Indie Spotlight

2013/12/15 19:41:55 +00:00 | Tamika Jones

We return with another edition of the Indie Spotlight, highlighting recent independent horror news sent our way. Today's feature includes details on Sun Choke, starring Barbara Crampton, and the Monster Zombie Claymation short film:

Sun Choke Begins Production: "Janie (Hagan) is just trying to get well. As Janie recovers from a recent violent psychotic break, she’s subjected each day to a bizarre holistic health and wellness regimen designed, and enforced, by her lifelong nanny and caretaker, Irma (Crampton). Janie begins to veer off the road to recovery when she develops an obsession with a young woman, Savannah (Lane), which Janie feels an inexplicable yet profound connection to. The obsession turns increasingly invasive and wedges all three women into an ever-tightening and terrifying struggle for control. Will Janie pull herself back from the precipice of insanity? Or will she go over head-first, taking anyone nearby down with her?

Lodger Films in association with Easy Open Productions today announces the production start of writer/director Ben Cresciman’s “Sun Choke”.

Iconic horror film actress Barbara Crampton (You're Next, Re-Animator, Lords of Salem) anchors an amazing cast starring Sarah Hagan (Freaks and Geeks, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Jess + Moss), Sara Malakul Lane (17 & Life, Sharktopus), and featuring Evan Jones (Jarhead, 8 Mile, A Million Ways to Die in the West), Joe Nieves (How I Met Your Mother, the Mentalist, the Bling Ring) and Jim Boeven (The Canyons). Written and directed by Ben Cresciman (Negative Space), a recent USC M.F.A. grad, with cinematography by Mathew Rudenberg (Mr. Jones, Blue Mountain State, Behaving Badly) and a score by Bryan Hollon (Boom Bip, Neon Neon), the film promises to be riveting, unnerving and psychologically penetrating.

In the vein of Polanski's Repulsion and contemporary psychological films such as Dogtooth and Melancholia, Sun Choke will leave you haunted and questioning the line between reality and nightmare.

Sun Choke is produced by Georg Kallert, Rob Schroeder, and Peter J. Nieves of Lodger Films with Wandie Kabule, Leigh Jones and Ian Keiser. Production design is provided by Andreis Costa, with costumes and styling by BJ Panda Bear, and Jason Jones is editing."

For more information, visit: http://www.lodgerfilms.com and follow Lodger on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/Lodgerfilms

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Dead Sea Trailer Released: "Origin Releasing and Micro Bay Features have just released the first trailer for Dead Sea. The movie follows a Marine Biologist who is thrust into the violent paranoia surrounding a town preparing for the return of an impending sacrifice to a legendary serpentine creature, in this case being a giant Lamprey, said to have surfaced from hell during an earthquake.

Directed by Brandon Slagle, the movie stars Britt Griffith (Syfy's Ghosthunters), James Jw Wiseman (The Deadliest Warrior), Devanny Pinn (The Black Dahlia Haunting), James Duval (Donnie Darko, Independence Day), Alexis Iacono (The Penny Dreadful Picture Show), Tawny Amber Young (Wonderland), Chanel Ryan (Bad Kids Go To Hell), Candace Kita (Barb Wire), and KJ McCormick (Syfy's Ghosthunters)."

For more information, go to the film's Facebook page at: http://facebook.com/DeadSeaMovie or on IMDB at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1663222/

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Details on Model Hunger: "Asbury Park, NJ – Debbie Rochon and James Morgart are proud to announce that Harry Manfredini will be composing an original score for their film MODEL HUNGER. Manfredini, a prolific composer with over 140 credits to his career, is most well-known among horror fans for his compositions for the FRIDAY the 13th franchise. Manfredini is a highly welcomed addition to a production that features a highly recognizable and talented cast helmed by Debbie Rochon.

MODEL HUNGER marks Debbie Rochon’s directorial debut, a veteran genre actress with over 200 credits to her resume. The film is written by James Morgart and features a former pin-up model named Ginny (played by Lynn Lowry), who had been cast aside by the heartless and exploitative modeling industry due to a shift in the industry’s ideals of body image. When her new neighbors Debbie (played by Tiffany Shepis) and Sal (played by Carmine Capobianco) move in, Debbie begins to notice strange occurrences next door. Sal credits this to Debbie’s psychological instability as he believes she is hallucinating and falling deeper into her psychosis. Obsessed to unveil what is happening next door, Debbie puts a damper on Ginny’s lifestyle of murder and cannibalism. The two immediately find themselves on a collision course with one woman determined to unveil the truth and the other determined to maintain her secrets.

Principal photography wrapped late last summer with cinematographer Wolfgang Meyer behind the camera with special effects by Ingrid Okola and Marissa Masella. The film was shot primarily in the Buffalo area with the guidance of line producer Greg Lamberson and with the help of the Buffalo-Niagara Film Commission.

Alongside Lowry, Shepis, and Capobianco, the film features performances by Brian Fortune, Michael Thurber, Aurelio Voltaire, Babette Bombshell, and Suzi Lorraine. The addition of Harry Manfredini to the production caps off the final leg of postproduction of the film, which has been overseen by Zan Rosborough and Darryl LeBlanc of RPM Productions.

The film is set to be completed in February of 2014."

Progress of the film can be followed on their website , Twitter, and Facebook:

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The Whisperer in Darkness UK Release Details: "The Whisperer in Darkness is based on H.P Lovecraft’s science fiction/horror novella which was originally published in 1931. The film follows the weird journey of real life Folklore professor of the Miskatonic University Albert Wilmarth (Matt Foyer) as he delves into the legends of strange creatures that are said to inhabit the most remote mountains of Vermont. After farmer Henry Akeley (Barry Lynch) sends tales and photograph’s of otherworldly footprints and grotesque creatures found in surrounding rivers, Wilmarth arrives in Vermont to uncover terrifying truths behind these legends, which extend to visiting strangers from the outer space and the darkest pits of hell.

We are pleased to announce that Grimmfest festival favourite, H.P. Lovecraft’s The Whisperer in Darkness is finally available in the UK. The film will be available from the 13th December 2013, to stream or download for UK horror fans.

Completed in 2012, The Whisperer in Darkness was produced as a labour of love by the HP Lovecraft society in their continuing mission to faithfully adapt Lovecraft’s films in the style from the era they were born in, as seen in 2005’s silent expressionist picture The Call of Cthulu. The Whisperer in Darkness, directed by Sean Branney, is considered by many critics to be the most authentic movie adaptation of Lovecraft’s writing and is presented in sumptuous vintage style; the film utilizes the cinematic technique Mythoscope which creates the feel of vintage motion pictures through modern techniques to provide elegant black and white cinematography which makes The Whisperer in Darkness look and feel like a 1930’s classic universal horror movie akin to Frankenstein, Dracula and King Kong.

The Horror Show is the brand new digital streaming service exclusively for horror fans. As well as the short films offered as part of their 'Short Stack', they will be adding new horror features, from well-known favourites to lesser-known films. This is the first of series of Grimmfest festival favorites to be made available on the website, with more great movies coming soon under the Grimmfest banner."

To view this film, and many others on The Horror Show TV, go to: http://thehorrorshow.tv/productdisplay/whisperer-darkness

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Watch Monster Zombie Claymation: Trent Shy and his girlfriend Liz created a claymation short that is, "Inspired by the films I love, grindhouse cinema, and the VHS tapes I grew up watching. No plot and lots of blood and monsters.

[Monster Zombie] stars Stimpy (cat) and Goraline (rat). (No rats were harmed in the making of stimpy's dream/"Rat Splat".)"

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C U Next Tuesday Release Details: "C U Next Tuesday is a webcomic that follows The Bride, a.k.a. The Bride of Frankenstein’s Monster as she is a detective in the Monster Community in search of the monster who put a hit a her, the head of the Monster Mafia, Frankie a.k.a. Frankenstein’s Monster.

The first volume of C U Next Tuesday has been dubbed “Never Mess With A C U Next Tuesday!” Each story arc will be 1-6 weeks long and will feature various myths, legends and monsters such as Santa Claus, Robert “The Doll”, Goat-Man, and the Loch Ness Monster, just to name a few. However, while you have heard stories, read books, and seen movies involving all of these characters, you have never heard, read or seen a re-telling like this. The simplest way to explain this webcomic is, “Boardwalk Empire meets Grimm.”

BACKSTORY:
Years ago, Dr. Frankenstein was a scientist whose study was based around bringing re-animation back to dead bodies. After many failed attempts Dr. Frankenstein finally got it right when he created his monster. For his next experiment Dr. Frankenstein had created a bride for his monster. When the creation of the Bride of Frankenstein’s Monster was a success, Frankenstein’s Monster was instantly in love. Unfortunately for Frankenstein’s Monster, The Bride wanted nothing to do with him and she refused to marry him. Years went by as Dr. Frankenstein and Frankenstein’s Monster tried everything they could to make The Bride fall in love, convince, deceive, and torture her into marrying Frankenstein’s Monster. Their attempts did nothing but infuriate The Bride to the point of no return. One day, The Bride escaped by hiding within a barrel amongst other barrels who all held dead bodies that would be shipped to sea and dump in shark infested waters. When Dr. Frankenstein and Frankenstein’s Monster found out that The Bride had escaped they were both heartbroken.

Years later, The Bride has become a detective in the Monster Community, solving cases and fighting the worst myths, legends, and monsters the human world thinks are nothing but stories used for children. Dr. Frankenstein has passed away from age. Frankenstein’s Monster, however, is still very much alive. He now goes by the alias of “Frankie” and has become the most notorious gangster the Monster Community has ever seen, and is the head of the Monster Mafia.

Frankie’s love has never gone away for his once bride-to-be. In order to find her and bring her back to his castle, Frankie has put her at the top of his hit list, which means she is the Monster Community underworld’s most wanted.

CURRENT STORY:
The Bride has a job and her own cases to solve but it seems being hunted by every evil imaginable has very much been in her way. She has now come to the conclusion that the only way she will ever be free of Frankie and his obsession with her, is by finding him and killing him. Which is right where our story begins.

C U Next Tuesday, updates every Tuesday at 12p.m. The people responsible for this madness? Well, that would be writer Sal Brucculeri, artist Ibai Canales, Captive Comics, and their exclusively distributor Word of the Nerd."

To learn more, or to check out the episodes, go to: http://cunexttues.com

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Bleedingcritic Reviews Carrie (2013): "'CARRIE' (2013) review written & presented by bleedingcritic."