Dismal covered in Fangoria

After a long wait, Dismal finally received its due with an exclusive in Fangoria, the world's leading horror mag. "We were anxious to get a piece in Fangoria and who wouldn't," remarks Dismal producer / publicist Christopher Cook, "but they wanted to wait until we had a DVD release date. It was a long wait." Dismal scribe and producer, Bo Buckley adds, "The movie (Dismal) had a run On Demand, it aired on Showtime and then The Movie Channel and we still couldn't get a mention. Now it's like the monkey is off our back."

As an added bonus there were mentions of Fearmakers' upcoming Bigfoot thriller Savage and their sub-division, Strange Stuff's zombie / comedy Death of the Dead. "It's cool," says producer Justin Soponis, "Having your film mentioned anywhere is cool, but Fangoria takes it to a whole new level."

The team at Fearmakers is proud of the films exposure and grateful for the entire cast and crew who braved the elements to make it happen. "We've built some wonderful, lasting relationships from that film," reflects Buckley. Some of those relationships followed Fearmakers to their next effort, Savage, including the producing team of Freezer Locker Films, VFX QuadraHelix, composer Ken Lampl, design team Steelcoast Creative, actor / stuntman Jack Harrison, DP Shawn Lewallen and others. They also reteamed with executive producer Jack Abele and director Gary King for Strange Stuff's Death of the Dead. "We worked with so many talented, passionate people," observes Soponis, "it would be foolish of us not to work with them again."

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE.

Dismal is now available for pre-order through many places including Amazon.com, Blockbuster.com, Walmart.com and more. Make sure you get your copy. Official DVD release is Dec. 21, 2010.

Halloween Nights 13 of 13: Vampire Killers

On our last night in honor of Fearmakers' sub-division Strange Stuff, actor / director / writer / producer, Jack Abele, reviews the horror / comedy Vampire Killers.

Vampire Killers
by Jack Abele

The boys at Fearmakers asked me to watch a movie and write up a review. They said since I've been producing and starring in their new Strange Stuff movies I should watch this film called Vampire Killers. I did, and boy what a movie. Now I like serious movies. Dramas and movies with substance. This movies was neither a drama nor did it have substance. Instead it's a movie full of nudity, lesbians and juvenile humor. Don't get me wrong, that's not necessarily a bad thing, but this isn't the kind of movie I'd generally watch for myself.

The movie is about this town cursed by a vampire queen and these two down-on-their-luck guys from London take a trip there after the lead guy, Jimmy (Mathew Horne), gets dumped by his on again, off again girlfriend for the 8th time. So they go to this remote town looking for girls and low and behold they find a van full of hot, young women looking for a good time. They all wind up at a cabin and party into the night. Pretty soon these lesbian vampires start seducing the girls and turning them into lesbian vampires too. So Jimmy, and his wise-cracking buddy, Fletch (James Cordon), have to save the town from the curse.

Okay, so the good. The script didn't have deep dialogue, but the acting from the main cast was pretty decent. The script was intentionally silly so not much can be expected in the way of deep, emotional performances. Aside from some of the breast baring girls, the acting was acceptable. Probably the best performance was by James Cordon who has good comedic timing. He made me laugh on several occasions. The girls were pretty and plentiful and most of them were topless, so if you're a guy and like that in your horror movies you'll like this one a lot. I guess if you're a girl who likes that you'll appreciate this movie too. The settings were nice and creepy although the movie isn't scary at all, and the editing was creative and played into the fun theme of the movie.

Now the bad. The story is too convenient. These guys happen to go to this cursed town. A bus load of hot girls just happen to be college student studying folklore, and Jimmy just happens to be a descendant of the guy who started the curse and subsequently the only one who can defeat the vampire queen. I understand it's a silly comedy but I felt the story could have been better woven. Most of the movie has good visual effects but there were a few moments where you can tell it's bad computer animation, particularly the blood. I've produced a few movies where CGI blood was used and I know that's hard to make look real on a low budget, so I don't fault them, but it wasn't all that good either.

Overall not a bad movie. I understand there is an audience for this kind of movie, a big audience, but if you like to drink wine with your dinners and prefer serious dramas to slapstick comedies this is not the movie for you. If you like fart jokes, gratuitous nudity, ridiculous situations and over-the-top gore, this movie is right up your alley.

Jack gives Vampire Killers

Jack Abele was the EP on Dismal and has starred in Strange Stuff's Death of the Dead and the upcoming Attack of the Alien Jelly Monsters From the Depths of Uranus. He has several more Strange Stuff projects slated to film next year. Additionally Jack writes, directs and produces his own films. His film Integro is available on DVD. You can find out more about Jack and his movies by going to his WEBSITE.

To see Jack in Death of the Dead, go to the Strange Stuff Facebook fan page and click on the "Shop Now" tab.

Halloween Nights 11 of 13: House (2008)

Visual FX wiz, Jerime Kenne, reviews a movie with heart, soul and some nifty visuals, House (2008).

House (2008)
by Jerime Kenne

House (2008) Is the story of one couple with some marriage issues and another couple with just plain issues. Both couples have car trouble and end up in the same backwoods B&B one dark and stormy night. Soon they are introduced to the residents of this creepy B&B. Adding insult to injury they soon find out they are locked in with this overly odd family while a psychopath waits outside for them to fulfill his request of one dead body by morning. During the course of the movie you find out each person is dealing with their own personal hell due to their past transgressions and how they try to work through them. The movie ends with people dying and a twist that you will probably see coming.

I picked house for a few reasons, it’s considered an independent and because it has a nice marriage of practical and visual effects (VFX). This movie has about 150 VFX shots, and for the most part all of them are pretty good. Like any marriage sometimes there is trouble and this film is no different. I’m not going to bore you with a nerd rant about VFX so you’ll just have to see for yourself. Michael Madsen, Leslie Easterbrook, and Bill Moseley do make great additions to the cast when they are on screen making House a fun watch. I would RedBox it or Stream it from NetFlix if you get a chance.

Jerime gives House (2008)




Jerime continues to do visual FX for film / TV. He has another project coming up with Strange Stuff called Attack of the Alien Jelly Monsters From the Depths of Uranus. You can see his other work in Fearmakers' features Dismal and Savage as well as their sub-division Strange Stuff's Death of the Dead by going to the Facebook fan page and clicking on the "Shop Now" tab.

Halloween Nights 7 of 13: Martyrs

High Tension may have put the modern French horror film on the map, but composer Ken Lampl reviews perhaps a lesser known, but very powerful film in Martyrs.

Martyrs
by Ken Lampl

MARTYRS (2008) Directed by Pascal Laugier is described as “One of the most ferocious horror films ever made”. That my friends is a gross underestimation of one of the greatest horror films of our time. I kid you not. I walked into my local Blockbuster Video and pulled Martyrs off the shelf looking for some simple horror snuff. I had no idea of the visual and psychological onslaught which was about to begin. It takes the graphic violence of Eli Roth’s HOSTEL, combines it with the metaphysical philosophy of Bergmans THE SEVENTH SEAL. The end will knock your socks off!

MARTYRS is more than a horror film, it is a philosophical and religious journey into then nature of existence. The plot twists and turns in a completely unpredictable fashion. What begins as a typical “torture snuff ghost” film turns into an existential crisis that Kierkegaard would have been proud of.

This is not a movie for the faint of heart. If you want horror film making at it’s best, this is it.

Ken gives Martyrs



Ken is a fantastic composer who has worked on a number of Fearmakers projects including Dismal and Savage and also completed the score for Strange Stuff's Death of the Dead. He's worked with director Gary King several times. You can check out his website at www.KenLampl.com. To hear his work on DVD you can purchase Dismal, Savage or Death of the Dead by going to the Fearmakers Facebook fan page and clicking on the "Shop Now" tab.