Horror Favourites – Albert Shin

Disappearance At Clifton Hill will be released across all major streaming and download platforms from July 20th, with a physical release following on August 3rd. We had the chance to talk to the films writer and director Albert Shin about his favourite horror film.

Following the death of her mother, Abby (Tuppence Middleton), a troubled young woman, returns to her hometown of Niagara Falls and the dilapidated motel her family used to run. She soon finds herself drawn back into a mystery that has haunted her since childhood. As Abby sets out to discover the truth, she must confront a local eccentric (David Cronenberg), convince her sister (Hannah Gross) and face her own demons.

Albert Shin is a Korean-Canadian filmmaker who co-founded the Toronto-based production company, Timelapse Pictures, with fellow filmmaker, Igor Drljaca. His film, IN HER PLACE (2014), won multiple jury prizes at festivals worldwide, and received 7 Canadian Screen Award nominations including Best Picture, Director and Original Screenplay. He is also a recipient of the Jay Scott Prize for Emerging Artist by the Toronto Film Critics Association.

Albert was a producer on Drljaca’s KRIVINA (2012), THE WAITING ROOM (2015) and THE STONE SPEAKERS (2018) all of which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival before screening at numerous festivals worldwide.

Below Albert talks about his favourite horror film:

“THE DEAD ZONE (Dir. David Cronenberg) Not to deliberately cross-promote, but David Cronenberg was a huge figure in my cinematic awakening as a young kid. I have a brother who’s seven or eight years older than me, and I was always watching what he was, which certainly were things I shouldn’t have been as a pre-teen. The Fly, Scanners, Naked Lunch – all left an indelible mark. However, something about The Dead Zone always felt different to me. Starting with Christopher Walken’s amazing performance. And maybe because it was more grounded than Cronenberg’s other work (up to that point), it didn’t feel like a horror film, it felt real, which made it all the more terrifying. In many ways, films like The Dead Zone, opened my eyes to the possibilities of cinema and how even within specific genres, the spectrum was vast. Filmmakers could subvert expectations, merge genres and tones, create an oeuvre – the medium felt so endless and exciting. This was the time in my life when I became completely seduced by cinema and set the course for my life.

So you can imagine how surreal it was for me to be directing the legend himself, in Niagara Falls, which as an interesting tidbit, is where Mr. Cronenberg happen to film The Dead Zone as well. Talk about full circle!”

Disappearance At Clifton Hill will be available on Digital Download from July 20 and on DVD from August 3

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Alex Humphrey

Alex studied film at the University of Kent and went on to work for Universal Pictures in their Post Room gaining an inside look at the movie industry from the very bottom. Constantly writing reviews in everything from local magazines to Hip Hop sites Alex honed his critical skills even spending a brief period as a restaurant critic. Read more

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