In the near future world of Brock Humphrey's Mind and Machine, androids exist to help humankind, but they can also be programmed to kill... We have a look at the trailer for Humphrey's new sci-fi thriller in today's Horror Highlights, which also includes details on The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies' exciting new class "The Legacy of Richard Matheson's I Am Legend," as well as details on Lionsgate's home media release of The Manor.
Mind and Machine: "Written and directed by Brock Humphrey, Mind and Machine is a sci-fi crime thriller set in the near future where humanoid robots are common in society. The mob reprograms one of these androids to think and feel in order to use it as a contract killer. However, this has dangerous consequences as she begins to develop a relationship with her creator while also slowly becoming a murderous psychopath."
Following its premiere at the North Hollywood CineFest last year, Mind and Machine is out now on VOD, Blu-ray, and DVD from Gravitas Ventures. The film stars Ariana Guerra, Sal Rastegar, Oryan West, and Bobby Hernandez. To learn more about the film, visit Amazon and iTunes.
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The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies – London: The Legacy of Richard Matheson's I Am Legend: "Richard Matheson’s novel I Am Legend (1954) is a recognized classic of science fiction and horror. It has been adapted many times in films such as The Last Man on Earth (1964), The Omega Man (1971), and I Am Legend (2007). In 1958, Matheson wrote a script adapting the novel for Hammer Studios, but it was never filmed. The script was rejected by both the MPAA and the BBFC. In 1968, George Romero directed Night of the Living Dead, a film he admitted was inspired by Matheson’s novel, and this was the film that Matheson felt was most faithful to the themes of his book.
Through an analysis of a selection of official and unofficial adaptations of the novel, including Matheson’s own script, this lecture by Stacey Abbott considers how this text marks a key transformative moment within the evolution of the horror genre on film. It will consider how the novel reimagined the vampire film through the lens of science fiction and how Matheson’s adaptation for Hammer offered a new, more brutal and modern approach to horror than the studio’s Gothic adaptations of The Cure of Frankenstein (1957) and Dracula (1958). Abbott will discuss how the script confounded the censors in its approach to horror, signaling a cultural resistance to the modernization of the genre and a growing tension between filmmakers and arbiters of cinematic taste. Finally, in this lecture Abbott will demonstrate not only how I Am Legend influenced Romero’s work, representing a key bridge between classic and new horror, but also continues to influence twenty-first century filmmakers, particularly in the development of the vampire and zombie genres.
About the Instructor: Stacey Abbott is Reader in Film and Television Studies at the University of Roehampton. She is the author of Celluloid Vampires (2007), Undead Apocalypse: Vampires and Zombies in the 21st Century (2016), and co-author, with Lorna Jowett, of TV Horror: The Dark Side of the Small Screen (2012).
The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies – London - The Legacy of Richard Matheson’s ‘I Am Legend’
Date:March 15th 2018 Time:7:00pm-10:00pm Venue: The Horse Hospital Address: Colonnade, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 1JD Prices: £10 advance / £11 on the door / £8 concs (students/seniors with ID) www.miskatonic-london.com
About the Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies: Named for the fictional university in H.P. Lovecraft’s literary mythos, the Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies is an international organization that offers university-level history, theory and production-based masterclasses for people of all ages, founded by film writer and programmer Kier-La Janisse in March 2010, with regular branches in London and New York as well as presenting special events worldwide. The UK branch is co-run by Janisse and Josh Saco, of Cigarette Burns Cinema."
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The Manor: Press Release: "A family reunion turns horrific in the shocking horror-thriller The Manor, arriving on DVD, Digital, and On Demand May 15 from Lionsgate.
When Amy checks herself out of an insane asylum on her eighteenth birthday, her mom takes her on a weekend getaway to celebrate and rekindle family ties —, but things take a turn for the worse. Will Amy survive a family reunion gone wrong? Find out when The Manor arrives on DVD for the suggested retail price of $19.98. This family weekend is gonna be killer!
OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: Still haunted by the demons of a childhood tragedy, Amy (Christina Robinson) checks out of an asylum on her eighteenth birthday. But things get weird when Amy’s mother takes her to a rustic resort to visit her strange, sadistic relatives. When hunters and religious fanatics join the party, Amy can no longer tell fantasy from reality, watching helplessly as the blood spills anew. This shocking horror-thriller also stars Kevin Nash and Rachel True.
CAST: Christina Robinson (TV’s “Dexter,” TV’s “Syn”), Kevin Nash (Magic Mike franchise, John Wick, The Longest Yard) and Rachel True (The Craft, Half Baked)."
About the Author - Derek Anderson
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
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