February was a stellar month for horror movies fans. The month of love saw romance outnumbered by its darker cousin and while there are fewer gothic releases in March, one or two of the listed films should be enough to see you through the month. The Bay Directed by Barry Levinson (Good Morning, Vietnam, Diner, Sleepers and Rain Man) and written by Michael Wallach, The Bay is a documentary styled ecological horror that sees chaos ensue after the water of a small Maryland town is found to contain a high level of toxicity. This toxicity is a mutant breed of the parasite Cymothoa exi

February is proving to be a promising month for celluloid horror. Listed below are February releases and while most have been widely advertised, there are a few less popular films that stand out amongst the “stock horror” of contemporary movie theatres. Antiviral and Chained are set for limited release, however, they are the most notable on this list. The first for the cinematic ingenuity of another Cronenberg, and the latter for its exploration of childhood exposure to gruesome violence. The trailers are linked below for your perusal: Antiviral A Cronenberg film through and through,

Lauren Kate's young adult (and Southern Gothic) novel Fallen (2009) is reportedly in final pre-production talks for an IF Entertainment movie-length feature. The first in a four-part series, Fallen has been adapted for screen by Kathryn Price and Nicole Millard, with direction said to be from Scott Hicks (Shine). More information can be found here in The Hollywood Report.

A bit of a coup for Scottish film. It was announced today that Joss Whedon and Eli Roth will be attending the Glasgow Film Festival 2013 (14th-24th February at the Glasgow Film Theatre). Whedon is attending the UK premier of his Much Ado About Nothing and Roth is supporting Aftershock, which is screening as part of the festival's FrightFest series. Another highlight of FrightFest looks set to be the premier of Byzantium, which is directed by Neil Jordan (Interview with the Vampire) and stars Gemma Arterton. Both will be in attendance. For more, see the GFF13 official site or this arti

8th February 2013 is the UK release date for the film adaptation of Isaac Marion’s debut novel Warm Bodies. Understandably, the story of “R”, the romantic undead protagonist, and his love interest Julie, has mistakenly been compared to that of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga. This misunderstanding has been aided by Meyer’s lauding endorsement on the front cover of the novel and the way in which the film has been advertised with very “Twilight-esque” posters. However, Twilight and Warm Bodies are both produced by Summit Entertainment and suggested similarities between the two

Sundance is currently in full swing and it's unsurprising that Gothic news seems to be dominated by film this month. One piece that is certainly catching the eye of the press is the promising looking Stoker. Directed by Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Lady Vengeance), it's the first of a proposed trilogy of films and the trailer certainly promises much. It's expected to be released in early March in the US.

While we are waiting for the guest blog series to get up and running again in February, I thought it might be a good opportunity to share some horror shorts, primarily for entertainment purposes, but also to showcase some of the films that have been getting attention online in recent times. It was the release of Mama that got me thinking about shorts given its genesis from the 2008 version, which is introduced by Guillermo Del Toro here: I was excited to discover, too, that over the last year or so the UK film company Bloody Cuts has been showcasing 13 horror shorts. I'll post this

Continuing the unlikely trend set by Andrew Lincoln in The Walking Dead, a previous contributor to the naughties British Channel 4 drama Teachers is set to make a foray into the horror genre. Former Teachers director Jeremy Lovering will debut In Fear at the Sundance Film Festival on January 18th, having made the renowned festival's official selection, and perhaps hoping to secure a US release in the future. Interestingly, the poster does not contain a fear-ridden image of its up-and-coming star Alice Englert, but instead gives very little away....

Fans of Guillermo del Toro will be aware that the Pan's Labyrinth director has recently put his (considerable) weight behind the release of Andy Muschietti's Mama. Muschietti's full length picture, which is based upon a 2008 short and co-written by his sister Barbara and Bristol screenwriter Neil Cross (Luther, Whistle and I'll Come to You), is set to be realised in the US on Friday (18th January) and in the UK in late February. An interesting interview with Del Toro and Muschietti, carried out by Eric Walkuski, can be found at Arrow In The Head. The film's trailer is here: watch?v=GZlY

Cannibals populate ancient myths, fairy tales, children’s literature, tales of survival, and lots of horror films. This preoccupation with orality is suggestive of the underlying warning in many Gothic urban cannibal tales – rapacity is monstrous. Hunger becomes more than a need for food, it becomes an expression of deep-seated desires for connections and of uneasiness with the modern condition. This is particularly evident in city narratives where isolation and anonymity lead to a sense of a fragmented existence and a deep need to create a sense of wholeness. Can these Gothic biters say something about modern isolation, urban anonymity, and the privileging of consumption in contemporary society?