Now, keep in mind, I don't intend this next statement to be taken as an insult, it's not. It's just a simple fact... most indie horror filmmakers are on the outside of Hollywood, looking in. Not even looking in, must of us are in the parking lot, looking at the people who are on the outside, looking in.... picking up pop cans, trying to raise enough money to buy some DV tapes. There's very few people who made it in the business, then decided to give it up to make 'creepy for cheapy' movies out of pocket. Most indie horror filmmakers are plugging away, any way they can, not even really trying to make a living making their films. In most cases, they're just trying to make an audience... and build some cred while they're at it. Then, one day, hopefully, they'll get their break... somewhere, somehow. I think it's widely known that one of the best routes to take is by entering film festivals. If you can manage to screen at one, let alone win something, you're on your way to some recognition, which won't fill up your gas tank, but it will fill up that ego and get you some contacts. A lot of film makers instantly want to go the way of the feature, but that's not always the best thing to do... a feature is at least 90 minutes long and they can only screen so many of them at any given festival. However, they can cram a lot of shorts into one night of screenings. On top of that, shorts don't usually take as long, or cost as much to make. Let's take a look at Alex Masterton's 15 minute short, "Mr. Video", a film that recently came to my attention.Mr. Video" is about the owner of a small video store who struggles, in vain, to earn a living, as he's competing against DVD piracy, internet downloading and an array of customers who never seem to rent anything. Things soon change when a young man enters the store and pushes the owner to the breaking point... I haven't actually seen it yet, but you can check out the trailer here. The quality looks fantastic. Also, it has to be alright, as it's screened at 12 different festivals, including: Tromadance, Rhode Island Horror Film Fest and the Freak Show Horror Film Festival, to name a few. He's been receiving a lot of press, a lot of exposure and he's winning a few awards on the way.
So, instead of dumping all your money into making that feature, maybe you should think about making a kick-ass short, it could be an easier road to take. ...and I'll tell you what. I'll find out how it's working out for Masterton, as I'm supposed to be talking with him about the film soon.
" is being released by Anchor Bay and it comes from director Gregg Simon. Simon worked for Brett Ratner while he was in college, then went on to make music videos and do some work in commercials, all while he also out making short films. His award-winning short film "The Final Resolution" screened at 15 international film festivals and earned him a slot as a finalist in the Project Greenlight Directors Competition. "The Cook" is his first feature length film and it's filled with boobs and guts. The story revolves around a sorority house over a long weekend and the handful of girls that stay behind for three days of partying, sex games and strangely delicious meals prepared by their odd new chef. The sisters start disappearing and the remaining ones 'find themselves trapped in a nightmare of graphic slaughter, involuntary cannibalism and heaping helpings of gourmet nudity'. Sold!
", but it is a horror... and it does have gore. Admittedly, it does take a bit to get over the fact that they sing throughout the whole movie and I'm not really a big musical fan, but... look, it's the best movie that came out of the "Best Movie" category at the Oscars as far as I'm concerned and the story is great. Did you know that they actually had to cut some of the movie to get an R rating? The American cut focuses more on Johnny Depp than the gore, so maybe you should check out the international cut for that extra 'je ne sais quoi'? Either way, culture yourself and watch it... as far as horror-musicals are concerned, we can only hope that "Repo! The Genetic Opera" is half as good.
" comes from indie writer/director Michael Morris, whose only other feature is "Last Seen at Angkor", although he's made a couple of shorts, also. I don't know too much about him, but it looks like he got his start as a P.A., then worked a bit as a D.P. before breaking into writing and directing... "Fear House" is about a group of friends and family who pursue an estranged writer to an isolated house, only to find that once they've entered, their own fears will kill them if they leave.
" is, in fact, a Sci-Fi Original and it comes from director Gary Yates and writer Mark Mullin. Gary Yates is actually an award winning Canadian director and "Eye of the Beast" marks his inaugural move into horror, even though he quickly followed it up with another Sci-Fi Original, "Maneater". Mark Mullin wrote another Sci-Fi Original, "Something Beneath", as well as "Extreme Ops". I'll tell you what, once you get in at with the Sci-Fi channel, you're in. "Eye of the Beast" is about a government scientist who is sent to investigate a reported story of a giant squid that appears to be devouring everything within sight and scent... and he uncovers a one-ton, tentacled terror with its eye on a new feast... man.
" comes from first time director Rufus Chaffee. From what I can tell, from reading their press kit (which you can find 
" comes from writer/director Jerry Williams and it was originally part of the Tomb of Terrors package, but now it's getting its own release. It stars Conrad Brooks, who's been in so many crappy horror films, I can't count them, and it's about the tormented dreams of insomnia patients, which have a terrifying connection - they all dream of a murderous clown called Purvos, who's very real and closer than anyone would ever had imagined.
" is actually a few years old, it came out in 1999. I usually don't cover movies that are older, as I like to concentrate on the newer, indie stuff that comes out, but... this deserves mention. Directed by Heiko Fipper's (it's the only thing he's ever done) "Das Komabrutale Duell" could be the bloodiest and goriest film ever made... and it's being called a 'gem of an amateur splatter gorefest', 'sit down, open some beers and have fun watching the characters kill each other in the most bizarre ways'. Okay, I might just do that...
" is from writer/director Felix Diaz and it was supposedly filmed over a 24 hour period... so, I'm thinking it's as indie, micro-cinema as it gets. Diaz's only other film is "Superhero Excelsior", a rock n roll, superhero comedy, which had great reviews. I haven't seen "Hell's Threshold" yet, but I'm interested to see a micro-budget film that was shot over a 24 hour period... I think I'll keep my expectations low.
on Amazon. Further, his article "Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business" is being flushed out into a book and should be out in 2009.... I'm assuming that it, too, will probably be a must read.
", which I thought was one of the best films of 2007. It was written and directed by Frank Darabont, who also did two other Stephen King adaptations, "The Green Mile" and "The Shawshank Redemption". Looking through his resume, "The Mist" is by far the darkest thing that Darabont has done... It stars Thomas Jane, who you might remember as The Punisher from the 2004 version, but he's been in lots of stuff, including David Arquette's "The Tripper" from 2006. I don't know what else to tell you, but that you should see it. It was awesome... and I can't believe that it only made $25Million at the box office, bringing it in at number 95 on the box office gross list for 2007, right on top of "The Reaping" and right below "Nancy Drew". My bet is that "The Mist" gets a big run on DVD, it's really worth checking out...
", so I'll just cut and paste some of what I already wrote. Usually, I'd just gloss over this and not bother, but... It turns out that it's actually a pretty good film and I wrote up that I wouldn't watch it because it's in French. So, I take it back. Check it out... It's about a couple who have recently moved to this rural part of Romania and are awakened in the middle of the night by a series of disturbing noises. They investigate, only to find their car being stolen. Attempts to report the crime to the local police are unsuccessful and soon the couple realizes that the mysterious figures have returned... and are trying to enter their house. It's been well received internationally, has been called "77 minutes of gloriously maintained tension" and now "the film that terrified Europe has come to America".
" is a remake of the 1986 classic of the same name. This one is written and directed by Mitchell Altieri and Phil Flores, otherwise known as 'The Butcher Brothers'. I'm not sure why they have that alter-ego, but I'm pretty sure that it's self proclaimed. In any case, their first feature film was "The Hamiltons", which won the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and the Malibu International Film Festival, was selected for the '8 Films to Die For' festival and was, subsequently, picked up and released by Lionsgate in 2006. After a career in music video's, a big break and sucess with "The Hamilton's", they go on to remake "April Fool's Day" as a straight-to-DVD release.
" actually won Harry Basil the best feature award at the New York City Horror Film Festival. It was filmed over a couple months in 2006 and the story is based around that urban legend out of San Antonio where a school bus of children were all killed in a terrible train accident and if you stop your car in neutral on the tracks where the accident happened, the ghosts of the children will push it to a safe area. You know the one? Anyhow, the movie centers around a teenage girl who just finished rehab and moves in with her sister, when the two of them investigate mysterious happenings occuring around town that could be connected to the legend. Harry Basil has actually had a crazy career and I talked a bit about it when I was discussing one of his other films, "Soul's Midnight". Originally a comedian, he's been doing various horror films lately, which is crazy. Any guy who can direct both "Funky Monkey", which is about a super-ninja, secret agent football star chimp AND "Soul's Midnight", which is about a vampire cult seeking to resurrect their leader, is alright in my books. Actually, he's better than alright... that's f'ing genius and it's the definition of a diverse career.
" is just coming out on DVD now, it feels like forever ago that I watched it. Either way, it's a great horror film... and, of course, the subject matter, as well as the way the film's put together, should entertain the viewers. It's about a group of American backpackers, who are constantly high, and their Irish guide who are stalked by a serial killer while out in the woods looking for, well... shrooms. It was written by Pearse Elliot and directed by Paddy Breathnach and it won Paddy best director honors, as well as best film honors, at the Irish Film and Television Awards.
" is not a zombie film... However, it is a shocking and grotesque film about family dysfunction, so it's got that going for it, which is nice. It's about a desperated husband, who leaves his bedridden wife alone with their son James, who happens to be a schizophrenic man-child. In a horrific fit of dementia, James abandons his medication, locks the doors, and plays nurse. As his ability to distinguish morbid fantasy from reality decays, he plunges into a mental labyrinth so violent and deranged, none of them may survive it. It's written and directed by Simon Rumley, who won a best director award for it at the Austin Fantastic Fest, as well as a new visions award at Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival. It was done on a fairly low-budget by Simon Rumley, who got the idea from watching his own mother dying of cancer and the maddening cycles of hope, helplessness, anxiety and guilt that families experience while dealing with organized health care.
", until I realized that it's actually an unrated version of 2003's "Garden of Love" by Olaf Ittenbach under a new title. There's only two things you need to know about this film. (1) It's basically a goofy, German, splatter-fest about a girl who's haunted by her father, a musician who died, along with a bunch of his friends, a few years earlier. (2) Olaf Ittenbach is a buddy of Uwe Boll's, worked on a bunch of his films and mainly concentrates on special effects. So, with that, you should know exactly what you're getting when you get this film...
" was written and directed by Jeremy Wallace, who happens to be a V.P. in charge of production, distribution and marketing at Wicked Pixel Cinema, which distributed "Deadwood Park", "Savage Harvest 2: October Blood", among a few other indie horror's. It's a low-budget slasher film about six friends who stumble upon an old town with a deadly secret... which is a seven foot-tall homicidal maniac who's sole purpose in life is to rid the town of strangers in the most violent manner his mangled mind can dream up. F yeah....
" when it came out on February 14th. Maybe it's because that was a Thursday and I usually only check the new releases on Tuesdays. Either way, I missed it and it first came to my attention when I actually had a chance to discuss the film with the writer and producer, Jackie Olson. So, in a way, I'm kind of glad I missed it, as I got to hear all about how and why it was made before I watched it.