Monster Pictures

Zombie Babies: On Set of ‘The Crawling Dead’

Bianca Barnett — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 03:46:05 +0000

Hello, my lovelies, and welcome to my Monster blog, Pretty Brutal! Allow me to introduce myself properly. My name is Bianca Barnett, and I am an American actress, model, and host of the campy retro horror review show, Watch These Films with Bianca Barnett. Some of you may be familiar with my work in the films Albino Farm, My Sucky Teen Romance, and The Evil Inside. I was honored when Neil asked if I wanted to be a part of the brilliant community of freaks, weirdos, and horror fans here at Monster Pictures. I mean, really, how could I say no to such an amazing opportunity?

Hello, lovelies! How do you do? My name is Bianca Barnett.

With the recent explosion in popularity of the undead via the popular series, The Walking Dead, a newfound fascination and obsession with all things zombie has risen. Zombies have shambled their way into the mainstream and people cannot seem to get enough of the putrid brain-munchers. Mass organized zombie walks, Thriller flash mobs, zombie proms, the list goes on! Hell, even Jeopardy had a “zombie” category. A trip to the local bookstore reveals an entire section devoted to the undead- cookbooks, games, comics, stuffed toys, and more. Not to be left behind, Hollywood is cashing in on the zombie genre craze with movies like World War Z, Warm Bodies, and even the kid friendly, ParaNorman.

The zombie movement seems unwilling to croak. So, how do you breathe life into an oversaturated genre? What if the tame mainstream is just not your thing? Well, why not try something so utterly twisted and gloriously distasteful that Hollywood wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole? Why not zombie… babies?

No CG here! Only 100% authentic zombie babies!

Enter The Crawling Dead, a quirky combination of dark humor and grisly horror, not intended for the politically correct. (The tagline is, “A web series about abortion, zombie babies, immortal rednecks, and explosions.”) The film sprang from the deranged minds of Eamon Hardiman and Missy Dawn, founders of Razor Sharp Studios, which burst onto the scene by bringing fans horror schlock like Catholic Ghoulgirls, Vampire Whores from Outer Space, and Porkchop 1, 2, and 3D.

Written and directed by Hardiman, The Crawling Dead follows expectant couple, Eric and Rachel York (Elvis McComas and Lindsey Davis), as they move into their ideal home. However, the couple soon uncovers evidence that their dream home actually has a very disturbing history and that their landlord, Burt Fleming (Brian Gunnoe), is not who he appears to be.

Lovely actresses Lindsey Davis and Missy Dawn appear in The Crawling Dead.

So, just how did I get involved in the project? Last spring, Razor Sharp contacted my husband/manager, Michael Kyne, to ask if I would be interested in making a cameo in their latest endeavor. The Crawling Dead was shot in beautiful Charleston, West Virginia in the valley of the majestic and mysterious Appalachian Mountains. For my part as Marjorie in the film, Michael and I met the crew at the world famous dive bar, The Empty Glass. The tiny space was filled to the brim with a cast of excited extras and a friendly and professional crew. Hardiman asked if Michael wanted to make an appearance in the film as a patron at the bar that couldn’t resist pestering me. The scene was shot from several different angles, each requiring different camera and light placement. Since the Razor Sharp crew was so experienced and professional, setting up took very little time and we flew through filming. I was even the chance to improvise a word or two, which is always a pleasure as an actor.

Dave Keith, Bianca Barnett, and Michael Kyne on set.

Missy Dawn- who wore many hats on the film as actor, producer, and production manager- had everything organized so well that filming went off without a hitch. I must say that working on The Crawling Dead was one of the most pleasant filming experiences that I have had and I look forward to collaborating with Razor Sharp Studios again in the future.

Eamon Hardiman, Bianca Barnett, and Missy Dawn on set.

Check out Razor Sharp Studios’ website for more information about all of their films. You can watch the first season (five episodes) of The Crawling Dead for free online. The second season will pick up this October, but you can be ahead of the crowd and order the entire film on Blu-ray and DVD (packed with babies, boobs, and blood) at the official website!

A Monster In The House: An Interview with Muirhouse director Tanzeal Rahim

Zak Hepburn — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 03:29:58 +0000

When we found out that cinema snob at large Zak Hepburn liked Paul Thomas Anderson’s THE MASTER – we decided to send him on an one way assignment. His mission? Recreate the events of the film MUIRHOUSE – which depicts the fateful journey of writer Phillip Muirhouse, who began a promotional book tour on supernatural phenomena based around the famous Monte Cristo Homestead, which is known as ‘the most haunted house in Australia’. Shit get’s weird. Fortunately for Hepburn, rather than follow the characters ill fated journey – he decided to speak with MUIRHOUSE writer/director Tanzeal Rahim about ghosts, local film production and everything else that goes bump in the night.

What are your Top 5 Haunted House Films?

In no real order – I’d have to say – The Orphanage (El Orphanto) / The Silent House ( the original not the Olsen sister remake) / The Shinning / Poltergiest / and The Woman in Black (both original and remake) .

My guilty pleasure 5 – like the ones most people think is crap or lame but I would totally watch

13 Ghosts / House on Haunted Hill (remake) / Stir of Echoes / The Others / 1408

The film chronicles an encounter at the historic Monte Cristo Homestead location – built in 1855 the location has been often cited as place rife with paranormal activity, how did you first encounter the ghastly legends that surround ”Australia’s Most Haunted House” and can you give us some background on the location?

I lived on campus in Canberra when I was at Uni – and I met a few people from Wagga who had told me about the house. I don’t think I was motivated by that – but I do think when I was writing Muirhouse I always had it in the back of my mind. The original script – wasn’t set there though. I had a draft that was actually set in a generic old house that was next to where I had guitar lessons! It was only when I started really thinking about shooting – that I thought – ‘I wonder what’s the most haunted place in Australia ‘ and when I went and saw the house – I knew it was perfect. So I rewrote the script to make it about that particular house.

What is it about Ghost Stories that capture the minds and hearts of genre fans?

I don’t care who you are – ghosts -and the idea of ghosts- scare the living piss out of everyone. I’m a firm believer that it all has to do with our childhoods. I think we all have had encounters when we were kids. I’ve travelled to so many countries with Muirhouse and at the end of the film all everyone wants to do is talk about their own experiences! For me that’s the fun. It’s real to everyone. – and in my heart everyone kind of wants to believe. I mean it’s the perfect question of empathy in these films – ‘What would you do if you saw a ghost?’

Did you meet any real Ghost Hunters in your research for the film? Did they go into the creation of lead character Phillip Muirhouse?

I watched A LOT of Ghosthunters and Taps etc… before I wrote the film. Every bit of hamming it for the camera – every bit of investigative technique is in Muirhouse. They all talk a certain way – they all communicate to ‘ghosts’ a certain way – and

what I’m very proud of is how many ‘Ghost Hunters’ have written to me about the accurate nature of Muirhouse.

The funny thing was I did try and get in contact with them during scripting. I found out they are a very secretive and protective bunch of people who are very very suspicious of anyone writing about them. I had very little support from the ‘Ghost Hunting’ community then. Since the film screened – the support has been tremendous and I think they’ve appreciated the level of detail we’ve put into the character of Phillip.

The film brings a unique visual style to the found footage sub-genre – can you expand on the decision to mix P.O.V photography and more traditional documentary set-ups?

The Last Broadcast and The Blair Witch Project did it. And I was a teen when they were out – and their style have left such an impression on me. I think the P.O.V needs it. I do feel that shaky cam style on it’s on is very distracting. I think it makes the audience question every ‘camera’ decision the characters have … ie. ‘Why’s Timmy filming his girlfriend getting killed and not helping?!?’….

Throw in the documentary angle, information, exposition, pacing – and it adds a structure – that I think the audience appreciates.

How did you go about shooting the production – did actor Ian P.F McDonald shoot a lot of the POV footage himself?

Ha – so many people think Iain shot most of the footage. Truth is he never handled the camera. We had very tightly storyboarded moves for how the camera would go from him in front – to him P.O.V.

Our Sound Designer Brendan Maher – made the cuts work. He instructed we record on set all the audio in such a way – that it ‘feels’ like Iain’s behind the camera. So Martin Cox the sound recordist turned the mics to face away from Iain so his sound is ‘behind’.

Brendan then added all the breaths you hear to really create that feeling he’s behind the camera and alone.

We actually shot all the footage in the house on a pretty big camera. So the one Iain is carrying is a prop.

The Monte Cristo Homestead is located in Junee, NSW - There is a scene in early in the film where Muirhouse is confronted whilst on the radio and chastised by a local for wanting to film at the estate - did the township embrace the production?

The township is pretty divided. We encountered both support and anger at us making a film there. The radio interviews really reflected how people felt. The house is very grizzly in it’s history – and it’s not really a positive thing for the town to be known for. On the other hand it brings in a lot of tourists and gains Junee worldwide media attention!.

This was another case of when the town saw the film at a special screening – they really got behind it. It was my proudest moment with the film – because it even made people who hated the house – want to go back there!!

Although it’s a cliched “Entrainment Tonight” type question – One has to ask, did you experience any activity or sensations whilst shooting around the Monte Cristo Homestead?

Haha – it’s all everyone wants to know!!! The answer is yes. I did and so did members of my crew. Kate our lead actress saw Mrs Crawley that first night of shooting. I’ve never heard anyone scream so loud. It’s spooked us out severely. Make matters worse – I then at 3amsaw the ghost of Mr Crawley upstairs. As I ran down the stairs – Reg the owner smirked and said ‘Did you see him?’ I swear we only did things in pairs after that!

We’ve been to the house since filming with media and press. AND ALMOST EVERYONE – including a big portion of non – believers – had an experience.

When Monster Pictures released our film at the WAGGA WAGGA FORUM 6 CINEMAS a couple of weeks ago we stayed in the house – and we recorded on our camera’s apparition activity clear as day. We’ll be uploading it on our youtube channel very soon.

The film has a very distinct tone – how hard is it to create new scares and ideas within the found footage construct?

The ‘found footage’ ( I hate that description) genre looks so simple to do. I think a lot of critics of the sub genre – have really not taken into account how nightmarish it is to do – and to do it well. A conventional film – has a lot of cheats to get you from one scene to another – there’s the ‘cat in the window’ – when a cut doesn’t work just cut to something off camera. The audience won’t notice. In found footage you’re generally dealing with real time events – there’s not cut aways. The other thing is the camera becomes a character -it’s got to have motivation to frame what you’re seeing – you have to have a reason the camera’s pointing a certain way. And that’s hard. It’s a nightmare contextualising the camera for 80 minutes. It’s even harder if the character’s alone. The audience will just say ‘ Why’s he/she still filming?!?’

But I think it’s not hard to scare people with found footage. The audience goes into a film like this primed. They know the score. They know bad things are gonna happen. All the camera and tone does is heightens it. I think the hardest thing to do in these films is to make people care. To actually care what the characters are doing – instead of seeing fodder for death in shaky cam.

If you could be haunted by any ghost, who would it be?

The ghost of Hunter S. Thompson. No contest.

Not Screaming or Crying but You Will…

michael — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 05:47:20 +0000

Yo Freakers! And wouldn’t you know it, as soon as it looks like I’m going to run out of supplies in the locked down lower region of the Monster Mansion, I discover that the only way out has been left unlocked! Not only that but it was immediately apparent that I was walking into an otherwise vacant building. That’s right, Monster have moved!

No time to contemplate why or where just enough to quickly grab that last bottle of Mr. Jekyll and run… and by the way, after a few glasses of this magic liquid sideways is how you’ll be seeing everything. A short train and tram ride took me to Docklands Studios where they wouldn’t let me in. The Spierig brothers PREDESTINATION was a closed set but after wrapping Peter Spierig did mention to me that he was prepared to have a chat sometime during post-production when, “We work out what we’ve got”. Also, unlike what I reported in the first Fatal missive, the source for their time travel feature was a short story called ‘All You Zombies’, written by Robert A. Heinlein (THE PUPPET MASTERS, DESTINATION MOON) and not Philip K. Dick, as I stated. It’s almost eerie how the predictions of many classic sci fi writers are resonating even louder with every passing day but of course who doesn’t want the ability to traverse time and space with a keystroke? Personally, I await apocalypse via a computer and dead writer (like Heinlein) Arthur C. Clarke’s truly ominous and (still) frightening short story from the 1950s, ‘The 9 Billion Names Of God’.

With not much happening in Melbourne I got out of town and up to Sydney to check out the set of THE SCRYING 3D. Now, I consider myself possessing more than a little familiarity with the terminology of occultism but scrying is something that had passed me by. While I actually prefer the meaning that sits way down the Google list connecting it to foot fetishism, scrying is actually about making contact with the supernatural through objects with reflective surfaces like mirrors and crystal balls. Shooting out in the northern beachside suburb of Ingleside THE SCRYING 3D turned out to be an exceptionally ambitious effort from a bunch of massively enthusiastic but first time feature filmmakers hailing from across the planet. There were many reasons to be impressed here but one was definitely their use of 3D. Just a couple of years ago on the set of BAIT 3D, the film that earned the title of the first horror film to be shot in 3D in Australia, media junketeers were entertained with an assemblage of 3D footage that the producers could show us in the Movieworld Theatrette but on THE SCRYING 3D you could actually sit and watch it in 3D on a large monitor as it was being filmed! I don’t know whether this says more about the speed of developing technology than anything else but one thing that was strangely and infinitely interesting was that the 3D process truly enhanced the real life that the twin cameras were capturing — actively improving reality!
Before joining the cows from across the road just sitting around watching the action producer Brian Lau answered a few questions about THE SCRYING 3D:

Michael Helms: What are the influences on THE SCRYING 3D?
Brian Lau: Well besides nearly everyone in front of the camera and behind it having interests in the occult it would be most recently the films of James Wan including INSIDIOUS & THE CONJURING.
MH: What can we expect from THE SCRYING 3D?
BL: We are aiming to make it as scary as possible. Even though we have the under 25s and the YouTube generation in our sights, people that would’ve enjoyed THE HUNGER GAMES, there is light relief and John (Le, the writer/director) has taken care to write some very strong characters. So expect a really strong story and something scary enough to make the audience shit themselves.

Meanwhile Ozploitation veteran Brian Trenchard-Smith has been back working in Australia shooting the actioner HARD DRIVE the second film he’s made in Queensland in as many years. Starring Thomas Jane (a genre stalwart like his director) and John (HIGH FIDELITY) Cusack HARD DRIVE commenced filming the same week the personal hard drive of BTS ticked over another year. Still in Queensland but in July filming has been announced for BULLETS OF THE DEAD a zombie western, which is just one from a slate of genre flicks to be turned out by Cathy Overett one of the Brisbane-based producers of IRON SKY and her company Cathartic Pictures, producing in collaboration with a British company. Further down the line another of their related companies has also began to herald the development of the bigger, badder and violent PIG HUNT for filming next year. This sudden outbreak of outback violence will of course be spearheaded by the return of Mick Taylor later in the year in WOLF CREEK 2. In Melbourne in July no-budget master Glenn Triggs (CINEMAPHOBIA, 41) will be shooting APOCALYPTIC that pits a local news crew up against a doomsday cult. Another flick currently scheduled to shoot before the end of the year is writer/director Storm Ashwood’s THE SCHOOL that combines J-horror, parenting & fear into one highly disturbing package.

Until the stars in the sky do start to go out expect more here soon…

The interior of the old SAFC building was a similar hue to the outside after Mick Taylor spent a few days there…

CANADIAN CAMPY GOODNESS AND A MONSTER BATTLE WITH THE FUN POLICE.

Sim O'Dea — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 10:07:39 +0000

An orphaned male streetwalker named Twink, a dad raping serial killer on the loose and a one-eyed vigilante priest armed with one hell of a vengeance. Welcome to Astron – 6’s critically acclaimed Father’s Day.

In the past year or so, this movie has been ranking (not surprisingly) high on the list for one of the top independent features of last year. It has received numerous awards for its characters, kill scenes and art; including picking up the 2011 people’s choice award for most original film at Toronto ‘After Dark Film Festival.’ Not bad for a bunch of misfits hailing from Canada’s Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Astron – 6 began in 2007 when friends Adam Brooks and Jeremy Gillespie decided to form their own film production company. They soon merged forces with sketch comedy duo, Connor Sweeney and Matt Kennedy. They later followed with special effects and stop motion animation expert Steven Kostanski. The name, ‘Astron – 6’ was realized by the five men, when they combined their love for the 1980’s golden age of video (the name Astron being a clever wordplay of the home video distribution company ‘Vestron’ that pioneered the home video market of the same era) and six, being the number of filmmakers, leaving the final digit representing the audience. Clever, huh?

‘Astron-6 are
Matthew Kennedy,Conor Sweeney,Adam Brooks,Jeremy Gillespie & Steven Kostanski

The group are equal partners who each take turns writing, directing and acting. They produce low budget horror comedy that often lampoons genre films of the 1980’s. The film ‘Father’s Day’ is their first feature. The script managed to gain the notable attention of Lloyd Kaufman (founding member of ‘Troma Entertainment’), who went on to produce the film, which has since made the top ten of must see films of 2012.

‘Fathers Day’ tells the story of Ahab, a one-eyed vigilante priest, on a path to find a dad raping serial killer who is responsible for his father’s murder. Twink is a male street hustler whose own father has also fallen victim to the crazed killer. Twink quickly joins the priest in his quest for justice. Together they must stop the killer before he kills again and rescue Ahab’s sister who the villain (the evil ‘Fuchman’) is holding hostage.

By now, you will be more than well and truly aware that this is not your usual horror comedy. The characters live far from your regular neighbourhood or even inner urban existence. They also are battling forces far greater than what exists in our own physical realm. I could go on but I would not want to spoil all the gory details for you.

Crawlers are Go! Melbourne Zombie Crawl 2012. (From left to right Liana Bella aka: ‘Bella Deville’, Neil Foley & Me)

The film was quickly snapped up by Australian B grade horror distribution label, ‘Monster Pictures Australia’ and was set to become one of the main featured films at last years inaugural Monster Film Festival ‘Monsterfest’. With all the films success you think it would be an absolute cinch to have it released in Australia. However, just two days before it was due to be unleashed to a highly anticipating audience, ‘The Australian Classification Review Board’ (ACRB) declined to release a classification for Astron-6’s ‘Father’s Day’ leaving a gaping hole in the festival’s program and the fate of the film unknown. Neil Foley, the festivals director and co-owner and operator of Monster Pictures Australia had a lot to say about the shocking and untimely decision of the ACRB.

“This is an outrageous decision. Yes, Father’s Day is an edgy film. But, it’s also a hilarious and over the top spoof; that despite its gore, is actually one of the sweetest films in the ‘Monsterfest’ program.” The film has luckily, since been classified after a small part was cut (less than 40 seconds) from the original film enabling Monster Pictures to release ‘Father’s Day’ in Australia. Now as ‘Monsterfest’ hits Auckland for the New Zealand leg of its tour, the film once again been plagued. Monster Pictures has had to pull the film from the festival line-up for legal reasons. In retaliation, Astron-6 has put together a hilarious uTube trailer for your enjoyment. You can watch the video here …. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqhquzof6IE

I took the opportunity to interview the amazingly innovative, passionate and cleverly eccentric partner of Monster pictures, Neil Foley and one of the founding members of Astron-6 to discuss movies, pet peeves, censorship laws and movie making.

Neil Foley (center) Monster
Pictures represent! Night of the Bowling
Dead … We won!!!

Me: Hello Neil, thank you for taking a break to talk. How do you define your role at Monster Pictures Australia?

Neil: I manage the label, overseeing film acquisitions and working to develop the brand. I am fairly qualified in the field. I also work on Monster’s inaugural film festival ‘Monsterfest’, dealing with sponsorship and forming partnerships as well as sales, marketing and producing.

Me: So, what is the attraction with the subversive film genre?

Neil: There was a hole in the market for Australia. There is no one who is specializing in horror and genre films. I know there is a very big fan base here and I wanted a brand that they could identify with and ideally galvanize the niche into a community.

Me: Why do you think audiences are so taken with films such as Astron-6’s ‘Fathers Day’?

Neil: Well, it is a really well made film. It’s packed with everything, it was done on a micro budget, and it’s very accomplished, funny, well performed as well as written and made on all levels of applauses’.

Me: What is your favourite scene from the film and why?

Neil: When Ahab is in the car…..”A man is not a tree…” scene.

Me: Are you happy with the Australian Cut?

Neil: I’m happy that the film got through. As a distributer, we do not own that title. Meaning, we need to make the money back, and the production company needs their royalty check.

Me: What is a proactive step that someone in the Monster community could take in relation to, if say, one of their favourite filmmakers or films received censorship?

Neil: Keep lobbying to have changes made. There is talk that the classification board will be modified. Now, it is all tied into government. Fight against conservative policymaking;

maintain political pressure to contain ‘Sanity Will’. Monster Pictures does actually agree with classification. We like the rating system, there are no laws being broken and no one is being harmed. However, there is the issue of moral agenda.

Me: Who are some upcoming Australian filmmakers that you think we should be looking out for in the future

Neil: Stuart Simpson (El monstro del mar! & Chocolate, Strawberry,Vanilla), Daniel Armstrong (From Parts Unknown: Fight Like A Girl & MurderDrome), Isabel Peppard (Butterflies & Demon Parade) & Ursula Dabrowsky (Family Demons & Inner Demon) They are producing really good, audience based, low budget genre films. Some other notable filmmakers I should include are Jon Hewitt (Acolytes & X) and Rory Noke (Consequences & 10 Metres)

Me: Is there any aspect of the film industry you would like to change, and why?

Neil: More support for grass roots filmmaking. It’s currently all tied up in big government investment that is filled with protective projects and agendas. We have only certain distribution rights; we need more grassroots going on. It is so much better.

Adam Brooks (center) as Father Ahab in Fathers Day.

Adam Brooks of Astron-6 is an actor, writer, filmmaker and painter, which you would recognise mainly for his portrayal of Father Ahab in his film Fathers Day’. Adam is currently busy with his latest project ‘The Editor’ due to begin principal photography in August this year. The editor is described, as an absurdist; giallo film that will be Astron-6’s most ambitious movie to date!

Me: Hi Adam! What would be your main role at Astron-6 HQ?

Adam: I am a partner, website designer, actor/director/editor/writer/lighting

Me: What’s your favourite aspect of working on films within the prod company?

Adam: I enjoy editing.

Me: What do you hope to be doing in the future with astron-6?

Adam: I hope to one day turn a profit from a film.

Me: What’s your favourite pet project you have done, with or without astron-6?

Adam: Father’s Day.

Me: How did u meet the other guys?

Adam: We were all competitors at the Winnipeg short film massacre.

Me: How long have you been a filmmaker? When did you begin? How did you start?

Adam: After I completed University, I tried to make a zombie movie. I gave up because my friends were too unreliable. A couple years later I tried to make something shorter… eventually I was lucky enough to meet the other guys, who all knew about unreliable cast/crew. We showed up for each other’s movies because we know the frustration of the flaky friend.

Me: Is there something else you would be doing if not this? Do you have any other talents/interests? Anything we should know about?

Adam: Maybe painting or making music.

Me: As astron-6 is a name taken from ‘Vestra’ and the 80′s video age. What’s a film from here, possibly obsolete that the young fans have missed? Would you enjoy a remake? How big is your collection?

Adam: I sold most of my collection to buy my canon 7d. Right now I’m right into every Italian Franco Nero movie from the 70s.

Me: Why do you think father’s day and ‘Manborg’ have taken so well with horror buffs and audiences worldwide? What can audiences expect from astron in the future?

Adam: I don’t know.

Me: Where did u get the idea for ‘Fathers Day’?

Adam: Matt and Connor created the premise and the five of us brainstormed the feature plot in an afternoon.

Me: What’s your favourite scene and why?

Adam: The floating tiger head and the tire iron in the gut both made me laugh.

Me: Have you ever been volunteers for film companies, festivals? Are there any films you have worked on earlier for other filmmakers starting out?

Adam: I acted in a short film by Mackenzie Murdock (Fuchman.) I am an extra in Capote.

Me: Who is another filmmaker/production company u think we should be looking out for?

Adam: James Bickert (Dear God No! & Dumpster Baby) and The Soska Sisters (American Mary & Dead Hooker in a Trunk).

Me: What’s your take on the Australian classification board refusing classification of ‘Fathers Day’, or even in relation to them cutting other films such as ‘The Human Centipede 2’?

Adam: I am generally against censorship of all kinds.

Me: Are you happy with monster and their work?

Adam: Yes.

Me: Is there an aspect of the film industry u would like to change and why?

Adam: There’s a lot to change. I would like to change the lying, cheating and stealing. I wish more attention was paid to the art.

Me: Have u been to Australia before? Are you intending to? What would u want to do here?

Adam: I have not. I would gladly go if somebody else would pay for the airfare. I guess I would want to ride a spider.

I hope he is talking about one of those fun new carnival rides; I really don’t need to deal with ‘Attack of the giant Aussie arachnids!’ But, if it is true…maybe, Adam is the guy to call!

If you would like to help, Adam and the rest of Astron-6 make their latest boundary pushing, italian style horror comedy you can donate to the cause on this link!

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-editor-a-feature-film-giallo-comedy?c=home

Fathers Day is available on DVD through Monster Pictures Australia and JB Hifi stores.

www.monsterpictures.com.au

www.astron-6.com

Reference

the reel bits 2012, Fathers Day Refused Classification Days Before Monsterfest, Nov 2, 2012

The ABCs of Death

Norman — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 04:19:59 +0000

Poking around the Monster Pictures website I see they’ve recently released “The ABCs of Death” onto DVD and Blu-ray. For those of you who have been locked away for the past year and don’t know what this is, “ABCs” is home to twenty-six horrific short films, one for each letter of the English alphabet, and made by filmmakers from around the world. The unifying theme of the shorts being everyone’s favorite subject: death. Three of the twenty-six segments were made in Japan and were directed by Yoshihiro “Tokyo Gore Police” Nishimura, Noboru “Machine Girl” Iguchi, and Yudai “Dead Ball” Yamaguchi.

Early on in the production, associate producer Marc Walkow contacted me and asked if I’d shoot stills and put together “behind the scenes” video segments for the Japanese entries. I liked the concept, I like the directors, cast and crew, I also really like shooting set stills and making “behind the scenes” type videos. Plus, I figured that as a non-Japanese familiar with Japanese film sets, I was the best guy to convey these sets to the intended non-Japanese audience. How could I not wholeheartedly accept the gig?

R- Director Iguchi shows actress Arisa how to fart. L- Iguchi shows actress Arisa how to beg for a fart.

“F is for “Fart”
The first production up was Noboru Iguchi’s “F is for Fart,” which went before the camera on 28 October 2011. We had to get to this ASAP because Iguchi’s next feature, “Dead Sushi,” was set to start shoot just two days later! (I did stills on that one as well.)

The “F” production took place at a school on the west side of Tokyo. That is, I guess it was a school. It had a school sports field on one end and what looked like faculty buildings on the other, but there were also strange “Hobbit” homes lumped throughout the greenery of the area that you’d never see at a real school. Although it might not seem like the kind of place, Japan has its fair share of bizarre religious cults and this place reeked of it.

The “F” shoot can be broken into three sections. First were the early morning shots of star Arisa Nakamura viewing a large Japanese gate (which was added in via CG later on. FYI: Temple gates don’t grow that large in Japan!). Following this were the flashbacks of Miss Yumi (played by Iguchi regular Yui Murata) and finally the high school girl running with her head on fire.

The second section would be the street scenes of an earthquake striking and Arisa being caught “cutting the cheese,” an effect that was actually quite difficult to achieve. It took at least two dozen attempts for the production manager to get Arisa’s skirt to blow skyward as if she had released a blast of fowl smelling gas. Several of these I included on the “behind the scenes” piece for “F”.

The “F” shoot ended production in the room into which Arisa and Yui escape the quake. So, there I am, in one of those bizarre structures in the “school” fumbling with my cameras while director Iguchi is instructing Arisa on how to beg her teacher for a fart in the face. I’d like to say this was shocking or I found it perverse in some way, but after twenty years in Japan and fifteen years on its genre film sets this kind of thing is pretty much par for the course.

L- Director Yamaguchi shows actor Nishina how to hold a sword. R- Makeup artist Taiga and actor Sasaki.

“J is for Jidai-geki”
Directed by Yudai Yamaguchi, the “J” segment was shot on November 25 2011 at a small temple not far from the Pabaan office in Northern Tokyo. (Pabaan being the company shared by directors Iguchi and Nishimura, CG artist Tsuyoshi Kazuno, and special makeup artist Taiga Ishino).

The actor playing the executioner was Takashi Nishina, who I first met back in 2001 on the set of the Shusuke Kaneko film “Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack”. Over the years we’ve meet on film sets and at film events, but 2011 turned out to be a peak year in our working relationship. I think we did five films together that year including my latest film “New Neighbor” in which he plays a sexually aggressive company president (sorry for the shameless plug). “You again?” was our running gag greeting that year.

Taking stills was tough because I was wanted to get shots that made Nishina and the samurai actor, Daisuke Sasaki, look like they were in old Japan. While the temple looked old school at a glance, temples today are stocked with little 21st century telltale items such as electric wires, outlets, TV antennas and metal garbage bins that pull them firmly out of the 15th century.

Probably the most out-and-out fun during shooting was talking about Italian prog-rock group Goblin with director Yamaguchi. Goblin had just done their first show ever in Japan and both of us were gushing over the show.

A typical on-set conversation between the two of us went something like this:

Yudai: Wasn’t that version of “Roller” intense?
Me: Sure was, but Massimo Morante’s guitar solo on “Phenomena” was lame. I guess he’s too old to play it like on the soundtrack.
Yudai: You noticed that too! I was thinking… Oh wait, hold on… Camera! Ready! Action! …. Cut! Can we do it again with a little more perspiration running down Nishina’s head? …. You know, I really wished Goblin had played something from “Contamination.”
Me: Yeah, but Simonetti wasn’t in the band for that one.
Yudai: Oh, that’s right. I forgot…

In spite of our conversations about Goblin, the scenes at the temple managed to reach completion.

Filming wrapped at Pabaan with the close-ups of Sasaki’s face contorted and his eyes floating about. This gave the crew trouble and it took a bit of fidgeting with the eyes to get them to move as Yamaguchi wished. One thing I noticed on set was that Sasaki’s bizarre facial appliance looked more like makeup artist Taiga than the actor. “Yeah,” Taiga admitted. “I sculpted it while looking at myself in a mirror.” Hahahaha. I love working with these guys!

R- Dr. Strangelove lives! L- Je$$ica takes deadly aim

“Z is for Zetsumetsu”
“Z” was the last to go into production and was by far the most difficult of the Japanese lot to make. Whereas the first two had linear stories, “Z” was a surreal piece of great ambition. Besides, this is director Nishimura we’re talking about. Not only is he one to push himself to his physical and mental limits, but his crew as well. Looking at the storyboards beforehand I knew we were in for a hellish shoot.

The filming of “Z” started on the morning of 16 December 2011 in a rundown, abandoned high school somewhere in the Mount Fuji area. This school – an oft-used location for low budget Japanese horror films – is a dump. Wires hang from missing panels in the ceilings, half the toilets are missing or busted, and there are buckets on the floors to catch rain leaks filled with moldy green water. To say I hate this place is an understatement – but I went off on that in my last blog entry as it’s the same place where “Lust of the Dead 2″ was filmed.

“Z” started off in the dingy basement of the school with the “Dr Strangelove” takeoff scenes. As if things weren’t filthy enough, Nishimura had it pumped full of “smoke”. Right away the mold clinging to the walls took advantage of this moist carpet smoke ride to travel into the deepest corners of our lungs. And as if that wasn’t enough to raise the crew’s tension, Nishimura started yelling about there being a lack of “atmosphere” to the scene and that the crew wasn’t properly prepared. Or something like that. As anyone who has ever worked with Nishimura knows one of his things is to keep everyone second guessing. One moment he’ll be laughing and the next he’ll be screaming until he’s red in the face (or is that the set blood?). Although I don’t think I would ever employ his filmmaking methods in my own movies, I find his way intriguing and stimulating, and as odd as it might sound, I’m always happy to be on his set.

Following this, we switched to the other side of the room for the scenes with the four naked actors being forced to eat contaminated sushi at gunpoint by lead actress Je$$ica. This scene marked my debut at shooting photos of male genitalia. Despite the overt perversion of Japanese pornography, male / female genitalia are forbidden to be shown in Japan. (Does anyone reading this really need to be told about Japanese porn mosaics?) The exact reason for this is unclear to me as I’ve heard enough explanations from Japanese to fill a book.

R- Actress Hiroko Yashiki hiding the fact she’s freezing. Director Nishimura and well-endowed prop.

So why the showing of male / female private parts? It’s because Nishimura saw an opportunity in ABCs. He was hell-bent on “making a film that could not be shown in Japan” is what he said to me during a pre-production meeting. It wasn’t just in the genitalia shots, but in the whole attitude of the film, right down to the making fun of the emperor. Don’t get me wrong. Japanese are great believers in free speech, just keep the issues to things outside of Japan.

The body of the film was shot in what must have been the school’s cafeteria, which, as noted by my observant assistant Radley Silla, is where part of “Big Tits Zombie” was shot. If you’ve seen the film, it’s the room in the opening scene when Sora Aoi and those other porn actresses kill a bunch of ketchup-faced zombies. “Radley! You’re right!” I exclaimed. “This is where they shot that piece of shit film. Are we really standing on ground made hallowed by the obnoxious, gravel-voiced Sora Aoi? We must be the envy of the entire male population of China now!” After working on three of theses ABC “behind the scenes” videos with me, I like to think that Radley is by now used to my overt sarcasm.

The big crisis of the day was that the “9/11″ and “3/11″ tattoos for Je$$ica’s breasts and buttocks were left behind in Tokyo. Nanae Yoshida, the film’s assistant producers, spent the day in a mad search for a local shop that could print them out as rub-on tattoos. In the end, she found a place that could, but only backwards. If you watch the “behind the scenes” for this piece you’ll see that the tattoos are reversed.

The last shot was when actress Kurumi Ochiai gets a sword shoved into her womanhood. In typical Nishimura fashion the blood was pumped from a large bucket and flew about the set hitting everything and everyone. Once it was over the odious task of clean up began. You might not believe it, but the easiest way to wipe up blood stained floors is with diapers. Breaking out a case from one of the production vans, we spread dozens of white diapers around the floor, letting them soak up the crimson dye. Following this we had to sweep up every last grain of rice that had been blown throughout the room. By the time we were done the sun was well over the horizon.

Despite the long hours, the three “ABCs of Death” episodes were great experiences and a terrific opportunity for me to hone my “behind the scenes” filmmaking skills. I hope readers of my blog here at Monster Pictures will be able to not only watch “The ABCs of Death” film, but also my trio of “behind the scenes” featurettes that I busted my butt to make! (As a side note, I believe that only the special edition of ABCs will have “making of” featurettes.)

R- Nishimura figures out the best angle. L- Cameraman Shu G. Momose is wrapped and ready for the ensuing blood bath.

When Monster met The Nymph

Zak Hepburn — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 09:48:49 +0000

It takes balls of steel to live in Ceduna and make a mockumentary about The Nullarbor Nymph. After all, she may still be out there… older, angrier, nakeder. And who knows what might happen to the poor unfortunate filmmaker should she ever get wind of what transpired in front of his lens. But then again, Mathew Wilkinson is no ordinary man. He’s a member of that rare breed who can look a naked, feral wild woman right in the eye and say ‘Bring It!’ This week, Monster Pictures correspondent and hipster-at-large, Zak Hepburn, asked the man himself to come clean about his take on Australia’s most provocative cultural icon and talk about the ins and outs of filmmaking so close to the actual fringe.

The Nullarbor Nymph is derived from a legend that suggests there was a half naked woman running around the Nullarbor Plain in the early 70s – how did you first hear about it?

I first heard about the Nymph through my Grandfather when I was about 6 years old. He used to work out near Maralinga, where the British were testing their nuclear weapons and he would always joke about trying to catch the Nymph. It wasn’t until about 3 years ago that I started to do my research about the Nymph and discovered it was all a hoax.

The urban legend of the Nymph is just one of the archetypical characters or beasts littered throughout Aussie Outback History – along with the Bunyip and Ned Kelly (or even Reckless Kelly…..!) – What made you want to create a film about the Nymph?

I think the first thing that surprised me was that the story had really been untouched by the media since the early 70′s. I also found that alot of young people my age (under 30) had never even heard of the Nullarbor Nymph. I always just saw a lot of great Aussie humour that could come out of the situation. A blonde, beautiful woman running around is just too good to be true. For me, the hoax however never answered the question of why she was out there. I wanted to tackle that, and the more I thought about how to inject more comedy into it, the more I realised she needed to be like the Greek legend of Medusa, a tremptress to men with the ability to cause havoc.

What drove you to create a mockumentary rather than a narrative feature?

Budget really. Being out in Ceduna, 800km away from Adelaide, I was never going to be able to afford to make the film as a full narrative. So I cheated and said to myself, well the concept is completely over the top, it’s tacky, so it needs to be executed in a way where you openly admit to the audience, this film has no budget. I think that really became the charm of The Nullarbor Nymph. If I had made the same film with a million dollars, I don’t think it would be as funny.

You wrote and directed the film – but you also put up the coin to finance it – can you tell us about the joys of self-funding a feature film in the days of studio blockbusters and Crowd-funding?

Not too many people had faith in me, to be honest, when I started making the film. Most people, even some of the actors, thought it would be the worst film to come out of Australia. I really struggled to actually get any money out of anyone. I ended up funding the film by working part time jobs as a cleaner. I think it’s funny now though, because people do come up to me and say ‘if you had told me, I would have put money towards it’.. But in reality, cleaning toilets funded The Nullarbor Nymph’s shooting budget which was around $15,000.

How long was the production process in total?

The funny thing with The Nullarbor Nymph is that I wrote the script at the end of 2010 after just breaking up from a horrible relationship. I think that helped to fuel the script. I filmed between April to October 2011. I had to shoot in segments because I had to rely on pay cheques to get scenes done. We set a film premiere date in Ceduna for March 3rd 2012, so I had to have everything with post-production done by then.

How did you go about casting The Nymph? Did the audition process include a solitary evening in the desert with the survivors progressing to a second audition?

Besides the Nymph, most people in the film were people I knew or just locals in Ceduna who had nothing to do on the weekends. I was really restricted with my auditions. Again, working from a regional town in the middle of nowhere has its limitations. I had to do casting for the Nymph over the internet. The reason Jessica got the role was because she went out of her way to dress up in a fur bikini and run around sand dunes on a beach in NSW. She seemed like the only person who was prepared to get dirty compared to others who would simply ask me ‘Will there be ice water on set?’

There’s a classic story of filmmaker David Lean encountering issues with sand and dust destroying his cameras whilst filming Lawrence of Arabia – was the location shoot difficult logistically?

I really tried to time the shooting period as best I could to work with the weather out here on the Great Australian Bight. April and May are the best times to shoot because you get calmer, cooler days. I never had too many problems with dust or dirt as I only had one camera, one sound recorder…that was it. We didn’t have any fancy equipment. The biggest issue we had was flies. The hotter the day got, the more flies you got. I remember my Dad watched some of the footage and said “Keep those flies in there, it’s the true Australia” So I did.. we even added in some extra fly buzzing sounds in post-production.

Did you encounter a lot of people willing to talk about their own personal Nullarbor Nymph story?

I was a little disappointed with the Nymph encounter stories I was told. I found that most people had really forgotten all about it or just said “It was just people playing a prank”. Jimmy, the older gentleman at the start of the film in the super 8 footage, used to be the bus driver who crossed the Nullarbor during that period of the 70′s. He told me that tourists liked to leave food on the side of the road for the Nymph, so we did use that element in our film.

As the legend of the Nymph has effectively been debunked as a hoax perpetrated by a media publicist – did you ever consider implanting a series of Nymph’s around the country to create a buzz around the film?

Haha, I actually did think about setting up a Nymph on the side of the road before the Ceduna premiere. If I had the budget to splash around with Advertising that’s exactly what I would have done!

Many iconic Aussie comedians and performers have come out championing the film – how did you get the final film into their hands?

After the Ceduna premiere, Triple M got hold of me and asked about the film. They were really interested in the Australian element it had. I sent them a copy and they were really impressed with it. They sent it out to comedians and reviewers for me and got us all those great reviews. I was in shock when it all happened. They had a huge red carpet premiere in Sydney for us and we had a lot of celebrities turn out for it. It was great to just hear everyone laughing at it because that’s all I ever intended for it.

If you were being hunted by an outback feral – what Aussie genre character would you want on your side?

You know that’s a tricky one. I’d love to see a knife fight between Mick Dundee and Mick Taylor in a croc infested swamp. It seems to me that the real winner in the Aussie outback is always the natural elements – look at The Long Weekend or even Picnic at Hanging Rock, our landscape has one pissed off temper if you ask me, I’d want that on my side.

What the heck am I doing here?

Sim O'Dea — Wed, 29 May 2013 07:00:48 +0000

Hi all you crazy ‘Monster Fiends’! My name is Sim and if you have made it this far down the rabbit hole, you must be about as stoked as I am to have a horror platform such as Monster to fuel your gory palate. Therefore, if I can be half as entertaining and informative as folks on here, I will have served my purpose well.

As a kid, I was never permitted to watch a lot of Television. That’s why I had to fake sleep. That way, I could get up later and switch the telly on when everyone went to bed. The shows on late were all horrors, old movies or even foreign, none of this infomercial crap. It did not matter how many times I was caught I kept doing it. My parents probably should have just let me watch silly cartoons that rot your brain and I would have left it alone.

So now, I write scary stories, show up on the occasional film shoot (if I am lucky!) write for fanzines and hang around punks and various other unsavoury types. Cheers mum and dad! If there is one thing I will never get sick of its talking about movies and horror stories so am going to milk this for all its worth.

: Out the front of my pile of shit house at American Mary’s premier at Monsterfest 2012. (Me, Dick Dale, Liana Bella aka ‘Bella Deville’)

Something I really need to get off my chest and I hope you can bear with me; it’s about something I really love and that’s Indy movies. I don’t care what anyone says the eighties were fucking rad! With all the Indy films being so much readily available its spawned so much more judgements from people. Such as, this genre is so old, there’s nothing new here and it’s not THAT original, and so on.

Doing a writing course, I have learned that there really are only a few story scenarios. They are not unlike skeletons that we as writers pretty much just get to re-dress any way we like. As much as I am stoked, that the horror craze of the 80’s is making a comeback. I think Hollywood has some poor form. I think it’s totally rad that the films I watched repeatedly as a kid may find their way into future generations hearts. I am getting rather tired of cleaning up the projectile vomit every time I see a childhood fave get the ‘re-booted’ makeover. There is good cause for some (reinvented, opened new chapters and/or it has not been ‘done to death’).

Hearing or reading people write that a fresh story leaping from an old familiar can is in any way pathetic or tired really does not ring true for me either, I’m afraid when it comes to exploitation, grindhouse and the 80’s explosion of awesome B grade and late night TV shows, I am a true believer. And I am very happy to see that it’s not going anywhere anytime soon, but that’s just me and you can simply take it or leave it be. If the horse has been flogged a million times I just do not see why anyone would want to bother. Especially with an industry so loaded with creative talent.

When I think of how much money the big wigs must fork out on remaking instead of just ‘the making’. It makes me realize the money hounds sensory perceptions are clearly rooted. They must be far too busy sniffing the fresh ink on their crisp dollar bills to smell the real gore and guts most possibly. Okay, end rant.

Now I want to talk about the good news, and if you know where you are; you know that I am not talking about the one that bangs your door down on an early Sunday morning. So, if you are still reading my intro dribble, I am betting you were that naughty kids like me too, and that Monster Pictures is probably what you have been waiting for half your life. With this blog, I hope to share more than just thoughts like those that I have with this introduction. I have a few people and things I am really itching to introduce to you. So thanks for reading and I hope to see you soon

Holy Spiderballs Batman, the Websites UP!!!!

dick — Fri, 24 May 2013 04:11:36 +0000

Hey FREAKERS!!
May we all be splayed and rectum probed by angry Englishmen as sure as William Wallace was a Scott. Its true!! The freakin Trasharama web page is FINALLY been updated and ready for movie submissions. YEP, the entry forms are ready to download. You can start posting your short disasterpieces into the nastiest short fillum program in Oz!
We have a new PO Box to send em too as well. That’ll be Po Box 19, Torrensville Plaza, SA. 5031. I’m looking forward to viewing the SICK AND TWISTED delights we get this year. Movies, money, junk food gift vouchers, naked pictures of yer Mum.. Remember also, the entries we received in the last ill fated call out will also be in the running for possible screenings. We haven’t forgotten Fiends.
If you don’t know by now, the Trasharama Program will be part of Monsterfest 2013. Date and info to be confirmed. Stay tuned as the MONSTERFEST site will be up sooon. I DO know it will be in HELLBOURNE though. There’s sure to be more surprises than a drunken night in Thailand once again!! I’ve been using that line for so long now, you’d think I’d have learn’t my lesson. But I LIKE surprises!!! We plan to hold more screenings across the land and will update that as it COMES TO FRUITION. As opposed to cumming in fruit.
The Website is http://www.trasharama.com/
On there you’ll find entry forms and conditions of entry. There is NO fee this year tightwads so theres NO excuse not to get cracking!!
You’ll also find the ‘Frequently asked Questions’ section.
On that page, we tackle the big issues like, “Can I have Susan Boyle on my soundtrack’ and we explain how we enjoy your homemade midget gender bender fillums. We try to give you a little bit of an insight and a lot of encouragement of what you can send in.
Over the next cuppla months: The web page will be updated even more. Well have links to more prize and support sponsors, there’ll be information on awards and prizes that will be available for film makers and audience members. The ONE award we are very excited bout will be the ‘Laurence Harvey/Martin Lomax’ award. That’ll be going to ‘The most disgusting and nasty film of the entire program. He He, we aim to Please. And just for those Freaknicks out there who have been living under a rock. Laurence is the talented actor who played the lovable Martin Lomax in the Human Centipede 2. Incidently available Human Centipede at Monster Pictures. Do yourself a favour.

There’ll be all the info on WHAT the prizes are too. Theres going to be some great stuff. Already we’ve stuff from Monster Pictures, Zombie Glamour, Transmog FX, Midnight Marquee press, Ink Pit Tattoos and Hooligan Street wear. Well also be updating the screenings and venues information, the special guests performers at certain shows and everyfckinthing!!!

Ok Fiends, just so you know, we don’t care if your film is 20 minutes old or 20 years old. Send it in if you think it fits the bill. As a bit of incentive and also just because I can. Here’s a couple of entries from previous years that I found on you tube. It’ll give you an example of the highs and lows in quality we screen. There’s Frank Daft’s video nasty, ‘Backyard of Lost Cans‘, Trash regular Stuart Simpson’s early piece, ‘Sickie‘.Think you can do better? THATS THE IDEA!! I’ll put more up as the months progress.

Enjoy Freaks.

Frank Daft’s ‘Backyard of Lost Cans’.

Stuart Simpson’s ‘Sickie’.

Start making and/or sending those bloody movies in!! OR I might consider watching ‘The Voice’,

Never ..

Stay Sick.

Dick

A Foreshadow of the Freakin’ Future

michael — Sun, 12 May 2013 11:18:41 +0000

Yo Freakers! And here we are again and I’m still stuck in the Monster basement. At least I’ve uncovered some physical sustenance in the form of a box of Zombie Chews. This is typically tasty and totally nutritious Monster food. It’s perfect for helping eyeball Monster product and let me tell you the above flavour has nothing to do with any of the verbiage that may adorn other parts of this page. Liquid refreshment has been uncovered too in the form of Mr Jekyll Absinthe that perfectly compliments the Zombie Chews. The wonders of the alcohol-like substance Wormwood should be encountered on a daily basis. You’ll see what I mean, literally.

Let’s hope the fiercely independent film with the differently spelt title of WYRMWOOD can produce an equally pleasing effect. Check out their seven minute teaser here and be surprised by something that in this world of high density living dead films appears to be able to look like THE WALKING DEAD & MAD MAX and be Australian and hilarious: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFrGrH5zfbg

Last time out I mentioned FORESHADOW which was shooting in Perth but is now in post-production. What follows is a two-minute excerpt from an interview I conducted with director Carmelo Musca while he was actually filming FORESHADOW. Good effort Carmelo who had to be dragged back to set 20 minutes later and may very well be dragged away by others upon completion of FORESHADOW. But how could it lose with an actress by the name of Clara Helms (no relation) in the cast?

Michael Helms: What sort of film is FORESHADOW?
Carmelo Musca: FORESHADOW is a suspense thriller with a touch of horror. It’s done in the classic style. It’s not a slasher. It’ll be an M-classification. We’re going for suspense in the Hitchcock way rather than relying heavily on CGI. There is quite a bit of CGI in it but it’s not blood and guts.
MH: Can you talk about the supernatural element to FORESHADOW?
CM: The supernatural elements of the story are that Father Bernard has been chasing this demon for some time and he’s come to Australia from Hungary because the descendant of one of the families involved is Hungarian but is very Australian now. He did change his name at a much younger age. FORESHADOW is very much set in Australian landscape which gives it another dimension. Our demonic figure has come to Australia from Europe but the rules of the genre in a European setting remain which makes it fairly original.
MH: Do we get to see this demon?
CM: We do. We see him several times throughout the movie but there’s a general misconception created around the hooded figure that could be Father Bernard who’s actually fighting the evil spirit but the demon possesses different people and has the ability to appear in other forms. So he can actually be the friend of our main protagonist without him knowing.

Since filming finished on FORESHADOW another genre flick has started up in Perth being THE RECKONING, a serial killer thriller from John (NEEDLE) Soto. Taking a leaf out of the casting from Jon Hewitt’s X, THE RECKONING has both Viva Bianca & Hannah Mangan Lawrence in the cast. Hannah, incidentally, is the niece of former Fatal Visions reviewer Des Mangan, who quietly disappeared off the face of the earth nearly twenty years ago. By the end of the month THE SCRYING should be shooting on Sydney’s northern beaches making it the second horror film to be shot in Australia in 3D after BAIT 3D. Naturally, a sequel is on the way there too. Of course, we’re still wondering why no one has picked up and shot the ultimate Australian 3D horror film from Jamie Blanks & David Hannay FLIES? Other films to possibly start up before the year is out are first time feature director Gemma Lee’s BLACKWOOD from Queensland and the seriously interesting and Victorian based monster movie TERRITORIAL. Both are Wolf Creek Pictures Presents. With WOLF CREEK 2 half way through the editing phase things are looking good. Speaking of looking good how could I ignore the second coming of the original EVIL DEAD that commenced a limited theatrical release around Australia last week? How could they mutilate and maim such a stunning beauty as actress Elizabeth Blackmore? With nails and a carving knife is how in FX sequences designed and executed by writer/director/deviant Fede Alvarez & Kiwi Roger Murray and his team at Main Reactor. See it now…

Children of the Corn Chips

Anthony — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 01:22:48 +0000

Hello readers! My name is Anthony O’Connor and I am a writer.

Recently I had the joy/honour/terror of watching a screenplay I wrote get made into a movie. That movie was Redd Inc. (aka: Inhuman Resources for you Yanks and Canadians). I kept a semi-regular diary on the set of Redd Inc. Between setups I’d scribble stuff down. Most of it was illegible, sub-par, rambling and incoherent. Occasionally it was drawings of zombies with boners.

Over the next little while I’ll be bringing you the highlights of this hastily-scrawled journal, with pictures and video for the hard of thinking. This is the first entry:

It’s pants-shittingly scary when your dreams come true. Not the dreams where a clown wearing the face of your mother rapes you, although I imagine that would be unpleasant. I mean your ambitions. The lofty goals that give you the strength to put on pants and leave the house every day… okay, most days.

Some days.

The year is 2011. I am in a small, poorly-ventilated room where six actors are sitting around a desk, covered in fake blood and scars. They are attached to the desk by chains. There are thirty crew members surrounding them and, standing awkwardly outside this bustling circle, is me.

I smell like corn chips. Sometimes, like now when I’m drenched in sweat, I smell like plain corn chips. There are worse smells, I suppose, but right now I am self conscious of my olfactory aura of snack food.

It is the fifth day of shooting. I am sweat-slicked and sleep deprived. Crew members mill about me in a haze of muttered curses and urgent, barked commands. We’re hours, perhaps days, behind and we still haven’t shot a single kill scene.

We’re due to shoot the death of Guy Marr (played by director, Daniel Krige). MEG are setting up blood tubes, Tom Savini is ready to supervise. The level of tension on set is palpable. This is the moment of truth.

When shooting a horror movie, especially a bloody horror movie like Redd Inc., it’s all about how the executions are, well, executed. I am having one of about a dozen out-of-body moments. I am literally standing on the set of a horror movie I wrote. Tom Savini is supervising the special effects.

Tom. Fucking. Savini.

I’ve had dreams about meeting this dude since I was old enough to know what FANGORIA was. Since I first saw Creepshow, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead and Friday the 13th. This is literally a dream come true and it looks like it could very well go pear-shaped.

We’re all tired and frustrated. United in the mantra: this shit has to work.

Like, HAS to fucking work. Failure, right now, is not an option.

I’m pretty sure I’m going to throw up.

I look over at Josh Groom (the director of the behind-the-scenes documentary, Chained to the Desk. He’s on set most days, like me). He’s filming the slow motion trainwreck that’s taking place. He glances at me and nods tightly. No reassuring smile. He’s as sweaty and tense as me. I am living a dream-come-true that may well be about to turn into a nightmare.

I’m definitely going to throw up.

Then something strange happens: it all comes together.

Tom Savini takes over calling the beats and the shots. With two cameras filming (three if you count Josh) we manage to capture one of the film’s most difficult setups in one melon-farming take.

MEG are so on the ball, Dan Krige is so responsive and Tom Savini so experienced that it’s one and done! One take to get a complicated sequence where a throat is slit vertically with Nicholas Hope’s (Redd’s) claw blade, then Dan has to bleed out and die on the table in an ever expanding pool of blood.

AND. IT. WORKS.

The crew erupts into spontaneous applause and cheers. A few people groan in delighted disgust at the abattoir floor vibe the desk (or “cubefarm”) set has become.

I sigh in ecstatic relief. My anus and soul unclench. I accept a few sweaty-palmed high fives from crew members and pat people on the back. I’m pretty sure I tell Tom Savini I love him, although I am such a bundle of jangled nerves at this stage I’m not sure anything I say is audible. Or in any language anyone could understand.

This is the first killing of seven. Tomorrow we get to saw Dan’s head off and I will be pumping blood through tubes so his neck stump bleeds, much to the horror of involuntary co-worker Annabelle Hale (Kelly Paterniti). This is the most wonderful and weird time of my life and I kinda never want it to end.

Someone says: “Can you smell corn chips?”

I need to change my fucking shirt.

Lest I be accused of veering into hyperbole, here is the scene in question, introduced my MEG’s Nick Nicolaou and Paul Katte, taken from Chained to the Desk: The Making of Redd Inc.

Next time: pumping blood and the birth of Pencil Dick!