TV & Showbiz

Cultplex’s annual horror film festival returns to GRUB next month

Because spooky season should last all month long.

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 16th September 2024

A much-loved staple of Manchester’s spooky season is returning this autumn as the STAB Season film festival lands back at Cultplex next month.

Part of GRUB over at Red Bank, Cultplex is one of the best small-screen cinemas and hidden gems full stop to be found in the city centre; as the name would suggest, they celebrate fan favourite films, video games, cool nerd stuff and all things culty.

And don’t worry, by culty we mean the stuff people are obsessed with – there’s no risk of stumbling across old people donning hooded cloaks like in Hot Fuzz or anything, we promise.

However, that film is a very good example of the kind of fandom this Manchester ‘mini-cini’ champions, and this October it will once again be taken over by a whole host of horror movies and more as part of the month-long festival.

Promising to deliver “a month of sinister cinema that isn’t for the faint of heart” and be “the biggest yet”, the 2024 STAB Film Season over at Cultplex kicks off on Wednesday, 2 October and doesn’t stop until the start of November.

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With this year’s lineup featuring sci-fi and supernatural classics such as The Exorcist (1973) and Alien (1979) – and that’s just the double-bill they’ve booked in for Halloween night – as well as full-on movie marathons, special spooky one-offs and other events.

We’re talking quizzes, Q&A and binging of TV box sets just to name a few. Basically, it’s going to be equal parts terrifying and terrific.

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Kicking off the city’s longest-lasting horror movie festival with their annual airing of 1974’s locally-shot-yet-criminally-underseen The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue (now THAT is what you call a cult film), before swinging headlong into Wes Craven’s hit slasher franchise Scream and Korean zombie hit Train to Busan (2016), this thing is going to move at a mile a minute.

It’ll be Halloween before you know it. You can find the full STAB Film Season 2024 line-up below:

DateWhat’s on at STAB Film Season – Cultplex @ GRUB
Wednesday, 2 October19:30 – The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue (1974)
Thursday, 3 October20:30 – Sprechen: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari + live score
Friday, 4 October20:30 – Double-bill: Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022) + Shiva Baby (2020)
Sunday, 6 October13:00 – Scream Stab-a-Thon
Wednesday, 9 October19:30 – Interference Film Club: Martyrs (2015)
Saturday, 12 October13:30 – The Addams Family (1991)
16:00 – The Blob (1988)
19:00 – Zombie All-Nighter ft. Train to Busan (2016), Return of the Living Dead (1985), REC (2007) and Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979)
Sunday, 13 October16:00 – Interview With The Vampire (1994)
Wednesday, 16 October19:30 – Halloween Quiz Show
Friday, 18 October18:00 – Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace (2004 — and our pick of the bunch*)
Sunday, 20 October13:00 – TRASHFEST with Andrew Leovald Q&A
16:00 – CULT CLUB: The Mummy (1999)
Wednesday, 23 October19:30 – GASP: Suspiria (1977)
Thursday, 24 October19:30 – MAGHOUL (amateur video game night – but scary)
Friday, 25 October18:00 – Double-bill: Thirteen Ghosts (2001) + Ghost Ship (2002)
Saturday, 26 October13:00 – A Lovely Time: The Simpsons ‘Treehouse of Horror’ Quiz
13:30 – The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
16:00 – In The Mouth of Madness (1994) + Nick Helm Podcast
20:00 – A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) for Freddy K’s 40th B-Day Party
Sunday, 27 October13:00 – Movie Church: Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
16:00 – Linnea Quigley’s Horror Workout (1990)
19:00 – Tetsuo The Iron Man (1989)
Wednesday, 30 October19:30 – Arrow Film Club: Ju-on The Grudge (2002)
Thursday, 31 October – HALLOWEEN!19:30 – Double-bill: The Exorcist (1973) + Alien (1979)
Friday, 1 November19:30 – Slumber Party Massacre Double Bill
Saturday, 2 November – The Finale16:00 – Death Becomes Her (1992)

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Halloween and horror fans won’t need convincing on this one, you already know the drill.

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You can expect all this and loads more surprises we wouldn’t dare spoil for you when STAB Film Season kicks off at Cultplex next month.

And the best part is, you’re already at GRUB, so proper good food and drink is right on your doorstep. Just try not to throw it all in the air when the jumpscares start.

Full-season listings can be found HERE with tickets for all events available to book now – if you’re brave
enough. It’s not the only thing fright fans can look forward to this year either…

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Cultplex/GRUB MCR (supplied)

TV & Showbiz

Stockport actress Aimee Lou Wood set to star in new BBC adaptation of Jane Eyre

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Stockport-born actress Aimee Lou Wood is set to lead a new BBC adaptation of Jane Eyre, it has been reported.

It was announced earlier this year that Working Title are producing a new TV adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s classic novel, Jane Eyre – which will be led by The White Lotus and Sex Education star in the titular role – and Deadline has now exclusively revealed that the BBC has joined the production as the broadcaster.

The new TV adaptation has been penned for the screen by Miriam Battye – an award-winning writer best known for her work on HBO’s Succession.

Published all the way back in 1847 and set across a number of fictional Northern England settings, the classic novel explores the moral and emotional development of orphan Jane Eyre as she searches for love, independence, and social equality in the 19th century.

Throughout the novel, Jane overcomes a harsh and unloving childhood and goes on to find work as a governess at Thornfield Hall, before falling in love with her moody master, Mr Rochester, and discovering a dark secret in his attic.

The novel is widely considered to be ahead of its time due to how it approaches topics of class, sexuality, religion, and feminism.

Jane Eyre has been the subject of a number of adaptations of the years – most notably the last major TV version being in 2006, also for the BBC, and a 2011 film starring Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender – but there hasn’t been any in 15 years now, and 2027 marks the 180th anniversary for the iconic story.

Aimee Lou Wood is also riding high at the moment after her Emmy, SAG, and Golden Globe nominations for Season 3 of The White Lotus, and after having also been cast as George Harrison’s wife, Pattie Boyd, in Sam Mendes’ four Beatles biopic movies, all set to be released in 2028.

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As of yet, further information on when and where the new adaptation will be being filmed is yet to be released, and there is no indication of air dates either.

The BBC is expected to reveal more details in due course, so stay tuned.

Featured Image – HBO

TV & Showbiz

Elbow get behind campaign to save Jodrell Bank from closure

Danny Jones Danny Jones Elbow and celebs backing

Manc band Elbow are among the latest to get behind the campaign to save Jodrell Bank Observatory from closing permanently.

The Greater Manchester natives famously played a sold-out gig at the important scientific and cultural landmark for a very special live album recording well over a decade ago, and know all too well the site’s national and, indeed, global heritage.

Choosing the Observatory and the rare chance to perform a show in the shadow of the world-renowned James Lovell Telescope, it probably remains one of their most significant standalone UK date ever.

With that in mind, the local lads have been left just as worried by the news of its impending closure as everyone else, and have therefore issued a fresh appeal to help keep it open.

Posting a timely statement on social media, the group wrote: “Jodrell Bank has long been close to elbow’s heart. In 2012, the band played beneath the Lovell Telescope for one of the most memorable shows in our history.

“The recent news that funding for the e-MERLIN radio telescope network is set to end in 2028 puts the future of the scientific work at Jodrell Bank under serious threat. It is a remarkable place, with an extraordinary history, and one that continues to play an important role in science, culture and education.”

In addition to reliving clips and images from the historic live set all the years later, they also pointed people towards their ‘elbow – Live at Jodrell Bank‘ album documentary, which has now been made available online for the very first time as part of wider efforts to raise awareness around the cause.

Directing people to key online resources shared by the institution and astrophysics centre itself following their unfortunate update late last month, the push to not only find the funding but sustain support for the facility continues to ramp up throughout the world of science, arts and industry.

For anyone who somehow missed the news – 2028 being the current deadline handed down as per budget cuts across the sector – concerned parties here in the North West and all over the country have since started petitioning to save Jodrell Bank Observatory from shutting down for good.

Brits start petition to save Jodrell Bank Observatory from closure amid budget cuts
Jodrell Bank won’t go down without a fight.

In addition to being described as a “huge blow” to the field by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), some have even gone so far as to describe the decision as a form of “vandalism” when it comes to research and British culture as a whole.

Having also served as the host venue for the annual bluedot Festival since 2016, the multi-genre science and arts celebration could soon be forced to find a new home.

The battle is far from over yet, and the community has time to rescue Jodrell Bank Observatory from its fate, but it will take lots of money and more notable public figures to make it happen.

Once again, you can do your bit by signing the petition mentioned above right HERE.

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For all the latest news, events and goings-on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE

Featured Images — Emma Farrer (via Wikimedia Commons)/The Manc Group

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