as they're trying to set it up, so they decide to go in search of a motel. We're already in the middle of...