BEYOND THE RAVE: The return of Hammer!

Beyond The Rave

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After more than two decades of absence, Hammer Films returns to horror with Beyond the Rave, an online serial that heralds the resurgence of one of Britain’s best-loved film companies. Beyond the Rave is produced for Hammer by Pure Grass Films, from an original story by Tom Grass.

Says CEO Simon Oakes, “Hammer is a great British brand; we intend to take it back into production and develop its global potential”. The new direction pledges to maintain the same high standards that made Hammer one of the world’s most respected and influential genre companies, and to entertain both its loyal fans and a new generation of horror viewers.

Hammer - which has not released a film since 1979 – is also returning to feature production and has several exciting projects in development. With Beyond the Rave, the company wishes to give long-time followers and new audiences an early taste of things to come: original productions, using new technologies and featuring the hottest up-and-coming talent.

Drawing inspiration from the works of Bram Stoker and Anne Rice as well as from eighties classics The Lost Boys and Near Dark, Beyond the Rave, a vampire story set in England’s underground party scene, is a combination of traditional horror themes and contemporary setting and characters. The story follows the last hours of freedom of local soldier Ed, who is flying out to Iraq the following morning. With the help of his best friend Necro, he spends his last night in the UK tracking down his missing girlfriend Jen, last seen partying with a bizarre group of hardcore night-time ravers led by the mysterious Melech. But as he catches up with Jen at a party in a remote forest, Ed discovers that Melech’s crowd, who are hosting the event, are looking for more than a night of fun, and that not everyone will make it through to dawn…

Directed by director Matthias Hoene, known for his award winning shorts, commercials and music videos, Beyond the Rave features performances from Nora-Jane Noone (The Descent), Jamie Dornan (Marie-Antoinette), Tamer Hassan (Layer Cake, The Ferryman, Eastern Promises), Sebastian Knapp (28 Days Later, One Point O), Les Simpson (Dog Soldiers, upcoming Doomsday), Lois Winstone (When Evil Calls) and Steve Sweeney (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels). There are also special appearances by Hammer legend Ingrid Pitt, Sadie Frost (Bram Stoker’s Dracula) and Phil Bush (lead singer of The Cazals).

Beyond the Rave’s special effects will be handled by Tristan Versluis, one of the UK’s best new FX artists, whose credits include Jake West’s Evil Aliens, Billy O’Brien’s Isolation, Adam Mason’s Broken and The Devil’s Chair, and more recently Edgar Wright’s Hot Fuzz and Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd.

Producer Ben Grass concludes, “Beyond the Rave was inspired by Tom and my own experiences of raves: the great highs, and the demons that can lurk in the dark before dawn. It's jam packed with great characters and encounters. The narrative hurtles along to a big, juicy conclusion, and all along it's peppered with great tunes and visceral action.”