Still from Brian Yuzna's 'Society'.

Film masterclass at St Mary-in-the-Castle

The prolific film producer/director Brian Yuzna has been invited by the University of Brighton’s Faculty of Arts, in collaboration with Cine-Excess International Film Festival, to be interviewed on stage at St Mary-in-the-Castle, writes HOT reporter Chris Cormack.

Brian Yuzna will give a career talk to film students studying at the university’s Hastings campus and will be interviewed on stage by Cine-Excess director Dr Xavier Mendik, lecturer in film studies at the University of Brighton and author of BFI’s 100 Cult Films.

Brian Yuzna.

Yuzna has been producing cult exploitation films for a quarter of a century in the spirit of Roger Corman. His directorial debut Society (1989) mixed horror and satire, and his passion for HP Lovecraft led to his making Re-Animator (1985), From Beyond (1986), Re-Animator 2 (1989) and Necromicon (1993).

His production of Society, released in 1989, is described as “a deliciously dark satire on the darker underbelly of modern life,” in which a young man, Bill Whitney (played by Billy Warlock of Baywatch fame), feels alienated from his family and decides to investigate his past, with chilling and disturbing results. Yuzna also co-produced and co-wrote the Disney hit comedy Honey I Shrunk The Kids (1990), as well as working with Christophe Gans on the manga-inspired Crying Freeman (1995).

Having later set up The Fantastic Factory production company in Spain, Yuzna went on to produce a series of small-budget fantasy titles such as Arachnid (2001), Dagon (2001), Darkness (2002) Beyond Re-Animator (2003) and The Nun (2005), before returning to directing with Amphibious 3-D (2010).

Xavier Mendik.

The interviewer, Xavier Mendik, was recently appointed lecturer in film studies at the University of Brighton and will lead the new Digital Film BA Honours degree at the university in Hastings (currently enrolling for September 2013) . He is also responsible for bringing the Cult Film Archive to Hastings from London.

Containing over 4,000 international movies, the archive will be a resource for the new digital film course. Mendik describes cult films as “feel-bad movies”  which are unsettling to watch. “And sometimes they are interesting movies but badly made; some movies are so bad, they’re good,” he says.

Brian Yuzna’s visit is one of a number of new initiatives linked to the recent relocation of the Cine-Excess festival to the University of Brighton’s Faculty of Arts. These also include the launch of the new industry-meets-academia Cine-Excess E-Journal, which is due to be released this month.

Q&A session with Brian Yuzna: Friday 24 May 2013, 5-6pm, at St. Mary-in-the-Castle, 7 Pelham Crescent, Hastings TN34 3AF.

FREE to all but please register via email mediaenterprise@brighton.ac.uk

PS: On Saturday 25 May at 8pm, the Electric Palace cinema is running another George and Thom’s Film Quiz Night. The time has come to test your film trivia prowess – all while giving them a helping hand to sort out the seats! Come along for the now legendary film quiz night that all moviegoers can enjoy. Proceeds from ticket sales will go towards the Electric Palace seating fund, to help restore the cinema seats. See if you can pick up a prize, including generous donations from local businesses!
Team of four – £16:00.

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