Jennifer's Bodies 2017 - Women in Horror Panel Lineup.

Jessica Bowman - Director of Rabbits Take Revenge 

Jessica, Jessica, Jessica.  My love.  My darling.  My wife!  Haha.  Jess and I have worked together on a number of projects with boys, but it is Jess's directorial debut I am MOST excited for!  Rabbits Take (mother fucking) Revenge!!!!!  Jess has worked with me on horror, dystopian future and fantasy films.  Her total bunny rights flick though that she is soon to be shooting....it melts my little heart!  She is an awesome, awesome chickaroo and I am glad that people are digging her script so far.  :)

Rabbits Take Revenge is a film after my own heart, I am a total animal rights activist, anti-vivisection and pro-women in film.  It makes me so happy that special effects/makeup artist Samantha Jack, who is working on the film, has transferred to a cruelty-free makeup as well after realising how many big brands that are makeup staples, are also cruel and evil.  Sam has even turned down work due to people demanding animal-tested makeup.  Yup....that's how rad these girls are!!  Rabbits Take Revenge is a total girl-powered animal rights film and I am behind it 110%.  Jess is also seriously one of the closest people you can ever find to being soooooo like me!!!  Haha.  She ooozes Women in Horror and will make a great panelist!

Jessica will also be introducing Hayley McInline's Bridal Fever trailer, which she worked on.  Unfortunately, Hayley is heavily preggers and in total agony so will probably not be able to make it.  We can still hope though. :)  Be well Hayley! <3 

(Pictured above - Jess and I covered in our screen husband, Craig McGinlay's FAKE blood, haha!!)

Julie Robinson - Director of Were

I am so excited to be giving fellow Scot, Julie Robinson's Were, its world premiere at Jennifer's Bodies this year.  This busy mother of two has been a Lighting Console Operator and Vision Engineer at BBC Scotland since 2000 and runs her production company, Jumbled Up Productions, in her spare time.  With the BBC she has worked on everything from Mrs Brown's Boys to T in the Park, Harry Potter at the Castle, BAFTA Scotland awards to loads of other stuff including entertainment shows to sports.  

Were is Julie's first horror and third project with her company.  What I love most about Julie through her own personal stuff such as documentary Socks and Shoes Off, is that she is teaching young girls (and boys....all the way through to grannies!!) to be bad asses and learning how to protect themselves.  Were is most definitely a reflection on this.  I guess the old adage "don't judge a book by its cover" is oh so apt here!

Julie will be on the Women in Horror Month panel and will also have cast and crew in attendance.  :)

Jo Osborne - Director of Requital

Jo, like Julie, is another awesome chick I have only met recently.  And through none other than Woman in Horror Month founder Hannah Neurotica, who had Jo over for the US premiere of Requital at her Ax Wound Festival.

Not only is Jo a filmmaker, but she also runs the Love Hurts Film Festival in Glasgow as well, which actually had its latest event last night, February 14th.  I can't wait to get Jo's input on being a woman in film, my beloved Hannah, and the joys of running a film festival as well.

Jo will be there to introduce Requital, as well as feature on the Women in Horror panel. :)

Ben Thompson - Director of Nutcracker

I first discovered Ben Thompson last year when he had submitted his film Nutcracker for funding from Film Industry Scotland.  His script was incredible and a total reflection on so many important topics at the forefront of modern western society today.  It is a darkly delicious take on a whole culture...a culture that needs to change!  Nutcracker is definitely a film most perfectly suited to Women in Horror Month, it is directed by a guy, but with a total feminist story, strong female lead and a lot of awesome chicks behind the scene....Ben is totally the kind of male director we love!

Ben is going to be joining us on the Women in Horror Month panel and also giving us a first look at the wicked trailer for Nutcracker as well.  Ben is also a film technician at Screen Academy Scotland.

Rose McGowan's "WOMANSWOMB" is a Must See Visual Statement Against Our Times of Dictatorship!

Holy fucking shit!  Rose McGowan is giving me all sorts of feels right now!  As an actress, she was awesome.  As an outspoken activist however...she is actually one of the most incredible and inspirational women out there leading the way today!  And as someone I totally consider one of my favourite women in horror, this level of punk as fuck awesomeness just makes me love her all the more!

"I actually used some of my own blood, put hydrogen peroxide in it, bubbled it up, filmed it, and then had a lovely Indian model in something that looks womb-like work her way out of ," she explained. "The black bars on the side of the frame represent how society squeezes women, squeezes their rights."

Like, actually LOOOOOVE!!!  She is fucking incredible! 

Her new video is a stunning piece of visceral artwork that truly echoes the real horrors of the world around us.  A world where women are still seen as second-class citizens in a world dictated to by men!   With the election to Presidential status of an inflated, uneducated orange blob with no care or concern for Women's Rights (Human Rights, Environmental Rights....any rights other than that of fellow racist, misogynistic, narcissistic, homophobic middle/upper class white wankers!), Rose has spoken out in the most incredible and genuinely touching way.  

Jennifer's Bodies 2015 Line Up - Short Films Category - Chelsey Burdon and Mark Vessey's Delightfully Twisted SHE!

Chelsey Burdon is a wonderfully wicked chick and I fucking love her short film SHE....like, a LOT!!  Haha.  My friend Mac had seen it at Frightfest and messaged me to see if I'd seen it, as I would LOVE it.  HAHA.  Mac knows my sick sense of humour, lol, and guys that have seen this at Frightfest have all messaged me to say that men will cringe.  BWAHAHAHAHA.  And they will.  Muah! :)

SHE was co-written and directed with her partner in crime Mark Vessey...yet another example of boys and girls working in wonderful collaboration with each other to bring us delightfully wicked films.  :)

Jennifer's Bodies 2015 Line Up - Feature Films Category - Maude Michaud's Stunning Debut Feature Dys-, Starring Shannon Lark!

Maude Michaud is a filmmaker I have been friends with since I started my "women in horror" journey.  Over the years, I have screened the majority of her shorts (including the Shannon Lark starring RED), and it is with great fucking pleasure that I bring to Scotland, her gore~geous debut feature, Dys-.

Set in Montreal during a viral outbreak, people are advised to stay in their homes to avoid contamination from a virus that has been causing confusion, rage and fits of coughing blood. 

 Confined to their apartment, Dys- explores the relationship between married couple Ava and Sam, paying particular attention to the perception of both women, and mental health challenges in society today. 

The beautiful thing about Dys- is that we question ourselves as to what we are seeing....what is real, and what is imagined...which adds to the claustrophobic head fuck that we are already witnessing in glorious detail!

Starring horror darling and total bad ass genre feminist, Shannon Lark, in a role that is a definite contrast from that of her I AM MONSTER character Vivienne...although she still digs the kink, haha.

Dys- literally hits the nail on the head when it comes to the subject of a woman's place in the modern world we live in, and how little things have really changed over the past hundred years and more!!

This is a powerful performance from Shannon Lark.  There are moments of complete vulnerability and terror, to self pleasing eroticism, to just downright crazy.

Dys- explores the perception in society that women have an expiry date, and for a character such as Shannon's ex-model Ava who has largely spent her career working with her husband...when he goes to New York to take a new job, and leaves her at home....you really do learn that "Home is Where the Hurt Is".  

I'm not going to say anything more other than, YOU NEED TO SEE THIS FILM!!!!!  :)  Trust ME! xo

 

LIKE Dys- on Facebook and check out Maude Michaud's Quirk Films website too.  :)

Jennifer's Bodies 2015 Line Up - Feature Films Category - Rocking Vegan Feminism with Sophia Cacciola and Michael J. Epstein's TEN!

Soooo, my first feature film announcment comes in the form of the deliciously wicked, yet wonderful feast for the eyes, TEN.  A feature that is so after my own heart and everything I believe in, that it is just an absolute delight!  If like me, you like your films to be entertaining, pretty fucked up...and that actually have something to say, then you're going to fucking love TEN!!  

TEN is a post-exploitation exploration of identity starring ten women.

Ten women find themselves in a vacant mansion on Spektor Island in December, 1972. Each believes she's traveled to the house on business, but they all agree that something seems strange. For one thing, the entire house is full of pictures and statues of pigs.

The women all come from drastically different walks of life. None of them would have chosen to spend the night together in such an eerie place, but the last ferry for the mainland has just left, and a terrible storm is rolling in. Trying to make the best of an unpleasant situation, they raid the mansion's wine cellar and throw a party. As the night creeps on, however, it becomes clear that someone--or something--has arranged to get them in the house. It's not long before someone mentions that Spektor Island is supposed to be haunted. Of course, no one in the house believes in ghosts.

At least, not until the first murder.
What do an actress, a religious zealot, a renegade, a coed, a model, a singer, a medium, a real-estate investor, a historian, and a doctor have in common? None of them is who they seem. Yet, the fate of the entire world may rest in their hands.

The all-female cast film is a response to exploitation, slasher, and thriller films, with particular focus on the kind of storytelling prominent in b-movies and genre films from the 1950s to the 1980s. It explores the meaning and fluidity of identity and takes a number of surprising turns, paying homage to filmmakers and producers such as Alfred Hitchcock, Roger Corman, John Carpenter, Wes Craven, Jim Wynorski, Jean Rollin, Lloyd Kaufman, and Andy Sidaris.

Ooh, and a film with opening credits THIS awesome...you know this little Vegan animal rights activist and feminist is gonna be ALL over this!! Muaaahahaha. :)

#WiHM666 

#JennifersBodies

Jennifer's Bodies 2015 - Accepting Submissions of Features and Short Films NOW!!

So, after a successful 2 day event in Edinburgh in February 2014, Jennifer's Bodies is back for 2015, this time to be hosted in Glasgow.  Submissions are now open and here are the lines to guide you.

I have already pre-selected a number of films personally, so if you know yourself to be one of my personally selected films, you don't need to submit again.  If you're not sure, just gimme a holler!!

Soooooo......much like every year.....

Your feature film/short MUST be either directed, produced or written by a woman.  

• All submissions must obviously be horror (doh!), be it psychological, zombie, ghost, revenge, slasher...as long as it is horror~ific...and if you're not sure, by all means, please do get in touch!  I also love haunting sad films that ooze melancholy and many of these can still be deemed horror of sorts.  It's all subjective to our own personal ideas I guess.  :)  

• For submissions of shorts, if you could email me links to a private Vimeo/YouTube account with the password for me to view.  If I then accept your submission for this years festival, I will require a copy to be posted out on DVD/Blu-ray and/or a high quality downloadable copy.   
• When emailing me, if you could include a basic synopsis of your movie, along with any campaign materials such as film stills, posters and trailer etc.
• Once you have been accepted into Jennifer's Bodies 2014, when posting out your DVD, if you could also include any campaign materials in hard copies, such as postcards etc. for your film. This way I can display them at the event and it makes it easier for people to remember the names of all the things they've seen. 
• Also if you have any other promotional items such as t-shirts, patches and what not that you'd like to send, I will be doing a giveaway and raffle at the event, with all funds raised to be donated to Beagle rights charity Unite to Care.  Also my boobs like to put your tees on them too.  They likes the coverage, moooahahahaha.  So T-SHIRTS for Morleysaurus BOOB coverage = GOOD!!  

• There is no charge for submissions however if you would like to make a donation towards helping put the festival together, then that is most appreciated.  If you would like to help out with some of the costs, including that of advertising and making up a programme, then please let me know.  I do everything for Jennifer's Bodies myself and the costs do build up, so any help I can get is fab!! :)   

• I will consider a feature/short that is not directed by a woman IF it is both written and produced by a woman and has a strong female lead performance.  
• Every year I screen a film directed by a MAN that has basically taken on board all of the principles of Women in Horror Month.  Such as Jose Pedro Lopes, and Jeremiah Kipp; both previously screened at Jennifer's Bodies, due to their strong female empowered films.  If you are a woman and you feel that you know a guy who embodies everything that we stand for, get them to drop me a line. :)

• All submissions are due by January 27th 2014. 

Email for submissions and more information - jennifersbodies@gmail.com

Details to include -

• Name
• Website/Facebook Page/Twitter/Tumblr/Instagram/Pinterest etc.
• A Small Bio About Yourself
• Short Description of Submission
• Links to YouTube/Vimeo (other private video site) 

Come find me on Facebook and LIKE, LIKE, LIKE, and check out what Starburst Magazine had to say about last years event. :)  xo

Woman Crush Wednesday - The Mother of ALL Inspiration....MADONNA!!

I fucking LOVE Madonna.  Like....more than average love of a pop star.  She is my ultimate female love and inspiration, and a truly worthy contender for Woman Crush Wednesday.  Hell, I could write a feature on every single song, and video she has ever done.  Haha. :)

So anyhoo...yesterday I discovered that previously unreleased tracks from her Erotica period had surfaced.  EEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!  This is the single fucking coolest, and most squeeee inducing music moment I have had in a while.  Erotica is one of my single most overplayed, loved to fuck, and just downright favourite albums of ALL time!!

So yeah, this is pretty fucking overload of awesome for this hardcore Madonna nerd right now.  Bad Girl is possibly my favourite song of all time, it's sheer perfection.  And the video...did you know that it was directed by David Fincher?  And stars Christopher Walker.  It's fucking EPIC, and so beautiful.

What I love so much about the Bad Girl video is that it perfectly echos that feeling of utter lonliness and depression, one that can only be rectified by death.  And for someone such as Madonna to really put herself out there like that, I think it's truly something special.  She has faced so many hardships over her life, and she has fought and clawed her way back on more occasions than I can remember.  This woman is an inspiration and one who I for sure am grateful to all her awesome outspoken feminist ways. 

Ooh, and like Madonna says, you can Like it, Or NOT!! :)

EXCLUSIVE ANNOUNCEMENT AND NEW FEATURE - Woman Crush Wednesday's - Introducing The Fairy Flag's Clare Ross as the Lead Character Jo in Scottish Dystopian Indie Flick Safe Haven.

This past Monday, I started a new feature over at my Musings of a Morleysaurus blog, entitled Manflesh Monday's.  To go along with this, I thought it would be fun to do a Woman Crush Wednesday's over here.  Obviously my idea of a crush is a lot different to that of the norm's of society...however I am sure you will all agree, that both the men and women I shall be featuring, have a lot to offer the world of film, and not just aesthetically either.  :)

Having worked with Clare throughout the month of June on Scottish fantasy film The Fairy Flag, when it came to needing to re-cast our lead Jo, Clare was absolutely perfect for the role.

Having seen that Clare can find that perfect balance between playing a vulnerable character, all the way up to total spear throwing, archer bad assery...we know that Clare has the acting chops to pull off the evolution of this character.

When we first meet Jo, she has just been "released from a bunker that she was 'kept safe' in, due to being from a wealthy family'...all around the time the world started to go to shit due to the collapse of the government as we know it.  Something that is socially relevant today, and in the year of the vote for Scottish Independence, and in a time where Westminster are screwing things up left, right and center, how long before mankind folds in on itself?  Jo has pretty much grown up in this bunker, and everything she has been taught, is what they have taught her.  When she gets out, she realises all too quickly that the stories she has been told, were exactly that...stories.  Lies.  A government trying to cover its own ass!!  Sound familiar?

This summer, Clare is extremely busy, with a play on at the Edinburgh Fringe, as well as the filming of Safe Haven, and the completion of The Fairy Flag just last month...this girl's star is rising, and I think it is time for her to shine!! :)

Having worked with Urban Fox Theatre previously on a show called Globophobia, Clare is once again working with them, this time on Safeword.  Even looking at Clare's style in Globophobia, she oozes notes of Jo.  A very clean Jo...but a Jo nonetheless.  At least I think so. :) See for yourself below.

On top of being a really talented actress, Clare is just an all out cool fucking human being.  She is a total feminist and advocate for women's rights, a humanitarian, and just downright cool chick to hang out with.  And she gets extra brownie points for being friends with my friend Ian Grier.  When I saw we had a mutual friend on FB when I first met her, I was like, hang on...this is like, one of my ACTUAL friends...not a film person.  This is an Arbroath person.  This is a boy who I spent OH so much time hanging out in the pub in the mid to late 90's, and whom when we weren't at the pub (back when it was AWESOME, haha), we were back at our friend Andy's flat, a boy who became my bestest friend in the universe!!  Haha.  Anyhoo, turned out they worked together at this really funky bookstore in Glasgow together.  This was where Ian told me he had hung out with Bret Easton Ellis after he was there for a book signing.  Small world right?!  So yay....Cruella Da Ville all the way! :)  

For more from Clare, be sure to follow her on Twitter - @ClareRossActor, and I'll be keeping y'all in the loop anyhoo!! :)

Check out -

The Young Ones - Safe Haven Official Website 

The Young Ones - Safe Haven Official Facebook Page

The Young Ones - Safe Haven Official Twitter Page

Tachy Studios - Official Facebook Page 

Morleysaurus xo

Mexican Anthology México Bárbaro Racking Up the Mexican Female Horror Directors with the Inclusion of Bautizo Director Laurette Flores!

Okay, so I'm totally fucking digging Lex Ortega right now.  Lex is the guy behind México Bárbaro, the new Mexican anthology which features a slew of amazing directors!!  Anyhoo, after my initial press release about the film where I credited the gore~geous Gigi Saul Guerreo, the not exactly difficult on the eyes himself, Lex, messaged me to inform me that not only does his anthology feature the work of  Madam Guerrero....it also features another totally bad ass chick, Laurette Flores.  :)

Laurette Flores's short Bautizo shall also be featured in the line up, which features a whole host of amazing Mexican guys as well.  And rather than total sexism, the only thing for sure that Lex is looking for, on top of being a super rad filmmaker of course, is that the person is a born and bred Mexican.  Which is pretty fucking sweet in my book!! :)  

I've just watched Bautizo having been given the version with the English subtitles and holy fuck!!  It's fucking brutal.  But not in an over the top way.  More just shocking in general.  Which makes it all the more effective. 

And random fact - it's highly entertaining that my favourite type of foreign language films are Mexican (followed by German), but yet I am highly allergic to capsaicin, the chemical found in chilli...a staple of the Mexican diet.  Haha.  I always find that Mexican films feel so raw, but are visually stunning at the same time.  There is some real talent out there and it's great to see a collection of up and coming, alongside established Mexican directors.

To follow México Bárbaro, check out the Official Facebook page where you'll see links to all other sorts of awesome things and general rad~ness!!

BAUTIZO (english subtitles) from Bautizo Cortometraje on Vimeo.

Jen and Sylvia Soska - It Takes More than Just Good Looks to Get Them to Where They Are Now. They Work Hard, and Still Have Fun!

Jen and Sylvia Soska are two extraordinary chicks with big hearts and a gore~geous sense of imagination.  Yes, they are two very attractive girls who like to play dress up. They are basically the female versions of the dudes that would play Dungeons and Dragons and then go to Comic Con dressed as Batman.  Yes their costumes are incredibly sexy...but they are also incredibly fucking nerdy!!  And when you combine just how big a comic book nerds the girls actually are...they are UBER NERDS!!!

But yet for this, they get totally slated.  People are basically berating them for how they dress...as nerds!!  I mean, what the fuck!?!?!!!  How the fuck do all you haters expect them to dress!?!  I think that there is so much bitterness and general playground cattiness aimed at them and quite frankly it pisses me off!!  Do you not think that they got picked on enough in the playground just because they were different.  And remember, this was back before when it was "cool" to be a nerd!  And you know something...if they were FAKE nerds, then yeah, all y'all nerds would have a reason to be pissed off at them.  But in fairness, they're two of the biggest fucking nerds I've ever met!  And I am a great big fucking nerd!!

 They have worked hard to get to where they are.  They have basically not stopped working for well over 5 years.  Any hot chick can wear a skimpy outfit.  Do you not think that Hollywood producers see enough of that coming through the system EVERY FUCKING DAY!!  Jen and Sylv went against that sleazeball system and raised the funds to make American Mary themselves, and wrote it as a statement against all the shite that goes on there!

They inspire women to embrace their sexuality, no matter how they look.  Yes, the whole twin thing might seem like a bit of a gimmick to some...but that's how they were born!!  That's how they naturally are.  They're not some product squeezed out of a production line.  So why people feel the need to constantly pick them apart, it is so pathetic.

And anyhoo...more to the fucking point...they have given the horror world Tristan fucking Risk.  That is reason enough to love them alone!!

Jen and Sylv don't only embrace the horror world that they have adored since they were creepy wee kids, they use their voice to help out some amazing causes too.  Their main one is to inspire people to donate blood, and for the past five years, every year they have released a new PSA to help them with their goal.  At the bottom of this post is the one from February 2012, when they had just finished filming American Mary and got some of the cast to join in the fun and get all bloodied up! :)  

Just because a girl has a personality and is attractive, it does not make her an incapable moron who does not deserve the same opportunities as the men in her field of work.  And let's face it...a lot of the complaints I'm seeing come from men!  Which to me just looks like jealousy.  Jen and Sylvia have personalities, and women are totally getting behind them.  Surely if we're going by standard conventions, if a girl is using merely her looks to get her places, then generally women are gonna call that shit out, and NOT support them!  That is not the case here.

For those that say how can they be feminists when they wear such provocative clothing?  Being a feminist isn't about what you wear...it's about what you DO, and Jen and Sylv have helped to give a voice to women within the horror community!  And they're actually making it into the boys club with their inclusion into The ABC's of Death 2, See No Evil 2 and various other cool projects.  As is Mexican Gigi Saul Guerrero, yet another hot, but insanely talented chick who I'm sure will have to deal with this kinda shit as well...just because she's young, attractive and outgoing!

UPDATED to add pics of these nutters all FINALLY together, and with Gigi doing a segment on the 2015 Massive Blood Drive PSA.  Yay! :)

When all is said and done, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter how fucking hot you are....if your film is shite, then people are gonna see through that straight away.  Jen and Sylv have slaved their arses off to get to where they are.  They  have put their OWN money into every single project they've worked on...including See No Evil 2.  Which another thing...they've been getting shit for doing that as well.  Has it not occurred to any of the haters that they actually WANTED to do this film.  The first film was just a fun slasher...so what is wrong with wanting to do an established fun slasher!?!  And to cast two of the most bad ass chicks in horror...Katherine Isabelle and Danielle Harris!!  If I had established myself as a director, and someone asked me to do a Friday the 13th sequel, I'd totally be on that bitch in a microsecond!  Because as silly as the films are...I fucking love Jason Voorhees, and think the films are awesome stupid fun!

There is way too much pretension within this genre sometimes; people forget that it's about having fun at the same time.  Did Joe Lynch get shit for doing Wrong Turn 2??  Not like this he sure didn't!! And Wrong Turn 2 is fucking awesome!!!  Because they brought in someone who was a huge fan of the genre and did something fun with it!  And in fact...I actually prefer it to the first one.  :)

At the end of the day, haters gonna hate.  I personally find it rather pathetic to be honest.  If you don't like them, fine.  Don't resort to name-calling and all the playground shite that comes along with it though.  These girls work hard and have fun whilst doing so.  Sounds like a pretty fucking sweet deal to me!  I think that Truth or Dare director Jessica Cameron sums it up perfectly...Haters Gonna Hate! Simples.  :)