It is likely to be classy and visually eccentric, in typical Del Toro fashion.

Less classy, vastly cheaper and much more clichéd (no doubt) will be the Asylum’s inevitable exploitation version of the unreleased blockbuster, named with unsubtle cunning Pacific Rim.

Produced by Asylum alumni David Michael Latt (who will likely direct), David Rimawi, and the Asylum’s canny overseer Paul Bales, Atlantic Rim sounds not dissimilar to Legendary’s effort, though I’m sure the onscreen similarities will be superficial:

When giant monsters crawl out of the Atlantic Ocean and attack the Eastern Seaboard, the US Government is forced to trust A.I. robots to defend the country.

It starts shooting in December.

I haven’t been paying attention to what the Asylum is up to lately, but I notice that they’ve got American Warships (US-2012; dir. Thunder Levin) [Battleship], which looks at least credible in the trailer, though it will undoubtedly suffer at full length:

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Also Abraham Lincoln vs Zombies (US-2012; dir. Richard Schenkman) [Abraham Lincoln, Vampite Hunter], which is more feasible as zombies movies can be made much more cheaply than SFX spectaculars:

and the older Almighty Thor (US-2011; dir. Christopher Ray):

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

No Avengers?

Source: via Avery Guerra

Secret government/military experimentation, whether based on genetic manipulation and chimaera creation or research into the use of alien creatures or cryptids for military purposes is a major theme in modern cinema and TV, post X-Files.

A new film, currently two weeks into its three-and-a-half week shoot in suitably traditional London, England (and later Wales), fits right into this category. The main creature has a touch of the werewolf about it, though the director, Keith R. Robinson, says it isn’t a werewolf, merely “werewolf-like”. At any rate, something has become the subject of a convert government operation and it’s not happy about it.

The film has the rather innocuous title Pounce, but the imagery is telling.

Something watched Marty and Laura’s small tent as it sat on the mountainside flapping in the wind, something that waited completely still in the shadows…

Pounce is a thriller/horror film about a group of conspiracy theorists bent on secretly watching a covert military base in the desolate Welsh mountains, looking for experimental and highly classified test aircraft to report to a Fortean-style magazine. In the midst of their vigil, they uncover evidence of a Top Secret and highly lethal creature (kept secret since its capture in the 1920s), which the military and Government are testing for its potential as a weapon: its fur has the ability to turn invisible in moonlight. The film follows the young group’s plight as they are hunted both by the creature (which the Army has nicknamed “The Silverhide”) and the military who will stop at nothing to keep their classified specimen a secret…

Below is the first teaser trailer, made before filming began as a demo:

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

The Facebook page of Pounce has an interesting way of displaying images from the film, accompanying them by descriptive text:

She’d been sitting alone and in the dark with a loaded gun and now a team of equally scared companions. What more could go wrong on this cold and dark evening? As she sat there pondering this thought, the radio beside her suddenly buzzed into life and a familiar voice of her friend Laura burst through the static.

“Sinead? Sinead, can you hear me?” Sinead knew that Marty had gotten back to the tent and had by now told Laura about the gun and about the people following her. It was time to come clean to her friend who sitting isolated on the side of a dark and barren mountainside was not going to be very impressed with this new and dark twist to this evening’s proceedings. Sinead sighed and picked the radio up.

A cold wind blew through the bunker, chilling Sinead’s already cold body some more as she started to speak…

Laura had checked outside in the crescent moonlight and seen nothing but the two slaughtered sheep; the mountainside was empty and silent in the misty dark, except for the mysterious heavy footsteps she kept hearing over the wind. She could see nothing that made these sounds as she scanned the moors from the open flap of the tent, then a deep growl suddenly shattered the silence right behind her… Laura looked around petrified! How could she not see it..?

Marty heard Laura’s screams echo across the dark mountainside…

Go to the Facebook page for more of these “extended captions”, and while you’re there register your approval.

Then check out the latest teaser, made while filming is in progress:

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Pounce is the first feature film produced by Other Dimension Films Ltd, a production company formed in 2011 by Keith R. Robinson for the purpose of producing low budget features, as well as commercial product. The film was written and is being produced/directed by Robinson and stars Kelly Wines, Lucy Clarvis and Sean Hayes, with Jordan Murphy and John Hoye. The cinematography on Pounce will be the responsibility of Toby Wilson and the film is currently being shot in S.E. London/Essex in England, followed by some location work in the “rugged mountains of Wales”.

Above: Director Keith R. Robinson at work lining up a shot

The Silverhide

On the creation of the monster, Robinson had this to say:

Two separate artists are producing the Special make-up effects. Nicholas Thompson is creating all the splatter effects whilst Dave Fox (of Fox Zumba Dark Art FXs) is creating the animatronic creature, a creature we have deliberately been keeping shrouded in mystery and hidden from public view — with a strict NO PHOTOGRAPH policy imposed on the cast and crew of Pounce.

In fact, not even the cast have been shown the creature. As Robinson explains: “The decision to keep the creature hidden from the cast was to heighten their fear and anticipation as they filmed their scenes, preceding their encounters with it.” Method acting at its horror-film best!

So we have not clear pictures of the beastie, but here is a conceptual drawing to whet your appetites:

Looks like man-into-creature pseudo lycanthropy is going on here, though I suspect what we’re looking at is a facial guide for applying the make-up. Still, that’s a form of man-into-monster…

The Backbrain is definitely scratching to see more of this film.

• Source: Keith R. Robinson via Avery Guerra; Facebook page. Robinson will be posting more info via his Twitter account.

Addendum: A few more images from the film….

Schiavo runs a company called Strangewerks Films that specialises in producing independent horror films. The company’s been around for about three years. Previously, Schiavo was writing scripts on spec, mostly horror, mostly strange, “the kind of stuff you might watch with your buddies”, he says, “assuming they’re a bunch of wasted zombie Shriners who were a bit on the kinky side.” He likes to think of his work as “one part David Lynch to two parts Cronenberg, with a liberal dash of del Toro — add a twist of lime and shake violently”. So obviously he wasn’t getting produced in Hollywood and often felt his rejected scripts were being ripped off by even prominent creators. Becoming a tad disenchanted with the whole process, he decided to go out and make the kind of films he wanted to see for himself. Strangewerks’ first film, The Shriven (featuring Nina, a beautiful woman who can transform into a demonic killing machine and must survive by feeding on human flesh), came out about a year ago on the Shriek Show label.

‘The Shriven’ Trailer

Undead Backbrain’s news hellhound, Avery Guerra, tracked Schiavo down to get the inside story on Schiavo’s next effort — the messy way if necessary.

Avery Guerra: So what did you want to do after The Shriven?

Brian Schiavo: For our follow-up film, I wanted to “up the ante” in terms of effects, gore, nude people running around and screaming, that sort of thing — but I wanted to stay away from the sort of horror films everyone is tired of: “Guy runs around in a hockey mask/welding mask/William Shatner mask and severs peoples’ arteries for no good reason.” Horror fans are starved for original material — I know I am.

As to the exact origin of the film, entitled Lifeform, the idea came out of my fascination with genetic manipulation — it really is the evil genie waiting to leap out of its bottle and bite us on the ass. The real life horrors scientists are probably creating out of our DNA even as we speak will make anything Giger can come up with pale by comparison — and that scares the hell out of me. Then I read about a tiny species of jellyfish that is basically immortal — Turritopsis Nutricula. It can reverse its own aging process and return to a youthful polyp stage when living conditions become difficult, in order to survive — its cells are in flux. I thought: what if a person had this ability? Imagine where that could take us. With that as the basis, I came up with the concept of Lifeform — basically it’s about a scientist that creates transgenic human/animal stem cells that can become anything, in order to save his dying wife. He isolates the gene for transdifferentiation from jellyfish DNA, places it into a human stem cell and injects it into her. Of course she’s saved, but … she becomes a creature that can alter her shape to protect herself. She can grow spikes, tentacles, gills, claws, whatever the situation calls for. At the same time, her intellect becomes subsumed by the animal instinct to survive — and just a few errant cells from her body could doom the Human genome forever. The scary thing is that this will happen one day. They’ll wrest the genetic secrets from this creature and stick them in our bodies — so watch the film and catch a glimpse of our hideous future!

AG: What was your artistic inspiration for Lifeform?

BS: As far as inspirations go, I suppose the usual culprits: Altered States, Cronenberg’s The Fly, From Beyond, Eraserhead, Clive Barker’s Hellraiser and Nightbreed. Films that deal with the issues of transformation and bodily horror, which are essentially asking questions about identity. I love Japanese horror, too, especially the manga work by Junji Ito and his ability to distort the human figure. Another influence is the work Stephen Bissette and Rick Veitch did with Alan Moore on Swamp Thing — the greatest run on a comic ever, if you ask me.

AG: Where was the movie filmed?

BS: The movie was shot in New York City as well as on Long Island, NY, with additional location work in New Jersey. We utilized a plethora of locations in the greater metro area: from street scenes, office settings, to warehouses and operating rooms and even brownstone apartments. There’s a wide diversity of looks, which I think provides an interesting aesthetic for the film.

AG: What type of budget are you working with?

BS: In the low six figures. We raised the money from a variety of sources — investors, deferred payments, donations — both in time, materials, equipment, services and a number of our locations. Making a movie is like being a ringmaster in a crazy three-ring circus and you have to be crazier than the clowns and hungrier than the tigers in order to survive it. (Wow, I just made that up!)

AG: It’s bound to be much quoted.

AG: How did you go about casting the film?

BS: We solicited actors over the internet, through one of the commercial casting sites, and then had several days worth of auditions at the School of Visual Arts in NYC. I was fortunate to have access to some of the most talented actors in the NYC area — including Virginia Logan (our female lead), Peter Alexandrou (our male lead) and Kate Britton. The other talented folks include Ken Driesslein, Joe Amato, Ree Merrill, Adam Cerny and Chad.

AG: Beyond the basic plot, what is the film about?

BS: It’s about a research scientist whose wife suffers a brain embolism. In order to save her, he has to create stem cells that will heal her brain. Her resurrection and ultimate transformation set the stage for new horrors in their lives.

AG: What types of FX were incorporated to bring the creature to life?

BS: I’m blessed with a wife, Christine, who is both a talented makeup and computer artist. I’m also an artist, primarily a sculptor. We were able to create the huge number of prosthetics the film required ourselves, with the help of an accomplished mold-maker and makeup artist named Anthony Jones. We had silicone stunt tentacles, a full creature suit, twisted neck appliances, face pieces, various diverse wounds, mutated tentacle hands and face pieces, several types of monster tongues and appendages and even scalpings we did. We also had old school monster legs we could puppeteer — you name it. We were sculpting, casting, molding and pouring for months before the shoot. We were covered in silicone for several months, which ain’t as much fun as it sounds, unfortunately. I could’ve used some diversion to break things up!

We also used computer effects to accentuate the on-set ones, using a tremendous amount of AfterEffects tricks to highlight Virginia’s bodily transformations and the agony she’s going through. We also did a lot of green screen work with tentacles, creature heads, that sort of thing. In addition, we’re using Blender to create some computer-generated creature transformations. We basically applied every discipline there is to bring this creature to life.

AG: What would you like viewers to take from the film?

BS: Well, aside from the usual titillation, I think it’s a film about the necessity of becoming what you’re really meant to be, whether its a mutated creature from hell or your own distinct individual.

AG: When and where might fans be able to see it?

BS: The film is currently in post production and should be wrapped by mid-2012. After that, we’ll do some horror festivals and roll it out here and internationally in early 2013.

AG: So, what next for you?

BS: Another film of course — the fever never relents! I’m haunted by night terrors I feel compelled to foist upon everybody else. The goal is to ramp up production and shoot two more films in the next year. One of my aims is to create the next horror screen icon — right up there with Frankenstein, The Creature and Pinhead.

Good luck with that one, Brian! Keep us informed!

Source: Brian Schiavo via Avery Guerra. Addition text by Robert Hood.

His 1971 camp horror classic The Corpse Grinders tells the gruesome tale of pet food made from human corpses and the domestic pussies who by eating it develop a taste for human flesh. Number two in the franchise, to similar effect, hit the video shelves in 2000.

“Now The Corpse Grinders 3 is under way in Spain,” Mikels told the Backbrain. “A new spin on one of my older success stories. I am the executive producer of Corpse Grinders 3, with approval over the shoots and edits. I’m sure it will be as successful as my original and Corpse Grinders 2.”

Directed by Manolito Motosierra and written by Motosierra and Marc Gras, it will be filmed in English and released worldwide, full of cats, fresh corpses and a touch of the monstrous.

Gras, who is also producing along with Mikels, José M. Rodriguez, Sr. Guijarro, Kiko Underground and José Vicente Tomás for Tyrannosaurus Entertainment in association with TVM Global Entertainment, told us: “The film is the official third part of the Ted V. Mikels’ franchise and will be filmed in Spain over three weeks. We hope to have the movie finished and edited by September.”

Just like its predecessors it will be “a low budget camp horror-comedy” sporting a plot that is basically a re-interpretation of the original movie but “with a ‘monster’ touch”.

Synopsis:

An American entrepeneur comes to Spain to build a new Lotus Cat Food factory and establishes the company in a small Spanish town. The new Lotus doesn’t do too well until they accidentally add a special ingredient to the food — human flesh, ground up into a mash. Soon the cats that eat Lotus not only attack people, but also transform into hideous mutated cat-monsters.

As a Backbrain exclusive, Gras has sent some conceptual artwork — an early incarnation of the monster cats:

Cats are notoriously difficult to herd and films that feature them en masse — even the evil cat episode of The X-Files, “Teso dos Bichos” — resort to a lot of tossing of the indignant feline stars at hapless actors and close-ups of pussies that look like they’re more interested in the off-camera tuna supreme than in biting off the heads of their human victims. These days, CGI would allow for considerable advancement in the conviction department, even for low budget productions — so it will be interesting to see if this new one will come up to scratch — assuming, of course, that the monster cats will be digitally rendered. Who knows, maybe they’ll be cats in rubber cat-monster suits!

Source: Courtesy of Ted V. Mikels, Marc Grass and Manolito Motosierra via Avery Guerra. Written by Robert Hood.  Official website; Facebook page.

Bonus 1: A Lotus Cat Food factsheet (click to make bigger)

Bonus 2: In case you aren’t familiar with Mikels’ earlier work, here’s a classically 1970s trailer to The Corpse Grinders that will give you some idea as to what we’re in for:

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Steve Latshaw has been around. Most lately he’s been around an enthusiastic cast comprising the likes of James Best, John Schneider, Jennifer Lyons, Rick Hurst, Sean Flynn and special guest Bruce Davison — along with assorted other beauties — to resurrect one of “the worst films of all time”, the 1959 The Killer Shrews, under the straight-up title, Return of the Killer Shrews. (For details see see this update on Undead Brainspasm, as well as these Backbrain articles: First Details; Update 1; Casting Details; yUpdate 2, and the trailer release.)

To quote from his bio:

Prolific is the word that best describes filmmaker Steve Latshaw. With his name on over 40 feature films to date as writer, producer or director (or a combination of all three) he’s found himself in constant demand. As a writer alone, he can claim to be one of the most produced writers in Hollywood, credited with scribing some 25 independent feature films, in a variety of genres, 15 of them in one hectic three year period.

[For Steve's full bio, see below.]

Recently Avery Guerra, Undead Backbrain’s part-time newshound (who works full-time for no money at all, which is double what I get), caught up with Latshaw and put him through the third degree. It’s interesting stuff, so grab a cup of tea or a stiff drink, settle back and read on!

What have been some of the highs and lows of your career?

SL: Working in radio was a high. I still miss it. Being the youngest (16) professional 16mm news photographer for WAND-TV, ABC-Decatur, in 1976, was cool. It was like Almost Famous meets Anchorman. Running TCI Cablevision Channel 33 was the best job in the World … we did every kind of TV show you could imagine, mostly comedies, plus Classic Movies, a horror night Creature Feature. Working with long-time partner (and Shrews collaborator) Pat Moran, along with Keith Tuxhorn, Brad Moore, Steve Wooldrige Cathy Moran, Kevin Cox and the inimitable Janet Hamilton, we did Generic Video Theater (a Pythonesque 1/2 hour TV series), Bad Home Movie Theater (we pre-dated MST3K but used amateur movies instead of real ones), Creature Features From the Lost Planet (PD horror stuff hosted by me and Keith), and Rude Awakening, a morning talk show which, thanks to one-time guest/later SNL writer Bob Odekirk, became the template for Wayne’s World (I kid you not — I can show you video tape evidence). We also did two feature-length movies … a James Bond spoof called Fishfinger and a Republic Pictures Rocketman send-up called Adventures of Captain Astro. One day I hope to return Channel 33 to the airwaves with a website featuring film clips, video downloads, etc. We still have most of the shows in the vault. My favorite film we did for Fred Olen Ray was Biohazard 2 aka Biohazard The Alien Force, because we did it in the style of a 1960s Italian spy movie except that we had a monster. We broke all the rules for a low budget film … multiple locations, large cast unit, helicopters, ‘copter crashes, aerial footage, car chases and scary monster stuff on the Universal Studios Florida NY Street backlot. We had an original Hawaii 5-0 style zoom across the ocean to the beach shot for our main titles (shot from our chopper) … and also aerial footage of a lab explosion which ended up in two of Fred Ray’s other movies, including Hybrid. We also stole an explosion from Universal … their Miami Vice Stunt Show blew something up every couple of hours … we placed two actors in front of it so we could get that long lens shot of actors reeling back from an explosion. We got a still of it on the original VHS video box … you can see the Universal hand-railing below the actors’ thighs. In general, I think every one of those movies for Fred was a thrill, every time we got a new contract. But my favorite notes from Fred came on Biohazard 2 after he viewed my first cut. They said, simply, “Good job. Lock it.”

Biggest career disappointment?

SL: Stan Lee’s Lightspeed. This was supposed to be a backdoor pilot for a series of SciFi Channel movies. I spent a very tough year on the project … trying to incorporate my producer’s notes, the SciFi Channel’s notes and, most importantly, Stan Lee’s notes into a viable script. All three sets of notes were frequently very inconsistent. And then, after a year’s worth of work, the project was turned over to a new writer. I didn’t recognize the final product on screen, other than the design of Python, the villain. The last script Stan and I worked on was spectacular, with a surprise betrayal from the female lead (Nicole Eggert), a Bond-style villain’s lair island complete with volcano and a mano-a-mano final confrontation between Python and Lightspeed as the volcano is erupting and a squadron of Navy bombers are prepping to blow the hell out of the island. Python and Lightspeed both go off a cliff into the ocean far below. I had noted in the script that Lightspeed’s costume was retro Army Air Corps, circa 1942, made up of leather aviation gear he’d found at an Army Surplus store. By the time the film aired, the Python Volcano island had become a two-story mini mansion in Salt Lake City, Lightspeed’s costume was a very metrosexual bicycle suit and Nicole Eggert’s part had been reduced to the girl screaming for rescue … absolute crap! Made no sense. I only recognized one scene in the script … Stan had the brilliant idea to allow Lightspeed to discover his ability to move at the speed of light when he catches a mosquito. A few years later I ran into Stan at Papoo’s restaurant in Toluca Lake. I mentioned Lightspeed and he shook his head sadly, put his arm on my shoulder and said, “Wasn’t your fault, Steve.”

Biggest career thrill?

SL: Making Return of the Killer Shrews with James Best after all these years. The shoot was a complete joy, even though we only had ten days … the most fun I’ve ever had on a set, the happiest crew … everybody was in that “let’s make a movie we love” groove … just like the days back in Florida when we are too young and happy to know any better. And I’ve taken intense pleasure in the post-production process, too. It was nice to be back in the director’s chair after all these years … to know I hadn’t forgotten anything and had learned quite a bit from working as a writer for so long.

Above: Script or prayer meeting? James Best is on the left.

How did you come to know James Best? What was he like to work with on set? Would you like to work with him again?

SL: Working as an entertainment reporter for WESH-TV, Orlando, Florida, in 1989, I did a news story on Jimmie. I’d been a fan of him from Shenandoah, though was not, at the time, a Dukes fan. This is the second feature film and about the sixth production (including documentaries, shorts, etc.) that I’ve done with Jimmie, so we’re old pals. We work together well. He loves independent, grass-roots filmmaking and can get it done fast and cheap as any of us — but he brings an old-school, studio-trained sensibility to the process, so he knows many “cheats” that help make actors look good, films look more expensive, etc. On set he’s always prepared, always ready to give you multiple interpretations, depending on what you need, and always ready to improvise. When he does comedy, non-working cast and crew either bite their hands or walk away to keep from laughing … and when he works serious the whole room is crying. This is a guy that held his own or topped Paul Newman, James Stewart, Lee Marvin, Jerry Lewis, Burt Reynolds, Randolph Scott, and many other great actors … was Norman Lloyd’s favourite actor on Alfred Hitchcock Presents (“The Jar”) … blew away directors like Arthur Penn, Budd Boetticher and Andrew McLaglin … I’ve learned so much from him. I intend to work with him again… we already have a script he’s written that we’re adapting, about the adventures of a couple of old men back in the 1930s.

How did you become attached to Return of the Killer Shrews?

SL: I first suggested to Jimmie that we do a sequel in 1990. For five years he told me I was nuts. And then we traded script ideas for another ten. About five years ago Pat Moran got on board and two years ago it really started rolling.

Above: Pat Moran, Holly Webber and a pile of cash

Why revisit The Killer Shrews now?

SL: I didn’t pick now. It’s been a dream for a lot of years and it’s taken time to get it off the ground. These things don’t happen overnight. The time and place were right and we jumped.

So why make a sequel to a film that is infamously referred to as one of the worst ‘bad’ films of all time?

SL: I like the idea of older guys coming back and kicking ass one more time. One of my favorite movies is The Wild Geese, with Roger Moore, Richard Burton and Richard Harris, about aging mercenaries. I wanted to do Shrews if Jimmie would play Thorne Sherman again. I didn’t want to do it if he didn’t. As for the rep… it’s not a bad film. Like a lot of excellent albeit low budget 50s and 60s flicks, it got a bad rep when the Medved Brothers put out their entertaining but incredibly inaccurate Golden Turkey Awards books. Those guys shoveled more shit and more misinformation about these movies to the general public. Shrews is a tight, eerie, creepy little thriller … first of the horror films where you have a small group of people trapped in a single locale against raging monsters. Watch it and then watch Night of the Living Dead … Romero had to have seen the original.

Why a sequel instead of the more obvious, more predictable route of doing a 3D remake? 

SL: I wanted a sequel, with Jimmie returning as Thorne. That’s what appealed to me. Something you could double bill with the original, which we are planning on doing. As for 3D, really not cost effective at our budget range. 3D is only good if you are guaranteed a theatrical release, which we are not. If HDTV works out the 3D bugs we’ll do a conversion down the road. Right now, the plan was to do the best 2D version we could do. We used the RED Camera system, which was great. We had access to 3D but the process of shooting is lengthy … it would have limited our movement and added four or five days to the shooting schedule, which we could not afford.

Above: James Best, as Thorne, sketching a friend

Why do you think it is that the original has become such a beloved cult classic when so many other films, some arguably better made, have become so forgotten?

SL: Because it’s a really good, scary movie. It moves fast and it delivers. It’s like a quick jazz piece. The plot is simple: people on island, stalked and eaten by the shrews. Have to get away. Same plot as our movie. Everything else in the film is just characters boozing and yelling and riffing off of each other. No bullshit, no long-winded explanations, just fun. Again, same as our movie. We played with it a little bit … added some comedy for a sort of Shaun of the Dead feel. Plus MST3K rediscovered the movie in the 90s and made it a huge TV hit… and by then, James Best had his Dukes of Hazard fame to go along with it. So Killer Shrews is as much a 1990s phenomenon as it is a 1960s drive-in hit.

Why is it that the original is so notoriously known for being such a bad film?

SL: Harry and Michael Medved wrote The Fifty Worst Movies of All Time  in 1978 and The Golden Turkey Awards in 1980. That’s what did it. The good thing is, they made all these movies famous again — gave Ed Wood’s stock company, Vampira, Paul Marco, Conrad Brooks, all those folks, new careers. Would have made Ed a star, too, had he lived. Trouble was, the books were all filled with bad information and mistakes. Fun reads/lousy research. And they nailed a lot of films as bad when in fact, like Killer Shrews, they weren’t so much bad as they were low budget. Weird. And creepy.

You mentioned that this new follow-up was in development for several years. When did things really start to get off of the ground for it and why do you think it took so long?

SL: I would say we made a brief, aborted push in 2005. Got nowhere. Went back to drawing board. Pat Moran got involved. Pat is a genius at story construction. As it was, the story was all over the place. With Pat on board we started moving back to the simplicity of the original film — riffing on top of that. Summer of 2010 things started moving very rapidly. We got a commitment from John Schneider, who is still a huge TV name… a name like his really opens the tired, jaded eyes and pocketbooks of distributors. We finished a script. Fred Olen Ray and Kim Ray at American Independent Productions helped us with some initial budgeting, then hooked us up with Line Producer Dan Golden, who was a godsend. Dan got us to our first budget and we began shopping the project, with an eye toward shooting in North Carolina. Roger Corman loved the script and was immediately interested, but at a budget much lower than we anticipated. We shopped it around, trying to gauge foreign potential. One distributor even offered to back the whole project provided we re-cast the entire film with actors under 25, and preferably at least some of the folks from the Disney High School Musical films. Not our movie, naturally, so we passed. In January, we went back to Corman, who decided to pass. I think he did Piranhaconda instead. Shortly thereafter, Sean Hart, who runs Silo, Inc, our effects company, came up with an idea for indie financing and we were off, with the budget slightly altered to fit California. Sean and his partner Devyn Reggio, became our executive producers, along with Rustin Brewer of Advent Clothing.

Above: John Schneider, acting out

The film has an incredible cast and looks to be full of some colorful characters. How did you go about casting the different roles in the film?

SL: Some of the parts we pre-cast. We read a lot of people, took a lot of meetings, held cattle call auditions.

What sort of initial reactions did you receive after approaching the actors to take part in a sequel being made over 50 years later to such a infamous film?

SL: We had a tough time casting the main heavy. We wanted a veteran name actor who could hold his own with James Best. I took a lot of meetings with a lot of very famous actors… some who would surprise you. Made some friends along the way — people who certainly surprised me. But we didn’t end up casting the part until the night before we began shooting. Bruce Davison read it, loved it, and pressed his manager to finalize the deal. He told me, “…everyone else does the set-ups… I walk in and deliver the punch line.”

Above: Bruce Davison, looking… unstable

Is the film completed yet or at what stage is it?

SL: The film is locked, completed. Scored, F/X, everything. Ready to foist on slobbering, shrew-obsessive audiences.

What are your current plans for the film?

SL: We are currently working on the distribution side of things. Apart from the usual television and video and video-on-demand sales, I’d also like to do some festivals, and some limited theatrical. It’s a fast-paced, delightful film with cross-over appeal to many different fan bases. We have the horror/sci-fi fans, and the MST3K fans of the original film. We have the Dukes of Hazzard fan base, with John, Jimmie and Rick Hurst in the film (and a couple of nods to the Dukes in our movie that were done for the fans). John’s got his own fan base for all the great recent stuff he’s been doing, and Bruce Davison, apart from being one of the film business’s great character actors (one producer recently called him a “national treasure”), has that Willard thing going. Willard was a big hit on video in the ’80s and ’90s … and Bruce included some nods to that classic in his own performance. Plus the music. Apart from a great orchestral score by genre vet Jeff Walton, which touches on everything from John Barry to Jerry Goldsmith to Bernsteins’ score for the Sons of Katie Elder , we have the Kings of Surf Music. 2012 is the 50th Anniversary of The Beach Boys. We’re able to take advantage of that … Beach Boys and Jan & Dean vet Gary Griffin wrote and produced some great original songs for us. He did the music for the 2000 ABC TV mini series The Beach Boys: An American Family, and has toured with The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson and Jan & Dean, as well as serving as John Stamos’ musical director on Full House. Gary assembled a team of vocalists and musicians including Beach Boy vets Matt Jardine and Phil Bardowell, Brian Wilson multi-instrumentalist Probyn Gregory, original Beach Boy David Marks and Dean Torrence of the legendary Jan & Dean. In fact, Dean, along with his talented daughters Katie and Jillian, recorded our ’60s retro theme song, the Gary Griffin/Dave Beard original “Shrewd Awakening”, which mixes the delightfully sick Jan & Dean humor (ever hear Deadman’s Curve — it’s Jan & Dean’s Fargo – a comedy song about a fatal car wreck) with a 1960s Matt Helm/Hugo Montengro beat and the sweetest vocals this side of the Supremes. And rounding out the whole thing, Bruce Davison actually portrayed Dean Torrence in the 1978 TV movie about Jan & Dean, called Deadman’s Curve. We reunited Bruce and Dean in the recording studio — a video snippet of which appears in our closing credits.

Above: Steve Latshaw (on right) with Dean Torrence and daughters Katie and Jillian

What would you like viewers to take from your film? Do you think fans of the original will be able to appreciate it too?

SL: I hope viewers have fun with it. We took a genre-blend approach to the film, mixing both comedy and horror and character development. Shaun of the Dead paved the way for that kind of blend. We hope audiences enjoy ours in a similar vein. As for fans of the original, I am the world’s biggest fan of the original and I wanted to make a sequel I’d like to see, rather than a heartless, faceless remake with no connection to the original other than the title.

Other than the legendary James Best reprising his classic role of Capt. Thorne Sherman from the original I notice actor John Anthony Williams is playing a Harold Rook Sr., which is obviously in some way related to the late great Judge Henry Dupree’s character ‘Rook’ Griswald.

SL: Yes. Without giving anything away, our film re-stages the original Rook’s death scene from 1959, using our modern monsters. It’s all John Anthony Williams on screen — we had him running all morning. He was such a serious, focused actor that he’d studied Judge Henry Dupree’s actual running style before we shot. On the first take with John, after I called cut, I said, “Amazing, you’ve got Judge’s run down.” He nodded. He’d studied. I was very impressed.

Are there other such homages to the original cult classic for fans to look forward to in this new film? What sort of things were kept the same and what were changed? How does this film vary from the original?

SL: There are lots of homages to the original: a couple of flashback scenes, Jimmie wears a variation of Thorne’s original wardrobe, the sort of the thing a charter boat Captain might wear over 50 years, always sticking to the same style. The outside of the compound is almost identical to the one in the original film, right down to the barrels. Fans will be shocked at how close we got — although it’s supposed to be the same place, 50 years later. The interior of the living room is a perfect match to the original, right down to the flimsy bar and the mirror on the wall. Our Designer, Billy Jett, was a genius. He matched the original perfectly. Billy also built a great lab set in Bronson canyon. He asked me about a look; I said “Man From U.N.C.L.E. — 1965 / 2nd season.” He got it. The black-and-white original was shot on six cold and cloudy days in Texas. We worked in the sunlight in Hollywood, in June. And we were using the gorgeous RED system. And the market will not support a B&W movie of this nature. So I said, instead of the grungy, gritty dark feel of the original, let’s make it look pretty and garish, rich primary colors, like if A.I.P. had decided to shoot this sequel in 1963, in Pathecolor and Panavision. And to enhance that theatrical scope look, we shot a lot of it long lens. Makes the movie look big and theatrical.

Where will the film have its premiere? Does the film have distribution yet?

SL: We’re working on the premiere … and distribution. Hopefully by summer it will be out in some fashion. Depends on the needs and windows of the buyers.

Now that you’ve done a sequel to The Killer Shrews, would you ever consider revisiting any other classic films?

SL: Shrews was a special occasion … the right movie and the right cast. In fact, however, we’re talking about Revenge of the Killer Shrews, which we will do if this one is a hit. I have an idea for the sequel that would allow us to work with much of the same cast — which I would love to do. Our cast was great. But to be honest, everyone has movies they’d like to remake or revisit. I’m more interest in stories as yet untold, books I’ve read that I’d like to make into movies, stories about real people that haven’t been heard.

Any other good/bad stories from filming that you’d like to share?

SL: Lots of great moments: running Vegas comedy routines from Jimmie Best and David Browning on the set, Jimmie’s serious déjà vu moment when we got to Bronson Canyon and he remembered all the westerns he shot there; James Arness of Gunsmoke died the day before Jimmie’s first day on set at Bronson — it was an emotional day for him. Discussing philosophy with Sean Flynn — and making him a present of a first edition of his grandfather Errol Flynn’s autobiography My Wicked, Wicked Ways, along with two of Errol’s novels. Bruce Davison singing “Surf City”, “Barbara Ann”, “Linda” and other Jan & Dean songs on the set and at the reunion recording session with Dean Torrence… a happy, happy crew and cast. All great memories, no bad ones. Working side by side with Dorothy Best, which we hadn’t done since Death Mask. Last-minute rewrites with Pat Moran — as the cast got better and better with their parts we rewrote, elevating the script. One of the great days with the cast and crew was the second to last day. Michael and Janeen Damian (Jimmie’s TV star/Broadway star and top movie director son-in-law and his daughter) and the rest of Jimmie’s family came out to the set. Seeing them all as we were finishing this movie that had been a dream for 20 years gave a powerful sense of accomplishment. The last shot of the entire shoot was an insert of a flute going into a rushing river — and then it was over. Cast and crew were crying as we wrapped. No one wanted to leave.

Above: Jennifer Lyons

Above: Jeneta St. Clair and Jason Shane Scott

What’s next for you? Any prospective film projects you care to share with us?

SL: I have various projects in development, as does everyone. You have to juggle lots of balls. I have a project with Jimmie Best in the front burner … and a sci-fi project on a larger scale. We are negotiating a Hollywood biopic right now with a major indie company … and I have a script out on the streets, based on a true story about superstar entertainer Al Jolson’s trip to entertain the troops in Korea, in 1950. A dangerous trip — ultimately tragic. It’s sort of a cross between My Favorite Year and M.A.S.H. And finally, Pat Moran and I are looking for something again like Shrews … something retro-hip, psychotronic, again combining horror with comedy and the whole Tiki/drive-in thing.

In closing, is there anything you’d like to add to address the fans?

SL: I can’t wait for the fans to see it. This is a movie made for fans, the ones like me who grew up watching this stuff on late night TV and reading about them in Famous Monsters of Filmland … the ones who loved Killer Shrews on MST3K and these new download kids just discovering the movie for the first time. And also for the original theatrical fans who predated me — the Mark McGees and Bill Warrens of this world who first caught The Killer Shrews in the theater. I hope you all enjoy it.

Steve Latshaw Biography

Born and raised in the prairie winds and farm country of Decatur, Illinois (soy bean capitol of the world), Steve Latshaw spent the first part of his career working in local radio and television, as a news photographer, DJ, news reporter and radio news anchor and commercial voice-over artist. A move to Florida in the late ’80s continued his on-air work and jump-started his feature film career, landing him a featured extra bit on the set of Ron Howard’s Parenthood.

Speaking parts followed, including a recurring role on the Ilya Salkind/Viacom series Superboy. But Steve’s focus and interest was increasingly on behind-the-camera duties and he soon found himself working in a distinctly Roger Corman-esque fashion, producing and directing a string of successful B movies in the swamps in and around Orlando, Florida. These included the home video/cable hits Dark Universe (1993) and Jack-O (1995), as well as the cult classic Vampire Trailer Park (1991). Relocating to Los Angeles in 1995, Steve continued his career as both writer and director, though on markedly larger budgeted projects. With a filmography well into the double digits, Steve’s recent screenwriting credits have included the SciFi Channel superhero adventure Stan Lee’s Lightspeed (2007), Planet Raptor (2007), featuring starring Steven Bauer, Ted Raimi and Vanessa Angel and Command Performance (2009), an action-packed throwback to classic ’90s adventure movies.  A collaboration with action star Dolph Lundgren, who also served as co-writer and director, Command Performance went on to garner rave reviews and great numbers on TV and home video, and helped lead to Dolph’s return to the big screen in The Expendables.

As Writer/Producer/Director, Steve has just completed Return of the Killer Shrews.  A 50-years-later sequel to the 1959 cult classic (and massive 1990s MST3K hit), Killer Shrews, this go-for-the-throat CGI SciFi epic combines sly humor and state-of-the-art effects as the title creatures rip through the cast of an ill-fated reality show.

Many have been possessed by one; only one has been possessed by many.

Supposedly more accurate than many other exorcism fantasies, The Devil Inside was produced by (among others) Steven Schneider of Paranormal Activity fame. Though we can take claims of authenticity with a grain or two of over-dramatized salt, this proclamation smears it with a veneer of artistic verisimilitude that’s totally in keeping with the roving, first-person cinematographic techniques used. Rev. Bob Larson, Exorcism Consultant, even gave an interview on the subject of its depiction of demon eviction and I’ve included it below.

Above: Suzan Crowley is not herself

Meanwhile check out both the trailer and a special clip of a nicely creepy scene from the film.

Synopsis:

In 1989, emergency responders received a 9-1-1 call from Maria Rossi confessing that she had brutally killed three people. 20 years later, her daughter Isabella seeks to understand the truth about what happened that night. She travels to the Centrino Hospital for the Criminally Insane in Italy where her mother has been locked away to determine if her mother is mentally ill or demonically possessed. When she recruits two young exorcists to cure her mom using unconventional methods combining both science and religion, they come face-to-face with pure evil in the form of four powerful demons possessing Maria.

Trailer:

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Extended Clip:

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Being something of a fan of demonic possession films — made such not by belief but by, I suspect, the dramatic, emotional and thematic potency of that grandfather of exorcism films (and novels), William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist (US-1973; dir. William Friedkin) — I’m looking forward to this, as it seems to carry a bit more weight than some other Exorcist cash-ins of recent times.

Above: Bonnie Morgan gets twisted up by the whole experience

It’s rather interesting that though it has garnered negative reviews on IMDb, it has so far taken US$52,690,136 at the box-office in the US alone, which, based on an estimated budget of $1,000,000, represents quite a profit. The bad reviews don’t daunt me, of course. This looks like exactly the sort of film that tends to attract naysayers if it deviates from the expected path in any way at all — which I trust it does. We’ll see in March.

Above: The Exorcist, Simon Quarterman

Above: Look into my eyes: Simon Quarterman and Isabella Rossi

Meanwhile, here’s that interview with Exorcism Consultant Bob Larson that I mentioned:

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Source: Paramount Pictures; IMDb.

Life gets difficult enough when you’re a hitman just trying get the job done so you can make it to your kid’s birthday party on time. But things get worse after you stumble across an alien parasite that’s turning the extras into zombies.

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

You can only hope you get Overtime (US-2011; dir. Matt Niehoff)…

Synopsis:

Raph (Al Snow) and Max (John Wells) only kill bad guys, and only after their boss Sam, a high-powered attorney, has cashed a nice paycheck for getting her sleazy clients off the hook.

When Sam sends our heroes on a routine hit, they find themselves caught up in a conspiracy they never imagined. But whatever trouble they’ve gotten themselves into is nothing compared to the wrath of Raph’s wife if he doesn’t make it home in time for his son’s birthday party.

Being a good hitman is tough; being a good dad is killer!

The Interview

To find out more about Overtime, the Backbrain’s News Hound, Avery Guerra, spoke to Brian Cunningham — the film’s Writer, Director of Photography and Producer:

Tell us a bit about yourself, Brian.

I’m a freelance director of Photography and producer working in Louisville Kentucky.  I’ve done work for clients such as GE, McDonalds and Papa John’s, but my real passion is filmmaking.  I ran a movie news and reviews blog for three years and have self-published two books about movies and pop-culture. The next project is a documentary about the Haunted House industry entitled “Monsters Wanted.”  (Check out MonstersWanted.com for more info).

Why this particular movie, Overtime?

The idea to make the movie came from my partner, Matt Niehoff.  We really wanted our first movie to be something fun and even a little bit silly. So many young filmmakers seem obsessed with creating work that is going to lead to awards and prestige, but when Matt and I talked about it we realized that the movies we loved as kids were the crazy comedies of the ’80s and the action films of the late ’90s (like Terminator 2 and Aliens).  We wanted to make those kinds of movies because we love escapist cinema, and we wanted the audience to be taken on a journey.  Plus it’s always more fun to blow things up than to shoot people talking.

Above: The movie stars WWE Superstar Al Snow, who gets bloodier than usual…

Any specific influences?

The movie draws heavily from ideas in movies like Aliens and From Dusk Til Dawn.  There’s a lot of Shaun of the Dead in there, tonally, and of course the Hit Man aspect will remind people of Boondock Saints and Pulp Fiction (mind you, I’m not comparing us to those movies … I’d never dream of going toe-to-toe with Tarantino).  What you might not think of, however, is the influence movies like Lethal Weapon had on Overtime.  When it gets down to it, this is a fun 1980s action comedy about two guys trying to balance work and family.  The zombie-alien side of things is almost incidental.

Above: Sebrina Siegel finds herself at the wrong end of a Shooter’s Party rally

Above: Stuck in a corner with blood and cake: John Wells, Sebrina Siegel, Erica Goldsmith and Al Snow

How did the project develop between you and Matt?

The idea for the movie came from Matt.  He wrote a rough draft of the script and asked me to take a look at it to see if I was interested in shooting it for him.  When I read it, I loved the whole conceit. I asked Matt if I could take a crack at changing some things, and he agreed. After that, it really became a 50-50 partnership. We went through a good twelve drafts together before shooting, and we worked together on casting, finding locations and testing out the makeup and effects. It was a really rewarding collaboration with each of us pushing each other every day.  We would rewrite entire scenes the night before the shoot, trying to make things a little more organic, a little funnier, and to take advantage of the talents of the awesome cast.

Above: Avri Ant’juan considers whether to shoot ‘em or… um… shoot ‘em

Check out this Behind-the-Scenes video:

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

What are you plans for Overtime?

Our plans for Overtime are to get it in front of as many people as we can. We’ve started a pretty aggressive festival strategy (and it’s recently been announced that it will be  screening in Louisville on February 18 at the Derby City Film Festival), and we’re in the process of contacting distributors directly to try and make a deal.  We know from feedback from screenings and our website that there is a good market for this movie, and people who see it seem to have a really good time with it.

And if hitmen, alien parasites, blood and zombies aren’t enough, don’t forget there are tentacles as well!

Check out lots more pictures and a couple of alternative posters in the gallery below:

Sources: Brian Cunningham via Avery Guerra; Official website/blog; Facebook page; IMDb entry.

Addenda:

Earlier (slightly longer) Official Trailer:

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Outtakes:

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

The Millennium Bug is a flat-out, gore-filled, kaiju celebration — deviant love-child of Ishiro Honda and Rob Zombie. You won’t understand the sheer perverse geek joy of this film without actually seeing it, so head for the official website and blog to check for festival appearances. Or wait for the upcoming DVD release.

While you’re waiting, you can get a feel for things from this highly amusing interview, in which some of the actors give their reactions to the film’s extreme weirdness, and actress Ginger Pullman tells all about her first day of filming, which involved a prosthetic vagina and giving birth to something nasty…

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

For more on The Millennium Bug, see previous Backbrain articles on the subject.

• via Avery Guerra. Written by Robert Hood.

Though the final cast list for the upcoming The Giant Gila Monster remake by co-directors Tony Randel and Jim Wynorski has been doing the rounds — including the interesting news that original Giant Gila Monster (1959) star Don Sullivan (above) is returning in the remake — what the Backbrain has been told by the guys from the Franklin, Indiana film festival, The B Movie Celebration, is that the SyFy Channel monster movie, currently being filmed under the title Gila! is in need of Gila Monster chow.

They are seeking 100 extras to act in the film Gila! Set in Franklin Indiana, Gila!
tells the story of a small Mid-West town that’s being ravaged by a giant mutated gila monster. (Hey! It happens all the time!) A scene to be shot in Franklin at Franklin college is a typically period sock hop that takes place at the closing of the film. (If you don’t know what a “sock hop” is, check out the 1959 version, or any number of 1950s teen flicks…)

“We are shooting 3:00 PM to 9:00 PM December 16th at the Fitness center in Franklin college in Franklin Indiana,” our correspondent told us. “We are looking for extras to dress in jeans, white t-shirt (plain) and running shoes.”

So, want to get eaten by a giant Gila Monster? Head for the Franklin college Fitness Center and you can be on the menu! The address is: The Franklin College Fitness Center, Grizzly Drive, Franklin, Indiana.

For more on the remake, see this previous Backbrain article.

The Return of Don Sullivan

At this stage we don’t know what kind of role original Giant Gila Monster star Don Sullivan has in the remake — or whether his ukelele will make a cameo appearance or even have some “lines” of its own — but it’s great to see an old veteran return to the screen in a remake of what may be his most famous — or infamous — role — 50 years on.

Don Sullivan (and ukelele) at Monster Bash 2008, where he was a guest

The whole thing is rather like the return to the screen of James Best in the remake of his own low-budget exploitation classic, The Killer Shrews, also from 1959 — Return of the Killer Shrews (US-2012; dir. Steve Latshaw). In fact, in a further synchronicity, the production company for both original The Killer Shrews and The Giant Gila Monster films had intended them to be released as part of a double feature. Maybe the remakes will play together in a double one of these days!

For completeness’ sake, the final cast of Gila! consists of Brian Gross, Madeline Voges, Christine De Rosa, Jesse Janzen, Terence Knox (seen below as the Sheriff), Kelli Maroney, Gerard Pauwels, Rich Komenich and, of course, Don Sullivan.

In the Gallery below there are a bunch of on-location production pictures, courtesy of producer/screenwriter Bill Dever.

Gallery:

• Addendum: We’ve now been told that there will be no actual reptiles involved in the creation of the giant gila monster. The monster will, contrary to previous reports, be made via digital FX.

Source: Bill Dever via Avery Guerra

I’m not sure what the title of this new film from director/writer/dp/editor Michael Rigler says about the titular beastie (… it’s a big tentacle with a claw at the end? … hmmm, maybe… stay on until the end of this article and you may find out!), but viewing the trailer will give you clear insight into its old-school, monochromatic, tongue-in-cheek referencing of classic B-monster flicks from the 1950s.

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Synopsis:

The Tentacle’s Claw is the story of one man’s quest to use the power of mind control to take over the world, and the one woman who could stop him.

Dr Demonious Horlack has set up his laboratory of horrors in a quiet, seaside town. The former Nazi scientist has devised a way to control simple creatures using the power of the mind. With the help of his assistant Gunda, he has gained power over a giant cephalopod, and is using the creature as his personal assassin.

Fortunately for the people of the planet, there is a schoolteacher, Marie LeMay,  living in the same town. As the traumatic tentacle attacks start to take their gruesome toll, Marie begins to unlock innate, psychic abilities. Her brainy scientist boyfriend, Professor Dick Goodwin, helps her recognize the potential she has deep within the recesses of her mind. The stage is set for an epic, psychic showdown. But can she prevail, or will Dr Horlack carry out his evil plans to take over the world and make Marie his psychic slave-bride?

Once completed,  The Tentacle’s Claw will be feature length (there’s approximately 67 minutes of it at the moment, Rigler tells us). “My wife Tara Manuel is the star and producer,” he said, “and we made the film on a shoestring budget. We raised about $1,200 through a Cabaret we staged to feed the cast and crew and buy a few costumes!”

Above: Smoking (and surreptitious tentacles) can be bad for you

Above: Dr Horlack attacks Marie psychically, using a tentacle on loan from Bela Lugosi and Ed Wood

Above: Never trust rabbits, children or clocks during psychic attacks

Above: the secret is out! The bad guys (and Rigler) got their monster by mail order via the ads at the back of a 1957 issue of Confidential.

And finally, a special treat! An exclusive for Undead Backbrain readers — a glimpse of the monster itself! Say “Hi!” and be nice!

Filmed on location in Corner Brook, Newfoundland with a cast of local actors, The Tentacle’s Claw is slated for a January 2012 release. More pics, cast info and startling revelations that may kill you if you read them unprepared can be found on the official website. Dare you go there?

Source: Michael Rigler via Avery.