The Indie Beat – September 11, 2010
by Marc Patterson
Last week was Labor day, so we a nice relaxing long weekend around here. That might be confusing to a few of you, but even psycho killers need some down time. However, we’re back this week and with nearly twice as much indie news. We’ve also moved this weekly feature to Saturday’s. Something about wearing white after Labor Day… I dunno. Anyway – let’s dispense with the rambling introductions and get straight to it!
Top of the list today is Brandon Slagle’s newest project, Vivid. To date Brandon has kept much information on the project on the down low, but in a recent conversation he had some inside info he shared with us:
Brandon tells us “The plot that I have listed on the Facebook page and such is a bit of a misdirect – the full film is a bit broader. We open on what seems to be the concurrent suicides of five characters from different walks of life. Yet each awakens seemingly stranded and unharmed at various locations in the Southwestern United States. As they search for a way back home, it becomes more and more apparent that the realities surrounding them bear a stronger resemblance to the greatest fears and insecurities swimming around in their daily thoughts than they do normal life. Some of these visions – these ‘day dreams’ are quite grotesque – some are lurid – some are beautiful.
As the plot progresses we learn that they are being monitored (hint: what these people are contained in as they are monitored is exemplified vaguely in the teaser poster I put up) – monitored by someone who claims to have a connection with a force that may have connections to the Anti-Christ.”
Beyond these Brandon is keeping the details of the film pretty vague, but did tell us that the project has a target release date for Summer of 2011, allowing him to spend more time in post-production really making sure the editing is tight, and that the CGI, as well as song licensing is just the way he wants. To the look, sound and feel of the film? He tells us “I plan to load it up with Industrial and Trip Hop and other forms of electronic music (Ambient, Dubstep, etc)… Given the surreal and trippy tone this film will ultimately take, it seems only fitting. Color scheme wise, expect it to also LOOK quite a bit like the teaser poster, with the blown out backgrounds and high contrast shapes in the foreground – and lots of washed out blue.”
Sounds good so far, but what about the gore? Brandon explains that “At times we will be pushing the envelope pretty far, but are also going to present extreme gore (for lack of better term), in a very elegant way as well. It’s tough to fully explain.” Fair enough.
The current cast line-up includes Devanny Pinn, Tara Cardinal, Deneen Melody, Erik Preston, Rachel Grubb, and Keith Kraft, who we’re told conceptualized the film with Devanny and Brandon. Brandon himself will only be appearing in the film briefly, as he’s taking the helm as lead director. They begin shooting in LA on September 18 and will continue the shoot through October, with some shooting days in Las Vegas. The shoot is tentatively scheduled to end fittingly enough on The Day of the Dead, November 1st. You can also follow the progression of the film on Facebook.
Speaking of Deneen Melody. Since our interview with her this girl seems to be EVERYWHERE. We can’t move more than a couple feet in the world of independent horror without tripping over her. Not that we’re complaining. Quite honestly… we love ourselves some hard working actresses. Last week we got word from Joshua Siegel that Deneen has been cast as a lead in the new indie horror flick A Midsummer Nightmare. Deneen is quoted saying “When I first heard about A Midsummer Nightmare, I knew right away it was the type of project I had to be involved in. It has that nice mixture of dark fantasy, horror, action, and comedy… definitely my type of movie.“
A Midsummer Nightmare will indeed be exactly what it sounds like, a horrifying take on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Nights Dream. In Siegal’s film Puck will be more of a nightmarish murderous sort and will work in the dark fairy tale tones of such films as Pan’s Labyrinth while maintaining the feel of b-horror madness, pointing us to Wishmaster for reference.
Producer L. Jeffrey Moore says, “When people ask me what’s my next project I mention Midsummer Nightmare and tell them a little about it and they get excited. I can’t wait to give them a scare that they’ll never forget.“
A Midsummer Nightmare is the second feature from Arcadian Entertainment and writer/director Joshua Siegel. Siegel’s first horror film Bloodwood Cannibals will be released on DVD by Eagle One Media on September 14. You can follow the production of the film at their blog: http://midsummerfilm.blogspot.com/
Okay – let’s switch up the tone for a minute with a couple of cool videos. First is a music video from a new vampire feature called Sanguinarian. Sanguinarian is a goth/industrial toned film “centered centered around Christoph. He is a suicidal vampire, solitary in his steps through a post-industrial, sensual, and surreal world. He is wary, uneasy, and dangerously sharp. Drawn, again and again, to the vibrant, decadent lot who dance at an underground blood bar. As Christoph stays one step ahead of his own damnation, the pseudo-Shakespearean language of the vampires plays out the unfolding tragedy. It is the heart-stopping and violent diplomacy of the damned, an unconventional tale of the seductions of evil.” You can follow the film on Facebook.
The music video from Cylab is titled Dented Halos. It’s some pop in fused industrial goth rock that seems to draw comparison to the noteworthy 90’s synth group Switchblade Symphony.
Next on the list is a trailer for a new film that looks really sick, but one I’m really anxious to check out. It’s called The Sadist, and features Tom Savini as a vicious redneck psychopath. I don’t want to detract from the film. Just check this trailer out.
The Sadist Trailer- Starring Tom Savini from Dominick Sivilli on Vimeo.
Wrapping things up this week – we have two screening announcements.
Sella Turcica is premiering at the Cinema Wasteland Movie and Memorabilia Expo in Strongsville, Ohio (near Cleveland) on Saturday, October 2nd, 2010 at 7:45PM. It will show in the smaller Movie Room 2, so get there early. After the movie ends, there will be a short Q&A with Fred Vogel and members of the cast and crew, including Camille Keaton and Damien Maruscak. If you miss this viewing, there will be an encore presentation at 3:00PM Sunday, October 3rd. We first talked about the project OVER HERE, and if you click on over you can check out the trailer.
And last but not least, Cory J. Udler will be premiering his film Incest Death Squad 2 for free online over at HorrorSociety.com. He’s got a great write-up going behind the challenges of making the film and getting it premiered anywhere. You should check that out at his weekly column It Came From Underground, found only here at Brutal As Hell.
Okay – that’s it for this week. next week we have some more DVD announcements, screenings for the month of October and more exclusive news from the world of indie horror. If you’re a filmmaker, promoter, artist, or just know of something interesting happening drop a line to editor@brutalashell.com and reference “The Indie Beat”.
