PopHorror Let's Get Scared
The Sci-Fi-London Film Festival 2019 launches its stellar 19th annual program which will run from May 15 – May 22, 2019. It will include eight days of amazing films, immersive experiences and more. It will showcase a lineup with 4 world film premieres, 11 UK film premieres, 11 world short premieres and 13 UK short premieres. It will host 17 features, 36 shorts and 7 VR shorts alongside its regular classic cult events such as the 48 hour film challenge and Sci-Fido, the world’s only cosplay for dogs!
From the Press Release:
Perfect (dir. Eddie Alcazar)
Opening this year’s festival on May 15, 2019, is the UK Premiere of Perfect – “a film that sends us tripping into a science fiction world like no other. Directed by Eddie Alcazar (KUSO) it is unclear if the young man (Garrett Wareing) has committed the horrible crime, but his mother (Abbie Cornish) sends him to a luxurious retreat full of beautiful hedonistic people for therapy. He will receive an experimental treatment to cure his ills and discover his true self. His mother has been there, but does she want to help him become ‘perfect’?”
The Rizen: Possession (dir. Matt Mitchell)
Playing at festival’s Closing Night on May 22, 2019, is the World Premiere of The Rizen: Possession, directed by Matt Mitchell (The Rizen) and starring Julian Rhind-Tutt, Sarine Sofair, Adrian Edmondson and Sally Phillips.
In 1955, NATO and the Allied Forces conducted secret, occult experiments in a bid to win the Arms Race. They succeeded, but what they unleashed almost tore our world apart and sent a human through a portal to somewhere very alien. This was the story of The Rizen, our closing night premiere film in 2017. Come forward to now, and a group of urban explorers is exploring the abandoned bunker. But will they – and a private military unit sent in after them – become the final pieces in a 60-year plan to reopen a door that should have stayed closed?
Other movies showing at the festival include:
Shed Of The Dead (dir. Drew Cullingham)
Shed of the Dead is directed by Drew Cullingham (Black Smoke Rising). Trevor (Spencer Brown) doesn’t really like gardening but has an allotment in which he spends his days avoiding his overbearing wife. Most of his time in his shed is spent painting figurines for wargames he plays with his friend, Graham (Ewen MacIntosh), both of them dreaming and arguing about their gaming alter-egos. One day, Mr Parsons, one of the other allotment tenants, knocks with a petition to have Trevor evicted as his plot is a disgrace. After what should have been a simple argument, Trevor is left with a corpse to hide. Unfortunately, this accident untimely coincides with the Zombie Apocalypse, and Mr Parsons’ return is just the start of Trevor’s problems. More pressing is whether or not he should try and save his wife (Lauren Socha) and her beautiful best friend (Emily Booth), who both he and Graham have a thing for… The film also features a little BDSM fun provided by The Hills Have Eyes’ Michael Berryman.
After We Leave (dir. Aleem Hossain)
After We Leave is a brilliant debut for director Aleem Hossain, a vibrant script, satisfying special effects and outstanding performances – the type of film this festival searches for every year. In the near future, Los Angeles is a bleak place: permanent recession, water shortages, and rising crime. Six years ago, Jack abandoned his wife and vanished. Now he’s back because before he left, they’d applied for a visa to immigrate to a better life on an off-world colony. The permit has finally come through, but there’s a catch: it’s a couple’s visa, and Jack cannot leave Earth without his wife. Is Jack back because he wants to make things right, or because he needs his wife so he can use this “lottery ticket” to a better life?
The Tangle (dir. Christopher Soren Kelly)
The Tangle, a brilliant sci-fi noir written and directed by Christopher Soren Kelly (Murder Made Easy), stars Jessica Graham (Crazy Bitches) and Nicole Da Silva (Wentworth). In the near future, the Tangle, an AI with airborne nanotech, connects the world. The Tangle is benevolent; it has stopped crime and keeps us well and safe. But to make sure it never turns rogue, a government agency watches over them from within technology safe rooms, locations impermeable to the nanobots that make up the Tangle. When field agent Margot Foster is found dead in one of these rooms, the agency needs to investigate the first murder in years.
Zoo-Head (dir. Navin Dev)
Zoo-Head is directed by Navin Dev (Red Kingdom Rising). Charlie is a zoo-head, a slang term given to junkies addicted to a powerful hallucinogenic that has memory munching side-effects. Squatting in a fetid apartment and existing on benefits, Charlie is a mess, and it is about to get worse. The Social Service is forcing the long term unemployed to undergo radically experimental treatment to get them ‘normalised’; the only danger would be to zoo-heads. Charlie gets called in and lies about his situation, and so begins his treatment.
The UK Premieres include:
Fonotune: An Electric Fairytale (dir. FINT)
Fonotune: An Electric Fairytale is directed by Fint (Spit). The world will end soon, so what to do? Outside of time, a teen hooker, lo-fi cowboy and a mute drifter cross the white desert to experience the final performance of the mysterious rockstar hero.
Alien Addiction (dir. Shae Sterling)
Alien Addiction is directed by Shae Sterling (She Waits). New Zealand is beautiful, and often we only see the Lord of the Rings landscapes and not the everyday life of your average stoner. Riko lives in a small town in the middle of nowhere (Waikato, New Zealand). Life was pretty normal until two aliens crash-landed near Riko’s house. He welcomes the aliens, and together they develop an intergalactic relationship of epic proportions.
Axcellerator (dir. David Giancola)
Axcellerator is directed by David Giancola (Time Chasers). Dane (Ryan Wesen) was going to steal one last car before he quit forever, but is disturbed by Tomas, an inventor being chased by the police, the F.B.I., and the C.I.A. Trapped in the manic crossfire, Tomas passes a device to Dane, who is teleported miles away into the arms of Kate (Laura James: S*W*A*T). She could be the girl of his dreams except for the global conspiracy he has just embroiled her in. The FBI’s Ray Moritz (Maxwell Caulfield: Grease 2) wants to destroy it, Amanda Graham (Sean Young: Blade Runner) wants it for the C.I.A., and rogue agent Sy Devol (John James: Dynasty) has his sinister plans. Sy unleashes his brutal assassin, Brink (Sam J. Jones: Flash Gordon), who leaves a trail of corpses behind him while pursuing the Axcellerator device. To stay alive, Dane and Kate must discover the Axcellerator’s secret.
John James is confirmed to attend, others TBA.
After The Lethargy (dir. Marc Carrete)
After the Lethargy is directed by Marc Carrete (Asmodexia). Sara, a journalist with a keen interest in UFOs, receives a video from a paranormal researcher, talking about a hotspot for landings and sightings. She travels to the forest to meet the researcher and meets the park ranger who tells her of a dark character who lives alone deep in the woods and the abandoned retreat. Soon she discovers the truth about the UFO sightings and must fight for her life.
The Final Land (dir. Marcel Barion)
The Final Land is directed Marcel Barion. Across the bleak wilderness, the prisoner has escaped, looking for a rumored ship that might get him off-world. One of his pursuers discovers him aboard the craft and instead of turning him in declares he also wants a way out and together they fly away. But who built the ship and where did it come from, more importantly, where are the crew? As they try to answer these questions, they hear a strange signal and obsessing on its origin head toward it.
Last Sunrise (dir. Wen Ren)
Last Sunrise is directed by Wen Ren (Cafe Glass). In a future reliant on solar energy, the world falls into chaos after the sun disappears, the skies are lit only by the stars and the temperature is rapidly dropping; eventually, oxygen on Earth will be exhausted. Yang, a reclusive astronomer, and Mu, a neighbour he hardly knows, must find their way to a supposed sanctuary located in District Four.
Majic (dir. Erin Berry)
Majic is directed by Erin Berry. Bernwood (Paula Brancati: Slashers) is an anti-conspiracy video blogger. She spends all her time debunking conspiracy theory until she gets a note from an old man claiming to have worked for the legendary Majestic-12 (aka majic), a secret US spy agency, created after the UFO incident at Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. So begins her trip down the rabbit hole looking for answers as reality as she seems to know it is unraveling.
Artist Depiction (dir. Brett Ryan Bonowicz)
Artist Depiction is directed by Brett Ryan Bonowicz (The Perfect 46). Conceptual artists Don Davis, Charles Lindsay, and Rick Guidice have helped bring NASA projects to life. Their incredible pioneering artwork, which helped define the aesthetics of futurism and space travel, is ubiquitous; and yet these artists have always been hidden behind the scenes until now.
Chasing Einstein (dir. Timothy Wheeler)
Chasing Einstein is directed by Timothy Wheeler (Poached) and Steve Brown (Spark: A Burning Man Story). Einstein’s vision of gravity has shaped our understanding of the universe for the 100 years since Eddington confirmed his theory in 1919. Nobody has succeeded in challenging Einstein’s theory despite its startling conclusion that the vast majority of gravity must be caused by an invisible form of ‘matter’ that has yet to be detected. The search for this missing “Dark Matter” will either confirm Einstein or disrupt a century of physics. Following leading scientists including Nobel Laureates on the brink of paradigm-shifting discoveries, Chasing Einstein travels behind the scenes of some of the most extraordinary experiments ever created to probe the mysteries of the dark universe (LIGO, CERN, XENON 1T). Will Einstein stand the test of time, or will a controversial new theory change the way that we see the universe?
Lucid (dir. Adam Morse)
Lucid, is directed by Adam Morse (The Window). A young man practices an experimental form of therapy after his enigmatic neighbour offers to help him overcome social anxiety and win the girl of his dreams. Isolated in a big city with no friends, young Zel simultaneously fears and craves intimacy. He has a pitiful obsession with a dancer called Jasmine and is caught spying on her by an eccentric neighbor, Elliot (Billy Zane), who offers to help him win her heart. Lust leads Zel on an intense subliminal adventure as Elliot teaches him how lucid dreaming can be used to practice the art of seduction but will Zel be able to charm Jasmine in reality?
This line up looks incredible! The film festival runs from May 15 – May 22, 2019. Will you be going this year? Let us know in the comments!
