News came in today that director Julian Richards (Shiver, The Last Horror Movie) first feature film from 1996 entitled Darklands has finally been released in the UK courtesy of Metrodome Distribution. Darklands has been a very influential film for the director and you can read more about it below.
From The Press Release
Following its release in North America last year, director Julian Richards debut horror feature DARKLANDS has finally been released on DVD in the UK by Metrodome Distribution with impressive new cover art.
DARKLANDS, which has been sited by UK critics as laying the foundation of the 90’s British horror revival follows a newspaper reporter who, after losing his job in London returns to his industrial Welsh hometown to investigate the mysterious death of a steelworker. When a local priest comes to him with a sinister story of animal sacrifices taking place in his church, the reporter finds himself embroiled in a pagan cult. As he delves deeper, he begins to suspect that there is a link between the two investigations, but those involved will stop at nothing to keeop their existance a secret.
Starring Craig Fairbrass (Cliffhanger), Jon Finch (Frenzy) and Rowena King (Wild Saragossa Sea) DARKLANDS is frequently compared to Robin Hardy’s 1970’s cult classic THE WICKER MAN but the writer/director also acknowledges a debt to Roman Polanski’s ROSEMARY’S BABY.
DARKLANDS which won the Melies D’Argent for Best European Fantasy Film in 1997 launched the directing career of Julian Richards who went on to helm SILENT CRY, THE LAST HORROR MOVIE, SUMMER SCARS and SHIVER, whilst its producer Paul Brooks produced SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE, WHITE NOISE and HAUNTING IN CONNETICUT.
“Darklands was the first British film to combine horror with social realism, a genre watershed which paved the way for the revival of UK horror in the 21st century” said MJ Simpson, author of Urban Gothic: The Modern British Horror Film. “Dark, gritty, contemporary and urban, Julian Richards’ debut reinvented British horror movies. Without this film, there would be no 28 Days Later, no Shaun of the Dead, no Dog Soldiers.”
Watch the trailer for Darklands here:
