Anxiety Films, LLC

News From the Dark Side

Amanda By Night

October 2005

News from the Other Side:

Robert Wise – Legendary director who tipped his hat to every genre, from musical to horror, began his career in 1941 as an editor on the Orson Welles’ classic Citizen Caine – and was the last surviving crew member. Genre fanatics will remember Wise most as the man who helmed the classic (and untouchable) The Haunting. His ghostly tale of suppression and guilt remains one of the greatest and most moving supernatural films ever made. Other genre work included Audrey Rose, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Curse of the Cat People and The Andromeda Strain. He was 91 years old.

Matt McGrory – Matt stood 7’6” and according to friends and fans, was a true gentleman. Matt left a strong impression in the Rob Zombie films House of 1,000 Corpses and Devil’s Rejects, but he also appeared in Big Fish and Bubble Boy. To find out more about Matt, check out his neat website here. To get an idea as to how contagious Matt’s personality was, watch the Making Of featurette on Dave Parker’s zombie homage The Dead Hate the Living DVD. Matt died of natural causes at the age of 32.

Stanley DeSantis – Owner of the successful T-shirt company Passing4sane and the Soap company Bubbletown, Stanley was also a successful character actor. He played Dr. Burke in Candyman and Mr. Feldman in Ed Wood. Stanley was 52 years old.

Bob Denver – Bob Denver was Gilligan. A warm face for lovers of TV comedy, Denver never shied away from his fame as the world’s most famous castaway. He also played beatnik Maynard G. Krebs in his other successful TV series, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. His oddest role would have to be that of Dr. Dudley Plunkett in that strange Made For TV movie The Invisible Woman. Bob graced the small screen with an innocent puppy dog like curiosity about the world and we will never forget him.

James Doohan – One of Scotty’s most famous lines “She’s giving it all she’s got,” could very well apply to James’ career as well. Considered a true gentleman and wild story tell by friends and fans alike, he did dozens of convention appearances, even after he began to suffer the debilitations of Alzheimer’s Disease (although he wasn’t diagnosed until 2004). A master of accents, it was his trademark Scottish accent that gave him one of his most memorable traits on Star Trek. He died on July 20th at the age of 85. Some of his ashes are slated to be shot into space sometime this year.

Frank Gorshin – An incredible character actor whose career spanned nearly 50 years, he started out as a regular in AIP flicks like Hot Rod Girl and Invasion of the Saucermen, the world fell in love with Frank as the Riddler in the Batman TV series. He received an Emmy nomination, and managed to avoid the pitfalls of stereotyping with dozens of great performances on television, theatricals and Broadway. One of Frank’s last performances was in the Quentin Tarantino directed episode of CSI. Frank was 72 years old.

Joseph Wolf – Most recently Joseph was an executive producer on the awesome new slasher Hellbent but he also had a hand in Halloween, Hell Night and Fade to Black. There’s hasn’t been much information about his life or untimely death, but you can check out his impressive filmography on IMDB.

Don Adams – Don will always be remembered as the loveable and bumbling Maxwell Smart in Get Smart but he also worked in voice-overs for years, even lending his distinctive vocals to Inspector Gadget, and he was also a CLIO Award winning commercial director. His health declined greatly after the death of his daughter, Cicely Adams, last year. He finally succumbed to a lung infection on September 25th. In the famous words of Maxwell Smart, “Would you believe…” we’ll love you forever? Rest in peace Don.

Mainstream Films that want to Be Indie News:

Super hottie genre babe Robert Forster has been cast, along with Michael Michele and Gregg Henry to star in the surprisingly rushed CBS TV Movie, The Hunt for the BTK Killer. This movie, produced by the awesome dudes who brought us Spring Break Shark Attack is moving fast and slated to air on October 9th at 9 pm.

Odd Lot Entertainment’s new genre outing, Dark Lot Entertainment has announced its first project, a three film anthology titled The Horror Chronicles. Chronicles will be the directing debut of three screenwriters, Neal Marshall Stevens (13 Ghosts), Richard Jefferies (Cold Creek Manor) and Art Monterastelli (The Hunted).

Why, why, WHY? Screen Gems is currently in pre-production for the remake of the 1979 thriller When a Stranger Calls. Originally directed by Fred Walton (April Fools Day) and starring Carol Kane and Charles Durning, this imperfect potboiler would seem a perfect candidate for a remake, but since Walton has already done that with his superior sequel When a Stranger Calls Back, I’m not sure I see the rhyme or reason. But they ain’t asking me, are they?

Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez are reportedly joining forces again for an upcoming flick titled Grind House. Each will direct a separate one hour story for the film, ala Two Evil Eyes. Hmmmm, could be interesting…

Devon Sawa (Idle Hands) makes his valiant return to horror in Hunter’s Moon, which is about a young man who has recurring dreams of being hunted down and killed by an alien. Mark Stouffer wrote and is directing.

Live Schrieber (Scream) has signed on to star in the Omen remake, called Omen 666. Julia Stiles has also been cast in the Lee Remick role. The movie is tentatively set for release on 6/6/06. Ain’t they funny?

Don Mancini (creator of the Child’s Play series) and Marc Cherry (creator of Desperate Wives) have recently announced that they’re developing a series for ABC. The premise has been kept hush hush, but world on the street says there will be the character of a dead girl to help weave the stand-alone episodes together. OK, so it already sounds reminiscent of Housewives, but I for one am excited to see what my boys come up with!

DVD Releases:

Because it’s that time of the year, I thought I’d give a more definitive list of awesome DVDs which came out recently or are coming out soon. You can thank me later…

September 13th
Alone in the Dark – 2 Disc set (Image
The Being (Shriek Show/Media Blasters)
Satan’s Black Wedding/Criminally Insane (Shock-o-Rama)

September 20th
Xtro (Image Entertainment)
Witches of the Caribbean (Image Entertainment)
Razor Blade Smile (Anchor Bay)
Night Visitor (MGM)
From a Whisper to a Scream aka Offspring (Columbia)

September 27th
Candy Snatchers (Subversive)
Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer (Dark Sky Films) 2 Disc set
Big Alligator River (No Shame Films) 9/27
Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (No Shame Films)
Blind Dead Collection (Blue Underground)

October 4th
School Killer (Image Entertainment)
Alien Apocalypse (Anchor Bay)
The Girl Most Likely To… (Columbia)
Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (MGM)
A Stranger is Watching (Warner)
Brick of Blood (Night of the Living Dead, Horror, Syngenor, Dark Forces, The Incubus, Mutant – 6 DVD set (Elite)

October 11th
Amityville 1992 & Amityville: A New Generation – separate DVDs (Lions Gate)
Hammerhead (First Look)

October 18th
Jacqueline Hyde (Warner)
Land of the Dead (Universal)

October 24th
Manitou (Momentum Region 2)

October 25th
Nail Gun Massacre (Synapse)
Devil Dog the Hound From Hell (Shriek Show/Media Blasters)
Cannibal Holocaust – 2 Disc (Grindhouse)
Zombi: Dawn of the Dead, Argento Cut (Anchor Bay)

November 11th
The Children (Troma)
Devil’s Rejects (Lions Gate)

November 15th
One Dark Night (Shriek Show/Media Blasters)

The REAL Indie News:

Don’t forget to watch Masters of Horror starting October 28th on Showtime. Don Coscarelli (Phantasm) leads the pack with Incident On and Off a Mountain Road. Be there or be square!

The Rockville Slayer is upon us! A dark tale of a small town rocked by violence, this feature stars Linnea Quigley and Robert Z’Dar. Check out their site. Looking good guys!

Not much info on this movie yet, but I like the cut of their jib. Check out the website for the forthcoming The 8th Plague. Looks like Session 9 meets Friday the 13th. And it’s starring everyone’s favorite indie honey, Syn DeVil.

Craig Sheffer (Hellraiser Inferno) has been cast in the Ghost of Les Cheris, a thriller set during World War 2 and a naïve lieutenant who must battle to defend a bridge and to save his mind.

Hot of the presses: I stumbled over this new movie in the works called House at the End of the Drive. It stars Lance Henriksen and is directed by David Worth, that fine fellow who brought you Shark Attack 2 and Shark Attack 3: Megalodon (a personal favorite!). The story revolves around the legend of a Manson-like murder and a group of friends who venture into the house, only to have themselves transported back to the night of the murders – In 1969! Check out their spiffy site here.

Scary Screenings, Cool Events and other Terrifying Happenings around the Country:

The Support your local Screamfest! One of LA’s best horror fests kicks off October 14th and runs through the 23rd. There are simply too many great movies to mention, so I’ll just direct you to their site here.

Ah, Two Boots Pioneer how cool you are. Check out their awesome October Lineup, scroll down to Mayhem and Madness and ENJOY!

Eric Caiden, my dear friend from the Hollywood Book and Poster Company has not listed this months sure to be awesome Grindhouse Festival features, but keep an eye out cuz it’s sure to be good!

Alright, this month’s Fright Night is guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser! Kenneth’s Hall excellent new movie, The Halfway House is on a double bill with one of the best horror movies ever made, Night of the Living Dead. Go to CIA, get drunk on Soju (it’s good, I swear!) and see Blood, Breasts, Beasts and a few Zombies.

The Retro Minute

Impulse

A subdued, thought-provoking film that doesn’t seem to fit in with the usual horror fare that came out in 1984, Impulse draws a lot of comparisons to Romero’s underrated gem The Crazies. But it has its own approach and its nihilistic take on Big Brother and themes of out-of-control madness and the powerlessness are enough to consider this film on its own merits.

Jennifer (Meg Tilly) receives a distressing phone call from her mother, who calls Jennifer a “smiling slut”, and then tries to blow off her own head. She survives the wound, and Jennifer and her attentive boyfriend Stuart (Tim Matheson) head to Smalltown, USA to see her. Upon arrival, the town Jennifer grew up in seems normal enough, but gradually she and Stuart begin to notice a subtle dissention amongst the townsfolk. A man urinates on a car, a scorned lover breaks his own fingers, a mother watches her kids set a garage on fire (while Jennifer is trapped inside!) and a sheriff kills a young delinquent boy as the town watches, emotionless. The one bridge that leads the outside world into the town is cut off as Jennifer and Tim search for the answers to the sudden madness.

On the surface, Impulse feels like it’s at odds with itself, presenting the dark with the light, but Graham Baker’s meticulous direction (there are several subtle visual clues sprinkled throughout) leads every single frame to a shocking climax.

Meg Tilly and Tim Matheson are excellent, with Matheson proving that he’s much more than a pretty face and deserving of more thoughtful fare. Hume Cronyn is great as the doctor who can’t stop himself from cutting off his patient’s oxygen, only to give her a few moments of breath and begin suffocating her again. And Bill Paxton puts in an energetic and deeply disturbed performance in an early role.

Impulse is a thinking man’s horror movie; compelling, contemplative and alarming, it reminds you that control is not always yours.

ARCHIVES

August 2005

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