Dir/Scr. Steve Oram. UK, 2015, 79 mins.
In its enthusiasm for poo-flinging, food-fights, penis-chewing, cannibalism, tea-bagging and sudden stabbings, the film sets out to shock in a particularly cosy way
Inhabiting a waste ground somewhere between radical theatre and slob comedy, Steve Oram’s debut as a writer-director-star – following up his writer-actor work on Ben Wheatley’s Sightseers – is liable to corner a small but devoted cult following. It’s at least as interested in gross-out gags that out-gross the average Hollywood frat-boy film as it is in delivering a skewed yet pointed look at a suburban Britain where everyone communicates in grunts and gestures the way cavemen and women do in Hammer Fillms’ well-remembered prehistoric adventure films (One Million Years BC, When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth).
AAAAAAAAH!’s specific precedents might include such one-offs as Richard Lester’s post-apocalyptic The Bed-Sitting Room, Akira Kurosawa’s rubbish-strewn Dodes’ka-den or Claude Faraldo’s Parisian troglodyte drama Themroc, but it’s fresh, distinctive and strange enough on its own and tight enough at 79 minutes not to outwear its welcome.
• Continue reading at Screen Daily.
Human beings have the same violent tribal urges as wild apes in this surreal horror comedy, the directing debut of British actor and screenwriter Steve Oram.
An outlandish blend of wacko sci-fi horror and grotesque comedy, this low-budget British oddity will divide critics, but it should pick up a devoted following among fans of macabre, surreal, cheerfully disgusting cult cinema. The feature-directing debut of its writer and co-star Steve Oram, AAAAAAAAH! takes place in a contemporary London where humans behave like wild apes, speaking only in simian grunts as they masturbate, defecate, urinate, copulate and engage in deadly tribal rivalries. Vulgar and violent and intermittently hilarious, Oram’s uncompromising experiment in arty trash has its world premiere this weekend as part of Frightfest in London.
• Continue reading at The Hollywood Reporter.
Film4 FrightFest has returned for more macabre mayhem. The 5 day residency at the Vue West End, Leicester Square marks its 16th year with its biggest line-up to date. From Thurs 27th August to Mon 31st August, the UK’s leading event for horror genre fans returns to present 76 films across five screens, plus a host of other special events.
There are eighteen countries representing 5 continents with a record-breaking 16 European premieres and 26 UK premieres. In addition, there is a further ‘Discovery’ strand at The Prince Charles Cinema, signalling a welcome return to FrightFest’s spiritual home.
The festival kicks off with David Keating’s Cherry Tree, there is the world premiere of Steve Oram’s hilarious and very disturbing AAAAAAAAH!.
• Continue reading at Entertainment Focus. Click below for full details on FrightFest 2015.
This month’s Total Film magazine includes a small photo of Toyah (yes, the now almost legendary shot of her with that frying pan) and article on Aaaaaaaah! on their “agenda” page feature on FrightFest 2015 – the film festival which began today in London.
FrightFest 2015 offers 75 horror movies in five days! Here are a few that are making Agenda’s spine tingle…
We know Steve Oram can do weird, wild and wonderful – with Alice Lowe, he wrote and starred in Ben Wheatley’s Sightseers – but his directorial debut is a different kettle of fish altogether. Or make that barrel of monkeys, because the cast (Noel Fiedling, Toyah Willcox, Oram, Lowe…) communicate only with ape-noises in this bizarre talke of the battle to take over a community. Proof that human beings really are animals.
• View a larger version of the scan here. (Thanks to Lärwi, of The Toyah Willcox Interview Archive, for the scan)
– Aaaaaaaah! premieres at FrightFest tomorrow evening, with Toyah, Steve Oram and the cast in attendance, and also participating in a Q&A session.
Icon Film Distribution (IFD) and FrightFest have announced the first films which will be released under the curated banner FrightFest Presents.
The seven titles selected will all have their UK theatrical premieres at the FrightFest five day festival in August at the Vue Leicester Square and represent some of the most exciting genre filmmakers working today.
The exclusive Icon and FrightFest partnership, first announced in April, will see titles released across the UK and Ireland via the distributor’sdigital partners (including iTunes, Virgin Movies, Sky, Google 
Amazon, Xbox , Blinkbox, Google, Wuaki, TalkTalk and Volta) giving film fans instant access to some of their favourite FrightFest titles.
FrightFest Presents launches officially on 19 October with a consumer campaign pushing out from the beginning of the month. Each release has the collective backing of IFD and FrightFest across all marketing, PR and social channels.
The seven titles to be released under FrightFest Presents are: AAAAAAAAH!, The Sand, Afterdeath, Landmine Goes Click, Emelie, The Lesson and Estranged.
• Continue reading at the Horror Channel.
Ten Unmissable Horrors From This Year’s Festival
FrightFest founder and co-director Alan Jones picks his top ten movies showing at this year’s festival. Tickets are on sale now here and the festival runs at Vue Leicester Square from 27 – 31 August
AAAAAAAAH!: If you liked actor Steve Oram in the quirky comedy thriller Sightseers, chances are you’ll adore his directorial debut, bound to become the cult film of this year and many more to come. Original to the point of WTF, imagine future humanity regressing to ape-like behaviour and put under a wildlife documentary microscope. Dialogue-free and featuring a game cast of Oram’s best mates – including Toyah Willcox, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Noah Fielding and Alice Lowe – this is terrifyingly funny, deeply offensive hilariously sick and unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. David Attenborough, eat your heart out!
• Continue reading at VUE.
Icon, FrightFest confirm first films for new genre label
The Sand and Aaaaaaaah! among first FrightFest Presents acquisitions.
UK distributor Icon Film Distribution and UK horror festival FrightFest have set the first films to be released under their FrightFest Presents banner.
The films will premiere at FrightFest, which gets underway in London on Thursday (Aug 27), before unspooling online between October and February 2016. Digital partners will include iTunes, Virgin Movies, Sky, Google Amazon, Xbox , Blinkbox, Google, Wuaki, TalkTalk and Volta.
Among the first batch of titles is Sightseers actor-writer Steve Oram’s surreal ‘monkey comedy’ Aaaaaaaah!, which Icon will release online this October.
Oram stars alongside Noel Fielding (The Mighty Boosh), Alice Lowe (Sightseers), Lucy Honnigman (The Ex-PM), Julian Rhind-Tutt (Lucy), Julian Barratt (The Mighty Boosh) and Toyah Willcox (Quadrophenia) in the story of a tribe of warring ‘monkeys’.
• Continue reading at Screen Daily.
Sightseers co-writer and star Steve Oram delivers his demented directorial debut AAAAAAAAH! at FrightFest this Friday 28th August. The mad as a plate of badgers, monkey horror/ sci-fi hybrid previews in Discover Screen 1 with Steve, Toyah Willcox and other cast members due to attend.
With stateside screening dates booked, AAAAAAAAH! looks to destined for cult status and is sure to set Steve on a path to greater film-making opportunities. We chatted to Steve about AAAAAAAAH!’s inception and production along with the state of modern indie cinema and the secrets to mining comedy genius.
How do you pronounce the title is it AAAAAAAAH!?
However you want, I will leave that to the viewer. You can say it like AAAAAAAAH! or AAAAAAAAH! or AAAAAAAAH! Many variations. Multi.
How did you come up with such a warped idea? Did it evolve from something else or was it more of a light-bulb moment?
It’s something that has always fascinated me: how ape-like we all are and yet we rarely reference it in our every-day lives. I’ve always been a big fan of Planet of the Apes and did a short film with the same concept a couple of years ago. So I guess it grew from there.
Was it an easy casting process?
I always had a few names in mind: the two Julians (Rhind-Tutt and Barratt), Tom Meeten but Toyah Willcox I wasn’t expecting, I just sent her the script which she loved and was very enthusiastic about. I think if you tell an actor they have to do run around being a monkey, they’ll probably do it. They love that sort of shit.
The soundtrack to AAAAAAAAH! was pretty amazing. As a musician, did you have much involvement?
The main person who provided the soundtrack was Robert Fripp who donated a largely improvised album to us to use however we wanted. So that’s all just the genius of Robert really. I did most of the shit stuff that sounded like an ape made it.
• Continue reading at HeyUGuys.
Toyah Willcox headlines free music festival in Vale Park
Live in the Park, the free music festival being held in Vale Park over the Bank Holiday weekend, is set to be a great day out for all the family.
Starting at noon on Saturday, August 29, 80s’ pop singer Toyah Willcox will perform on stage following eight and a half hours of continuous live music featuring many local bands and musicians, including Platform Soul, the ultimate soul, disco and dance band.
Rob Casey, lead guitarist with Platform Soul, said: “We are very excited that Toyah will be headlining Live in the Park. It’s an honour to share the large outdoor stage with such a popular national star as well as a wide range of talented local artists. Live in the Park is going to be a great free concert in the centre of Aylesbury. It’ll be a gig to remember.”
• Continue reading at Bucks Herald. More info at toyahwillcox.com.
Jason Donovan and the Human League were among the acts performing at the Flashback to the 80s concert at Clumber Park at the weekend.
With their picnics, bottles of wine, cans of lager, umbrellas, fold-up chairs and fancy dress, thousands of people ventured deep into Clumber Park for the Flashback to the 80s concert on Saturday night.
With a line-up boasting Toyah, Jason Donovan, Five Star, Marc Almond and Human League, it promised to transport people back to a different age.
Toyah was superb, belting out a mix of her songs and cover versions, and she compered the night. Toyah clearly still has it.
Five Star don’t. As far as I could tell, it was more like one out of Five Star; she gave it a good go to be fair, but kept on shouting Come on Nottingham. She couldn’t hear me shouting back that we were about 23 miles from Nottingham and people were as likely to have come from Sheffield or Spalding as they were Nottingham.
• Continue reading at the Derbyshire Times.
Toyah Willcox, 5 Star and Jason Donovan at Flashback Festival: Review and pictures
It was the rain that dominated the second day of pop nostalgia at the 80’s Flashback Festival at Clumber Park, but whilst this packed crowd donned waterproofs and brollies, their enthusiasm for good 80’s music was not in any way dampened. The regular compere for the Saturday night slot, Clive Jackson, the Doctor from Doctor & The Medics was unfortunately unable to attend. Toyah Willcox took up the mantle and did a great job keeping the party going.
Soul II Soul hogged the sunshine and had the crowd on their feet with their hits including, Keep On Movin’ and Back To Life before handing the stage over to Toyah for her set. With a huge back catalogue of hits, she did not disappoint with old tracks such as Good Morning Universe and I Want To Be Free. Covers included a sterling performance of Guns ‘n’ Roses Sweet Child Of Mine, before finishing with It’s A Mystery.
• Continue reading/View Photo Gallery at the Nottingham Post. (Photos © Kevin Cooper/Nottingham Post)
Flashback Festival: Toyah Willcox, Boney M and The Human League among acts at Clumber Park
A star from the 1980s with a career spanning more than 30 years has promised she will be singing all of her fan-favourite songs at this weekend’s Flashback Festival.
Toyah Willcox, 57, is one of the performers at the festival at Clumber Park, on Saturday.
The two-day event, which starts on Friday, will feature a host of artists from the 1970s and 1980s for the sixth retro music festival.
Rock and pop singer Toyah said: “I have played the festival five or six times before and it is one of the prettiest venues I have performed at. I would like to shoot a music video there.”
Toyah put her band together in 1977 and went on to have 13 top 40 singles, recorded 20 albums, and has toured live across the world. She said over the years her audience has grown and now she plays to bigger crowds than when she did in the 1980s.
• Continue reading at the Newark Advertiser. Further info @ toyahwillcox.com.
• Mearns Leader: Toyah to serve Stonehaven well: Eighties pop icon Toyah Willcox is the latest chart star to play in Stonehaven in a long list that includes Simple Minds and The Human League. The former punk princess – whose biggest hit was It’s A Mystery – is to take the stage at Stonehaven Town Hall on September, Friday 18 and Saturday 19 – Continue reading…
• Through The Magic Door: Festival Fun at Cropredy 2015: For example this year a few of the highlights were The Proclaimers, Toyah Willcox, and some of the new ones we enjoyed were Ahab and Katzenjammer – Continue reading…
• We Are Folk: Toyah setting the stage on fire at Cropredy – Continue reading…
• Newark Advertiser: Are you heading to Clumber Park for the Flashback Festival? – Continue reading…
• Daily Mail: Talkin’ about his generation: Phil Daniels relives his iconic role in Quadrophenia as he’s reunited with the Mod scooter he rode in the film… over 30 years later: The film also starred other emerging British talent, such as, Ray Winstone, Toyah Wilcox, Lesley Ash and Philip Davis – as well as Sting. But while the iconic film is ingrained in a whole generation’s collective mind, its star can barely recall filming it. ‘All I can remember about the film is working really hard. We shot it all in six weeks and we did the end first,’ Phil confessed – Continue reading…
• Paul Nicholson @ Twitter: Toyah and the boys at Eastbourne Bandstand last week – Continue reading…
• Fused: Cropredy Festival > Review: An interesting overview of last week’s festival, with some equally interesting photos, and even a few lines on Toyah: “Toyah Willcox. The latter named must surely keep an aging portrait in her attic and delivered an energetic punk-pop set with spasmodically operatic vocals which she reckoned have “5 years left” – Continue reading…
Punk princess rocks town hall for two nights steady
Eighties pop icon Toyah Willcox is to perform in a North-east town, playing two gigs in two nights. The former punk princess is to take the stage at Stonehaven Town Hall on September 18 and 19.
The event is being organised by music shop owner Chris Stirk. He said: “These revival gigs usually turn out to be great nights out with the acts giving their all and the crowd bopping along. “Toyah is a uniquely gifted performer. She is charismatic, outspoken and one of Britain’s iconic household names. She is an award- winning rock legend, as well as a much-loved actress and music composer and we are delighted she is the latest big act to come to Stonehaven.”
Chris was keen to add any money made from the concerts goes into community projects , and at the end of the year any surplus funds go to a local charity. Toyah had hit singles It’s A Mystery, I Want to Be Free, Brave New World and Be Proud, Be Loud (Be Heard). Tickets are available from Ma Simpson’s music shop in Stonehaven.
• News Source: Aberdeen Evening Express. Buy tickets here.
Worksop: Flashback Festival is set to go this weekend at Clumber Park
Now into its sixth year, the Flashback Festival returns to Clumber Park in Worksop this weekend with a celebration of the best of the 70s and 80s.
The weekend kicks-off tonight (Friday) with the best of the 70s, headlined by disco legends Sister Sledge. The line-up also consists of Boney M, The Real Thing, Hot Chocolate and Odyssey.
The following day sees the return of all things 80, headlined by Sheffield band The Human League. The line-up also includes Soft Cell frontman Marc Almond, Jason Donovan, 5 Star and Toyah.
• Continue reading at the Worksop Guardian.
It’s no mystery: Toyah will take to stage for two Stonehaven Town Hall gigs
Toyah Willcox is the latest chart star to play one of the north-east’s most popular music venues.
The former punk princess is to take the stage at Stonehaven Town Hall on September 18 and 19.
The gigs follow her successful recent appearance at Scone’s Rewind festival alongside other greats from the 1980s – including Bananarama, Jimmy Somerville, Kim Wilde and Nik Kershaw.
The event is being organised by music shop owner Chris Stirk, who has also booked ska band Bad Manners, led by Buster Bloodvessel, for October and Scottish hard rock group Nazareth for next April. She has already brought rockers Big Country to the town hall and was also responsible for a highly-acclaimed version of the musical Hairspray being put on there, with auditions about to start for a stage version of the hit movie Fame.
Chris, who also organises the popular open-air charity music festival Party in the Park, said: “These revival gigs usually turn out to be great nights out, with the acts giving their all and the crowd bopping along.”
• Continue reading at The Dundee Courier.
The lovely Toyah Willcox has blogged briefly about her role in “The Afternoon of the Living Dead” for Doctors. This makes me very happy. Go and take a peek at Toyah’s Blog.
• Continue reading at Scriptuality.
As the bells from St Mary the Virgin rang out at 4pm on Thursday so too, on a sloping swathe of Oxfordshire farmland half-a-mile away, did a fiddle, an acoustic guitar and a mandolin. The sky was filled with threatening white-cum-greyish clouds and a mild drizzle descended but Fairport Convention were already in full flow.
The bass heavy, Eighties, jazz-funk of Level 42 was not up my particular alley. And neither, did I think feel, would be a revival of Toyah’s hits from the same era. But the sassy blonde pixie-warrior-princess delivered a breathless show which even included some pogoing. “Here I am, 57 years-old and I’m still singing the punk stuff,” she gasped between numbers. And singing it pretty well, too.
• Continue reading at the Swindon Advertiser.
Punk princess of the 1980s, Toyah Willcox, is one of the star names appearing in this year’s Trowbridge Arts Festival taking place in October.
Actress, pop icon and TV presenter Toyah will bring the festival to a starry close in an Up Close and Personal performance at Trowbridge Civic Centre on Sunday November 1.
Festival director Andrew Bryant said: “We are absolutely delighted Toyah has agreed to close this year’s festival.
“She is a legendary and much-loved performer and has followed a fascinating career path. She is a name we have been keen to add to the festival for a long time. After last year’s sell-out performance by Hazel O’Connor we would advise people to purchase tickets as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
“This will be a very special night for Trowbridge.”
• Continue reading at the Gazette & Herald.
• Worksop Guardian: Stellar line-up of 70s and 80s stars for the Flashback Festival: Fans of music from the 70s and 80s will be in for a treat with some of the greatest artists and bands from that era at Clumber Park’s Flashback Festival next weekend.
The weekend will kick-off Friday, August 21 with the best of the 70s. The line-up consists of Boney M, The Real Thing, Hot Chocolate, Odyssey and disco legends Sister Sledge. The following day sees the return of all things 80, headlined by Sheffield band The Human League. The line-up also includes Soft Cell frontman Marc Almond, Jason Donovan, 5 Star, and Toyah and Flashbacks – Continue reading…
• Matlock Mercury: Top acts flock to Flashback: Clumber Park will see a 70s v 80s weekend of concerts later this month to mark the sixth anniversary of the popular retro music concert The Flashback Festival. Fans of music from those two decades will be in for a treat with some of the greatest artists and bands from that era in action.
Saturday sees the return of all things 80s. Enthusiasts of this era will be flocking to Clumber Park from all over the UK. The Human League are set to headline the festival. Joining The Human League will be Marc Almond, Jason Donovan, 5 Star, Toyah and Flashback’s favourite compere, The Doctor of Doctor & The Medics… – Continue reading…
• Fairport’s Cropredy Convention opens today. Toyah plays the final day on Saturday.
• Northamptonshire Telegraph: Fairport begin Cropredy festival: Thousands of folk, fans are expected to head to Cropredy today as Fairport Convention’s annual festival returns. The hosts will kick off proceedings with an acoustic set as well as bringing the festival to a close on the Saturday night. The Friday will opened by the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award winners who will be followed by ahab, Judith Owen, Skinny Lister, Skerryvore, Fish and The Proclaimers. The second day will be headlined by Level 42. The final day of Cropredy will be opened by Richard Digance who will be followed by Kevin Dempsey and Rosie Carson, The New Grasscutters, Band of Friends, Toyah Willcox, Paul Carrack and Iain Matthews and Egbert Derix – Continue reading…
• Banbury Guardian: What’s on where around Banbury: listings, August 13 edition: Music – Today (Thursday August 13) to Saturday August 15: Fairport’s Cropredy Convention – Three days of some of the best folk music at the popular annual shindig. Performers include Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell, Level 42, The Proclaimers, Fish, Paul Carrack, Toyah Willcox and Fairport Convention themselves. Tickets will be available at the gate. See www.fairportconvention.com – Continue reading…
