It’s the darkest day of horror the world has ever known – it’s George A. Romero’s Day of the Dead! In 1969, George A. Romero changed the genre of horror as we know it and the way films are made as we know it with his seminal zombie classic Night of the Living Dead. He followed that up almost a decade later with the now equally important Dawn of the Dead which ushered in an era of gore films. In the 80′s Romero found himself unable to secure the financing he wanted for his third entry in the zombie series and was forced to scale the entire project back.
When Day of the Dead was finally released – fans of his previous two films didn’t know what to make of the bleak nihilistic tale of terror that unfolded before them. With time – Romero’s Day of the Dead has come to be heralded as another classic in a series filled with classics. It’s a personal favorite of the Mutantville Players and we’re happy that someone uploaded it to Youtube so that we could share it with you here.
(Witness the darkest day of horror the world has ever known after the leap!)
The Mutantville Players are off to the set of Robert W. Filion’s Athena again this weekend. We’re helping Image impact Group all month long and it’s been a great shoot so far. We’re one week away from the private cast and crew screening of G.H.O.S.T. and all we have left to do is slide all of the final sound and FX pieces into place. It’s going to be so much fun to share the final product with all of our friends for Halloween.
In the midst of all of this creative activity – we still find the time to bring you reviews, articles, interviews and special features that you won’t find anywhere else! Speaking of interviews – - I hear there’s a brand new interview with John Carpenter coming to Mutant TV very soon!
(Get the full lowdown at the hoedown after the leap!)
The good scribes over at Slasher Studios have just posted a link to an interview with Eli Roth from the Daily News Los Angeles in which he discloses a list of his favorite horror films. Some of his choices seem to be no-brainers but a couple might surprise you. Check out the trailers to his choices below and then hop over to Daily News Los Angeles to read the complete interview with Mr.Roth.
“Sleepaway Camp” (1983): Ah, “Sleepaway Camp.” I remember watching this film at a sleepover with Lenny Mead and a bunch of friends in the mid-’80s, and when the movie ended we literally stood up out of our chairs and screamed at the top of our lungs until we ran out of air. I will not say why – and don’t go looking up the spoilers on the Internet because that will take all the fun away. Treat yourself to a wonderful surprise.
The guys over at Deadpit have posted the final part of their MAY of the DEAD horror extravaganza and this time out it is a fan commentary to George A. Romero’s Land of the Dead. All month long, the Creepy Kentuckian, Uncle Bill and Jessco have been bringing you reviews and rare interviews with horror luminaries such as Dawn of the Dead documentarian Roy Frumkes, Friday the 13th part 6 director Tom McLoughlin, and Stuart Gordon director of H.P.Lovecraft’s Re-Animator.
From DEADPIT.COM: “May of the Dead finale featuring free LAND OF THE DEAD Fan Commentary!
It’s the last week of ‘May of the Dead’ for 2011 , and what better way to celebrate than put ourselves through Romero’s triumphant return to the big screen with 2005′s Land of the Dead. Join the original thrillbillies Uncle Bill and The Creepy Kentuckian for a commentary you soon won’t forget, this week exclusively on DEADPIT Radio!!”
Stop by DEADPIT and download the May of the Dead specials now. They’re the best in horror talk radio.
It’s Saturday. It’s May of the Dead. Get busy watching – or get busy dying! It’s Scary Movie Saturday.
Posted 11 months, 3 weeks ago at 7:53 pm. Add a comment
On May 3rd, download “Escalation”, the second Call of Duty: Black Ops map pack, to play as the zombie-killing dream-team of Sarah Michelle Gellar, Robert Englund, Michael Rooker, and Danny Trejo against a new and unnerving zombie menace. Set in a mysterious, ice-covered, remote Siberian island and inspired by legendary writer and director George A. Romero, a group of four fearless explorers fight for their lives amidst an army of bloodthirsty Soviet zombies.
The Escalation Content Pack will be available first on Xbox Live on May 3, 2011.
Mutantville Productions first learned of Robert W. Filion during our epic adventure to take Devil Comes Down to George A. Romero’s American Zombie Film Contest in 2009. During said contest Robert’s movie, See The Dead, went on to sweep his competitors into the grave including MVP’s own Devil Comes Down. Robert reaped the rewards of the contest and MVP was left rubbing our collective bruised egos and has been plotting revenge ever since.
Over the years, MVP has come to know and respect Robert as a man of many talents. Robert follows MVP’s filmmaking philosophy in that he is always ready to do whatever needs to be done to get his movies made whether it’s working as the writer, director, producer, director of photography, editing or doing his own digital FX. Robert is a filmmaker with twenty years of experience and any time he brings his considerable talents to bear it is always worth taking notice. Most recently, See The Dead played at the prestigious Nevermore Film Festival at the Carolina Theatre in Durham, NC.
Robert’s company Image Impact Group has been responsible for countless shorts and films over the years including Lot 66, Chekov’s Children, The Promise Jar and The Parcel. Robert never seems content to create run of the mill horror, instead he always tries to push the boundaries of the art-form technically as well as through the narrative. His films may feature undead, zombies and other sorted beasts of mayhem – but there is always an attempt to marry the surreal or psychological to the narrative.
In a recent interview with Fangoria magazine, Filion states that “I find the scariest place to navigate is my own head. I was raised in a military family and never had longterm friends, so I never really fit in, since we moved around a bunch. Though very outgoing, I found the cruelty of children a bit much to take. Even back then, I wrote stories of a fantastical nature and retreated into my own world.” Filion comments that “people are emotionally fragile, and the question I come up with time and again is, what if you push the right buttons?”
Years later, the stars would align as MVP and Filion no longer found themselves at odds, instead teaming to create a new horror anthology entitled Tales From Mutantville. This past October, Robert teamed with Mutantville Productions to shoot three short films back to back. Producer J.T.McRoberts commented on working with Filion by saying that “Robert is an inspiration to work with. He is very professional and possesses a drive and determination to create something new and exciting. He may know how to do everything that needs to be done on a film set from production manager to gaffing and beyond but he never lets work get in the way of having a good time on the set. Working with him was a real blast and I look forward to future collaborations.”
Never one to rest on his laurels, Robert has been keeping busy with projects such as Seeing and is still currently in post-production on Indigo Child for Tales From Mutantville. This weekend he is hosting a private screening of his latest project Ghost Trek. Ghost Trek was developed by writer/co-director Michael Plumides and stars Michael Melendez, Johnny “Fairplay” Dalton, Mikey B. Bartone, Gia Allemonde, Christy Johnson, and Addy Miller (of The Walking Dead).
For his dedication and professionalism to the art and craft of filmmaking, MVP is proud to chose Robert W. Filion as the inspirational filmmaker of the week.
Posted 1 year, 1 month ago at 7:55 pm. Add a comment
Just in time for the Academy Awards, it’s the MVP Playa Awards! Last night, Streebo finished his last review of the mainstream horror releases of 2010 when he went to see Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan. Mutantville.com has tallied the votes and now we are ready to present this year’s MVP Playas Awards.
Streebo began reviewing all the major mainstream horror releases during their theatrical run back in 2004 on the IMDb Horror Board in the topic: Diagnosing the Problems and Celebrating Modern Horror. Streebo’s First double feature review was a back to back viewing of Saw and The Grudge. The topic was eventually locked on the IMDb due to exceeding the allowed number of responses which at one point numbered almost 800 in total.
Streebo has kept the tradition alive since 2007 when he changed the title to Celebrating Modern Horror and began posting v-log reviews as opposed to written essays. He spent all of last year watching the latest releases and reviewing them for you and today we are proud to announce the winners of 2010′s MVP Playas Award.
MVP Playa for Best Horror of 2010: Splice:
MVP Playa for Scariest Movie: Paranormal Activity 2:
MVP Playa for Best Horror Comic: Crossed
MVP Playa for Worst Original Horror: My Soul To Take:
MVP Playa for Best Remake: The Wolfman.
MVP Playa for Worst Remake: A Nightmare on Elm Street:
MVP Playa for Best Horror Documentary: Graphic Sexual Horror
MVP Playa for Best Horror Artist: ScottRa Monster Art (Robert Scott)
MVP Playa for Best Horror Talk Radio (or Podcast): DEADPIT.COM
MVP Playa for Best Gore: Piranha 3D.
MVP Playa for Best Surreal Horror: Black Swan.
MVP Playa for Best Horror Franchise: George A. Romero’s “Dead” Films: Survival of the Dead
MVP Playa for Best Sequel: Saw 3D The Final Chapter
MVP Playa for Best Fanfilm: Judith
MVP Playa for Best Film Festival/Series: Retrofantasma at the Carolina Theatre in Durham
MVP Playa for Best Convention: Fright Night Film Fest with Roger Corman
MVP Playa for Best Horror Event: Horrorhound screens Clive Barker’s Nightbreed Uncut
Posted 1 year, 2 months ago at 5:19 pm. Add a comment
This weekend, Robert W. Filion’s award winning See the Dead is playing at the 12th Annual Nevermore Film Festival in Durham. Longtime MVP Players will remember Robert from George A. Romero’s American Zombie Film Contest in 2009 where See The Dead knocked Devil Comes Down out of contention and took home the grand prize. Robert W. Filion would go on to direct several other shorts including Lot 66, Chekov’s Children and The Promise Jar and in 2010 served as the director of photography on the Tales From Mutantville anthology in a joint venture with Mutantville Productions.
Sarah awakens to a dead world. As she struggles with an emotional trauma, she must survive the advance of nightmarish ghouls.
The Nevermore Film Festival is in full swing. See The Dead is playing to a packed theater right now. Here’s the movie.
It’s free. Join the fun. It’s Scary Movie Saturdays.
This weekend, the Mutantville Players are heading to Durham and the Carolina Theatre for the Twelfth Annual Nevermore Film Festival. This year’s Nevermore will consist of nine new independent horror films, three classics, and fifteen short fillms from filmmakers across the country – including the Carolinas! Mutantville.com is proud to announce that the first installment of the Tales From Mutantville collection – Scarecrow At Midnightwill premiere during the event.
Over the years, Nevermore has played such cult hits as Bubba Ho Tep, Monster Man, My Little Eye, Night of the Demons, Witchboard, Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein and many more. This year’s lineup consists of an array of films from horror classics such as Friday the 13th, Sam Raimi’s Darkman, and the Academy Award winning Silence of the Lambs as well as new indie features like Unaware, Rubber, El Monstro Del Mar, Vanishing on 7th Street, Black Death, and Mold! Nevermore will also play host to no less than fifteen short films consisting of the aforementioned Scarecrow At Midnight, Bursters, The Writer, Alice Jacobs Is Dead, and even the winner of George A. Romero’s American Zombie Film Contest – Robert W. Filion’s See The Dead!
J.T.McRoberts, writer/director of Scarecrow At Midnight, expressed his enthusiam about the festival by stating that “I look forward to Nevermore every year. I keep my ear to the ground in the fan community and people are often complaining that horror is dead or that mainstream horror is all about remakes. Well if you just take the time to look around, one can find great horror everywhere and the Nevermore Film Festival is a testament to that. They’re playing nine new independent horror films from across the globe and there’s not a single remake in the bunch. I feel blessed as a fan to have a place like the Carolina Theatre nearby that keeps horror alive in North Carolina. To have one of my short films play there is a real honor.”
Scarecrow At Midnight and Robert W. Filion’sSee The Dead will be playing in the short film block entitled “When the Stars Begin to Fall” on Saturday the 19th at NOON and again on Sunday the 20th at 2:10pm. For more information on the Nevermore Film Festival and the Carolina Theatre, please visit their official website here.
Posted 1 year, 3 months ago at 8:14 pm. Add a comment
John Carpenter first exploded onto the horror scene in 1978 with the seminal slasher flick Halloween. He directed the movie for very little money with a small cast and crew and the final result became nothing less than horror movie history. John Carpenter’s Halloween was at one time the most profitable independent movie ever made and inspired films and filmmakers for generations to come.
Since then, Carpenter has gone on to a roller-coaster ride of triumphs and failures throughout a 30 year career which has brought us such classics as The Fog, The Thing, Carrie, and In The Mouth of Madness. After years of feeling stifled and held back by studio executives, Carpenter walked away from Hollywood in 2001. He returned briefly for the television series Masters of Horror on Showtime and directed John Carpenter’s Cigarette Burns which was voted best horror of 2005 by Mutantville.com.
Away from the cinema since his 2001 release of Ghosts of Mars, Carpenter, like his predecessor George A. Romero, has finally returned to his indie roots by going his own way and making his latest horror film, The Ward. The Ward tells the story of Kristen (played by Amber Heard) who is confined to a mental institution after allegedly setting a house aflame – only to discover that the vengeful ghost of a former patient is killing off the residents one by one.
In discussing his decision to return to filmmaking with The Ward, in a recent interview with Empire Online, Carpenter states “This was the first one that came along that had a small cast, a small budget and a reasonable shooting time in a simplified physical space. In other words, it all took place in one area [and] that was just right for me. That was what I was looking for.”
You can read the rest of Empire’s interview with John Carpenter by clicking this link. Be sure to join the Mutantville Players as we set off on the road to meet John Carpenter at the Fright Night Film Fest in Kentucky this summer! Our first stop on the way to Fright Night – the Nevermore Fundraiser at Retrofantasma tomorrow night. They’re playing a double feature of John Carpenter’s The Thing and James Cameron’s Aliens in 35mm! See you there.
Posted 1 year, 3 months ago at 3:47 pm. Add a comment
