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If you have a news item you would like to see posted please e-mail it directly to me at almaric@usa.net/.
MARCH 24, 2001
It's been quite a while since anyone has heard ANYTHING on Smiley the Chainsaw Man...but the production is well underway.Quite a few things have changed.
First off, it's no longer a Burning Broadway Production. Smiley has moved to a new, and much more comfortable home with Atrox Entertainment! Atrox is a brand new company specializing in horror films (hell, atrox is literally Latin for "horror"). We are currently in a state of pre-launch for the official site at http://www.atroxentertainment.com . Feel free to stop on by, interact on the message boards, or get your own free e-mail account!
There will be alot of announcements coming months, and the official site launch of both Atrox Entertainment.com and Smiley the Chainsaw Man.com are coming soon.
Atrox Entertainment
Smiley the Chainsawman
MARCH 20, 2001
The following items come thanks to Dr. Squid's Lab Report. Feel free to head over to visit Joe Sherlock's site and check out what the Doctor is up to.(Ed-yeah, I'm even going to report on this one even though the director snubbed me for a screener last year after he hit me up for distribution info....how rude!!)
Rock N' Roll Frankenstein, the movie banned by the Independent Feature Film Market but given the red carpet treatment at foreign film festivals from Helsinki to Bangkok (and points in between) is finally being released on VHS tape (and eventually DVD) in the good old US of A and can be ordered online at wwww.BijouCafe.com for $24.95.
Tim Davis, special effects make-up artist (New Jack City, Search for the Beast, America's Most Wanted and former editor of Monster Maker Journal magazine) will be shooting his first feature b-movie, I PREY, in Fredericksburg, Virginia. It is still in the casting stage although horror host legend and award winning web host Count Gore De Vol is in the cast with his scenes in the can shot on his new set. Other cast members to be announced. Tim is looking for local cast and crew to audition for the production slated to start shooting in the spring.
MARCH 19, 2001
I received this e-mail yesterday and thought I would share."Hello Allen---Nick here. We are selling "Nutbag"---world-wide at the present time!! Some of our best reviews are from Europe. Check out our reviews page on our website. We are selling the film on the Internet--mostly. We have a deal locally with Tower Records but we are working out a deal right now (should be finnalized soon) with Tower, Virgin, and Hollywood Video for nation-wide. Blockbuster turned us down saying the film was far too graphic. Also, I have been offered a deal to sell the rights to "Nutbag" altogether for world-wide distribution. If I sell it (I probably will, because they want to finance "Nutbag" 2) it will be on DVD within 5 months. (with audio-commentary!!) We have had no problems with customs for our overseas customers and most people in Europe now have PAL/NTSC duel VCR's."
MARCH 18, 2001
In a recent newsletter, J.R. Bookwalter had the following information:
Fans of THE DEAD NEXT DOOR will be excited to learn that we have just inked a licensing deal with newly-formed Splatter Rampage Video in Canada. This will mark the debut of DEAD on DVD in the NTSC standard (Region 1, playable on all U.S. systems!). With the fate of our own DVD edition up in the air, now is your chance to own this classic in a pristine digital format, complete with original trailer.The good news is that we'll be importing a few cases of this limited-edition release for fans to own here in the States! To pre-order your copy for only $19.99 (plus shipping), visit our DEAD NEXT DOOR store online. We're hoping to have copies in our hands by the end of March just in time for the Frightvision 2001 show in Cleveland, Ohio on April 6th, 7th & 8th! Our new friends at Splatter Rampage are also planning future Tempe releases such as ROBOT NINJA, SKINNED ALIVE and BLOODLETTING.
Director David DeCoteau (ANCIENT EVIL: SCREAM OF THE MUMMY) has followed up last year's smash Blockbuster Video exclusive THE BROTHERHOOD with an exciting new sequel, and has again turned to editor J.R. Bookwalter and Fat Cat Post for completion. THE BROTHERHOOD 2: YOUNG WARLOCKS is the tale of three misfit students who are introduced to Luc, the new kid with a mysterious power over all who come into contact with him. Regent Entertainment again financed this 35mm anamorphic Rapid Heart Pictures production, which is expected to become another Blockbuster exclusive release on VHS and DVD in the coming months. For now, you can get a sneak peek with the trailer, now online!
MARCH 17, 2001
There's new info on the upcoming Frightvision in Cleveland, Ohio. Here is Carl Thompson's most recent update.People have been asking me for the past few months about bringing "JAWWSS" to Cleveland. So in response to the requests. Our newest guest to FV's lineup is:
RICHARD KIEL- Richard has been in so many shows it's staggering, Everybody knows him as "JAWS" from James Bond. But his list goes on and on. "Voltaire", Dr Loveless's assistant from "The Wild Wild West", The Monkees", "Eegah", and much, much more. He is a gentle giant and a very good and welcome friend of FV, and a favorite from last year.
I was contacted by Linda Lovelace. She does want to do FV, we will see what happens! I would love to meet her as I remember the mags. in the Air Force back in the 70's when my flight and I were pulling "Kitchen Patrol" at Lackland in Texas. She was our pinup queen!
We are finalizing everything now and will post events and a mini schedule on the website. The awards are all completed for the Figure model Contest courtesy of Mad Lab and KitBuilder's mag. And may I say, They are one of a kind sculptures. Also the awards for the masquerade contest are completed.
Stay tuned also, as our "King and Leader" of FV The Ghoul, is going to soar to new heights this year! He has allot of surprises up his sleeve! And he is going interact with the other Horror Hosts in a way that only The Ghoul can!
I also want to mention that "The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science" from LA will be on hand at FV to Archive some of our stars, and even The Ghoul ova dey! I am very proud of that!
I am pleased to announce that the music group GWAR will be attending FV. Sleazy and the boys are going to be pushing their new CD at FV.
***** A message came in a few days ago regarding a new album from goth-goddess Lilith Stabs. Look for the album to be out by the middle of next month from Blue Nexus Records.Blue Nexus Records
Lilith Stabs
MARCH 14, 2001
After nearly a two year sabbatical, horror icon Brinke Stevens made a triumphant return in the year 2000, starring in eleven feature films. Now "The Queen of Scream" kicks off 2001 with a slew of new projects, both on and off camera.UNIVERSAL CITY, CA - A marine biologist turned Playboy model turned indie film actress, Brinke Stevens was crowned the reigning "Scream Queen" during the direct-to-video boom of the 1980's. As a guest of such television shows as "Entertainment Tonight," "Hard Copy," and "Donahue," she was praised for her performances in a series of "T&A" horror classics. After all, who could forget SLAVE GIRLS FROM BEYOND INFINITY, BAD GIRLS FROM MARS, or SORORITY BABES IN THE SLIMEBALL BOWL-A-RAMA? Well, truth be told, we had forgotten - up until she bounced back onto the scene last year, starring in eleven movies. "Not even at my so-called peak did I star in that many films in one year," she beams proudly. "2000 was my biggest year ever." But for Brinke, that was only the beginning of her return to the genre that made her a cult celebrity.
She started the year with a sixteen-page spread in the January issue of Femme Fatales magazine. The article, devoted to her starring role in the cinema-verite video REAL TIME, was a touching tribute to Stevens, the first woman to don the publication's cover circa 1992. (Everyone from Michelle Pfeiffer to Sigourney Weaver soon followed suit.) In REAL TIME, Stevens dispels her sexy horror-chick image, playing it straight as a pregnant cop for writer/director Max Allan Collins. Many critics have earmarked it "her best performance to date," but her success as a dramatic actress won't deteriorate her love of fright flicks.
Last week, Full Moon Pictures put HORRORVISION on new release shelves everywhere. In the film, directed by first-timer Danny Draven, Stevens is featured as a vinyl-clad cyber hacker who fatefully logs onto www.horrorvision.com. "Here I thought I'd died in every possible way," she laughs of her film career to date. "I've been blown up by a hand grenade, I've been stabbed to death, I've been buried alive, but never until HORRORVISION had I experienced death by pixelation. It is truly a unique film and that's all I'm going to say about it." Fangoria magazine has plenty to say about it: "More thematically and technically ambitious than many Full Moon flicks, this small scale apocalyptic cyber chiller is also one of the most polished shot on video movies yet." Both the VHS and the DVD feature an exclusive video interview with Brinke, as well as previously unreleased bondage photos by Ward Boult.
Other films to hit the street starring Brinke Stevens this year include: BLOOD REAPER, TO DANCE WITH DEATH, AMERICAN NIGHTMARE, THE VAMPIRE HUNTER'S CLUB, BLOOD ON THE BACKLOT, and JULIA WEPT. You can purchase these as they become available from her official web site, www.brinke.com. Meanwhile, Stevens will be multi-tasking later this year as star and co-producer of her own script BURIED NIGHTMARES. She has also recently been given the offer to direct her first major movie, a werewolf tale with a $7 million budget called THE POINT AFTER DARK.
The Official Brinke Stevens Website
MARCH 12, 2001
In the tradition of such great videos as Sleazeamania and Prevues From Hell, Dark Muse Productions announces a new project that will supply diehard independent horror film fans with a trailer tape of recent independent horror offerings and will provide the viewer with information on how to order the videos! Many times, horror film fans pass on a video because they have no idea how good it will be. We hope to have fans clamoring for your videos after seeing a trailer of it on our tape.Send a tape to: Terry M. West, 48 W. George Ave., Pearl River, NY 10965
MARCH 10, 2001
WAVE has a few new videos they would like to share. Gary Whitson recently sent out an e-mail regaring his new project.
"W.A.V.E. has just re-released The Agreement with all new digital shooting effects and 20 minutes of never before seen footage. The Agreement stars Tina Krause, Deana, and Dawn Murphy who play three prostitutes who make an arrangement to allow themselves to be shot and wounded so that they can testify against a rival gang. But one of the hookers gets a better offer and it may mean death all three of them!"
You can find out more concerning The Agreement by going to the official WAVE website.
***** Sub Rosa's new divisions has a few new releases.From Sub Rosa Midwest comes…
THEY MADE HER SLEEP: CHLOROFORMED TOO!
Three lovely young secretaries plan to blackmail their boss for cheating on his taxes. As they search his home and business for incriminating evidence, he has other plans for them... Slowly and methodically, he and a friend chloroform the trio and pose them as they likes while blasting off provocative pictures of them, turning the tables completely around on the unsuspecting babes! Contains chloroforming, fainting, carrying and nudity.
Starring SUSAN GOLD, KATRINA, BROOKLYNE MILAN and WALTER WILLIAMSON Written and Edited by SEBASTIAN KULT
Directed by SEBASTIAN KULT and TEXAS MALONEFrom Sub Rosa Cult comes…
I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN'S ROOMMATE
Dwight Frye is your average college student. The only difference... his not-so-average friend, Hiram! See, Hiram is a mad scientist in training, a modern day Frankenstein, and he wants to create a human being from dead flesh so that he can outdo his arch-nemesis, mad scientist, Lionel. Dwight believes in helping out a friend, so he agrees, much to the dismay of his girlfriend, Peggy. And their efforts actually pay off - they animate a corpse! Now Peggy has a living, breathing monster - aptly, if not uncreatively named, Monster - running around her professor's house. Seemingly harmless at first, Monster soon rocks the boat by accidentally murdering a member of a student youth group. Now the members of the group want to kill Hiram, and Lionel vows to destroy Hiram's creation. Horrified by what they have created and that they might be arrested before Hiram can show his project to his class, Dwight, Hiram, Peggy and the Monster must hide out and wait. Will they be caught? Will Hiram be killed? Will Lionel destroy the Monster? If he lives, will Hiram get and A?
Starring Patrick Casey as Hiram Belmore, Nick Stukas as Dwight Frye, Sarah K. Bizek as Peggy Webling, Worm Miller as Monster, Sean Hall as Lionel Kerr, Jack Shreck as Clerval, Brian J. Casey as Fritz.
Produced by Patrick Casey & Worm Miller.
Written and Directed by Worm MillerYou can order both films directly from the Sub Rosa website.
***** Denise Devine has a new film out, a sequel to his hit, VAMPIRES OF SORORITY ROW. The following synopsis comes from the Sub Rosa Newsletter.
Vampires of Sorority Row II
Trailer trasher hero Cindy returns to try to stop a sorority of kinky vampires from taking over the campus.
CAST: Kathryn Glass, Suzanne Talhouk, Countess Vladimira, Rita Fiora, Andrea Cordova
PRODUCERS: Dennis Devine and Jerry Bradford
DIRECTOR/WRITER: Dennis Devine Running time: 82 minutes/Pro Digital/2001/Los Angeles and Bakersfield, CA nudity, language, spankings, crude humor
CURIOUS FACTS: Actress Suzanne Talhouk is a regular on THE MAN SHOW. The studio used to shoot the temporary Cindy home scene was burnt down and the owner shot and killed two days after we filmmed there. No, we didn't do it.
***** Each year Sub Rosa puts on the B-Movie Awards. Here is the official press release.Call for Entries in Third Annual B-Movie Film Festival Celebration of Lower-Budget Productions to be Held In Syracuse, NY, in Early September
SYRACUSE, NY -- Filmmakers seeking to carry on the rich tradition of the
B-Movies are being invited to submit their features and short films to the third annual B-Movie Film Festival. This new celebration will be held in
Syracuse, NY, on September 8th and 9th at the Westcott Movie Theater (may be subject to change).
The festival defines a "B-Movie" as a low-budget film which provides a level of entertainment and/or artistic value which rivals or surpasses big-budget mainstream pictures. Productions shot on either film or video will be considered. All genres are welcome for consideration, including short subjects and documentaries, and the festival would prefer films with a defined narrative versus free-form experimental work. Entry fees on films received by the July 1st cut off date are $35 per feature and $25 per short. Submissions should be on VHS videotape.
The top films at the festival will receive the Killer-B Awards for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Foreign Film and other categories. The awards will be presented in a special ceremony hosted by a B-Movie celebrity. All films submitted for the festival will also be reviewed for the Killer-B Awards and for possible theatrical and home video release via a leading distributor of independent productions. The B-Movie Film Festival will also coincide with the announcement of the fourth annual inductions into the B-Movie Hall of Fame, an online pantheon honoring the classics and artists of this celebrated celluloid orbit.
Last year's B-Movie Film Festival, hosted by popular B-Star Roxanne Michaels, brought over 100 entries from around the world, with the top prize going to the surreal, dialogue-free indie comedy "I Woke Up Early the Day I Died" starring Billy Zane and based on an unpublished screenplay by Edward D. Wood, Jr.
Home Page
Submission Form
Sponsorship Information
MARCH 8, 2001
There are two reasons to pick up issue 4 of The Hacker's Source.1-The interview with me where I sound like a money-grubbing religous zealot.
2-The interview with Moo Dudes Productions' Michael Hein of, the director of the upcoming zombie film BOIHAZARDOUS. In a recent e-mail, Michael told me that his film should be ready for distribution in the next month or two. You can view the trailer at the official BIOHAZARDOUS website. Check it out.
Learn how to order your issue of The Hackers Source
The official BIOHAZARDOUS website.
MooDude Productions
MARCH 7, 2001
Happy Cloud Pictures is pleased to announce that principal photography has been completed on the upcoming feature THE RESURRECTION GAME. After two years, we're finally done, except for about a day's worth of inserts and pick-ups. Now it's just a matter of putting the mess of 16mm footage together. No mean feat, as we're cutting on a flatbed and an upright Moviola - no access to an Avid house! Moral support and care-packages of anything chocolate-covered would be most appreciated.
***** Geoffrey de Valois say that "Over the next year I am cutting a DVD special edition director's cut of "Vampire Conspiracy" including censored scenes and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of VC. Look for it by XMAS."
Vampire Conspiracy
Vampire Centerfolds
MARCH 6, 2001
HELLINGER 2 : BACK FROM HELL will be shot in thailand as well as in Las Vegas. Princial photography will start March 20 in Bangkok. The movie will be directed and produced by Max Cerchi.
The film is a co-production between Rounds Entertainment and Megumi Yamani of Thai-Lao Productions.
***** Gary Whitson says that his latest release is SECRETARY TALES starring Pamela Sutch and Barbara Joyce. Both beautiful woman find themselves "in dire straits" with no help in sight. WAVE is in pre-production for three new movies: Twisted Teens, The Edgar Allan Poe Murders, and Vampire Possession. Twisted Teens is a remake of one we did 12 years ago which is no longer available. The Poe Murders is a murder mystery involving the ghost of Poe himself. And Possession is a story about a young girl who becomes possessed by Dracula himself. Our newest find, Shannon Guild, stars.
MARCH 5, 2001
The Washington D.C. Psycotronic Film Society will be screening EVIL DEAD 2 on Tuesday March 6, at 8PM.On March 13 they will be screening HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER.
Washington Psycotronic Film Society
***** Kevin Summerfield was lucky enough to have his film SLEEPY HOLLOW HIGH make it into Walmart stores last year. It turns out his film was the fifth most popular title. Look for the film to make a return next year into a few new stores.
***** Roderick Powell, writer/director of the EI-distributed comedy Preacher Playa', available for rental at Video Update stores nationwide, has just finished up his latest feature film production, Honey Bee. For more information, check out www.honeybee-themovie.com
EI Independent Cinema, in partnership with Friday Home Video, is pleased to announce the upcoming 2001 release of The Best of the Acapulco Black Film Festival: Short Film Collection. The four acclaimed shorts include Twin Cousins, Troubleman, Possum, and When the Time Comes by Rod Gailes OBC, Dabo Che, Jermaine Encarnacion, and Tracie Ponder, respectively. The Acapulco Black Film Festival (ABFF), the world's premiere annual black film festival, has been passionately supported by such stars as Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Morgan Freeman, Debbie Allen, and Robert Townsend. In celebration of its fifth year, ABFF presents this dynamic collection of short films, hosted by LisaRaye (Player's Club). Compiled from ABFF award-winners and semi-finalists, this video showcases the very best of independent short films.
EI Independent Cinema and Shock-O-Rama Cinema have set a April 2001 release date for world renowned exploitation director Jess Franco's Lust for Frankenstein starring Lina Romay (Female Vampire) and legendary B-movie Scream Queen Michelle Bauer (Nightmare Sisters, Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers) as the sex-starved, love-scarred creation of Dr. Frankenstein. Director of such films as Count Dracula, The Awful Dr. Orloff, Jack the Ripper and Succubus, Jess Franco maintains his infamous reputation as a wildly erratic but always fascinating writer/director as well as a cult horror film icon whose career has spanned six decades and close to 170 movies. Lust for Frankenstein will see a VHS and DVD release with the DVD release containing both the U.S. and European versions of the film.
EI and Shock-O-Rama Cinema have recently licensed the erotic thriller Lethal Seduction about a mysterious brunette on a murder spree who is hunted by an obsessed cop and vicious crime boss. Lethal Seduction stars vivacious B-movie goddess and Penthouse Pet of the Year Julie Strain (Sorceress, Johnny Mnemonic, Heavy Metal 2000), Joe Estevez, and Christopher Mitchum. It will see an April 2001 release on VHS and DVD.
***** Astaroth Entertainment wants to remind everyone that FACES OF GORE 4 will be available on March 15. This in another in their series of live death shock-umentaries.
***** John Bowker and Pipedreams Entertainment is pleased to announce that shooting for THE SEEKERS is now completed and we will be going into post production soon. The shoot was a long haul, almost seven months. Critically acclaimed actress Felicia Pandolfi returns in a role she loves to do best: evil! This has been by and far the largest production I have helmed and production went extremely well. Our next release, DREAMWALKERS is set for mid-summer.
http://members.home.com/robmerickel/oregonvideo
MARCH 2, 2001
As many of you know, B-Independent.com is a proud supporter of FrightVision. The show is quickly becoming one of the biggest and best in the country.Here is the latest update from Convention Owner Carl Thompson.
"Producer/ Director J.R. Bookwalter is lining up another knockout Tempe Video get-together slated for Friday night at FrightVision.
"It's going to kick off at 7PM with Tempe movie previews and lead into panal discussions and a lot more. he is once again bringing in staff and stars from many of Tempe's movies.
"Newly added Tempe stars/ staff slated for FV:
*ARIAUNA ALBRIGHT- actress from HORRORVISION, WITCHHOUSE 2, BLOOD COVEN
*DIRECTOR DANNY DRAVEN- HORRORVISION
*SCREENWRITER DOUGLAS SNAUFFER- THE VAULT, WITCH HOUSE 2
*FX ARTIST DAVID BARTON- HORRORVISION, WITCH HOUSE 2, BLOOD COVEN"The Tempe reunion will happen Friday evening until midnight. At midnight will be the screening debut of "BIOHAZARDOUS"
"We will also be rockin' with the bands as well Friday evening in the Dorothy Fuldheim room with The Ghoul!
"So remember if you want to dress up for all this, wear your white socks with the colored bands at the top. You will be one of the elite then!"
***** Director Brian Paulin has a new movie out titles AT DAWN THEY SLEEP. The film is an action/horror about two friends that are forced into servitude with a set of heavenly Angels. It's now available from EI Cinema.
Brian's next film is titled DEAD GIRL ON FILM. Look for distribution from Sub Rosa studios sometime this year.
Brian says that following DEAD GIRL ON FILM he will start "pre-production on our next movie called PROCREATION OF THE WICKED. It is loosely based on the writtings of H.P. Lovecraft and we hope to begin filming by the end of May. I have begun creating many of the creature f/x that will be in the movie and my partner is arranging plans for the extensive action and stunt sequences that will be showcased in the film as well.
"The script is being revised at the moment and is an original story based on characters created by H.P. Lovecraft. The story is very complex and would take far to long to explain, so simply put, this is a Demon movie! And there will be plenty of them in there along with Lovecraft's Ancient Gods. But we will be faithful to Lovecraft's ideals and will not show the Ancient Gods, for they are beyond human comprehension."
Morbid Vision Films
Sub Rosa Studios
EI Cinema
***** Underground filmmaker Ryan Cavalline says that his company "4th Floor Pictures next flick SHUDDER is almost done after two days of shooting. There are still a few more shots we need to do but, then that's it. Then its off to the editing cave where, I will spend many weeks of putting the pieces together. A new group of dead heads helped to bring SHUDDER to life and they really did a great job on it. Look out for the SHUDDER web page any day. This flick was written by some new twiztid writers by the names of Dominic Guerieri and Ronald Damien Malfi."
You can also pick up the current 4th Floor release directly from their website. The film is an anthology titled TALES FOR THE MIDNIGHT HOUR. Joining Ryan were Falcon Video, Apprehensive Films, and Midnight Pictures for six tales of the macabre. As an added plus, Joel Wynkoop hosts the entire show!
***** Stinky Pictures has been delayed again on the upcoming film CHEERLEADER AUTOPSY. Look for it later this year. In the meantime, if you haven't seen their first underground comedy, WOW, you really need to get off your ass and check it out.
***** Terry West has turned his comic BLOOD FOR THE MUSE into a film starring Tina Krause and Tammy Parks. You can view the trailer online at the official site. Terry is currently in negotiations for distribution. Look for a release in the coming months.
About the film, Terry had this to day, "Josh (played by Josh Robinson) is a young man fed up with the hypocrisy of faith and religion. He comes to believe that the muse of tragedy, Melpomene, can be summoned by a series of rituals incorporating tragedy. After experiencing numerous failures in his attempt to summon Melpomene, Josh falls in love with Sara (Tina Krause). As their relationship blooms, Josh finally realizes the monumental sacrifice Melpomene calls for. But is it a sacrifice Josh can make? The film also features Tammy Parks. Based on the cult horror comic series, which was a finalist for the 1998 International Horror Guild Award for a comic series."
The Following are stills and promotional pics from the film.
