Cradle of Fear
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| Cradle of Fear | |
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 DVD Cover For Cradle of Fear |
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| Directed by | Alex Chandon |
| Produced by | Alex Chandon |
| Written by | Alex Chandon |
| Starring | Dani Filth, Edmund Dehn, Emily Booth, Eileen Daly, David McEwen |
| Music by | Cradle of Filth / Various |
| Distributed by | Pragmatic Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 2001 (UK) |
| Running time | 120 mins |
| Language | English |
| Budget | Extremely low |
Cradle of Fear is a horror film directed by Alex Chandon. Taking inspiration from the portmanteau films produced by Amicus in the 1970s it features three separate half-hour segments, linked by a fourth story. The main narrative involves imprisoned serial-killer Kemper wreaking vengeance on those responsible for his capture. This he does through his son; Dani Filth playing a character named simply "The Man". Shot on video and on a very low budget, the film received a lukewarm reception in the horror press, and is chiefly of interest to Cradle of Filth fans, as it features the entire lineup (principally Dani Filth but the rest crop up in cameo roles) from the band's Midian era. Chandon's association with Cradle of Filth began with the promo video for From the Cradle to Enslave, and he went on to direct the clips for "No Time to Cry" and "Her Ghost in the Fog". The latter also features David McEwen (who plays Kemper here, and who died in March 2005) miming Doug Bradley's vocals.
[edit] UK Release
Cradle of Fear has a chequered release history. Aside from the festival and convention circuit the film never saw a cinema screen, and was released straight to video. The UK distributors initially made it available as a mail order VHS title, on the grounds that this would allow the release of an uncut and unrated version, posted out from Europe and circumventing the BBFC (the assumption being that the BBFC would never in a million years pass the film without significant alterations). After long delays these tapes were finally sent out but, much to the producers' embarrassment, the film was passed completely uncut by the BBFC barely a month later, and picked up for exclusive distribution on DVD by the Blockbuster chain, who from the off sold it at a fraction of the price of the mail order tapes. In 2006 the HMV chain signed an agreement with Pragmatic Pictures for UK distribution of the DVD version, which subsequently entered HMV's DVD Top 10 chart. The film is now widely available on DVD, uncut and at a budget price.
Rumours persist of a forthcoming double-DVD version, but nothing has yet materialised.
