list.co.uk/tv Previews | TV
HIGHLIGHTS
ALTERED CARBON Netflix, Fri 2 Feb Big-budget, high- concept sci-fi about a future where human consciousness can be transferred to new bodies (at a price). See list.co.uk for review.
REQUIEM BBC One, Fri 2 Feb, 9pm Ghostly mystery. See review, page 94. BASKETS – SEASON 3 FOX (UK), Sun 4 Feb, 1am Zach Galifianakis plays a failed clown (as well as his uptight twin brother) in this gloriously downbeat comedy featuring a star turn from Louie Anderson as Mrs Baskets. It's been shunted to the 1am Sunday shift but don't let this kooky comic gem pass you by.
JAMESTOWN – SEASON 2 Sky One, Fri 9 Feb, 9pm The residents of Jamestown start to adjust to the arrival of women in this British settlement in America in 1619. STARGATE ORIGINS Stargatecommand.co, Thu 15 Feb The strangely resilient sci-fi franchise returns with an origin story (adding nefarious nasty Nazis to the mix) as an online exclusive.
TRAUMA ITV, Feb, date tbc John Simm and Adrian Lester star in this three-part thriller as two father's lives become entwined when a boy dies on the operating table.
THE BLACK GLOVES DVD/Blu-ray, Feb, date tbc Grassroots Scottish horror. See feature, left. CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM – SEASON 9 DVD/Blu-ray, Mon 5 Mar Larry David is as curmudgeonly and awkward as usual, especially after receiving a fatwa for his ill-fated Salman Rushdie musical.
JESSICA JONES – SEASON 2 Netflix, Thu 8 Mar Krysten Ritter is back as laconic super ‘hero’ Jessica Jones. No word yet on who will be the main villain in season two, but all 13 episodes will be directed by women.
LEMONY SNICKET’S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS – SEASON 2 Netflix, Thu 30 Mar Offbeat adventure story, ostensibly for kids but so goofy and weird (particularly an on-point Neil Patrick Harris as Count Olaf) that people any age can enjoy its quirky charms.
1 Feb–31 Mar 2018 THE LIST 95
THE OWLMAN COMETH
Scottish director Lawrie Brewster discusses his latest fi lm The Black Gloves with Henry Northmore and reveals big plans for Fife-based Hex Studios
H orror loves iconic imagery. Jason's hockey mask, Freddy's striped sweater and razor-clawed glove, and Leatherface's mask of human skin and revving chainsaw are instantly recognisable symbols of fear. Writer Sarah Daly and director Lawrie Brewster are attempting to create something with a deeper, more cerebral impact with the Owlman, an amalgam of history, myth and pop culture, taking inspiration from ancient gods Moloch and Minerva mixed with elements of the Tall Man from Phantasm and internet horror meme Slender Man. A mysterious i gure dressed in a Victorian tail suit with viciously sharp claws and an inscrutable strigine face, the Owlman made his i lm debut in 2013's Lord of Tears and returns in Hex Studio's The Black Gloves, aka The Owlman: Chapter 2.
Taking inspiration from 1940s, 50s and 60s i lms like Sunset Boulevard, The Innocents and Rebecca, Brewster describes The Black Gloves as a i lm noir psychological thriller with supernatural elements. 'It concerns a psychologist trying to overcome his guilt about a patient he couldn't save and a new patient who has an obsession with this entity known as the Owlman,' says Brewster. 'During the course of the story, who is rescuing who and who is a hero or villain, changes a lot. It's a metaphor for gender identity and the politics surrounding that. Not that it's preachy but it provides a perverse commentary.' Brewster is a passionate advocate of horror, a genre that is often overlooked or dismissed. 'The benei t of horror is that it is a means, at least in my opinion, of expressing ideas in their most adult, uninhibited form. It can talk about any issue but without the boundaries or restrictions that would be in place in drama, for example, in the form of realism. In a nightmare, there are no boundaries.'
Hex is a truly independent studio based in Kirkcaldy. Brewster admits fundraising is the biggest hurdle for i lm in Scotland, which means reaching out to investors in places like the US and the United Arab Emirates. Crowdfunding is another important resource, and Hex's most recent round for The Black Gloves was the most successful horror Kickstarter in Britain, giving Brewster the opportunity to shoot new scenes with Nicholas Vince (Hellraiser).
Hex have big plans. Inspired by Hammer Horror, they want to establish a new studio in Scotland specialising in horror, increasing production to three i lms per year. 'I realised that if you want to make horror i lms that are a bit different you need the infrastructure to make them and distribute them,' explained Brewster. 'Hex Studios will see us i nancing, making and distributing i lms independently. We want to create ambitious stories that are a bit different, focused around creating strong intellectual properties, characters and concepts.' At the same time, Brewster hopes to break down the barriers between fans and i lmmakers. 'Traditionally there's always been a big divide between the audience and creators. We want it to be your studio too and with our YouTube channel, Kickstarter and even Facebook, we're accessible, we're trying to have this new openness so fans feel like they are part of the studio.'
The Black Gloves is available to pre-order now from hexmedia.tv and will be distributed in Feb (date tbc).