Every year, crackling bonfires, a steaming witch's brew, and the crunch of dead leaves come together for a creepy Halloween night concoction that makes one feel like anything could happen. Michael Dougherty's 2007 anthology film Trick ’r Treat certainly embraced the magic of this night and now a group of directors collectively called The October Society have begun development on Tales of Halloween.
A film featuring ten interconnected segments from 11 directors, Tales of Halloween begins shooting this November. Horror readers fond of the splatterpunk genre may be happy to hear that John Skipp, co-author of The Light at the End, the sought after Fright Night novelization, Animals, and many more novels will co-direct one of the segments with Andrew Kasch (Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy). Neil Marshall (The Descent),Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw II, III & IV), and Mike Mendez (Big Ass Spider!) are among the other directors.
"HOLLYWOOD, CA (October 24, 2014) – Epic Pictures Group announced today that it will collaborate with top directors to finance and produce a brand new horror anthology, named Tales of Halloween.
Eleven directors, renowned for their influential contribution to the horror movie genre, have joined forces with Epic Pictures under the name The October Society to create a series of interconnected stories, each with a unique Halloween theme. The directors include Joe Begos (Almost Human), Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw II, III & IV), Axelle Carolyn (Soulmate), Adam Gierasch (Night of the Demons), Andrew Kasch (Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy), Neil Marshall (The Descent), Mike Mendez (Big Ass Spider!), Dave Parker (The Hills Run Red), Ryan Schifrin (Abominable), John Skipp (Stay at Home Dad), and Paul Solet (Grace). Directors Kasch and Skipp are to co-direct one of the short films together.
Tales of Halloween will be produced by Patrick Ewald and Shaked Berenson of Epic Pictures Group along with Mike Mendez and Axelle Carolyn. Axelle Carolyn created the concept and brought the filmmakers together for this unique production.
"It's so great to be working with such a unique and talented group of directors,” Neil Marshall stated. “Many of 'The October Society' have been friends for years so when Axelle had the idea of combining our talents for an anthology based on our mutual love of Halloween and all things scary, it was a no-brainer. I can't wait for this to become a must-watch movie for horror fans on many a Halloween night to come!"
"This anthology movie is unique in that that the directors aren't a randomly assembled bunch who've never met; they're close friends who are working closely together as a team to deliver something truly special," said Axelle Carolyn.
“This collaboration is unprecedented,” said Epic Pictures Group CEO Patrick Ewald.” “We’re excited to work with all of these talented directors to create a myriad of stories that will fascinate, thrill and scare fans, elements they’ve come to expect from these amazing filmmakers.”
“We collaborated successfully with a few of the directors in the past and others have been friends of the company for a while,” said Shaked Berenson Epic Pictures Group Co-Founder. “It will be fun to all work together on one project.”
Currently in pre-production, Tales of Halloween will be shot in November, with the official international teaser poster to be brought to the 2014 American Film Market (AFM) by Epic Pictures Group.
Ten stories will be woven together by their shared theme of Halloween night in an American suburb, where ghouls, imps, aliens and axe murderers appear for one night only to terrorize unsuspecting residents.
The directors have created a manifesto with rules to create their films based on the values of Halloween night. The antithesis of the Dogme 95 manifesto, the directors will not be frugal with special effects, props and musical score, and have already attracted notable talent in the horror genre, such as composers Frank Ilfman (Big Bad Wolves) and Joseph Bishara (The Conjuring).
"The exciting thing is that these filmmakers are not only talented, but genuine fans of the genre and the holiday,” said Mike Mendez. “This project is a celebration of Horror & Halloween and we can't wait to invite you to our twisted cinematic party next year!"
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ABOUT EPIC PICTURES GROUP
Headquartered in Hollywood, Epic Pictures Group is a leading independent studio, specializing in the financing, production and distribution of commercial feature films and 3D animation.
Epic Pictures’ past productions include Darren Lynn Bousman's super-natural thriller 11-11-11, Mike Mendez’s Saturn Award-winner Big Ass Spider!. Epic Pictures has recently collaborated with Milan Todorović on Killer Mermaid and horror-comedy Zombeavers.
Like Epic on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/epicpicturesgroup
Follow Epic on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/epic_pictures
Follow Epic on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/epicpicturesgroup"
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
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