Thai filmmakers (and presumably their audiences) have a particular fondness for snakes, it seems — especially really big ones. Two serpent-oriented horror movies have recently appeared, one featuring ordinary snakes en masse and the other a solitary giant of a snake.
The Intruder (Thailand-2009; dir. “James” Thanadol Nualsuth and “Ping” Thammanoon Sakulbunthanom)
Synopsis:
In 1983, before the giant Suvarnabhumi international airport was built, the neglected and unoccupied area was called “King Cobra Swamp” by the locals. As building commenced, a huge old Banyan tree blocked the construction path. A work crew call in a mechanical digger to remove the tree. As the roots are torn from the ground, thousands of cobra bones explode from the earth, tearing the workers to pieces. After the passing of the grim massacre, witnesses who survived tell strange stories about an evil Cobra spirit. Years later when a new apartment block was built on the spot, Nin, the building’s owner, has to face the horrifying truth when hundreds of Cobra appear, hell-bent on killing every living person in the apartment building. Once again, people believe that it is the vengeance of the Spirit. How will they survive, while being hunted by vengeance without mercy? (adapted from 24FPS)
From the posters, The Intruder follows the current Hollywood standard for barely-out-of-their-teens protagonists, plus a smattering of gore. It also has nearly as many posters associated with it as there are snakes biting holes in the cast (see Gallery below).
The Scout (Thailand-2009; dir. Pleo Sirisuwan)
Synopsis:
Scouts visit an ancient temple to witness a lunar eclipse. Hearing campfire stories of the legendary god who protects the temple, they decide to go on a treasure hunt. Finding themselves lost in a parallel universe, they must find the way back before the end of the eclipse traps them.
This one, which features Boy Scouts, seems to be a kid’s horror-adventure film (check out the trailer below, if in doubt). Presumably the “legendary god” manifests in the form of a giant snake. Much about the storyline suggests that it is a family-friendly version of the same director’s earlier giant-snake opus Vengeance [aka Phairii phinaat paa mawrana] (Thailand-2006; dir. Preaw Sirisuwan) — a sort of sequel or even a parallel child-oriented remake. Vengeance was actually a pretty good film, if rather more bloody and “adult” than the trailer and scenario of The Scout suggests that Sirisuwan’s new film is likely to be — so it will definitely be worth checking out, especially for the mega-snake obsessed among us.
Writer, director and all-round independent cinema Renaissance Man Brett Piper’s latest B-flick renovation is Muckman — an epic tale of swamplands, genetic mutation and tentacles. We last explored the heritage on which it draws here — and now have a bunch of exclusive pictures to further illustrate just how mucky it is. What is becoming clear is that this may be more like Swamp Thing meets H.P. Lovecraft! As you can see from the following images Muckman and co. clearly share some genetic ooze with the Great God Cthulhu.
Iconic consulting detective Sherlock Holmes may be getting a modern revamp courtesy of Robert Downey Jr., but the news that the Asylum is producing their own tale of the great detective — and throwing giant monsters into the mix — has me reaching for the (metaphorical) cocaine.
Sherlock Holmes (US-2010; dir. Rachel Goldenberg)
Synopsis:
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective faces the ultimate challenge when enormous monsters attack London.
Principal photography is just finishing up and a period of low-budget CGI enhancement will now follow (adding lots of giant-monster action, one hopes), as we head toward the announced 26 January 2010 release date. Apart from the above synopsis and clues gleaned from a batch of newly released production shots, little is known about the content of the film — though I’ve put Kaiju Search-Robot Avery on the case. Even as we speak he’s trying to extract information from Asylum producer and Holmes screenwriter Paul Bales.
The film stars Welsh actor Ben Syderas Holmes and Gareth David-Lloyd of Torchwood fame as Dr John Watson (see below).
The main villain doesn’t appear to be the infamous Professor Moriarty, but rather Spring-Heeled Jack — a strange character from English Victorian-era folklore who was renowned for being able to leap very high.
Wikipedia describes him thus:
Spring Heeled Jack was described by people claiming to have seen him as having a terrifying and frightful appearance, with diabolical physiognomy, clawed hands, and eyes that “resembled red balls of fire”. One report claimed that, beneath a black cloak, he wore a helmet and a tight-fitting white garment like an “oilskin”. Many stories also mention a “Devil-like” aspect. Spring Heeled Jack was said to be tall and thin, with the appearance of a gentleman, and capable of making great leaps. Several reports mention that he could breathe out blue and white flames and that he wore sharp metallic claws at his fingertips. At least two people claimed that he was able to speak comprehensible English. (Wikipedia)
Clearly the hints of mechanical enhancement have been taken on-board by Bales and director Rachel Goldenberg to produce a chap named Thorpe who wears rather fetching steampunk armour and bears the pseudonym, Spring-Heeled Jack — in which guise he commits dastardly deeds:
This is Spring-Heeled Jack’s helmet:
And below is the power-pack that gives him his “spring”:
Also on the case is Inspector Lestrade, a regular from the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories and novels:
As is that most famous of London street addresses 221B Baker Street, complete with Mrs Hudson:
Over the years, artist Mark “Crash” McCreery has worked on many major genre films, as character/creature designer and concept artist, from Edward Scissorhands (1990) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), through Batman Returns (1992) and Jurassic Park (1993), to The Relic (1997), Small Soldiers (1998), Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) and many more. Much of his work has been done under the auspices of the Stan Winston Studios and it is this opus that has recently gone up for auction.
Below is a gallery of his work, ranging from conceptual drawings created for the unmade Godzilla (1994):
…. through a large collection of images created for the Jurassic Park films:
…. and conceptual drawings such as this one of the alien from Predator (1987):
…. to pictures of the Penguin’s henchmen from Batman Returns (1992):
Stunning and beautifully rendered stuff, with immaculate detail and luminous pencil work. Make sure you click on the images to see them at full size.
These and many other items from Stan Winston’s Studios are going up for auction on October 8 and 9, 2009. Check out the details relating to them on the Profiles in History website while they are still available.
Gallery:
Sources: Profiles in History website; IMDb entry. Thanks to Todd Tennant and Stephen Dedman.
After the excitement of finding the eBay site from a while back when Willis O’Brien’s materials relating to his aborted project War Eagles were put up for sale, it’s even more exciting to have been sent another group of production images via one of Undead Backbrain’s correspondents — my official War Eagles Undercover Agent, nicknamed Richfrog.
The following are conceptual drawings by the great animator himself:
Below is an endoskeleton for the articulated model of a War Eagle, built by Marcel Delgado:
This is another endoskeleton, this time of a Viking warrior (for animation when riding the Eagles, no doubt):
Three Allosaurus models constructed for the proposed film:
Below are two images from the animated sequence that O’Brien and his crew put together before the production was abandoned: an Allosaurs fighting a giant eagle, and an Allosaurus in its (miniature) environment. We’ve seen them before, but these versions are clearer.
The Spanish site where these images come from gives a somewhat longer description of the plot of War Eagles. Here is my rough translation:
It begins in 1938 when a historian called Hiran Cobb comes to believe that Vikings are still alive in a remote, and temperate, region of the north pole — a sort of the blind spot. In company with the stunt pilot Jimmy Mathews, Cobb begins a journey toward the pole to seek out the lost tribe, but his plane is forced to land in that unknown town after an attack by a giant white eagle controlled by the inhabitants. In “The Ancient Pass[?]”, as the area is called, Cobb will face a triceratops, a brontosaurus, a pterodactyl and a number of allosauri. Things get complicated when the German military comes on the scene, attacking New York from the air with a ray gun that neutralises all electric power installed in its giant Zeppelins. The Vikings and their giant eagles agree to stop the fleet.
First there was Dinocroc (US-2004; dir. Kevin O’Neill), then there was Supergator (US-2007; dir. Brian Clyde) — both produced by the inimitable Roger Corman (see Undead Brainspasm article).
Now there’s Dinocroc vs Supergator, and courtesy of Jim Wynorski we bring you the latest images of the rampaging beasts — bigger and more fiercesome than ever! (Click on the images to be overwhelmed!)
Dinocroc:
vs Supergator:
In June this year (according to IMDb), the film — then in post-production — was called Volcanic, and was being directed by Rob Robertson. It was to star David Carradine. I can’t help wondering how much of the great exploitation-film actor’s part had been completed when he died on 3 June 2009 in a Bangkok hotel. Hopefully, as the film is still listed on Carradine’s IMDb entry as being in post-production, we’ll be able to see him in it. That will certainly give it added interest for me.
At any rate the title Volcanic has not stuck and Dinocroc vs Supergator is due to be released in January 2010.
Addendum: News just in! David Carradine did complete his part, so we can look forward to seeing the star of some great genre flicks — such as Q – The Winged Serpent (US-1982; dir. Larry Cohen), Death Race 2000 (US-1975; dir. Paul Bartel) and Tarantino’s Kill Bill — as well as the iconic Kung Fu TV series — dealing with a pair of giant reptiles. Thanks, Avery.
Dead Souls: An Anthology of Darkness and Mayhem (edited by Mark S. Deniz and published by Morrigan Books) was officially launched at Fantasy Con in Nottingham, England on 19 September 2009.
Before God created light, there was darkness. Even after He illuminated the world, there were shadows — shadows that allowed the darkness to fester and infect the unwary. The tales found within Dead Souls explore the recesses of the soul; those people and creatures that could not escape the shadows. From the inherent cruelness of humanity to malevolent forces, Dead Souls explores the depths of humanity as a lesson to the ignorant, the naive and the unsuspecting. God created light, but it is a temporary grace that will ultimately fail us, for the darkness is stronger and our souls … are truly dead.
My story in the collection, “Sandcrawlers”, is one of my more darkly affecting tales, I believe. It deals with a real unsolved Australian crime — one that galvanised the country in the 1960s — but told with a large dose of fiction (especially as it is “solved” within the confines of the story). As such it is part of the Mike Crowe canon, stories featuring a sometime PI cum criminal handyman who is also the main character of a novel, as yet unpublished, titled Scavengers.
The book has just received its first review — a positive one — with “Sandcrawlers” being singled out as “one of the top stories of this anthology”. The reviewer says of it:
Robert Hood manages to inflict in his character an almost palpable terror and creates two terrifying events, a shocking horror of human nature and a psychological one, which proves in some places to be even more powerful. What I liked also about this story is that the author offers the reader some twists and turns that make the story even more interesting. (Dark Wolf’s Fantasy Reviews)
The anthology has an impressive contents list, featuring authors such as Ramsey Campbell, Paul Finch, Kaaron Warren, T.A. Moore, and many others. Check out the full list here and order a copy while you’re at it.
There is, in the heart of the horror genre, an undoubted fascination for freakshow and carnival flicks, be they good stuff such as Tod Browning’s classic Freaks (1932), the brilliant TV series Carnivàle (2003-2005) and David Lynch’s tragic The Elephant Man (1980), or less-than-classic but still fascinating efforts like Hideous! (1997), Charles Band’s Full Moon tale of rival freak collectors, Tom Stern and Alex Winter’s “thinking man’s stupid comedy” Freaked (1993), Frank Henenlotter’s always bizarre Basket Case series (1982-1992) and Clive Barker’s unfortunately slashed-and-burnt Nightbreed (1990).
It’s hardly surprising really. So-called “freaks” are the very origin of the term “monster”, which means literally “wonder” and was once used to describe what we might call deviations from the genetic “norm” of a species, be they human or not. If the horror genre depicts threats against normality and the fear that comes from the realisation that normality itself may be an illusion, then this is where the freakshow belongs.
The reality of genetic deviance is, of course, a lot different from what we see on the screen (with the exception of The Elephant Man, perhaps), despite the presence of real “freaks” in Todd Browning’s controversial film and in the X-Files episode “Humbug”, which featured members of a genuine freakshow (the Jim Rose Circus). Generally speaking, especially at the schlock end of the cinematic scale, the freaks are included for shock value and in a rather comedic-horror context — as well as giving the SFX make-up crew something fun to play with.
A new film, Crustacean (US-2010; dir. L.J. Dopp), seems to fit comfortably into this sub-genre, offering a mixed bag of horror, comedy, freakish weirdness, beautiful women, circus intrigue, sexiness, blood-and-guts, bizarre narrative twists, social commentary, metaphorical undercurrents … and song — all in a freakshow carnival setting.
Synopsis:
A lobster-clawed carnival freak escapes from a sleazy sideshow (Professor Nightwind’s Carnival of Freaks) and goes on a bloody rampage in a rural community so small, that only two families live there.
Original promo “post card” front: Zenius Muleckis as the titular character,
aka “Lobster baby,” holding Angela Berliner as Allison,
as Co-Ed Confidential’s Hannah Harper looks on
According to writer-director L.J. Dopp:
This movie operates on several levels. On the surface, it’s an over-the-top, unrated horror comedy that seeks to entertain viewers of the pizza and six-pack set, who are looking for something that kicks ass in the areas of nudity, profanity, violence, and extreme gore. It’s also an dumb-and-dumber redneck movie for closet intellectuals.
A victim of the lobster-clawed carnival freak; gore courtesy of Synapse FX
“I figured as long as we’re doing all that, might as well make the whole thing a comment on American pop culture,” Dopp added, ” — from TV infomercials and the songs on the radio, to the portrayal of truly warped ‘family values’, and the downright de-sensitization of people.”
The scene goes to colour as McDougal the Hog Farmer
(played by Dopp as “Lorenzo Loco”) raises the chainsaw
and pulls the cord, laughing maniacally
— right before Lobster Baby rips his throat out.
Dopp, who also acted as production designer, didn’t stop with writing and directing. After years of involvement in music, he decided to write ten new songs for this movie, incorporating five cast members who sing (often in character) on the soundtrack, thus making Crustacean a sort of “subconscious musical” as well.
In terms of its musical content, Crustacean boasts the presence of Tom Saviano, a world-class sax player/producer who recorded and co-produced all the music for Crustacean with Dopp. Listed in the July-August issue of The Saxophone Journal as one of the top 100 sax players of all time, Saviano has platinum records from playing on the last Ray Charles record, as well as on Earth, Wind & Fire and Sheena Easton albums. He performs the sax arrangement on “Even Though,” the song that closes out Crustacean‘s trailer (see below). Says Dopp: “Tom is probably the most A-list person connected to this movie.”
Dopp himself was the producer who raised the money to back the film (under the pseudonym “Lorenzo Loco”):
Edward L. Plumb is my producing partner, and when we made The Boneyard Collection (hosted by the late Forrest J. Ackerman) a few years back, I came up with the Lorenzo Loco name (“Crazy Larry” in Spanish) so we could be “Plumb Loco Productions.” We feel that using our (real) names over and over in the credits makes the films look cheapjack, so we make up pseudonyms after our real ones appear two or three times.
The production company behind the film is actually Irena Belle Films, owned by Edward Plumb. Plumb has a history in low-budget horror genre production, with titles such as The Vampire Hunters Club (2001), Boogie with the Undead (2003), The Low Budget Time Machine [aka Spacebabes Meet the Monsters] (2003), The Mummy’s Kiss: 2nd Dynasty (2006) and The Dead Undead (2009) gracing his CV — and in various capacities (from writing and production to acting and “miscellaneous crew”).
Genre Referencing
In a manner that became popular in 1970s and 1980s horror comedy, particularly independent horror comedy, and has remained a feature of this subgenre ever since, Crustacean boasts the involvement of horror personalities from various fields and offers a sort of genre self-consciousness that makes it a semi-historical pastiche — all as part of the fun, of course.
For example, horror writer Peter Atkins (who penned Hellbound: Hellraiser II, Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth, and the Wishmaster screenplays and books) appears as Professor Nightwind the freakmaster, seen in the above picture catching up on his reading in a nighttime scene at the carnival. In the early days, Atkins worked in Grand Guignol live theatre in Liverpool with horror maestro Clive Barker.
In a nicely esoteric piece of visual trivia, it should be noted that writer-director L.J. Dopp was co-nominated for a Rondo Award for the cover of Mondo Cult #2 (as seen in the above picture) — and co-executive producer Brad Linaweaver is the magazine’s publisher.
Behind the scenes, co-executive producer, David F. Friedman, produced the first American “over-the-top” colour gore movies in 1963 and 1964, Blood Feast and 2000 Maniacs, both directed by his then-partner, Hershell Gordon Lewis.
Trivia note: Director L.J. Dopp was the art director of Dave Friedman’s pioneer adult video company, TVX, in the early 1980s, and directed Dave as “Captain Deal,” in Dopp’s first commercial feature, the early direct-to-video roughie, 1980’s Leather Persuasion. (Source: Dopp)
There are many other genre-referential acting roles and cameos:
Sci-fi screenwriter George Clayton Johnson (original Ocean’s Eleven, Twilight Zone, Star Trek, Logan’s Run) posing with “Sweet Lucinda the Fortune Teller”, as played by Memphis beauty Natalie Jones. George plays himself as the inept prognosticator tells him, “I see longevity in your lifeline — and someday, you’ll be a famous writer.” She has a firm grasp on the present:
Caleb Emerson, director of the cult flick Die You Zombie Bastards, plays the Pirate Guy at the carnival – harrrr…:
J.Kent Hastings as “Herb Aphrodite, the Bearded Fat Lady” poses with sexy model Paula Labaredas, appearing as a stranded singer in a bizarre carnival cameo defined by flashing type underneath as the PRODUCER’S “GIRLFRIEND” SCENE:
Matt Burch, from TV’s Operation Repo, also appears as a biker love god, in a brief, surreal send-up of Italian post-apocalyptic movies of the 1980s with spaghetti western music.
Rising horror star Elissa Dowling appears as Thumper Stain (below). Dowling has 40 movies on her IMDb page, most of them genre (including two that have featured on Undead Backbrain and its sister site, Undead Brainspasm: Transmorphers, and O.C. Babes and the Slasher of Zombietown). She’s done eight films since Crustacean!
Dopp points to the influence of Ray Bradbury’s work on his film:
Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983) was a major influence on Crustacean’s carnival elements. Ray Bradbury established himself as the king of the sideshow world with the 1947 publication of his first short story collection, Dark Carnival. Professor Nightwind in Crustacean is actually a goof on Professor Dark, played by Jonathon Pryce in Something Wicked ... There is a character called “Jim Nightshade”, too, so I sort of combined the names. I had hoped Prof. Nightwind would evoke memories of Pryce in the role — both wear distinctive black top hats — but if people see Freddie Jones from Elephant Man in Peter Atkins performance, I can certainly live with that. [see Addendum at the end of this article for more on the Bradbury connection]
According to Dopp, Crustacean is full of movie references and, occasionally, lines of dialogue from other movies — “if the scene fits, why not?” he says.
It’s not a string of scenes from other movies with a threadbare plot to hang them on, like the Epic..., and Date movies. The plot of Crustacean is like your fairly conventional, kinetic, real-time grindhouse horror flick — for the first hour — then the plot goes off the rails. It’s a horror/sci-fi genre satire — like Blazing Saddles was to westerns — with scenes you’ve seen in lots of movies, generalized — not specific scenes from certain movies reproduced. It’s kind of original in a lot of ways.
Some examples:
Producer Lorenzo Loco appears in a cameo as McDougal the Hog Farmer in a send-up of Motel Hell:
Dopp comments on the image:
We didn’t have the money for an SPCA person on-set, so we shot a lot of closeups of ceramic pigs, then created black-and-white images of these pigs dissolving in-and-out of focus until they turn into a black-and-white image of the man in the pig mask luring the off-screen pigs to their doom. An off-screen baby pig screeching periodically punctuates this flashback sequence near the end of the movie — a sequence that is also a brief homage to Eraserhead, my 3rd favorite movie.
Actor-filmmaker David Dietrich as “The Hippie,” killed in a shower of blood during the “show ’em the monster” flashback at the beginning, so designated by flashing type at the bottom of the screen reading, with postmodern tongue-in-cheek, “SHOW ‘EM THE MONSTER” FLASHBACK.
There’s Beauty, Too
But it’s not all horror, blood and ugliness. For example, there’s former porn queen Hannah Harper, who has sold a heap of videos and has appeared on the cover of Penthouse twice, and on Jay Leno’s Tonight Show twice, under her own name — as well as starring in three seasons of Cinemax’s adult comedy series, Co-Ed Confidential. She appears to be really getting a head in the horror business:
Also current porn starlet and 2008 AVN Awards Best Actress nominee, Marie McCray, who appears as “The Girl Gone Nuts” in the woods — a send-up of the “Girls Gone Wild” infomercials, with their calypso music and constant boob flashing. Here she is about to do a “reveal”:
And Angela Berliner, Best Actress winner at the 2008 Hoboken International Film Festival appears as “Ali”. The award was shared by her sister, Jordana, who also appears in Crustacean.
Availability:
Crustacean will be available on DVD soon. We’ll keep you informed. Meanwhile here is the newly revealed and lengthy trailer. You can check out more images in the Gallery below.
Trailer:
Production Credits:
Written and Directed by L.J. Dopp Produced by Edward L. Plumb and Lorenzo Loco Executive Producers — Brad Linaweaver, Maxine Gillespie, Charles P. Hammill, and “The Last of the Great Showmen”, David F. Friedman Director of Photography — Morgan Schmidt Edited by J.Kent Hastings Music Score and Production Design — L.J. Dopp Special Makeup Effects — Synapse FX Key Makeup — Corinne Dutra Additional Makeup Effects — Hugo Villasenor/MP3 FX 2nd unit Key Makeup — Lorraine Martin Unit Production Manager/Key Grip — Peter Lugo
Sources and Article Credits: L.J. Dopp via Avery; written and organised by Robert Hood; all stills by Don Allen, Mark Lampert and Pete Lugo; tie dyes by Dopp’s brother Don of Sacramento
Official website: http://CrustaceanTheMovie.com (under development). Here there will be a link to Dopp’s personal art gallery site, a brief synopsis, a full cast and crew list and updates on the film’s availability, along with a link to the trailer on YouTube.
Addendum: L.J. Dopp remembers Ray Bradbury on the making of Something Wicked This Way Comes:
I briefly interviewed Mr Bradbury while doing a piece for Cemetery Dance Magazine ten years ago, and mentioned that “Something Wicked…” was one of my favorite movies he’d written. He had this to say: “One of my favorites … but I beat up the director (Jack Clayton) when he didn’t do it right. The film was so bad that we couldn’t release it, and we had to go back and spend five million dollars to correct the mistakes he made … I helped edit the last reel, because it was so wrong…” I spoke with an editor friend who’d worked on the picture, and she confimed that Bradbury had come into the editing bay one day and had suggested changes. A man in the signing line asked wasn’t Jack Clayton dead, and Ray said, “Yes, and I hope he burns in hell!”
Gallery:
The Stain family trailer from the outside at night. As Pink Flamingos was a tremendous influence on writer-director LJ. Dopp in terms of a filmmaker having balls and pushing the envelope, he attempts to go Mr. Waters one better by positioning the lawn flamingos like they’re humping.
The scene goes to color as McDougal raises the chainsaw and pulls the cord, laughing maniacally — right before Lobster Baby rips his throat out.
A frame from the HD movie — the Stains hear the news of the pursuing escaped carnival freak in their squalid house trailer. From left to right, Brian Sheridan as Demond, Tom Rees as Tector, Elissa Dowling as Thumper, Maxine Gillespie as Loretta, and Mason Storm as Turd Stain
The back of the promo card with various stills from the first day’s shoot
J.Kent Hastings as “Herb Aphrodite, the Bearded Fat Lady” poses with sexy model Paula Labaredas, appears as a stranded singer in a bizarre carnival cameo defined by flashing type underneath as the PRODUCER’S “GIRLFRIEND” SCENE.
Producer Lorenzo Loco in a cameo as McDougal the Hog Farmer in a send-up of “Motel Hell”.
Actor-filmmaker David Dietrich as “The Hippie,” killed in a shower of blood during the “show ’em the monster” flashback at the beginning, so designated by flashing type at the bottom of the screen reading, “SHOW ‘EM THE MONSTER” FLASHBACK.
Hannah Harper, getting a head in the horror film business
Original promo “post card” front: Zenius Muleckis as the titular character, AKA “Lobster baby,” holding Angela Berliner as Allison, as Co-Ed Confidential’s Hannah Harper looks on
A victim of the lobster-clawed carnival freak; gore courtesy of Synapse FX
Brian Sheridan in a standout performance as Demond Stain
horror writer Peter Atkins as Professor Nightwind the freakmaster
Jim Polivka and Kieron Elliott as Yin and Yang, the Siamese Twin Pinheads
Angela Berliner as Ali
A life-sized pirate figure guards the Ten In One, as Turd and C.W. Stain look on
Professor Nightwing’s Carnival of Freaks at night: Kieron Elliott, Jim Polivka, Peter Atkins, and Caleb Emerson
Marie McCray as The Girl Gone Nuts
Marie McCray as The Girl Gone Nuts about to do a reveal
Rising horror star Elissa Dowling as Thumper Stain; the kneepads were the actress’s idea, worn as Thumper “works” the carnival.
Jacob Goble, Bryant Dillon, Angela Berliner, and Hannah Harper as The Andersons and friends: “Milo Anderson, Billy Ray Charles, Allison Anderson, and Brittany Jomes”
Jacob Goble, Bryant Dillon, Angela Berliner, and Hannah Harper as The Andersons and friends: “Milo Anderson, Billy Ray Charles, Allison Anderson, and Brittany Jomes”.
Sci-fi screenwriter George Clayton Johnson (original Ocean’s Eleven, Twilight Zone, Star Trek, Logan’s Run) posing with “Sweet Lucinda the Fortune Teller” played by Memphis beauty Natalie Jones. George plays himself as the inept prognosticator tell him, “I see longevity in your lifeline — and someday, you’ll be a famous writer.” A firm grasp on the present.
Caleb Emerson, director of the cult flick “Die You Zombie Bastards”, plays the Pirate Guy at the carnival – harrrr…
Brian Sheridan, Scott Hernandez, and Mason Storm as the Stain Boys, “Demond, C.W., and Turd Stain”
Brian Sheridan, Scott Hernandez, and Mason Storm as the Stain Boys, “Demond, C.W.”, and “Turd Stain”
Jacob Goble, Bryant Dillon, Angela Berliner, Hannah Harper, and Peter Atkins at the carnival
The Asylum’s latest film doesn’t so much make exploitative reference to an upcoming blockbuster, but to a “terrifying true story”. It is the story of a mansion in California, once the residence of Sarah Winchester, widow of gun magnate William Winchester — a mansion that was under construction continuously for 38 years. According to wikipedia:
June 1937 issue of Modern Mechanix relates the story from then-current accounts as follows: “Winchester and the baby girl died suddenly and Mrs. Winchester, stunned by the tragedy, fell into a coma so serious that physicians despaired of her life.
“Finally she recovered and, at a friend’s suggestion, visited a medium. During a seance, according to those familiar with her story, she received a communication from her dead husband in which he said: ‘Sarah dear, if our house had not been finished, I would still be with you. I urge you now to build a home, but never let it be finished, for then you will live. . . .'”
The story was obviously the inspiration for Stephen King’s mini-series, Rose Red (US/Canada-2002; dir. Craig R. Baxley).
Haunting of Winchester House (US-2009; dir. Mark Atkins)
Produced: David Michael Latt, David Rimawi, Paul Bales •Written: Jose Prendes and Mark Atkins • Cinematography: Mark Atkins • Starring: Lira Kellerman, Michael Holmes, Patty Roberts, Tomas Boykin
Synopsis:
A family moves into the mansion to act as caretakers, but when a malevolent force abducts their daughter they discover why the house deserves its reputation as one of the most haunted places in America.
