After a year of promising, author Philip Nutman is finally providing new material for his official site.
“There are two Chinese sayings which sum up the last three years of my life,” Phil writes. “’Be careful what you dream,’ and ‘may you live in interesting times.’ Those two sentences say it all. Between screenplays, movie deals, producing two films, writing a non-fiction book (see below), writing a handful of short stories, and planning a new novel, the past three years have evaporated. “When Webmaster Chris Kern revamped the Web site and gave PhilipNutman.com a new lease of life, I promised fiction and regular updates and all manner of interesting things. A lot of that promise was channeled into the Web magazine UP AGAINST THE WALL but now that chapter has come to a close – at least for the foreseeable future – that touring behind JACK KETCHUM’S THE GIRL NEXT DOOR is over, and the Amicus manuscript which has been waiting 23 years to see light of day is now out, it’s time to get back to giving something more personal to my faithful readers who continue to support me through thick and thin.” Over the coming month, dozens of new photos will be added to the gallery, Phil will commence with a weekly blog, OFF THE WALL, and provide other new material for the site, including a GIRL NEXT DOOR archive and a section devoted to Amicus Productions and SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN, his acclaimed critical history of the British horror film production company, published this July by LITTLE SHOPPE OF HORRORS magazine. “As they used to say on the old BATMAN TV show – ‘the best is yet to come!’”
AMICUS PRODUCTIONS SCREAM AGAIN WITH DEFINITIVE HISTORY
DR. TERROR’S HOUSE OF HORRORS, TORTURE GARDEN, THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD, ASYLUM, the original TALES FROM THE CRYPT film… classic British anthology horror movies made by Amicus Productions, who worked extensively with author Robert (PSYCHO) Bloch. Now the full story can be told…
In 1985, critically acclaimed, award-nominated writer and journalist Philip Nutman was commissioned to pen the definitive, illustrated history of Amicus Productions, the chief rival to Hammer Films in the British horror movie market of the1960s and ‘70s. Twenty-three years later, the manuscript – now expanded to over 80,000 words – will finally be published in a special issue of LITTLE SHOPPE of HORRORS magazine, one of the longest-running publications devoted to British horror films.
Given unprecedented access to over 600 pages of confidential company documents, memos, faxes, treatments, screenplays and production information, SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN: THE UNCENSORED HISTORY OF AMICUS PRODUCTIONS is the definitive critical history of one of the most beloved British film companies during the golden era of horror films when the names Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and Vincent Price guaranteed chilling suspense and shocking scares from quality low budget movies.
Written and compiled from over 40 hours of exclusive taped interviews, including producer-screenwriter Milton Subotsky, director Roy Ward Baker, screenwriter Christopher Wicking, production manager Theresa Bolland, film editor Peter Tanner and production designer Tony Curtis.
Contributions from directors Freddie Francis, Gordon Hessler and Paul Annett, and author/screenwriter Robert Bloch.
Extensive, exclusive quotes from a never-published interview with producer Max J. Rosenberg, conducted by acclaimed film historian Tom Weaver.
Featuring over 260 stills, international posters and ad mats – many never-before-published.
Stunning front and back covers by Mark Maddox and acclaimed animator Bruce Timm.
Original artwork by comic book legend Stephen B. Bissette (SWAMP THING), acclaimed poster artist/designer Graham Humphreys (THE EVIL DEAD, et al), Adrian Salmon and Neil Vokes. Plus original sketches by Peter Cushing!
A guide to Amicus films on DVD.
Complete, detailed filmography of all Amicus productions.
Learn:
How CITY OF THE DEAD (aka HORROR HOTEL) nearly didn’t get made and its connection to the Hollywood Ten;
How DR. TERROR’S HOUSE OF HORRORS was financed three weeks after the start of principal photography;
That Amicus wanted to turn superhero Spider-Man into a movie written by Lenny Bruce in the early ‘60s;
What was censored from THE SKULL;
Why Oscar winner Freddie Francis nearly quit directing after making THE DEADLY BEES;
The truth concerning the behind-the-scenes creative battles over SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN, and how Rosenberg & Subotsky were barred from the set of their own movie;
How the anthology film ASYLUM was in British movie theaters 14 weeks after the start of filming and before TALES FROM THE CRYPT was released;
How the success of Amicus led to the company’s downfall;
Signed copies (limited to 300) $12.00 plus S&H direct from the author. For more info and ordering instructions (PayPal included) visit PhilipNutman.com
NOTE TO VISITORS: We are currently setting up a system to use Paypal here from the site if you want to buy signed copies directly from Phil. This should be up and running soon. In the meantime, if you wish to reserve a copy – and they are starting to go fast! – please send an e-mail to PhilipNutman@gmail.com writing Amicus Order in the subject line.
“Philip Nutman screams and screams again in this definitive history of Amicus Productions, the studio that dripped blood and cast Peter Cushing as Dr. Who, Ralph Richardson as the Crypt Keeper, and Doug McClure as the unlikely conqueror of World War I dinosaurs. Producers Milton Subotsky and Max Rosenberg finally get the credit they deserve in this exhaustive volume.”
—Greg Lamberson, Author of JOHNNY GRUESOME and writer/director of cult classic SLIME CITY
NUTMAN RETURNS TO SHORT FICTION WITH “THE BRITISH INVASION”
Two years ago, acclaimed, award-winning writers Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon, along with James A. Moore, approached Phil and a number of other British writers to contribute original stories to an all-Brit horror anthology they were planning. Finally, that book is now a reality and will be available later this summer (the official word on the publisher’s Web site is “forthcoming, currently at the printers’” whatever that means.)
Phil’s story, his first published short fiction in over four years, is called THE MISADVENTURE OF FAT MAN AND LITTLE BOY, OR, HOW I MADE A MONSTER. “It’s about how not to make a low-budget horror film,” is all Phil will reveal. Other writers featured in the anthology include Ramsey Campbell, Peter Crowther, Mark Morris, Sarah Pinborough and Nicholas Royle. Kim Newman provides an afterword.
JACK KETCHUM'S THE GIRL NEXT DOOR COMES TO DVD THIS WEEK
North American viewers will finally have the opportunity to rent or buy the controversial, acclaimed, award-winning film version of the cult novel by Jack Ketchum this week.
DVD
Distributed by Anchor Bay Entertainment, JACK KETCHUM'S THE GIRL NEXT DOOR arrives on video shelves on 12/4, this coming Tuesday. Of the film, Stephen King has stated "The first authentically shocking American film I've seen since HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER over 20 years ago. If you are easily disturbed, you should not watch this movie. If, on the other hand, you are prepared for a long look into hell, suburban style, THE GIRL NEXT DOOR will not disappoint. This is the dark-side-of-the-moon version of STAND BY ME."
Screened at over 20 film festivals and conventions world-wide, the movie will receive a limited theatrical run in Canada this month. Details of the screenings will be posted later this week.
Prior to the DVD's release, screenwriters Daniel Farrands & Philip Nutman and director Gregory Wilson will appear live on Internet radio this weekend as guests on Movie Geeks United. The broadcast will take place on Sunday 12/2 at 3:30 PM Pacific/6:30 PM Eastern/11:30 PM GMT. The show will be archived so potential listeners in other parts of the world will have the chance to listen to the discussion which marks the first time the writers and director have spoken together in public.
If you can't get enough of JACK KETCHUM'S THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, the film is also the cover story for the latest issue of RUE MORGUE magazine, available on stands this weekend.
A new, tie-in edition of the novel featuring an excerpt of a lengthy, exclusive interview with Ketchum, Farrands & Nutman concerning the writing of the novel and the movie will be published by Leisure in January. The full, 8,000 word interview, conducted by Quentin Dunne, will be posted on Chi sponsor Dorchester Publishing's Web site at the time of the release.
Also on the interview front, Fearzone.com is currently running the first three installments of a lengthy, career-spanning four-part profile of Philip Nutman, which encompasses everything from his beginnings as a movie journalist and his being hired to become Fangoria magazine's first British Correspondent while still a teenager, to his work as a comic book writer, multiple award-nominated writer of short stories/novellas and the cult zombie novel, WET WORK. For the first time, Nutman discusses his spiritual beliefs and their influence on his writing, and discusses his future film projects, including Jack Ketchum's THE CROSSINGS.
The installments can be found here, and part four should appear next week
For the exclusive announcement about THE CROSSINGS movie, Fangoria broke the news on Halloween and the details are at the FANGORIA Website.
SIGNINGS
Due to the looming holiday season, Phil is currently off the road but will resume the AIM FOR THE BRAIN! WET WORK signing tour in January. Dates will be announced at his Web site and on his official MySpace page, but this Wednesday, 12/5, he will be a guest at the prestigious Atlanta Press Club Holiday Author's Signing Party. (DETAILS)
For further information and interview requests please contact Scott Jason PR at scottjason1964@gmail.com
AUTHOR, SCREENWRITER AND PRODUCER PHILIP NUTMAN KICKS OFF “WET WORK” SIGNING TOUR - First stop is at legendary Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas During “Fantastic Fest”
ATLANTA, GA - Philip Nutman, the multiple award-nominated author of WET WORK and co-screenwriter of the critically-acclaimed Independent feature, JACK KETCHUM’S THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, begins a six month signing tour at the legendary Alamo Drafthouse cinema in Austin, Texas on September 22 and 23.
“Before RESIDENT EVIL, before 28 DAYS LATER, there was Philip Nutman. And there was WET WORK. Thank God the Devil is finally getting his due.” - TIM SULLIVAN, co-writer/director 2001 MANIACS and DRIFTWOOD
“Philip Nutman is a vital and original talent.” - Clive Barker.
Following its success as both a signed/limited edition and hard cover (some copies are still available but going fast), WET WORK, the critically acclaimed cult apocalyptic zombie thriller, is now available in trade paperback from Ga.-based Overlook Connection Press (www.overlookconnection.com) and Amazon.com.
Launched over the Labor Day weekend at Dragon*Con alongside the successful screening of JACK KETCHUM’S THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, WET WORK has been described as “an impressive first novel” (John Scoleri, The Scream Factory) and “…the literary equivalent of a Lucio Fulci movie – yes, it’s that wet – which races along like early George Romero” (author Jack Ketchum).
Other signing dates are currently being finalized. Here is the current schedule as it stands:
October 5/6 – venue to be arranged in NYC in conjunction with The Directors Chair Film Festival, to be held on Staten Island, NY (TheDirectorsChairTV.com )
October 14 (Sunday) – Eagle Eye Books, Decatur, GA [TBC] (EagleEyeBooks.com )
“I am hoping to arrange more signings in Chattanooga and Nashville, TN in either late October or early November, plus signings in Alabama and northern Florida, with other parts of the country to follow, but this will be dependent on what happens to the GIRL movie, which has now been invited to over 16 festivals around the world,” Nutman said from his home in Atlanta.
Please check back here at PhilipNutman.com for regular updates or check out Philip’s MySpace page MySpace.com/philipnutman for further info. Also, JACK KETCHUM’S THE GIRL NEXT DOOR now has its own MySpace page in addition to its official site TheGirlNextDoorFilm.com
For interview requests, please contact Anya Martin at 678-468-3867 or gameragirl@hotmail.com.
PHILIP NUTMAN LAUNCHES NEW WEB MAGAZINE AS JACK KETCHUM’S “THE GIRL NEXT DOOR” FINALLY SHOOTS IN NEW JERSEY.
For Immediate Release, 07/31/06
Critically acclaimed novelist, screenwriter and producer Philip Nutman, author of the cult apocalyptic zombie espionage novel, WET WORK, is launching a new pop cultural web-based magazine, UP AGAINST THE WALL, on August 1st, 2006 -- UpAgainstTheWallmag.com
“I spent so much of the last year working on movie projects and putting together two short story collections, I decided I wanted to get back to my journalistic roots,” Nutman said.
UP AGAINST THE WALL will feature celebrity interviews and reviews of a diverse selection of books, movies and music. The first issue features an exclusive interview with three-time world champion wrestler Diamond Dallas Page, who speaks candidly about his starring role in director Tim Sullivan’s forthcoming ghost story, DRIFTWOOD, and his new calling as a yoga guru; renowned Atlanta-based writers Kevin Madigan and Al Kaufman look at the current state of protest music with an interview with James McMurtry and an overview of Neil Young’s latest work, respectively; and British-based anthropologist and musicologist Piers Locke will be contributing a monthly column on unusual CDs.
“UP AGAINST THE WALL has been designed to be an eclectic mix of material the contributors deem cool, hip and unusual – if it’s good, you’ll find it covered here, whether it’s an Italian horror movie, a French art house flick, avant-garde jazz, world music, pulp fiction or an academic study on forensic pathology,” Nutman added.
Future issues will feature exclusive interviews with Rob Zombie, legendary photographer Mick Rock, musician/actor Paul Williams, and many others. “I love interviewing, and there’s a long list of interesting people we want to talk to. Our promise is to never bore you,” he said.
UP AGAINST THE WALL will be “published” the first of each month.
Concurrent with Nutman’s new web venture, his adaptation of the infamous Jack Ketchum novel, THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, which he co-wrote with Daniel Farrands (HALLOWEEN 6: THE CURSE OF MICHAEL MYERS), is now half way through filming on locations in New Jersey. “It took nearly nine years to get made, but it’s finally happening,” Nutman announced.
Produced by Andrew van den Houten and William M. Miller of Modercine Productions, the filmmakers company responsible for the soon-to-be-released, award-winning horror film, HEADSPACE, the film is being directed by Gregory Wilson, who helmed the Spike Lee-executive produced HOME INVADERS. The film stars up-and-comer Blythe Affarth (VERONICA MARS, LAW & ORDER) as Meg, Daniel Manche, one of the actors who plays young Tarzan in the Disney Broadway hit, is David Moran, the hapless teenage narrator of Ketchum’s story. Emmy award-winning actress Blythe Baker (HOLOCAUST, SIXTEEN CANDLES), the daughter of ‘50’s legend Carroll (BABY DOLL) Baker, essays the demanding role of Ruth Chandler, the deranged single mother who orchestrates the emotional and physical torture of Meg and her younger, crippled sister. Austin Williams, the young buzz-worthy actor who co-stars alongside George Clooney in the forthcoming MICHAEL CLAYTON and who plays the young incarnation of Matt Damon’s character in the Robert De Niro-directed THE GOOD SHEPHERD, has been cast as Woofer, Ruth’s youngest homicidal child. Veteran actor William Atherton (DIE HARD), has also signed on to play the adult David in the contemporary scenes. Grant Show (MELROSE PLACE) and Catherine Mary Stewart (NIGHT OF THE COMET) round out the cast as young David’s parents.
Signed, numbered copies of WET WORK are still available but selling fast. To order go to Overlook Connection.
This being the first update, there's a lot to tell.
BOOKS
WET WORK
The big news is that the hardcover, author-preferred edition of WET WORK is finally available from Overlook Connection Press.
WET WORK: THE DEFINITIVE EDITION can be purchased from a number of bricks and mortar and internet stores, including San Francisco’s Borderlands Books (866 Valencia Street, SF, CA 94110), Shocklines.com and Boston’s Pandemonium Books & Games, Inc (36 JFK Street, Cambridge, MA 02138)
Following his successful signing at Borderlands in September, Phil will tour the US over the next twelve months, appearing at numerous conventions, festivals, and whenever possible, signing at independent bookstores.
“The Indies are the cutting edge of venues for discovering new fiction. They will go the extra distance in supporting small publishers and non-bestselling authors, but the owners are usually struggling against great financial hardship, so we owe it to them as writers and readers to give them as much support as possible,” Phil said.
WET WORK is available in three editions: trade hardcover, a signed, limited of 500 copies, and 26 signed, lettered super-deluxe leather-bound copies which include a sewn-in silk book mark and unique endpapers, one of which is a full color art plate reproducing a surreal painting by renowned comic book artist Justiniano, inspired by the novel.
“I’m delighted with how this new edition turned out. It’s been a long time coming, and I’m deeply appreciative off all those fans of the book who have stood by, patiently waiting for the reissue. Initial response has been tremendous,” Phil added.
His next scheduled signing will be at Gainesville, GA’s Coffee Shop of Horrors on Saturday, November 12th, from 2-5pm. See SCHEDULE for updates on future signings and convention appearances.
CITIES OF NIGHT
Phil is finishing up a new, currently untitled novella (one of several new pieces), the final story to be included in his first collection. “I’ve had discussions with three different small publishers, all of whom are interested, but I haven’t made a decision yet,” Phil explained.
Stories to be included in the collection will include the award-nominated “Churches of Desire” and “Full Throttle.” Other, lesser-known tales, such as “Memories of Lydia, Leaving” and “Pavlov’s Wristwatch,” the latter here making its American debut, may undergo minor revisions, “but I haven’t decided yet,” Phil added. “On one level I feel stories should be reprinted as they originally saw publication, but then you reread a line that makes you – certainly me, sometimes, grimace – and you want to change a word here or there. Nothing more, but it’s a tough call.”
The collection will also feature a number of never-before-printed tales, including “Love Sells The Proud Heart's Citadel To Fate,” a novella detailing the events which led Abraham Van Helsing to become a hunter of evil supernatural creatures. “The story was written on spec for Jeanne Cavelos’s anthology THE MANY FACES OF VAN HELSING, a tie-in with the ill-fated VAN HELSING movie, but didn’t make the final cut. There was a 10,000 word limit and I had to compress the ending, but now I have the space to add the details that should have been there,” he said.
The book will also be illustrated, and Phil is in discussions with an artist, but won’t reveal who at this time. “I want the collection to be unique, both in form and content, and the artist I’m in discussions with doesn’t just illustrate, he’s a conceptual designer, and if we can pull off what we’re discussing this will be an outstanding volume.”
OVER MULHOLLAND, UNDER HOLLYWOOD
In addition to finishing up CITIES OF NIGHT, Phil has started working on a second, all original collection of short stories and novellas about films and filmmaking and “trying not to go insane dealing with people in the movie business.”
More news about this project in the coming months.
UNTITLED (?) SHORT STORY FOR THE ANTHOLOGY “BRITISH INVASION”
Writers Christopher Golden, Tim Lebbon, and James A. Moore are editing an all-Brit anthology, entitled BRITISH INVASION (gee, what a surprise!) for Richard Chizmar’s Cemetery Dance Publications, due late next year, and have asked Phil to be one of the contributors. “I’ve already started writing the story,” Phil said, “And yes, I do know what the title is. I’m just not going to reveal it at this time.”
Reprints and Non-fiction:
BEST OF BORDERLANDS
“Churches of Desire,” which originally saw print in BORDERLANDS II [1991] and was reprinted in the late, great Karl Edward Wagner’s YEAR’S BEST HORROR STORIES XX [1992] has been reprinted in this new collection, edited by Elizabeth Monetelone, which spans the first five volumes of this award-winning anthology series. Available direct from the publisher Borderlandspress.com for $25, or from all good specialty stores. The collection, which has over three dozen stories includes tales by Poppy Z. Brite, T.E.D. Klein, F. Paul Wilson, Joe R. Lansdale, Peter Straub, and some guy named Stephen King.
PETER JACKSON: FROM GORE TO MORDOR
(Plexus Publishing; UK 2005). A collection of interviews with and essays on filmmaker Peter Jackson, spanning his entire career, from pioneering New Zealand splatter comedy and outrageous X-rated puppet epics to his Oscar winning reign as the new king of fantasy epics, this solid volume features an early interview/article Phil co-wrote with his former Italian collaborator, Giuseppe Salza. Available from Amazon.com for $14.
MAGAZINES
Over the past couple of years, Phil has returned to the FANGORIA fold, reporting on the making of Tim Sullivan’s forthcoming 2001 MANIACS, contributing a short essay on AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON for the magazine’s 25th anniversary issue (#234), and contributing a number of short pieces for their Web site (see links below).
The 2001 MANIACS set report will run in either the January or February 2006 issue (the film is released on DVD in March).
In March this year, editors Tony Timpone and Michael Gingold sent Phil to cover the making of Mike (THE CONVENT) Mendez’s new feature, THE GRAVEDANCERS, which stars Dominic Purcell (BLADE:TRINITY, the current TV show BREAKOUT) and Phil’s favorite French actor, Tchecky Karyo (GOLDENEYE, THE CORE, THE PATRIOT, et al). The full set report will run later next year. Meanwhile, two short previews can be found here:
In December 2003, this excellent prozine ran a lengthy article on Raedon Video and the making of DEATH COLLECTOR [1988; a.k.a TIN STAR VOID] the low-budget post-apocalyptic rock ‘n’ roll western (!) that Phil acted in. DEATH COLLECTOR brought a number of people together that would all end up working with Phil in different capacities in years to come: Brian and Fran Pulido, who went on to found Chaos! Comics, director Tom G, who would later introduce Phil to Sunwood Entertainment, the company that just financed SHIVER, Phil’s first film as writer-producer. The editor of DEATH COLLECTOR, with whom Phil co-directed second unit, Michael Lang, recently made his directing debut with SHIVER.
The article was writer by journalist and some-time actor, Mike Malloy, whom Phil cast as “Fast” Eddie Sloane in SHIVER (see below). The issue was finally pulled from newsstands a month ago (CULT MOVIES has an erratic publishing schedule) but is still available from CultMoviesMag.com
For a look at some behind-the-scenes photos from the film (which occasionally turns up on e-Bay) go to THE GALLERY.
Somewhere between Halloween and Thanksgiving, Kevin Smith’s Moviepoopshoot.com Web site (gotta love that name! or as Phil says, “they’re going to squeeze me out!” {ouch!}) will run an interview with Phil conducted by Joshua Jabcuga, who has recently interviewed Mick Garris, F. Paul Wilson, and David J. Schow either for Smith’s site or as a major contributor to DOOMED magazine, a new bi-monthly horror comics anthology in the style of Warren’s CREEPY and EERIE, from IDW Publishing.
You can read Joshua’s lengthy interview with Mick, "Know More Mr. Nice Guy", in which Phil, WET WORK, SHIVER, and Phil’s comics adaptation of Garris’s short story, “A Life In The Cinema” (which is archived here in the WRITINGS section) are mentioned in this column here.
MOVIES
SHIVER
Next to the reissue of WET WORK, the biggest news this year for Phil is that SHIVER, his first movie as writer (and producer) is now “in the can” and in the process of post-production for a potential 2006 release.
Since Phil has promised FANGORIA the exclusive on SHIVER, check back here in mid-November for more details on this and other movie projects.
“There’s a lot happening right now, a lot of very exciting developments that promise to make 2006 a very interesting year, but since I’m in the midst of several contract negotiations I can’t reveal more at this time,” Phil said.
In 1985, critically acclaimed, award-nominated writer and journalist Philip Nutman was commissioned to pen the definitive, illustrated history of Amicus Productions, the chief rival to Hammer Films in the British horror movie market of the1960s and ‘70s. Twenty-three years later, the manuscript – now expanded to over 80,000 words – will finally be published in a special issue of LITTLE SHOPPE of HORRORS magazine, one of the longest-running publications devoted to British horror films.
Two years ago, acclaimed, award-winning writers Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon, along with James A. Moore, approached Phil and a number of other British writers to contribute original stories to an all-Brit horror anthology they were planning. Finally, that book is now a reality and will be available later this summer (the official word on the publisher’s Web site is “forthcoming, currently at the printers’” whatever that means.)
