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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/.

Well guys, it's taken me a while, but I've finally got the message boards up and running. Do me a favor, check them out and let me know what you think.

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New at B-Independent.com Distribution:Closing up! Production: Four-Walling A Movie Theater Articles: The Shinning: From Page to Screen Reviews: Tons of new stuff! Link: Revamped Contest: Win Tempe Video DVD's and VHS! Chat: Sunday, June 8th at 7 pm EST! A combo chat of TOWNIES which hits stores May 27 and also WITCHOUSE 3: DEMON FIRE and SKINNED ALIVE which come out at a new lower price on June 10th. J.R. Bookwalter will be there, also Wayne Harold and probably Toby Radloff, Debbie Rochon. Other guest TBA!

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Do you guys see that banner directly above? Do you remember our charity drive? Max Cerchi of Rounds Entertainment, the director of HELLINGER and the recently released CARNAGE ROAD, has pledged 50% of all sales between May 8 and May 31 to be donated along with the $276 we collected from you, the B-Indi supporters. the DC101 Breast Cancer Awareness fundraiser. Thanks Max! So, you guys can still help out by visiting www.RoundsEnt.com and making a purchase or visiting www.DC101.com and sending checks directly to the station.

Thanks to everyone who helped pitch in,

Allen
B-Independent.com Owner

May 20, 2003

Seduction Cinema is proud and thrilled to announce the signing of Darian Caine and Julian Wells to exclusive contracts that will put the official “Seduction Cinema Girl” stamp on these beautiful, talented actresses. They join Misty Mundae in the hallowed pantheon of SC “contract players,” and both eagerly look forward to the new and exciting projects ahead of them. Long-time SC star Darian Caine had her first role in 1999’s Girl Explores Girl: The Alien Encounter, and she has appeared in dozens of SC films since, including cult hits The Erotic Witch Project, Gladiator Eroticvs, Erotic Survivor and Play-mate of the Apes. Darian remains one of SC’s most popular and requested stars among fans and critics alike (and the Seduction Cinema “logo” girl!), and she will continue to wow us with her considerable talents in every film she graces. Julian Wells, a more recent addition to the SC team with Who Wants to be an Erotic Billionaire, Pleasures of a Woman (co-starring with Darian) and the newly released Dr. Jekyll and Mistress Hyde already under her belt, is an absolutely stunning and dynamic actress whose performances in the above films and upcoming releases SpiderBabe, Sin Sisters and Sexy American Idle will surely set the stage for her stardom.

In addition to their acting duties, Darian and Julian will have the opportunity to work behind the camera and bright lights, with writing and directing possibilities looming large on the horizon. As a matter of fact, Julian already has a co-writing credit for Sexy American Idle, and Darian is busy developing a series of ultra-erotic featurettes (one has already been produced) with the After Hours Cinema label. Two projects earmarked to star the newly contracted actresses together (and likely Misty Mundae, too) include Seduction Cinema’s Dracula, written and to be directed by Tony Marsiglia (Dr. Jekyll and Mistress Hyde, soon-to-be-released Sin Sisters with Misty and Chelsea Mundae) and a re-envisioned remake of Nick Philip’s 1969 sexploitation classic Chantal for the critically acclaimed Retro-Seduction Cinema label - also to be directed by Tony Marsiglia.

It truly is an exciting time at Seduction Cinema with many special and varied projects slated for pre-production, production and release, yet none of them are possible without the hard work, commitment and delectable beauty of all the SC actresses. To now count Darian Caine and Julian Wells among its contract players is wonderful news indeed, and they, and the team at Seduction Cinema, anticipate many great things to come.

Seduction Cinema

May 15, 2003

On June 10, Brain Damage Films will release GOTH, a new experience in fear from director Brad Sykes (DEATH FACTORY, CAMP BLOOD). The story centers on Crissy and Boone, two Goth teenagers who have seen and done it all. Then, they meet GOTH, a savagely beautiful woman who thrives on murder and madness. Promising new thrills and experiences, Goth takes Crissy and Boone on a wild, terrifying ride through the dark underbelly of the Goth subculture which progresses from drug-fueled orgies to random acts of violence. Will any of them survive the night?

GOTH stars Phoebe Dollar (HELL¹S HIGHWAY, TED BUNDY) and Jeff Marcheletta (HOLLYWOOD VAMPYR, DEMON¹S KISS), with special effects by Ron Karkoska (DEATH FACTORY, WISHMASTER 3) and music by E-race, Novocaine Halo, and Abney Park. It will be available nationwide on tape and an extras-crammed DVD. If you¹re tired of safe, cookie cutter horror, check out GOTH, one of the most disturbing horror films of the year!

Brain Damage Films

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From the Dr. Squid Newsletter:

Shooting on the horror anthology TWISTED FATES is set to begin a the end of May with Ron Ford helming a segment co-starring Athena Demos and William Combs (both seen in Ford's THE CRAWLING BRAIN). Paul (Dr. Horror's Erotic House of Idiots) Scrabo is the first supporter to get in on the "Producer's Package" deal, helping to make this movie possible.

Dr. Squid

*****

MTI Home Video, the leading independent home entertainment studio, and Fangoria Presents, the video label for the #1 horror fan magazine, will release the Spanish language horror film ETERNAL BLOOD (Spanish Title: SANGRE ETERNA) on VHS and DVD June 24, 2003.

ETERNAL BLOOD is priced at $24.95 SRP for the DVD and $49.95 for the VHS (rental), and will be available on VHS as English dubbed or Spanish with English subtitles. The DVD will feature English (dubbed) and original Spanish with English subtitles versions, behind-the-scenes: “Making of Eternal Blood” featurette, alternate endings, music videos, Fangoria Magazine article and information, interactive menus, scene selection, cast bios, and feature film trailers.

Synopsis:

A journalism student (Lewin) meets a group of kids that play a role-game called “Eternal Blood.” In a strange party at an abandoned house, the group meets Dahmer (Borquez), an unusual young man who is obsessed with vampirism. The evening makes a turn for the worse when some of them are actually being transformed into vampires… they now must find a way to revert, while also saving their souls.

ETERNAL BLOOD stars Blanca Lewin (Ángel negro), Juan Pablo Ogalde (Paraíso B), Carlos Borquez, Patricia Lopez (Maid in Manhattan), and was written and directed by Jorge Olguín (Ángel negro), with Carolina García also writing.

MTI Home Video

*****

BLACK ANGEL NAMED AS MINDSCAPE PICTURES' FIRST FEATURE!

A woman who lives her life trying to control death while working as a contract killer. The bloodline of a rich family severed by vampirism that's resulted in a generations-old battle over money. A respected murder-for-hire agency that's on the brink of collapse.

MINDSCAPE PICTURES is pleased to announce that pre-production has begun on the company's first feature-length motion picture, Black Angel. A genre-bending, sexy action/horror picture, the story of Black Angel revolves around Keren, a beautiful contract killer assigned to investigate the loss of one of her "sisters" in the line of duty. When it is discovered the fallen hit-woman was murdered by her intended victim, it's also uncovered that the intended victim is a vampire. As her investigations lead her higher up the chain of command on both sides of a warring old-money family ripped in two by vampirism, Keren plays a dangerous game as a double agent; one side baiting her with the temptation of eternal life and the other baiting her with the promise of love and wealth. At the same time, her allegiance to the corroding agency she works for - the only family she has - begins to falter, setting her up for a confrontation with her closest friend and "sister," Jem.

Over the next month, the final version of the screenplay for Black Angel will be ironed-out, locations chosen and a cast formed. If you are interested in being considered for the movie, please send headshots and resumes to:

MINDSCAPE PICTURES
PO BOX 35876
Boston, MA 02135.

You can also submit headshots and resumes via email to casting@mindscapepictures.com.

The movie is slated to shoot throughout the summer of 2003.

MINDSCAPE PICTURES PRESENTS A NEW SHORT MOVIE SERIES!

After receiving very positive response for the feature-length, short movie series Bent, MINDSCAPE PICTURES is continuing its tradition of creating compelling, well-produced short movies by introducing MINDSCAPE PICTURES Presents, a new series collecting shorts made by MINDSCAPE PICTURES contributors.

The first edition of MINDSCAPE PICTURES Presents will feature three productions, two of which are helmed by regular MINDSCAPE PICTURES collaborator Frank Parker. In Shady Business, Parker directs Zach Lawrence and Chris Conte in a comedy about a pair of buddies who get up to no good when one of them suspects his girlfriend may be cheating on him. In the violent drama SidEs, Parker directs and acts from his own screenplay about a violent interrogation that goes awry. And in Sex & the Model Agent, the MINDSCAPE PICTURES core creative team (which includes Parker, Jason Santo, Sheri Carter and Roman Berman) gets together to tell the story of a goofy guy's dream night that quickly descends into a surrealistic chain of events involving guns, Russian spies, and a game of strip chess that could solve an international dispute.

MINDSCAPE PICTURES Presents #1 is slated for mid-summer release on VHS and DVD. For more information about this collection and the movies included on it, please visit its COMING SOON page at www.mindscapepictures.com .

CALLING SHORT FILM WRITERS, DIRECTORS AND PRODUCERS!

MINDSCAPE PICTURES wants YOU! We are currently looking for new, talented and energetic individuals interested in having their work produced and distributed on our short movie series MINDSCAPE PICTURES Presents. We will be consistently turning out new editions of this series over the next year, and if you're sitting on a project you'd like help producing or distributing, then please drop us a line! We offer a tremendous wealth of resources including talent, equipment and experience, and we'd like to help you realize your vision! Additionally, if you have a completed short movie that you feel is an exemplary piece and would like to see it reach a broader audience, feel free to contact us.

Mindscape Pictures

May 8, 2003

Rounds Entertainment is giving away free movies to people who sign up for their mailing list.

For details, head to www.RoundsEnt.com and click on "what's new."

*****

THE LEGEND OF THE CUPACABRA and TERROR TOONS director Joe Castro recently checked in to let us know he's almost done production with his latest effort, JACKHAMMER. Look for it to be profiled in the June Issue of Premiere. Also, look for Joe's movie NEAR DEATH to be hitting the rental shelves shortly.

*****

May 5, 2003

David Latt recently sent out a newsletter concerning upcoming video release of his film JANE WHITE IS SICK AND TWISTED. Her are some excerpts.

DISTRIBUTION:
Yep, just a few more days (May 6th!) until JANE WHITE exposes herself on the video shelves. You can run to your local HOLLYWOOD VIDEO to rent the film, but if you need to go elsewhere, well...it's everywhere (Blockbuster, Best Buy, Circuit City...). And if it's not there, than jump over to our home page and special order the DVD (by-the-way there is a special deal to pre-order from our site for those that are interested...). Oh, and a personal thanks to those actors and fans pimping out the movie in the last few weeks on national radio, TV and press. Your sick and twisted support means a lot to us!

TV SHOW:
Huh? Really? No, not really. Look, we make films. We have no idea how this TV thing works. That being said, if you have any suggestions OR CONNECTIONS (to big TV producers/managers/companies)...please let us know...as we want to aggressively pursue this option. We have an episode guide book for the first two seasons and everything!

ACTOR UPDATE:
Kim Little (JANE WHITE): IT'S A GIRL! (not Kim...she, of course, is a girl)...but -- Kim's pregnant with Director Dave's love child (or so the tabloids say). The heir to this Hollywood Royalty is due in June. No gifts please, only money. Checks made out to the father. He swears it's going to the college fund. Really.

Danica McKellar (TIFFANY): Everyone is talking about her short film, SPEECHLESS as it now plays on United Airlines! Pretty damn cool...JANE WHITE will never get that high (insert joke here). Also, we keep seeing her on THE WEST WING, so we hope that becomes a more permanent position.

Chris Hardwick (BURGER): Chris gave us a shock with HOUSE OF A 1,000 CORPSES this April...and he'll be back in TERMINATOR 3. With SHIPMATES still smooth sailing, Chris is keeping very, very busy! (can I write for the Hollywood trades or what?!)

David Michael Latt (DIRECTOR): Just finished directing SCARECROW SLAYER (not intentionally a comedy), and is in post with KING OF THE ANTS...a film he produced with Stuart Gordon (RE-ANIMATOR), directing. KING will have it's world premiere at the Seattle Film Festival. Most of the actors (Daniel Baldwin, Kari Wuhrer, George Wendt...) intend to party at the festival (David, unfortunately, will not be attending because his wife is giving birth or something silly like that...)

Synopsis:
Ahhh.. the young Jane White (Little). Raised by television, and home schooled by her agoraphobic mother (Mills), Jane has a unique perception of the world. Feeling the absence of her father (Lander), Jane escapes into prime time episodes of his TV chat-fest, "The Gerry Show," ... the most outrageous TV talk show in media history. She transforms herself into the show's outrageous topics in a desperate hope that she will be booked on the show, and one day be reunited with her long lost dad. Along the way, Jane makes friends with and encounters a whole sideshow filled with freaks, weirdos, transvestite hookers, aliens, and even finds a serial killer boyfriend.

Jane White
MTI Video

*****

From Mark Pirro:

I’ve managed to cut Rectuma to a palatable .105 minutes, without end titles and pickups. When all is added in, I think we’re looking at a running time of 110 minutes – a bit longer than I would like, but there is nothing else I can cut out without serious pains. So, I think we will settle for the longer running time (at least it’s not over two hours). We’ve started voiceovers, and that will most likely take us through the summer months. I’ll also be spending all that time refining the special effects, and replacing the slashes and temp FX shots with the final shots.

Some of you have been asking what our NEXT film will be after this one. To be honest, I haven’t given it much thought, since I am up to my ass in Rectuma. However, we have plenty of material to choose from. We could do “Root of all Evil,” – which is a straight horror film that I wrote years ago (something different, eh?) or “Jesus, The Revenge,” – which still lacks a finished screenplay. I’ve been tempted to consider remakes of some of my earlier, crappily shot films like Queerwolf or Nudist Colony of the Dead. Polish Vampire would be pretty slick with CGI skeletons. With the technology available today, we could remake those films with great production value. Some people have asked me to partner up with them and produce or co-produce their projects. Normally I reject those offers, since there’s little point in producing with someone else who will end up owning half the project and put me in a situation similar to a marriage. However, it might be nice to share the burden with somebody else again. You may recall that for a few of my earlier films, I had had co-producers and in some cases, I didn’t produce at all. In fact, I prefer not to produce and simply direct, but usually when I hand the responsibility of producing to someone else, I end up looking over his shoulder anyway, so why bother? We’ll see what the future holds. For right now, I will just focus on squeezing out Rectuma by its projected release date – this Christmas. Earlier? Maybe.

We may have some test screenings later this year. If any of you are interested in attending, let us know. We’ll put you on a list. We plan to test screen with people who aren’t part of the Pirromount stable, since we want fresh and unbiased opinions. I’m not a big fan of test screenings, and I’ll probably cut the film the way I want to regardless of the outcome, but sometimes these test screenings prove I’m right. And if they prove otherwise, I just bury the evidence.

Pirromount

May 1, 2003

Anne Gwynne

Actress Anne Gwynne, one of the last surviving stars of Universal's golden age of horror, has passed away. She was 84. Among the films for which she'll be remembered best by cult-movie fans are "House of Frankenstein," with Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney and John Carradine, "Weird Woman," with Lon Chaney and Evelyn Ankers, "The Strange Case of Doctor Rx," "Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome" (as Tracy's paramour, Tess Trueheart), the 1941 "The Black Cat," "Black Friday" with Karloff and Bela Lugosi, and the classic serial, "Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe," starring Buster Crabbe.

Gwynne was born Marguerite Gwynne Trice in Waco, Texas. After attending college in Missouri, she embarked on a career as a model. She began acting in local theater groups soon after. According to one account, she landed a contract with Universal following a 47-second interview and without benefit of a screen test. The publicity department was quick to dub her the TNT girl -- she was Trim, Neat and Terrific. Gwynne was a favorite pin-up during WWII and was named "Gal We?d Most Like to Corral" by one Cavalry regiment. Gwynne appeared in films spanning many genres, including "Frontier Badmen," "Murder in the Blue Room," "Babes on Swing Street," "Arson, Inc.," "The Enchanted Valley" and "Ride 'em Cowboy" opposite Abbott and Costello. "To fans of the Universal horror films of the 1940s, Anne was one of THE best and most popular leading ladies," said genre-film historian, Tom Weaver. "Unlike the exotic 1930s horror heroines who generally WERE, or at least ACTED, English or European or "mid-Atlantic" at best, Anne was the spunky, bubbly, VERY American "girl-next-door" type -- the stuff of "instant crushes" for these movies? mostly male audiences (originally and even TODAY)."

Though they had played enemies onscreen, in real life Anne was a close friend of Universal's Queen of Horror, Evelyn Ankers. Ankers served as matron of honor at Gwynne's wedding, and Gwynne vouched for Evelyn's character when Ankers applied for American citizenship. Gwynne left Universal in 1944, on the advice of some agents who convinced her to obtain a release from her contract. "They said they would see that I went places," she told Michael Fitzgerald for Fangoria magazine. "Well, I went places all right -- out the door to Poverty Row!" Her acting career was at its nadir in 1957 when she appeared with dubious distinction in "Teenage Monster," a low budget, horror-sci-fi-western. But she'll be remembered most fondly for her films opposite such classic horror stars as Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney and John Carradine. She had semi-retired following her marriage to Max Gilford who died in the mid-1970s. She is survived by two children, one of whom, Gwynne Gilford, is also an actress. Though in failing health in recent years, Anne still attended the occasional film memorabilia show, happily signing autographs for her many fans.

Anthony Caruso

Veteran character actor Anthony Caruso died in his Brentwood, Calif., home following a long illness. He was 86. A swarthy, ruggedly handsome actor with a husky voice, Caruso specialized in playing ethnic henchmen and heavies of all backgrounds. Hoping to live up to his famous last name, Caruso originally wanted to be a singer, but found it more lucrative to act at the Pasadena Playhouse. There, he became a good friend of Alan Ladd's. Over the years, Caruso appeared in 11 of Ladd's pictures, including "The Glass Key," "Lucky Jordan," and "Hell on Frisco Bay." Genre-film fans may remember him best from appearances in "Phantom of the Rue Morgue," "The Catman of Paris," "Tarzan and the Leopard Woman" and "The Most Dangerous Man Alive." Following his film debut in 1940's "Johnny Apollo" starring Tyrone Power, Caruso acted in some 120 films over the next five decades, appearing as soldiers, cowboys, Indian chiefs, Arab warriors and Italian mobsters. He also appeared in roughly 110 television shows including episodes of "Gunsmoke," "The Lone Ranger," "Laramie," "Wagon Train," "Bonanza," "Maverick," "The Untouchables," "Hawaiian Eye" and others. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, actress Tonia Valente, and son, Tonio.

Andrea King

Actress Andrea King, who was often cast in roles as the devious "other woman" and who appeared in several well-regarded "A" features as well as genre-films, died of natural causes in Woodland Hills, Calif. She was 84. King was born Georgette Andre Barry in Paris. She made her stage debut on Broadway at age 14 in "Growing Pains." She went on to appear in "Fly Away Home" opposite Thomas Mitchell and "Life With Father" starring Lillian Gish. After appearing in a "March of Time" documentary short, she won a Warner Brothers contract (the studio still photographers voted her "the most photogenic actress on the lot") and made her Warner's debut in "The Very Thought of You," which starred Dennis Morgan and Eleanor Parker. Throughout the 1940s and ?50s she appeared as ingénues and "other women" in such dramas "God Is My Co-Pilot," "Hotel Berlin," "The Man I Love," "Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid," "Buccaneer's Girl" and the Bob Hope vehicle "The Lemon Drop Kid."

Her first genre-film credit was director Robert Florey's 1946 minor classic "The Beast With Five Fingers" with Peter Lorre and Robert Alda. Cult-movie buffs will recognize her from roles in "Red Planet Mars," opposite Peter Graves and the 1965 Jerry Warren schlock-horror film "House of the Black Death" with John Carradine and Lon Chaney. Her film career wound down inauspiciously with an appearance in the 1973 blaxploitation horror "Blackenstein." King also worked prolifically in television appearing on such programs as "Cheyenne," "Maverick," "Perry Mason," "Bourbon Street Beat," "77 Sunset Strip," "Hawaiian Eye," "Medical Center," and "Murder, She Wrote." A live, 1953 production of Agatha Christie's "Witness for the Prosecution" opposite Edward G. Robinson earned King her a star on Hollywood?s Walk of Fame.

The Astounding B-Monster

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