Well this morning we showed off the initial screen grabs of Detention of the Dead and thought that would be what we called it for the day. Looking into it more though it looks as if I had missed a trailer being released that Horror Movies showed off yesterday SO I’m happy to be able to show that off as well. Being at the day job I haven’t had a chance to watch it so my morning concerns are still valid though I’ll try to edit this once I’ve had a chance to actually view it.

It was bound to happen. If you put large group of conformity driven pubescences, aka your average teenager, together for long enough, you can’t be surprised when one day they decide to eat each other…

Comedy and Horror unite in this “The Breakfast Club” meets “Shaun of the Dead” tale about a group of oddball high school students who find themselves trapped in detention during a Zombie Apocalypse. Can they put their differences aside and work together to survive the night? Fat chance! This is High School after all.

You can follow the film on their Official Website and their Facebook.

Trailer: The Dead Inside

What happens when you mix a zombies and a musical? Well nothing but great things. In The Dead Inside we have a ‘new’ way of mixing zombies and a musical. We aren’t given a lot of information on how the zombies will factor in quite yet. Are the zombies all in the head of the writers or are they really out there? We won’t know much until the film hits but, just for the creative take on zombies I want to see see it!

The Dead Inside is a musical journey about ghosts, zombies and the artistic soul.

Wes and Fi are empty. While their love for each other burns strong, artistically their hearts have been locked in a box for years. Wes is a burned out photographer paying the bills by shooting weddings. Fi is the writer’s-blocked author of a series of zombie novellas called, The Dead Survive. At one time they were at the top of their creative game, but recently their muse has packed its bags and vanished without leaving a note. When Fi begins to show signs of mental illness, Wes does everything in his power to help her, but her strange behaviors and breathing patterns escalate, and he soon discovers that darker forces lurk inside her. Wes has no choice but to imprison his girlfriend until he can figure out what to do with this familiar looking person he doesn’t know. Fighting against the disturbed entity, the lovers rediscover inspiration in the grimmest corners of this musical horror movie.

You can follow the film’s book on The Dead Inside’s Website and The Dead Inside’s Facebook!

REVIEW: Zombiemania (2008)

There have been several documentaries that have taken upon themselves to dive deep into the culture of the zombie subgenre and to understand what makes zombies so appealing and how they have gotten so popular. This craving to theorize, write, watch, act and plan for zombie outbreaks is known as Zombiemania and happens to be the name of the documentary that I watched. This documentary interviews such zombie legends as George A. Romero, Max Brooks and Tom Savini to ask them why they think the zombie genre has gotten so much praise. Additionally, actors from Romero’s films, film critics, authors and even zombie webpage owners are also interviewed to see if they too can uncover the mystery of zombie mania. It was a fun documentary that tries to be diverse when talking about zombies but ends up being a love letter to the “grandfather of zombies,” George Romero.

The film starts off discussing how zombies came to be in film, dating back to the old black and white films where they weren’t flesh eaters but rather cursed people have been forced into slavery by means of removing their soul. This is what a Haitian/voodoo zombie is. Fast-forward to Night of the Living Dead where Romero, with hardly any money, makes a zombie film that not only comments on the social and racial problems of the world but also ends up revolutionizing the zombie genre. The film talks about how Romero, through all his zombie films, have provided aspiring filmmakers and authors a brand new look on the zombie monster. Zombiemania tackles the all important zombie issue of what’s better, fast zombies or slow moving zombies? It seems like the filmmakers are bias and it’s unanimous that slow moving zombies are better since it’s more realistic… or at least as real as a zombie invasion gets.

Diving further into the culture, the film looks at Fido, Shaun of the Dead and Return of the Living Dead and how they managed to take a serious horror film and turn it into a satirical comedy where zombies are capable of having independent thought and even the ability to talk. Additionally, the film dives into how makeup artists create real looking zombies by either studying the decayed bodies such as mummies or by requesting morgues to allow them to photograph bodies. Specifically, I like how they describe that as your body rots away, your lips begin to curl back exposing your teeth. Teeth are the zombie’s primary weapon and they seem more threatening when their teeth are exposed in a hideous and gruesome way.

Books such as the Zombie Survival Guide, Pride Prejudice & Zombies and The Serpent and the Rainbow are also discussed on how they became New York Times bestsellers. The film discusses how many people take the zombie apocalypse seriously but also how many people fantasize a world where zombies have run amok. Games like Land of the Dead and Resident Evil are also talking about and how they made “practicing” for the zombie invasion a little easier. Though the film doesn’t really get to the heart and soul of the zombie subculture, it definitely gave me a new insight on the culture that is Zombiemania. It shows zombie walks, people who have made a living drawing zombie portraits and how special effects gurus have formed businesses around zombie productions. It’s a great film that really puts everything in a nutshell while still paying tribute to George A. Romero. I agree that if it wasn’t for George, the zombie subgenre wouldn’t have taken off but I would like to see some respect to the forbearers before Romero.

Reunion Teaser

Being a huge fan of both The Wire and Dawn of the Dead this description fills me with a lot of hope. The actual film is too far out to get a feel for it, specially from just the teaser, but there is absolutely a ton of potential to be had if this is even half as good as what the description says the film could be like.

The Reunion has been described as “The Wire” meets “Dawn of the Dead”. From writer C.B. Kaczor and Director/Screenwriter Jeff Stewart comes a film which exhibits characteristics of crime drama, suspense and zombie thrillers.

Currently in production, “The Reunion” stars actor Kirk Ponton who has done notable work in crime dramas. The film also stars Chase Toretto and Ronnie Armani. “The Reunion” is a compelling tale of the human tragedy of a life of crime, followed by redemption and betrayal. Further pressures are placed on the characters by an unforeseen event, a zombie outbreak.

You can follow the film’s progress on The Official Site and Reunion’s Facebook.

Trailer: Dates of the Undead

So when the undead rule the earth how does one find a date? This film looks to be taking a closer look at how the undead are able to actually see one another in a less blood feasting and more romantic environment.

Zombie character trailer for the new Last ATAK Pictures short film “Dates of the Undead” to be released in 2011 starring Samantha Baines and Jolyon Houghton.

“Dates of the Undead” is a comedy about finding love after life. In a world where Vampire and Zombie stories are commonplace, is it possible for the undead to successfully date without being offended by their representations in the media?

You can follow the film’s progress at Last Atak Pictures.

Trailer: Walking Among the Dead

Walking Among The Dead is truly an indie zombie film in all senses of the word. That being said it looks like it was created BY zombie fans FOR zombie fans and, special effects aside, an absolute blast for anyone out there who loves the undead. We’ll keep you updated with more information as we come across it from the indie studio putting out the film.

Walking Among the Dead is the uncompromising spirit of guerrilla filmmaking, a raw adventure story shot in MiniDV. On the untamed frontier of digital cinema, She Died Productions plant their flag in the name of truly independent filmmaking with their first ragged outburst of a feature film.

Here is a movie made for die hard cult zombie aficionados. Blood, guts, home made effects, and a magnificent original score that draws you into a carefully crafted and uncomfortably real survival scenario. The cinematography evokes underground VHS horror classics of the 80′s but goes a step further, using a tiny camcorder to capture creative angles that would be impossible to achieve with larger equipment.

Mickey Cardoni and Ionas von Zezschwitz created the movie they wanted to see, with pure passion and a meticulous eye for their primitive vision: a backyard film with balls!

Over four years in the making, WALKING AMONG THE DEAD stands as a testament to artistic conviction and dogged determination. During the course of production all over Southern Ontario, the crew has been ejected from locations, hunted in the woods, confronted at their place of work, and even had loaded shotguns pointed at them by the local police. Despite the many near-catastrophic run-ins with the authorities, She Died Productions managed to remain one step ahead long enough to complete production.

You can follow the film on the Official Website and Walking Among The Dead Facebook.

Zombies 2012 Film Information

Well first off I have to say that unfortunately there are no shots from the film yet. It’s officially starting shooting on July 6th and that will be the principal photography. It was written by Michael McCarthy and is being co-produced with Matthew Coladonato.

The film is on a production budget of $20,000 and will cover the immediate post-apocalyptic setting of a world having just suffered a massive outbreak. It’s being filmed in Northern Colorado and will be showing off what happens in the first 24-72 hours after zombies overwealm the population.

Fortunately they believe they can use the smaller budget as they have a lot of equipment from doing video production over the past several years.

For the idea of the film Michael was kind enough to give us the following information:

Think “The Road”, smashed
into “28 Days Later”, with a hint of “Deliverance” just to mess with
your head. Mostly set in an isolated farmhouse as a homage to Mr.
Romero.

It will be dark, disturbing and uncomfortable. Just like the collapse
of society and an outbreak of this sort probably would be.

My vision is for a truly realistic depiction, where the disturbing
nature of film’s violence is compounded by the film’s structure and
tone.

I intend for the first part of the film to play like a naturalistic
drama, and then when the zombies begin arriving – the violence will
be contextualized within the pre-established naturalism of the first
half of the film thereby allowing the film’s structure to change the
viewers perception of its violence.

The way in which I intend to frame the shots, along with the films
pacing and tone, will hopefully render the violence more upsetting,
as it will appear to be taking place in a world which will hopefully
continue to feel very realistic.

We are shooting on a Canon 5D Mark II with Zeiss Cinema Lenses. It
should look amazing visually.

While we of course can’t judge how it will look yet the preview information at the very least has my attention and I know I’ll be following the film’s status and giving you updates as Matthew hands them out (from now on without the delay from when I first spoke with Matthew and am posting this.)

You can follow the film’s progress on Their Facebook Page. Unfortunately for the planet we did not get this post up last month as originally planned as anyone who had liked their page last month they were planting a tree in honor of the new fans.

A Little Bit Zombie Information

There’s a new zombie film in the works and it’s entitled A Little Bit Zombie. While there isn’t much know about the actual plot yet what we DO know is that it’s co-written by Christopher Bond who gave us: Evil Dead The Musical. So I’m excited. It should be entertaining at least. It’s being produced by Cave Painting Pictures and stars Kristen Hager (AvP: Requiem), Crystal Lowe (Black Christmas remake), Emilie Ullerup, Shawn Roberts (Diary of The Dead), and Kristopher Turner.

The full website isn’t live yet but it will be at: A Little Bit Zombie when completed and on Facebook.

TRAILER: Rigamortis: A Zombie Love Story

As much as I try to rip on ‘intelligent’ zombies at every chance I can get I’m going to have to admit this looks like it could be entertaining. Zombie musicals are either absolutely hilarious or just painful to watch and this appears to fall into the first category. While of course we won’t know for sure until we have a chance to see it I’m hoping it proves to be as entertaining as the trailer promises!

After humanity quells an undead uprising, the last two remaining zombies pair up
in search of sanctuary, but instead find love.

Rigamortis takes place shortly after humanity has put down a recent zombie outbreak. The last two zombies left “undead” are looking for their place in the world, while one lonely zombie hunter’s newfound fame and glory can’t fill the hole in his heart left by the recent loss of his now undead love. The characters are forced to confront zombies, angry mobs, double-barreled shotguns, and an ever-dangerous thing called love, until fate brings them all face to face in an explosive finale.

Can the zombies avoid a gruesome second death at the hands of chainsaw-wielding mob and find a place in which they can live in peace? Can the zombie hunter complete his quest and rid the world of zombies, or will his past relationship with his prey cause him to falter? Can any of them hit the high notes?

You’ll have to watch and see…

What exactly is Rigamortis? Well, it’s 40% musical, 30% zombie flick, 20% comedy, and 20% love story. That’s right, 110% – we’re so excited about this project, we’ve decided to cram in 10% more!

You can follow the film’s progress at The Official Website.

Paul Is Undead Finds New Studio

When the news first broke that Paul Is Undead was being turned into a feature length film I was a bit weary. Hell I still am depending on how they do casting though not nearly as much as I had been before. I’m currently half way through Paul is Undead and have to say it really is quite hysterical.

At any rate we previously reported that Double Feature had the rights to the film and now we’ve found out from Shock Till You Drop that Sham Productions have taken over the rights to the film and the author had this to say on his screenplay for it:

It’s loyal to the book’s oral history vibe. The film will be done mocumentary-style; I envision a big budget Behind The Music. You’ve got Mick Jagger as a zombie hunter, you’ve got Ringo Starr as a Ninja, and you’ve got John Lennon eating all the brains you can shake a guitar at, so I figure some lucky director will have a blast with this.

In all honestly I can fully see this working and being pulled off as hilarious – as long as they get the casting down.