Undead Backbrain

Thomas R. Dickens and Mesozoic Inc. Special Visual Effects studio are in various stages in the production of two rather interesting-looking scifi monster flicks. From information currently available, they fit perfectly with all those gigantic shapes lurking around in the undead backbrain.

The first is Alien Grey: Zone-X (US-2009; dir. Thomas R. Dickens):

Unsurprisingly it involves a secret — and abandoned — Government research area that is infested not only with Alien Greys, but the assorted products of their mysterious experiments — including a giant cyborg spider, a carnivorous dinosaur, and winged space monster. In this hell-hole wanders a group of 20-somethings and a maniac who is stalking them. The intruders themselves become the subjects of alien experimentation and even acquire super-powers, which, of course, they turn on each other. Can they survive?

I tried to get a screenshot of the flying critter from the YouTube trailer for the film, but the resolution was poor and this is the best I could manage:

and

Anyway, see for yourself. They look better in action:

Dickens is the writer and director of Alien Grey: Zone-X, but his previous SFX credits are impressive. He has worked in various visual and special effects capacities on such films as Anaconda, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, What Lies Beneath, Hollow Man, Spider-Man, the Scooby-Doo movies, the US Pulse (I’ll forgive him that) and Looney Tunes: Back in Action. So he’s got SFX cred.

The second Dickens/Mesozoic Inc. film, now in pre-production, is called Vortex:

Not much information on this one yet, but the poster suggests another giant monster…

Sources: via Kaiju Search-Robot Avery

• Mesozoic Inc. website
• Alien Grey: Zone-X website (including more trailers)
  
• Vortex website

This Thai ghost flick looks like a winner to me:

Coming Soon (Thailand-2008; dir. Sophon Sakdaphisit)

Synopsis:

What kind of scenes in a horror film scares you the most? When a ghost appears totally unexpectedly? When the main character does not see the ghost sneaking up behind him? When at the very end you find out that the main character was actually a ghost all along? But none of this compares to the feeling of arriving home alone and suddenly being stuck by a feeling of dejá vu that you are reenacting the very same scenes in the horror movie you just saw! This movie will scare you from the second you step inside the movie theatre. It will get you thinking if Something or Someone might be waiting for you to let your guard down. The horror movie that you just saw is about to happen to you in real life! Coming Soon.

The film is being directed by Sophon Sakdaphisit, who wrote Shutter, and opens in Thailand on 30 October.

The trailer looks excellent, though there are no subtitles — so bear with it.

• Source: 24Framespersecond

We just noticed that there seems to be a trailer for the short robot-invasion film Attackazoids available. It includes some cool scenes, such as this one:

Have a look at it on the official website.

I notice that there is also indication of a sequel, Attackazoids, Deploy!

• Source: Kaiju Search-Robot Avery
• Backbrain review of Attackazoids
  

A trailer for Brett Kelly’s remake of the 1959 monster flick Attack of the Giant Leeches has gone online. Here it is:

Interesting use of colour saturation to suggest the monotone nature of the original.

• Source: Official website via Avery
• original Backbrain post
• Interview with the director, Brett Kelly

Seen one Chosen One, seen ‘em all? I don’t think so. Have a look at this one!

The Chosen One (US-2008; animation; dir. Chris Lackey)

Here are two trailers:

The Story:

Lou Hanske’s having a hell of a day … he’s lost his job, totaled his car, and been attacked by a bear. Just when it seems like life can’t get any worse, Lou is informed by the eccentric Church of Frank that he’s “The Chosen One” — the savior from prophecy who must travel to Kansas, speak to God and deliver the world into a new age. Together with his elderly roommate Zeb (Chris Sarandon), his best friend Donna (Danielle Fishel) and Lucifer himself (Tim Curry), Lou (Chad Fifer) must master his budding super-powers to overcome Ninjas, Thugs, Femme Fatales (Traci Lords), Religious Zealots (Lance Henriksen), his obsession with his SciFi star ex-girlfriend (Laura Prepon), Giant Monsters and a Posse of Kung Fu Robots in order to fulfill his destiny!

Hmm, not a bad cast for an independent animated feature film that includes, among other things, zombie robots (what’s a zombie robot?) and a giant monster…

And for good luck, here is Tim Curry discussing the film and his role as Lucifer:

The film is now available on DVD.

• Official website

In The Outbreak (US-2008; designed by Chris and Lynn Lund), you’re plunged straight into the middle of the iconic zombie apocalypse. They’re at the door and decisions have to be made. You make them, and then have to live (or die) by the consequences.

The Outbreak is an interactive online zombie film — well-filmed, dynamic and full of the z-tropes we’ve all come to love. At key points in the film it stops and asks you a question: do you stay in the beseiged room and wait for help, or do you get out to find help? If you give the wrong answer, you — or rather the characters in the film — will die. So let’s hope you know what you’re doing.

This is a very cool concept and it functions well — provided you have a computer with enough grunt, and a reasonably high-speed connection, to allow the visuals to run smoothly. It runs, with all options considered, for 17 minutes.

Chris and wife Lynn Lund, who run the Portland, Oregon web design-and-animation studio SilkTricky (www.SilkTricky.com) created the film and interactive website. Chris directed while Lynn produced.

It was filmed over 6 days in and around Portland, Oregon, using local actors and crew. Said Lynn, “We usually create websites and motion graphics for our clients, but wanted to show what we could do with interactive film.” (Bloody Disgusting.com)

Here is the trailer:

Go and experience the horror now.

• Source: via Avery

The Halfway House (US-2004; dir. Kenneth J. Hall) looks like a Lovecraftian-inspired schlock horror flick, described by its director thus:

Young girls are disappearing in and around the Mary Magdalen Halfway House for Troubled Girls. Desperate to find out what became of her sister, Larissa Morgan (Janet Tracy Keijser from HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL) goes undercover to infiltrate the Catholic-run institution. Once inside, she encounters Father Fogerty, a priest with a passion for punishment; Sister Cecelia, a nun with a dark past plotting an even blacker future; Edwina and her love-toy Cherry Pie; tough Latino Angelina and her home girls and a sinister handyman named Lutkus. It’s not long before she’s caught up in a twisted web of sadism, violence, and wanton lust before finally learning the ultimate secret of the Halfway House. (IMDB)

Here’s the trailer:

The evil Sister Cecelia is portrayed by cult queen Mary Woronov:

and here is a friend of Lovecraft’s — Yog-Sothoth — who obviously used his industry connections to get a role in the film:

Director Kenneth Hall commented that the film’s mix of horror and comedy that runs through the film shifted its focus as the project developed. “Originally, I envisioned the humor being much broader, along the lines of Russ Meyer and John Waters, whose work I admire,” he said. “As I got into it more, I didn’t want the comedy to overwhelm the horror elements so I took a more subtle satirical approach, like Joe Dante and John Sayles did with The Howling, Dan O’Bannon with Return of the Living Dead, and Stuart Gordon with Re-Animator - - some of my all-time favorite genre movies.” Dropping those names as influences clearly tells us the nature of Hall’s aspirations.

On the Lovecraft connection Hall remarked:

I actually resisted that for a while, at least doing it as literally as I did. After all, this isn’t supposed to be an adaptation of one of his stories. Then I realized the fact that the Necronomican has turned up in so many movies was funny in itself. What better way to make fun of religious extremism than to use the Hollywood-style Lovecraft mythos from pictures like The Dunwich Horror and The Haunted Palace? You’ve got fanatics trying to bring into our world a race of beings that will wipe out all of humanity, including those who brought them in. How much more extreme can you get?

Along with the exploitation elements, though, Hall clearly has a more conceptual agenda running:

Well, it’s a humorous commentary about the dangers of allowing certain things to get out of hand under the guise of religious freedom, which is very timely, I think. Also, while this film revels in its exploitative roots, it has a strong pro-women theme. Female sexuality is probably the strongest force on earth. It’s what drives most men to succeed in society. It’s the basis of the whole economy. Our hero is female and so is our villain. Most of the male characters are controlled and manipulated by them, which ultimately leads to their demise. Before it starts sounding too pretentious, let me assure you The Halfway House is, first and foremost, a no-holds-barred horror film with enough monsters, gore, and gratuitous nudity to satisfy the most hardcore fan. At least, I sure hope it does since I happen to be one of those fans!

Read the full interview here.

The Halfway House has been described by cult horror director Joe Landis as “Good old drive-in exploitation fun!”, which is exactly what it looks like. It has now been released on DVD.

Check out production and cast details, news, and lots of pics on the official website.

Rumour has it the Too Many Monkeys Production Company made this fake trailer for the Sci-Fi London 2003 film festival fake trailer competition.

It’s for a [non-existent] film called Attack of the Giant Radioactive Robot Women from Venus (2003), which is “a grim film noir homage that brilliantly questions accepted gender roles and male superiority in a pre-feminist age”.

Another rumour has it that a remake of this trailer has gone into production for release in 2010, directed by Michael Bay [no relation].

• Source: Too Many Monkeys website via Avery

Director Jim Wynorski has just emailed notice of the Cleavagefield trailer. Follow the link below and you can see:

and

… not to mention this:

and plenty of…

See all this and more here.

• Source: Jim Wynorski
• Information on Cleavagefield

With the aid of Dennis Davison, artist Todd Tennant has produced a “trailer” advertising his graphic novel version of the abandoned 1994 script for Jan De Bont’s US Godzilla.

Check it out, and then go read the graphic novel itself!

• Read the graphic novel online