fightrunner.co.uk

Eeek! we caught this a bit late, but Aberdeen director Mark Stirton’s latest movie – the hilarious One Day Removals is out t buy on DVD. The DVD special features include a directors commentary, blooper reel and easter egg. It costs £9.99 and is available from the Stirton Productions website here.

The build up to our Mark Stirton Episode continues. Here is the opening from ‘One Day Removals’to wet your appetite for what promises to be a very interesting show.

Questions for Mark?

Then send them in to us before Friday and will give Mark a friendly grilling.

The build up continues to the show on Saturday with this hilarious clip.

Send in you questions for Mark on the contact details at the top of the site.

The trailer for Mark Stirton’s new movie one day removals.

Mark will be appearing on the Fightrunner podcast on Saturday 19th July.

Do you have a question you would like to ask Mark?

Then Email or leave a voicemail and we will ask Mark in the upcoming Fightrunner special.

Don’t Miss It !

In a first for our humble blog I have been given the privilege of reviewing a movie that has not been released anywhere yet. This is Aberdeen director Mark Stirton’s follow up to his brilliantly inventive Sci-Fi/Horror from 2006, The Planet. If you have watched the planet the actors will be very familiar with Patrick Wight as Andy the owner of an Aberdeen Removal company Andy removals who is assisted by Ronnie (Scott Ironside).

The film starts with Andy and Ronnie on their way to do a simple job for the day but things start going wrong when they accidentally run some-one over as their journey across Aberdeenshire continues they keep knocking off more and more innocents in freakish and hilarious circumstances. So a movie like this is dependant on the 2 leads and boy do they put on a show. Scott and Patrick have an amazing chemistry and the insults and arguments flow so naturally between them it is a joy to watch.

Now some people may point to the fact that being in Doric most people won’t follow it but on the contrary the doric adds to it and in any other dialect some the arguments would not sound anywhere near as funny as they do. This movie is a joy to watch and there are so many scenes that stand out if i was to describe them to you I would end up just writing out the whole script.

The direction is once again superb and they have made a stunning job of filming Aberdeen and the surrounding area it is refreshing to see that not all Scottish cities in movies are not slums with junkies and alcoholics living in poverty.

This is not just a good low budget Scottish movie, or a good Scottish movie it is an Excellent movie . It ranks for me as one of the funniest things I have ever watched in my life you will be laughing so loud all the through this film that you may need a defib if it gets too much for you. As Scottish movies goes this sets new , dizzying heights for the film industry here showing what can be done with hard work. Mark and Company we salute you !

Verdict 10/10

Brilliant, just brilliant. A riotous, hilarious comedy that deserves every success coming its way.

Every once in a while you stumble across a movie that takes you by surprise and this is one of them. On the surprise scale this would rate as sharing a hot tub with Jessica Alba whilst a band consisting of Elvis, Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, Phil Lynott and Keith Moon play you musi for the night. The reason why this film will surprise you is that for the meagre budget they had (£8,000) and that this was done by a bunch of mates who just wanted to try it out they have produced something very slick and looks easily 100 times more than its budget.

The plot is simple a crew of mercenaries carrying a dangerous prisoner through space come under attack and are forced to crash land on a nearby desolate planet. After some checks not only does the planet not exist according to star charts but they are not alone as it seems and something very unfriendly begins to pick them of one by one. It sounds like very standard Sci-Fi fare mixing elements of Aliens. Predator and Pitch Black but it takes all these and makes them into something that feels fresh and original.

The Location shooting in this is fantastic, utilising Balmeddie beach in Aberdeen to the maximum and you genuinely feel that you are one an alien world. The seemingly never ending sand dunes and clever lighting effects give it a very bleak feel , you truly think the crew are stranded on an alien world. Also the action sequences are superb, the opening assault on the freighter a great showcase of what special effects can be achieved on a budget and the firefights as well as the stunning finale all showcase the inventiveness of the film.

As for the team of mercenaries the cast excels themselves. For a low budget independent movie the casting here was done via local media outlets and they seem to have picked some possible stars for the future. Local body builder Mike Mitchell whilst not a natural actor slots into his role as the Arnie-Esq leader of the mercenaries. From the rest of the cast there are two stand out performances Patrick Wright as second in command McNeal and Scott Ironside as the rough and ready engineer Vince. Both have some the best lines in the movie and Scott injects a good bit of humour into the movie with his performance. Patrick gives a well rounded performance as the cool as ice second in command.

Director Mark Stirton can be very proud of what he has achieved and shows that Scottish cinema need not all be ‘Kilts and Ceilidhs’ or ‘Slums and Drugs’ Scottish films can be fresh, inventive and most of all a lot of god damn fun. This film is Scottish (with a north east flavour) to the core and praise to the actors and directors for keeping the accents intact which adds to the charm of the piece. Although the budget limitations show from time to time (the only fault i could find) that is to be expected. This film, its cast and crew deserve all the success they get and some more. I for one wish Mark and his crew every success and theirs is a career to keep a very close eye on.

Rating – 9/10 The first scottish sci-fi is bold, fresh and inventive a real triumph.

Zulu

Trailer

The Planet – Trailer

But the DVD here