Archive for September, 2011
Posted by Bloody-Disgusting Horror News on
September 30, 2011
Now on DVD from Phase 4 Films is Dan Garcia's
Terror Trap, which Bloody Disgusting's
Don Allen (
YouTube) calls one of the worst movies he's ever seen.
Starring Michael Madsen, David James Elliott and Jeff Fahey, "
Don and Nancy find themselves stranded after their car breaks down while driving to a weekend getaway. Finding the couple on the roadside, the towns Sheriff tells them there will be no one to repair their car before morning and directs them to a nearby motel for the night run by Carter. At first glance Carter seems like a typical motel clerk, until they notice that everyone, including the Sheriff, seem to answer to him. By the time Don and Nancy realize what is happening, it is too late to flee. Now they must fight to survive the night, or be the next victims of the Terror Trap."
Watch Allen's video review byond the break.
Posted by Bloody-Disgusting Horror News on
September 30, 2011
Screen Media Films has acquired U.S. and Canadian rights to Chad A. Verdi's
Inkubus starring horror film specialist Robert Englund.
Woodhaven Production Co. announced the deal Friday and said the pic would open on Oct. 28, the pre-Halloween weekend at locations in Rhode Island,Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Florida and California.
Englund, who starred as the original Freddy Krueger in eight films, "
tells the story of a skeleton crew working the final shift of a closing police station. The night takes a gruesome turn when a demon calmly walks in with the severed head of a murdered girl, allows himself to be restrained and begins to confess his litany of crimes."
Posted by Bloody-Disgusting Horror News on
September 30, 2011
BJ McDonnell, who as cameraman helped make
Hatchet and
Hatchet II two of the most effective slasher films of recent years, will make his directorial debut on
Hatchet 3.
The long-awaited announcement was made today by franchise creator Adam Green. Green, who wrote and directed the first two films in the series, and whom will work closely with McDonnell on all aspects of the production.
Hatchet 3 will continue where the story left off in
Hatchet 2, as a young woman sought revenge on the malevolent monster that killed her family while they were fishing in Louisiana swamp country.
Posted by Uncle Creepy on
September 30, 2011
The guessing games are officially over, kids. A director has been hand-picked for the next entry in the Hatchet franchise, and it is NOT Adam Green! Read on for all the details.
From the Press Release
BJ McDonnell, who as cameraman helped make Hatchet and Hatchet II two of the most effective slasher films of recent years, will make his directorial debut on HATCHET 3. The long-awaited announcement was made today by franchise creator Adam Green. Green, who wrote and directed the first two films in the series, will work closely with McDonnell on all aspects of the production.
HATCHET 3 is a co-production of ArieScope Pictures and Dark Sky Films, a subsidiary of MPI Media Group.
The movie will continue the story of fearsome villain Victor Crowley, the iconic killer who first made his gruesome mark in 2007’s groundbreaking Hatchet. Green’s Hatchet II made headlines as the first unrated independent horror film to be exhibited by a major chain (AMC Theatres) in more than 25 years when it opened last fall and went on to become a bestselling DVD and On-Demand title. With cast and other production details to be announced shortly, HATCHET 3 will continue where Hatchet 2 left off, as a young woman sought revenge on the malevolent monster that killed her family while they were fishing in Louisiana swamp country.
Over the last decade BJ McDonnell has been the camera operator on major Hollywood blockbusters and independent productions, including Battle Los Angeles, Rob Zombie’s Halloween, MacGruber, Spiral, TV’s "Heroes", The Darkest Hour, and director William Friedkin's Killer Joe, and he is currently in Pittsburgh shooting One Shot, starring Tom Cruise.
McDonnell said, “I’ve been with the Hatchet team from the very beginning and am honored and thrilled that Adam has handed me the reins on this third movie. I grew up watching horror films, and like Adam Green, I’m a true genre fan at heart. I have been waiting for an opportunity like this to step up and make my directorial debut with something I love and know inside and out. Working together with Adam, we plan to make a kick-ass movie!”
Adam Green said, “BJ was not only the camera operator on the first two Hatchet movies. He was there alongside me creating every shot, working closely with me to craft each scene, moment, outrageous kill, and performance. He is absolutely beloved by the entire Hatchet family, and his experience on everything from huge studio films to smaller independent productions will ensure that he will do the franchise proud.”
In addition to the Hatchet films, ArieScope’s other productions include Frozen, Spiral, and Grace. MPI/Dark Sky Films has produced and distributed such popular genre titles as The House of the Devil, Stake Land, The Innkeepers, and the upcoming Frankenstein’s Army.
VISIT THE EVILSHOP @ AMAZON!
Got news? Click here to submit it!
Raise your Hatchet high the comments section below.
Posted by Uncle Creepy on
September 30, 2011
And the casting news continues for Darren Lynn Bousman's latest film based upon the legend of the New Jersey Devil, The Barrens. Read on to find out who's next!
Allie MacDonald (House at the End of the Street), Max Topplin (Dead Before Dawn 3D, "Fringe") and Peter DaCunha have officially joined the previously announced Mia Kirshner ("The Vampire Diaries", 388 Arletta Avenue, The Black Dahlia), Erik Knudsen (Scream 4, Saw II), J Larose (pictured right; Insidious, Saw III) and Stephen Moyer ("True Blood," The Caller) in the flick.
The legend of The Jersey Devil has been passed along for hundreds of years as the creature has risen from obscurity to take its place alongside the Loch Ness Monster, Big Foot and the Chupacabra. The creature is deeply rooted in New Jersey culture; the local NHL team takes its name from the creature, and Bruce Springsteen put his own spin on the legend in "A Night with the Jersey Devil."
Synopsis
Despite their reluctance, Richard Marlow (Moyer) takes his wife, Cynthia (Kirshner); their young son, Danny; and his teenage daughter, Sadie, to the Pine Barrens for a long weekend of camping and family bonding. As they arrive at the Wharton State Forest, a mutilated deer runs out into the road, nearly colliding with the Marlows' car. Later that evening another bloodied animal falls from a tree. Bad turns to worse when, in the middle of the night, a college boy camping nearby disappears into the woods. Nevertheless, Richard presses the family to hike farther into the forest to the spot where he used to camp with his father. He is feverish, and a past wound on his arm appears badly infected, but when it begins to rain, there is no turning back. Richard's sickness soon becomes debilitating; his headaches turn to hallucinations. What's worse, he believes there is something stalking them...something with yellow eyes, pointed horns, and the wings of a bat - THE JERSEY DEVIL. The disfigured bodies of the missing camper and another college boy soon turn up. The Marlows must fight for their lives as the horrifying answer reveals itself in a shocking and tragic conclusion.
VISIT THE EVILSHOP @ AMAZON!
Got news? Click here to submit it!
Become a legend in the comments section below!
Posted by thehorrorchick on
September 30, 2011
In the horror musical The Dead Inside, we meet tortured young lovers Wes and Fi, and while their love for each other burns strong, artistically their hearts have been locked in a box for years. Wes is a burned out photographer paying the bills by shooting weddings, and Fi is the writer's blocked author of a series of zombie novellas called "The Dead Survive."
When Fi begins to show signs of schizophrenia, Wes does everything in his power to help her get better. Strange behaviors and breathing patterns escalate; soon he discovers that darker forces lurk inside her. Afraid and completely lost, Wes has no choice but to imprison his girlfriend until he can figure out what to do with the evil that has taken over his true love.
Dread Central recently caught up with writer/director Travis Betz on the eve of his screening at the upcoming Shriekfest Film Festival in Los Angeles on Saturday, October 1st, at 9:30 pm to talk about his unique horror musical, putting a twist on the ever-popular zombie subgenre of cinema and his distinctive approach to storytelling.
Dread Central: Can you talk a bit about where you came up with the story for The Dead Inside, and had you planned to make it a musical from the start?
Travis Betz:Funny story actually. Both my girlfriend and I had been creatively dead for quite some time. We kept trying to get inspired, but nothing was clicking. One night I woke up to one of the creepiest sounds I can ever remember hearing. The woman I love was sleeping next to me, but it sounded like some horrible entity was trapped inside her and trying to communicate. She was making this moaning sound (no, not sexy moaning), and it was damn creepy. I shook her awake and told her. She shrugged me off and went back to sleep. The minute the Sandman reclaimed her, she was doing it again. Inhale. Moan. Inhale. Mooooan. This went on for almost a week. I had to sleep on the couch because I couldn't get any sleep. Turns out it was a rare condition that occurs sometimes when people catch a bad cold, but damnit if it didn't sound like a ghost was pushing on her lungs.
This opened up a conversation about possession, and the more we started talking about it, the more we realized that we were excited and inspired! Ideas began to flow, and I was putting the story together in my head...but it still wasn't coming out onto paper (computer screen, the paper of the future!). It wasn't until I saw my lead actress, Sarah Lassez, on stage singing at a karaoke bar that I realized I had always wanted to make a musical, and this had to be the missing piece. And it was! The minute I decided my characters would break out into ghostly songs is the moment I was able to start writing. From there, all went rather smooth.
DC: With zombies being everywhere these days, was it tough to put your own twist on that subgenre in particular- which I feel like you succeeded at?
Betz:Thanks a million! That means a lot. I don't think it was really all that tough, mostly because when you really step back and look at it, this isn't a zombie film. This is a movie about three lost souls (two alive and one dead), and since the zombies live in the character's head, they can do anything I wish them to do. In this case they are an extension of our leads.
The thing Romero always does so well is use zombies as a mapping device for other issues, emotions and characters. I think that's when zombies work best. In the case of The Dead Inside, they represent our leads who feel dead and trapped.
DC: When you have a movie that's just a cast of two, I would think it's safe to say that you have to be very confident in your actors. Can you talk about what your casting process was like?
Betz:Since I knew when I started writing that it was a two-person story (two actors who end up playing three characters each), I immediately started thinking of who I had in my bag of actors that would rock these parts. I knew I wanted to use Sarah because I had worked with her in a previous film of mine, Lo. Not to mention I saw her singing when the final nugget of inspiration struck so I put her in my pocket while I was writing and I liked visualizing her as the story unfolded. She's an actress who will bring everything she has to the table even if you are chaining her down to said table.
The male lead was a bit trickier. I had a lot of great actor friends I knew would knock it out of the park, but the problem was that many of them were not strong singers. At the time I was still answering phones at a management company, and the guy who ran packages for that company was an actor who just happened to sing. I had gotten to know him pretty well over the couple years we worked together and had even seen in him some stage shows. There was something about him that was very similar to the character I was writing. He was a good guy, a fun lovin' guy, but a guy who was nonetheless in a dark place in his life creatively. I watched him for a couple weeks and decided that he was my man. Both actors said yes, and we pushed forward from there.
DC:I think it's safe to assume between all your different projects that you have a very distinct storytelling approach to the horror genre, and I was wondering if you could talk more about that and what influences you as a filmmaker.
Betz:I grew up (like so many in my genre) with The Evil Dead and An American Werewolf in London. Those two films alone educated my senses and told me that movies can be different. They can be fun and horrifying. They can be risky and have heart. They can even be rough around the edges. All I have ever done while writing or shooting is tried to tell a story that interested me. I've never cared for the demographics or the international market or proper structure of storytelling- those work for some people; I just don't like 'em. I like being me. Sure I'm dirt poor, but damnit, I really like what I do. I try as much as I can to stay true to myself. That might cut me off from the general public, but it has given me a very amazing fan base of passionate people and artists. I could never honestly tell you where or how or why I tell a certain story; I know the types of filmmakers who I admire and that helps a lot.
But at the end of the creative day I just do what inspires me and whatever is in my head that has to get out.
DC: I know Lo ended up being a rather successful independent film for you. Were there lessons you learned while making that film that you were able to apply while making The Dead Inside?
Betz:Time management would be a big one. We shot Lo in five days, and in hindsight that was silly. I lost a lot of great shots in that movie because of our time constraint. With The Dead Inside we spaced it out over two and a half months on the weekends with no definitive end date, and our plan was that we would shoot until we were done.
DC: I noticed that you also do quite a bit of acting, too- is there a role (writer, director, producer) that you prefer more? Can you also talk a little bit about Dust Up with Amber Benson because I thought it sounded rather interesting.
Betz:Let me start off by saying that Dust Up is gonna blow your mind. I'm very proud that I was asked to be a part of that movie. I am not an actor by trade, but I do rather enjoy it. I am not trying to pursue a career in it ( I don't have head shots and I do not audition), but if someone is kind enough to want me in their movie...well shit, let's play!
Ward Roberts was that guy this time around. I had cast him in Joshua, my first feature film, and also in Lo. We also used to do improv comedy together in college so we're very comfortable writing for each other. He gave me a super awesome part as a meth head desert rat named Herman, and we spent over a month in the desert shooting that thing. I have recently seen the locked picture...and it's bad fucking ass. It's a modern western/action/comedy with loads of fun violence.
All that being said, the role I enjoy most is the writer. I started off as a writer, and it has always been my favorite.
DC: Lo was another feature of yours that has been a part of the Shriekfest Film Festival- how good does it feel to be back with The Dead Inside?
Betz:It feels like giving an old girlfriend a booty call and then realizing that you actually really like her and maybe you two should get back together. We had a great time at Shriekfest two years ago, and we took home the audience award. I was thrilled when we were asked back with The Dead Inside. They really treat the filmmakers great, and I love that it's in L.A.
DC: What's coming up next for you now that The Dead Inside is making the festival rounds?
Betz:Lots and lots! I currently make one short film every week and post it on Thursdays on my YouTube channel. That's been a blast as I get to write and direct a new story every week, but it's also exhausting. I am also currently in pre-production on a pilot/web series I am creating that will be in the horror-comedy genre. Aside from that, I am just starting the new script for a sci-fi comedy I would like to shoot next year. I am busy as hell, and I kind love every minute of it...except when I don't love every minute of it...but that is rare.
For more hit up the official The Dead Inside website!
VISIT THE EVILSHOP @ AMAZON!
Got news? Click here to submit it!
Boogey your rigor-mortis away in the comments section below!
Posted by thehorrorchick on
September 30, 2011
In the horror musical The Dead Inside, we meet tortured young lovers Wes and Fi, and while their love for each other burns strong, artistically their hearts have been locked in a box for years. Wes is a burned out photographer paying the bills by shooting weddings, and Fi is the writer's blocked author of a series of zombie novellas called "The Dead Survive."
When Fi begins to show signs of schizophrenia, Wes does everything in his power to help her get better. Strange behaviors and breathing patterns escalate; soon he discovers that darker forces lurk inside her. Afraid and completely lost, Wes has no choice but to imprison his girlfriend until he can figure out what to do with the evil that has taken over his true love.
Dread Central recently caught up with writer/director Travis Betz on the eve of his screening at the upcoming Shriekfest Film Festival in Los Angeles on Saturday, October 1st, at 9:30 pm to talk about his unique horror musical, putting a twist on the ever-popular zombie subgenre of cinema and his distinctive approach to storytelling.
Dread Central: Can you talk a bit about where you came up with the story for The Dead Inside, and had you planned to make it a musical from the start?
Travis Betz:Funny story actually. Both my girlfriend and I had been creatively dead for quite some time. We kept trying to get inspired, but nothing was clicking. One night I woke up to one of the creepiest sounds I can ever remember hearing. The woman I love was sleeping next to me, but it sounded like some horrible entity was trapped inside her and trying to communicate. She was making this moaning sound (no, not sexy moaning), and it was damn creepy. I shook her awake and told her. She shrugged me off and went back to sleep. The minute the Sandman reclaimed her, she was doing it again. Inhale. Moan. Inhale. Mooooan. This went on for almost a week. I had to sleep on the couch because I couldn't get any sleep. Turns out it was a rare condition that occurs sometimes when people catch a bad cold, but damnit if it didn't sound like a ghost was pushing on her lungs.
This opened up a conversation about possession, and the more we started talking about it, the more we realized that we were excited and inspired! Ideas began to flow, and I was putting the story together in my head...but it still wasn't coming out onto paper (computer screen, the paper of the future!). It wasn't until I saw my lead actress, Sarah Lassez, on stage singing at a karaoke bar that I realized I had always wanted to make a musical, and this had to be the missing piece. And it was! The minute I decided my characters would break out into ghostly songs is the moment I was able to start writing. From there, all went rather smooth.
DC: With zombies being everywhere these days, was it tough to put your own twist on that subgenre in particular- which I feel like you succeeded at?
Betz:Thanks a million! That means a lot. I don't think it was really all that tough, mostly because when you really step back and look at it, this isn't a zombie film. This is a movie about three lost souls (two alive and one dead), and since the zombies live in the character's head, they can do anything I wish them to do. In this case they are an extension of our leads.
The thing Romero always does so well is use zombies as a mapping device for other issues, emotions and characters. I think that's when zombies work best. In the case of The Dead Inside, they represent our leads who feel dead and trapped.
DC: When you have a movie that's just a cast of two, I would think it's safe to say that you have to be very confident in your actors. Can you talk about what your casting process was like?
Betz:Since I knew when I started writing that it was a two-person story (two actors who end up playing three characters each), I immediately started thinking of who I had in my bag of actors that would rock these parts. I knew I wanted to use Sarah because I had worked with her in a previous film of mine, Lo. Not to mention I saw her singing when the final nugget of inspiration struck so I put her in my pocket while I was writing and I liked visualizing her as the story unfolded. She's an actress who will bring everything she has to the table even if you are chaining her down to said table.
The male lead was a bit trickier. I had a lot of great actor friends I knew would knock it out of the park, but the problem was that many of them were not strong singers. At the time I was still answering phones at a management company, and the guy who ran packages for that company was an actor who just happened to sing. I had gotten to know him pretty well over the couple years we worked together and had even seen in him some stage shows. There was something about him that was very similar to the character I was writing. He was a good guy, a fun lovin' guy, but a guy who was nonetheless in a dark place in his life creatively. I watched him for a couple weeks and decided that he was my man. Both actors said yes, and we pushed forward from there.
DC:I think it's safe to assume between all your different projects that you have a very distinct storytelling approach to the horror genre, and I was wondering if you could talk more about that and what influences you as a filmmaker.
Betz:I grew up (like so many in my genre) with The Evil Dead and An American Werewolf in London. Those two films alone educated my senses and told me that movies can be different. They can be fun and horrifying. They can be risky and have heart. They can even be rough around the edges. All I have ever done while writing or shooting is tried to tell a story that interested me. I've never cared for the demographics or the international market or proper structure of storytelling- those work for some people; I just don't like 'em. I like being me. Sure I'm dirt poor, but damnit, I really like what I do. I try as much as I can to stay true to myself. That might cut me off from the general public, but it has given me a very amazing fan base of passionate people and artists. I could never honestly tell you where or how or why I tell a certain story; I know the types of filmmakers who I admire and that helps a lot.
But at the end of the creative day I just do what inspires me and whatever is in my head that has to get out.
DC: I know Lo ended up being a rather successful independent film for you. Were there lessons you learned while making that film that you were able to apply while making The Dead Inside?
Betz:Time management would be a big one. We shot Lo in five days, and in hindsight that was silly. I lost a lot of great shots in that movie because of our time constraint. With The Dead Inside we spaced it out over two and a half months on the weekends with no definitive end date, and our plan was that we would shoot until we were done.
DC: I noticed that you also do quite a bit of acting, too- is there a role (writer, director, producer) that you prefer more? Can you also talk a little bit about Dust Up with Amber Benson because I thought it sounded rather interesting.
Betz:Let me start off by saying that Dust Up is gonna blow your mind. I'm very proud that I was asked to be a part of that movie. I am not an actor by trade, but I do rather enjoy it. I am not trying to pursue a career in it ( I don't have head shots and I do not audition), but if someone is kind enough to want me in their movie...well shit, let's play!
Ward Roberts was that guy this time around. I had cast him in Joshua, my first feature film, and also in Lo. We also used to do improv comedy together in college so we're very comfortable writing for each other. He gave me a super awesome part as a meth head desert rat named Herman, and we spent over a month in the desert shooting that thing. I have recently seen the locked picture...and it's bad fucking ass. It's a modern western/action/comedy with loads of fun violence.
All that being said, the role I enjoy most is the writer. I started off as a writer, and it has always been my favorite.
DC: Lo was another feature of yours that has been a part of the Shriekfest Film Festival- how good does it feel to be back with The Dead Inside?
Betz:It feels like giving an old girlfriend a booty call and then realizing that you actually really like her and maybe you two should get back together. We had a great time at Shriekfest two years ago, and we took home the audience award. I was thrilled when we were asked back with The Dead Inside. They really treat the filmmakers great, and I love that it's in L.A.
DC: What's coming up next for you now that The Dead Inside is making the festival rounds?
Betz:Lots and lots! I currently make one short film every week and post it on Thursdays on my YouTube channel. That's been a blast as I get to write and direct a new story every week, but it's also exhausting. I am also currently in pre-production on a pilot/web series I am creating that will be in the horror-comedy genre. Aside from that, I am just starting the new script for a sci-fi comedy I would like to shoot next year. I am busy as hell, and I kind love every minute of it...except when I don't love every minute of it...but that is rare.
For more hit up the official The Dead Inside website!
VISIT THE EVILSHOP @ AMAZON!
Got news? Click here to submit it!
Boogey your rigor-mortis away in the comments section below!
Posted by thehorrorchick on
September 30, 2011
Y2K hysteria and vicious hillbillies. They go together almost as well as peanut butter and jelly, right? At least that's what director Kenneth Cran is hoping with his latest flick, The Millennium Bug, slated to screen during the 2011 Shriekfest Film Festival in Los Angeles on Friday, September 30th at 10:15 pm at Raleigh Studios (5300 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood).
In The Millennium Bug the normal, "everyday" Haskin family must seek refuge from Y2K hysteria in the isolated forests of the Sierra Diablos Mountains, only to have both madness and terror find them hiding there. Abducted by the vicious Crawford hillbilly clan, the Haskins fight for survival, but neither they nor their abductors can comprehend the monstrous nightmare about to erupt from the bowels of the earth.
Recently Dread Central checked in with Kenneth Cran, the up-and-coming director of The Millennium Bug, and talked with him about the real-life Y2K phenomena that inspired his script, monster movies, and his experiences making the creature feature.
Dread Central: With The Millennium Bug being your first official project, talk a little bit about your background and how you got interested in filmmaking. Have horror and sci-fi always been interests of yours as well?
Kenneth Cran: The Millennium Bug is actually my second feature film as director- the first was an ambitious horror/western than never quite gelled, but I hope to someday remake it and maybe even include the original version with the DVD!
Regardless, my parents ran movie theaters in Cleveland when I was a kid so my babysitter would oftentimes be the movies. I saw a lot of movies I probably shouldn't have seen at a young age -- The Exorcist, Phantom of the Paradise, The Psychic Killer, Jaws, and The Fury -- so I'm sure that had something to do with my love of everything cinema. Actually, the first movie I think I ever saw was Pinocchio in Outer Space; I must have been three or four. But the first movie I remember actually being drawn into was the Raymond Burr version of Godzilla when I was around five years old, and I was mesmerized. That led to an interest in dinosaurs, which led to an interest in dinosaur movies, monster movies, and eventually horror.
DC: So where did the idea for The Millennium Bug come from, and what influenced the tone of your story?
Cran: I was working for the PBS television affiliate in San Diego in 1998, and one of my co-workers told me about an article he had read in Time Magazine about Y2K. When he mentioned the informal derivation, the millennium bug, it hit me: @hat a great title for a monster movie. I was sure Hollywood was going to jump on it; I was shocked that no one ever did.
So I wrote a horror script that had a real Monty Python/Airplane tone about an alien monster in the forest- it was spoofy, goofy and I thought hilarious. But it was also gory as hell, sort of an NC-17 Looney Tunes, and it was decided then by my brother and co-producer James and executive producer Mike Goedecke that we should play it a little more seriously. Black Sheep and Slither had come out, and as horror/comedies they didn't perform well at the box office, which made us nervous.
So I did a complete rewrite, took out the goofy humor, and played it for the most part straight. I'm a huge fan of Peter Jackson's Bad Taste and Braindead, and they were early inspirations. The Millennium Bug just turned out to be a bit more serious in tone than those films though.
DC: I know you wore so many different hats on this project- how difficult was it to juggle all of those responsibilities on an ambitious flick like this?
Cran: It wasn't difficult once we were shooting because James took over the day-to-day producing duties, which were considerable. Wearing many hats, though, was a blast; since I'm a bit of a control freak, I got to do most everything my way.
I read an interview with Peter Jackson during the Lord of the Rings years, and he said that he wanted to get his “fingers in the clay” but could not because he was too busy and it was "too expensive.” I knew what he was getting at, but I also thought it was sad so I wanted to make sure that I had the opportunities to sculpt monsters, build miniatures, design sets, and carve foam. Plus, I was really the only one who knew HOW to do these things anyway.
DC: How did it feel the first time you walked on the set? Was production pretty smooth on The Millennium Bug?
Cran: Well, since I was designing and building the sets, I never had that feeling of “walking on.” However, before the first scene that we shot, which was Joany and Byron waking up in the bedroom after having been abducted by the Crawford clan, I was a bit anxious. I needed to get into director mode because I had been in special effects/production designer/producer mode so it took a few days, but I eventually got it.
Actors have different needs from animatronic monster puppets, surprisingly.
As far as the smoothness of the production, if you're asking about war stories, there really weren't any. It was challenging to shoot when James got married and went away on his honeymoon for three weeks. And I was nervous when we were shooting the giant bug head in the warehouse because it was essentially a giant 300-pound marionette that had to be chained to the rafters above. None of us were sure if the ceiling was going to come crashing down on us.
DC: With The Millennium Bug being your first full-length movie, what would you say are some of the biggest lessons that you took away from your experiences from start to finish?
I learned a few lessons, to be sure. Because we had a massive number of effects for such a low budget movie, we had to be organized, and thankfully we were. Also, being flexible on the set and encouraging creativity and inspiration from everyone involved is something I'll continue to do. I am most definitely the one in charge as the director, but I love to implement good ideas.
Dustin Yoder built such a terrific buggling puppet that I went and wrote more scenes for it, which in turn completely changed the ending. Trek Loneman, who plays Uncle Hibby, was carving a little wood statue while in the makeup chair, and it was so hilarious I asked him to modify it into a twisted, perverted weapon for his character to wield.
So organization is crucial to the process, but so is spontaneity.
DC: You've been an official selection for a ton of big genre film festivals, and now you've got Shriekfest coming up- how good does it feel to be getting some recognition on the fest circuit your first time 'at bat' as a feature director?
Cran: It feels great because I wanted to make a movie that people wanted to see. Film festivals like Shriekfest are perfect for movies like ours because they are so fan-specific, and this is definitely a movie giant monster fans, horror movie fans, and indie movie fans can hopefully enjoy.
My greatest epiphany as a filmmaker was the realization that I did not need to make things so damn complicated or serious when writing a script, to be -- in a word -- “relevant.” The Millennium Bug is a giant monster movie, and that's it. If you find subtext or meaning in it, good for you. It's there if you want to look for it, but for me I just like seeing giant monsters chewing up actors.
DC: What's coming up next for you now? Do you feel like you'll want to come back for more horror and monster movie madness?
Cran: I love the genre, and it's in our foreseeable future since we're in pre-production on MBY3K: THE MILLENNIUM BUG 3000. Then we'll do a prequel of sorts, getting to the root of just where this thing came from; it's the origin story.
For now MBY3K is a huge undertaking because there are three offspring from the first movie, which means we have three monsters in the sequel. Since it takes place in the year 2999, there are all sorts of possibilities, and as a filmmaker I'm looking forward to making it. But as a fan I cannot wait to see it!
For more information check out the official Millennium Bug website.
VISIT THE EVILSHOP @ AMAZON!
Got news? Click here to submit it!
Get out your RAID in the Dread Central forums!
Posted by thehorrorchick on
September 30, 2011
Y2K hysteria and vicious hillbillies. They go together almost as well as peanut butter and jelly, right? At least that's what director Kenneth Cran is hoping with his latest flick, The Millennium Bug, slated to screen during the 2011 Shriekfest Film Festival in Los Angeles on Friday, September 30th at 10:15 pm at Raleigh Studios (5300 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood).
In The Millennium Bug the normal, "everyday" Haskin family must seek refuge from Y2K hysteria in the isolated forests of the Sierra Diablos Mountains, only to have both madness and terror find them hiding there. Abducted by the vicious Crawford hillbilly clan, the Haskins fight for survival, but neither they nor their abductors can comprehend the monstrous nightmare about to erupt from the bowels of the earth.
Recently Dread Central checked in with Kenneth Cran, the up-and-coming director of The Millennium Bug, and talked with him about the real-life Y2K phenomena that inspired his script, monster movies, and his experiences making the creature feature.
Dread Central: With The Millennium Bug being your first official project, talk a little bit about your background and how you got interested in filmmaking. Have horror and sci-fi always been interests of yours as well?
Kenneth Cran: The Millennium Bug is actually my second feature film as director- the first was an ambitious horror/western than never quite gelled, but I hope to someday remake it and maybe even include the original version with the DVD!
Regardless, my parents ran movie theaters in Cleveland when I was a kid so my babysitter would oftentimes be the movies. I saw a lot of movies I probably shouldn't have seen at a young age -- The Exorcist, Phantom of the Paradise, The Psychic Killer, Jaws, and The Fury -- so I'm sure that had something to do with my love of everything cinema. Actually, the first movie I think I ever saw was Pinocchio in Outer Space; I must have been three or four. But the first movie I remember actually being drawn into was the Raymond Burr version of Godzilla when I was around five years old, and I was mesmerized. That led to an interest in dinosaurs, which led to an interest in dinosaur movies, monster movies, and eventually horror.
DC: So where did the idea for The Millennium Bug come from, and what influenced the tone of your story?
Cran: I was working for the PBS television affiliate in San Diego in 1998, and one of my co-workers told me about an article he had read in Time Magazine about Y2K. When he mentioned the informal derivation, the millennium bug, it hit me: @hat a great title for a monster movie. I was sure Hollywood was going to jump on it; I was shocked that no one ever did.
So I wrote a horror script that had a real Monty Python/Airplane tone about an alien monster in the forest- it was spoofy, goofy and I thought hilarious. But it was also gory as hell, sort of an NC-17 Looney Tunes, and it was decided then by my brother and co-producer James and executive producer Mike Goedecke that we should play it a little more seriously. Black Sheep and Slither had come out, and as horror/comedies they didn't perform well at the box office, which made us nervous.
So I did a complete rewrite, took out the goofy humor, and played it for the most part straight. I'm a huge fan of Peter Jackson's Bad Taste and Braindead, and they were early inspirations. The Millennium Bug just turned out to be a bit more serious in tone than those films though.
DC: I know you wore so many different hats on this project- how difficult was it to juggle all of those responsibilities on an ambitious flick like this?
Cran: It wasn't difficult once we were shooting because James took over the day-to-day producing duties, which were considerable. Wearing many hats, though, was a blast; since I'm a bit of a control freak, I got to do most everything my way.
I read an interview with Peter Jackson during the Lord of the Rings years, and he said that he wanted to get his “fingers in the clay” but could not because he was too busy and it was "too expensive.” I knew what he was getting at, but I also thought it was sad so I wanted to make sure that I had the opportunities to sculpt monsters, build miniatures, design sets, and carve foam. Plus, I was really the only one who knew HOW to do these things anyway.
DC: How did it feel the first time you walked on the set? Was production pretty smooth on The Millennium Bug?
Cran: Well, since I was designing and building the sets, I never had that feeling of “walking on.” However, before the first scene that we shot, which was Joany and Byron waking up in the bedroom after having been abducted by the Crawford clan, I was a bit anxious. I needed to get into director mode because I had been in special effects/production designer/producer mode so it took a few days, but I eventually got it.
Actors have different needs from animatronic monster puppets, surprisingly.
As far as the smoothness of the production, if you're asking about war stories, there really weren't any. It was challenging to shoot when James got married and went away on his honeymoon for three weeks. And I was nervous when we were shooting the giant bug head in the warehouse because it was essentially a giant 300-pound marionette that had to be chained to the rafters above. None of us were sure if the ceiling was going to come crashing down on us.
DC: With The Millennium Bug being your first full-length movie, what would you say are some of the biggest lessons that you took away from your experiences from start to finish?
I learned a few lessons, to be sure. Because we had a massive number of effects for such a low budget movie, we had to be organized, and thankfully we were. Also, being flexible on the set and encouraging creativity and inspiration from everyone involved is something I'll continue to do. I am most definitely the one in charge as the director, but I love to implement good ideas.
Dustin Yoder built such a terrific buggling puppet that I went and wrote more scenes for it, which in turn completely changed the ending. Trek Loneman, who plays Uncle Hibby, was carving a little wood statue while in the makeup chair, and it was so hilarious I asked him to modify it into a twisted, perverted weapon for his character to wield.
So organization is crucial to the process, but so is spontaneity.
DC: You've been an official selection for a ton of big genre film festivals, and now you've got Shriekfest coming up- how good does it feel to be getting some recognition on the fest circuit your first time 'at bat' as a feature director?
Cran: It feels great because I wanted to make a movie that people wanted to see. Film festivals like Shriekfest are perfect for movies like ours because they are so fan-specific, and this is definitely a movie giant monster fans, horror movie fans, and indie movie fans can hopefully enjoy.
My greatest epiphany as a filmmaker was the realization that I did not need to make things so damn complicated or serious when writing a script, to be -- in a word -- “relevant.” The Millennium Bug is a giant monster movie, and that's it. If you find subtext or meaning in it, good for you. It's there if you want to look for it, but for me I just like seeing giant monsters chewing up actors.
DC: What's coming up next for you now? Do you feel like you'll want to come back for more horror and monster movie madness?
Cran: I love the genre, and it's in our foreseeable future since we're in pre-production on MBY3K: THE MILLENNIUM BUG 3000. Then we'll do a prequel of sorts, getting to the root of just where this thing came from; it's the origin story.
For now MBY3K is a huge undertaking because there are three offspring from the first movie, which means we have three monsters in the sequel. Since it takes place in the year 2999, there are all sorts of possibilities, and as a filmmaker I'm looking forward to making it. But as a fan I cannot wait to see it!
For more information check out the official Millennium Bug website.
VISIT THE EVILSHOP @ AMAZON!
Got news? Click here to submit it!
Get out your RAID in the Dread Central forums!
Posted by Doctor Gash on
September 30, 2011
Okay, Orangemen, step right up. The Human Centipede 2: Full Sequence is crawling your way. Tom Six's highly anticipated film made its world premiere last week, and now the sickness is spreading…and it's coming your way.
The Palace Theater at 2384 James Street in Syracuse will be hosting a one-night only Human Centipede 2 event on October 18. Doors open at 9pm.
Already banned in the UK, early reviews of Human Centipede 2: Full Sequence verify that director Tom Six has lived up to his promise to make the original film seem like My Little Pony compared to the sequel. And for the ridiculously low ticket price of $7, you can judge that for yourself. No one under 18 will be admitted (Syracuse obviously doesn't buy into the "start 'em young" theory of raising horror fans).
Human Centipede 2: Full Sequence Synopsis:
Martin is a mentally disturbed loner who lives with his mother in a bleak housing project. He works the night shift as a security guard in an equally grim and foreboding underground parking complex. To escape his dreary existence, Martin loses himself in the fantasy world of the cult horror film The Human Centipede (First Sequence), fetishizing the meticulous surgical skills of the gifted Dr. Heiter, whose knowledge of the human gastrointestinal system inspires Martin to attempt the unthinkable. Written by Six Entertainment Company.
Ashlynn Yennie reprises her role of Jenny in the sequel directed by Tom Six. Laurence Harvey plays Martin, the new mad scientist who will assemble the 12-person centipede. The new cast members include Dominic Borelli, Vivien Bridson, Lee Harris, Peter Charlton, Bill Hutchens, Dan Burman, Daniel Jude Gennis, Kandace Caine, Maddi Black, Lucas Hansen, Georgina Goodrick and Emma Lock.
VISIT THE EVILSHOP @ AMAZON!
Got news? Click here to submit it!
Slither your way through the comments section below.
