Delve Deeper

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Thing creature creators revealed...


Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff, Jr. of Amalgamated Dynamics have been tapped to do the creature effects on Matthijs Van Heijningen's Thing prequel that begins filming March 15th...

About the film: A Ph.D. candidate joins a Norwegian research team in Antarctica after it discovers an alien ship in the ice. When a trapped organism is freed and begins a series of attacks, she is forced to team with a blue-collar mercenary helicopter pilot to stop the rampage...

(Thanks to
Dread Central)

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Yig sleeps, for now...


Tim Uren has checked in with another update from the set of the upcoming film The Curse of Yig! Read on for more...

We had our last day of shooting (at least for a while) last Sunday in the the Grain Belt Bottling House, which provided our set for the basement of the asylum. There was not a lot to shoot, but it was a full day nonetheless as it was makeup day. Amy was in full snake mode, including a latex mask and contacts provided by Nate Courteau and body painting by Crist Ballas. These are two phenomenally talented makeup effects artists. They are real-deal professional guys and we are incredibly lucky to have had their help. Many, many thanks.

Sadly I don't have photos yet to share, but Craig VanDerSchaegen was on set doing a photo essay for
MinnesotaPlaylist.com about local filmmakers. You can see the results of work
here.

And with Sunday complete, we are done for a while, until the spring, when we'll reconvene to get our exterior shots. Looking forward to sending more updates, when there's more to tell. Thanks to Unfilmable and all its readers!

(Thanks to Tim Uren)

Zann screening this weekend...


Jared Skolnick's The Music of Erich Zann will screen Friday, February 26th at the Amelia Island Film Festival! Click
here for details...


(Thanks to Jared Skolnick)

What haunts The Cold...


Shane West and Jesse Bradford star in The Cold, the new film from Daniel Calparsoro...

About the film: Idaho, USA – 7 friends head off into the wilderness to begin their annual hunting trip. As a snow storm gathers the big white out begins. Snowed in, cold and isolated, the men begin to question their friendship and loyalties. Soon they are terrorized by an unseen beast, what is stalking them? Is it the cold, starvation or has The Wendigo come to hunt them down?


(Thanks to
bloody-disgusting.com)

Colour from the Dark out now...


Ivan Zuccon's Colour from the Dark was released on DVD yesterday through Vanguard Cinema! The US release features cast and crew interviews, several featurettes, a photo gallery and trailers...

Colour from the Dark is available through
Amazon.com, Bestbuy.com and Netflix...

Head over to
Bloody-disgusting.com for a new review of the film...

(Thanks to Ivan Zuccon and Debbie Rochon)

Cryptocthulhu...


Besides Lovecraft, the study of hidden animals or Cryptozoology is probably the subject that interests me most, so imagine my surprise when I ran across this article on the blog for the Center of Fortean Zoology...

(Thanks to forteanzoology.blogspot.com)

Lovecraft nominated for a Rondo...


Frank H. Woodward's Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown has been nominated for Best Independent Production in this year's Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards...

Voting is open until April 3, 2010...


(Thanks to wyrdstuff.com)

Monday, February 22, 2010

Fulci's City of the Living Dead coming to Blu-ray...


City of the Living Dead, one of several Lucio Fulci film influenced by HPL, is coming to DVD and Blu-ray courtesy of Blue Underground! Features include a making of featurette, the English and Italian trailers, radio spots, a stills gallery, and several Blu-ray only features including Acting Among the Living Dead – an interview with star Catriona MacColl, Entering the Gates of Hell – an interview with star Giovanni Lombardo Radice, Memories of the Maestro and a poster gallery...

The DVD and Blu-ray will hit the streets May 25th...

About the film:
The Seven Gates Of Hell have been torn open, and in three days the dead shall rise and walk the earth. As a reporter and a psychic race to close the portals of the damned, they encounter a seething nightmare of unspeakable evil. Dunwich is alive - with the horrors of the living dead...


(Thanks to Arrow In The Head)

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Set report: The Curse of Yig...


Tim Uren has checked in with the latest Yig news complete with images from the production! Read on for more...

This weekend's filming jumped forty years into the future and was considerably warmer. With help from our make up folks (Andrea again, this time with Sarah Mittlstaedt) and the costuming genius Deb Murphy, Amy and I were made to look like entirely different characters. For the 1920's portion of the story, Amy is playing our narrator (we call her Zealia...) and I'm playing Dr. McNeill.

We were filming inside the Saint Paul Episcopal Church and, as fate would have it, the room we were using for Dr. McNeill's office already had photos of 1920's Oklahoma on the wall. How much more accommodating can a location get? Cheri Anderson, who has been providing for our art direction needs, put a lot of fun details into McNeill's desk. (See the image below for an example...)

Sunday we shoot the scenes in cell B116, and then we take a break before shooting our exteriors, some time in the spring. More soon!

Dawn Malicsi as Sally Compton

Tim Uren as Dr. McNeill

Dr. McNeill reviews Zealia's research

Zealia waits in the lobby of the asylum

Amy Schweickhardt as Zealia

Dr. McNeill tells the story of the curse

Zealia in the reception room

Zealia in the sun room. Bethany Ford as the nurse

Details of Dr. McNeill's desk


(Thanks to Tim Uren)

Last Battleground DVD out now...


Prolific filmmaker Sonny Fernandez, who has a passion for cinema that is unrivaled, has announced the release of his Lovecraftian epic, The Last Battleground, on DVD! Features on the disc include bloopers, deleted scenes, cast and crew commentaries and interviews and more...

Pick up your copy
here...


(Thanks to Sonny Fernandez and Dread Central)

In Search of Lovecraft review...


The blog Hayes Hudson's House of Horror reveiws David J. Hohl's 2008 feature In Search of Lovecraft here. The film chronicles Rebecca Marsh, a reporter shooting a Halloween news story on horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, who discovers that the fiction Lovecraft wrote is actually true, and the creatures and cults described in his writings really exist. With the help of her cameraman, an occult expert, and Keja, a sexy witch who is expert on the Lovecraft mythos, they try to survive the vicious attacks of the cult's creatures...

"The movie has some great scenes, good scares, and some great makeup effects."

- Hayes Hudson's House of Horror

(Thanks to hayeshudsonshouseofhorror.blogspot.com)

Website of Cthulhu...


The official website for Henry Saine's The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu is now online! The site contains cast and crew info, news, the trailer and more...

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 ancient evil, known as Cthulhu...

(Thanks to Henry Saine)

Innsmouth Free Press interview, "The Sleeping Deep"


February interview with "The Sleeping Deep" screenwriter Jeffrey Blake Palmer at Innsmouth Free Press.

http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com/?p=4849

The Relic attacks Blu-ray...


Peter Hyams 1997 monster movie The Relic, starring James Whitmore, Penelope Ann Miller and Tom Sizemore, is coming to Blu-ray April 6th, courtesy of Lionsgate! The DVD will include an audio commentary with director Peter Hyams, an interview with Peter Hyams and the theatrical trailer...

From Charles P. Mitchell's The complete H.P. Lovecraft filmography:
A rare plant is plant is used by a South American tribe to recreate their legendary avenging god, Kathoga (inspired in part by August Derleth's Old One, Cthugha.) In revenge for plunder, the natives ensure that Kathoga is sent to the Chicago Natural History Museum, where it grows, mutates and unleashes a killing spree...


(Thanks to
Dread Central and the late Charles P. Mitchell)

The Tell-Tale Raven...


Several Poe adaptations have made the news recently including James McTiegue Raven, which is said to be starring Jeremy Renner with Ewan McGregor in talks to co-star. The film follows a serial killer who terrorizes 1850's Baltimore, using Poe's stories as his methodology. Afterwards, leaving clues at each murder leaving it up to Poe to find him before he kills again...

In other Poe news, the Ridley and Tony Scott produced Tell-Tale, starring Josh Lucas, was released on DVD and Blu-ray January 29th in an exclusive deal with Blockbuster video. Tell-Tale tells of a heart donor recipient who goes on the trail of the killer's donor...



(Thanks to
shocktillyoudrop.com)

Will the Creature breath again...


Shocktillyoudrop.com spoke with director Breck Eisner recently, and one of the topics discussed was why he left the long delayed remake of Creature from the Black Lagoon, which is now in the hands of Carl Rinsch...

"A couple of things happened," He tells the site, "The writers strike just killed us. We didn't get the script in on time. And like I told you, I had gone down and done location scouting. Because the strike hit, we couldn't finish the script. Rightfully so, they decided to shelve it until once the dust settled. But when it did I was off doing another movie. That's the way these things go. Hopefully, for Flash Gordon, that won't happen."

Shock reports that Universal and Rinsch have started from scratch on the Creature project, so we'll have to see where it goes from here...

(Thanks to
shocktillyoudrop.com)

The Man Who Found Out...


Writer/director and Unfilmable.com contributor Woodruff Laputka has begun work on a screen adaptation of Algernon Blackwood's The Man Who Found Out, while post-production work on his film Lost Land continues. The story, written in 1921, revolves around a researcher who goes on an expedition to find the "Tablets of the Gods", which have plagued him with visions all his life. He goes on to find the tablets, and the horrible truth they contain about mankind's true purpose in the universe...

Check out the concept art below, and head over to the
chiarosKuro Films site for further details...

artwork © Alec Fritz

(Thanks to Woodruff Laputka)

Albert Pyun's new home...


Filmmaker Albert Pyun has launched his new official web presence to keep fans up-to-date on all his latest projects including H.P. Lovecraft's Cool Air, scheduled for a Halloween release...

The
site contains film pages, news, Albert's official blog, a store and more...


(Thanks to Albert Pyun)

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Spaceship Zero the comic...


Toren Atkinson's comic book prequel to Spaceship Zero will appear in the Cloudspace Comics anthology Expanded View, to be released in early March. The storyline takes place before the events laid out in the Spaceship Zero roleplaying game and the Darkest of the Hillside Thickets album, Spaceship Zero: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack...

Click
here for further details...

(Thanks to Toren Atkinson)

Filming begins on The Curse of Yig...


Tim Uren has provided Unfilmable.com with the latest in a series of weekly updates (w/ images) from the set of The Curse of Yig! Read on for more...

Our first weekend of filming is complete! It was three very cold days on location at the Little Log Cabin Pioneer Village in Hastings, MN. Once the sun went down temperatures were right around zero Fahrenheit. However, the Yig crew is a powerful and relentless creature that can withstand tremendous extremes of cold.

The first night we shot scenes involving just Amy Schweickhardt and myself. We could occasionally catch glimpses of the monitor to see the shots Paul (von Stoetzel, our fearless director) was getting and they looked gorgeous. After a long night of filming, we finished with a frenzied axe attack and went home for the evening.

The second night in the cabin we shot the Halloween party, which involved some dancin'! Conor Timmis was on set, playing Joe Compton, cutting a rug with Dawn Malicsi, who is playing Joe's wife Sally. Scott Keever was there playing fiddle as Lafayette Smith. (Scott will also be scoring the film for us.) It was again a very late night and again very cold. More power to Dawn who had to deliver a line commenting on the "unseasonable warmth."

Final day of shooting was actually during daylight hours, shooting the scenes of the day after the Halloween party. Our hair makeup people this weekend (Andrea Seidenkranz and Jamie Lecuyer) were fantastic and Andrea made a wonderful bloody mess of us Sunday.

With that, we've left our cabin and begin shooting in our asylum next weekend!


Conor Timmis also
reports that he has returned from Minnesota, his work on The Curse of Yig complete...

Check out the great images below, and when your done, visit the
official Facebook page for exclusive behind-the-scenes images...

Amy Schweickhardt as Audrey Davis

Walker reaches for a lamp

Amy on set

Tim Uren as Walker Davis

Walker startled in the night

Audrey watches Walker come home

(Thanks to Tim Uren and Conor Timmis)

Necronomicon on Nickelodeon...


The dread Necronomicon made an appearance on last nights episode of the Nickelodeon series Fanboy & Chum Chum (I was watching it with my boys, honest!), and further digging reveals that the unspeakable tome has shown up several times as it is in the possession of a character named Kyle...

Check out the image below, or hit this
link for a short clip of the Necronomicon in action...

(Thanks to Fanboy & Chum Chum)

New House of Black Wings review...


Head over to Horrorsociety.com for a review of David Schmidt's Lovecraft inspired feature film House of Black Wings, and look for DVD news to drop very soon...

"This being a Lovecraft affair, some surprising creatures and fluttering objects also make some intriguing latter day appearances as well."

- Brian Kirst


(Thanks to David Schmidt)

Evil Dead coming to Blu-ray...


Sam Raimi's original horror classic, The Evil Dead, is finally coming to Blu-ray in 2010, courtesy of Anchor Bay Entertainment...

No other details as yet, but I'm cure they'll be revealed as the disc gets closer to release...

(Thanks to fangorianews.blogspot.com)

Unfilmable.com, another year older...


It dawned on me the other day that Unfilmable.com has been online (in this latest incarnation) for just over a year now, and that 500 posts have been written in that short time! Not bad for a website based solely on films devoted to writers of the weird...

We are also creeping up on 100,000 hits, and for that I would like to thank you the readers! It's been a long journey since I started the original Unfilmable.com (back in 2002), but one that I still enjoy and hope to continue well into the future...

Thanks again for your support...

Craig Mullins
founder and webmaster

Monday, February 15, 2010

Lovecraft on the big screen this weekend....


Stuart Gordon's 80's classic Re-Animator and David Prior's award winning AM1200 are among the films screening at this weekends Nevermore Film Festival in Durham, NC...

Click
here for ticket information...



(Thanks to cjbowser)

MPI acquires The Last Lovecraft...


Screendaily.com reports that MPI Media Group has picked up North American distribution rights to Henry Saine's The Last Lovecraft: Relic Of Cthulhu, with international sales being handled by Cinemavault...

MPI plans to release the film theatrically stateside in the fall (through its Dark Sky Films label), with DVD and VOD scheduled for October...

(Thanks to screendaily.com)

Another Zann screening announced...


Jared Skolnick's The Music of Erich Zann will screen at the Buffalo Niagara Film Festival that takes place April 16th through the 25th! Details have yet to be announced, but keep your eye on the official festival site for more...


(Thanks to Jared Skolnick)

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Haiyoru! Nyaru-Ani coming soon...


Haiyoru! Nyaru-Ani, a 20 minute Flash anime produced by DLE, is coming soon to DVD (possibly in March). The film (see previous news story here) stars the cute silver-haired girl Nyaruko-san who is actually the ancient monster god Nyarlathotep...

Directed by Azuma Tani, Haiyoru! Nyaru-Ani is based on Manta Aisora's novel series...



(Thanks to
psgels.blogsome.com)

Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown screening...


For Immediate Release:

Frank H. Woodward's Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown will screen February 27th as part of the Erie Isle, the leading Second Life® roleplay community, Haunted Island Role Play event. A live Q&A session with the filmmakers (Frank H. Woodward, James B. Myers, and William Janczewski will be in attendance), a Lovecraft themed costume contest and more will be part of the evenings activities...

Lovecraft Screening Schedule for February 27th:

3:30PM - Pre-screening cocktail reception hosted by the Muircastle Trust
4:00PM – Screening of Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown
5:30PM – Q&A session with filmmakers Frank H. Woodward, James B. Myers, and William Janczewski.


Immediately following Q&A- Street party and Lovecraft costume contest co-hosted by Erie’s Twilight & Dreadshift. Prizes provided by Vanilla C Designs, Wyrd Studios, Cinevolve Studios and Erie Isle.

*all times reflect Second Life time (PST)

Admission is free...


Click here for details...

(Thanks to Frank H. Woodward)

Friday, February 12, 2010

Lovecraft's Evil Dreams...


Onda Drömmar, translated as Evil Dreams, is a short Swedish horror film produced to raise funds for the feature on which it was based. Currently in post-production, the film was directed by Tord Danielsson, written by Petter Hörberg and stars Pontus Olgrim, Håkan Bengtsson, Jannica Olin, Lisa Schröder, Ann-Christin Swartz, Arne Wennberg, Åsa Nilsson and Albin Gustafsson...

Onda Drömmar is a homage to Lovecraft and features a reluctant anti-hero who faces madness and ungodly creatures in the picturesque Swedish countryside...

About the film:
John is struggling to deal with the loss of his wife. He goes to a remote farm on an island in Småland, in the south of Sweden, to visit his old friend Patrik and get a change of scenery.

But the change is not what John is expecting. The "eccentric" inhabitants of the island are not too fond of outsiders, and strange sounds echo over the island at night...

...or is that only in John's dreams?


Watch the trailer
here, and head over to the official Facebook group for more images...









(Thanks to
Ond Film)

Langliena: A Tale of the Macabre...


Langliena helmer Emiliano Ranzani talks Lovecraft, what inspires him and his love of movies over on the temporary Fangoria newsblog (the official Fango site has been down for some time)! Langliena, a film we first covered on the old site, then again here, tells of a young man who nervously tapes his statement about how he sneaked into a small cabin in the woods and made a grisly and horrifying discovery. And just as he's about to finish his story, he's interrupted by an unexpected and unwelcome visitor...

"I've always been a die-hard fan of H.P. Lovecraft ever since I encountered his work in the high-school library, where I had to stay in order to skip religion classes. The story structure of LANGLIENA is an obvious nod to the master's work: it's a small-scale version of 'The Call of Cthulhu' and 'Dagon,' in a way. While the concept goes all the way back to the Arabian Nights and similar folklore, the ghoul itself, as I've depicted it, is a Lovecraftian one, the same breed of corpse-eating demon described in 'Pickman's Model' and 'The Dream-Quest of the Unknown Kadath."

- Emiliano Ranzani

Check out the Fango article here, and watch the Langliena trailer below...



(Thanks to
fangorianews.blogspot.com)

Guerrilla Productions is now on Facebook...


Guerrilla Productions now enjoys a Facebook presence at
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Guerrilla-Productions/190811768185

This site includes behind-the-scenes photos from most of Guerrilla Productions' movies, workshop and film festival announcements, casting and crew calls, news on upcoming productions, and even a daily "tip-of-the-day" from behind the lines.

Sign up, be a fan, and stay on top of all the fun!

(Thanks to Edward Martin III)

The Horror Vault 3 needs your help...


Kim Sønderholm, one of several writer/directors on The Horror Vault series, has called out to fans of the first two films in the hopes of getting part 3 finished. Volumes 1 and 2 in the anthology series, with segments inspired by both Lovecraft and Poe, were released on DVD last September and can be purchased here...

From Kim Sønderholm:

Hello friends and fans,
as you know we're currently struggling to finish The Horror Vault 3 and it's going ok but we've faced a few problematic steps along the waywhen it comes to budget. We're over, but only very little.

This is why we've decided to take this - and we admit, slightly alternative, solution into hand, giv...ing you, friends and fans, the chance to support the series from a close rather than a distance. Wehope you will take it well to heart and consider. Although, mind you,this opportunity is limited to about 2½ days yet. We might consider extending for another 10 after that, though - so if link is dead when you visit, don't hesitate to PM us or check the frontpage of the group.

Anyway...enough small talk... visit this link for more information:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260548594372

(Thanks to Kim Sønderholm)

Nevermore Performance at Stonehill College...


For Immediate Release:

Nevermore Performance at Stonehill College - Friday, February 13th

Take a dark and mysterious journey into the life of Edgar Allan Poe with a one-act musical directed by Stonehill Collegealumnus Joe DeMita '05. This imaginative musical uses Poe's poetry and short stories as its base and his shifting obsession with the women in his life as its catalyst. With hauntingly beautiful melodies, NEVERMORE breathes new life into Poe's work and explores a twisted true-life tale that is as bizarre as his classic stories of the macabre. A New England Premiere encore presentation will be held in the Stonehill College Hemingway Theatre on February 13th at 3pm and 7:30pm. Tickets will be sold at the door or are available online at fudgetheatre.com or by phone at (781) 245-0500. Price is $5 general admission and free to the Stonehill community with I.D...

Details can be found
here...

(Thanks to Edgar Poe and
959watd.com)

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Tentacled terror in Outpost Doom...


Directed by MaT Kister and scheduled for an April 2010 release, Outpost Doom is a black and white feature length film reportedly shot for $500! The film tells the story of two escaped cons, running from a horrific tentacled monster, who seek refuge inside an enormous barn...

Once inside, they discover a decapitated corpse and a group of strangers who are highly suspicious of their presence. It doesn't take long before people start dying in vicious ways. Someone is not who they appear to be…meanwhile, the tentacled monster is trying to find its way inside...

When Undead Backbrain asked of the films Lovecraft connections, MaT Kister of Dead Lantern Films had this to say, "The tentacle monster was indeed inspired by Lovecraft. It is not the main focus of the movie, however. It is used as a cinematic device to keep the characters trapped inside their location and to pose an always immediate sense of danger (breaking through walls and eating people, etc.)."

Head over to the Undead Backbrain blog for images, clips and background information on the film, or check out the films official site here...

(Thanks to roberthood.net)

Updated: Late Bloomer screening tonight...


For Immediate Release:

Craig Macneill's Late Bloomer is screening tonight at 9pm at
Fontanas in New York City (105 Eldridge Street between Broome and Grand)...

Loosely based on the dark tales of H.P. Lovecraft, Late Bloomer is a compelling and humorous journey through a young boy's first sexual education class...

Update: Late Bloomer won Best Short Film at last nights event. Congratulations to the cast and crew...

(Thanks to Craig Macneill)

Erich Zann's music to play this summer...


Jared Skolnick's 2009 adaptation of The Music of Erich Zann will screen as part of the Anthology Film Archives on June 16th at 7:00...

About the film:
A young student of metaphysics is forced to take the only lodging he can afford, a crumbling and decrepit building in a strange part of the city. Every night, he hears strange and unusual music coming from the room above him, music he cannot describe and cannot ignore...

He finds that the music above is being played by Erich Zann; a mute and eccentric German man who plays at night in a local orchestra. Fascinated by the man's genius, the student tries to befriend Zann and understand why such a great talent chooses to live in such squalor. Eventually, Howard learns of the secret behind Zann's music, one too terrifying to imagine...


Details can be found
here...









(Thanks to Jared Skolnick)