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:

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Extended Clip:

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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:

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Source: Paramount Pictures; IMDb.

Mac (Jim Sweeney) gets up-close and personal with a rotten zombie (Leif Phelps) in Zombie Resurrection

With its British accents and hints of thematic delving into some of the religious implications of zombieism, British splatterfest Zombie Resurrection (written and directed by Andy Phelps and Jake Hawkins) seems to be offering the kind of original take on old tropes that fans of the zombie sub-genre are keen to get their hands on (well, I am anyway!): staying within the tradition and retaining the best of it, while exploring some fascinating tributaries branching off from the clichés — and doing it intelligently. The filmmakers describe the film as “ambitious, gory and sometimes very funny” and as “one of those rarest of beasts – a completely new slant on the zombie story”.

From the look of the trailer, they might be telling the truth!

Synopsis:

Fifteen months after the zombie apocalypse, a small band of survivors are forced to take refuge in an abandoned school, where they discover a mysterious zombie with the power to raise the undead back to life.

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Undead Backbrain’s low-budget cinema sleuth, Avery Guerra, asked some probing questions in order to ferret out the truth about this film, which is now in post-production and looking for funding to help get it done.

Above: The Messianic zombie (Rupert Phelps) gets ready to deliver his “Sermon on the Mount”

How did Zombie Resurrection come about?

Andy Phelps: Originally, it was a conversation that I had with my son one dinnertime – what would happen if Jesus came back as a zombie? What would he be able to do? A couple of weeks later Jake and I hooked up for a drink, and by the end of the night we’d riffed the concept around to the point where we were too excited by the idea to not write the screenplay.

Jake Hawkins: At first we were planning on putting the screenplay up for sale on InkTip, but the further we got into the writing the more it looked like we could actually do this ourselves. Both of us have a background in short films, and tackling a feature project is a completely different animal, but at the beginning of 2011 we threw caution to the wind, unshackled ourselves from our respective day-jobs, and we’ve been working full-time on the movie ever since.

The crew prepare to film the end of a long battle between Sykes (Eric Colvin) and
Mac (Jim Sweeney) and the first supercharged zombie in the film (Leon King)

Where was Zombie Resurrection filmed and at what stage is the production right now?

AP: We shot the movie over 24 days (and nights) in August 2011, in three locations in Hampshire (in the South of England). We knew we had to work fast to get it all in the can on such a quick shoot. Not helping was the fact that we had a large ensemble cast (nine principal actors) and about seventy zombies to worry about, as well as all the in-camera blood gags and action sequences.

In the end, we used a fairly small crew of 23 people, but it got hairy on our big horde nights, having to process so many people through our costume and make-up teams.

JH: The film is currently going through post-production – final edits, sound, foley, grading and all our digital FX. We have an IndieGoGo funding campaign running at the moment to try and raise the money to get us through to distribution, so if you ever fancied watching two men squirm on the wrong side of the camera, the link is here.

Andy and Jake in an uncomfortably close encounter with their horde

Beyond the plot, what is the film about?

AP: Faith, and specifically the boundaries between science and faith. When is it reasonable for a logical man to take a leap of faith when presented with something that science can’t explain? This is the benefit of having such a large ensemble cast, in that you can give each character a different angle on the same theme. Collectively they have the big picture, but you get to seed in a lot of conflict and drama looking at where their beliefs and values clash.

JH: We felt it was massively important when we were writing Zombie Resurrection not just to turn out a generic movie where a bunch of attractive survivors get picked off one by one, and to try and get some social commentary in there. That’s the difference between the original Dawn of the Dead and Zack Snyder’s remake; the first is a really intelligent study of consumerism, while the remake is a just a pretty good zombie movie.

Asher (Georgia Winters) is bitten

What are the primary inspirations/influences behind the film?

AP: Well, I grew up through the UK’s “video nasty” era, so that’s where my filmic roots lie. Very generously, the government put together a list of all the horror video titles that were most likely to cause a breakdown in public order, so to every fourteen-year-old boy in the country this became a must-see movie template. I am very much in this early-80′s exploitation cinema mind-set, before too much CGI came along and made everybody’s life safer.

JH: But specifically, movies like Romero’s early zombie outings, as well as Evil Dead, Braindead, Re-animator. Films where the humans are often much more dangerous to each other’s wellbeing than the monsters are. Movies with a sense of humour, even when the cast play it completely straight.

Zombie Bride (Mary Stone)

What are your plans for the film?

AP: Through post-production, and then out to the Cannes film market in May. The film was never intended for a theatrical release, but that’s not going to stop us blitzing as many horror film festivals across the planet as we can before the DVD and Blu-ray come out. It’s the thought of being sat at the back of a screening watching a horror-literate audience reacting to your movie that keeps us going through the long days and the vast amount of work it takes to pull a feature together.

So there you go. They sound rather convincing to me and are certainly able to talk intelligently about their inspirations and their intentions in creating this particular film. This augurs well for Zombie Resurrection and it will bring new life to the genre. Maybe the title will be prophetic!

Above: Beaumont (Danny Brown) makes a catastrophic wrong turn

Above: Sykes (Eric Colvin) carries the recently mauled Becca (Rachel Nottingham) to safety

Above: Some zombies get a final liberal coating in blood before shooting

Below is a video of the pair, spruiking the film’s IndieGoGo appeal and it includes some fascinating behind the scenes snippets — all of which makes me want to see this film get completed sooner rather than later.

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• Sources: Andy Phelps and Jake Hawkins via Avery Guerra; Official website; Facebook page; Andy and Jake’s Shameless Promotional Blog; Snakebite Horror article (includes lengthy plot summary).
• Remember the guys are looking for financial support to complete. If you’re interested in helping, go here.

It is, of course, the much anticipated remake of the dodgy 1950s classic B-monster flick The Giant Gila Monster (US-1959; dir. Ray Kellogg). It’s called simply Gila! (US-2012; dir. Jim Wynorski) and the poster above is the first official teaser poster, created by Jeremy Mincer of Silver Ferox Key Art. Read more about the production on Undead Backbrain as well as checking out a Brainspasm article on the involvement of Don Sullivan, then teenaged star of the original film.

Below is another new poster concept:

If new images from the production are indicative of the visual potential the crew have been creating, this may be an exception B-monster flick and one of Sy-Fy’s more successful acquisitions in the genre. A lot will depend on the quality of the work that goes into the visualisation of the titular monster, of course, but a good cast and script can do much to overcome the negatives of even less-than-perfect FX.  The filming has wrapped now, and the gallery below gives a colourful indication of cast, sets and cars used — and suggests that retaining the 1950s setting definitely has legs!

The Backbrain is quietly hopeful!

Gallery:

For more, check out the film’s Facebook page.

Source: Producer Bill Dever via Avery Guerra. Written by Robert Hood.

Addendum: An Interview with Gila by Robert Hood

With Gila! going into post-production (which obviously includes the insertion of the title character into the film), we decided to get the low-down from the real star of the picture: Gila! himself.

I tracked him down to a huge and particularly grotty trailer half-buried in the sand and covered in scrub somewhere in the Indiana backwoods.

Gila: Hey! Whatta ya mean “grotty”? This is a luxury mobile suite and it’s in a prime location.

Undead Backbrain: It’s in a hole in the ground.

Gila: Yeah. What’s ya point? They dug it specially for me. I’m a star, ya know. A BIG star. That’s why they named the film after me.

UB: But you’ve never been in a movie before, have you?

Gila: Maybe not, but it’s in the blood. My papi was in the 1959 film. I’ve modeled meself on ‘im.

UB: Really? I thought they used a small lizard –

Gila: Gila Monster! None of this lizard business. Calling us lizards is demeaning. How would you like to be described as a monkey?

UB: Okay, okay. Don’t get excited! You’ll sink the caravan further into this hole it’s stuck in. What was I saying? Oh, yeah. I thought they used a small… um, normal-sized gila monster in the first picture, filmed on miniature sets and superimposed –

Gila: Na! That’s a myth, spread by our enemies.

UB: Enemies?

Gila: You know, Godzilla, Gorgo, the Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. All those foreign interlopers.

UB: The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms was an American picture.

Gila: Yeah, but they dug up the actor from the Arctic circle somewhere. Finland, I reckon. Did you catch his accent? Ha! Laughable! He could hardly speak English at all.

UB: Can’t say I noticed.

Gila: You should check out the Director’s Cut.

UB: Sure. Right. So acting runs in the family. You’ve all been big?

Gila: Except for my brother Eric.

UB: Eric?

Gila: We don’t talk about him much. Great disappointment. Lives somewhere in the middle of the Mojave. In a tiny hole. He’s a real hermit. Just drags himself outa his hole every few months to scrounge up an old bird’s egg or eat a relative or two…

UB: Got his address? I’d like to talk to him. You know, get some insight into your past.

Gila: Forget it. He’s got a poisonous temperament. Wouldn’t talk to you, even for money. He hates the film industry. Hates our family. Says papi’s fame ruined his life. You know, he couldn’t live up to it and fell into depression, the pointlessness of life etc. etc. blah blah… bleeding heart stuff. Pathetic. I tried to get him to go on a bit of a rampage once, but after his tail got squashed when it was run-over by a tourist bus while he was crossing the highway, he withdrew inta hisself and gave up on everything. Not that he doesn’t have any talent, you know, for small stuff. They asked him to be in that Rango film but when he told ‘em to f**k off, they changed the character to a chameleon and hired Johnny Depp instead. Bad move, in my opinion. Lacks authenticity. You see the prob though.

UB: Let’s get back to your involvement in this film by Jim Wynorski. How did you get involved?

Gila: Met Bill Dever in a bar. Everyone else had cleared out — it was only a small place and I’d already demolished the pool room when I tried to sink all the balls in one shot — but he stayed and started going on about how great the film was. Reckoned the title character was a problem though. He was a bit… you know… plastered. Anyhow, I told him who I was and that I was lookin’ fa work and he jumped at the opportunity.

UB: Are you looking forward to working with Jim Wynorski?

Gila: Sure. Some of his other monster pics had some crap monster actors — didn’t look like they were actually there, you know. But I reckon he’s got it right this time. I don’t need no enhancement!

UB: Do you have an idea yet about how you’ll play the character?

Gila: I’m a bit like Depp, you know. He played Captain Jack Sparrow by basing the performance on Keith Richards. I plan to play the character like Lawrence Olivier. Bring a bit of class to the genre. Monsters have been short-changed for long enough, I reckon. I’m gonna insist on at least one monologue! I’ve memorised Macbeth’s Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow speech. Maybe the screenwriter can fit it in somewhere.

UB: Do you really think it’d be appropriate?

Gila: It’ll hafta be changed it a bit. “Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow creeps on its hangin’ belly from day to day, to the last drop of rodent blood. And all our holes in the ground have led the way to trashed towns and derailed trains. Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a crawlin’ shadow, a gargantuan avenger that eats its way through towns and cities and then goes to DVD. It’s a tale told by a director and his crew, full of sound and fury — and huge at the box-office!” See works fine!

UB: Well, that’s rather… unique, I must say. Interesting to see what Jim Wynorski thinks.

Gila: He’ll come ’round.

UB: I think it’s true to say my readers are very keen to see what comes of this movie. So thanks for talking to us, Gila. It’s been… educational.

Gila: No sweat! And I mean that. Gila monsters never sweat.

UB: Sure, reptiles are all pretty cool, they say.

Gila: We sure are, baby. We’ve got class. Hey, on your way out can you chuck down a sack of roaches and assorted bugs? All this blabbin’ has made me hungry.

UB: Sure.

Gila: Good monkey!

Thankfully, the unreasonably popular Twilight and its sequels haven’t killed off vampires as an iconic and powerful trope within the horror genre.  Undead Brainspasm recently featured a film that was seeking to use an esoteric African tradition concerning the Tokoloshe: Blood Tokoloshe: Dawn of the Beast (South Africa-2012; dir. Jordan Harland) to re-invigorate the subgenre. Now a band of Aussies have produced what looks destined to become a stylish classic in the field.

The film is called The Caretaker (Aust-2012; dir. Tom Conyers) and it features suspense, danger, fear, blood, metaphorical resonance and, most importantly of all, very dangerous vampires.

Synopsis:

A plague of vampirism has swept across the world. A small but discordant group of survivors hole up in a country mansion. They soon discover that a vampire also shares the house with them. He proposes a deal: they protect him during the day from other humans, and he’ll protect them at night from other vampires. So begins an uneasy alliance, which soon threatens to fall apart.

The Trailer:

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Undead Backbrain search robot, Avery Guerra, took a virtual trip downunder to interview the director about his film.

Interview with the Director, Tom Conyers

How did The Caretaker come about?

Tom Conyers: I’m an independent filmmaker living in Melbourne, Australia. I’ve made quite a number of short films but always wanted to move on to features. For many years I have applied for government film-funding, only to get form-letter rejections. I am a fan of the horror genre (although I lean toward the more esoteric examples of the form, like Carnival of Souls, Martin and The Hunger), but this isn’t a genre the Australian film-bodies tend to fund. It was looking like I’d never make a feature, so I took a leaf out of the books of filmmakers like Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson, who made their first features off their own bat. Armed with a great producer in Mark White (who also plays one of the main roles in The Caretaker) we raised private finance. The production was small in scale, with five main actors (although there are few scenes with a larger cast) and a small crew, which averaged about fifteen in total. Although low-budget, we wanted the film to look good and have high-production values. We shot on the Red-One, with mainly dolly or locked-off shots, only using hand-held in the intense moments.

Above: Producer Mark White, in his role as Dr Ford Grainger, bears his fangs

Where was it filmed and at what stage is the production right now?

TC: The story concerns, in part, a vineyard owner. We searched in and around Rutherglen for potential film locations, since the area is famous for wines. We found some spectacular spots. Rutherglen is about 3 hours drive from Melbourne and we had the cast and crew stay there while filming. The local Indigo Shire was very supportive. The shoot totalled seven weeks but there has been about a year’s worth of post-production. This has been because it has been done out of people’s homes on their home computers. We tried to get mentoring from seasoned professionals without much success, so there has been a long process of trial-and-error. We have recently completed the film with grading, effects and 5.1 Surround Sound. We will be a lot quicker making the next one having figured out all the steps for ourselves on this one!

Above: On location. Cinematographer Matt Wood (also doubling as Camera Operator)
shooting actors Colin MacPherson, Anna Kate Burgess and Lee Mason

Beyond the plot, what is the film about?

TC: One of the main thematic concerns of the film is the way Reality TV thrives on pitting people against each other in a sort of rampant consumerist microcosm, with an emphasis on winners and losers. The Caretaker asks whether surviving in this kind of world is actually ‘winning’.

Above: ‘Not knowing who to aim the gun at’ (From left to right) Lester (Colin MacPherson) and Ron (Lee Mason)

What are the primary inspirations/influences behind the film?

TC: Although inspired by many horror films, we also looked to suspense films when making The Caretaker, particularly those of Hitchcock. Without the budget for extended action sequences, we needed to create suspense in long build-ups. Partly a monetary concern, this was also something stylistically we were aiming for. We wanted to go against the recent trend in horror of ‘torture porn’, and instead emphasise atmosphere and suspense over gore.

What are your plans for the film?

TC: We are now at the stage of sending it to festivals and looking for distributors, something which we are also new at but will figure out.

Above: ‘Unwanted Guests’ (From left to right) Tania Lentini, Evonne Fletcher, Paul Goddard

More Images from The Caretaker:

Above: ‘Ford about to put forward his deal’ (from left to right) Guy (Clint Dowdell) and Dr Ford Grainger (Mark White)

Above: ‘Is the enemy in front or behind?’ (from left to right) Annie (Anna Kate Burgess) and Ron (Lee Mason)

Above: ‘Is that screaming coming from outside the pub?’ (From left to right) Jake Bowtell, Brett Swain, Lee Mason and Josh Cameron.

Above: The creepy mansion

Above: Dr Ford Grainger (Mark White) and Lester (Colin MacPherson) face-off over dinner

Above: ‘Ford examines Lester’s mother. (From left to right) Lester (Colin MacPherson) looks on while Dr Ford Grainger (Mark White) examines Lester’s Mother (Abbe Holmes), who has some very strange symptoms.

Above: (From left to right) Ron (Lee Mason), Lester (Colin MacPherson) and Annie (Anna Kate Burgess)
consider Ford’s deal.

Above: A fairly simple set we built inside a shed “which didn’t come up too badly on camera”

Sources: Tom Conyers as interviewed by Avery Guerra. Official website: US and Australia; Facebook page. IMDb entry.

That was irony, by the way. The above recently released stills are, of course, from Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (US-2012; dir. Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor), which I’m rather looking forward to. Why? Well, not because the first one was great — though most critics hated it, I thought it was okay, but only about a 6/10 — and not because Cage successfully nailed the role of Johnny Blaze in it — he didn’t, going from looking somewhere between bewildered and emotionally disconnected. But because I really like the comicbook character of the Ghost Rider, which, in its best incarnations, is a powerfully iconic figure, visually and thematically potent. I really hope Cage and friends get their act together this time in order to up the ante on the first. Sure, Cage makes a lot of dud films, but occasionally something sparks in his performance and he manages to flame on, metaphorically and not just via CGI. Maybe this will be one of those occasions.

Indie writer/director Terence Krey wants his next film to be a horror movie that is more than a horror movie.

Of course, this is the ideal in such matters. As a horror writer myself, I’m always conscious that unless a story is about more than the monster, unless it creates a genuine dialogue between real-life experiences and the fantastical elements contained in the narrative, then you haven’t created anything that will resonate with your audience and have lasting impact. It’s all about resonance. Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novel The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde tells the now-standard tale of a “mad scientist” who unleashes a monster, sure, but it works so well and has lasted so long because its central elements address issues that are basic to humanity, creating via its fantastical tale a powerful metaphor for the dual nature of Man — the perpetual struggle in humanity and in each of us between creation and destruction, good and evil, compassion and cruelty.

This is the sort of impact that Krey is hoping for.

Of his ambitions, 25-year-old Krey, creator of the critically acclaimed, New York Times-reviewed web series Oh, Inverted World, told Undead Backbrain:

I want to make a horror movie that also isn’t a horror movie. Not a Monster is a movie that could easily be identified as a monster movie, with gore and bloody kills, but at the same time it can be identified as a drama about a girl having to figure her life out. I think finding a common thread between those two plot-lines is challenging, unique, and, if done properly, will really connect with any audience.

My style has always been to use science fiction, fantasy and otherworldly elements to emphasize real-life issues. In this case, a girl who has been through a terrible accident and no longer feels like a person, now has to deal with something that isn’t a person. They are both searching for their identities, all the while dealing with the feeling that they are less than human.

Not A Monster was inspired, Krey says, by the story of Beauty and the Beast and the recent Let the Right One In (Sweden-2008; dir. Tomas Alfredson), where the horror elements offer a way of exploring genuine human emotions.

“Beauty and the Beast” was definitely an inspiration, as I wanted to do a modern retelling of a story just like it. In addition, unconventional, genre-blending horror films were also an inspiration — films such as Shaun of the Dead and Let the Right One In, which is a coming of age/love story, but built around these horrific elements. Earlier films of Tim Burton were also an inspiration, as I want to have a gothic romantic feel to the film to act as a contrast to the blood and gore.

Synopsis:

Chloe is a 26 year old graduate student who is returning to school after a horrifying incident: a car accident has rendered her paraplegic, confining her to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Along with her father Stan and her boyfriend Scott, Chloe begins the difficult task of reentering her life newly disabled. Unfortunately, on the day she returns her campus is turned upside down, as news spreads of two students being attacked by some kind of creature in the woods.

As animal carcasses start showing up and school personnel go missing, Chloe soon discovers the truth face to face: a monster, half man, half animal, with a clawed arm and a pair of broken antlers, is living in the woods outside the school. It attacks Chloe, scratching her leg and throwing her to the ground before running off. As Chloe composes herself, she discovers something extraordinary: the scratch on her leg actually hurts. She feels it.

And so Chloe descends into the mystery that is The Monster, all the while secretly needing to feel again what she felt that night, something that only the murderous Monster can do. Is feeling normal again worth risking her life? As the entire town, and the people close to her, become involved in the hunt for The Monster, Chloe must figure out who she wants to be, as well as who the real monsters are.

Right now Not A Monster is in the pre-production phase. Recently, Krey shot a trailer for fundraising purposes, which he and his crew plan to go about through crowd-sourcing such as Kickstarter as well as finding independent investors. They hope to launch the full trailer sometime in the next month or so, though you can check out a teaser below.

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Krey says the film will be shot independently in the New York area, using the current “inexpensive-yet-impressive technology” of DSLR filmmaking. Krey himself harkens from from Long Island, New York.

In addition, the distribution model of Not a Monster will be just as independent as the production of the film itself. Initially, Not a Monster will be self-distributed as a digital HD download through our website, notamonsterfilm.com. For less than the price of a movie ticket, viewers will be able to watch Not A Monster on their computer, phone, tablet, or video game system.  This model will blend the world of new and old media by making a full-length feature film available through the Internet straight from the creators to the audience.

Not a Monster stars Elysia Segal as Chloe (pictured below), Rob Hinderliter (Scott), Rich Vience as Hudson (second image below), Jacob A. Ware (Aleister), and Alexander Longo (The Monster). Makeup/Effects are by Robert Doyle. Director of Photography is Daniel Fox and the film is being produced by Terence Krey, Daniel Fox, and Jacob Cohen. It was written and will be directed by Krey himself.

“Not a Monster will be a natural addition to the genre-blending horror films that have become so popular of late, such as Shaun of the Dead and Let the Right One In,” Krey commented. “If the online release turns some heads (or if someone sees its potential before that), we are absolutely interested in exploring other distribution channels, whether theatrical, home video, or cable.”

Not a Monster is scheduled for shooting in  the US Summer 2012.

• Source: Terence Krey via Avery Guerra. Official website; Facebook page. Written by Robert Hood.

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.

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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:

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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:

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Outtakes:

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A while back, the Backbrain interviewed writer, director and all-round auteur Loup’Rah Garomore about his in-production film The Demon’s Rook. Frankly the teaser released then, and all the pictures — not to mention Garomore’s discussion of the film’s genesis — looked unusually exciting for those with a love of ’80s exploitation horror movies. If you don’t believe me, check it out here.

Now the Backbrain has been given permission to release the official trailer, and honestly, it does nothing whatsoever to diminish the excitement and a lot to raise the ante.  You get first look at it below:

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With the film still in development, this very impressive trailer was made on a mere $15,000 budget. Writer/director Garomore hopes to raise further funding soon in order to push the project forward. “We’re trying to get a total budget of $190,000, preferably by February so we can re-enter a state of pre-production and begin principle photography again by Spring,” he told the Backbrain.

Let’s hope the money will be forthcoming in time to meet the company’s timetable. With work of this quality produced on a budget of just $190,000, I can’t see investors regretting their involvement. Check out the investment-to-profit ratio of a range of cult horror films that appears later in this article.

It’s obvious from the trailer that The Demon’s Rook is being put together with love by its creators, whose devotion to the film’s inspirations is abundantly clear in everything they say. Less commonly, work produced so far shows their strong technical expertise and a definite handle on the aesthetics of the genre. As they have said themselves: “[we] know what [we] love and know what it takes to create something that will be instantly embraced by the ever-growing horror film community”.

Nostalgic yet progressive, The Demon’s Rook embodies the spirit of the cult horror classics that precede it: Suspiria, Zombi, Evil Dead 2, Pan’s Labyrinth; yet still holds its own ground as a truly original vision. With this project, the filmmakers are creating something that horror fans have been yearning for — an ambitious, uniquely identifiable film with classically powerful practical special effects, deep roots in the historical spirit of the genres it encompasses, and a bold, forward-thinking vision. (Press release)

Synopsis:

A young boy named Roscoe finds a portal to another world where he is taught magic by an elder demon known as Dimwos. Dimwos raises the boy into manhood, revealing to him many secrets. Though, there is one dark secret that Dimwos keeps from Roscoe. When Roscoe discovers what his master has been keeping from him all these years, he revolts against him, inadvertently unleashing three malevolent demons. Through desperation, Roscoe is forced to escape the demons’ wrath by way of the portal leading back to our world. Unbeknownst to Roscoe, he leads the demons to discover the portal for themselves. Once the demons pass through, a nightmarish foray of summoned monsters are unleashed. One demon possesses the minds and will of all whom she crosses, another transforms a man into a murderous beast, and the other summons an army of the dead to do his bidding.

Predicting success in the film industry isn’t easy. Predicting how independent horror films will fair once released into the cultural zeitgeist is even less certain. Generally speaking, perfectly good movies disappear under the weight of their own obscurity. But occasionally the opposite happens. Sometimes they become a cult classic. When this happens, it usually means there is something unique and very special about the film concerned.

Consider these rough figures:

• Night of the Living Dead (US-1968; dir. George A. Romero): made for $114,000. Lifetime gross $30,000,000. (Source: Black Rider Production press release)
• The Evil Dead (US-1983; dir. Sam Raimi): made for $375,000. Lifetime gross $29,400,000. (Source: Black Rider Production press release)
• The Blair Witch Project (US-1999; dir. Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez): made for $60,000. Lifetime gross $248,639,099. (Source: Box Office Mojo)
• Paranormal Activity (US-2009; dir. Oren Pelli): made for $15,000/ Lifetime gross $193,355,800. (Source: Box Office Mojo)

And these figures (admittedly open to argument in the case of Night of the Living Dead and The Evil Dead in particular) probably don’t include ongoing video/DVD/BD sales.

From the new trailer for The Demon’s Rook, I think it’s safe to say that the film offers something unique and is looking like a definite candidate for admittance to these exulted ranks. At the very least, it may be worthy to be mentioned in the same chapter of the next generation’s horror film Best Of as The Evil Dead and Fulci’s Zombi. I look forward to finding out.

• Source: Loup’Rah Garomore and Tim Reis via Avery Guerra. Black Rider Productions press release. Official website. Backbrain interview with the author (includes pictures). Written by Robert Hood.

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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…

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

• via Avery Guerra. Written by Robert Hood.

Well, New Zealand director Patrick Gillies is righting this reprehensible wrong in a short film called Huhu Attack!

In Cold War-era rural New Zealand, two social misfits – a mousy spinster and a traveling magician – find love against a backdrop of small-town prejudice and 40ft-high mutant man-eating Huhu grubs!

Click to enlarge (so you can read the details!)

It’s Baz Luhrmann meets Peter Jackson in what the director describes as “an audacious 1950s-style comedy-horror musical extravaganza, featuring a spectacular score performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.”

Song, dance, romance and…

… giant grubs!

Synopsis:

Rural New Zealand, 31st October 1957.  A Sputnik satellite crashes into the edge of a forest, irradiating the nearby flora and fauna.  When the Army is called in to investigate, their soldiers are inexplicably attacked by a 40ft-high mutant Huhu grub.  At the nearest township, two-bit traveling magician, Miles, falls for the charms of his mousy volunteer, Ngaire, whilst putting on a Halloween magic show for the locals.  Their blossoming romance is interrupted when the giant Huhu grubs invade, decimating the townsfolk.  Knocked unconscious, Miles awakes to find Ngaire nursing him back to health in a makeshift infirmary.  Citing Miles’ knowledge of pyrotechnics, she pleads her reluctant hero to lead the surviving townsfolk in their fight against the man-eating huhu grubs.  However, her faith in him is shattered when local agitator, Derek, arrives with soldiers to accuse Miles of being a Soviet spy, directly responsible for the Huhu grub menace.  Armed with supposed proof of his Eastern Bloc origins, the soldiers proceed with their intention to execute Miles.  After an impassioned and heart-wrenching plea of innocence, Miles is released and the united community rejoices in its new-found tolerance and enlightenment… but not for long!

Check out the trailer:

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 Huhu Attack! was shot on the Red One camera. Principle photography took place in Christchurch, New Zealand, over the course of four-and-a-half days in late November 2008.

Rather than using 3D (computer) animation, the producers resorted to the more traditional techniques of puppetry and over-cranked miniatures to achieve the illusion of the giant man-eating Huhu Grubs.

When asked about how the project got made, Gillies commented: “Some interesting facts for you: in its path to the big screen, the project received 21 funding rejections. Approx 80% of those people who read the script, rejected it. Conversely, about 80% of our funding was received from people who hadn’t read the script!” Then he added with due irony: “The moral = when making a monster film, don’t show people the script!”

So how was the Monster created?

I set out to create the film’s giant mutant Huhu grub monsters via 3D animation, but then early on, decided it would take too much time and effort, so opted for the (overcranked) miniature/arm-puppet route. Ultimately, the puppet also fitted with the aesthetic of 50s horror films … In the end, we did use two 3D animation shots, though: a shot of grubs on a log and then our epilogue shot of a giant … [actually, we might save that bit of spoilage for readers to experience for themselves when they see the film - Ed.]

Above: Early 3D conceptual drawings (aborted)

Above: 3D Huhu grub model stage 2

Above: Huhu puppet stage 1

Check out the gallery at the end of this article for more images of the Huhu puppet and early 3D model. The Gallery also includes more screenshots — and there are even more pictures on the film’s Facebook page.

So where can readers see the film?

Festivals at the moment. Only five festival laurels feature on the poster, but we have been selected for eight fests in total: Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival (Panorama), Beverly Hills Shorts Fest (Official Selection), Seattle International Film Festival (Official Selection), Palm Springs ShortFest (Official Selection and Best of Fest 2011: Audience Favourite Comedies), New Zealand International Film Festival (Homegrown: Flights of Fantasy), Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (Official Selection), Traverse City Shorts Festival (Official Selection) and Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival.

Addendum: Sample Storyboard Sequence:

Source: Patrick Gillies via Avery Guerra; Facebook page. See this article for more Behind the Scenes pictures and images of the location shoot. You can download director Gillies bio and filmography here in PDF form.

Gallery: