The latest horror flick filled with immense badassery to be added to Shudder's library is the fifth sequel in the Phantasm franchise, Phantasm: Ravager. Also in today's Highlights: details on the Clive Barker Reel Fear Contest, Portland International Film Festival's After Dark program, release details for Slasher.com and The Eyes, a new poster for Atomica, and production news and photos for A Haunting at Silver Falls II.
Phantasm: Ravager Comes to Shudder: "Joining Shudder is Phantasm: Ravager- the final installment of the long-running Phantasm series.
In addition to Phantasm: Ravager, streaming exclusively on Shudder is the remaster of Don Coscarelli’s 1979 classic Phantasm, as well as its sequels Phantasm III and Phantasm IV.
Phantasm was recently restored by J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot and Coscarelli, and given both a new 4K remaster and a 5.1 surround sound mix, which will be the version presented exclusively on Shudder."
---------
Clive Barker Reel Fear Contest Open For Submissions: The “Clive Barker Presents: Reel Fear Horror Contest” from Project Greenlight Digital Studios and Shudder is now officially open for submissions.
"From February 13th to March 17th, filmmakers can submit one-to-three minute pitches for original horror film concepts on projectgreenlight.com. Ten semi-finalists will be selected and voted on by the public. The audience winner automatically moves on to the next round, where five finalists will each receive funding to direct a short scene representative of their abilities. In June, those finalists will also be granted a spot in the second annual Shudder Labs, Shudder’s creative retreat for developing genre filmmakers, using the experience to enhance their submission."
Press Release: "Project Greenlight Digital Studios (PGLDS), a digital content initiative from Adaptive Studios, and Shudder, AMC Networks-backed horror and thriller streaming video service, are joining forces to launch a video contest to support indie horror films. The two companies have also partnered with filmmaker Clive Barker (Hellraiser, Nightbreed, Lord of Illusions) who is known for his directing, writing, and producing credits in the horror genre. The contest will solicit pitches for original horror films, and the winner will receive $300,000 to make his or her feature film, as well as mentorship from Barker throughout production.
Shorts will be judged on originality, story, character, editing, directing, and commercial value. The final stage of the contest will consist of an interview with Barker and representatives from PGLDS and Shudder, where the five finalists will answer questions regarding crew, casting, creative execution, and more.
One director or directing team will be selected to bring their film to life with a $300,000 budget. Barker will help shepherd the film through the development process as a mentor to the winning filmmaker.
Barker said of the partnership: “When I was looking for financing while making Hellraiser, I wish there was a company like Project Greenlight Digital Studios behind me. Teaming up with Adaptive Studios and Shudder is a wonderful opportunity to support emerging filmmakers in creating something truly iconic. This is a great chance to scare and entertain audiences at the same time."
“Project Greenlight Digital Studios was created to be a story-driven creative community and we believe our video contests continue to provide great opportunities for emerging filmmakers. We’re thrilled to expand this contest platform and focus on a specific genre in the film world,” said Brittany Turner, VP of Digital at Adaptive Studios.
Linda Pan, General Manager of Shudder, added: “At Shudder, our mission is to showcase and support innovative forms of storytelling in horror and suspense. We are delighted to launch our second annual Shudder Labs program in collaboration with Project Greenlight Digital Studios and Clive Barker to support and foster a new generation of creative voices in the horror genre.”"
---------
Portland International Film Festival After Dark Lineup: Press Release: PORTLAND, OR) — The Northwest Film Center’s 40th Portland International Film Festival once again includes the popular, boundary-pushing fare that constitutes our PIFF After Dark program, showcasing late night movies like Emiliano Rocha Minter’s We Are the Flesh, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s (Pulse) Daguerrotype, André Øvredal’s (Troll Hunter) The Autopsy of Jane Doe, Nicholas Pesce’s The Eyes of My Mother, and Oriol Paulo’s (The Body) The Invisible Guest. As in past years, PIFF After Dark presents films chosen with adventurous festival attendees in mind. For the first time, all seven PIFF After Dark shows are scheduled to happen at the Bagdad Theater (3702 SE Hawthorne Boulevard) and will include short, After Dark-themed films presented before each feature.
Complete program listings:
February 10 – Friday 10:30 p.m.
The Invisible Guest (Dir. Oriol Paulo) – Spain/South Korea
As a suspect is prepped for court testimony, the story of the crime, a murder in a hotel room where only two people—the accused and the victim—were present, deepens as new details emerge with each retelling. Director Oriol Paulo’s (The Body) film is Rashomonic in structure but keeping the action centered entirely on one person’s shifting account of the abominable act. An exquisitely intelligent and tense thriller crafted for adult audiences. “Early on, certain points are so ridiculously made and ‘on the button’ that they elicit laughter. Rest assured, that’s intentional. The Invisible Guest goes beyond locked rooms into the forbidden territory of adult motivations.” – Peter Martin, Screen Anarchy In Spanish with English subtitles. (106 mins.)
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/185461129
PRECEDED BY:
Manoman
Dir. Simon Cartwright | United Kingdom
A man undergoing primal scream therapy releases his own Mr. Hyde and then hits the town with him. (11 mins.)
February 11 – Saturday 10:30 p.m.
We Are the Flesh (Dir. Emiliano Rocha Minter) – Mexico
The most transgressive film in this year’s program, Minter’s trance-inducing debut feature concerns a brother and sister drawn into an underground sanctuary inhabited by a lone stranger. In return for shelter, the man demands they push themselves into a series of shocking ritualistic actions with each other, their newfound guardian, and those who visit the subterranean and fleshy, womb-like structure they begin constructing. “His thoroughly arresting vision could squat quite comfortably alongside Hieronymus Bosch’s depiction of hell.”—Variety. (79 mins.) Adult Audiences. “Serving as co-editor as well as writer and director, Emiliano Rocha Minter is very much the author of all the chaos wrought here, and his thoroughly arresting vision could squat quite comfortably alongside Hieronymus Bosch’s depiction of hell.” – Catherine Bray, Variety In Spanish with English subtitles. (79 mins.)
Sponsored by Shudder
Trailer: https://youtu.be/hC_wtrAdF2E
PRECEDED BY:
Judy
Ariel Gardner, Alex Kavutskiy | United States
“A film about male entitlement and the role of women in society—a smart and funny movie that says a whole lot in ten minutes.”—Catherine Bray, Birth. Movies. Death. (11 mins.)
Directors Ariel Gardner and Alex Kavutskiy in attendance
February 12 – Sunday 10:30 p.m.
A Dark Song (Dir. Liam Gavin) – Ireland/United Kingdom
A grieving mother (Catherine Walker) hires a man (Steve Oram) well-versed in the occult to help bring her son back to life. The genius of writer/director Liam Gavin’s film is how, unlike most films with a supernatural conceit, it paints its character’s attempts to break on through to the other side as humorous, highly questionable, and above all, time-consuming. Favoring the notion that the journey is just as important as the destination, A Dark Song upends audience expectations of how horror films about people trying to resurrect their loved ones ought to operate. “A Dark Song is more concerned with psychological demons than the supernatural kind, and all the stronger for it.” – Stephen Dalton, The Hollywood Reporter (100 mins.)
Sponsored by Shudder
Trailer: https://youtu.be/IeZ9OQ6ocP0
PRECEDED BY:
The Man from Death
Stephen Reedy | United States
A manic homage to spaghetti Westerns, video game iconography, and ADHD. (13 mins.)
February 17 – Friday 10:30 p.m.
The Eyes of My Mother (Dir. Nicolas Pesce) – United States
A young girl named Francisca witnesses a terrible act of violence perpetrated by a stranger upon her mother. Years later, the child has grown into a solitary woman whose life on the same farm where those events occurred has devolved into a cycle of caring for her family’s livestock and a mysterious figure sequestered away in the barn. When Francisca finally opens herself up to human contact, however, it threatens to both break the patterns she’s established and rip the precariously hung safety net out from below her feet. Director Nicolas Pesce’s debut film is a visual treat, filled with breathlessly orchestrated passages, and forbidden fruit that’s rotten to the core. “If Ingmar Bergman had helmed The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, it might look something like this exquisite nightmare.”—The A.V. Club. (76 mins.)
Trailer: https://youtu.be/H5cmrW-Ej84
PRECEDED BY:
The Dog
Hallvard Holmen, Aleksander Nordaas | Norway
A child watches as a squabble between neighbors unfolds. (10 mins.)
February 18 – Saturday 10:30 p.m.
Daguerrotype (Dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa) – Japan
Japanese horror master Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s continues his winning stream with this patient and elegantly rendered ghost story set in modern-day France. Jean (Tahar Rahim) is hired as the assistant to Stéphane, a former fashion photographer who wallows in grief for his late wife while stubbornly clinging to the antiquated, long-exposure process of daguerreotype photography. As Jean learns the ropes, he begins to fall for Stéphane’s daughter Marie who endures, as her mother did in the past, the painful and physically demanding role of modeling for her father’s images. In French with English subtitles. “You’ll need patience for it to work on you, but all effort’s repaid tenfold, thanks to Kurosawa’s murmur-soft, immaculate craft and a trio of gorgeous central performances.” – Robbie Collin, The Telegraph
Sponsored by TV5Monde
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/180867219
PRECEDED BY:
Overtime
Craig D. Foster | Australia
Workplace stresses conspire to bring out the inner beast when mandatory overtime comes into play. (9 mins.)
February 24 – Friday 10:30 p.m.
Without Name (Dir. Lorcan Finnegan) – Ireland
Eric, a surveyor by trade, is hired by a corporate developer to assess a large plot of ancient forest. Superstitious warnings from the locals about the area, the discovery of a handwritten book filled with hallucinogenic recipes and half-mad ravings about trees, and a shadowy figure have Eric on edge. First time director Lorcan Finnegan’s eco-horror tale not only offers up the most vivid dose of paranoia tied to location since Polanski’s The Tenant, it also throws down the gauntlet for the creepiest trees captured on film this decade. “Without Name is the truest, and perhaps finest, example of the Lovecraftian sensibility ever put on film.” – Peter Gutierrez, Screen Anarchy (93 mins.)
Trailer: https://youtu.be/cd4K6qICqC8
PRECEDED BY:
Strangers in the Night
Conor McMahon | Ireland
While protecting his grandmother from a banshee, Damien is overcome by unexpected feelings for the creature. (12 mins.)
February 25 – Saturday 10:30 p.m.
The Autopsy of Jane Doe (Dir. André Øvredal) – United Kingdom/United States
A father (Brian Cox) and son (Emile Hirsch) coroner team delve into the mystery of a body discovered at a site of multiple murders. Unlike the other casualties of the crime, the corpse delivered to them is untouched by the multiple traumas visited upon the other victims. The deeper the two dig into this fleshy puzzle, the more disturbing secrets, residing tantalizingly below the surface, are revealed. “The Autopsy of Jane Doe is proof that Trollhunter was no fluke – André Øvredal is one of the most clever guys making genre movies today and he’s refusing to let himself get boxed into a corner.” – Jacob Hall, Slash Film (86 mins.)
Trailer: https://youtu.be/mtTAhXuiRTc
PRECEDED BY:
Limbo
Will Blank | United States
Stranded in the desert, a man is given a chance to wish for anything he wants. (8 mins.)
Tickets for PIFF After Dark shows available at https://nwfilm.org/film-series/piff-after-dark/"
---------
Slasher.com Coming to DVD: Press Release: "Los Angeles, CA - MuchoMuchoMucho Productions and Firefly Films, in association with ITN Distribution, has announced the March 7th DVD release of Slasher.com. The latest feature from horror director Chip Gubera (Song of the Dead, Academy of Doom, Mil Mascaras vs. the Aztec Mummy), Slasher.com puts a gruesome twist on the perils of modern dating.
Co-written by Gubera and Chelsea Andes, Slasher.com combines the time-honored tradition of young people facing unfathomable horrors in the wilderness with the everyday horror of meeting people online. Ben Kaplan (ADDicted, Wingman Inc) and Morgan Carter star as the hapless would-be couple, anchoring a cast supported by R.A. Mihailoff (Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, Hatchet II), Jewel Shepard (Return of the Living Dead) and Grammy winner Delious Kennedy.
Slasher.com took home awards for Best Feature Film at the Bloody Horror International Film Festival in Ottawa, Best Horror Feature at the Hollywood Boulevard International Film Festival, the Golden Award at the Spotlight Horror Film Awards and Best Screenplay at the Optical Theatre Film Festival in Rome. Jewel Shepard and R.A. Mihailoff were nominated for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor respectively at the Optical Theatre Film Festival.
At a time where online dating could prove fatal, Jack and Kristy decide they're ready to meet in person. Aiming for an adventurous first date, they plan a weekend getaway to a cozy cabin deep in the woodlands of rural Missouri. While discovering each other, they soon learn of the terrorizing horrors that the forest, and the family lurking there, has in store for outsiders.
The DVD release (SRP $14.93) of Slasher.com will be available at all major retailers, courtesy of ITN Distribution."
---------
New Poster for Atomica: "Syfy Films will be releasing ATOMICA in select Theaters on March 17th and on VOD / Digital HD on March 21st.
The sci-fi thriller film is directed by Dagen Merrill and features an all-star cast: Dominic Monaghan, Sarah Habel, Tom Sizemore. Set in the future, when communications go offline at a remote nuclear power plant isolated in the desert, a young safety inspector, Abby Dixon, is forced to fly out to bring them back online. Once inside the facility, mysterious clues and strange behaviors cause Abby to have doubts about the sanity, and perhaps identities, of the two employees on site."
---------
The Eyes Poster and Release Details: Press Release: "LOS ANGELES, CA – Parade Deck Films will release the suspense thriller, THE EYES, in theaters on April 7, 2017. The film stars Nick Turturro (“Blue Bloods”, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2), Vincent Pastore (“The Sopranos”), Danny Flaherty (“The Americans”), Megan West (“How to Get Away with Murder”), Ana Isabelle (“Seasons of Love”), Greg (“Klarity”) Davis, Jr. (Toni Braxton: Unbreak My Heart), Steven Hauck (The Amazing Spiderman 2) and Carly Steel (Mordecai). The film was written by Robert T. Roe and directed by Robbie Bryan. THE EYES will open in at least ten markets across the U.S. with AMC bookings in both Los Angeles and New York.
Some say we are only as sick as our secrets but what if our government really knew those secrets? What if they’ve watched every move we’ve made and our secrets aren’t really hidden? In The Eyes, six strangers with unspeakable pasts wake up imprisoned in an abandoned warehouse and discover they are being forced to participate in an evil governmental experiment. Five must die. One can live. And THEY have two hours to decide amongst themselves who survives. The clock is ticking and if they don’t decide… they ALL die. The Eyes shows us that someone is always watching."
---------
A Haunting at Silver Falls II Production Details and Photos: Press Release: "Los Angeles, CA (February 14, 2017) – Enderby Entertainment announced today that their genre division Tony-Seven Films has set a cast for the film A HAUNTING AT SILVER FALLS II, and has gone into production in Oregon. The film is directed by Teo Konuralp (STREET RACER, FEEDBACK) and was written by Jesse Reffsin. The project is a follow-up to the successful A HAUNTING AT SILVER FALLS, which gained an extensive online fan base from teenage bloggers, prompting a sequel.
Outsider will be selling international territories at the European Film Market in Berlin.
The film stars Dendrie Taylor (THE FIGHTER), Adam Lazarre-White (THE GIFT), Laura Flannery ("American Horror Story"), James Cavlo (HAUNTING AT SILVER FALLS), Harry Hains (THE SURFACE), Clementine Dugdale (CRACKS), and Christopher Crema (GUYS READING POEMS).
The film is produced by Richard Tucci, in association with Enderby Entertainment's genre division Tony-Seven Films and Outsider Pictures. Rick Dugdale, Sean E. Demott, Daniel Petrie, Jr. and Paul Hudson are Executive Producers.
The logline: Several years after a deadly struggle with her serial killer aunt, Jordan, now in college, works to escape her troubled history. But when her aunt’s revenge-seeking specter surfaces to join forces with a deranged convict, Jordan must return to the haunted town of Silver Falls for a final showdown with the ghosts of her past.
Reffsin was a finalist for the 2013 Austin Film Festival Enderby Entertainment Award with his sci-fi script, Sabria. He's since gone on to write multiple projects for Enderby Entertainment in addition to A HAUNTING AT SILVER FALLS II. On top of his work for film and TV, his book, Ghost, a collection of illustrated horror stories, was released last year.
Enderby Entertainment’s latest projects in preproduction include the recently announced psychological thriller NOMIS, starring Henry Cavill and Sir Ben Kingsley, and INTRIGO directed by Daniel Afredson, which is soon to film in Serbia. Other projects include the political thriller AN ORDINARY MAN starring Ben Kingsley and directed by Brad Silberling, which is in postproduction, and recent releases BLACKWAY starring Anthony Hopkins, Ray Liotta and Julia Stiles, as well as the surfer thriller DAWN PATROL, directed by Daniel Petrie Jr., which stars Scott Eastwood, Jeff Fahey and Rita Wilson."
Photos by Joey Hungerford:
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).
Daily Dead's Official Podcast! Daily Dead's Official Podcast!
