The latest news from THE VAMPIRES OF BLOODY ISLAND.
The funniest vamp-flick to hit DVD in bloody ages!MARCH 2010
Hello again.
You asked us to keep you up to date with our independent movie 'The Vampires of Bloody Island'.
Or maybe you just want to see when the sanity finally slips and Pamela and I are left a pair of gibbering wrecks in the corner of our draughty warehouse!
As always, it's been a time of highs and lows! Highs of great praise here in the UK (more about that in a second) and lows of deep frustration with technical delays for the USA & Canada DVD release. Grrr! I'm not a great fan of all the techie stuff but I virtually had to go into the DVD's programming with rolled up sleeves, a chainsaw and large fizzing stick of dynamite to sort it all out! I'm an actor and comedy writer, not a techie, but bizarrely enough I actually now UNDERSTAND all this stuff! Stick me on Mastermind with questions about formatting NTSC based VOBI files and I can score full points with my new-found knowledge!
Not exactly the most fun or glamorous side of film making is it?
We're getting emails from the States on a daily basis asking if they can buy a copy yet. It breaks our hearts to keep having to say 'hold on', but what else can we do but throw our hands in the air and plead for patience? Anyway, fingers crossed, we've got it sorted now and the factory in California should be able to start pounding out the American DVDs of 'The Vampires of Bloody Island' pretty bloody soon!
It seems so long ago we were suffering similar problems for the UK version. At least THAT factory was only in High Wycombe, so we could hurtle down the M40 to get things done! But now we're dealing Globally, which frankly is a weird position to be in! In the last couple of weeks 'The Vampires of Bloody Island' has had reviews and mentions in Italy, Japan, Denmark, Australia and Brazil. In fact we're selling LOADS in Brazil. Wow! We're gobsmacked! We'd love to know what's happening over there to make this film so popular! If you're in Brazil, please, please, please clue us in! It's like we're the guests of honour in some swanky party in Rio, but never got the invites!
But it's here at home in cold, rainswept Britain that the excitement is really happening!
'The Vampires of Bloody Island' has been on sale a month now. It's been unbelievable watching the DVDs fly out the warehouse, both to the shops and of course to everyone buying it at a discount from our website at www.bloodyisland.co.uk
And it's heartwarming we're getting so many emails from people who've bought the DVD telling us what they think! A quick breakdown of the hundreds of
comments we've had so far shows you think the story is involving and fast paced and the soundtrack is absolutely kicking. (We quite agree, we bloody love the soundtrack too! Inkubus Sukkubus, Theatres Des Vampires and the rest are fantastic bands and we're lucky to have them in the film.) But most of all, you're saying you think the film is really, really funny and you want to invite friends round to watch it with you again!
Fantastic. Thank you so much all of you! Do keep sending your comments in. It really does mean the world to us!
Of course it's important we get good mentions in the press too. And there's been a good few of those in recent weeks! Honestly, we get so excited when rummaging around the shelves of W.H.Smiths these days the security guard in our local branch gets visibly twitchy every time we walk in!
We're in this months 'DVD and Bluray Review Magazine', which is pretty much the Bible of DVD reviews in the UK. We must admit, we opened the mag expecting to get absolutely slated! After all, these top-end glossies are used to being on the receiving end of the VERY expensive marketing campaigns of the big Hollywood studios. We haven't had the budget to invite their journalists to expensive drink-fueled press screenings in Leicester Square. Heck, we can barely run to a bag of chips and a post-it note on a DVD saying "Here's our B-Movie. Please be kind!"
So, did 'DVD Review' rip us to shreds us? No! Did they call us amateur? No! In fact they treated us with the same respect as the Hollywood releases! And get this, we have a HIGHER star rating than 'Jennifer's Body' starring Megan Fox, which is a pretty good film! We scored equal with the new Bruce Willis film, the latest Dr Who and even the new Eddie Murphy comedy! Now correct me if I'm wrong, but I think they all had far higher budgets than us!!
We also scored HIGHER than the new Hilary Swank film, the new Rob Zombie comedy and (thank God) the latest Vinnie Jones DVD! So if you were thinking of getting any of those DVDs, get ours instead! DVD Review magazine say we're better! God I love this magazine! (Getting very excited and doing a little victory dance around the room!)
That security guard at W.H.Smiths had better get used to us. We're coming back for more!
In fact we've just picked up the latest 'Fortean Times', the magazine of the supernatural and unexplained. Just our kind of people! They only have space for a few DVD reviews a month. This issue has six - and we're the TOP RATED!! (Sorry 'DVD Review' Magazine, we've got a new best friend now!) 'Fortean Times' have given us 8/10, said we're "laugh out loud funny" and that we're worth the cult status of 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show'! Blimey. Think they like it then?
Only one thing stopped us from running into their London offices and covering them in kisses (apart from the tube fare) and that's they misspelled our website address! Argh! Big panic! We had to move fast. We quickly set up a new 'misspelled' website domain to catch all the sales which have actually already started coming our way from this fantastic little review!
Phew! Anyway, we'll let you know what happens next. Believe me, this is all unfolding for the two of us with as much mystery as it is to all of you. We never know what the next couple of weeks are going to bring.
The one thing that's quite clear though is magazines and websites are indicating we're the new big 'cult' thing. Although the 'cult' phrase can be a bit over used, the evidence is actually looking that way! Blimey! We've got knots in our stomachs!!
Thank you so much for joining us on this incredible rollercoaster ride.
There's over 5,000 of you reading these updates now and people just keep on buying the DVD! It really looks like we've started something!
Allin and Pamela Kempthorne
Two people who had a dream...
Oh, you want to have a look at the 'Fortean Times' or our other reviews? We've got them all RIGHT HERE!
And if you want to grab your credit card to buy the DVD at a major 35% discount, or would like to see the trailer for 'The Vampires of Bloody Island' and remind yourself what the fuss is all about, go and enjoy yourself over at www.bloodyisland.co.uk--------------------------------------------
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE TRAILER NOW.
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