Film at Eleven

According to Empire Online, George A. Romero’s Land of the Dead has done so well in Europe and Japan that the director is considering a sequel.

If it happens, a new Dead movie will follow the surviving characters from Land on their journey north, and as such will mark the first time Romero has made a direct sequel to one of his zombie flicks. And this time, there won’t be a lengthy gap between films.

“Frankly, I was ok with that,” because I’d much rather wait for something to happen, laughed Romero, referring to the political subtext that underpins each of his zombie movies. “If they nuke Washington, then I’ve got something. It won’t be in April but it might now be August or something. I hope to God we don’t have to do the winter again, but there’s a real buzz happening now about a sequel.”

We live in hope.

I have to admit that, even with all the hype, I didn’t get around to seeing Saw. But - apparently - it’s very similar to a film I did see a couple of years ago.

Den was released in 2001 and, according to director Greg Arce:

When SAW first came out at Sundance I started receiving emails and phone calls from people that had seen my film, DEN, and were saying, “Have you seen the film SAW? It looks like a rip off of your film.” I had no idea what they were talking about and then I went to see it here in Hollywood. Suddenly I understood.

I made a list of all the similarities and the list got longer. One particular telling moment was when I found out that the makers of SAW are from Melbourne, Australia and we played there at the Melbourne Underground Film Festival. And my lead actress, Dana J Ryan, won for best actor there… so we weren’t just a hidden film amongst the others. And the timing would have been around the time the SAW guys were probably studying film… What student filmmaker DOESN’T attend the local film festivals!?

Anyway, the independent groups have now watched both films and they all are saying that there’s a case.

My lawyer is confident that we will win… and probably in the high millions. Yes, you read that right. I don’t want to give his name out here, but he has won similar cases of ideas being stolen from some well-known companies.

He is going to take on the case for free… contingency basis… but here’s the rub:

It will still take anywhere from $10,000 to $50,000 to hire the investigators and people needed to do the subpoenas… I don’t have that kind of cash anymore. It was suggested that I get investors to now invest in this trial… and so I’m going that route.

From what I understand, it will take up to eight months to go through the “motion of summary judgment”… apparently legal-see for “time to pay up for taking what’s not yours”

I’m looking for no more than five people that can put up the money. For each $10,000 they put up I will give them 2% of the winnings that I end up with. If one person puts up the entire $50,000 I will give them 12% of winnings I end up with so that’s an extra 2% on top of the ten they will be getting.

So if you know of anyone that wants to gamble a bit, but I don’t see it as much of a gamble as everyone who has seen both films has said the same thing, “They ripped you off!!!” then have them contact me.

I originally had wished they would just have come to me and settled out of court without all this craziness, but I guess they feel it’s okay to rip off the little guy… and even though I’m fat, I’m still a little guy in this business.

For more information either haed over to Clown Tears Productions or contact Greg directly at greg@wizmicro.com, but put simply…

DEN was made in June of 2001 and was in many festivals years before SAW was around. We won two best feature awards and my lead actress won two best actor awards for it. And we were featured on CNN during Oscar weekend of 2002… plus featured in various magazines, websites and even a radio show… we were a known film and project… they can’t say we were invisible.

So if you are interested in helping the little guy not get stomped then please forward this around… let’s stop the Goliaths from beating up on the Davids.

Mobled Queen Entertainment is now Dark Maze Studios. While this doesn’t affect their current library of titles, it does mean a handful of other changes.

The move to Dark Maze represents, in part, a shift in focus toward feature-length projects. It also means more variety.

The bulk of the Mobled Queen movies were horror, and, with the change of name, will come a broader variety of films. Starting with Press Start - described as the world’s first videogame adventure comedy (not counting the unintentionally funny Super Mario Bros.) - for which production starts in late November.

Back in June, I mentioned that Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Dutch MP who scripted Submission - the film over which director Theo van Gogh was murdered - had confirmed her intention to continue with the series.

Now, according to the BBC (via), the script has been completed.

“I examine the position of homosexuals in Islam in the film Submission II,” she told the De Volkskrant newspaper.

“In the movie, they are called Allah’s creatures,” she added.

The film will use anonymous actors and carry no credits in an effort to protect those involved in the project.

For all you lucky people in Scotland, the Dead by Dawn film festival is going to turn 13 in 2006.

The confirmed festival dates are Thursday April 20 to Sunday April 23 and full weekend Passes priced £50 will go on sale on Wednesday 1 February. You can buy them by from the Filmhouse on Lothian Road or over the phone to 0131 228 2688.

Either way, the box office opens at 12 noon.

Here’s something found on the forum that is worth repeating.

The 2006 Eerie Horror Film Festival has officially opened it’s call for entries and is seeking independently produced feature length and short horror/sci-fi films and screenplays from around the world!

The 2006 Eerie Horror Film Festival will be held October 4-8, in Erie, Pennsylvania at the Roadhouse Theater and will feature special celebrity guests, visiting filmmakers, and thousands of attendees and is promising both film and screenplay awards.

They also have a Student Film Competition for ages 5 - 17 and have streamlined the submission categories in order to make them easier to understand.

Overlooked, underrated, and misunderstood, independent horror movies have been ignored and shunned by the mainstream film industry since it began more than a century ago. Through the decades, these films have entertained and thrilled audiences around the world and continue to grow in popularity to this very day. There is an incredible amount of talent in this field that goes unnoticed an unappreciated, and we are proud to announce that the Eerie Horror Film Festival hopes to reverse that trend. This event was established in order to give filmmakers and writers in the horror /sci-fi genres a venue to have their work showcased to people in the industry.

Since 2004 the Eerie Horror Film Festival has screened nearly 100 indie films and has featured such guests as Lloyd Kaufman (Troma), Gunnar Hansen (Texas Chainsaw Massacre), Mark Borchardt (American Movie), John Hancock (Academy Award nominated director), Sean David Morton (Joe Killionaire/talk show legend), Ben Meade (Bazaar Bizarre), Michael Stanley (Attack of the Beast Creatures), Debbie Rochon (actress), Pam Sutch (actress), Greg Lamberson (Slime City), Jamian Snow (author), Dorothy Tristan (screenwriter), Len Kabasinski (Swamp Zombies), Travis Bowen (actor/director) and many. many more! In 2004 with the generosity of Lion’s Gate Films we were able to show the North Coast premiere of the movie “SAW”, two weeks before it hit the theaters! Several of our selected films have gone on to get distribution deals after our Fest including “The Last Horror Film” which was picked up and released by Fangoria a few weeks after it won Best of The Fest at our event!

The 2006 Eerie Horror Film Festival will be even bigger and better, with more special guest and surprises! We hope that you will be a part of this year’s festivities!

For additional information about the Festival, contact greg@eeriehorrorfest.com or write to:

Eerie Horror Film Festival
PO Box 98
Edinboro, Pa. 16412

Good luck.

Cemetery Pogo is a limited edition DVD from Apprehensive Films and The Secretions.

The video is a tribute to 1980s horror fare such as Return of The Living Dead and Night of The Demons and is filled to the brim with hot punk chicks making out with zombies,bloody kisses, brain eating, zombie penises and kick ass punk music. All for only $5.

The same people are also releasing I Can’t Believe Its Not Comedy - a compilation cd of comedic skits from the nationally acclaimed comedy troupe, I Can’t believe Its not Comedy and several books.

And finally, Heart Full of Napalm is a DVD-R compilation of short horror and exploitation films. This disc contains acts of Sadism, Sex, Nudity, Violence, Language, Gore, Adult Content, Adult Situations and scenes of Graphic Torture and is not recomended for people under 17 or anyone with a medical condition.

More information is available at the Apprehensive Films website.

Helltimate Studio have announced a sequel to their 2003 horror anthology, GoreGoyles : First Cut.

Set for DVD release early in 2006, GoreGoyles : Back To The Flesh will be Helltimate’s first movie since the original GoreGoyles in October 2003. Like the original, GoreGoyles : Back To The Flesh will feature two stories about 45-minutes long each. Each story will be preceded by an original presentation featuring Helltimate’s mysterious host; Uncle Dodo.

GoreGoyles : Back To The Flesh will mark Alexandre Michaud’s return as director after a break of nearly three years. The creator of one of the most extreme Canadian movie ever made, Urban Flesh, declared that GoreGoyles : Back To The Flesh represents some kind of return to his roots as the film is sure to be filled with loads of blood and guts.

GoreGoyles : Back To The Flesh will also be 100% Canadian since the other segment on the DVD will be directed and produced by Ottawa director; Miles Finlayson.

Post-production is already underway. The producers expect the movie to be completed before Halloween.

I’m fast coming to the conclusion that people in Edinburgh are disproportionately lucky. While the rest of us will be putting up with the saccharine-soaked excesses of seasonal TV, Cult! Film Distribution are showing a season of suitably deranged films.

Cult! Film Distribution Presents Psychotronic Cinema!!

What Is Psychotronic Cinema?

Hot on the heels of the massively successful Cult! and Wild Japan festivals, Psychotronic Cinema is a brain-blasting new line-up of insane cult movies. The films are screening in a late night Thursday slot each fortnight at the Filmhouse, kicking off this Thursday (November 10th).

Psychotronic Cinema is the only late night cult cinema event in the entire UK. And Psychotronic is more than simply a programme of superb, crazy films. Each film will be proceeded by 20 minutes of classic Drive-In movie trailers from the golden days of Exploitation Cinema. Plus the Psychotronic Bar – offering low priced drinks, atmosphere and exotic party tunes from classic cult movie soundtracks.

In an era dominated by market-led filmmaking the movies, plucked from ‘the’ classic period of cult movie history, will explode on to the screen and pump demented energy from every frame. Representing the very best from a diverse selection of genres, these films are unified by their wildness, their utterly unique nature and the longevity of their fascination to film fans. Get ready for a weird and wonderful ride through a landscape of truly transgressive cinema…

Psychotronic Nights Schedule

Psychotronic Bar Opens – 10.30pm
Exploitation Trailers – 11.00pm
Intro To Film – 11.20pm
Psychotronic Movie – 11.30pm

Tickets are : £4.50 / £3.50 (concession). Special priced full season passes available.

The season has already started, so don’t delay.

I’ve just seen on the forum that the Fucking Fabulous Film Festival is screening in Seattle this weekend. So if you happen to be in the area, now would be a very good time to check it out.