Women in Horror Spotlight - Melanie Light

One of the things that I have always loved about women in horror, is that there are so many incredible women that have used their voice and their art to speak out about various social justice issues in our society.  

With the dairy industry responding to Veganuary with their Februdairy campaign, Melanie Light's The Herd is absolutely my favourite film to kick off Women in Horror Month!

First and foremost, Melanie is an awesome fucking individual, end of.  For everything that I believe in, I feel that she's one of my total girly soulmates.  Through her art, she totally expresses the way that I think and feel about so much, and in a way, that I have yet to be able to even properly express myself.  That makes her a true inspiration in my eyes, and also why I think everyone needs to see her work. 

A little while ago, one of my young staff members had been asking for scary films to watch, I sent him a link to The Herd.  It genuinely got to him.  So much so that when one of our friends asked just last week for us to recommend scary films to him, I was asked the name of the film I had recommended to his bud and re-shared the link.  I got some really awesome feedback with people asking for me to recommend more films like that, and others checking out Melanie's other work on their own and absolutely loving it which was really awesome to hear.

The thing with The Herd, is that to "normal" society (don't even know what the fuck that means, haha), the dairy industry is totally cool and what's wrong with "milkin' a coo" and all that?!  When you show them it from a human perspective, from the truly non-specist point of view, it suddenly becomes this utterly horrific and brutal situation that they wouldn't wish on their worst enemy!  It's really weird.  

I feel that Melanie encaptures everything here, from animal rights to feminism and how society deems those they feel are "lesser creatures" (animals and humans), and in the most beautifully graphic and on point way possible.  This is one of the films I recommend the most when people ask me to recommend stuff to watch.  I love films that are not only wonderfully dark but dark for a purpose, because they reflect society's general human acceptance of the most twisted of things.     

Please watch The Herd, have a wee think about it and then be sure to let me know your thoughts! :)  

Want to know what is probably the most truly inspirational thing about this awesome chick....she literally went from making films about serial killers to animal rights with her feminist art.  Don't think I need to point out the beautiful irony and wonder of this.  Melanie is awesome and so incredibly fearless in her fight to end cruelty to both animals and women, end of!  We need more Light in our lives! <3  

If you like The Herd, or are curious about Melanie's film growth, then please be sure to check out her website.   If you are particularly wanting to see more animal rights stuff, then definitely check out The Skin You're In on her website, as well as Vimeo.  Also be totally sure to check out Switch and Escape for lots of killer goodness as well!

Oooh, side note.....these are just Melanie's amazing films that she's done herself, she has also worked on a shit load of awesome films including The Autopsy of Jane Doe, Cockneys vs Zombies, Doghouse and Centurian. 

Her most recent work is Crispian Mills new film, Slaughterhouse Rulz.  Yup, the Crispian Mills of Kula Shaker for all y'all 90's kids like moi, haha.  He's also the Crispian who wrote the brilliant and severely underrated A Fantastic Fear of Everything, and is getting us Simon Pegg and Nick Frost back together, woohoo! :)  

Just to balance out the dark subject matter though, I think we need some Melanie doing work with the Animal Justice Project showing that happiness is truly being covered in piglets! :)

"Happiness is being covered in piglets" from Florence Pellacani on Vimeo.

Jennifer's Bodies 2015 Line Up - Short Films Category - Melanie Light's The Herd! A Vegan's Take on the Brutality of The Dairy Industry!

It is with extremely great pleasure that I can announce that I shall be screening The Herd, written by my fellow feminist, horror Vegans Ed Pope (yes, boys can be feminits too!!) and directed by Melanie Light....pictured below.

You might remember me writing about this film when Melanie was first running a kickstarter campaign for it.  :) 

I remember describing this film to people when Melanie first sent me details of the film/campaign.  People were utterly horrified when I said that it was about these women who are kept in cages/crates and are repeatedly raped and impregnated, only for those babies to then be taken off of them, they are milked dry, raped and impregnated again, in a cycle of repeated abuse.  If they try and rebel, they get zapped with probes.   Everyone always comments how fucked up, sick and deprived this is.  To which I then reply, "kinda EXACTLY like the dairy industry!!"

I guess what I find so shocking is the fact that we have to resort to such vulgar descriptions to get people to understand the utter cruelty of these industries.  

I for one shall be VERY interested to hear peoples thoughts on this one.  :)  

In the meantime, please check out the brand spanking new trailer for the film, and let us know what you think.  :)  

LIKE The Herd on Face 

Melanie Light is Back with a Brutal Take on the Dairy Industry in The Herd, and Needs Your Help!

As a Vegan animal rights chickaroo, I am always having to explain just what exactly is wrong with milk, and where the cruelty in the dairy industry lies.  Well.....director Melanie Light is about to make that subject all the easier for me to get my point across with her new short The Herd, and I am fucking ecstatic about it!! :) 

Starring Pollyanna McIntosh (The Woman, Filth) and featuring a score by Laurent Bernard of Gallows, THE HERD is a study into the most unimaginable human suffering, yet it depicts a violence that is perpetrated every day on a massive scale. 

THE HERD is written by Ed Pope and directed by Melanie Light, and features the additional acting talents of Victoria Broom (ABCs of Death 2, Stalled), Jon Campling (Sleeping Dogs, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows) and Charlotte Hunter (Dungeons and Dragons, Vitality).

Imprisoned within inhuman squalor with other women; Paula’s existence and human function is abused as a resource by her captors.

Escape, on any level, is hopeless as the women are condemned to a life of enforced servitude at the whims of their imprisoners for one reason only – their milk.  Enslaved, inseminated and abused – every facet of their life is violated. At first the premise seems exaggerated and absurd; but is, in fact, disgusting in its stark normality.

Deliberately avoiding the lack of finesse associated with “torture porn” and sexploitation, THE HERD eschews these in favour of a vicarious descent into the visceral nightmare of relinquishing the most innate rights of existence. 

Existing principally as a dark and transgressive horror short; THE HERD also asks questions as to how we approach the sentiency of other beings and the importance of the concept of individual freedoms in modern society.

The Herd brings together a ridiculously talented team, and those who were at Jennifer's Bodies in February will know Melanie from her gore~geous serial killer short Escape.  Written by Ed Pope, this is a story I've always wanted to do.  It's the kind of extremity that one almost needs to use to make a point, and to get people to listen.  It's not shock for shock's sake, there is purpose behind it.  And one very dear to me at that.

To make this project to Melanie's exceptionally usual  high standards, she is calling on YOU, the fans, and fellow advocates of horror and animal rights, to help her!  The perks that go along with helping to fund the film are pretty awesome I'm sure you'll agree, so if you've got some spare pennies and want to help make what I'm pretty god damn sure will be one of the best films this year...then get a clicking and find out more HERE!

To keep up to date with the project please be sure to LIKE it on good old Facebook, and of course keep your peeps peeped here too! :) 

Jennifer's Bodies - Official Line Up - Saturday 22nd February!

UK PREMIER

Nobody Can Cool 

by Rachel Holzman and Marcy Boyle

Rachel and Marcy will be in attendance so you have the chance to mingle/network with them before the screening, and there will also be a Q&A after the screening too.  

Melanie Light - Escape

Daina Papadaki - 5 Ways 2 Die

Sarah Theissen - The Message 

Mai Nakanishi - No Place Like Home

Kelsey Zukowski - Words like Knives

Elisabeth and Brenda Fies - Better than Bullies

Women in Horror Month Calender 2014 on Offer Throughout February!

Melanie Light is a busy bumble bee.  On top of working on other peoples films, as well as her own (including Escape which is an official selection for Jennifer's Bodies this year), she got together some of the most awesome women in horror from the UK for this bad ass calender!!  

Throughout the month of February, in celebration of Women in Horror Recognition Month, the calender will be down to £10 as well...BONUS!!  Proceeds from the sale of the calender go to Rape Crisis and S.O.P.H.I.E, so for two very important charities as well.  :)

 (Pictured above - Hellraiser's Cenobite Barbie Wilde with her copy.  Barbie is featured in the calender too!)

You can find out more about this wicked calender over on Facebook and Twitter. 

And So We Begin...Official Jennifer's Bodies 2014 Selection....

Okay so it is with great pleasure that I can announce the first shorts to be accepted into Jennifer's Bodies 2014.  I have a wicked little array of shorts here, as well as a number of features for your viewing pleasure....all of which I'll be announcing over the coming week.  :)  

So first up is Melanie Light's Escape.  A fucking awesome little short that I cannot wait to unleash upon you all.  I'm also looking forward to sharing Melanie's "shut the fuck up and switch your phone off" ident too.  Ha! 

Next official entry is that of my dear friend Jennifer Campbell, the amazing award winning director/writer from Vancouver, and a downright awesome chick in her own right!!  To find out a wee bit more about this lovely lady, you can check out this review of Jen's first short HIKE, as well as an interview with the lovely lady herself when HIKE first screened at Jennifer's Bodies back in 2012.  :)  

This February, I will be screening Jen's new award winning short Bruised.  A short that is absolutely spectacular and very much deserving of its multitude of awards that it has been receiving.

"Body horror has been revived, there's no doubt (last year's Best Short Films featured 2 of them, even).  Jennifer Campbell takes it down a notch and keeps it very real by giving her film a working class twist to it, which makes it not only more interesting than most, but gives it an angle that adds so much more to it."  Film Bizarro

In the meantime, go check out my review of the film over at my Musings of a Morleysaurus blog and drop the film a LIKE on Facebook, and keep up to date with the goings on of this wicked little short. :)