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The first official
press release concerning Beyond the Rave has been sent
to unofficialhammerfilms.com, and details the names of a
number of new cast and production crew. Production is
understood to be continuing into early October.
PRESS
RELEASE
BEYOND
THE RAVE – A HAMMER PRODUCTION
After more
than two decades of absence, Hammer Films returns to
horror with Beyond the Rave, an online serial
that heralds the resurgence of one of Britain’s
best-loved film companies. Beyond the Rave is
produced for Hammer by Pure Grass Films, from an
original story by Tom Grass.
Says CEO
Simon Oakes, “Hammer is a great British brand; we intend
to take it back into production and develop its global
potential”. The new direction pledges to maintain the
same high standards that made Hammer one of the world’s
most respected and influential genre companies, and to
entertain both its loyal fans and a
new generation of horror viewers.
Hammer - which has not released a
film since 1979 – is also returning to feature
production and has several exciting projects in
development. With Beyond the Rave, the company
wishes to give long-time followers and new
audiences an early taste of things to
come: original productions, using new technologies and
featuring the hottest up-and-coming talent.
Drawing
inspiration from the works of Bram Stoker and Anne Rice
as well as from eighties classics The Lost Boys
and Near Dark, Beyond the Rave, a vampire
story set in England’s underground party scene, is a
combination of traditional horror themes and
contemporary setting and characters. The movie follows
the last hours of freedom of local soldier Ed, who is
flying out to Iraq the following morning. With the help
of his best friend Necro, he spends his last night in
the UK tracking down his missing girlfriend Jen, last
seen partying with a bizarre group of hardcore
night-time ravers led by the mysterious Melech. But as
he catches up with Jen at a party in a remote forest, Ed
discovers that Melech’s crowd, who are hosting the
event, are looking for more than a night of fun, and
that not everyone will make it through to dawn…
Directed
by Matthias Hoene, known for his award-winning shorts,
commercials and music videos, Beyond The Rave
features performances
from Nora-Jane Noone
(The Descent), Jamie Dornan (Marie-Antoinette),
Tamer Hassan (Layer Cake, The Ferryman, Eastern
Promises), Sebastian Knapp (28
Days Later, One Point O),
Les Simpson (Dog Soldiers, upcoming Doomsday),
Lois Winstone (When
Evil Calls) and Steve
Sweeney (Lock,
Stock and Two Smoking Barrels).
There are also special appearances by Hammer legend
Ingrid Pitt, Sadie Frost (Bram
Stoker’s Dracula) and
Phil Bush (lead singer of The Cazals).
Beyond
the Rave’s special effects will be handled by
Tristan Versluis, one of the UK’s best new FX artists,
whose credits include Jake West’s Evil Aliens,
Billy O’Brien’s Isolation, Adam Mason’s Broken
and The Devil’s Chair, and more recently Edgar
Wright’s Hot Fuzz and Tim Burton’s Sweeney
Todd.
Producer
Ben Grass concludes, “Beyond the
Rave was inspired by Tom
and my own experiences of raves: the great highs, and
the demons that can lurk in the dark before dawn. It's
jam packed with great characters and encounters. The
narrative hurtles along to a big, juicy conclusion, and
all along it's peppered with great tunes and visceral
action.”
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