Indie Spotlight: BLOOD & GOURD, THE VATICAN EXORCISMS, SLEDGE

We're back with with another edition of the Indie Spotlight, highlighting the recent independent horror new sent our way. Today's feature includes artwork from Blood & Gourd, release details for The Vatican Exorcisms, and news of a Sledge Blu-ray release:

Blood & Gourd Details and Artwork: "It's Devil's Night in Olympia, WA - and out at Henderson Farms, the festivities are reaching a crescendo. Young and old have gathered to pick their own pumpkin, drink hot apple cider, and partake in the usual pumpkin farm fare. However, something has awakened from deep within the fertile soil. After years of abuse and humiliation, the pumpkins… are ready to pick us. You can beg! You can plead! You can scream! But these Hell's lanterns are lit only with the burning desire to watch you die."

For more information on this comic, and its creators, visit: http://www.bloodandgourd.com

---------

The Vatican Exorcisms DVD Release Details: "On May 19, Anchor Bay Entertainment releases The Vatican Exorcisms on DVD. An unnerving descent into black masses, orgies and possession, The Vatican Exorcisms stars Joe Marino (The Hobbit trilogy, the Lord of the Rings trilogy) and Piero Maggio (El Alamein aka The Line of Fire). Pre-book on April 15th.

The Vatican Exorcisms is the horrifying story that the church tried to bury. Hoping to expose a shocking scandal inside the Vatican, a documentary filmmaker travels to Rome to interview several key witnesses but finds himself unearthing something far more sinister.

Delving deeper, he becomes dangerously close to exposing a much darker reality of corruption and demonic forces. As he is drawn further into the satanic underworld, he soon discovers that sometimes the truth is best kept hidden and that demons do walk among us."

---------

Sledge Special Edition Blu-ray Release Details: "LeglessCorpse Films has announced the release of the special edition Blu-ray of the micro-budget fan favorite slasher, Sledge.

Directed by Kristian Hanson and John Sovie II.

The special edition Blu-ray will be signed by Hanson and Sovie II, numbered, and will include new interview footage of Assly, Adam Lynch and Hanson, along with a bonus disc of the soundtrack.

“We have released a horror/sci-fi film in February, Gilgamesh, and we have the amazing art-horror film Within Madness coming out April 7th; logically the next step would be a slasher.” says LeglessCorpse Films’ Chad Armstrong. He went on to explain the decision to choose Sledge out of the hundreds of other slashers out there. “Sledge is a wonderful film, shot on a very, very modest budget; we want to bring these kinds of projects to Blu-ray. Independent horror filmmakers often turn out passionate, quality films with limited finances; we believe such passion deserves a presentation of equal quality. Sledge is definitely such a film; it’s a fun, fantastic ride that we feel hardcore horror fans would love to have in their collections, especially in a Blu-ray format.”

The special edition will be available early May and will have a limited run of 100 copies."

For more information on this limited edition Blu-ray, visit:

http://www.leglesscorpse.us/sledge-coming-to-special-edition-blu-ray-from-leglesscorpse-films

http://leglesscorpsefilms.com/

---------

Apparition Trailer Released: "When his beautiful fiancée, Lori (Katrina Law), is killed in a car accident, Doug (Jody Quigley) retreats in solitude to the isolated farmhouse that should have been his new family’s home. As he grieves and further isolates himself from his friends and society, he learns that he is not alone in this quaint home. Plagued with grief and tragic memories, supernatural events leave Doug fearing for his sanity until he’s able to find solace and a brief respite in the company of his new neighbor Jamie (Lili Bordán). As the two grow closer, Doug pulls Jamie in with him deeper into the increasingly horrifying events that unleash a psychological terror in the old farmhouse."

---------

Chasing Ghosts Trailer and Release Details: "Lucas Simons, an 11 year-old filmmaker, is obsessed with death after the loss of his brother. When Lucas accidentally captures a mysterious presence in one of his films, he inadvertently becomes a YouTube phenomenon, and must learn to live life in the spotlight while also learning how to once again start living life to its fullest.

Chasing Ghosts is available Amazon Instant, Netflix, Hulu, Vudu, Walmart, Comcast (on demand), Time Warner Cable (on demand) on April 21.

Cast includes: Toby Nichols, Tim Meadows, W. Earl Brown, Robyn Lively, Frances Conroy, and Meyrick Murphy. Director: Josh Shreve."

---------

The Encounter DVD and VOD Release Details: "A camping trip goes horribly wrong in the supernatural thriller starring Clint James and Megan Drust.

Things start out normal when Colin Bastrow is camping with his wife and friends but an inexplicable event occurs resulting in Colin being found naked and cold in the forest the next day with no sign of his wife and friends. Colin can’t recount these events initially but they come back to him over time in shocking fashion. Can he remember before the same happens to others? The Encounter out June 2 from Uncork’d Entertainment."

---------

Funhouse Massacre First Details: "Six of the worlds scariest psychopaths escape from a local Asylum and proceed to unleash terror on the unsuspecting crowd of a Halloween Funhouse whose themed mazes are inspired by their various reigns of terror.

Robert Kurtzman (It Follows, Fear Clinic, Texas Chainsaw, Hulk) is the Effects Makeup Supervisor. Robert Englund plays the prison warden, the psychopaths include Clint Howard (Halloween), Jere Burns (Justified), Sebastian Siegel (Lost) and Courtney Gains (Children of the Corn)."

---------

Inverse Premiere and Distribution Details: "A man trying to regain his memory only to discover he comes from a parallel universe.Having broken a sacred rule of law, he struggles to repair the damaged lives of those he loves before a dangerous government agency destroys them.

Remote Films, LLC's sci-fi feature film, "Inverse," was recently awarded "Best Sci-Fi Feature" at the Philip K. Dick International Science Fiction Festival. The film went on to win "Best Actor" for its lead, Josh Wingate, at the Miami International Science Fiction Festival. This is the third "Best Sci-Fi" film award for the compelling, intellectual thriller.

First-time feature film writer/director Matt Duggan explained his process, "Filmmaking is a collaborative art form and a director needs to surround himself with incredible talent to produce a movie. I have an inner circle that made "Inverse" the film that it is." Duggan's previous wins include "Best Short Film" for his short "Tag," which he also wrote and directed, as well as "Written By," a short that he wrote and in which he co-stars with writing partner Trevor Boelter. Boelter is also one of the producers of "Inverse."

Remote Films is being courted by a number of distribution companies and is currently determining its options. Producer, Stephanie Bell (whose vast experience includes Paramount Studios and Interscope) surmised, "It is extremely gratifying to have companies recognize that a well-told story, with an extremely talented, although unknown cast, still garners attention in the festival world and among distributors. We hope to have a deal finalized soon."

For more information, go to the film's official website at: http://www.inversethemovie.com

---------

Fear Itself Trailer Released: "Deep in the suburban ocean of middle America, a killer clown lurks. He leaves a balloon with all of his victims several days before he attacks with the date that he's going to kill them written on it. A small west coast suburban town gets flipped upside down when the clown begins killing locals.

Starring: Brittany Belland, Monica Baker, Burt Culver, Eric Corbin, Sean Patrick Murray, Tom Seidman, Johnjay Fitih, and Caitlin Rigney. Directed by: Aaron Mirtes."

To learn more, head over to the film's IMDB page or on Facebook.

---------

Sam Haynes's 'The Incredible Dark Carnival' Release Details: "Our new album 'The Incredible Dark Carnival' is going to be released from April 13th. The CD is a dark 17 track electro horror concept ablum inspired by 70s and 80s horror themes. Inspired by John Carpenter (of course) and more obscure soundtracks from the time. Our intention is to take horror and haunt music in new directions and create standalone songs as well as more traditional atmospheric themes.

We have had a great and busy year so far. Earlier this month we were nominated in the best horror CD category of the Rondo Hatton Horror Awards. This was for our last album 'Spine Chillers'. We have been amazed at the support we have had from the horror and haunt fans.

We have been getting some really great reviews from horror magazines, fan sites and podcasts and are currently working on several film and podcast soundtracks. We also have been linking up with our friends in the Haunt Industry for something special in the summer. We are also currently offering our services to any low budget filmmakers that need soundtracks on our website."

For more information on this CD, visit: http://www.hauntmusic.co.uk

---------

Strange Blood VOD and DVD Release Details: "When a brilliant scientist goes to extremes to develop a universal cure for all disease, he finds himself infected with a bizarre parasite that begins to transform him into a bloodthirsty madman.

XLrator Media will be releasing Strange Blood on VOD April 28, 2015 and DVD June 9, 2015.

Director: Chad Michael Ward.

Cast: Robert Brettenaugh, Alexandra Bard, Anna Har, Barbara Jadczak, Thomas O’Halloran, and Scott Harders."

---------

Zombie Rush: Riot Gameplay and Release Details: "Source Point Press has announced they are releasing a Zombie Rush: Riot trade paperback comic collection this April that was previously only available to read within a video game. Volume 1 collects chapters 1 through 5 of the Survivor Stories straight from the iOS App video game from the developers at Mindfrost Solutions. Compiled and edited by Joshua Werner, this collection contains a hefty amount of bonus content and behind the scenes information about the creation of the game, as well as close-up looks at its design.

“Comics have always been something I’ve been passionate about and we really wanted to give the ‘run game’ a new spin by incorporating some kind of story along with the gameplay,” says game Producer and Art Director Eric Roman. “What better way to utilize our storytelling process than with a motion comic?” The motion comic chapters, written by Roman, serve as part of the extensive unlockable content within the game, and tell the stories of the Rushers, the playable characters in the game who have to run on foot through heavily infested areas of the zombie apocalypse for their supplies.

Volume 1 features dark, gritty artwork from Joshua Werner, Tom Bacon, and Eric Roman himself, and the five chapters have been recut and edited to fit this new paperback format. “I was thrilled to take on this project, and Source Point Press was the perfect publisher to release it. It fits so nicely among their current book and comic titles,” says Werner. “Not only is it a great story that will get people excited to download the free App and play the game, but it’s a really cool thing to own for people who are already playing the game. I worked closely with the game developers while putting this together so that it could contain fascinating bonus content that looks at how the game’s characters and levels tie into the comic story, and the creative process throughout both.” The trade paperback is to be released this month on Amazon and other online retailers as well in select comic book stores.

Source Point Press is an indie publisher in Detroit, whose goal is to bring quality new creator-owned content to readers in the form of books, graphic novels, and comics; and to raise recognition of lesser-known talent. They are best known for their titles in the horror and pulp genres."

For more information, visit: http://www.SourcePointPress.com

---------

First Annual Halloween Horror Fest Call for Entries: "Film Festival Flix will host the first annual Halloween Horror Fest over an unprecedented 31 days during the month of October, it was announced today by the company’s CEO Benjamin Oberman. “We celebrate great genre movies and filmmakers from around the world and provide opportunities for films and audiences to connect through the internet,” said Oberman.

The online festival, which celebrates 31 days of world class horror films and the filmmakers who terrify, disgust, and disturb us, is led by Oberman and boasts a series of events along with traditional Filmmaker Q&A’s, Expert Panels, and Twitter Chats; all online.

Thirteen competition categories will be awarded cash and sponsored prizes with additional recognition through media partners and the festival’s expert Jury. Winners will receive distribution offers on Film Festival Flix, affiliate networks and branded distribution channels as well as all major cable, internet and home video platforms. The Grand Prize winner will receive a cash prize of $4,000, a guaranteed distribution offer on the Film Festival Flix platform, an L.A. Premiere, Lunch with a top Hollywood Acquisitions Executive, Critique from a Horror Film Legend, a featured article in a Hollywood Media Trade and a number of sponsor prizes tba. Additional categories include the “Skin Crawler Award,” “Best Blood & Gore,” “Best Psychological Thriller,” “Best Vampire,” “Best Werewolf,” “Best Zombie,” “Best Monster,” “Best Slasher,” “Best Ghost & Haunted,” “Best Comedy Horror,” “Best Found Footage” and “Best Short.”

Halloween Horror Fest provides audiences with easy and unlimited access to films from great genre festivals around the world for one low price. (Like a Netflix subscription, but much better!)

A call for entry is now open through June 15th. Late submission runs June 16th - July 15th. Official Selections will be announced August 15th. Winners will be announced November 10th and presented at an exclusive live event in Los Angeles."

For more information, and to submit a film, go to: http://www.HalloweenHorrorFest.com

---------