Red Kingdom Rising 2012 - REVIEW

I have to admit that I'm not the biggest fan of fantasy horror. Fairies and Goblins and things of that nature just don't draw my attention. Not that I haven't seen some great fantasy horror. Peter Dukes' short A Goblin's Tale is one of the most recent ones I've watched and enjoyed. It takes a pretty well rounded team to create a successful fantasy horror film. The execution of this type of film has to be pretty much flawless (in my opinion) and I think that's what always turns me away. It's hard to find a group of filmmakers that are committed to seeing that the color, tone and pacing of the film stays consistent throughout.

Mary Ann (Emily Stride), a troubled young woman, has been tormented her whole life by dreams of a sinister figure called the Red King and his morbid fairytale kingdom. Following the death of her father, Mary Ann returns to her family home where she recalls the childhood stories of the Red King and Alice from 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' that her father once read to her. Haunting events and suppressed memories propel Mary Ann through the dark corridors of her parental home into the realms of her nightmares where she must finally confront the Red King and gain closure to her scarred past.

As is the case with most Indie films, the cast here is relatively unknown. That's sometimes a good thing and sometimes a bad thing. In this case I'd say it was a great thing. Director Navin Dev managed to assemble a cast of unknowns that most assuredly will become very well known faces in the Indie horror scene. Stride gives a flawless performance as the troubled lead. Going one step further, I was completely enamored with young Alice, played by Etalia Turnbull. You'd never guess this was her one and only film. Silvana Maimone, the most seasoned actor the bunch, is extremely convincing as the sometimes sane mother of Mary Ann. She goes from zero to psychotic bitch quicker than me on a bad day.

Red Kingdom Rising is beautifully shot and the use of color that's added gives it a believable fairytale feel. There are so many places in this film where a lot of directors would've lost control. With all the transitions from the dream world back to reality, I can see where that would happen but Dev never once let's the enormity of it all overwhelm him. They're smooth and clever and you will be asking yourself, "is this the real world or the dream world?" Dev also creates some rather brilliant dialogue that effortlessly draws the viewer in. It's not a film that you can walk in and out of. You have to pay attention. The dialogue is full of riddles and cryptic talk that if you're not watching, you're lost. BUT, don't let that steer you away, it's worth the 73 minutes you'll invest. I honestly can't find one thing wrong with this film... I know, shocking isn't it? It's a twistedly beautiful film that every fantasy horror fan should watch. I look forward to seeing more from Dev and his team.

Charming Incantations: Enticed Set To Release

Knightwatch Press has finally announced that they will be releasing the debut novel of South Africa’s superstar in the making, Monique Snyman. “Charming Incantations: Enticed”, the debut novel in a fantasy series for young adults has already raked up a nomination in 2010’s Watty Awards for Best Werewolf and young adults seem to have deemed it a worthy substitute after world renowned series’ like the Harry Potter Series and The Twilight Saga ended.

Synopsis:

When Lisa Richards’ parents die in a horrible accident, she never thought her life would change as drastically as it did. Not only does she have to take over the family business as being the Human Representative in a supernatural council, bound to protect the world from the common threat, but she also has to deal with falling in love with a werewolf that has a vampire best friend and try to keep herself alive long enough to defeat the goblin army.

“Charming Incantations: Enticed” might be the first novel in the series, but it sports a lot of mythology as well as mythological creatures. Yes, the run-of-the-mill vampires and werewolves might have also made their presence known, but banshees, witches, shape shifters and even satyrs are present! “Charming Incantations: Enticed” may also be a fantasy novel for young adults, but even adults would enjoy the action, romance and mythological twists and turns that seems to take place.

Although it is the introductory novel to the series, it certainly has stirred on some talk in the review world:

“…this story is to set up the groundwork for what should be an epic story.”

P*****OffGeek.com

“…it seems a good addition to the genre with a well-established world, wide ranging characters and an interesting True Blood meets Buffy kinda feel to it with its mix of romance, training to fight monsters, longing for an ordinary life when destiny is calling and big battles it isn’t quite either but reminded me of both.”

TheReviewCorner.com

The novel is set to release 13 March 2012 at all major online book retailers.

For more information about “Charming Incantations: Enticed” as well as an inside look into the background story as to how it was created, check out the site, which will take you to a blog and forum, which is run by the author.

About the Author:

Monique Snyman has always been a dreamer and from a young age she enjoyed to record those dreams as well as incorporate them into her writing. Born and raised in sunny South Africa, she was surrounded by nature for most of her life and it was the view outside her first apartment, which overlooked the Union Buildings in Pretoria, which inspired the original concept for Charming Incantations: Enticed. After much deliberation as to what to do with her life during 2009, it was this view that kept haunting her dreams… Soon, Monique decided to do something with those visions and it wasn’t very long before Charming Incantations: Enticed was born.

With a first, finished novel in hand, Monique started to submit her manuscript to various literary agencies, unfortunately it’s not as easy to be a writer as she had once assumed. After not getting any feedback from publishers and literary agencies, she decided to upload a chapter on a website called Wattpad every week, just to test the market. Amazingly enough, after only seven chapters uploaded she was nominated for a Watty Award 2010 in the “Most Popular Werewolf” category! It was then that she decided that there had to be at least one publisher out there that would like her novel… She was right. When Monique initially came across Knightwatch Press, a relatively new independent publishing house, she wasn’t exactly keen on giving her baby to these strangers. However, after only a month, the feedback came back and the contract was offered! Not only did Monique get a lot of encouragement from everyone regarding the first sequence in the Charming Incantations Series, but people wanted to hear what happens next!

Currently Monique lives in a new apartment, further away from the view that inspired it all and she’s brainstorming the second novel in the series, called Charming Incantations: Sanguine. With a new view, a new outlook on life and constant encouragement from friends, family and fans, Monique strives to breathe new life into mythology and inspire young adults to read into the antiquities that helped form the world we live in.

About Knightwatch Press:

KnightWatch Press is an independent comic book and trade paperback publisher. Specialising in primarily speculative fiction including but not limited to horror, sci-fi, fantasy and steampunk.

At a future point they will also be taking non-fiction submissions relating to esoteric studies. For more information on how to submit and for news please take a look at their website found at www.knightwatchpress.info.

Knightwatch Press is one of the fastest growing independent publishers out there and they treat their authors as though they are part of a family, which is what a publisher is supposed to do. Being less than a year old as of date, they are already producing numerous quality books for the masses. This is definitely a publisher you want to keep your eyes on.

The Timeslip 2011 (Short Film) - REVIEW

Here I go again, reviewing films that aren't horror... OMG! How terrible am I? Ah, I'm not that bad. I think opening your mind to different genres is good. Why limit yourself to just one thing all the time? You don't eat the same food all the time. You don't wear the same thing all the time. C'mon people, broaden your horizons! And start by watching The Timeslip!

Jonathan and Richard Chance have crafted quite the little Fantasy/Adventure short film. To me, it's a kind of modern day The Outer Limits. Even the description reads like it....

The further we are caught up in technology the further we fall from our roots; to hunt and gather. The very foundations of why we are at the top of the food chain. So the idea came about - how would modern man do in an environment out of his grasp? Thrust into another time - no technology, no help. Food and water is the simplest thing he could die without - but of course there's more than that to worry about!

A rather simple premise that they seem to pull together quite easily. There's enough suspense to keep you watching throughout and the acting (although not many words are spoken) is solid. You feel sorry for Richard as he literally plummets into another world and spends most of his time trying to figure out WTF is going on. They make good use of the 15:01 running time and the sound quality is pretty good for a micro-budget film.

Jonathan had this to say about making The Timeslip: "With The Timeslip we hope to show what we can accomplish with no budget as we do with all our films - the latest, I feel shows our style as original Filmmakers expressing consistency and maturity for innovation in the genre. We want to take the leap from short film (with a good idea) to feature film (with cascades of ideas) and a 'budget' realized worthy of a good script. Not a half-hearted lacking feature due to monetary constraints. We are used to working with very little and making it go far (we're true guerrilla and thrifty) the more 'in' the better we can make it based on the script."

They are also looking for producers/financiers to help make their next film a reality. Which could be a feature film script already nominated for 'Best Horror Screenplay' at the Action on Film festival in 2009. They welcome the public and the press to get in touch with them for a screener of their film and look forward to the premiere of The Timeslip at the Action on Film Festival in Late July 2011!

You can contact them via the website or twitter and be sure to check out the trailer below!!