The Vampires of Bloody Island

VAMPIRE FANS BRING ABOUT EARLY FILM RELEASE

Cult DVD label The Weird World of Wibbell has bowed to the demands of thousands of vampire fans, making their new comedy horror film ‘The Vampires of Bloody Island’ available to fans several weeks in advance of the DVD’s official release.

Vampire films are hot, hot, hot right now and it seems that vampire film fans just can’t get enough of their favourite blood-sucking action! An email campaign by thousands of vampire film fans has resulted in British DVD label The Weird World of Wibbell rushing forward the release of it’s long awaited DVD release ‘The Vampires of Bloody Island’.

The low-budget independent British vampire comedy has been steadily building a network of over five thousand fans, eagerly following the adventures and missadventures of the films writers & stars, husband and wife team Allin Kempthorne and Pamela Kempthorne, in their very personal fortnightly newsletters.

“We’ve been through some pretty nerve-wracking times in getting this film finished and out on DVD” says first time Director Allin Kempthorne, “And we’ve been describing every detail, whether humerous, hopeful or horror-filled, in our newsletters to the thousands of people who are following the film and our story. After each newsletter we send out we typically get over 100 emails back from readers who say they’re loving the optimism, child-like excitement, triumphs against adversity and the go-getting attitude and above all humour of our newsletters, and how much they’re really looking forward to seeing the film.”

The official release date for ‘The Vampires of Bloody Island’ was set for January 25th in the UK & Europe, and February the 1st in Canada & the USA. However, following recent newsletters in which Allin and Pamela described having the first shipment of 2000 DVDs manufactured and delivered, the response from readers became even more overwhelming.

“We sent out a newsletter describing our excitement at borrowing the corner of a warehouse and cleaning it up, clueless as to how much room 2000 DVDs was actually going to take.” Says Allin. “When the delivery arrived from the DVD factory, I had to run around the industrial estate trying to find a fork lift truck we could borrow, just to get the DVDs into the warehouse. We found one, and paid the driver for his troubles with a DVD. He was the first person in the world to get hold of a copy of the ‘The Vampires of Bloody Island’!”

Following this newsletter, the pair were innundated with nearly a thousand emails from their readers congratulating them on all they’d been through to get this far. “It was heartwarming to say the least,” says Pamela, who stars as evil vampiress Morticia de’Ath in the film. “We actually shed tears at some of the emails. They were so warm and positive. And they just kept on  coming! Our inbox was jammed! Now that our readers knew the DVDs were made, they of course started badgering us to sell them a copy!”

“Our release schedule was all worked out.” says Allin. “We needed to physically have the DVDs about a month ahead of the release so that we could organise sending them out for reviews to magazines and getting them shipped off to the shops. But it became pretty difficult to organise the mechanics of the release when our email box was constantly being clogged up with people demanding to buy a copy!

So we quickly shoved up a ‘secret’ website just for fans so that they could buy the DVD early, and at a discount too to thank them for their loyalty.

As so many of them felt they knew us personally through our newsletters, we also put up the option for them to have their DVD signed by the two of us. Amazingly around half the sales we’ve been getting have been for signed copies! It’s wonderful to think that through our chatty newsletters we’ve really connected with thousands of people in this very personal way.”

So what is this independent British vampire film, starring a bunch of unknown actors, that’s been stirring up such feeling amongst the public, while still as yet largely under the radar of the industry press?

‘The Vampires of Bloody Island’ is a comedy horror story which harks back to the style and nostalgia of the British Hammer vampire movies of the 1970’s. Filled to it’s rotting rafters with creepy comical characters and plenty of exploding vampires, it’s a laugh-packed send up of every vampire film you’ve ever loved. “We’ve really taken the whole nostalgic Hammer Studios style of vampire film, with that charmingly English creepy feel, and piled on lashes of humour and special effects.” Describes Allin. “The result is a really funny film filled with creepy characters and stunning locations that people want to watch again and again!”

The Scream Magazine calls it “A real cult classic”, Dark Nights Magazine calls it “Genuinely hilarious and tremendous fun” while British Film magazine says the film is “set to tantalise fans of horror and comedy alike.”

For the USA and Canada, the NTSC DVD will be available on Feb 1st. Join the mailing list to be amongst the first to get it, and at a discount!

You can see the trailer for ‘The Vampires of Bloody Island’, buy the DVD right now on multi-region PAL, and join the thousands of people receiving newsletters, all from the Weird World of Wibbell website at www.wibbell.co.uk