We return with another edition of the Indie Spotlight, highlighting the recent independent horror news sent our way. Today's feature includes release details for One Drop, a look at Evil Lurks in Innocence, a teaser trailer from The Church, a Q&A with Amanda Adrienne from the film Avenged, and much more:

Women in Horror Month and One Drop Release Details: "February is Women in Horror Month, and few women are working harder in the genre than Tricia Lee. The director of the award winning films Silent Retreat and Clean Break has been pounding the pavement to secure financing for her next film One Drop.

One Drop tells the story of Ellie, a drug addict who overdoses and wakes up in the basement of a medical facility. Everyone around her is dead, and she is suddenly nine months pregnant.

With a strong creative team including long time partner in crime, writer Corey Brown, co-producer Brigitte Kingsley (The Door, The Dark Rising franchise), and executive producer Michael Baker (Backcountry, Weirdsville), Tricia is thrilled to start shooting her next terrifying vision.

Women in Horror month shines a bright light on the hardworking, visionary filmmakers who are adding a new, female driven perspective to horror flicks. Tricia’s films have been praised for their strong female leads, and One Drop follows suit. She is excited to be working in a genre that is consistently breaking new ground, and can’t wait to get those blood pumps spraying again in 2015."

For more information, visit: http://www.filmmonkey.ca

---------

New Teaser Trailer for The Church: "When a developer dishonestly acquires the rights to purchase and demolish a 100 year old church, his  development team and members of the church board are met with supernatural disapproval and HELL breaks loose in the HOUSE of GOD!

YOU WILL NEVER LIVE THE SAME AGAIN!

The Church starring Bill Moseley, Clint Howard, Lisa Wilcox (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4&5), Ashley C. Williams (The Human Centipede), Keith Stallworth (Step Up 3D), and former WWE wrestler Vito Lograsso." 

---------

Details on Horror Anthology 'Scream Machine': "Just when you thought it was safe to relax and let out your breath, the evil genius of Scarlet Fry (Walter Ruether III) makes itself known once more in the shape of Scream Machine’s five bloody twisted tales: “Sledgehammer,” “Cannibal Pen Pals,” “April Fool’s Party,” “Septic Shock,” and “Deadly Indie Drive-In.” Each one featuring the three M’s of horror: madness, murder, and mayhem; guaranteed to make you faint, puke, and quite possibly soil your pants!

Scream Machine’s host segments, which introduce Scarlet Fry as Dr. Fry, take place after the Ebola plague wipes out Earth’s entire population. The two exceptions being Dr. Fry and his new assistant Dr. Graves, Dr.“Head”ley Graves (Paul C. Hemmes). Known for bringing to life such cult classics as: Horrorama, Death By VHS, Nightmare Alley, and Junk Food Horror Fest; Writer/Producer/Director Walter Ruether III teams up with filmmaker Paul C. Hemmes to make his latest and quite possibly greatest horror anthology to date. Featuring the acting talents of Lloyd Kaufman (The Toxic Avenger), Sandra E. Williams (Ted 2), and David C. Hayes (A Man Called Nereus).

PLEASE NOTE: Filmmakers are not responsible for spontaneous heart attack or combustion from fright!"

---------

A Look at 'Evil Lurks in Innocence': "Evil Lurks in Innocence tells the story of Jeremy, a video blogger who notices erratic changes in his sister Kelly's behavior. He begins documenting Kelly leading to the harsh reality that an Exorcism must be performed."

Evil Lurks in Innocence was "entered into the Horror Block/Rue Morgue Magazine Monstrous Movie Contest Short Film Fest, [and] is currently the number 1 voted entry in the contest." 

For more information on this film, visit: http://www.heartandfireproductions.com

---------

Proof of the Devil Released: "Truth is scarier than fiction and this truth will scare the hell out of you. Feature horror-thriller, Proof of the Devil, released 2.10.15, is now in stores!

Filmed by a documentary television crew, Proof of the Devil explores a mother’s journey to prove the innocence of her son. The story of serial killer Jesse Winters, aka “The Butcher”, rocked coastal Louisiana to its core. Does the slaughter of 23 innocent victims ring a bell? His mother, Kate Winters, claims her beloved son could never be capable of such monstrosity without the help of the Devil himself. But how far will she go to prove her son’s innocence? For the first time on film, Kate Winters sets out to prove her son’s claim of demonic possession. Kate hires a film crew to document her journey and bring proof to the world. What happens next will terrify audiences as Kate pushes to the edge of humanity by journeying to the depths of Hell.

Just in time for your very own Friday the 13th fright fest, Proof of The Devil is now in leading retailers like Walmart with a digital release scheduled 3.3.15."

To learn more about this film, or to view the trailer, visit: https://www.facebook.com/proofofthedevil/videos

---------

Eve Brenner: Zombie Agent Pre-Order and Release Details: "The second book in The Zombie Girl Saga fills in the two year gap that the first book leaves us with, and then brings us back up to speed, letting us know exactly what Eve and the rest of the world is up against.

In this second installment Eve turns herself over to CSIS for testing. She is positive that this is the safest place for someone with an unstable virus coursing through their veins. Eve dreams of a cure while adapting to her new life underground. She hates her new surroundings, but Agent Williams gives her purpose again by encouraging her work as a CSIS Agent. Working for the government seems like a sweet deal, but dark secrets are revealed and Eve is left with some difficult decisions to make.

As Eve begins to form new attachments with people, her growing otherness threatens to destroy her new world. Join Eve as she travels across the globe to stop the ever building threat of a zombie apocalypse. The virus is evolving, the stakes are higher, and Eve must act now before everyone she loves suffers along with her. What Eve soon realizes is...The real monsters are always human.

The sequel is out next week: February 17th."

To pre-order this novel head over to Amazon.

---------

Guest Blog: Joanna Finata Recalls Experience on Death Walks

"Death Walks is a psychological horror in which a shopping centre in East London is invaded by zombies and its late night workers have to fight to survive.

It is defined as a zombie movie but it has something unique, a twist which you wouldn’t expect coming!

There have been many zombie movies and shows out lately. Some quite apocalyptic with the entire world invaded by the dead and feature fast paced scenes, a lot of running around and action. Others more psychological, tense, claustrophobic and Death Walks falls into the latter category. The characters are trapped inside this centre and it feels like there is no escape.

It has been a challenge and a learning curve for everyone involved. I must be honest in saying that zombies have never been those who terrified me the most in horror. I’ve enjoyed watching movies such as 28 Days Later, From Dusk Till Dawn and Resident Evil but haven’t found them the scariest. I usually got more scared by ghosts, demons or evil clowns. Well, after filming Death Walks I kind of changed my mind! In the movie, I play the centre manager Alice, a quite stern and cynical character who is quite sceptical about what is actually happening and is the only one who seems to remain calm.

Being on set has been like an exciting rollercoaster journey. I have always loved horror movies and was involved in some scary projects before but never on this scale. The zombies look absolutely terrifying. And the fact that they don’t move too much but stand still instead makes them look even more sinister and enigmatic.

I don’t get to interact much with the zombies as other characters in the movie as many of my scenes are filmed in my office from where I watch what’s happening on CCTV but that looked scary. It looked so real. Both the extras and make up artists did a great job. White deadly eyes, scars, blood dripping.

However, in between takes, I got to watch some horrible stuff happening to my co stars and it absolutely terrified me. The zombies were so into it that sometimes I had the feeling things might get out of control but thankfully they didn’t!

Pretty much everything was filmed at nighttime as the availability of the centre was limited and we went through some difficult moments as we didn’t always have enough time to reshoot certain scenes and because after dawn it would get too bright. Everybody was really committed. I didn’t know anybody when I started filming but after a short while we almost became like a family.

It was also exciting to have the entire centre for us during the night. It is huge, I have never seen anything like that completely empty and we would mainly relax inside the empty cinema trying to stay awake sharing a laugh, some popcorns and sweets!

One mention and the biggest thank you goes to the extras who did an incredible job. While the main actors were able to relax in between takes or between a scene and another, they were required on set pretty much all the time, wearing uncomfortable prosthetics and fake blood for over 10 hours and they rarely complained. This showed how much dedication they had to the movie and everyone contributed to make it amazing.

The movie also stars Francesca Ciardi, who I had previously seen in controversial flick Cannibal Holocaust and I share a few scenes with her. It was great. She definitely brought something unique to the project. Right now it is still in post. I really look forward to seeing it when it comes out."

To find out more about Joanna and Death Walks, visit:

---------

Indie Spotlight Q&A with Amanda Adrienne from Avenged

Savaged, a horror film that worked most of the genre community into a frenzy last year, is now getting a proper, official theatrical release in the US – albeit under a new title, Avenged.

As she preps for the big cinema and VOD launch in the first week of March, actress Amanda Adrienne spoke to us about the pressure of headlining her first major feature.

Do you have to like horror movies to be in one?

Amanda: Truthfully, I wasn't the biggest horror fan before being in one. I was that girl going around saying Primal Fear is scarier than any horror film I've ever seen, and I'll still argue it's a scary film. But I've definitely come to appreciate the genre of horror. It's pretty special. And when you spend a month in the desert covered in blood, a part of you starts to love it. Because its become a part of you.

Having said all that, Avenged seems like less of a horror movie and more of a mix of genres. Would you agree?

Amanda: Definitely. I saw a love story. A love story between Zoe and Dane. Between life and death. This cruel dance just sewn up in love. Mangas' love for his lost people. And really that's what's at the core of the film for me. The drive to fight and win for your love. Of course, fight sequences make it action. Gore makes it horror. There are supernatural parts. It's definitely a mix, and Michael fuses them brilliantly.

If you had to compare it to another film, what would you say a close sister film of Avenged might be?

Amanda: The Crow.

What kind of preparation or training did you need to do for the film?

Amanda: We shot the trailer in 2010 and the actual film in 2012. So, I had a long time to prepare for the role. I took wushu classes for 9 months. I took archery lessons. I watched documentaries on the Apache people and Native Americans in general. I read books on Mangas Coloradas. I watched MTV's True Life: I'm Deaf. I just tried to get my hands on anything and everything that I thought could inform me of the character both as Zoe and as Mangas. I became kind of obsessed. Michael also worked with me on my body language going back and forth between Zoe and Mangas. We would be in Griffith Park just walking in the body of one character as it transformed to the other. Over and over again. I guess it's kind of hard to explain that. But Michael definitely had a vision. And the more I read and the more I journaled, the more I believed this story had to be told. I really did become kind of consumed by it in a way.

Did your diet change while you were working on such a physically-demanding movie?

Amanda: No, actually. I probably should have, but that never occurred to me. Although when I was wushu training, I ate more just because I was burning so many calories. Like I was always starving. I've never participated in such an intense sport. And when I say intense, I mean both mentally and physically. I remember sitting in my car after a wushu class and just bursting into spontaneous tears. It was the weirdest thing. But it was like my body was doing things my mind never thought it was capable of, and there needed to be an emotional release. You kind of feel unstoppable when that mental break happens. And not that I got insanely good at wushu. I only got to a green belt level. But for me, it was huge and a completely new experience.

Being your first feature, did you feel more pressure than usual?

Amanda: Yes and no. I didn't want to disservice the story or the character in any way. And I had a fear of that for sure. But at the same time, I got caught up in the passion and adrenaline of story telling. And pressure really vanishes in that space for me.

And, honestly, how cool a feeling is it seeing yourself on posters?

Amanda: Not gonna lie. It's pretty fucking cool. Especially when I spent so much of my childhood and teen years isolating and feeling invisible. It's pretty surreal actually.

  • Tamika Jones
    About the Author - Tamika Jones

    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).