Welsh horror hits Hollywood

No, this has nothing at all to do with Catherine Zeta-Jones. The considerably less famous but infinitely more delightful Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals notoriety and his vinyl-fiend pal Andy Votel who helms the Finders Keepers/B-Music reissue empire are kicking off their festive Los Angeles weekend jaunt with an evening of Welsh horror on  Wednesday (June 1 at Cinefamily (611 N. Fairfax) at 11 pm.

In this case, the potentially frightening bits extend well beyond the screening of the rarely seen 1975 low-budget thriller-chiller Gwaed Ar Y Ser (that's Blood On The Stars to you and me), carrying over to the DJ set in which Rhys and Votel will treat attendees to a selection of hair-raising soundtrack cues mixed with what may prove to be even scarier – genuine Cymraeg folk ditties! According to Rhys, Gwaed Ar Y Ser made a strong impression on him as a youngster and he believes the flick holds up three decades on.  
"It's kind of a Wicker Man meets Celebrity Big Brother cum slasher movie," says Rhys who'll be in Toronto with his new band for a Horseshoe gig on June 11, "about this group of sinister kids who are going around killing the minor celebrities of Wales in the '70s, occasionally with snakes. They electrocute and kill the leading harp player by connecting her harp to the mains; they blow up the most famous rugby player by putting a bomb inside the ball -- I think they blow up Barry John, he’s a rugby legend! The light entertainment TV personalities I used to see on telly every day were being murdered in front of my face, I had to be carried out of the cinema screaming. Now that’s definitely a B-movie. I mean, it’s beyond B-movie. Maybe it’s a C or D. I got a copy of it a few years ago, it hasn’t really been shown anywhere since 1976 and it’s still incredible!" 
The freaky kicks continue for the Finders Keepers posse with a Re-Vamped screening of Jean Rollin's Le Viol du Vampire featuring a live soundtrack performed by Demdike Stare and Anworth Kirk as part of the Erotique Fantastique Masquerade Ball at Cinefamiy on Thursday (June 2) leading up to Friday's Jean Rollin Tribute boasting a blood-sucking double bill of Le Frisson Des Vampires and Requiem For A Vampire and DJ sets from Votel and the ever-fabulous DJ Mahssa starting at 8 pm followed by an after party over in Glassell Park at Verdugo Bar (3408 Verdugo)  where the mysterious Tandy Love (who could it be?) will be cutting loose with sitar-tweaked fuzzy psych head-nodders from 11 pm until the booze runs out. Check out their whole sordid itinerary and consult the Cinefamily site www.cinefamily.org for ticket information. It makes you wonder why this sort of thing never happens at TIFF.

LINKS
Finders Keepers http://www.finderskeepersrecords.com