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Interviews

Interview: Ben Wheatley Talks The Dark, Twisted & Hilarious 'Sightseers,' Says 'Freakshift' Is Next & Casting Soon

By Jordan Hoffman
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May 8, 2013 3:57 PM
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1 Comment

Interviews

After a very successful run on the festival circuit Ben Wheatley's dark and somewhat ghastly comedy “Sightseers” is finally making itself available to theater-goers in hip cities and VODers across the country. It is, in my opinion, the most assured work from the British director of “Kill List” and “Down Terrace”, a very funny vacation-comedy about pair of social misfits/lovebirds visiting mundane historical sites and leaving a trail of corpses in their wake. Written by its co-stars Alice Lowe, Steve Oram and Wheatley's frequent collaborator (and wife) Amy Jump, “Sightseers” also boasts an executive producer stamp from Edgar Wright.

By Oliver Lyttelton
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September 14, 2012 2:03 PM
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2 Comments

Interviews

It's amazing to think that it's only been a couple of years since director Ben Wheatley first arrived on the scene with his sly, powerful British gangster comedy/drama "Down Terrace." And barely twelve months after that, he impressed even further with his horror-tinged follow-up "Kill List." The director seems to work at a thundering pace, and only slightly over a year after "Kill List" premiered at SXSW, he made his debut at Cannes with "Sightseers," another gruesome, dark tale, albeit with more belly laughs, about a caravanning couple (screenwriters Alice Lowe and Steve Oram) on a killing spree.

By Drew Taylor
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September 4, 2012 8:02 AM
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2 Comments

News

If there's one thing that "Kill List," the outstanding domestic drama/dark comedy/gangster thriller/occult horror movie from earlier this year, taught us, it's that writer/director Ben Wheatley is beyond fearless. He boldly mixes genres and styles and comes up with something that is wholly unique and seemingly effortless. And this streak will continue, as it's just been announced that his next film will be a psychedelic U.K.-set Civil War movie called "A Field in England." It will begin shooting next month and will undoubtedly be really, really weird.

By Kevin Jagernauth
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July 27, 2012 12:48 PM
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3 Comments

News

To say that Ben Wheatley has been striking while the iron is hot would be an understatement. The director arrived in a huge way last year with the cult fave "Kill List" and didn't waste much time with a follow up, arriving at the Cannes Directors' Fortnight this spring with black comedy "Sightseers." And now, he's already getting ready to roll on his next effort, "Freakshift."

By Oliver Lyttelton
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May 23, 2012 10:00 AM
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1 Comment

News

It's a good day to be Ben Wheatley. The director, who's become one of the most talked-about new directors around thanks to "Down Terrace" and "Kill List," is making his Cannes debut today with his dark, Edgar Wright-exec-produced comedy "Sightseers" -- a press screening is underway as we speak, and we'll have our verdict for you later this evening. And just as that film is released into the wild, Wheatley seems to have landed financing for his most ambitious project yet, and is planning yet another film to follow that.

By Drew Taylor
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January 5, 2012 3:57 PM
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4 Comments

News

EXCLUSIVE: One genre movie that electrified almost all of us at The Playlist last year was "Kill List," from writer/director Ben Wheatley. A kind of domestic drama/hitman thriller/suburban comedy/horror movie, it wowed us when we first got a gander of it at South by Southwest, and then tickled even more of us at the Empire Big Screen festival in its native U.K. Well, it's finally about to be released in the United States, and while we'll have more from our interview with Wheatley before "Kill List" hits theaters, we first wanted to offer some updates on various projects the filmmaker has in the works, including the Edgar Wright-produced "Sightseers," his Nick Frost vehicle "I, Macrobane," and the very cool-sounding monsters versus cops movie called "Freak Shift."

By Oliver Lyttelton
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September 22, 2011 2:21 AM
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1 Comment

Five Things We Learned From The Fast-Rising British HelmerAfter claiming awards at Fantastic Fest, Raindance, and IFF Boston for his debut feature, “Down Terrace,” U.K. director Ben Wheatley premiered his follow-up at this year’s SXFantastic to similar adulation, and rave reviews. (Read ours here.) Called “Kill List,” the film takes cues from the “kitchen sink crime drama” framework of “Down Terrace,” but ups the ante considerably, particularly in its deeply deranged third act. The Warp Films production was duly acquired by genre label IFC Midnight for a North American release in early 2012.