Clive Barker's The Book of Blood (Doug Bradley)

[Just Jeans]

Feeling bummed because Doug Bradley won't be appearing in the Hellraiser remake? Well don't feel too bad, because he's not done with the Barker universe just yet.

Doug Bradley Cast in Book of Blood (http://www.shocktillyoudrop.com/news/topnews.php?id=3865)

Doug Bradley is returning to the Barker-verse.

The actor, best known to genre fans as Pinhead in the "Hellraiser" franchise, secured a role in Book of Blood, the next in a line of forthcoming adaptations culled from Clive Barker's "Books of Blood." Lionsgate releases Midnight Meat Train next May and principal photography begins on Anthony DiBlasi's Pig Blood Blues sometime after the first of the new year. Both appeared in "Book I" of Barker's carnal collection.

Bradley, we have learned, will play the role of "Tollington" in Book of Blood, a name that should strike a familiar chord for those who have read the wraparound short story the film is based on. This is the first of many casting announcements that are bound to pop up as cameras begin rolling on the film next week in Scotland.

In "Blood," a medium is called to investigate Number 65, Tollington Place, a haunted house. So it says in Barker's tale, "no one could possess it long without insanity setting in." John Harrison (of Sci-Fi's "Dune" mini-series) is directing; he collaborated on the screenplay with Darin Silverman.

[Scarecrow]

I love how they get a news article out of a forum post Doug Bradley himself made on his own official website...

Doug Bradley... (http://p078.ezboard.com/fdougbradleyfrm2.showMessage?topicID=617.topic)

His OWN words...

"And it starts shooting - in Edinburgh, rather than Glasgow - next week and I'm going to be in it. I had chatted with director and co-writer John Harrison in September when he was over here and he'd mentioned the possibility. I had, in truth, forgotten all about it, so it was a pleasant surprise when they came back to me with an offer for a cameo role which I've happily accepted. The script is in the first instance a conflation of the two parts of The Book Of Blood which bookend the entire Books Of Blood cycle (The Book Of Blood and The Book Of Blood (postscript); On Jerusalem Street) which has then been cleverly teased out to paint a bigger picture for a full-length screenplay.

It's set in the present day, but I play a character called Tollington who has been dead for pretty much a century. He was an occultist who occupied the house in Tollington Place (mentioned in Clive's original story). It's a brief but memorable appearance and I'm looking forward to it. I was up there yesterday for a photo shoot (for portrait and newspaper article which appear elsewhere in the movie and in discussion with the make-up department, agreed that my current cut does not sell the period and so we agreed to shave my head completely. It works too, because any similarities between Tollington and a certain Aleister Crowley would not be at all inappropriate,,,

Hence the chilly bonce. I know there wasn't much insulation left, bit dunn'alf make a difference!

(Doug Bradley, 30 Nov 2007)"


- Scarecrow

[MaDMaNMaRz]

I've read one of the Book of Blood books a while ago. I liked it, so i'll definitley be seeing this.

[Ron]

Wow, I didn't realize that Bradley wasn't going to be in the Hellraiser remake. I'm kind of glad that he won't because i think by casting new characters will give this film a fresh feel.

[Spade]

Sounds interesting.

[Voo-doo]

Barker + Bradley = orgasm for Voo.

[Dave Dunwoody]

So is this just an adaptation of the one story? I wish they'd make an anthology film instead of padding all these stories out to 90 minutes, but I know that isn't as marketable. It could still be quite good, I just cringe when I hear they're turning a short story into a movie (anyone remember reading how "Dread" was butchered in screenplay form?).

[Just Jeans]

Wasn't Hellraiser based on a short story?

I had a cringe moment when I first heard they were turning The Mist into a film, but they managed to fill two hours quite nicely with the contents of the novella, and there wasn't too much padding.

On average, how long are each of the stories in The Books of Blood?

[MaDMaNMaRz]

Wasn't Hellraiser based on a short story?

Yeah, Clive Barker wrote the novella, The Hellbound Heart. It's quite good. I'd recommend it.

[Dave Dunwoody]

Yeah, novella-length stories are often well suited for film, and some short stories can be a springboard to bigger, better ideas. But in the case of stories like "Midnight Meat Train" and "Book of Blood" (that story in particular is quite short, it's basically just a prologue), it could go either way.

It depends, IMO, on how well the writer can channel Barker while padding the script. I mentioned the adaptation of "Dread" (which seems to be dead in the water) because the writer for that surrounded Barker's story with a bunch of lame crap (if the one review is to be believed).

[Scarecrow]

Not quite a prologue, Dave, more a "wrap around" story. The film will consist of "The Book of Blood" the first story in Volume 1 and "The Book of Blood (Postscript): On Jeruselum Street" the final story at the end of Volume 6. There's a fair bit of story there and a lot "unsaid" so i think it'd made a decent film overall.

Midnight Meat Train, the film, will have the short story as essentially the final 20-30 minutes of the film, an almost straight adaptation, whilst the opening hour will be an original element added.

JEANS: Across the six volumes the story lengths vary... some are no more than 5 pages and are very breif writigns and some are closer to 30 though I gues sit depends on your copy... mine have rather small print as well.

So far adapatations include:

The Book of Blood (both parts) - soon filming
The Yattering and Jack - filmed as part of Tale sof the Unexpected
Pig Blood Blues - in pre-production
Midnight Meat Train - released in May 2008
Rawhead Rex - awful film
The Forbidden - filmed as Candyman
The Body Politic - filmed as part of Quicksilver Highway
The Last Illusion - names and concepts adapted into Lord of Illusion but both very different stories


- Scarecrow

[Dave Dunwoody]

Ah, I didn't know there was a postscript to it. That's encouraging.

[MaDMaNMaRz]

Midnight Meat Train, the film, will have the short story as essentially the final 20-30 minutes of the film, an almost straight adaptation, whilst the opening hour will be an original element added.

I saw the trailer for that yesterday. It looks like it'd be a pretty decent movie.

[ChoKo]

Sounds interesting. I'll see anything with Barker's name attached.

I'm still waiting for a big screen adaption of Son Of Celluloid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Books_of_Blood#Son_of_Celluloid), which is probably my favorite Clive Barker story.

[Scarecrow]

Sounds interesting. I'll see anything with Barker's name attached.

I'm still waiting for a big screen adaption of Son Of Celluloid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Books_of_Blood#Son_of_Celluloid), which is probably my favorite Clive Barker story.

I'm with you there. "Son of Celluloid" is one of the best short stories ever written and would be fantastic to seeon sceen. In fact, when I had to do a project on adapting stories to film this was the one I used.

And it could happen now Barker's own company is hitting the Books of Blood films. One completed, this started filming yesterday and another in planning... if any of these do well then we'll certainly get more!


- Scarecrow

[Scarecrow]

Update at http://www.clivebarker.info/newsbobjournal.html on Book of Blood...

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17 December 2007

Dear Revelations!!!

Happy Holidays to everyone. Sorry that my update emails have been non-existent. Its amazing how you make all these grand plans for production until you are brutally reminded how overwhelming production schedules are! In short - you have no life beyond the film and unfortunately that leaves no time to do anything else - except sleep!! LOL. All is going very well though.

I had a better idea for the BOOK OF BLOOD page that I will be able to keep consistant during production and beyond - I hope this idea will give you an unique peek into our production. Since I have been working with Clive, I think my favorite part of working on horror films is the amount of true artists that work behind the scenes helping make the films. Almost in every department - the individuals that work at their specific jobs - all come from a passion of art and an artistic background. Musicians, painters, photographers, sculptors, writers, etc - make up all our departments. It's from their natural passion for art that makes them brilliant at what they do on BOOK OF BLOOD. That to me makes horror a genre in film that should be celebrated more for the artists that work behind the scenes.

So I thought long and hard about how we can celebrate this and share this unique behind the scenes look at our BOOK OF BLOOD crew. I'm going to ask (ones that are interested...LOL....I'm a nice producer not a demanding one! LOL) to give us a profile of their artistic backgrounds and how it has led them to get to the place they are in our production. I have asked them to include their art that we will post so you guys will get to hear/see their journeys.

I hope this sounds interesting to you. We will post the first BOOK OF BLOOD "exhibit" in the new year. The crew like me - have no life at the moment - except in the pages of THE BOOKS OF BLOOD. So my hope is that over our Christmas break we will return with some cool things to share.

Again, I want to wish all of you a happy holiday and hope you have a great NEW YEARS!!! Yeah!! 08!

All the best, Joe

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- Scarecrow

[Scarecrow]

More casting news!


http://www.shocktilyoudrop.com/news/topnews.php?id=4259

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Here's a blast from the past: UK actress Sophie Ward has been cast in a leading role in the upcoming Clive Barker adaptation Book of Blood. Ward, if you recall, previously starred in Young Sherlock Holmes; she also appeared in Waxwork II: Lost in Time, but let's remember her better days, shall we?

The casting announcement came by way of Fangoria today who spoke to "Blood" director John Harrison. He added TV "Robin Hood" Jonas Armstrong is starring opposite Ward in an unspecified lead part. We presume he's playing Simon McNeal, a medium hired to investigate a haunted house.

Last month, we exclusively reported "Hellraiser" vet Doug Bradley has a part in the film, for more details on that, click here. Book of Blood is currently shooting in Scotland; the production will move to London in the coming weeks.

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- Scarecrow

[Just Jeans]

He added TV "Robin Hood" Jonas Armstrong is starring...

Sweet, I like Jonas.

[Scarecrow]

Indeed, looks set to have a decent cast so I hoe this gets a wide release off the back of Midnight Meat Train. Seems Barker s having a second coming in cinematic terms of late.

- Scarecrow

[Scarecrow]

More news from Barker's official site, a great bit of casting for Hellraiser fans!


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14 January 2008

Dear Revelations!

Happy New Year! I hope everyone is great. I have some great entries coming from the BOOK OF BLOOD crew soon.

We would like to make an exclusive announcement on Revelations that Simon Bamford (Butterball Cenobite/HELLRAISER and Ohnaka/NIGHTBREED) is part of the cast of BOOK OF BLOOD. Simon has already finished filming and we were thrilled to have him on board.

There are many familiar faces on this production from Clive's past films. Having Doug Bradley and Simon Bamford part of BOOK OF BLOOD has been wonderful and felt just right.

Speak soon, Joe


Bringing Simon on board the Book of Blood project is especially apt as, over twenty years ago, Clive based the character Simon McNeal on his good friend Simon Bamford..!


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- Scarecrow

[Alex DeLarge]

All they need is Nicholas Vince and we'll be made in heaven!

[Scarecrow]

What about Grace Kirby or Barbie Wilde? :p


- Scarecrow

[Scarecrow]

London's FrightFest had a special treat for fans after the screening of Midnight Meat Train on August 23rd. The first ten minutes of Book of Blood, the enxt Barker film was shown. The following report details what was seen. We were not sure of the name of the man who takes McNeal but have used the name of the character from the book in order to make it easier to read. Enjoy.

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"Book of Blood" opens in a small café where we see McNeal sat in a corner eating. He's wearing a hooded top but we realise his skin is all horribly scarred. He's watched by Wyburd who talks on his phone to an unknown person, asking if they're sure they want this. As McNeal gets up Wyburd states "your skin is leaving". As McNeal pays, he stumbles in pain and Wyburd helps him and takes him out to his car, offering him help. McNeal falls asleep and Wyburd drives them to an isolated, abandoned house.

McNeal wakes up, strapped to a table, wanting to know what's going on. Wyburd says he's working for a Collector of "the latest thing" which is McNeal's skin. McNeal pleads with him but Wyburd says its nothing personal, and hat he'll get a bonus if the skin is in one piece. As he rips open McNeal's clothes he notes "you're a book of blood... read it to me". McNeal asks why and Wyburd points out he can make his death quick and painless or drawn out. McNeal agrees to tell his story.

We cut to Tollington Place where two parents are desperately trying to break into their daughters room as she screams from within. Inside she's thrown screaming into the air by unknown forces, and beaten and hit. She's thrown on the ceiling and then down onto the bed. Led on her front, she's held down and we see her knickers start to get pulled down and she screams louder, with a possible implied supernatural rape.

As the fire brigade arrive and start breaking down the door we see her face grabbed and the skin start to tear. The fire brigade knock the door down and run in,. The girl is led on the bed, her face completely ripped away, and skinless. The parents cry out and we see the words "Don't Mock Us" scratched on a wardrobe door in blood.


- Scarecrow

[Scarecrow]

http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/13517

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A new interview was discovered today where Writer-Director John Harrison talks about his upcoming adaptation of Clive Barker's Book of Blood, which has 10-minutes teased to a lucky Frightfest UK audience last month. Inside you can find word from Harrison, who says that the film won't be the blood-soaked horror film we all expected.

"It has its moments, but it is not a gore-fest," John Harrison tells IFMagazine. "It is more of a supernatural thriller a la THE OTHERS, or THE ORPHANAGE. Very moody. Very character driven. We screened a preview of the first ten minutes at the Frightfest Festival here in London last week. It’s the big U.K. horror festival, and thousands of fans come from all over the U.K., the U.S. and Europe."

The best news is that it sounds like the fans loved it.

"It went over really well," Harrison explains. "Big applause. So fingers crossed."

In the film, paranormal researcher Mary Florescu's investigations lead her to Simon McNeal, a college student who appears to be channelling messages from the dead. As their erotic relationship develops the line between the worlds of the living and the dead become blurred and finally collapse in a stunning and astonishing climax.

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- Scarecrow

[Sean [The Wildcard]]

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa124/Gregoryhorrorshow/book_of_blood.jpg

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa124/Gregoryhorrorshow/bob020808.jpg

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa124/Gregoryhorrorshow/bob2020808.jpg

[Spook]

Flick sounds good. I'm totally there if I get a chance to see this.

[Scarecrow]

A trailer is up for this film, as well, although it gives away pretty much the whole film!

http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=1902591291


- Scarecrow

[Sean [The Wildcard]]

Great trailer, but it does give a bit away.

It was great to hear "The Dead Have Highways...." speech in there.

I loved the short story, so I am looking forward to this.

[Scarecrow]

The speech is all from near the start of the film, the opening is slow but atmospheric and the frst ghost attack scene is great stuff. Not entriyl convinced by the music in the trailer but we'll see.


- Scarecrow

[Scarecrow]

A member of my site found this interview snippet on Fangoria. Sadly it seems, only remakes can really get any mainstream releases these days, and of course, it has to be from the big studio machines for the msot part.

Q:First of all John, tell me what’s going on with BOOK OF BLOOD?

JH:Well, I’ll be honest about it, it’s done but it’s struggling. It turned out well and I’m very happy with it, but my timing was impeccable as I finished it just when the stock market crashed. Right now, we’re looking at a possible network TV deal with a DVD sale to follow, which is fine as that’s where the film would play most successfully anyway. I was actually hoping for a limited theatrical release first, like we had with DIARY, but it’s been tough. At this stage the financial people are driving the train and they don’t have the luxury to hold out for a better deal or they’ll be out millions.

Q: Did you compose the music for the film?
JH: No, I didn’t. It was just too much for me. People ask me that all the time, saying “why don’t you score your own movies?”, but honestly, it’s just biting off more than I can chew. Most of the films I do have constrained budgets and there’s just not the time to sit back and compose as well as direct. So for BOOK OF BLOOD, in London, we hired a composer named Guy Farley who I believe did a terrific score.


- Scarecrow

[Sean [The Wildcard]]

I really hope they don't go with the Direct to TV then DVD route.

[Scarecrow]

Me too, but it looks likely. Without the major success of Midnight Meat Train, which I really suspect they were rlying on to help the brand, there may be a lot less interest by any major distributors. This *has* to be seen on the cinema screen damn it. I know someone who was a runner on the film and he got to see a crew screening and said it was brilliant on up on the big screen.


- Scarecrow

[Sean [The Wildcard]]

I agree with you, Scarecrow.

Midnight Meat Train really should have had a stronger theatrical release, especially based on the fact that Barker wanted to take it even further with the story and stretch it out into three films, but having it focusing more the details in his short story...something Lions Gate pushed to not have in the actual film itself.

Both 'Books of Blood' and 'Dread' were AMAZING short stories, and from what we've already heard about the two of them, it's only fair that they get the proper theatrical treatment, and won't have to suffer the same fate that Midnight Meat Train did.

God knows Barker deserves it, too. Just about all of his story to film adaptations (aside from Hellraiser) have been dragged through the mud.

[Scarecrow]

The only other film hes ever really got out, Hellbound aside, is Candyman. Lord of Illusions was cut up, he returned to the Hellraiser series for Bloodline and we know how that ended up and after that it was TV Movies and DTV. MMT should have been his return to box office success.


- Scarecrow

[The Dream Master]

Book of Blood gets the kiss of death (http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/31493/syfy-gets-barkers-book-blood).

We gave you an update in early March that Book of Blood was headed to TV, but at that time no one knew any of the particulars. Today some of the pieces fell into place.


Fangoria reports that during the Book of Blood panel at the recent LA Weekend of Horrors, writer/director John Harrison announced to the audience that his film will likely bypass theatrical distribution and instead debut on the Sci Fi Channel (or Syfy) this fall.

“There can’t be a worse time, economically, to open an independent horror film in the U.S. than now,” Harrison told the crowd, “so we will instead do a major cable launch on Sci Fi around September. We hope to get the movie on a few big screens before then, but it’s tough.”

Keep it here for more.

[Sean [The Wildcard]]

:mad::mad::mad:

That news infuriates me.

This film should have had a nice theatrical run. Now, we're just going to be handed over terrible TV edit of it on Sci Fi Channel (or Syfy:duh:).

God Damn it...

[Sean [The Wildcard]]

Sorry to double post...but...

Just finished watching 'Book of Blood.' I won't say how, though, just to be safe.

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc216/homeofhorror3/homeofhorror4/homeofhorror5/vlcsnap-851734.png

It's...alright. Nothing too special about it. It has its moments, but it is not a gore-fest. It is more of a supernatural thriller, very moody. Very character driven. I know, the short story didn't have much in it, so a lot was added into the film for pacing reasons and such. They took the book-end stories from the collection, Book of Blood and On Jerusalem Street, and merged them into one story. As with any adaptation, there are details that must be adjusted and often changed somewhat.

And Clive's BOOK Series 'The Books of Blood' were great. The Book of Blood was the set piece for all the following stories to jump off of, So only having the film focus on the fact that the dead have stories to tell, but not tell them, kind of lacks in that department...Especially because all of the short stories in the Books of Blood were what "stories the dead had to say."

I'll give the film 5/10.

[i am SAW]

Red Band Trailer:

http://www.fangoriaonline.com/home/news/9-film-news/3164-red-band-trailer-for-clive-barkers-book-of-blood.html

[i am SAW]

this movie sucked.