There'll be unseasonal summer chills running along spines in Bradford next month when the National Media Museum hosts its sixth annual Fantastic Films weekend.
Running from Friday, June 15 to Sunday 17, the event will see the NMM screen a series of top-drawer movies from the worlds of horror, science fiction and fantasy, along with a number of appearances by the genre's leading lights.
For action fans, what could provide a bigger thrill than seeing the recent epic movie 300 - based on the Frank Miller graphic novel about the Battle of Thermopylae - on the 14-metre tall IMAX screen? And aficionados of modern horror are in for a treat with a preview of the gory and controversial Hostel II.
But it's the presentation of older and often "lost" classics that makes the festival a yearly hit, and this year is no exception.
Among the highlights are new prints of the classic Hammer movies Countess Dracula and Twins of Evil, supported by an appearance of John Hough, director of the latter film and also The Legend of Hell House and Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry, considered an influence on Quentin Tarantino's new pulp masterpiece Grindhouse.
The BBC masterfully adapted a number of British writer MR James's short stories in the Seventies, and the best of these get a reshowing at the weekend along with the first ever festival appearance of their director, Laurence Gordon Clark.
And Brian Aldiss, veteran science fiction novelist who has seen a number of his books turned into hit movies - principally Frankenstein Unbound and AI - Artificial Intelligence - also makes a visit to Bradford.
Tony Earnshaw, festival director at the NMM, said: "Fantastic Films Weekend keeps going from strength to strength.
"We are particularly thrilled to be screening so many rare and unique prints of classic horror, science fiction and fantasy films - some directly from the museum's own archive."
Other showings include British movie classic I, Monster, from the Amicus film company, a unique 70mm print of John Carpenter's fantasy comedy Big Trouble in Little China, and Italian horror maestro Dario Argento's classic and creepy Suspiria.
For the second year running, Jeremy Dyson, one of TV's League of Gentleman writing team, will be the festival's patron.
Tickets for the event cost £35 for a weekend pass or £15 for a day ticket. For more information and full running order of the weekend's events log on to www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/fantastic/2007 or call the box office on 0870 7010200.
e-mail: dave.barnett @bradford.newsquest.co.uk
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