Robb Pratt, an animator for Disney (he worked on Pocahontas and Tarzan), has created a neat Superman short just for his own amusement … and ours …, inspired by the music from the old serials. It’s pretty cool. At the end of the short he explains the whys and wherefores. Check it out.
Source: Hollywood Reporter via Stan Hyde
In 2012, Tokyo may very well be attacked by something with at least one very large tentacle. Will it have more than six of them? Who knows? But this investment teaser makes me hope that the money will be forthcoming and Gomera can trash Japanese cities in honour of his US ancestor, the sextopus from It Came From Beneath the Sea.
Odd name though. I’m not sure what Gamera will think of it.
The Gomera Project is the work of young Japanese animation company IDA, who are responsible for Cat Shit One. If you don’t know what that is, go to their YouTube Channel to watch the first episode in this animated satire that features a pair of rabbit soldiers from Special Force “Cat Shit One”, who are on the trail of unidentified enemy militia.
Source: Twitchfilm via Avery Guerra. Text: Robert Hood.
Ice Road Terror (US-2011; dir. Terry Ingram)
Soon for the SyFy Channel is this tale of two truckers and their giant prehistoric stalker, newly awakened with a bad attitude. It stars Brea Grant (Heroes, Friday Night Lights, Halloween II), Ty Olsson (Battlestar Galactica, Dragon Tales, Shattered), Dylan Neal (Blood Ties, Dawson’s Creek) and Malcolm Stewart (Kyle XY, Battlestar Galactica).
Synopsis:
The treacherous Alaskan ice road becomes the setting for a deadly pursuit in this suspenseful thriller. Two truckers are preparing to traverse a dangerous path across frozen rivers to deliver equipment to a remote diamond mine. Unbeknownst to them, blasting at the mine has awakened a long-dormant prehistoric creature. Upon arrival at the mine they encounter unbelievable carnage, leaving them stranded in the wilderness with a hungry beast on their trail. Can they escape the terror of the ice road? (ContentFilm)
Below is concept art by David Ahn that gives you some idea of the monster (click on it to enlarge):
And here’s some sample storyboard art:
And you can listen to four different ssmples from the film’s score, composed by Stu Goldberg:
Sources: ContentFilm; Twitchfilm; via Avery Guerra. Written by Robert Hood
Just for the hell of it, here are some trailers that have grabbed my attention for the coming year. There’s been no attempt to be exhaustive on my part; these are just random previews / titles that took my attention.
Battle: Los Angeles (US-2011; dir. Jonathan Liebesman)
Though it wasn’t a great film, the Strause Brothers’ indie invasion flick Skyline didn’t deserve the critical drubbing it got. Though limited in scope, it’s minimal $10 million budget showed clearly on the screen and I thought it a more-than-decent low-budget effort. The SFX siblings were also involved in the upcoming $100 million invasion epic, Battle: Los Angeles, made by a major studio that deeply resented the alleged misappropriation of proprietary effects work that the Strauses were accused of being involved in as regards the making of Skyline. True, the one-line synopses of the two films sound similar (Los Angeles is invaded by militaristic aliens in big spaceships), but the overall effect looks profoundly different. I wasn’t very interested after the first uninspiring trailer was released, but this new one has the buzz. Due out 11 March.
Tetsuo – The Bullet Man (Japan-2009; dir. Shinya Tsukamoto)
This is the third of Tsukamoto’s low-budget exercises in cyberpunk body-horror, following on from Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989) and Tetsuo II: Body Hammer (1992). They’re weird, somewhat incoherent and gross in a sort of Cronenberg-Lynch hybrid way, yet fascinating and metaphysically chilling. This one looks slicker, but much the same as before. Alienation and rage give birth to a metal-flesh monstrosity, to the music of Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails this time. It did the festival rounds in 2009 and 2010, and should be available for general viewing this year, love it or hate it.
Thor (US-2011; dir. Kenneth Branagh)
One of my favourite cinema trends over recent years has been the upsurge in quality superhero films. Sure, X-Men, Spider Man and Batman lead the pack, but there’s others that haven’t reached those heights — and haven’t gained the kudos of critics and rabid fans for one reason or another — and are nevertheless fun and of a decent quality. The use of CGI in cinema has become excessive and often unnecessary, sure, but, generally speaking, it’s essential in superhero films. Hey, computer imaging was made for superhero films, which simply can’t be done properly without it (Superman the Movie notwithstanding). So 2011 (not to mention 2012) is looking good for the subgenre. First off for me is Thor, directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring Chris Hemsworth as the God of Thunder and Anthony Hopkins as the ever-judgmental Odin. This could be done badly and just look silly. Early indications suggest otherwise. Here’s the Superbowl teaser, followed by the longer trailer:
Captain America: The First Avenger (US-2011; dir. Joe Johnston)
Then there’s Captain America: The First Avenger, directed by Joe Johnston and starring Chris Evans as Steve Rogers. Design-wise and concept-wise (such as setting it during the Second World War, thus ameliorating some of its nationalistic, or at least politically sensitive, potential), it looks like the right decisions may have been made. Here is the teaser trailer that was screened at the recent Superbowl, with a brief glimpse of Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull:
And these lead to the Marvel Comics pièce de résistance — the Joss Whedon-written-and-directed Avengers movie (due for 2012), followed by the inter-related Nick Fury with his the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Scarlett Johansson in Black Widow (maybe).
Green Lantern (US-2011; dir. Martin Campbell)
But it’s not all Marvel’s way, despite scheduled sequels/reboots for the X-Men, Iron Man, Wolverine and Spiderman. DC Comics have been generally less successful as regards cinematic live-action versions of their superheroes (with the significant exception of Batman and to a lesser extent Superman — and we shall ignore Jonah Hex, shall we?), but now they’re trying to gain some ground with Green Lantern (starring Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan and directed by Martin Campbell), leading a charge that will eventually include movies from Wonder Woman and maybe The Flash, plus a Superman reboot and the third Batman movie. Green Lantern is a hard call to get made successfully; its non-naturalistic, otherworldly scenario — though well served by the animated versions of the hero (and his successor) that have surfaced on DVD of late and in the great Bruce Trimm-produced Justice League and Justice League Unlimited series — may alienate wider, less geeky audiences. From the trailer, the filmmakers seem to be shooting for a different tone from that of the the wildly successful Dark Knight. Is that a promising direction to take? We’ll have to wait and see. Right now, I’m a little skeptical.
Cowboys & Aliens (US-2011; dir. Jon Favreau)
The blandly descriptive title certainly makes this film irrefutable proof (if any were needed) that one-time B-flick subject matter is now, post-Jaws, box-office gold. Cowboys & Aliens, starring Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford and Olivia Wild, is directed by Iron Man superstar Jon Favreau, and firmly appropriates territory hitherto mined by low-budget genre flicks such as High Plains Invaders (2009; dir. Kristoffer Tabori). I’m definitely looking forward to it!
Super 8 (US-2011; dir. J.J. Abrams)
Speaking of aliens, this new trailer has sparked my interest (not that it needed sparking) in Abrams’ latest enigmatic project:
Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon (US-2011; Michael Bay)
I want to be enthusiastic about this second sequel to Bay’s (to my mind) successful Transformers (2007) film, but really Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) — giant robots and pyramids notwithstanding — was pretty awful. I want giant robots trashing stuff, Michael, but I need real people, too. Still, this trailer for Transformers 3 does look rather more interesting than I might have expected. At least Megan Fox won’t be in it playing a hooker look-alike and hopefully Bay will forego his over-use of pre-pubescent humour and racist stereotyping.
OK, so we’re all pretty well aware of monsters here at Undead Backbrain. But there’s always room for more reflection on the not-so-little buggers, right?
Mark Deniz (of Morrigan Press) and Beyond Fiction, following on from their hugely successful Ghost Awareness Month, have instituted Monster Awareness Month — and it’s been going for a few days now. Focusing on monsters from film and literature, with authors and bloggers contributing various posts, including film reviews, interviews, articles, book reviews, etc., Monster Awareness Month will see new articles, on-line films and reviews posted every day of February.
You can read about the mechanics of it all here, set yourself up to download the films (or view them online), and scan daily news and articles here. There’s also a Facebook page where you can keep abreast of the stomping and rampaging.
So far, I admit that the Backbrain (otherwise known as Robert Hood) has been overly prominent on the site, having contributed:
The First Giant Monsters Part 3: Giant Monster vs Giant Monster (how the tradition of monsters fighting each other originated) will follow tomorrow.
But you can also read a great article on Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1933) by literary agent and editor: Sharon Ring, more on the making of the 1931 Frankenstein from publisher, writer and reviewer, Aaron Polson, and from artist and editor Mikko Sovijärvi a nostalgic reminiscence about Spawn of the Slithis (don’t know what the hell that is? Go find out!)
For monster fans (and we’re NOT just talking giant monsters here) this is a not-to-be-missed event. See you there.
In an age of unnecessary remakes / reboots (Planet of the Apes? Oh, Tim, why did you do it?), it’s great to get news of a remake — or at least a reboot — that is likely to result in something worthwhile, namely an upgrade.
The Killer Shrews (US-1959; dir. Ray Kellogg) is one of the most hilarious of low-budget Z-horror films of the 1950s. Its titular monsters — puppets in close-ups and dogs dressed up in ratty fur and big teeth the rest of the time — are nothing if not memorable.
Filmed by independent regional film company Hollywood Pictures Corporation to be released as part of a double feature with The Giant Gila Monster (US-1959), The Killer Shrews was made for an estimated $123,000 and made a reported $1,000,000 in the US — not counting DVD sales since, I assume (IMDb). It frequently appears in lists of the worst films of all time, yet people seemed to like it…
Now, we have Return of the Killer Screws, co-written (with Pat Moran) and directed by Steve Latshaw, hoping to recreate the exploitation enjoyment of the original for a new generation of B-horror fans while pushing the technical quality up a few notches. In a production driven by the original film’s main star, Latshaw gets to direct James Best in his reboot; Best will be recreating the role he made “famous” in the 1959 late-night classic.
Synopsis:
A TV Reality Show hires Captain Thorne Sherman (James Best) and his boat to cargo supplies to the deserted offshore island they’re using as a filming location. Thorne would have refused the job because he’s been to that island before and stills sees it in his nightmares. Unfortunately, as the boat departs, Thorne is too hungover to realize where they’re going and his first mate Rook (Rick Hurst) needs the money. So they sail — to a place Thorne Sherman never wanted to see again as long as he lived: the island of the Killer Shrews.
As the TV crew and two-fisted animal expert Johnny Reno (John Schneider) shoot their reality show, some of the cast and crew go missing, attacked and eaten in a bloody feeding frenzy by strange creatures. But tough as nails Producer Stella, sleazy Director Willard and manipulative Writer Lenora couldn’t care less about the human cost. They are ruthlessly focused on getting their show in the can, regardless of the body count. Only cute young camera operator Mickey (Jennifer Lyons) and her on-again off-again boyfriend Sam grow concerned about their vanished friends. And Captain Thorne grows uneasy. Only he knows that the island holds hidden danger. The place is crawling with giant Killer Shrews, the result of a 50 year old experiment gone terribly wrong.
No one is prepared when the Killer Shrews attack, devouring everything in their path! Thorne moves the panicked and blood-spattered survivors to a safe house – the same scientific compound where the man-eating shrews were spawned half a century ago. Everyone is grateful, but creeping suspicion grows. How does Thorne know about this place? And what is his connection to the Killer Shrews?
But these questions can wait. The shrews are fast and ferocious, able to strip flesh from their screaming victims in seconds. And they are ready to attack – now! Stella rises to the occasion, taking charge among the bloody carnage. But her heroism leads to her sudden and gory demise, and soon more crew members fall prey to the creatures’ ravenous, slathering jaws. To make matters worse, Jerry, a mysterious castaway, stalks the survivors. Jerry has a strange hold over the ravenous Killer Shrews, and at times he can control the crawling monsters.
Thorne and Jerry share a strange history, a past linked to the horrific-flesh-eating Shrews. Now Jerry is targeting Thorne for bloody vengeance, and no one is safe from the dangerously insane castaway. Fleeing the relentless carnivorous shrews, Mickey takes refuge in a cave. But her safe haven turns to shocking horror when Mickey is trapped by Jerry. Sam braves the hordes of flesh eating monsters to rescue Mickey from the madman’s lair, but Jerry gets the upper hand. On this island, it’s eat or be eaten, and Jerry decides who is hunter and who is prey.
As the number of survivors dwindle they must overcome their differences to avoid getting eaten alive. But before Thorne can get off the island he must face his horrific past — and a final showdown with Jerry. Time is running out for the survivors to get off the island before the voracious monsters turn them all into bloody Shrew bait.
Kaiju Search-Robot Avery has been twitching to release news of this production for some time now. Always eager to embrace new independent low-budget films, his enthusiasm for this knows no bounds. I asked him about it.
I remember reading back in the early 2000s about how James Best wanted to do a sequel to The Killer Shrews [he said] ….obviously it never really got off the ground. I think he wasn’t totally serious about it at that point…. then when Brett Kelly did his remake of Attack of the Giant Leeches and so many other B-classics were getting remakes, I started wondering what had happened to this project. Also the 50th anniversary of the original film was creeping up fast. This was in early 2008…. I decided to contact Mr Best and shortly afterwards I was let in on the “secret” but sworn to secrecy. James had started thinking more seriously about this project and was working to make it happen. Of course it took some time but James kept me in the loop with updates as the wheels began to finally turn. Then once Steve Latshaw was hired and other producers stepped on board, the project finally got off the ground and things started really happening for the film. Now the film is finally really happening — some 52 years after the original and with the star of the original film, a living legend, returning to reprise his same role. The killer shrews will be introduced to a whole new generation!
See? An enthusiast!
Director Steve Latshaw waiting for the Shrews to turn up
Hopefully we’ll be able to show you the first trailer soon. Until then, here are a few pictures of scared cast members and conceptual artwork that may or may not show what the Shrews will look like.
Sources: James and Dorothy Best via Avery Guerra. Written by Robert Hood.
Addendum:
Never seen the original? Well then, what are you waiting for? Watch it for free now!
Yeti? Meh-teh [Man-bear]? Migoi [Wild man]? Mirka? Kang Admi [Snow man]? These are all names for the ape-like cryptid that has long been reported as inhabiting the snowbound reaches of the Himalayas (see this Wikipedia article for the derivations of the name). The creature is also known as the Abominable Snowman — and one of my favourite movies on the subject is the 1957 Hammer film The Abominable Snowman, directed by Val Guest and starring Peter Cushing and Forrest Tucker, written by one of the all-time great genre screenwriters, Nigel Kneale. If you haven’t seen it, go check it out. Just make sure you watch a version in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The current DVD edition from Anchor Bay is excellent.
The Yeti has long been associated in cryptozoological thought with the North American forest man-beast known as Bigfoot or Sasquatch, which in itself has spawned many horror films. But this weekend’s Fright Flick postulates a closer cousin still, an cryptid inhabitant of the snowy Yukon known as Yakatutch.
Claws (US-2010; short [11.23 min]; dir. Sean Francis Ellis)
The short film concerns a group of young friends who set out into the Canadian wilderness to find the father of one of their number, who has disappeared while hunting down the legendary Yakatutch. They find more than they bargained for.
It was based on a longer script developed by Sydney-born director Sean Ellis, which was a finalist in the Beverly Hills Film Festival Screenplay Competition in 2010. The short was filmed in Big Bear, California, in February 2010 and stars Spencer Falls, Adrian Chang, Sarah Belger, Paton Ashbrook, Alessandro Giannetti and Tom Skalka as Carter. For more crew details, see its Vimeo page.
Meanwhile, enjoy the short film here (or follow this link to view it in on the Vimeo site).
Ellis’ aim is to make the feature-length version as his first feature film, and to that end the Beverly Hills Film Festival event and the short film were a major step in bringing his vision to life. He commented to Undead Backbrain:
At this stage, the film is about one year away from production. The shoot will take place in the winter, in a mountainous area of the US or in Canada. The creature from the film is being designed currently, but no artwork is available yet. It will likely be a suit with some CG enhancements.
He sees the film as drawing inspiration from creature-feature classics such as The Thing, Predator and Jaws, “while adding a Native American element to the Yeti myth”.
Here is the full synopsis. It suggests that the film will be much more than a simplistic creature hunt:
For 350 years, the Tutchone people of Western Canada have told stories about the Beast known as Yakatutch, which lives in the remote wilderness of the Yukon. Once a fierce warrior, Yakatutch was cursed for an unspeakable crime against his tribe, and banished to the farthest mountains. But the tribal leaders who cursed Yakatutch could not foresee what has come… a large population, living on the edge of its habitat.
When an unknown animal starts killing people near the small Yukon town of Whitehorse, Anthropologist Marcus Fletcher discovers DNA evidence of something part-human and part-animal. He believes it is the legendary creature, but his son Scott (22), a local snowboarding champ, is unconvinced. Marcus meets with a Tutchone Elder, who explains that Yakatutch can only be killed by one of his descendants. The Elder sends Matusa, a powerful-looking but quiet young tribesman, who has been raised for one purpose: to kill The Beast.
Marcus introduces Matusa to local Police Captain, Pierre Babineaux, who is intrigued by their story. He invites them to his home for dinner, but Scott is uncomfortable, because he is dating Babineaux’s daughter, Ayasha, a beautiful young RCMP officer. That evening, Babineaux’s wife Anita, who is also Tutchone, makes a startling revelation about Matusa – he is her son. He was taken away as a child, because she was unmarried.
When police discover more victims with distinctive claw-shaped wounds and The Beast’s DNA, Marcus makes an even more startling discovery: The Beast is evolving – becoming more human. Marcus believes The Beast is the key to potentially ground-breaking DNA research. He secretly goes to the mountains alone, hoping to capture The Beast, alive.
Believing that Marcus is in grave danger, Scott convinces Babineaux that the legendary Beast is real. Anita warns him to stay away from The Beast’s domain, but Babineaux decides to go, with Matusa as their guide. Aware of the danger, Ayasha joins her father and her half-brother, Matusa, to help Scott find his father, and hunt down The Beast.
Sources: Sean Ellis via Avery Guerra; Official website, Facebook page (where there is an abundance of production shots); also here; Sean Ellis’ website. Written by Robert Hood
Addendum:
Alternate poster for the short film:
Director Ellis has also supplied us with some storyboard pages prepared for the crashing helicopter scene from the short film. You can download it in PDF format from here: Storyboard.
Another World is Israel’s first post apocalyptic action/horror film. It’s directed by Eitan Reuven and produced by Reuven and Shlomi Aviner (see full crew listing here). The Backbrain was privileged to see an extended scene, and it was classy, well filmed and very, very suspenseful indeed.
In a post-apocalyptic near-future, a biological warfare program goes wrong, and turns most of humanity to mindless, murderous creatures, otherwise known as “Infected”. They have zombie eyes and other characteristics of the post-Romero species, except they’re of the fast kind, drawing on 28 Days Later… rather than directly on more traditional zombie lore. So are they “real” zombies? Hard to tell at this point. We need to know if they’re fast and dead, or just fast and insane. I guess it will depend on whether or not anything less than full brain-splatter will stop them.
Note: the above is a production shot, taken during the make-up process. Hence the lack of red eyes.
Five uninfected characters are the focus of the film and they spend their time trying to survive constant attacks by the infected.
As described on the website:
Each one of them represents in some way a different aspect of human existence, a different world-view, but most important, a different moral view about the world and his/her place in it:
- The Colonel — A professional soldier, represents the political-military-economic establishment, which sees life as a constant, violent struggle for power and resources.
- The Doctor — Represents a commitment to love, justice and non-violent struggle against all wrong.
- The Wizard — A young man, an inventor and an autodidact scientist, who looks at life as a puzzle to be solved. He strives to discover, understand and invent, with no thought as to the consequences.
- The Daughter — A simple girl with simple ambitions, sailing through life enjoying every comfort, while ignoring or unaware of bigger and more profound issues.
- The Mouser — A murderer and rapist, evil in the most banal aspect of the word.
Trailer:
Themes, the creators say, include the nature of evil, the boundaries of moral responsibility, species (and humankind) extinction, love, grace, euthanasia and more. Clearly this isn’t your average gut-wrenching zombie flick!
According to director Reuven, we’re looking at about 3-4 months from now for the film’s release. Look for special updates here soon.
Below is a gallery of production images. There is an abundance of images to be found on the film’s official website.
Sources: Eitan Reuven via Avery Guerra; Official website.
Gallery:
Home (Australia-2010; short [approx. 11 min.]; dir. Cameron McCulloch)
Aussie filmmaker Cameron McCulloch has produced a damn fine short zombie film in Home. Made for AUS$2,000, it is, as it were, but a moment in the Romeroesque, post-Night of the Living Dead apocalypse, almost a vignette, though with the help of actress Jamie Mcdowell it achieves an emotionally epic quality.
With no dialogue (“apart from zombie moans”), but powerful imagery, beautiful cinematography, an evocative soundscape, effective music and leisurely pacing, it offers up a story that — like a breath of fresh air in a genre that is too often careless and derivative — takes its subject seriously, filling its meagre 11 minutes with enough atmospheric suspense, thrills and pathos to guarantee it will stay in the memory long after its wrenching final moments.
If you get a chance to see it when it comes to a festival near you, make sure you do.
The Backbrain asked director McCulloch some questions about his work.
Undead Backbrain: Have you had any previous experience with zombies?
Cameron McCulloch: None with zombies, though I have had experience directing horror, action and comedy. This is my first zombie film, or as we dubbed it, a romzom.
UB: Why this subject for a film?
CM: I began writing the project as an exercise. I wanted to tell a story about isolation and loneliness with as much emotion as possible, but no dialogue. I began writing, showing the woman alone, the pulley system to warn that something is out there. When I got to the scene where we see the first zombie, I was trying to think what it could be and well zombies! came to mind and I just ran with it. Being a genre fan and a zombie fan, I thought it was about time for a cool zombie short. Plus at the time of writing the film, zombies were not all that popular, unlike now.
UB: Your own background?
CM: Since graduating film school, I have been working as a editor / director, mainly directing music videos and shorts and editing commercials. I have been making films since I was 13 so, for 20 years now. But good ones for only about 10!
UB: What about this description you gave me of the filming: “It was shot under grueling fucked up conditions”?
CM: We shot in the middle of winter over two weekends, We had a remote location for the first weekend. On our first day, which was one of the coldest winter days in 10 years, it rained constantly, our lead actress had a chest infection and because the film relies solely on her emotive performance it was really tough for her physically, particularly with a bastard like me pushing her to do more takes when she was sick as a dog. Jamie was great though — she never complained and was always ready to shoot.
UB: Where can our readers get to see “Home”?
CM: We have already screened twice in Melbourne [taking out first prize at the Made in Melbourne Film Festival in December, I might add — ed.]. There will be some screenings soon in the near future. I am confirming some details on them very soon.
UB: Ambitions for the future?
CM: My next production will be a 12-part romantic/comedy/zombie web series (so a “romcomzom” — or maybe I’ll just stick with “romzom”), which I’m in the final stages of writing. It’s a blend of comedy and romance with some zombies in there as well, just for good measure. Unlike “Home”, this series will be dialogue-heavy and a lot less depressing, focusing on characters and the comedy of the situation. I like a bit of gore with my comedy and romance.
Also I have just finished a script for a new short which I will shoot late in the year, and have some feature scripts ready to go.
Addendum: Poster
Addendum: Trailer
Zombie Videoshoot ‘Home’ from Tinny Tang on Vimeo.
Gallery:
