Steven Sheil
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scsheil.bsky.social
Steven Sheil
@scsheil.bsky.social
1.3K followers 1.2K following 2.8K posts
Screenwriter and director: 'Mum & Dad', 'Dead Mine'. Writer of dark fiction. Co-Director of Mayhem Film Festival @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social. Nottingham, UK. https://linktr.ee/StevenSheil
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scsheil.bsky.social
Now wondering if The Fuckboat is a direct sequel to this
Poster for the film 'Drunkboat' featuring both John Malkovich and John Goodman
November 26, 2025 at 3:41 PM
scsheil.bsky.social
I read an Elizabeth Taylor (the novelist) book recently, written in the 50s and it had a passage about cinema-going which talks about 'seeing it round'.
He stopped outside the cinema. He saw so many films that he could never remember them. The poster of a girl in a topee and breeches, with blonde hair to her waist and an unbuttoned shirt, seemed familiar, but the warm puffs of air coming from the foyer enticed him. He liked the smell of carpet and smoke and disinfectant. The film was half-way through; but, like so many of his generation, he was adept at piecing together two parts of a story offered in the wrong order. No difficulty occurred to him. It was only a matter of 'seeing it round." "I stayed to see the film round," he would explain to his mother.
November 26, 2025 at 3:08 PM
scsheil.bsky.social
And yeah, it may not look perfect, but we sell it enough in the film for it to work and it was cheap as chips. Also it meant that Mark got is face in the Daily Express, who were 'outraged' about the film.
A screengrab from the Express website. A headline reads 'BBC funds horror porn'. The sub reads 'A horror film backed by the BBC, which echoes the story of serial killers Fred and Rose West, has sparked fury after it emerged it will be shown on television and in cinemas over Christmas'. Beneath that is a still from the film, showing Mark's bloody severed head on a table.
November 26, 2025 at 11:30 AM
scsheil.bsky.social
Had a great time with The Saddest Music In The World, and am now moving on to the extras on the disc
The title card for the short film Sissy-Boy Slap-Party by Guy Maddin.
November 22, 2025 at 9:07 PM
scsheil.bsky.social
Have reached the point of Isabella Rosselini's glass beer legs
A black and white still from 'The Saddest Music In The World' featuring Isabella Rossellini lifting up one of her full-length glass legs filled with beer.
November 22, 2025 at 8:43 PM
scsheil.bsky.social
Tonight’s viewing:
The title screen for the Guy Maddin film ‘The Saddest Music in The World’
November 22, 2025 at 7:25 PM
scsheil.bsky.social
Ozon was interviewed at the time about adapting the book and said that he wanted to make the lead character more likeable.
How did you go about adapting the book? My main challenge was to make Angel likeable. In Elizabeth Taylor’s book, the character is often grotesque. The author takes a rather sardonic view of Angel, her books and her behavior. Taylor acknowledges her ability to write and her drive to become famous, but ridicules her constantly, describing her as bizarre and unattractive. I didn’t think we’d want to spend two hours with such an utterly negative character on screen, whereas in the book the cruelty works. I felt it was important that Angel be charming and endearing despite her more obnoxious, even nasty, characteristics. Scarlett O’Hara immediately came to mind. She is truly a character you love and hate at the same time. I wanted Angel to be aware of her powers of seduction and use them, particularly with her publisher and Nora. My Angel is more manipulative than Elizabeth Taylor’s. But in a playful, amusing way, not perverse. In the beginning, everyone criticizes her: her teacher, her mother, her aunt, the publisher’s wife. We can deduce that Angel and her work are misunderstood. This inspires sympathy for her and piques our curiosity, especially when she’s writing. I wanted to draw the audience in before revealing, later in the film, that what’s she writing might not actually be great literature.
November 22, 2025 at 11:14 AM
scsheil.bsky.social
The love story is played much more heartfelt on Esme's side than in the book, and Angel herself is more knowing and flirtatious. Even though her story is the same she feels like a different character than in the book.
A low angel shot of Esme and Angel kissing in the rain, with a rainbow over their heads.
November 22, 2025 at 11:07 AM
scsheil.bsky.social
The film has a score like a 40s melodrama, and multiple deliberately artificial-looking scenes, using rear projection which give the idea that maybe this is how Angel is seeing things, but that's not consistent enough to hold.
Angel (Romola Garai) and Esme (Michael Fassbender) on a gondola against a clearly fake backdrop of Venice Angel and Theo (Sam Neill) in an open-top carriage against a clearly fake backdrop of London.
November 22, 2025 at 11:05 AM
scsheil.bsky.social
Tonight's viewing:
The title screen for the 2007 film Angel. The title in pink is overlaid over a snowy landscape. Another title card over the same image. It reads 'A film by Francois Ozon' Another title card. It reads 'Based on the novel by Elizabeth Taylor'
November 21, 2025 at 8:15 PM
scsheil.bsky.social
Today’s best second-hand buy:
A 1960s hardback book - Prisoner’s Base by Celia Fremlin. The cover has an illustration of a man’s face in blocks of blue and green. The outline of a pair of chickens, one yellow, one green, sits in the face.
November 20, 2025 at 1:38 PM
scsheil.bsky.social
People out here constructing their own live-action political cartoons
A life-size bust of Donald Trump Sat amidst a load of other scrap in the back of a pick-up truck in the street
November 19, 2025 at 12:23 PM
scsheil.bsky.social
Today’s re-read:
A paperback book with a white cover - A Dark Corner by Celia Dale
November 15, 2025 at 6:35 PM
scsheil.bsky.social
Looking on an old hard drive I found this opening title sequence we made as part of the @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social live stage reading of Hammer's ZEPPELIN V PTERODACTYLS, back in 2017, with the excellent specially composed ZvP theme by Gavin Morrow & Gerallt Ruggiero
November 14, 2025 at 4:17 PM
scsheil.bsky.social
Today’s best second-hand book buy:
The spine of a hardcover book. It reads Five Screenplays. It’s by Preston Sturges. The contents page. Contents Foreword Introduction The Great McGinty Christmas in July The Lady Eve Sullivan's Travels Hail the Conquering Hero A photo from the book. Two versions of Preston Sturges sit either side of a camera. The one on the left looks sad. The one on the right is holding open a script with one hand and holding his nose in the other, while looking at the other Sturges. The caption reads; Being a writer-director is not easy: Sturges the director tells Sturges the writer what he thinks of the script
November 12, 2025 at 1:24 PM
scsheil.bsky.social
Rewatched The Cranes Are Flying last night, and I don't think there's a better face in cinema than Tatiana Samoilova's in this film
Tatiana Samoilova in a close-up from the film. She has long dark hair and her face is smudged with ash as she stands in the remains of a burnt-out building. Tatiana Samoilova in another close-up, her eyes are glinting with wetness as she looks to the right. A profile shot of Tatiana Samoilova, dressed all in black, her hair tied up. Her right eye is visible and glinting with the realisation of betrayal. An extreme close-up of Tatiana Samoilova showing just her nose and eyes. One eye is brimming with a single tear.
November 12, 2025 at 11:04 AM
scsheil.bsky.social
I was looking through the various Frankenstein books I have on my shelves and rediscovered this 1970s Corgi illustrated and abridged edition, which ends with the delightful vision of the Monster in a hooded snow jacket and mittens cavorting in the snow.
The cover to the book, illustrated by Tom Barling. It features a cartoony black, blue and brown headshot of the monster, with a midshot below it, the monster with his hands outstretched. The monster looks akin to the classic Universal monster. A full page illustration of the Monster in a yellow and blue patterned, fur-lined hooded jakcet, with yellow mittens. He's leaping in the air over a snowy landscape, with a low red sun beneath his feet which makes it look like he's just avoiding a last minute tackle while on a mazy run towards the touchline.
November 11, 2025 at 5:44 PM
scsheil.bsky.social
Had a go at turning this 1950s Diana Dors cover by artist R.S.Sheriffs into a t-shirt
A cover for a 1950s magazine called 'Men Only'. It features a thick-lined, stylised caricature of Diana Dors - all hair and lips - by the artist R.S. Sheriffs. The same illustration on a blue t-shirt that I'm wearing.
November 9, 2025 at 2:29 PM
scsheil.bsky.social
Today’s reading:
A 1980s paperback - Angel by Elizabeth Taylor, published by Virago. The cover features a painting of a woman sat in a chair drained in a fur-lined coat.
November 8, 2025 at 3:54 PM
scsheil.bsky.social
As part of this year's @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social, I got the chance to host a couple of great Q&As for some upcoming movies - GAME, with the cast and crew, and BULK, with director Ben Wheatley and producer Andy Starke. Both low-budget, inventive films well worth looking out for.
Me and stage with the cast and crew of GAME, in front of the retro-futuristic Mayhem logo projecte on the screen. Photo by Tom Morley. Actor Jason Williamson, screenwriter Rob Williams, director and co-writer John Minton, producer and co-writer Geoff Barrow, actor and co-writer Marc Bessant, in front of the big Mayhem logo projected on the ruched curtain in Broadway Cinema's Screen One. Photo by Tom Morley. Me, producer Andy Starke and writer/director Ben Wheatley on stage. Photo by Tom Morley Ben Wheatley on stage, bathed in a red glow, in front of the Mayhem Film Festival logo. Photo by Tom Morley.
November 6, 2025 at 3:03 PM
scsheil.bsky.social
One nice stylistic touch in 'Poison For The Fairies' is that - bar a couple of very intentional moments - we never see any of the adults faces - they're always either out of frame, or we just don't get reverses of them. It really keeps you in the girls' world.
A shot from the film. A dark haired young girl is hugging her father. We only see the back of his head. She holds a doll up next to her face. The subtitle reads 'Can we have a spider?' A shot from the film. A high angle shot of a room with a large fireplace. We're looking down at a man in a suit crouched in front of the fire and a woman in an armchair. We can't see either of their faces. A wide shot of a funeral. We see multiple adults in black holding umbrellas. The height of the shot means that the umbrellas block all of their faces. A young girl in white is under one of the umbrellas, but we can see her face. A young girl with a black dog sat at a kitchen table. On the wall beside her is the shadow of a woman. The subtitle reads 'he got in the car and your dad had to drive him back.'
November 4, 2025 at 6:06 PM
scsheil.bsky.social
Lonely 10 year old orphan Veronica convinces the new girl in class Flavia that she is a witch, then proceeds to exert her power over her. Slow burn, atmospheric, nicely shot piece with solid performances from the two young leads and a great ending.
A shot from the film. A blonde 10 year old girl stands in darkness. The subtitle reads 'Witches can do anything '
November 4, 2025 at 6:01 PM
scsheil.bsky.social
Finally succumbed to the stinking cold that's been threatening to hit me over the past week, so I've taken to my bed to watch films. First up, 1986 Mexican supernatural horror Poison For The Fairies
The poster for the film (with the original titles Veneno para las hadas'. The illustration on the poster shows two girls' faces merging together around th eye, with two intertwined snakes beneath.
November 4, 2025 at 3:57 PM
scsheil.bsky.social
Just noticed that this is now available on Amazon Prime. Truly a love story for our times.
The poster for an Indian film called 'Communist Girlfriend Capitalist Boyfriend'. She is in a red top with a hammer and sickle logo. He is in a blue jacket.
November 4, 2025 at 11:15 AM
scsheil.bsky.social
"Sir, I understand you were a victim of an unprovoked attack in the early hours of this morning?"
"Yes, I heard a noise on the landing, went out to investigate and was struck on the foot by several sharp objects."
"I see sir. And can you give a description of the assailant?"
"I can do one better..."
A black cat called Eddie, who likes to sink his teeth into your bare feet when you go and check on him in the night. He's curled up on a bed like butter wouldn't melt.
October 31, 2025 at 10:37 AM