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The Ace Series Special is running Nov 4-9 in Brussels.

European producers organisation Ace Producers has unveiled the selection of sixteen producers who will participate in its inaugural TV drama-focused initiative, the Ace Series Special, running Nov 4-9 in Brussels.

The programme is aimed at experienced producers who want to create a series division within their film companies and, or deepen their knowledge of developing and producing TV drama series for an international audience. Each participant will attend with a series project in the early stages of development

They include Belgium’s Bart Van Langendonck at Savage Film, who will...

In April of this year I saw, almost by accident, Peter Koller’s “On Evil Grounds” (aka “Auf Bösem Boden”). And I liked it so much I felt compelled to write a review. It’s a nasty filthy serial killer thriller which also happens to be very, very funny if you like your jokes black without sugar.

And, of course, half a year later it was released on DVD in its home country of Austria.

Not newsworthy in itself, but then I learned a few weeks ago that the Austrian DVD release had a decent set of extras and was almost fully English-friendly, so I immediately ordered it.

It has arrived. And guess what?

There is a quote from my earlier review on the cover.

W000000T!

So with my vain ego tickled and me already liking the movie, what are the chances of this DVD-review turning out to be even remotely objective?...

At this year’s Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival I had the pleasure to watch a double-bill of Japanese splatter-fest “Machine Girl” and the incredibly grungy Austrian thriller-comedy “On Evil Grounds”. And while “Machine Girl” was the most gory of the two, if both films had been vying for the position of filthiest movie of the evening “On Evil Grounds” would have… yuck… won.

But if you had the stomach for it you were rewarded with what might just be the funniest take on “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” ever. Director Peter Koller has made a strangely compelling film about some very antisocial people duking it out amongst each other in, of all places, Austria. His film has won awards left and right, and I was very positive about it in my review.

And now, in its Heimat, it has been released as a stellar two-disc DVD release. The package is a...