Indie Spotlight

2013/04/07 18:18:17 +00:00 | Tamika Jones

We return with the latest edition of the Indie Spotlight, highlighting the recent independent horror news sent our way. Today’s feature includes Cowboys Vs Vampires release information, Compound Fracture screening dates, and an interview with Inhuman Resources co-writer Anthony O'Connor:

Cowboys Vs Vampires DVD Release Details: "The story of a western movie actor (Johnny Dust) still trying to make it big in a western film studio and theme park, when a 'new management team' takes over the park and turns the film studio into a fright-fest for the month of Halloween. Haunted by the image of his dead western movie hero, who appears to him on the little screen, Johnny unravels the real intent of management and its opening night 'spectacular', which takes place in the depths of the park's cave.

Origin Releasing LLC is proud to announce the United States street date for Cowboys Vs Vampires, written and directed by Douglas Meyers and staring Jasen Wade (Amber Alert), Emmy award winner Angelica Celaya (Perro Amor) and Shannon Whirry (Me Myself and Irene).

Following a successful foreign run, and a Best Picture win at 2011 IndieFest, Origin is proud to make the film the first title of its 2013 slate, which will be available on DVD and Blu-Ray April 8th in various outlets, including on Wal-Mart shelves."

To keep up-to-date with news relating to the film, go to: www.originreleasing.com

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Truth or Dare Casting News: "Today is a big news day for Jessica Cameron’s directorial debut “Truth or Dare.” ...Indie Scream Queens Devanny Pinn & Heather Dorff will be joining Jessica as the three leading ladies. Jessica has worked with Devanny and Heather but this will be the first project where all three ladies will be sharing the screen together. Brandon Van Vliet and Ryan Kiser have been announced along with Jared Degado and Marv Blauvelt from Muscle Wolf Productions.

“Truth or Dare” is about 6 college kids who find internet stardom when they make “Truth or Dare” videos with a violent twist. It is all fun and games until their number one fan decides he wants to play..."

To learn more, visit: https://www.facebook.com/TruthOrDareTheMovie

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Linnea Quigley's Horror Workout DVD Release Details: "Legacy Retro, the division of Legacy Features dedicated to vintage horror and exploitation films, has lined up cult classic Linnea Quigley’s Horror Workout for a re-mastered Special Edition.

Directed by Kenneth J. Hall (Puppet Master, Halfway House) and starring legendary horror Scream Queen Linnea Quigley (Night of the Demons, Return of the Living Dead), Horror Workout was originally released in 1990 and features special effects from Cleve Hall (TV’s Monster Man). A campy, gory parody of the workout videos of the 80s, the film was created to capitalize on Quigley’s explosive popularity and rabid fan base. In it, Quigley teaches a bevy of big-haired, lingerie-clad beauties the proper way to tone and stretch, while a masked killer stalks them one by one. She also takes time out to show an army of out-of-shape, flesh-eating zombies the best ways to keep fit!

A first run Limited Edition of 1,000 units will come with a numbered 5x7 photo signed by Linnea Quigley and Kenneth J. Hall. This package includes a digital re-mastering of the original uncut version of the film, presented with a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio.

Bonus features include:

• Audio Commentary with Director/Writer Kenneth J. Hall and star Linnea Quigley

• New retrospective featurette with Cast & Crew including stars Linnea Quigley and Cleve Hall, Executive Producer David DeCoteau, Director Kenneth J. Hall, and others!

• Still Gallery

Both Kenneth J. Hall and Linnea Quigley will kick off the release of the film with a three-day appearance and signing at Monsterpalooza, April 12th, 13th and 14th at the Burbank Marriott Hotel & Convention Center."

For more information on Linnea Quigley's Horror Workout, or to pre-order the DVD, visit: www.Horrorworkout.com

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Spidarlings Teaser Trailer: "Spidarlings is a Horror/Musical and a Tongue-in-cheek satire about the British Welfare system. It is the story of Eden and Matilda, a young lesbian couple who are broke and threatened with eviction by their landlord. Their Housing Benefit and Jobseekers' Allowance have been turned down and they struggle to become members of a Society they never wanted to be part of to begin with. They don’t have the job opportunities they are hoping for, and try in vain to become a part of a system where you can’t survive if you don’t want to meet the requirements of a ‘standard life’. Matilda eventually finds a job in a nightclub called ‘Juicy Girls’, making a small living through keeping company with middle-aged men who pay to have drinks and conversations with girls. But all attempts at borrowing money and claiming benefits have failed. They are desperate for a solution, especially when a brutal serial-killer begins hideously murdering the working girls at the club. A horrific opportunity gives Matilda stolen cash, but the only way to pacify Eden is to let her buy a powerful tarantula spider, which changes their lives forever!

Filmed entirely in the U.K with an international cast including among others Rusty Goffe (Star Wars, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Harry Potter), Sophia Disgrace (The Shadow of Death), "Troma" founder and director Lloyd Kaufman (The Toxic Avenger) a special appearance by Hentai artist Toshio Maeda (creator of Urotsukidōji, La Blue Girl) and British actor Darren J. Luckin (Easteneders, Hooligan Factory, The Fall of the Essex Boys)."

For more information on Spidarlings, visit the film's official Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/Spidarlings

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Compound Fracture Screening Tour Dates: "Tyler Mane (Michael Myers from Rob Zombie’s HALLOWEEN 1 & 2) is currently doing an exclusive screening tour for his new film 'Compound Fracture' (starring Tyler Mane, Derek Mears, Muse Watson, Leslie Easterbrook, Daniel Roebuck, Renae Geerlings, and Todd Farmer).

Michael Wolffsen (Tyler Mane) receives an urgent phone call and takes his nephew and fiancee on a journey home to his only other living relative: his estranged, eccentric (and extremely paranoid) father, Gary (Muse Watson), who is obsessed with building an unassailable compound. His father's house is covered in supernatural and occult symbols and wards. Gary’s wife, Annabelle, has had enough and informs Michael that she is leaving and that Michael needs to resume care of his father. Over the course of the first 24 hours, through a string of odd occurrences, some of them almost unexplainable, Michael begins to believe that Gary is a danger to both himself and others. That is when the vengeful spirit of William makes himself known, and the killing begins.

MOVIE SCREENING TOUR DATES:

•Indianapolis, IN 4/10/2013
•St. Louis, MO 4/11/2013
•Chicago, IL 4/17/2013
•Milwaukee, WI 4/18/13
•Columbus, OH 4/19/2013
•Philadelphia, PA 4/22/2013
•Boston, MA 4/24/2013
•Houston, TX 5/1/2013
•Dallas, TX 5/2/2013
•Portland, OR 5/26/2013
•Seattle, WA 5/29/2013
•Minneapolis, MN 6/12/2013
•Denver, CO 6/20/2013
•Detroit, MI 6/27/2013
•San Francisco, CA 7/9/2013
•San Diego, CA 7/11/2013
•Atlanta, GA 7/18/2013
*** MORE CITIES TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON!"

For more information on the Compound Fracture screening tour, visit: www.compoundfracturethemovie.com

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Teaser Trailer for Dead Eyes: "EuroObscura, finally released the first teaser for DEAD EYES, his upcoming horror title. The movie, entirely shot in authentic haunted locations in Italy, aims to be the Italian answer to “REC” and “V/H/S”. Templars, ancient ones, a ghost town, an abandoned monastery and a sadistic blind priests will make of this movie a roller coaster into the darkest nightmares. DEAD EYES, currently in post-production, will be ready for May 2013."

To learn more about Dead Eyes, visit the film's official Facebook at: www.facebook.com/DeadEyesMovie

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Zomblogalypse Gets Screen Adaptation: "5 years ago, three survivors of a zombie apocalypse in York, U.K. began video blogging to relieve the tedium of bean-based survivalism and briskly walking away from slowly shuffling threats, until they locked themselves out of their flat anyway. This is the world of Zomblogalypse, a cult British web series from MilesTone Productions now set for a big screen adaptation.

Creatively led by the original trio of Hannah Bungard, Tony Hipwell and Miles Watts, the team have partnered with producer Steve Piper at award-winning British indie mainstay Coffee Films to greatly expand on the scale and universe of the web series, promising the results will be “blasé about the end of the world on a whole new level”.

With hundreds of thousands of online views and fans including effects guru Tom Savini, Walking Dead comics artists Charlie Adlard, SFX Magazine and zombie film directors Marc Price (Colin) and Dominic Brunt (Before Dawn) it promises to be well worth looking out for."

To stay up-to-date with Zomblogalypse, go to:  https://www.facebook.com/Zomblogalypse

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A Preview of The Legend of Linda Vista: "Metropolis Pictures Entertainment’s Poe writer and director Francis Xavier have released an advance Sneak Peek to the latest experiment in fear, titled The Legend of Linda Vista which is set to shoot on June 6th 2013 in the titular and infamous L.A. location.

In 2010 a team of filmmakers filming a scene of their serial killer/cannibal feature Poe experienced something beyond comprehension. Xavier, the film’s writer and director, along with producer Michael Kureth and co-producer Jo Ann Smith, witnessed something while filming in the vacant hospital that would change their lives forever. On June 6th 2013 and at the stroke of midnight, the filmmakers, along with five others, will be locked in the Linda Vista Hospital to embark on their own personal journey in order to find the truth of what really lies behind its doors."

For more information on this film, go to: http://legendoflindavista.com/

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Horror Adventure Game, Paradigm Shift: "On the 1st of April Evilized Productions newest game “Paradigm Shift” was released for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. You awake from a terrifying nightmare to discover that your home city of River Lake has been devasted by an explosion at a neuroscience laboratory. A dangerous biochemical has been released into the ecosystem, turning every living thing into a bloodthirsty killer. You are holed up in your apartment; for all you know you are the last survivor but your food and water supplies are running low. It's time to take your chance and make your move. You must use your wits and your brain to avoid dangers, solve puzzles, find your girlfriend - if she is still alive - and escape the broken city...

Game Contains:
* Search for items and use them in different scenes.
* Fight infected zombies to stay alive.
* Point and click to find objects.
* Multiple endings
* full soundtrack written by David.F.Burrows.
http://soundcloud.com/davidfburrows
* Every action you take will have it's consequences.
* Exciting storyline that will keep you searching for the truth"

To learn more about Paradigm Shift, visit: http://www.facebook.com/ParadigmShiftGame?ref=hl

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Atticus Undead Now on Amazon: "The next chapter in the struggle for equal rights begins!

Hunter Gamble is an idealistic young attorney in a very special area of the practice: arcane defense. Funded by enigmatic billionaire Charles McClain and aided by shy-but-energetic research attorney Kirsten Harper, he's making the world a better place--one vampire, zombie, or werewolf client at a time. After all, they deserve their day in court too, right?

When a young zombie walks into Hunter's office accused of murder (by brain-eating), Hunter's idealism is tested as never before as he struggles to secure the man's freedom. To do so, he must square off against a savvy and ambitious district attorney, contend with a judge who is deeply biased against arcanes, and stand up to a human-supremacist group which will stop at nothing--not even Hunter's own death--to see his client convicted."

To learn more about this e-novel, go to the Amazon website at: http://www.amazon.com/Atticus-Undead-Hunter-Gamble-ebook/dp/B006AL4YC8/

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The Walking Dead Toy Story Mashup: Patrick Prejusa put together this video because "There was a meme going around about how The Walking Dead and Toy Story were actually quite similar. This got my brain working and I threw this together.

I really had alot of fun putting this together. Took me two days. Used Hitfilm 2 Ultimate for compositing and color correction. Edited the whole thing with Sony Vegas Pro.

The cover art on the video I did not put together, grabbed that from someone online. If that's you're handy work then I thank you. The final shot before the end titles in the video is a variation on another artist's work."

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Inhuman Resources Impressions and Interview with Co-Writer Anthony O'Connor

by Kristian Hanson

Inhuman Resources is a film that has an intricately woven storyline filled gore that will make you cringe. From the opening sequence, the film is an all around fun story to be seen. From eyes being ripped out, to an insane, delusional killer, this film leaves you wanting to more when the end credits begin to role. How great is this film might you ask? Great enough to have horror special effects legend Tom Savini step out of special effects retirement to bring back some of that old fashioned gore we’ve come to love from him. Inhuman Resources is a film fans should not miss! Its intricately woven spider-web of a storyline keeps you guessing and cheering until the very last scream.

What inspired you to write this kind of film?

Anthony O'Connor: Jonathon Green (producer and co-writer) and I had been working on this really elaborate, insanely expensive script about a witch in Western Australia (called Territory). Each subsequent draft got more unwieldy until we realised there was simply no practical way we could make the bloody thing.

We needed to take a break so we played with the idea of stripping a horror concept back to its very basic components. We set some rules for this new mystery script:

* Six main characters

* A single location

* A central antagonist who wasn’t supernatural

(we broke the first two rules quite a few times, as you know, but it was very helpful in the writing process)

I’d come off a series of really terrible office jobs a year or so prior to this - so the frequently nightmarish world of corporate culture was fresh in my mind, especially the term “human resources” which sounded like the creation of a Jeffrey Dahmer-esque serial killer.

So pretty soon we thought “office horror”. Let’s take the location that most people have to go to and turn it into a horror movie. Obviously we layered a lot of mystery, allegory and social commentary into the actual story over the next few drafts - but that was the inspiration.

When I sat down and watched the first five minutes, I honestly believed it may be a Saw type film, but it ended up being so much more than that. Was this something you kept in your mind, to try and make it different than that Franchise?

Anthony O'Connor: Yeah, a lot of people have said that in the first five minutes they’re terrified this will just be another ‘chain em and maim em’ film. I enjoyed the first Saw (and some moments from the sequels) but that wasn’t the kind of film we wanted to make.

I always dug the giallo films (Dario Argento’s Profondo Rosso aka Deep Red in particular, plus Opera and Tenebrae are wonderful) because they offered up a stylish mystery, thriller and bloody horror all in the one movie! That was kind of what we hoped to achieve here, albeit mostly in a demented office. An office giallo, if you will.

We wanted the violent moments to be horrific and shocking but for that to work we needed the characters to be solid and believable, people you care about. We also wanted to remain unpredictable. There’s nothing worse than being able to tell how a film will end ten minutes into the running time - so we wanted to keep the audience on their toes.

Are you a fan of the horror genre?

Anthony O'Connor: I am. Obsessively so. I have been so pretty much my whole life. Something about the aesthetic has always appealed to me. The range of stories you can tell in the horror genre has always been the most imaginative. That’s not to say horror is always good - but good horror? Honestly, I’m not sure any other genre can even compete. The first time you see Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead, or Dario Argento’s Deep Red, or John Carpenter’s The Thing? It’s mind-blowing, man. It’s a cinematic language that seems to speak directly to your subconscious.

How did you create the anti-hero of sorts with Thomas Reddmann?

Anthony O'Connor: The thing about a great villain is: they don’t KNOW they’re a villain. If you write a character who spends 90 minutes lopping the heads off puppies and cackling; you’re in for a pretty repetitive experience. Thomas Reddmann, from his perspective at least, is a man who has been failed by the system. In his (tortured) mind he has been convicted of crimes he didn’t commit and is using the only system he trusts to find the truth: the office paradigm.

So he constructs this demented office specifically to uncover the truth. He is true to himself and true to his goal. He is the logically illogical extension of office dogma. He doesn’t enjoy issuing “warnings” or disciplining his staff - he’s just being a good boss. Firm but fair.

Now, clearly he is eleven fruit flavours of demented but he doesn’t know that and I think it’s his very occasional moments of lucidity that make him an anti-hero. It’s also Nicholas Hope’s stunning performance. I mean, he finds pathos and humour in the strangest places. It’s hard to take your eyes off him because he’s fascinating and brutal and weird but somehow believable.

The ending was amazing and made me want to stand up and cheer. How did you weave such an amazing ending to a spectacular film?

Anthony O'Connor: If you’ll excuse my language, we always wanted the ending to have a “fuck yeah!” vibe. If you can get people cheering at the end of the movie, in the cinema or on the couch, then you’ve succeeded. I also like endings that punctuate a point and then BAM: credits. It’s like songs that fade out compared to songs that END. A song should END. A movie should END.

I’d love to talk in more detail about what happens but I don’t want to spoil it for people who haven’t seen the movie yet! Let’s just say we wanted it to be surprising, gory and a wee bit “HOLY SHIT, DID THAT JUST HAPPEN?! FUCK YEAH!”

What are some of your all time favorite horror films?

Anthony O'Connor: This is such a huge question, isn’t it? I know the films that were closest to my heart when we were writing/shooting Inhuman Resources were:

* John Carpenter’s The Thing

* John Landis’ An American Werewolf in London

* Dario Argento’s Deep Red

* Takashi Miike’s Audition

* George A. Romero’s Day of the Dead, and

* Creepshow

Raimi’s The Evil Dead, of course and I have an abiding love for Lucio Fulci’s The Beyond and Zombie. Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

More recently I enjoyed Astron-6’s brilliant Father’s Day, Maniac (the remake) and Cabin in the Woods. The list is constantly in flux. You could ask me tomorrow and I’d have different ones in there.

Not giving it away, the film was pretty bloody. How did you go about getting Horror legend Tom Savini to come on board for a cameo and to do the SFX?

Anthony O'Connor: It happened over a couple of years. First up he was here for an international special effects convention and I met him through his girlfriend, who is an Aussie (and a good mate of mine). She introduced us and after about 45 minutes of me sweating and stammering like an idiot (seriously, I have never been so starstruck before or since) he took us out to dinner and we got talking about movies, including Inhuman Resources.

He’s a very gracious, giving dude - and he said he’d read the script - which was amazing of him. Then he met Jonathon and those two hit it off. He gave our website a shout out (at www.reddincthemovie.com - Redd Inc. is the Australian title for Inhuman Resources) and agreed to appear in a cameo as Peter Bava (a name that references the great Mario Bava and Lamberto Bava).

The real coup was when we asked him to come out of special make-up effects retirement and supervise the grisly goings on, which he eventually agreed to under the caveat that MEG (Make-up Effects Group) were involved. These guys, Nick Nicolaou and Paul Katte, are astonishing. They’ve worked on The Matrix, Man-Thing plus other big scale films and they were doing our indie horror flick!

So during the shoot I find myself on set, pumping blood through a tube, into a headless corpse with MEG next to me and Tom Savini supervising! It was quite literally a dream come true and a total honour.

People say you should never meet your heroes. I met and worked with mine and he’s a top bloke! So maybe the saying should be changed to: “Never meet your heroes... unless your hero is Tom Savini, because that dude kinda rules.”

How did you get FANGORIA to pick up your film?

Anthony O'Connor: That’s another dream come true, although I can’t take much credit for it. Basically FANGO are moving into the VOD market and saw the film at a Los Angeles screening. They loved it and picked it up pretty quickly. I can still remember getting the phone call from Jonathon about it. I was half asleep and he’s telling me: “Yeah, so FANGORIA want the movie.”

I’m thinking: Tom Savini worked on it, FANGORIA picked it up - did I make a deal with the devil that I forgot about?!

It’s been great seeing the different artwork from FANGO (through FANGORIA PRESENTS) but also Japan where we’re known as HEAD HUNT. It’s quite humbling when people halfway around the world watch, enjoy and understand your work.

The other day, Amazon sent me a recommendation for Inhuman Resources! That was really exciting to me, strangely.

Finally, what can we expect from you in the future? Any advice for up and coming writers?

Anthony O'Connor: I’ve written a horror anthology film with Jonathon Green, called Captive Audience. We’re in the process of getting funding and directors for that, plus developing the script. It’s about phobias and is really crazy and lots of fun.

I’m working on a few other things with various exciting people that I’m not allowed to talk about (but believe me when I can - I will!) and of course if Inhuman Resources finds an audience, we’d love to do a sequel. We’ve actually got a treatment written for it and it would be amazing to make.

Advice for writers? Don’t postpone writing. You’ll always find a reason not to write, you’ll always have real world stuff going on and, here’s the big tip: no matter how awesome the idea in your head is - it’s going to take longer than you think to get it out. Writing is hard and frustrating and time consuming and, often, not rewarding.

It’s a long, hard slog to get it from the page to the screen so start writing it now. Better you have an imperfect project on the page than a “brilliant idea” in your head. Also, get brutally honest people to read your work. You may hate them in the short term for their candor but in the end they are vital for a writer.

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To learn more about Inhuman Resources, visit: www.reddincthemovie.com

  • Tamika Jones
    About the Author - Tamika Jones

    Tamika hails from North Beach, Maryland, a tiny town inches from the Chesapeake Bay.She knew she wanted to be an actor after reciting a soliloquy by Sojourner Truth in front of her entire fifth grade class. Since then, she's appeared in over 20 film and television projects. In addition to acting, Tamika is the Indie Spotlight manager for Daily Dead, where she brings readers news on independent horror projects every weekend.

    The first horror film Tamika watched was Child's Play. Being eight years old at the time, she remembers being so scared when Chucky came to life that she projectile vomited. It's tough for her to choose only one movie as her favorite horror film, so she picked two: Nosferatu and The Stepford Wives (1975).