At the Mountains of del Toro...

The Wellington, New Zealand Dominion-Post newspaper spoke with Guillermo del Toro recently and the following is an excerpt from the January 20th edition as transcribed by Unfilmable.com forum member Mikeythorn. This is just a portion of a longer piece (not available online) that contains information on Lovecraft, the plot of At the Mountains of Madness and information on other Lovecraft film adaptations...

"[he estimates it will cost US$90 million to make the movie but]... he still has to convince Hollywood. "We are trying to do it, but it is a very expensive movie," says del Toro. "Its difficult to have a movie like that without Hollywood and it's almost impossible to have it done with Hollywood. It's a conundrum because it's a move that [would cost] about US$90 million, but US$90 million means they [Hollywood] don't understand a horrifyingly unhappy ending and the fact there's no love story. It's a purely cosmic horror where man is not the hero but just vermin created for the amusement of a larger species. There are so many ideas that are alien to [Hollywood], no pun intended."

Del Toro hasn't ruled out the possibility of even a small amount of filming actually taking place in Antarctica. Some of the events in Lovecraft's story take place at McMurdo Sound.

"I've always wanted to do that. It is still a possibility. One of the first things that came up with the studios was the liability and insurance issues of taking a formal giant crew to Antarctica. But what I learned technically on Hellboy and Blade allowed me to do Pan's Labyrinth. It is my belief that what I learned on Hellboy 2 and [will] on The Hobbit will allow me to go out and make At the Mountains of Madness, even if its not in Antarctica."

...

"I want to do it. If Peter [Jackson] had the Rings trilogy and James Cameron had Titanic - there are movies that you think are a mission to do. My mission in my life is to make At the Mountains of Madness if I can."

You can visit the Unfilmable.com forum by clicking here...

(Thanks to Mikeythorn)

Nevermore press...

Source: An Actor's Notebook

Chris Kaltenbach of the Baltimore Sun interviews Jeffrey Combs and Stuart Gordon here...

Lee Gardner of the Baltimore City Paper talks with Jeffrey Combs here...

Jessie Lilley at Mondo Cult Magazine gets the inside scoop from Mark Redfield here...

(Thanks to Mark Redfield)

La Herencia Valdemar in Spanish theaters tomorrow...

Universal Pictures International is set to release part one of Jose Luis Aleman's La Herencia Valdemar in Spanish theaters tomorrow, January 22nd! The film stars horror legend Paul Naschy (who passed away last November), Daniele Liotti, Oscar Jaenada, Laia Marull and Silvia Abascal, and is set in Victorian England and the present...

The film revolves around a young woman who specializes in antique furniture restoration that disappears near the old, creepy house of Lázaro Valdemar. A detective tries to find the missing woman and discovers that the mansion has a checkered, dark history involving an ancient Dunwich ritual performed in the 19th century…

Info on a Stateside release has yet to be announced...



(Thanks to Innsmouth Free Press)

The Last Lovecraft trailer debuts...

The trailer for Henry Saine's Relic of Cthulhu, now officialy titled The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu, has debuted over on bloody-disgusting.com (you can view the YouTube version below)! The rough draft premiered at the 2009 H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival and the finished cut of the film is scheduled to screen January 24th at 12:30pm (encore Tuesday, January 26th at 5:30pm) as part of the Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah...

Henry Saine tells Unfilmable.com that the official website will be up soon, and that updates are forthcoming...

About the film: Jeff, a down on his luck office worker, finds out he is the last living relative of horror novelist H.P. Lovecraft. What he doesn't know is that Lovecraft's monsters are real and will soon threaten the very existence of mankind. Jeff and his best friend Charlie are forced to embark on a perilous adventure and they enlist the help of high school acquaintance, Paul, a self proclaimed Lovecraft specialist. Together the three unlikely heroes must protect an alien relic and prevent the release of an acient evil, known as Cthulhu...

(Thanks to Henry Saine and twitchfilm.net)

Vigor Mortis on DVD...

Kristof Mateusen and Frederic Cervini's Dutch language thriller Vigor Mortis (which we first covered here) is now available on DVD through Fifth Floor Films! The DVD features the movie in Dutch with available English subtitles, interviews with cast and crew (in Dutch), a crew training featurette, a cast rehearsal featurette and deleted scenes and outtakes...

Click here to purchase...


(Thanks to fifthfloorfilm.com)

Monstrous Invisible auditions...

For Immediate Release:

Auditions for Monkeyman Productions' The Banana Festival will be held on January 30th, 2010, from 1-6pm at The Imperial Pub, 54 Dundas Street East, Toronto. The Banana Festival is a collaboration with local playwrights of new, short plays with a geeky, pop-culture vibe...

Of interest to Lovecraft fans is Monstrous Invisible – A life of H.P. Lovecraft (with emphasis on the Love). Actors are needed for Howard: Male, early to mid-thirties and Sonia: Female, (early) mid-thirties...

Details can be found here...

(Thanks to canada-arts-connect.blogspot.com)

Yig update...

Conor Timmis reports, via his official blog, that he is scheduled to shoot his Curse Of Yig scenes Feb. 11th through the 15th. Conor will play the part of Joe Compton in Paul Von Stoetzel's adaptation of H.P Lovecraft and Zealia Bishop's collaboration...

(Thanks to Conor Timmis)

Contest: Horrific Romance Classifieds

Here's a contest from Innsmouth Free Press for all you lovesick lonely-hearts out there:

We are doing a themed week in February related to Valentine’s Day here at Innsmouth Free Press. Ah, romance and monsters. There is nothing more delightful and we are running a contest to celebrate it: Horrific Romance Classifieds. You know those little classifieds in the newspaper? Girl seeking guy? What if it was girl seeking ghoul?

Read more at:

http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com/?p=4703

Nevermore in Baltimore this weekend...

For Immediate Release:

THE EDGAR ALLAN POE HOUSE AND MUSEUM IN BALTIMORE

Proudly Presents

THE EAST COAST PREMIERE of

JEFFREY COMBS in

NEVERMORE: AN EVENING WITH EDGAR ALLAN POE

SATURDAY JANUARY 23, 2010 at 7pm and

SUNDAY JANUARY 24, 2010 at 4:30pm

Tickets are $35 per person (cash or check only at the door)

With SUNDAY DISCOUNT COUPON (for Sunday's performance only, see below) $20

NEVERMORE - SUNDAY DISCOUNT COUPON!

SAVE $15!
We are now offering a DOWNLOADABLE COUPON for the Sunday January 24th, 4:30pm showing of NEVERMORE!

VISIT poebicentennial.com to download the discount ticket flyer!!

If you will be purchasing tickets at the door on the day of the show, print out and present the coupon to our ticket attendees and save $15!

(Cash or check accepted. Sorry, no credit cards. Reserved seating. SRO not allowed. Children age 9 and under not allowed. Performance runs 90 minutes without intermission. This offer may be withdrawn at any time. This offer cannot be combined with any other offers or discounts. Coupon cannot be used for groups. One coupon per person. Valid on Sunday, January 24, 2010 only. This coupon does not guarantee a seat nor does it reserve a seat. Cannot be applied to tickets already purchased.)

Children under 9 not permitted.

Performance runs 90 minutes without intermission.

We can no longer accept advance ticket orders.

Tickets are STILL AVAILABLE at the door for BOTH PERFORMANCES.

Please plan to arrive AT LEAST ONE HOUR before performance time when the box office opens to purchase a ticket the day of the event. BOX OFFICE OPENS 6PM SAT. JAN 23RD AND 3:30 PM SUNDAY, JAN. 24TH.

Sorry, we cannot take reservations. Tickets sold on a 'first come, first served' basis. If you're planning on coming Sunday, January 24th, take advantage of our DISCOUNT COUPON for that performance, and download and print the coupon to bring with you! Sunday ticket discount available ONLY with printed coupon presented at the box office.

For more information visit poebicentennial.com

(Thanks to Mark Redfield)

Re-Animator panel at LA Weekend of Horrors...

Re-Animator director Stuart Gordon, star Jeffrey Combs and writer Dennis Paoli are scheduled to attend the LA Weekend of Horrors on Saturday, May 22nd! All three guests will participate in the Re-Animator panel celebrating the film's 25th Anniversary ...

Weekend of Horrors details:

LOS ANGELES, CA
Fri., Sat., & Sun.
May 21-23, 2010
Marriott Los Angeles Airport
5855 West Century Blvd.

Click here for additional information...

(Thanks to Dread Central)

Behold! The eldritch horrors of recursive C programming!

This bit from Cinema-Suicide.

I owe you a post. Last week was a tough one. Fought a cold. My laptop shit the bed and I’m way behind on writing this article for Screem. So in order to allocate personal resources accordingly, I sacrificed this here blog and I’m sorry for that. Truthfully, I didn’t see much worth talking about last week.

Continue reading...

Miskatonic Acid Test and beyond...

American Entropy Productions, the mad genii behind The Miskatonic Acid Test, have several other Lovecraftian films up their creative sleeves, and you can read all about them below! But first, check out the five and a half minute trailer for The Miskatonic Acid Test (currently in post-production)...

About the film: It's HP Lovecraft a-go-go in "The Miskatonic Acid Test", the first feature from American Entropy Productions. It's 1969, and cosmic horror infects a psychedelic rock "happening" in witch-haunted Arkham, Mass. It's a zonked out brew of poetry, philosophy, cosmic horror, and 60's-style acid rock; probably the first horror movie that's more heavily influenced by the Monkees' "Head" than by George Romero...

Howard and Howard is a historical comedy that starts from an audacious premise: what if pulp authors H.P. Lovecraft (creator of the Cthulhu mythos) and Robert E. Howard (creator of Conan the Barbarian) had been roommates in early-thirties Manhattan? The effete Lovecraft and two-fisted Howard embark on a series of odd-couple adventures...

Howard and Howard is currently in pre-production...


In the quiet bywaters of southern Maine, something strange lurks in an abandoned mill by the edge of a derelict river. What became of occult-obsessed teenaged genius Billy Butler? What could be the meaning of the strange symbols scrawled in chalk on the floor of a room in the sub-basement, or of this strange piece of grafitti: "Lovecraft was Right"? And what was the horrible thing seen by young Jimmy Scolera on the day his friend Frank DuFresne disappeared? The Abomination will be a genuinely scary Stephen King-meets-Lovecraft horror movie, an attempt at a genuinely unnerving modern horror movie in the Val Lewton style. Lovecraft done right, a film to make your hair stand on end as your mind falls to its knees...

The Abomination is currently scripting...

(Thanks to Dark Lord Rob)

The Sleeping Deep on Fango.com...

Jeffrey B. Palmer's The Sleeping Deep got some love from one of the big boys on the block, fangoria.com! Check out their coverage here...

(Thanks to fangoria.com)

Strange Aeons in February...

Fans of Planet Lovecraft take note, issue #1 of Strange Aeons Magazine will rise in late February! The Heavy Metal style comic, that replaces the late Planet Lovecraft, includes an awesome Cthulhu cover by Ben Hansen and Levi Skeen (see it here), comics by Ferrante, Sparvero, Davis, Martinez, Corless (in color for the first time), fiction by Joe Pulver Sr (Blood Will Have Its Season), book and comic reviews and more...

Watch the official site for details...

(Thanks to K.L. Young)

Yig pushed back...

Paul von Stoetzel sends word that the shooting schedule for The Curse of Yig has been pushed back to Feb. 12-14 and Feb. 19-21 (previously announced as Jan. 22-24 and Jan. 29-31)...

Updates are forthcoming...

(Thanks to Paul von Stoetzel)

Will there be Cool Air for Halloween...

According to information gathered from the Official Albert Pyun MySpace page, Albert's long shelved adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's Cool Air should be released around Halloween of this year. Cool Air tells the story of a struggling screenwriter in search of accommodations, who takes a room in a isolated Malibu mansion and learns of the mysterious doctor, who dabbles in strange experiments, that resides in the room above his own. Read on for more...

""H. P. Lovecraft's Cool Air" was shot back in 2005 and was the first film I ever shot in HD. It utilized the new, at that time, HDV format and we ended up having some tech problems with that as well. It was due more to my inexperience with the HD format. We are finally are correcting the issues because technology caught up with the problem the film had. This should be out near Halloween 2010. Cynthia Curnan did a masterful job adapting Lovecraft's short story and it is, I think, one of the most faithful adaptations of Lovecraft in terms of tone and inner fears. I love how the film turned out with terrific perfomances by Morgan Weisser, Wendy Phillips, Crystal Green and Jenny Dare Paulin. It's really one of my creepiest films with the most horrific ending to any of my films. Again, its a different style and direction for me as a filmmaker."


(Thanks to Cynthia Curnan)

The Frozen Kingdom reviewed...

Fangoria.com's Comic Screams reviews the first three chapters of Howard Lovecraft and the Frozen Kingdom here...

"...the book has some shining moments that allow it to be an ongoing series, and could also venture into another medium like film."

- Mike Fish


(Thanks to fangoria.com)

Mr. Noyes

Mr. Noyes (2010) from SK on Vimeo.

Lost Land Teaser released!

chiarosKuro films finally releases official teaser for the up-and-coming short film "Lost Land", scheduled for release later this year:

"LOST LAND" teaser (2010) from Woodruff Laputka on Vimeo.

Lovecraft's Dark Discoveries...

The latest issue of Dark Discoveries, a 64 page, full-color, slick quarterly publication, is available, and fans of HPL are in for a treat! The issue, a Lovecraft Special, contains articles and interviews showcasing Brian Lumley, H.R. Giger's Museum (with some great images of Giger's amazing artwork), excerpts from Dan O'Bannon's translation of the Necronomicon, Weird fiction expert S.T. Joshi, Lovecraft comics (one of my favorite features in the issue), artist Kris Kuksi, and the H.P. Lovecraft film festival. There's also some great fiction by H.P. Lovecraft & Brian Lumley (The Thing in the Moonlight), Wilum Pugmire, Cody Goodfellow, David A. Riley and Glen Singer, and amazing artwork by J.K. Potter, Allen Koszowski, Alan M. Clark, Kris Kuski and Jason V Brock...


A little about Dark Discoveries:

Dark Discoveries magazine caters to the best in dark fantasy, science fiction and horror in fiction, film, comics and other media. The premiere issue debuted in March, 2004 with the current issue, the afore mentioned Lovecraft Special, being issue #15...

The magazine is currently available in over 600 stores throughout the U.S.,Canada, Germany, and the U.K., with a national and overseas subscriber base of close to 200...

To celebrate their fifth anniversary, Dark Discoveries completely revamped their official website and the magazine itself, adding color, deepercontent, redesigning the layout and broadening their focus with a spotlight on movies, TV and comics - featuring great articles, outstanding fiction, exclusive interviews and beautiful artwork...

The creative minds behind Dark Discoveries are also involved in publishing books, and recently brought out The Bleeding Edge: Dark Barriers, Dark Frontiers, featuring unpublished work from Ray Bradbury, John Shirley, William F. Nolan, Jason V Brock, Joe R. Lansdale, Richard Matheson and others. The cover and art (artwork is available in the Deluxe edition only) is by Kris Kuksi. Another book is scheduled for mid-2010 entitled The Devil's Coattails...

The Bleeding Edge: Dark Barriers, Dark Frontiers is available here...

The Lovecraft Special is available here...

view from the doorway of the Giger Bar (image © Jason V Brock)

(Thanks to Jason V Brock)

Concerning Brown Jenkin...

Released early last year, Richard Svensson's Concerning Brown Jenkin is worth revisiting for it's wonderfully realized Brown Jenkin (pictured below), one of Lovecraft's strangest creations. The short film, based on text from Dreams in the Witch House, is a collaboration between Richard and RavenOfPoe, who provides the film's narration...

You can view the film in it's entirety here, then check out Brown Jenkin's creation here and here...


(Thanks to Richard Svensson)

Flesh of my Flesh post continues...

Post production effects work continues on Guerrilla Productions' zombie epic Flesh of my Flesh, and things are looking good! Recent work involving models and green screen shots are proving to be very effective, as the following image provided by writer/director Edward Martin shows...

Flesh of my Flesh stars Susan Spencer, Mad Martian, Bill Kelley, Drew Barrios, Heather Rose Walters and Ron Richardson as Herbert West, and chronicles mankind's final hours in the last great war for existence...

Check out the production diary here, the official site here, or head over to Guerrilla Productions for news regarding all of their films...

Ron Richardson as Herbert West

(Thanks to Edward Martin III)

Dan O'Bannon's legacy...

Dan O'Bannon's official site has opened its doors with a message from Dan's wife, Diane O'Bannon. Diane covers Dan's illness, what he was working on (including his translation of the Necronomicon) and future site content...

The site (which is under construction) is a tribute to Dan's creativity and his passion for the genre, so visit often to see what Dan has left us, and to see what might have been...


(Thanks to Dread Central)

The Curse of Yig nears...

According to Paul von Stoetzel, The Curse of Yig will begin production January 22-24, then again the weekend of January 29-31. Those weekends will comprise of all the interior shots for the film, with exteriors being done when the weather warms (production is taking place in wintry Minnesota)...

Conor Timmis reports that he will join the project the weekend of Jan. 22-24, so watch his blog for updates...

Interested in learning more? Visit Yig on the web, either through the official site, or via Facebook...


(Thanks to Paul von Stoetzel)

Rest in Peace Chas. Balun...

Chas. Balun passed away Friday, December 18th at the age of 61. A former Fangoria/Gorezone contributor, Chas., along with Dan O'Bannon, was one of the driving forces behind my love of horror, and his writings even influenced my creating Unfilmable.com...

An accomplished artist and photographer, Chas. as a writer gave the horror community the Connoisseur's Guide to the Contemporary Horror Film, Gore Score, Horror Holocaust, Lucio Fulci: Beyond the Gates A Tribute To The Maestro, the Deep Red fanzine, and so much more...

Rest in peace Chas, you will be missed...

(Thanks to fangoria.com)

Thing prequel shoots in March...

Universal Pictures and Strike Entertainment's prequel to John Carpenter's The Thing is due to begin filming in March! The shoot will take place in Toronto and continue through June. Matthijs van Heijningen is set to direct from a screenplay by Ronald D. Moore and Eric Heisserer...

(Thanks to Dread Central)

Last Battleground artwork revealed...

The Last Battleground, a Lovecraftian epic from filmmaker Sonny Fernandez, is coming to DVD and the official cover art can be seen below! The film stars Cody Tergesen, Justin Kavlie, Liz Dockter, Kim Haarman, Dan Sorenson, and Sam Ova...

The Last Battleground follows a bunch of seemingly unconnected characters: a pair of inept hitmen, an abused girl who relies on an invisible friend to get her through rough times, a young homeless woman, and an artist who's been noticing a change in the world around him. Their paths and others will intersect one faithful night because heaven and hell have had their ultimate showdown for control of the earth, and damned if hell didn't score the upset victory.

Where do you run when salvation no longer exists? Where do you hide when the ground is opening up and letting unholy creatures run wild? How do you survive in a world where the dead are coming back as Lovecraftian demons manipulated by their earthly sins?

DVD details are forthcoming, so watch this space for more...


(Thanks to Sonny Fernandez)