Tom Savini’s Nightmare City remake has met its indiegogo goal, but you can still support it during its final campaign days to help provide the Umberto Lenzi-presented project with more resources. Also featured in our latest round-up is an excerpt from Scott Shoyer's zombie novel, Outbreak: The Hunger, as well as details on how you can watch the first episode of Fox's Wayward Pines ahead of its May 14th debut.
Tom Savini’s Nightmare City Remake: Tom Savini, the Godfather of Gore, is fittingly set to direct and supervise the special effects on the Monsta Worx remake of Umberto Lenzi's zombie movie, Nightmare City. Lenzi himself is associate producing and presenting the project, with shooting slated to begin late this year in Pittsburgh and Los Angeles. In addition to his duties behind the camera, Savini is also attached to play a role in the film, along with Judith O'Dea (Barbra from Night of the Living Dead) and many more.
Only eight days remain in the campaign, so to learn more, visit:
Press Release - "When a mutated Ebola & Leprosy virus spreads from Haiti to Miami starts turning people into terrifying, bloodthirsty creatures, a small group of survivors must escape from the City Of The Walking Dead.
Just like George Romero's ‘Dawn Of The Dead‘, Umberto Lenzi's ‘NIGHTMARE CITY‘ is a milestone of the zombie genre and 1980's horror cinema. Lenzi's work has had a big influence upon modern horror movies such as the 2004 ‘Dawn Of The Dead‘, ‘28 Days Later‘ and ‘Word War Z’, and filmmakers such as Eli Roth and Quentin Tarantino, who confess to being big fans of Lenzi and ‘Nightmare City‘.
The remake will be directed by the King of Splatter & Gore TOM SAVINI who already proved with the critically acclaimed remake of George A. Romero’s ‘Night of The Living Dead’ (1990) that he knows how to create a dignified, thrilling remake of a cult classic. Savini will not only direct the remake, he will also be Special Effects & Makeup Supervisor and actor. Together with the best creative talents from his Special FX academy in Pittsburgh he will guarantee stunning makeup and special effects and will give horror fans what they desperately demand and miss in current horror movies - impressive practical effects and gallons of blood instead of cheap CGI effects.
The director of the cult original himself, the Italian maestro of horror and gore, UMBERTO LENZI, will be associate producer of the remake. Oscar nominated DEAN CUNDEY, one of the world's best cinematographers, who worked on many films of John Carpenter (‘The Thing‘,‘Halloween‘,‘The Fog‘, ‘Escape From New York‘), is in talks to be Director of Photography.
NIGHTMARE CITY won’t be a simple horror movie or remake, it will be a movie with a social message, based on real life events and threats, this will make the movie more intense and more terrifying. The movie will also be a tribute to the suspenseful horror classics of the 1970s and 1980s such as George Romero's ‘Night Of The Living Dead‘ and ‘Dawn Of The Dead‘, Lucio Fulci's ‘Zombie‘, or John Carpenter's ‘The Fog‘. Parts of the profits will be donated to the Ebola response work of Doctors Without Borders and toThe Leprosy Mission international.
Shooting is planned to start Q3/Q4 around Los Angeles and Pittsburgh. The movie will be an international co-production with Monstaworx Entertainment and Minerva Pictures.
About us:
MONSTAWORX Entertainment is a union of independent filmmakers and production companies based in the US, UK, Italy and Austria which develops and produces films, shows, shorts and commercials for the international marketplace. Our professional team and partners feature an international set of creative talents and award-winning filmmakers who worked for renowned studios and networks and for several successful Hollywood productions."
Here's the official synopsis for the Nightmare City remake:
"After the outbreak of an unknown virus in the Caribbean the Miami Port Authority receives an SOS from an international aid ship returning from Haiti. TV reporter Dean Miller and his cameraman Charlie are sent to the port where rescue teams are awaiting the arriving ship. At first the ship appears to be deserted, but suddenly the rescue teams are attacked by dozens of deformed people. Infected by a new hybrid of two of the most deadly viruses of our time - Ebola and leprosy; their faces and bodies are covered with welts and sores and they are hungry for blood.
Dean and his colleague witness a brutal massacre and return to the TV station to inform the public about the horrifying events, but the government and military prohibit the broadcasting of the news in order to avoid a panic. With the public in the dark, the virus and the number of infected people start to spread over the city, while Dean, his wife Anna and a small group are trying to escape from the 'City Of The Walking Dead'..."
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Outbreak: The Hunger: Press Release -- "Austin, TX, April 14, 2015 – Scott Shoyer, a local Austin, Texas author with a wicked mind for horror, has just had his debut zombie novel, OUTBREAK: THE HUNGER, published by Sev-ered Press. Shoyer’s novel was released on April 14, 2015 and is now available in paperback and eBook formats.
OUTBREAK: THE HUNGER is a fast-paced, gory look at events leading up to the outbreak of a zombie virus. This virus, Shoyer promises, is one you haven’t seen before. The story unfolds from the perspective of two separate groups of people: An elite group of soldiers acting “Above Top Secret” that try to identify and stop the outbreak, and a group of families visiting the Austin Zoo, where the outbreak begins to spread. Trapped at the zoo, the small group of visitors must band together to try and survive the deadly outbreak. Survival, though, won’t be easy especially since they are at ground zero!
Shoyer promises readers his debut novel, the first in a trilogy, will offer a fresh and unique look at what he believes has become a stale sub-genre. As Shoyer says:
“Sure there’s a lot of zombie novels out there, but I set out to give horror and zombie fans something different. I didn’t want to write just another version of the same old story.”
Joe McKinney, celebrated author of the DEAD WORLD series, had the following to say about Scott Shoyer’s debut novel:
“Not only is [OUTBREAK: THE HUNGER] the kind of wild ride you expect from good old fashioned horror, but it is a zombie novel with a truly original take on the genre. I guarantee you, the story has not been told this way before. I envy you getting to read it for the first time.”
Being a lifetime fan of horror films and novels (especially zombies), Shoyer was able to avoid the clichés that have become standard fare in this sub-genre and managed to pump some fresh blood and brains into the genre.
Shoyer is hard at work completing his follow up to OUTBREAK: THE HUNGER, which will be a direct sequel that takes place two years after the events of the first novel."
To learn more about Outbreak: The Hunger, visit:
Excerpt:
The retention pond looked like the aftermath scene in any war movie ever filmed. There were mangled and broken bodies piled on top of each other and an eerie stillness hung in the air.
Death had visited the Austin Zoo today.
The animals’ attack was vicious and quick. In a flash, families went from enjoying a beautiful day looking at the animals and talking about what they were going to do for lunch, to running for their lives and watching their loved ones being torn apart by the very animals they had enjoyed moments ago.
The attack started in the petting corral with children walking among the goats and llamas and petting them. A few kids had snuck in some food pellets to feed the hungry critters. Madison was the first child bitten by a goat. She was there with her parents and grandmother and had snuck some food into the petting corral. She was eleven years old with long, curly dark hair, and her blue eyes that set against her dark hair, seemed to glow.
Madison had some food pellets in her hand feeding a goat. Her dad had warned her not to feed too many of them while inside the pen. Her dad, Jesse, stood on the other side of the fence. He wasn’t crazy about the petting corral, and felt that goats and llamas were filthy animals, but his little girl loved to go in there and feed them. She told him on the drive to the zoo earlier that morning that she wanted to be a veterinarian. “That’s what she wants to be this week,” he thought to himself as he smiled.
“In a flash.” This how most things happen, in a flash. One beautiful fall day in September, people were going to work and just living their lives. Then in a flash, an airplane slammed into the World Trade Center setting off a series of events that forever changed the lives of every American. The “flash” moment occurred here with the tiny bite from a goat.
Jesse heard his daughter let out a yelp as she shook her hand back and forth. “Are you okay, sweetie?” he yelled from behind the corral’s wall. Madison’s mom and grandma, who were in the corral, walked over to Madison.
“Yeah, I think so,” Madison answered her dad. “The goat bit me,” she continued, sounding both surprised and a little angry.
Jesse looked at his wife. “She’s fine,” his wife, Michelle, said after looking at Madison’s hand. “Just a little nip. Your dad told you to be careful feeding the animals in here.”
From the corner of his eye, Jesse saw something, no, someone, fall in the corral. Soon afterwards, he heard his mother-in-law scream.
“Beverly,” Jesse shouted, “where are you. Are you all right?” There was no answer.
“Jesse, get in here,” his wife screamed. Jesse jumped over the fence and into the corral and ran over to where his daughter and wife were. All around the corral people were starting to scream, as they were either bitten or knocked around by the animals in the corral.
“What the shit?” Jesse said out loud. He then heard his mother-in-law scream behind him. Turning quickly, he saw her on the ground trying to protect her face from the llama standing over her. The llama was slamming its nose into Beverly’s face, and Jesse could swear that he saw the llama bearing its teeth.
“Get Madison out of here, Michelle,” Jesse said.
“What the hell is going on here?” Michelle asked, scared to death.
Jesse had no idea what was going on. “Just get her out of here.”
Jesse turned to help Beverly but saw he was too late. Three other goats were now with the llama attacking his mother-in-law. He picked up a rock and threw it at the group of animals. The rock slammed right into the head of one of the goats. The goat just lifted its head and looked straight at Jesse.
Then Jesse saw the blood.
He turned pale white as he realized the animals weren’t just attacking, they were feeding. The goats had torn off Beverly’s ears and were trying to get their teeth inside her eye sockets. The llama had torn out her throat and was chewing on it as if it had been eating the pellets Madison was feeding it seconds ago.
Madison! He turned away from Beverly knowing there was nothing he could do to save her. Looking around, he saw that the corral had become a slaughterhouse. Two potbellied pigs were chewing on a dead little boy’s foot, while elsewhere in the corral, four sheep were feasting on a father they brought down. Jesse almost threw up as he watched the sheep chewing out the man’s cheeks, tearing the meat from his thighs, and tearing off and chewing the man’s genitals.
He saw his wife and daughter running for the corral’s exit. They were just feet away when something jumped down from an overhanging tree and took his wife to the ground. It was one of the monkeys they saw earlier. But they were on the other side of the zoo, Jesse thought. How the hell … my God; are all the animals out of their cages?
His wife started screaming as the monkey sunk its claws into her head and neck and started tearing out clumps of her hair.
Madison stood just inches away watching her mother pointlessly trying to fight off the monkey. Jesse ran over with a branch he picked up and was trying to find the right moment to hit the monkey. Michelle thrashed back and forth not giving Jesse a steady target. As a last resort, Jesse pushed his wife hard into the tree next to them to try and jolt the animal off his wife. The impact made the monkey dig its claws into Michelle deeper, and with one of its free paws, sunk its claws into her eyes.
Michelle screamed so hard that Jesse thought she would pass out from a lack of oxygen. Jesse finally reached out to grab the monkey and he was met with what felt like a cannonball hitting him in the chest. A longhorn steer came out of nowhere and slammed into him. Madison was screaming. He tried to move but he was pinned against a tree. He tried hitting the longhorn on the head, but the steer didn’t seem to notice the blows. He slid his hand down and suddenly froze in terror. The steer had impaled him through his chest and into the tree. He felt his blood slowly coating the steer’s horn.
Madison was still screaming as the longhorn twisted and shook its head. Jesse was being torn apart against the tree while his wife lay silent on the ground at his feet. A large Galapagos tortoise was eating its way into Michelle’s stomach. Before Jesse blacked out, he noticed his daughter had stopped screaming. When he looked for her, he saw that two Axis deer had her on her stomach and they were tearing away long, bloody strips of flesh from her back.
The last thing Jesse did was cry.
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Wayward Pines: Ahead of its May 14th premiere, the first episode of Wayward Pines is now available to watch from Fox:
Press Release -- "In the first-ever global preview event, Fox Broadcasting Company (FOX) and Fox International Channels will offer a free preview of the premiere episode of WAYWARD PINES for one week beginning tonight (12:00 AM ET/PT) through Thursday, April 30 (11:59 PM ET/PT) in advance of the series’ global premiere. The episode will be available to watch free on FOX ON DEMAND via participating pay-TV providers, including AT&T U-verse, Bright House Networks, Cablevision, Charter, Cox, DIRECTV, Mediacom, Suddenlink, Time Warner Cable, Verizon FiOS, XFINITY and many more. Fans can also stream the episode free at FOX.com (http://fox.tv/1Ohz4r2), FOX NOW and HULU.com, as well as Facebook (facebook.com/WaywardPines). In addition, the free preview of the premiere episode will be available via Amazon Instant Video, Google Play, PlayStation® Store, VUDU and Xbox Video.
Outside the U.S., the preview will be available free on FOX’s international authenticated app, FOX Play, across all participating regions. Additionally the episode will be accessible through regional pay-TV providers, international fox.com pages, social media platforms, SVOD and web services.
WAYWARD PINES premieres Thursday, May 14 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. Debuting simultaneously in more than 126 countries, it will be the world's largest day-and-date launch for a scripted series ever. The 10-episode intense, psychological thriller, based on Blake Crouch's international best-selling series of books and adapted for television by Chad Hodge (“Runaway,” “The Playboy Club”), is brought to life by suspenseful storyteller and Academy Award nominee M. Night Shyamalan (“The Sixth Sense,” “Signs”). The series stars Academy Award nominee Matt Dillon (“Crash”) as a Secret Service agent on a mission to find two missing federal agents in the bucolic town of Wayward Pines, ID. In addition to Dillon, the stellar cast includes Academy and Emmy Award winner Melissa Leo (“The Fighter”), Academy Award nominee Terrence Howard (“Crash,” “Hustle & Flow,” EMPIRE), Carla Gugino (“Entourage,” “San Andreas”), Shannyn Sossamon (“How to Make It in America”), Toby Jones (“Infamous,” “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”), Reed Diamond (“24,” “Much Ado About Nothing”), Tim Griffin (“Prime Suspect”), Charlie Tahan (“Charlie St. Cloud”), Academy Award and Emmy Award nominee Juliette Lewis (“Cape Fear”) and Hope Davis (“Allegiance,” “In Treatment”).
WAYWARD PINES is produced by FX Productions. The series was developed for television by Chad Hodge and executive-produced by Donald De Line (“Green Lantern,” “The Italian Job”), Ashwin Rajan (“After Earth,” “Devil”), Hodge and M. Night Shyamalan. Hodge wrote and Shyamalan directed the premiere episode. “Like” WAYWARD PINES on Facebook at facebook.com/WaywardPines. Follow the series on Twitter at @WaywardPinesFOX and join the discussion using #waywardpines. See photos and videos on Instagram by following @Wayward Pines.
FOX NOW is available across hundreds of digital devices, including iPhone, iPad, Android handsets and tablets, Kindle Fire, Windows 8.1 tablets and Windows Phones, Apple TV, Roku, Xbox One and Xbox 360. For more information, visit http://foxnow.com."
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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