Talk: Raising Hell - Horror and the British film industry in the '80s

This evening, I was to go with The Hideout: Horror Sci-Fi Club London to a talk at the Horse Hospital, entitled Raising Hell, about horror and the British film industry in the 1980s. Bought a ticket - and then the organiser said he couldn't make it. I already had a ticket, of course - so I went anyway. And the annoying thing is, he deleted the event completely! It might have been nice to meet others who could still make it, you know..! This isn't the first time he's done this, apparently. Well, at least it's really close to me.

Right around the corner from GBK, actually - so I ate there. As I was queueing to ask for a table, I noticed they have a new menu item - "The Duke" is modelled on a beef Wellington, with mushrooms and such - I might have had that, but I didn't have a chance to have a proper read before I was at the till. And, recognising me as someone who always orders the same thing, he asked whether I wanted to put in my order straight away. So I did, and had the usual - but one day, I might have The Duke..

Just as well I ordered immediately, I was only just finished in time to pop across the road for the advertised time of 7pm. Of course, it didn't start then - in fact, I joined quite a long queue. Which eventually started moving - the hapless guy at the door had some trouble finding a couple of people, I think. Checked my name off the list - I was second from the top, if that means anything. Then it was down the horse ramp and through the heavy curtain, to a small room with chairs and a screen, which I've only been in once before. I took a seat at the end of the front row - it was mostly, but not completely, full.

Cool graphic, huh? The speaker was a Geordie, and in the first half concerned himself with the impression of most people that British horror is synonymous with Hammer. Mind you, his definition of a British film includes many that most would not agree with him on - his criterion is that it should have some British funding, so that money flows back to Britain. Well, you need a cut-off somewhere.

At the interval, I went in search of the bar - I'd forgotten, but it's behind the screen. Where I asked for white wine, and was told I could have a sauvignon blanc.. or a sauvignon blanc. So I had a sauvignon blanc. And after the break, the speaker used one particular film to illustrate many of his points - Don't Open Till Christmas is a slasher, set in London, where the killer has a particular grudge against anyone dressed as Santa Claus.

I'm not so deeply invested in the subject matter as to have found it all enthralling - mainly, I enjoyed the extracts from, and trailers for, what we used to know as "video nasties" back in the 80s. But it was enjoyable enough, and lovely to be talking about horror again - it's just ironic that I was supposed to be with the same group on the last occasion I was here, and saw none of them either time! Hey-ho, there must be a curse on the place - anyway, it was over in time for me to shop on the way home.

Tomorrow, back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) for Medea, with Sophie Okonedo, at Soho Place.

On Thursday, it's back to the Vault Festival - for Happy Factory, who have an airealist show. Not suitable for young children, apparently..

Now, Friday is Paddy's Day. But for once, I'm not doing anything related - I'm back with the Crick Crack Club (CCC) for a performance of Beowulf, at King's Place. Two Danish storytellers, it seems.

On Saturday - awesome! Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpy Old Londoners have a walk I haven't done, and which is scheduled for a day I can make it. How unusual.. This is Clubland: Secrets of the Gentleman's Clubs. I hear there was supposed to be yet another rail strike that day, but not now.. and the poor chap seems to be having terrible trouble getting people to confirm whether they're coming for lunch after. I know that feeling..

And what a very good job it's in the afternoon - because that evening is a performance, in conjunction with the CCC, of Medusa, again at King's Place! An unusual take on it, from the evidence of Wednesday's storytelling..

On Sunday, London Walks, Art & Culture Explorers are going on a Quirky London walk. And so am I.

On Monday, back with UITCS for a play called Women, Beware the Devil, set in the year 1640 - showing in the Almeida.

Next Tuesday, I've booked with The London Palestinian Rights Meetup Group for Taking Sides – A Conversation about Love, War, and Changing the World. Happening at Amnesty International UK. But you know, I might just go to a film instead.. you'll have gathered by now that I didn't get to Scream VI on Sunday, I figured it'd be too much of a rush. Currently still top of the list, so if nothing exceptional knocks it off its perch, that might be a good day to see it..

Back with UITCS for the next two days - on the 22nd, it's for comedian Rosie Holt at the Leicester Square Theatre.

On the 23rd, I'm at Further Than the Furthest Thing, at the Young Vic. Then back to Ireland for the weekend again.

On the 27th, I booked with the Happy Positive Group! For their weekly Monday trivia night! They seem to be completely online. But wow, looking at it lately, they seemed to have switched that week to the next day! Although, having cancelled my attendance, I then noticed that all Meetups were displaying in the wrong time zone, so were shown as starting five hours later than they actually were.. I complained, and they did fix it. Well, I probably wouldn't have gone anyway. The best Meetup left for that day is with the Shanty Singers Colliers Wood. This is another of those things I once booked and ended up cancelling, so I'll hold off on booking that till nearer the time. As is becoming usual.

On the 28th, I've booked for Phaedra, at the National.

On the 29th, I'm going with UITCS to Sadler's Wells - first time in an age - for Creature, by Akram Khan! I absolutely love his work. Handily enough, I used my latest Theatre Token for this - would have used it for Phaedra, but while neither theatre takes them online (you have to phone if you want to use a token), the National charges extra for phone bookings. So I used it for this instead.

On the 30th, back with the London European Club, at somewhere called the Ugly Duck, for Synchrony, a female 12-piece string ensemble. Tickets from Eventbrite. As hosted by Eleanor Salter Thorn again! So glad to see her hosting events in more central locations..

I was keeping the 31st free because Ivan is feeling thirsty again. :-) And for once, he seems to be sticking to the date, having booked us a table at The Lucas Arms (which, as he pointed out, has a smoker's area). We're hoping to have Martin - my other friendly ex-boss - join us, but he has more family commitments, so we'll just have to wait and see. And this looks like turning into the first zapoi in a while - he's talking about booking a studio, where we can drink overnight. Oy ve, watch this space.. So, not pushed about doing anything extra on the 1st.

And on the 2nd, I'm back with the CCC, for Orpheus Dismembered, at the British Museum, courtesy of Ben Haggarty.

Talk: Remakespoitation - The Horror Meme

Tonight, I was with a completely new group - London Sci-Fi Horror Hide-Out, for their first ever Meetup! Hem - this was Miskatonic LDN - Remakesploitation: The Horror Meme. (Tickets from WeGotTickets.) Fairly trips off the tongue, the whole thing! So it seems that Miskatonic LDN is actually an institute of horror studies, and based at the Horse Hospital. Well now. This specific event is about the many international horror film remakes through the years. Would you believe it though, it took a co-worker, t' other day, to let me know that "Miskatonic" is a Lovecraft reference! Well, it's years since I last read him.

I headed off in good time - on the bus, I was sat beside a couple having a conversation about relationships, so interesting that I really had to restrain myself from chipping in.. When I reached my destination, I passed the street with the Horse Hospital in it and had to backtrack slightly. There is a sign for it, but only visible as I was turning back! It wasn't hard to find after that - sure enough, the queue down the middle of the road was a good indicator. You see, as a sign on the door indicated, doors didn't open till 7. Uhh.. I couldn't see any messages on the Meetup page, and once I'd checked with the only people around that looked like they might be the ones I was looking for (which they weren't), I just left a message and took my place in the queue. And yes, it was cold.. at least once the car we were standing beside drove off, we could queue by the wall, out of the road finally!

At about 10 to, the door opened and we all looked expectantly at the guy who poked his head out. He turned to look at the queue, now stretching around the corner, remarked, "Oh f***!", and disappeared back inside, closing the door behind him. He didn't re-open it for another 20 minutes or so, when he was sporting a clipboard with a checklist of our names. Inside at last, we found not stairs down, but a ramp - for the horses, I guess! A queue at the bottom turned out to be for people who had signed up for a season ticket, and could collect them there. In the room proper, the seats were comfy enough - although the one I ended up taking had an unfortunately leaning back, so I ended up slouched forward for most of the evening, to compensate. By this stage, the room was too crowded to have any chance of finding the rest of the group - it was almost full.

On the left, a Turkish version of The Exorcist. As the speaker remarked, this was played quite straight, with Islam substituted for Christianity - the possessed little girl is holding a Satanic idol of some kind, which in the original film was substituted for the crucifix with which she stabbed herself. The exorcist in the film is an imam.

On the right, we see a still from a Pakistani version of Dracula. The Dracula part of the talk was actually my favourite - it was hilarious to see the different versions, some most comical - and there was a very interesting Powerpoint presentation illustrating the spread of the meme across the world.

At the interval, I checked my phone - and there were messages that had been posted before the talk, but hadn't come through by the time I turned off my phone! So it seems that one of the group spent his time waiting in the pub across the road, and the organiser was sporting a grey NASA rucksack. I had another look around, but couldn't see such a thing - and had little chance anyway, with the crowds queuing for the "bar" - a counter behind the screen, complete with a fridge and supplies of drink. It was proving very popular.

The second half concerned itself with Indian and Pakistani film - and the speaker expressed his astonishment that India, so well known for other remakes, was hardly known for horror! We saw a bit of Aatank, a version of Jaws, and also of the Indian version of A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Clips were shown throughout, of course - it's a shame that they kept freezing. The trailer that proclaimed the film so shocking that - they couldn't show any scenes from it - was hilarious! But I'm afraid the films themselves left me pretty cold - very much B-movies. Still, interesting to see what other cultures made of the Hollywood blockbusters. He has a book, by the way, which you can get from the speaker direct for £10.. 

As the talk progressed, I began to feel the desperate cold seep in from outside. I was frozen by the time I got up - and frozen walking all the way back to the bus stop. I was so lucky that my bus came almost straight away! Tomorrow, I'm back to Ireland for the weekend. And on Monday, back with Up in the Cheap Seats for Pinter at the Pinter again! This is Programme 5 - The Room / Victoria Station / Family Voices. And this evening includes a free Q+A with the cast.