News From the Dark Side

Amanda By Night

May 2005

My name is Amanda By Night and I’m the fresh meat ‘round here at Anxiety Films. I’m sort of a fan of horror movies. Remember the word fan is derived from fanatic… This is me. I live for this stuff, so when Eric kindly asked me to keep the world abreast of all the genre news of the day, and tip my hat to the indie side of the world, I was more than happy to say YES! But first a few words about me (and then you’ll never have to hear it again. I swear)… You might call me an entertainment journalist, but I pretty much work exclusively in horror. I’ve met and interviewed everyone from Brinke Stevens to John Carpenter. I’m a regular at countless revival screenings around town, I can be found gushing over various celebs at assorted conventions around the LA area and I’m an insane video/DVD collector (I have over 1,000 movies in my collection). I write for such esteemed websites as Pretty Scary, Retro Slashers, Camp Blood, and I’ve had articles featured on The Terror Trap and Unitshifter as well. Oh yeah, and not only do I love Magnum P.I. but I think pet mice are boss keen… And that’s about it! Gee, ain’t I fascinating? Now onto the news:

News from the Other Side: 

Unfortunately, we’ve lost a few of our folks during the first half of 2005:  

Paul A. Partain – Better known as Franklin in the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Partain died on January 27^th after a battle with cancer.

 

Lamont Bentley – Lamont played Crazy K in the underrated Tales from the Hood. He died tragically in a car accident at the age of 31.

 

Nicole DeHuff – Nicole died from complications to pneumonia. She was 30 years old. Though she’s most recognized as the girl who took the volleyball to her face in Meet the Parents, she appeared in the thriller Suspect Zero which was released shortly before her death.

 

Steve Susskind – The prolific character actor died on January 21^st in a car accident. Steve played Harold, the bunny loving shop owner, in Friday the 13^th Part 3. More recently, he contributed his voice to a few major animated projects like Osmosis Jones and The Emperor’s New Groove.

 

Ossie Davis – A gentleman in every sense of the world, the great legend died of natural causes on February 4^th. He was 86 years old. It was a truly sad day. Ossie will be remembered for many things, but I’ll never forget his stoic, dignified portrayal of JFK in Bubba Ho-Tep.

 

Debra Hill – Producer and co-writer of the little horror film that could, Halloween, Debra (shown above with Halloween director John Carpenter) died recently after a valiant battle with cancer. She had also collaborated with John Carpenter on the classics The Fog and Escape From New York. A trailblazing woman who made me believe that I could step behind the camera and make a difference, Debra will be sorely missed.

 

John Vernon – Genre stalwart featured in everything from The Kinky Coaches and the Pom Pom Pussycats to Killer Klowns from Outer Space, John will best be remembered by slasher fiends as Jonathan Stryker in the botched by sorely underrated Canadian classic Curtains.  But he’s best loved as Dean Vernon Wormer in Animal House.  He was 72 years old.  A true legend and a wonderful actor, he cannot be replaced. 

Rest in Peace everyone. You’re contributions have not been ignored…

Mainstream Films that want to be Indie News:

It’s true; Nicolas Cage will be starring in the remake of the classic Wicker Man! Neil LaBute (Nurse Betty) will direct, but even the best directors seem to have a hard time keeping Cage’s over-the-top hysterics to a minimum. Good luck Neil!

Stuart Gordon (Re-animator) is directing a fairly big project originally written by David Mamet. Edmond, starring Mena Suvari, William Macy and Joe Mantegna is a dark tale of a fourtune-teller’s teasing rumination which catapults Edmond Burke into New York City's hellish underworld. No word on a US release date, but keep your eyes peeled…

New Line has recently purchased the rights to the entire Phantasm series, which was created and directed by Don Coscarelli. A little bird informed me that Coscarelli will be producing, which makes the news a little easier to swallow, but frankly the idea of Phantasm’s famous sphere getting a CGI makeover is simply ridiculous. Still, I wish Coscarelli all the luck in the world.

Pink has just been cast in a new movie to be named Catacombs, the first of a nine-picture deal made between Lion’s Gate and Twisted Pictures.

The director of that awesome little direct to video flick Rich Girl (the best movie ev-ah!) is currently completing his new project, Deadly, which is based on the true crime book Invisible Darkness by Stephen Williams. It’s a dark tale about Canada’s Ken and Barbie killers. Paul Bernardo and Karla Holmolka are the innocuous looking couple who were convicted of torturing and killing three teenage girls, including Karla’s little sister! This movie is stirring up a ton of controversy in Canada. Even their Premier, Dalton McGuinty, has asked his constituents to boycott it when it’s released. Find out more on the official Deadly: The Movie site

The REAL Indie News:

Prolific filmmaker, Rolfe Kanefsky (The Hazing) is at the end of a long battle with his new movie Corpses. After a few mishaps and whatnots, you can look for Corpses on Lion’s Gate DVD sometime in October! And he’s on a roll folks! Rolfe is also anticipating the release of his fun tribute to the 80s sex comedy Pretty Cool this spring! Congrats Rolfe!

I recently spoke to a very busy Ted Newsom (Ed Wood: Look Back in Angora) and he informed me “The first project I ever did with Brinke (Stevens), The Naked Monster (formerly Attack of the B-Movie Monster in a previous, b/w and cruddy incarnation) is finally finished. I'm going to put a snipe on the poster saying, "20 Years in the Making!" and it won't be hyperbole. She's very funny in it. (There’s) an utterly gratuitous shower scene (and, I dare say, probably the funniest one she's done)”.

Ted is also quietly working on another Sinbad project with the master himself, Ray Harryhausen. Details are scarce, but this is what I could dig up, “Sinbad's back and Harryhausen's got him. No, not the proposed Keanu Reeves starrer, but a new Sinbad adventure from the master of fantasy and effects, Ray Harryhausen. Harryhausen has always been the prime mover in creating his screen stories, but rarely took script credit. For a new project about the sea-faring adventurer, he is crafting an original script with California-based writers Brinke Stevens and Ted Newsom. Harryhausen announced the project recently while speaking at UCLA. Details are completely under wraps at this point, but apparently the new script has nothing to do with the Reeves Sinbad project, nor other Sinbads which Harryhausen has mooted over the years (i.e., Sinbad Goes to Mars.).”

Ted is also current collaborating on an indie screwball comedy with our fave Scream Queen, the indefatigable Brinke Stevens! And if he doesn’t pass out from exhaustion, perhaps he’ll have more details soon…

The powers-that-be recently announced that a sequel to the horror sleeper hit the Toolbox Murders is a go! The dynamite duo who wrote Toolbox, Jace Anderson and Adam Gierasch and director Tobe Hooper, recently wrapped their next feature Mortuary, starring Denise Crosby.

The fun-loving horror folks at Crazy Ralph Films have been BEYOND busy on a few new projects. I’ll just post the info Tony Urban gave me:

Hunting Season: The gore-soaked, paranoia-filled horror film is just weeks away from completion. A trailer is available at

http://www.crazyralphfilms.com/HuntingSeasonTrailerBig.wmv

http://www.crazyralphfilms.com/HuntingSeasonTrailerSmall.mov

Kottentail: A killer man/rabbit stalks and terrorizes a bevy of beautiful women. Easter will never be the same when this film is released worldwide on DVD in late 2005.

Psycho Cheerleaders: When a cheerleading squad is turned into a group of bloodthirsty demons it's up to a ragtag group of dorks and freaks to save the day. Production begins this summer!

The Shrieking: There's something in the woods! A group of college students finds nature has gone awry during a weekend camping trip. Filming wrapped up less than two weeks ago and editing has just begun.

Scary Screenings, Cool Events and other Terrifying

 Happenings around the Country: 

Fangoria will be hitting the shining shores of Los Angeles once again (after a 2-year hiatus) with their brand new convention. Look for Alan Ormsby (Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things, Deathdream) to make his first Fango appearance! The con is scheduled to take place June 4th & 5th, at the Burbank Airport Hilton and Towers. You can get more info HERE

One of my favorite fests is a monthly tribute to the Grindhouse films of yesteryear. Eric Caiden, the owner of the Hollywood Book & Poster Company, and his cohorts has had some of the best screenings of recent memory. The next big event is May 24th, which will include the screening of Maniac Cop and Vigilante, and will also feature appearances by William Lustig and the luscious Robert Forster (schedules pending, of course). June delights include No Mercy Man and Rolling Thunder with Sid Haig scheduled to appear. Find out more HERE

Friday Nights just got scarier. Mark you calendar for June 10th, and head on out to CIA (it’s just the club in town!) to catch Horror From the Jungle. I plan on being there. Gooble Gobble, Gooble Gobble… Find out more HERE

What’s not going on at the Two Boots Pioneer in New Yawk City? It’s probably better to just direct your hungry eyes to Two Boots Pioneer

The Fifth Annual Shriekfest is now accepting submissions for its 2005 festival to be held September 15-18 2005. For more info go to Shriekfest

The Mix and Mangler is a monthly event in New York. It’s a great place to find such noted indie masters as Alan Rowe Kelley (I’ll Bury You Tomorrow), and buzz, the scariest fag in the biz! I mean that lovingly of course (may I direct you again to Camp Blood)! This mixer is also open to screening up and coming filmmaker’s shorts in a venue that will get them noticed. Find out more HERE

Another great screenwriting contest can be found at Hollywood is Burning.

If you live in California, September is a good month to catch The Bloodstained Bride. With two screenings set to ring in the cool weather, you’d be fool to miss this excellent new horror film, which takes a wry and satirical look at dating and marriage. Catch it at Cinespace on September 1st or in Fresno at the Little Show of Horror Films Festival on September 4th. Good luck guys! Find out more on Tri-Toad Films official site.

THE RETRO MINUTE:

The Prey

Any movie with the tag line “It’s not human and it’s got an ax” just screams Amanda By Night. And though this oft-maligned low budget slasher never fully realizes the potential of this blurb, it’s still a strangely atmospheric horror movie.

The usual six pack of naïve sex starved twenty-somethings head up to vast and isolated mountains for a weekend of, well, you can probably figure that part out. Unfortunately for our hapless sextuplet, an angry and deformed gypsy (!) has seen fit to rid the world of obnoxious youths. Though no court would probably convict him, he manages to elude all forms of capture, even after the local ranger, Jackson Bostwick (Shazam!), appears hot on his heels.

The Prey may be one of the strangest slasher flicks ever produced. What’s stranger, is that it seems to have been a strong influence on the underrated modern slice and dicer, Wrong Turn! For a film that spends almost half of its running time displaying various creatures of the wild in their natural habitat, The Prey actually ekes out a bizarre sense of dread that permeates every frame. And it doesn’t skimp on the scares. If you can get through some inane dialogue and numerous shots of centipedes frolicking, that darn gypsy dispatches his victims in various nasty ways until the uniquely dark ending. Not for everyone, The Prey is a rarity in that it is as boring as it is brilliant.

 

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