AfterDark Tagged Articles at Cinematical

So our good pal Peter Hall was traveling overseas, and this is how you know that "Horror Geeks" is a really awesome fraternity: He bought me a copy of the E4 horror mini-series Dead Set! Created by the insanely clever Charlie Brooker, Dead Set is about the zombie apocalypse as seen through the cameras of a Big Brother broadcast. It's a five-part mini-series that runs about 140 minutes in total -- and man, it's really something special. Knowing a bit about Brooker's snarky ways, I was half-expecting this to be a jokey sort of zombie affair, but no way man: This is full bore horror, and it's one of the best serious zombie movies of the last twenty years. As far as I know, Dead Set is not currently available through a R1 distributor, but if any horror movie is worth the few extra bucks, it's this one. Damn good stuff, well done Charlie, and thanks Pete! (Offical Dead Set website right here!)

Looks like After Dark has chosen their final film for next January's event. It will be a Korean chiller called Voices. The rest of the slate (which includes Weinberg-approved titles like Dying Breed and The Broken) can be perused via Bloody-D's handy new breakdown. And speaking of cool horror flicks I've seen at festivals, the director of Creep and Severance will be doing a dark ages apocalypse story called Black Death. Coooool.

And while I was pleased to see a DVD announcement for The Midnight Meat Train, I got a very nice surprise once I checked out the DVD cover! Cool! Thanks to Twitch, we now have some more details on the R1 Cold Prey (Norwegian slasher flick) DVD. Anchor Bay will be releasing the DVD on January 20. And while the new cover for Ben Rock's Alien Raiders doesn't exactly adhere to the movie ... it's still pretty nifty-looking. Lastly, yikes. Check out the eyeballs on Dorothy Mills!

Since they like to release eight indie-style or foreign horror films on one specific day each year, I'm always a little bit fascinated by the latest goings-on at After Dark. The fact that I don't actually like the majority of their films is sort of beside the point. Being a hardcore fan gives you the right to be critical, of course, but it also means you should always give a new flick a fair break. And the AD gang has given us access to some half-decent titles, and so I opt to focus on the good (Borderland, The Gravedancers, Frontier(s)) instead of the bad -- which is just about everything else. Although your mileage may vary.

And even though the next infusion of After Darkness won't arrive until January, I'm happy to note that they're putting together a rather solid slate. They'd already snagged a cool British chiller called The Broken (which I saw at Sundance ... and enjoyed) and a low-key occult thriller called From Within (which I saw at Tribeca ... and didn't), but now comes word on two new additions: The first one is also a Tribeca title, and it's an Aussie horror tale called Dying Breed. (Here's my review. I nagged Tim to play it at Fantastic Fest, but it ended up in the "very close but no cigar" bin.) The second is an American flick called Autopsy, which comes from screenwriter / first-time director Adam Gierasch (Toolbox Murders, Mother of Tears), and while I haven't seen this one yet, I've heard some quiet-yet-positive rumblings from my sources in the L.A. horror-geek scene.

The Broken, From Within, Dying Breed, and Autopsy will join Slaughter (aka Faithless), Perkins' 14, and The Butterfly Effect: Revelation when After Dark kick-starts on January 9. The eighth title has yet to be announced. Could it be this movie?

[Thanks to BD.com]

When the After Dark Horrorfest popped up in November of 2006, I caught about half of the offered 8 Films to Die For, despite a transparently sensationalized campaign of just how horrendously extreme these titles must've been to get such a specialized release. My experiences ranged from not bad (The Abandoned and The Gravedancers) to pretty dreadful (Penny Dreadful), but between the ratio of enjoyment that year and the yanking of actually-possibly-horrific Frontier(s) the next, I just passed entirely in 2007.

One might assume that, in an effort to meet me halfway, the Horrorfest has skipped out on itself this year, but while this is technically true, it's merely shuffled away into the doldrums of this coming January 2-9 instead. Scott Weinberg had already pointed out that The Broken and The Butterfly Effect 3 were among this year's (next year's?) selected batch of titles, and now The Hollywood Reporter reports that From Within -- about a rash of suicides in a small town -- and three After Dark productions: the aforementioned Effect, Slaughter, and Perkins' 14.

That leaves three more titles in the running. Any guesses? Just remember now: they can't be too scary.

The first one was a theatrical release. The sequel was a direct-to-video affair. So for the third one, we get a little mixture of both. Yep, it's time for another trip to Butterfly Effect territory, and you can only find it through the third annual After Dark Horrorfest event. According to The Hollywood Reporter, production on Butterfly Effect 3 will begin on September 1. No director has been mentioned yet, but the screenplay comes from a newbie called Holly Brix. Here's the plot: "A young man with the power to time travel who attempts to solve the mystery of his high school girlfriend's death."

But I wouldn't necessarily expect BE3 to arrive for this November's AD festival ... seeing as how production is scheduled for early September. Good to see After Dark taking some initiative and co-producing their own flicks. Lord knows they've been a little inconsistent with their "indie acquisitions" -- although they did snatch up The Broken, which played last Sundance and earned a positive review from yours truly. And since I know the AD guys are big Cinematical readers, I'll offer up Dying Breed as a possible pick-up. It's an Aussie import that's got a basic plot but a very icky atmosphere.

Their batting average might not be all that stellar, but I'm still rooting for the After Dark team. In theory, their idea of snatching up eight indie / foreign horror flicks a year and offering them a brief theatrical run is fantastic. And I've no doubt that the AD crew does the best they can with the flicks and funds that are available, but let's face it: Their track record isn't exactly sterling, now is it? (Their flick recap can be found after the jump.) But things seem to be looking up in After Dark country: According to The Hollywood Reporter, the scrappy little distributor plans to get a lot more involved in the production side of the equation.

They've already announced Sean Ellis' The Broken* as the first AD08 title, but now we seem to have movies two and three. Production begins this month in Romania on both Faithless and Perkins' 14, the former a thriller about a woman on the run from domestic abuse, the latter a serial killer chiller. (Hey, the less I know about the plots, the better.) Faithless comes from the team of Stewart Hopewell and Tim Long, while Jeremy Donaldson's Perkins' 14 was apparently the winner of a screenwriting contest at Massify.com, which is kind of interesting. That flick will be directed by Craig Singer, whom Horrorfesters will remember from Dark Ride. This pair of flicks marks AD's first return to full-on production since 2006's An American Haunting.

(* Saw it at Sundance; dug it.)

Last week I brought you what I thought was the final list for the 2008 After Dark Horrorfest, but since that time the event A) tossed out Unearthed, B) added a flick called Crazy Eights, C) removed Frontiere(s) from the mix, and D) wedged Unearthed back on to the slate. So what's going on here?

Apparently Xavier Gens' Frontiere(s) (review here) did not receive an R rating from the MPAA, which means (for some reason) that After Dark / Lionsgate won't release it for the festival. Call me nuts, but didn't last year's After Dark trailer promise movies that were "too extreme" for mainstream? And now they ashcan a solid horror flick instead of trying to go "unrated" with it? Then again, After Dark chief Courtney Solomon hasn't made many friends over at the MPAA. It was his advertising gimmick "faux pas" on Captivity that angered the ratings board a few months back. (More on that here.)

Apparently the plan is to give Frontiere(s) its very own release date, precisely like After Dark did with The Abandoned. But if they won't release it "unrated" for the Horrorfest, then what are the odds that Lionsgate will go "unrated" on a later theatrical release? (Very slim?) Or maybe I'm just annoyed because I saw Frontiere(s), dug it, and now believe that Horrorfest jettisoned a really fine flick from their line-up. Impatience aside, as long as Solomon and Lionsgate plan don't snip the flick down, then they're doing the right thing.

After the jump: The full press release on the After Dark Horrorfest.

Last year was somewhat of a rough start for the After Dark Horrorfest, and I'm basing that statement solely on the movies the event had to offer. The eight "official" titles were The Abandoned, Dark Ride, The Gravedancers, The Hamiltons, Penny Dreadful, Reincarnation, Unrest and Wicked Little Things. I've seen 'em all and I'd call The Gravedancers the best of the bunch, with the dry-but-passable The Abandoned a close second. The rest ... meh.

So it is with much geeky excitement that I share a new opinion: Horrorfest 2007 is guaranteed to be an improvement over last year -- and I can say that with some confidence because I've already seen three of the chosen flicks, and all three of 'em are worth seeing. Regarding the other five, I heard good things about some and really negative things about others ... but here's what the overall slate looks like for this year. (Synopses are taken from the official Horrorfest website.)

Borderland -- "When three Texas University students travel to a Mexican border town on the eve of their graduation, the last thing they expect is to face their own deaths. Without warning, they fall prey to an ancient blood cult hellbent on finding candidates for human sacrifice. Based on true events, Borderland tells a story which blends the raw fear of Texas Chainsaw Massacre with the stark reality of In Cold Blood, evoking a world soaked in paranoia, fear, and dread." (Starring Rider Strong, Jake Muxworthy, Brian Presley and Sean Astin, directed by Zev Berman) ** I saw this one last March at SXSW. It's southern-fried survival horror with a splash of satanism mixed in. Full review here.

The Deaths of Ian Stone -- "On an otherwise ordinary night, the young Ian Stone encounters a mysterious creature and is forced into the path of an oncoming train. Rather than facing certain death, Ian finds himself reborn into a new life that feels strangely familiar. After his second death, it becomes apparent that Ian is being hunted by an evil presence, and will be forced to die every day until he can solve the mystery of his own life." (Starring Mike Vogel and Christina Cole, directed by Dario Piana) ** I know next to nothing about this one.

Frontier(s) -- "When a small gang of criminals takes refuge in an isolated country inn, their welcome is less than warm. As the evening wears on, the young outlaws are subjected to a macabre nightmare where blood flows and screams flood the night." (Starring Karina Testa and Sameul Le Bihan, directed by Xavier Gens) ** Caught this last month at Toronto. Full review here.

Yesterday I posted my probing piece of investigative journalism: "Blood n' Babes: Cinematical's Trip to the 2007 Miss Horrorfest House." Today I was offered a spot on Nightline. OK, not really, but I hope that those of you who read the piece enjoyed it. I think it is safe to say that readers were expecting photographs of the candidates that were a little more...explicit. But to be honest, those weren't the ladies I met. They were all attractive and provocatively dressed, sure, but for the most part, these were just nice, normal women who happened to be covered in blood and gore. Plus, c'mon, I'm no Hugh Hefner, and there's something unseemly about asking girls you've just met to show a little more skin. Good thing for you guys, I didn't even have to ask! I was just sent a new batch of photographs of the eight finalists, and they are definitely worth checking out.

You've got Sweet Dead Sara, rocking a slit throat. You've got Chieko coming out of her shell...and a coffin. Mistress Malice is sporting taped nipples and a whip, and I think it's safe to say votes for her are about to skyrocket. It's sad but true -- show some skin, you always win. Countess Elizabeth Bathory is, um, sitting in a chair. That's sick! The Morbid Sisters look mighty guilty in their photo, although I'm not sure why they didn't perform some of their acrobatics for the shoot. Nixon Suicide is getting in touch with her wild animal. And Shannon Lark manages to look seductive even with a chainsaw in her hand. Remember, to cast your vote and track the results, head over to the Horrorfest YouTube page. They've just given you more time to vote -- the top three finalists will now be announced on October 24th. Check out the photos in the gallery, and to learn more about my wild experiences with the Miss Horrorfest girls, be sure to check out yesterday's post.

After Dark Horrorfest is a week of "8 Films To Die For" -- 8 new horror flicks released in theaters for one week only, November 9th through the 18th. Over the last month, contestants have performed at live auditions or submitted 90-second YouTube videos in the hopes of being crowned Miss Horrorfest 2007. The competition is now down to eight finalists. The chosen ones lived in a house together for days, Real World-style, and each competed in "chilling competitions" to win "$50,000, fame, glory, and a year of exotic travel as the reigning Miss Horrorfest!" The videos are on YouTube -- last year's contest proved to be the most successful in the site's history. The final three candidates should be announced tomorrow.

Of all the assignments I've had and interviews I've conducted, none have filled me with as much unease as my trip to the Miss Horrorfest House. I have a difficult time talking to girls as it is. It certainly doesn't make things any easier when they're covered in blood and holding chainsaws. These ladies are hardcore! I was concerned that I'd feel a bit out of place. 1) I'm not a big horror enthusiast. If I want to see people screaming and trying to stab each other, I'll go home for Thanksgiving. 2) Although I do own volumes one and two of The Cure's greatest hits, I am not at all comfortable in the Goth lifestyle. 3) My taste in erotica does not involve whips, chains, or ball gags.

Was I going to be able to find common ground with these people? Luckily, I was partnered for my interviews with the editor-in-chief -- excuse me, DEADitor-in-chief -- of a magazine called Girls and Corpses. Yes, girls and corpses -- together at last! As you can imagine, he was extremely familiar with the horror chick world, and he put me at ease very quickly. If you get a free second and don't mind getting fired from your job -- check out his site! The two of us spoke briefly with each of the eight finalists, discussed after the jump. It was a trip.

A few days back, as I was sharing the link to the new Captivity trailer, I mentioned that the flick was still "locked in" to its May 18 release date. Well, turns out I was a bit premature with that assertion. Turns out that After Dark will hold the horror movie's release until June 22, most likely in an effort to appease the MPAA, which they royally pissed off with their unapproved (yet still published) billboard ads.

This moves the Elisha Cuthbert thriller from a head-to-head sorta-battle with Shrek the Third and positions it up against a whole bunch of movies, such as the fact-based tragedy A Mighty Heart, the big-time comedy Evan Almighty, the historical drama September Dawn, and the oft-delayed action-jiggle flick DOA: Dead or Alive. Odds are that one or more of these movies will be shifting release dates ... again. If Lionsgate and After Dark decide to push Captivity back again, the thing might just end up as an entry in the second annual After Dark Horrorfest.