However Martin is living a lie and that lie is about to catch up with him. Having lost his job some time ago he has been desperately trying to keep up the same lifestyle slowly getting himself deeper and deeper into debt and now that debt must be paid.

When one night the threatening and uncompromising Pecco turns up at Martin’s door demanding money, it seems his lies will be revealed as he has nothing to offer as payment. But Pecco has an offer for Martin, an offer he can’t refuse. And so begins a night of discovery and destruction as Martin does all he can to stop his glass house coming crashing down round him.

Comparable to Falling Down or Fight Club, The Glass Man follows one man on a journey to the edge and beyond dealing along the way with ideas of masculinity and gender stereotypes all brought about by the pressures and strains of modern living.

Written and directed by actor Cristian Solimeno, who also takes a role as Martin’s friend who is now a famous actor, the film blends genre’s part psychological horror part gangster thriller part domestic drama and part jet black comedy all parts working well together to form a fantastic film.

The Glass Man himself is played brilliantly by Andy Nyman, better known for writing, directing and staring in the smash hit horror show Ghost Stories. He has played bit parts in movies such as Severance and Black Death but here Nyman proves his worth ten times over as a leading man.

An emotionally demanding and draining role, Nyman plays Martin perfectly moving from a weasley wimp to an unhinged everyman never letting him slip into a pitiful parody.

As the title suggests The Glass Man is not only a crack away from shattering but also a see through loser, unrecognised by the world and un-helped by those around him and Nyman captures this completely and convincingly.

James Cosmo is also very good as Pecco, the man propelling Martin into another dark foreboding world against his will. And Scream queen Neve Campbell adopts a convincing English accent as Martin’s wife the love of his life who he will do anything to keep and protect.

At times hilarious, at times heartbreaking The Glass Man remains riveting all the way through. Taught with tension from start to finish and moving more towards horror the further along the film gets, you will be captivated ’til the credits role.

The Glass Man is a great film with an amazing central performance, which speaks straight to the souls of all of us – trying our hardest not to crack under the strain of the times we live in.

Movie Rating: ★★★½☆ 

Trailer:

For many people Sunday is Gods day. For me and the entire audience in Screen 1 of the Empire Leicester square Sunday was day four of FrightFest, a day for blood, guts, banshees, cannibals, scary shorts and a quiz from hell none of which God and his people would probably approve of and all of which I was thoroughly looking forward to.

First film up was the morning screening of The Pack a French frightener which offered up nasty new monsters born from blood and dirt and hungry for human flesh. When Charlotte Massot (Emilie Dequenne from the brilliant Brotherhood of the Wolf) picks up a hitchhiker she has no idea of the consequences about to befall her.

When her highway companion disappears in the toilets of the truck stop café run by the intimidating ex-wrestler La Spack (Yolande Moreau), Charlotte decides to investigate and ends up trapped and caged branded and tortured to become food for the ghoulish monsters who rise from the mud to feed on the living. Well shot and well acted, full of muted grey tones and nasty moments this movie has some original monsters and a menacing murderous matriarch that even a son couldn’t love.

Following that was something completely different. Star of Severance, Black Death and currently appearing in Ghost Stories at the Duke of York’s Theatre Andy Nyman took to the stage to host the annual FrightFest Quiz from Hell. Packed full of particularly taxing questions and a demanding soundtrack round you needed a bulging brain full of horror movie trivia to even stand a chance especially against the masses of other obsessive horror fans taking part.

Journeying back out to the foyer I saw a huge line of people queuing to get tickets for the Discovery Screening of Outcast. A monster movie about Celtic fairy people I wondered why this particular picture was seemingly so popular and then sadly realized it was because on next in the main house was the Film4 International Short Film Showcase.

It is sad that so many people are unwilling to watch short films or disregard them entirely especially as they are often much more original than mainstream cinema and the directors and creators behind them are fundamentally the future of cinema.

Presented by FrightFest organiser Paul McEvoy he explained that the selection process included him watching between 300 to 400 short films to get the final 14 we where about to watch. He also got several of the directors on stage all of whom where humbled to have their work shown on such a large scale.

Featuring movies from the U.K, America, Europe and Canada there was a massive mix of crazy comedy, creeping tension and powerfully disturbing pictures predominately from unknowns but including Colin director Marc Price’s The End a parody of the action movie finale.

Standing out of the bunch were the dark and unsettling To My Mother and Father and La Madre both dealing with nightmarish images of family tragedy in very different ways but both extremely affecting.

Red Balloon gave a new twist on a very old urban legend revolving round a baby sitter and a child who keeps waking up screaming and How I Survived the Zombie Apocalypse was a touching tale of a mother and son dealing with the destruction of human kind working almost as a zombie version of Roberto Benigni’s Life is Beautiful.

To prove that horror and humour go hand in hand the brilliant Rise of the Appliances showed what would happen if domestic appliances tried to take over Wales while the hilarious gore filled fun of Papa Wrestling taught us never to steal a lunch box from a wrestler’s son.

It was a great showcase of talent and a brilliant event for FrightFest to include in their programming to encourage anyone and everyone to pick up a camera and make their own movies and I recommend anyone interested in horror and short films to seek these films out to watch as many are available online.

After a brief presentation on the upcoming Art of Hammer book which features over 300 Hammer Horror posters from their extensive archive we moved from shorts to a full feature in the UK premiere of We Are What We Are a Mexican horror shown in the Director’s Fortnight strand of the Cannes Film Festival 2010.

A slow paced family drama about a family who are far from normal it follows them as they deal with the death of their father the man who provided for them bringing money and people to the house, people they could kill and eat. Without a leader a power struggle between the brothers breaks out as they try to find a new way to feed their hunger for flesh and provide victims for the blood rituals they perform which in some way justify the horrible diet the poverty rife in the Latin American urban jungle has driven them to.

From moving shocking realism to a frenetic assault on the senses that is Dammed by Dawn. The UK premiere of this Australian shocker it begins when Claire (Renee Willner) takes her new boyfriend home to meet her family who live in an isolated country house cut off from the world. The reunion is bittersweet as Claire’s grandmother is very unwell and during her ramblings regarding her impending demise she talks of the Banshee who is coming to take her to the other side.

The old woman’s words are far from hallucinations as Clare experiences first hand on the night of her nana’s death the shrieking female figure comes to the house with blood streaming from her eyes to take the deceased woman’s soul away. Claire makes the mistake of trying to stop the banshee’s work which leads to an uprising of an undead army sent to wipe every one of Claire’s family away.

With cgi skeletons, a flying scythe wielding spectre and more fog and mist then The Fog and The Mist this entertaining thrill ride is Evil Dead done Down Under as the plot, style and monsters are more than a little influenced by Sam Raimi’s masterpiece.

Read Day 4 Part 2 Here

The Pack Trailer:

Dammed by Dawn Trailer:

Direct from a sell-out season at the Lyric Hammersmith, Ghost Stories is brought to you by The League of Gentlemen’s master of the macabre, Jeremy Dyson, and Andy Nyman, co-creator and director of Derren Brown’s television and stage shows and star of Dead Set and Severance.

This is 80 minutes of live theatre you’ll never forget.

And we at Love Horror have 2 pairs of tickets to give away to you lucky people out there!

Competition tickets will be valid for performances Tue – Thu at 8pm and Fridays at 7pm & 9.30pm and must be booked by the 17th September 2010. Strictly subject to availability.

If you’re not lucky enough to win tickets visit www.ghoststoriestheshow.co.uk to book tickets.

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By entering this competition, you are agreeing to the Love Horror competition terms and conditions

Trailer:

Ghost Stories, written by Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman, is the closest experience to a living horror film you will get.
Marketing departments across the globe will try to convince you that 3D is the next step of evolution in terror, yet having seen this theatrical delight I beg to differ. Few films can boast the level of suspense and thrill that the audience is subjected to, and there are moments of genuine icy cold terror scattered throughout the production.

An immersive experience begins as soon as you walk in off the street, as the entire theatre is themed for the event, with eerie sounds accompanying and dark, dank concrete walls and flickering light bulbs leading all the way from the foyer to your seat. As performance time draws closer, the tensions builds and screams start as the theatre suddenly goes black.

The show is set up as a lecture from Dr. Goodman (Nyman), a seemingly sceptical parapsychologist who begins with some debate about ‘ghosts caught on camera’. To all intents and purposes, the audience feels like they have attended a class in which they quickly become absorbed. He then moves on to sharing with us his life’s work; three recorded interviews from subjects who claim to have experienced the paranormal, or percipients as they are more formally known: a night watchman, a teenage driver and a businessman father-to-be.
As each interview is played back the story is brought to life on stage, with delicious direction and set design mixed with the illusion and slight-of-hand mastery you’d expect from Nyman, known for his work behind the scenes with Psychological Illusionist Derren Brown.

Upon leaving the theatre, a request is made to keep the secrets of Ghost Stories, and as such the wishes of the creative team will be honoured. It is safe to say, however, that this is the kind of production that leaves you analysing for days afterwards and begs for multiple viewings.
Even if you’re not much of a theatre goer you need to see this show. It is macabre, haunting, humorous, beautiful, moving and terrifying.

A master class in spine-tingling terror, no film has come close to this in a very long time.

Movie Rating: ★★★★★ 

Trailer: