WAKEWOOD to Screen at Chamber of Horrors Big Screen in London Next Month
David Keating's horror film WAKEWOOD has been selected to show at the Big Screen, a new film event presented by Empire magazine which takes place in London's O2 Arena next month from the 12th-14thAugust. The Irish feature will screen as part of the event's key programme Kim Newman's Chamber of Horrors.
Big Screen is a new film event which allows film fans to get up close and personal with the film world, giving behind the scenes access to a diverse range of films, directors and A-list stars. There will be film previews and premieres, live entertainment in the Live Special FX Arena as well as master-classes with industry legends. The extravaganza is backed by all the major studios including Walt Disney, Pixar, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal, to name but a few. WAKEWOOD will be introduced at the screening by the award-winning Newman, an established UK journalist and film critic who specializes in the horror genre and will screen alongside other Hammer Film titles Quatermass And The Pitt and the forthcoming The Woman In Black. Hammer Film executives Ben Holden and Nic Ransome will also be taking part in a panel discussion recalling growing up with the British horror institution and the recent reinvention of the studio.
WAKEWOORD stars BAFTA nominee Aidan Gillen (The Wire, Love/Hate), Eva Birthistle (The Daisy Chain, Breakfast on Pluto) and Timothy Spall (The King's Speech, Harry Potter). It tells the story of vet Patrick and pharmacist Louise who are still grieving the death of their only child Alice at the jaws of a crazed dog. The couple relocate to the remote town of Wake Wood where a local pagan ritual gives them three more precious days with her... but what will they do when it's time for their new daughter to go back.
The film, which scooped the Jury Prize at the Neuchatel International Film Festival in Switzerland earlier this month was produced by Brendan McCarthy and John McDonnell for Fantastic Films in co-production with Magnus Paulsson of Solid Entertainment, Sweden. It received finance from the BSÉ/IFB and Hammer Films, making it the first feature from the legendary genre production company Hammer Films in thirty years, alongside Let Me In (2010).
Some of the glowing reviews for WAKEWOOD include
"A classy, darkly menacingly horror film set in Ireland,Wake Wood transcends its low budget" The Guardian
"a horror that ticks every box.... an intelligent, atmospheric film" Daily Mirror
"a creepy and compelling shocker that chills to the bone" Daily Star
"for sheer nerve-racking intensity, Wake Wood is right up there with cult classic The Wicker Man" Bizarre magazine
"Aidan Gillen was his usual brilliant self...I think there will be a good teen/young 20s female audience for this film. Those who liked the Twilight saga will surely enjoy this" Reveal
The Guardian ****
The Mirror *****
Total Film****4