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A very warm welcome to the website for the inaugural Horror-on-Sea Film Festival, which is set to shock, amaze and astound the good folks of south east Essex – and beyond – in January.
I am delighted to be your host. I’m also festival director of the Southend-on-Sea Film Festival, which was in its fourth year in 2012. Naturally, Horror-on-Sea is rather more focused, with new independent horror and fantasy being showcased this year. Many of the filmmakers will be joining us, and the relaxed surroundings of our superb venue, with its magnificent views (from the bar!) over Southend’s famous pier and the Thames estuary, will enable you to have a good chat with those who will be presenting their work.
I am especially delighted to welcome local filmmaker Pat Higgins, well known for ‘Trash House’, ‘Hellbride’, ‘Nazi Death Tales’, among many others, who will be conducting a Masterclass on Saturday afternoon on all aspects of low-budget filmmaking. So come along and learn some tricks from a filmmaker who has ‘been there, done that’.
Another filmmaker who has most definitely ‘been there, done that’ (and for whom the word ‘prolific’ could have been created) is Michael J. Murphy. I am pleased to announce that cult film historian, critic and author Darrell Buxton will be coming along on Sunday afternoon to shed some light on the amazing career of this legendary producer/director/writer. Darrell will be joined by actor Stephen Longhurst, a regular member of Michael’s stock company, who will no doubt regale us with tales of the trials and tribulations of low-budget filmmaking.
Most of the features will be supported by new independent shorts, so those interested in rather briefer stories will be well catered for.
Tickets are on sale. Best value of all is the Weekend Pass, which allows access to all the screenings, except for Pat’s Masterclass and the Friday Night Frights, for just £50 – a saving of £40 on the individual ticket prices!
So it's all happening at Horror-on-Sea! Please also keep checking the Horror-on-Sea facebook page for the latest news.
The Festival Team and I look forward to welcoming you in January.
Paul Cotgrove, Festival Director
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