Watch the Short Film SLEEP TIGHT: "Josh is a young gamer confined to a wheelchair. He is also a teenager craving a bit more independence and wants to assert himself, especially with his father Frank, who is having a bit of a mid-life crisis himself.
One night Josh asks to keep the light on as his father helps him get to bed. Josh hopes to exercise a little autonomy in his life, but Frank resists, seeing the request as proof that Josh is still a young child in need. But as it turns out, when the lights go out, Josh discovers he's not alone -- and needs his dad more than ever.
Written and directed by Lewis Taylor, this horror-comedy is as much about a transition in a father-son relationship as it is about things that go bump in the night. But these weighty themes are offset by a stream of cheeky British wit, ironic character observation and a playful, affectionate stylistic homage to 80s horror movies that's immense fun to watch."
--------
Watch the Trailer for THE RETURN: "Richard Harmon and Sara Thompson, stars of The CW’s smash-hit series The 100, star in the award-winning supernatural thriller THE RETURN, premiering On Demand and Digital this August.
Rodger returns home from college with two friends to settle the affairs of his recently deceased father. They begin to experience weird and unsettling occurrences in the house. Rodger is soon plagued by strange childhood memories about a haunting by a ghostly presence. These memories boil over into reality culminating in an intense showdown with the terror that has come back.
Directed by BJ Verot, THE RETURN also stars Echo Andersson, Marina Stephenson Kerr, Zoe Fish, Erik Athavale, and Gwendolyn Collins.
Winner of Best Feature at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival, and Best Actor (Richard Harmon) at the New York City Horror Film Festival, THE RETURN premieres August 10 On Demand/Digital from Uncork’d Entertainment."
----------
THE ACCURSED: "Kevin Lewis (Willy’s Wonderland, The Drop, The Third Nail) has signed on to direct Rob Kennedy’s (Midnight Man) screenplay The Accursed.
The Accursed is being produced by Marcus Englefield and George Lee for Storyoscopic Films (Animal Crackers, Danger Close). Executive producers are Scott Harbert, Jeremy Ross (Fearless), Fred Hedman (Stratton, The Ledge), Rob Kennedy and Edward Kennedy. Co-producer is Ann Carli (Crossroads, Fast Food Nation), Evolution Pictures is financing The Accursed, while GFM Film Sales is handling worldwide sales.
The Accursed focuses on a young woman who faces a horrifying past. When her estranged mother dies by suicide, Elly ( Sarah Grey) is forced to return home from volunteering as a nurse abroad. Determined to sell the family home and get her life back on track, she finds herself haunted by terrifying visions of her mother. Consumed by guilt and eager for a quick escape, Elly accepts the offer from Alma (Mena Suvari) as a temporary caregiver to look after the comatose Ms. Ambrose (Meg Foster) in her isolated cabin. But Alma has nefarious plans for Elly and she soon is confronted with Mary Lynn (Alexis Knapp), a witch hunter who is hellbent on lifting the demonic curse that has plagued her family for generations. Elly discovers that Ms. Ambrose has a history in the black arts, as well as a mysterious connection to Elly’s mother. As she tries to unlock the truth with her friend Beth (Sarah Dumont), it becomes all too clear that Elly was lured to the cabin under false pretenses.
Lewis states, “The ability to work closely on a film rooted in demonic possession has been on my bucket list; it is a genre I am passionate about. This opportunity, to blend an incredible story with working with an exceptional female driven cast is a tremendous moment for me as a director and horror lover. I am equally excited to be bringing back so many of the team from Willy’s Wonderland, like David Newbert (DP), Ryan Liebert (Editor) and Emoi (Composer). I see this film as if Sam Raimi and Dario Argento had a love child and James Wan was its uncle”.
"We’re delighted to be working with Kevin and his team on this truly terrifying film. We were immediately convinced by the film's potential and bringing this unique opportunity to the marketplace, which furthers our ambitions for Evolution Pictures and its growing slate of high concept genre films,” said Hedman.
“We are so excited to work with the Fred and the team at Evolution and our amazingly talented friend Kevin and know that he will create an epic masterpiece to scare the socks off horror fans everywhere!” stated producers Lee and Englefield.
Storyoscopic and Ross are producers on the recently announced Slinky biopic with Tamra Davis directing, and have executive produced the Netflix animated features Charming, Dog Gone Trouble and Gnome Alone."
----------
WILLY’S WONDERLAND COMPOSER AND WILLY WEASEL VOICE ACTOR, ÉMOI TO SCORE THE ACCURSED: "Émoi (Willy’s Wonderland) has signed on to score The Accursed - a new film directed by Kevin Lewis (Willy’s Wonderland) based on a screenplay by Rob Kennedy (Midnight Man). The cast includes Mena Suvari (Grace and Grit, Don’t Tell A Soul), Sarah Grey (Netflix’s The Order and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow), Alexis Knapp (Universal’s Pitch Perfect franchise and Project X), Meg Foster (The Lords of Salem and Jeepers Creepers 3) and Sarah Dumont (Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse and 6 Below)
The Accursed focuses on a young woman who faces a horrifying past. When her estranged mother dies by suicide, Elly (Sarah Grey) is forced to return home from volunteering as a nurse abroad. Determined to sell the family home and get her life back on track, she finds herself haunted by terrifying visions of her mother. Consumed by guilt and eager for a quick escape, Elly accepts the offer from Alma (Mena Suvari) as a temporary caregiver to look after the comatose Ms. Ambrose (Meg Foster) in her isolated cabin. But Alma has nefarious plans for Elly and she soon is confronted with Mary Lynn (Alexis Knapp), a witch hunter who is hellbent on lifting the demonic curse that has plagued her family for generations. Elly discovers that Ms. Ambrose has a history in the black arts, as well as a mysterious connection to Elly’s mother. As she tries to unlock the truth with her friend Beth (Sarah Dumont), it becomes all too clear that Elly was lured to the cabin under false pretenses.
Émoi said in a statement, “The Accursed could be described as Insidious meets Drag Me To Hell, so naturally, it was love at first read. The story is dark, compelling, heavy at times, but also bold, unhinged, and adventurous, which is why Kevin Lewis is the perfect director to bring this brand of storytelling to life. Lewis’ ability to conjure excitement in such an eccentric fashion has put him on track to becoming this generation’s next cult director. I feel so honored that he chose me to help bring his vision to life.”
Within months of its release, the Willy’s Wonderland Soundtrack exceeded expectations, amassing millions of plays across all of the major streaming platforms - a level of engagement that is unprecedented for an Indie Horror Score.
Émoi continues, “Willy’s Wonderland presented a unique opportunity to write for so many genres, from kids sing-alongs, to jazz, orchestral, rock, punk, electronic, and new wave. I’m very excited to now journey into the darkly psychological realm of The Accursed where the score will be much more textural, experimental, and unnerving. We’re going to dive deep, and hopefully not require too many years of therapy after we’re done.”
Director Kevin Lewis states, “I am looking forward to going on another musical adventure with Émoi - he brought so much originality and creative spirit to Willy’s, I can’t wait to hear what he has in store for The Accursed.”"
Daily Dead's Official Podcast! Daily Dead's Official Podcast!
