GhostHousePictures Tagged Articles at Cinematical

After a string of limp noodles like Boogeyman, The Grudge 2 and The Messengers, it seemed pretty easy to dismiss Sam Raimi's Ghost House Pictures as, well, something for the kids. (Kids who just want to go see a movie, regardless of what that movie might actually be.) But since hitting the bloody big-time with 30 Days of Night (and turning a tidy profit in the process), it looks like the genre-happy production company is turning its sights towards something a little ... weirder.

According to STYD.com, a project that's gaining steam in the Ghost House hallways is something called Burst ... and here's the plot synopsis: "An isolated town endures an alien invasion that causes victims to spontaneously combust during a severe snowstorm." Wait, what? Let me read that again. So do the aliens invade during a severe snowstorm? Or do the aliens do something that causes humans to burst into flames ... when the next snowstorm shows up? I'm so confused.

Our source doesn't mention a screenwriter, and apparently there's no director attached just yet -- so could this maybe be some sort of joke? I sure hope not. I want to see the movie that fits that plot synopsis!

It's a sad fact that there are just way more crappy vampire movies out there than good ones, but the source material for 30 Days of Night is a little above the quality of Dracula 2000, so we are already off to a good start. Cinema Blend has the first look at the teaser poster for the new vampire flick, from Sam Raimi's company. The film is based on the graphic novels of the same name by Steve Niles, and the story centers on a small Alaskan town that is overrun with vampires who have descended on the town to take advantage of the lack of sunlight -- a huge selling point that ensures 30 days of uninterrupted feeding. Leading the pack of humans trying to survive is Josh Hartnett as the local sheriff and Danny Huston (who provided a bit of a sneak-peek last February) as Marlow a.k.a. the bad guy. Melissa George also stars, and Ryan had a chance to discuss the film with her during an interview last fall -- you can read that here.

The film is directed by David Slade and Raimi's Ghost House Pictures is producing in partnership with Columbia Pictures. As for Raimi, he's not at a loss for work despite the big question mark still hanging over the Spiderman franchise. He has already picked up an as-yet-untitled fantasy project from the writers of Freddy vs. Jason, and he is also considering a prequel to 30 Days for his Ghost House web site. 30 Days of Night is set for release on October 19th, just in time for Halloween.

While most fans were preoccupied with whether or not Sam Raimi would be continuing the Spider-Man franchise -- and it seems that that neither Toby Maguire or Raimi can make up their minds on that question -- the director has been focusing some attention on his plans for "multi-platform" projects, which of course means projects that have components designed for the Web, cable and other non-theatrical arms. A few weeks ago, Chris had news about Raimi's collaboration with FearNet (a horror site created by Sony, Lionsgate, and Comcast) for a seven part online series through his own Ghosthouse Pictures. Now, Ghosthouse is premiering some web films of their own, on their own site.

There are four shorts in total, and the subject matter includes the usual chestnuts of standard horror films, such as the bimbo and the babysitter in peril. Not to mention a surprising amount of skin snatching. The directors for the shorts are Ben Ketai, Toby Wilkins, John Coven, and Peter Logreco, and Ghosthouse seems to be keeping both Ketai and Wilkins busy, since they are working on the FearNet projects as well. There are five more films promised on the Ghosthouse site, but no word on when that is going to be, or whether Raimi has any intention of making his own short for the site, or how deep his commitment to multi-platform filmmaking will go in the future. Considering the amount of rumored Raimi projects on the horizon, I doubt he is going to have the time to focus on much else.