EVIL DEAD 2013: Daring you to see it

Well, it's all abuzz on the internet now; here is the RED BAND trailer for the new Evil Dead remake. Keep in mind, this gets pretty grisly!



My thoughts? I love it.

I'm a massive whore for the original films (well, the first two), and think Drag Me To Hell is a spiritual sequel to Sam Raimi's cult classics. Skepticism for the remake is definitely abated by the fact that Raimi, other original producer Rob Tapert and original star Bruce Campbell are on board and being guiding lights in the production. I don't think the film can ever feel like a true part of the Evil Dead mythos, but that is more down to just how much time has passed and how far cinema has gone. Seeing a bloody vomit, head in bag, Book of the Dead wrapped in barbed wire, a woman being kicked into a cellar, and the return of the rapey trees (man, I sound so misogynistic!) makes me think this film won't pull punches and will hopefully be as much of a hoot as the original film. I doubt it will be quite as quirky as Evil Dead 2, though there does seem to be some deeply dark humour to be found in the trailer, so maybe the film will be peppered with that.

One of the most annoying trends recently has been trailers giving too much away (see Sinister for a prime example), and I fear that this trailer is so good that that may be what is the case here, but then again, most of the demonic action seems to focus on just one woman, and as we all know from the original, each member of the group is tortured one by one, so here's to hoping.

Evil Dead coming in the next couple of months? Yes, please!

The Dead Don't Rise in Death Valley Anymore

About a year ago, I enthusiastically wrote about the MTV horror comedy mockumentary, Death Valley. At the time, the finalé had just hit (ending on a cliff-hanger, of course), the show was getting praise from horror fans everywhere, and we were proudly informed a second season was on the way.

It's in CAPS LOCK, so you know it means business.

Well, it turns out the Undead Task Force won't be patrolling the streets of California anymore.

I had been happily going about my life, eagerly awaiting the return of what turned out to be one heck of a good show, when a friend informed me it wasn't coming back. 'No', I yelled. 'It is definitely coming back. Real people who make it said so!'. And then, because I am an egotistical monster who has to always be right, I went to check this out. Lo and behold, it had gone from CAPS LOCK returning, so being no more;

That tweet there is from Caity Lotz, who plays Captain Kristen Landry. This casual tweet that does even have ANY capital letters publicly marked the end of Death Valley. The show ain't coming back. Everywhere has now labelled the show cancelled. I know this is old news, but it is a sad day. It went out not with a zombie head explosion or a stake through a vampires heart, with a hard rock soundtrack booming away, but completely under the radar, hoping no one would realise that clever little show was gone. Among the heavies of The Walking Dead and American Horror Story, Death Valley stood out as an easy comedic aside that everyone could enjoy. It'd be like there being Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire, but cancelling The Office or 30 Rock. 

Oh...

Anyway, better late than never, there it is; Death Valley, a great and entertaining show, is no more.

FILM Announcement

Well, I can't think of a proper way to say it, so I'll just say it here: I have just wrapped filming on my first feature film!

I think everyone (including myself) would have expected my feature directorial debut to have been a horror film, but it is in fact a romcom named The O'Briens. We just finished shooting in Galway and after a few days rest, I will begin the editing process. We worked with a very talented team and very talented actors, and I think that it will be a film that everyone can enjoy.

For more info, check out this article on the film HERE.

Why are we only seeing Joe Dante's The Hole now?

I thought maybe IMDb was glitching or something, but no, it is true, Joe Dante's The Hole is only about to be released in the US market! 

This completely shocked me, because not only was the film made in 2009, but it actually had a proper UK cinema run, with trailers and posters and a release an all. Heck, I have had a copy sitting in my DVD collection for a year. It's not the best film ever, but it certainly didn't deserve to sit on the shelf! I can't seem to find any real reason why it has taken so long to come out, so I'll assume it has to do with no one wanting to put out a horror that isn't found footage, up until that genre was whipped out of sight over the past year.

Do yourself a favour, and see this film. It is a horror aimed at a younger market, but I'll be damned if it didn't bring back the same kind of shivers I got when I first saw Poltergeist. It's a genre legend making a purely entertaining genre film, reminding us of why Joe Dante is considered a legend.

You can read a big fanboy rant for The Hole here, and then get your ass to see it!

The final push for the Sodium Party

We are very close to the end of our Sodium Party campaign over at www.indiegogo.com/sodiumparty, and I would first off like to thank everyone who has been so helpful and generous so far. For everyone else, please check out the link above and consider contributing to our film. We are close to our new goal, and appreciate the help!


Living Dead Girl has just done a great write-up of the film over at her page here. Give it a read if you can, it is a great post!


I would like to answer a few small questions about the campaign to clear things up for people, so you know we are not being foolish about things!


Q. Why have you lowered your goal from $9,500 to $2,500?
A. Initially, we were given quotes for services that amount to about $9,500, but throughout the campaign, things have changed. First off, a very talented individual has donated their time to doing the visual effects of the film. Next, people see the dedication we have to this project and are being very helpful. We are cutting deals to get it all finished at an affordable price (and you can imagine we would give these folks repeat business from now on!). We have decided to leave the digital print for the moment, as this is a high cost when a colour grade is the main goal here and we can put the film out to Digibeta tape quite conveniently. We'd prefer a digital print eventually, but festivals and distributors accept Digibeta quite readily!


Q. But your set goal is $9,500. With these campaigns, don't you have to raise everything or get nothing?
A. That is true with a lot of group funding sites, but not Indiegogo. Everything you contribute will come to us (minus Indiegogo's fees). This is why we can rebudget what we see coming in and reset our goal!


Q. I thought this film was Irish, why is the campaign in dollars and not euro?
A. Because Indiegogo is an American site. We have taken in to account conversions and fees for it, and it should not affect you, the contributor, too much, though some people may be charged a small conversion fee (typically one euro or less).


Q. Why should I contribute to Sodium Party?
A. Because we are a unique Irish feature film. This is a truly independent film, made outside the Film Board and studio control, and we can promise you it is a one of a kind experience! By the time the end credits roll, you will be captivated!


I hope that clears up some questions! Now, please, head over to www.indiegogo.com/sodiumparty right away and help us hit our goal! 


Join the party!

New Child's Play Sequel!

Bloody Disgusting have just reported that there is a new Child's Play SEQUEL on the way; The Curse of Chucky! 


I have been a big fan of the series since way back when. Hell, I remember first seeing Bride of Chucky at a schoolfriend's house (with Malaysian subtitles on it, just for extra grindhouse effect), and I remember staying up late on school nights watching SciFi's bizarre show Head Fuck, after a brief clip from Child's Play appeared in its trailer and I became desperate to see it. Eventually, I saw the first three films in order, and loved the ever-loving crap out of them. Something about killer dolls. A bit of a messed up Toy Story, perhaps?

Oh... I forgot... Toy Story already WAS messed up.

Seed of Chucky, the long-in-development-hell sequel was a bit of an odd step, and a lot of people would consider it a misstep, but not me. Sure, it's a but too meta for its own good, but it's stupid, has John Waters and features Hannah from S Club 7 meeting her maker, so it's all good to me!


This new sequel has its own history, of course. Being a very trendy thing to do, the powers that be were thinking about rebooting/remaking Chucky from the ground up, which could have been interesting, but honestly, I think society as a whole is past the killer doll thing. The only way it is scary is when you watch an old film that displaces you from your videophone-24/7 online life. So, a sequel is a very satisfactory route in my humble opinion!

Of course Brad Dourif is back. What kind of Chucky film 

could you make without him!?

According to BD, the film will hark back to the more horror elements of the early films. I don't think Chucky can be scary any more, and he really set the bar for killer dolls as it is, but he has always been a wise-cracker, and with creator and Seed of Chucky writer/director Don Mancini at the helm, I can't imagine this incarnation completely going cold turkey on the one liners. One oddity that seems to have cropped up; no Jennifer Tilly. I'm not a particularly big fan of her character in it, but she is a bit of the mythos now, plus Tilly herself seems to enamoured by the whole series! Ah well, as long as it is intelligent about it and doesn't just retcon her and Glen/Glenda, it should all be good. I suppose they were given quite a satisfactory wrap up in the last installment, so Mancini, do us proud!

Shooting starts in Winnipeg, Canada in September, so my guess is a possible Halloween 2013 release.

Horror hidden in the dark of Ireland

I think by this point it is very evident that I am a massive horror fan, and it is no secret I am also a filmmaker (the main reason I have restrained from reviews, as I harp on again and again in my infrequent posts), and maybe it is time to let you know that these two loves are not separate. I have been trying to hold my tongue until I was in a more solid place, not liking people who get ahead of themselves and put the cart before the horse, but now, I can officially declare that I have written the horror film I want to make as my first feature as director.

While doing a photo shoot in a forest for a college project, Kate and Brendan uncover a passageway in an abandoned and derelict. It leads to darkness and seems to go on in to infinity. Though Kate is cautious, Brendan decides to explore the passage, but ends up disappearing. When he returns, he feels amazing, and his entire demeaner is changed. While trying to figure out what it is, they introduce more friends to the passageway, with everyone feeling amazing after using. But, then, things start to turn when people are unable to control themselves and something inside them starts to take over…

Just some of the many inspirations.

For a country so rich in folklore, it is astounding how minimal the horror output is from Ireland, and what there is tends to err on the side of typical. Now is the time for this film to be made. Bubbling under the surface is a revolution of independent Irish cinema, and we filmmakers are getting louder and louder with our ‘no compromise for money’ ethos. I served as one of the producers on the independent mystery thriller, Sodium Party, and I know that when the right group of people who want to make a good film get together, nothing can stop them. Sure there is a place for trailers and personal assistants, but there are those of us who know that the innovative can make a €10,000 film look like a €500,000 film.

This is what I want to do. I want to make the kind of horror film I would love to see, and this is a film that has been touched on by other filmmakers, but never from the perspective I have wanted to see. Equal parts bed-wetting terror and hair-pulling tension, I am going to make a horror film with an intensely psychological value, much in the vein of masters like David Cronenberg or John Carpenter. I am not saying I am in their league, but Irelandneeds someone to try something intelligent and different!  This film will be Hellraiser by way of The Shining, with its toes in Martha Marcy May Marlene, and (as I noticed as I finished writing) a heck of a nod to classic Italian horror of the 70s.

So why this film? Why a passageway into who-knows-what? Well, I have grown up in a time watching people lose sight of what is important in life, including myself, and I have recently lost someone very important to me, which has made me acutely aware that sometimes you have to step back and realise just what it is you are doing. I don’t want to preach, I don’t want to judge, but I do want people to question. Whether that is a cultural or a personal experience will be an individual's own experience.

I hope to procure a relatively workable budget (compared to Sodium Party, anyway!) and know that this film will be made by a talented cast and crew, not by a big budget. A good film involves dozens of people, and there are more than enough talented folk just waiting in the wings! Whether I can find investors, or raise the money with like-minded people, or scrimp and save and shoot it on weekends for a few years, I will make the horror film I want to see, and want the world to see that Irish cinema is able to be exciting and risk-taking. Best of all, I genuinely love making horror films and think this would be a great way to kick it all off to what could be a long road of scares!

If you are interested, please drop me an e-mail at richmwaters@gmail.com. Even if it is just to be kept informed, you are very welcome. The more people who want in, the better! You know I am a horror lover, and I am making this film as a horror lover.

Let’s scare the shit out of em!

A Sodium Update

I'm being very lazy with the blog this month, I apologise. I have a valid excuse though. We are still trying to raise much needed funds for our near-finished feature film Sodium Party. If you think you could contribute, please help out here: www.indiegogo.com/sodiumparty


You cannot change the goal once it has initially been set, so we still have that excessive 10k figure looming, but anything we get will go back in to the film, and it is more likely than not that we can work out deals with what we do raise (some people appreciate the hard work more than the money!), so please help us in any way you can!


Today, a nice notice about the campaign went up on Horror Society, a horror site I am shamed to say I never really scoped out. Seems like a more down to earth place than Bloody Disgusting (which has apparently died in the forums in the few months I didn't use it). Check out my little pitch on Horror Society here: http://www.horrorsociety.com/2012/05/27/helping-fund-a-jacobs-ladder-style-horror/


I'm excited to be getting ready to gear up with more films soon, but Sodium Party is too much an important baby to ignore! If you can, please contribute and/or share!


www.indiegogo.com/sodiumparty