Kung Fury Premieres May 28, 2015 for FREE

Part of this year’s Cannes lineup, Kung Fury is a Swedish martial arts comedy by Laser Unicorns. The short will release worldwide on May 28, 2015. According to the official website, runtime is 30 minutes  … and we’ll be able to watch for FREE on the internet.

Kung Fury’s got kung fu cops, nazis (a.k.a Kung Führer), vikings, robots, dinosaurs and a rad cinematic 80’s feel. With a limited budget to work with, the team “had to solve this by shooting most of the scenes against a green screen backdrop”.

I can’t wait!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72RqpItxd8M

 

The Evil Dr. Minz Unleashes a New Hybrid of Fear with HYPNOTICA: THE NIGHTMARIST

(Toronto, ON) – Acclaimed cartoonist, charismatic filmmaker and 2D animator, Toronto-local, The Evil Dr. Minz, has thrown his iconic top hat into the CineCoup ring this year to vie for the highly competitive $1 million prize in Banff in June. If pronounced the winner, the potential top-select will produce and direct his speculative horror feature, HYPNOTICA: THE NIGHTMARIST. Watch trailer here.

Hypnotica Vertical Poster

HYPNOTICA: THE NIGHTMARIST explores the intersection of life and death when a writer obsessed with enlightenment experiments with self-hypnosis. Introduce The Nightmarist, an ancient demonic spirit that invades the writer’s consciousness, a la Freddy Kruger, and shapeshifts its way through outrageous dreamscapes in a crusade to exact evil on humanity. Part DR. SUESS, part THE THING and part THE CELL, HYPNOTICA: THE NIGHTMARIST fuses live action with animated gore and delivers a sinister villain who violently preys on spiritual delinquents. HYPNOTICA: THE NIGHTMARIST is destined to be a solid B-Film classic and prominently features the deviant music of electronic trance duo SQUID LID, currently on the first leg of their European tour.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER 

Chris Minz, a.k.a. The Evil Dr. Minz, is an institution in Toronto’s art and music scenes. Minz gained notoriety for his illustrated Keith Richards series satirizing the ROLLING STONES icon, as well as for his Facebook cartoons, which led him to publish his illustrated caffeine-driven book, THE SUBCONSCIOUS JUNGLE.

Formerly the lead singer/lead guitarist in DR. MINZ AND THE CHRONIC HARMONIC, a Tony Robbins/Frank Zappa-inspired ensemble, Minz and his band gained traction with their contribution to the soundtrack of Bruce McDonald’s cult-classic ROADKILL. Minz went on to direct music videos for legendary rock talent, KING CRIMSON alumni Trey Gunn and Adrian Belew, the BARENAKED LADIES and Kevin Hearn.

Influenced by the fantasy and fearlessness of directors/artists such as David Cronenberg, David Lynch and Hayao Miyazaki, Minz wrote/directed THE AMORPHOUS MIND POLICE FACTOR (feature), HI BUDGIE (short) and THE VERY IMAGINARY FRIEND (feature). His TV credits include BEETLEJUICE and THE NEVERENDING STORY.

Dr. Minz’s carnival of style makes this auteur an authentic original. His obsession with freedom of imagination motivates him to dream big and be bizarre.

HOW TO

Visit HYPNOTICA: THE NIGHTMARIST on CineCoup and submit your vote for this week’s mission. Voting is Monday-Friday each week until the end of May. *Each week there is a new mission that will need your vote, comment and/or rating.

Sign up in three easy steps:

  1. Enter your name and email on the CineCoup site
  2. Confirm your email
  3. Go to the Hypnotica page and vote!

WHAT IS CINECOUP? 

CineCoup is a disruptive platform for indie filmmakers and their fans derived to develop, market and finance feature films. CineCoup challenges entrants to new tasks each week and each week voters login and choose their favourite outcome of that week’s challenge. There are 12 rounds over 12 weeks and at the end, the top five fan-favourites go on to pitch to a panel of financiers at the Banff World Media Festival in June 2015, competing in-person for the chance at $1 million to make their film and screen it in Cineplex theatres across Canada.

2015: Sam Zimmerman’s Most Anticipated

As seen on Shock Til You Drop

2015 kicks in proper and we’re all back to work. So what do we have to look forward to? Movies. Between the holidays, I ran down the films I’ve been lucky enough to see already, and which I know will take many of you by storm this year. Here, you and I are in the same boat. What am I, as a horror fan, anticipating? Disregarding the films we’re not even aware of, I think the following is a tidy, diverse peek at the horrors ahead. 

crimson-peak-jessica-chastain

• Crimson Peak

It seems horror hero and monster lover Guillermo del Toro is bringing the more intimate, personal stamp of his Spanish language films to his English language moviemaking. Described as a Gothic romance and ghost story, Crimson Peak has already revealed some of its stunning, windswept design. This might be a haunted house, and a haunted house movie, for the ages. (October 16th)

da-sweet-blood-of-jesus

• Da Sweet Blood of Jesus

The incomparable Spike Lee remakes Bill Gunn’s experimental cult vampire oddity Ganja & Hess? Sounds amazing.

• Friday the 13th

Though there’s plenty of uncertainty surrounding it, it’s hard to forget there’s a newFriday the 13th film scheduled for release in 2015. We all know we’ll be there, whatever it ends up being. (November 13th)

the-green-room

• Green Room

Jeremy Saulnier’s beautiful, violent American revenge road tale Blue Ruin was one of the best films of 2014. Where does he go next? A punk show. Alongside Blue Ruinstar Macon Blair, as well as a killer cast including Imogen Poots, Alia Shawkat, Mark Webber, Anton Yelchin and Patrick Stewart (as a neo-nazi), Saulnier is crafting a punks vs. skins thriller entitled Green Room. Yelchin leads a band who witnesses a murder and finds themselves trapped and under attack from a group of skinheads. I’ll headwalk to wherever it’s playing.

HIghRisePoster

• High-Rise

Ben Wheatley—he of violent, visceral and darkly funny work like Sightseers, A Field in England and Kill List—has adapted J.G. Ballard’s seminal High-Rise, with a cast that includes Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Miller, Elisabeth Moss and Reece Shearsmith. Wheatley’s filmography, written with regular co-scripter Amy Jump, should make it apparent just how perfect this is.

lin shaye insidious 3

• Insidious: Chapter 3

Insidious: Chapter 2 did something special. It got kind of weird. Following the first’s nifty spin on a haunted tale, which included moving house and astral projection, director James Wan and writer Leigh Whannell upped the garish, colorful design, made the scares meaner and the plot stranger. Now Whannell, a horror mainstay for years, is poised to make his directorial debut with this third film, after penning the acclaimed The Mule and writing and co-starring in the upcoming Cooties (where he kills). As an introduction to the directorial vision of Whannell, Insidous: Chapter 3 (which acts as further adventures of Elise, Specs & Tucker) is already something to look forward to. As the next film in a series that distinctly hasn’t run its course, it’s one of the most anticipated. (June 5th)

 

Read Sam’s other 2015 notables here.

The 19 Best Horror Films Of 2014 – Buzzfeed

As seen on BuzzFeed

19. The Sacrament

19. The Sacrament

Magnolia Pictures

Directed by: Ti West
Written by: Ti West

It’s easy to feel weary of found footage horror: The success of the Paranormal Activity series ushered in a surplus of copycat films, most of which were — much like the majority of Paranormal Activity sequels — disappointing. But there are still a few worthwhile found footage tricks emerging, as evidenced by several entries on this list, starting with Ti West’s Jonestown Massacre-inspired The Sacrament. Vice reporter Sam (AJ Bowen) and his cameraman Jake (Joe Swanberg) follow Patrick (Kentucker Audley) to utopian community Eden Parish, where Patrick’s sister Caroline (Amy Seimetz) has fallen under the sway of a Jim Jones-esque religious leader who simply goes by Father (Gene Jones). The story largely proceeds how you’d expect it to, but the found footage format gives The Sacrament an urgency that makes the devolution into violence almost unbearably stressful to watch.

18. The Town That Dreaded Sundown

18. The Town That Dreaded Sundown

Orion Pictures

Directed by: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Written by: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa

The original 1976 film The Town That Dreaded Sundown was based on actual murders that occurred in Texarkana, a town on the border of Texas and Arkansas. The 2014 version, produced by American Horror Story’s Ryan Murphy — and written and directed by his frequent collaborators — is equal parts sequel and remake. It’s a more meta take on the slasher film: Final Girl (Addison Timlin) is first attacked by the Phantom at Texarkana’s annual Halloween screening of The Town That Dreaded Sundown. The success of Gomez-Rejon’s pseudo-reboot is its ability to not get bogged down by its own cleverness. Central conceit aside, it’s a low-budget, no-frills slasher that is more effective for its restraint — much like the Phantom’s simple but terrifying disguise.

17. Willow Creek

17. Willow Creek

Dark Sky Films

Directed by: Bobcat Goldthwait
Written by: Bobcat Goldthwait

Another found-footage horror film, Willow Creek owes more to 1999’s The Blair Witch Project than to the more recent Paranormal Activity films. But really, it owes everything to the endlessly creative mind of Bobcat Goldthwait, whose career as a filmmaker has shown impressive range and a penchant for the darkest of dark comedy, including World’s Greatest Dad (2009) and God Bless America(2011). While the focus of Willow Creek is unique — the film tracks enthusiastic Bigfoot believer Jim (Bryce Johnson) and his girlfriend Kelly (Alexie Gilmore) as they search for the elusive crypto-hominid — it’s not as shocking as Goldthwait’s past efforts. Still, it offers real terror and some surprising humor that reflect the writer-director’s considerable skills.

16. Starry Eyes

16. Starry Eyes

Dark Sky Films

Directed by: Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer
Written by: Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer

The price of fame isn’t a particularly original notion, but Starry Eyes takes it to a riveting (and stomach-turning) new place. Aspiring actor Sarah (Alex Essoe) is desperate for her big break, and when she’s up for a part in the mysterious filmThe Silver Scream, she finds herself pushed to her limit: Her body deteriorates and she begins to transform into something unrecognizable. It’s an apt metaphor for the strain of trying to survive as an actor, and the rigors actors put themselves through — a deal with the devil, as it were. More to the point, it leads to some truly inspired body-horror gross-outs: There is a shower scene in particular that leaves a lasting impression, whether you want it to or not. The sheer power ofStarry Eyes’ imagery is what elevates it past the somewhat familiar Faustian plot.

15. Tusk

15. Tusk

A24 Films

Directed by: Kevin Smith
Written by: Kevin Smith

Kevin Smith’s last foray into horror, 2011’s Red State, was a surprising (and largely successful) diversion from his past (largely comedic) work. Tusk is firmly planted in the horror genre, but it has all the features of a Kevin Smith comedy: sharp dialogue, offbeat characters, exceptional weirdness, and unexpected poignancy. In Tusk, podcaster — and typical Smithian asshole — Wallace Bryton (Justin Long) is lured to Manitoba by eccentric retired seaman Howard Howe (Michael Parks). After being drugged and mutilated, Wallace realizes he’s being held captive by a lunatic who will stop at nothing until he has transformed Wallace into something inhuman. The grotesquerie of Tusk’s body-horror elements is grounded by strong performances from Long and Parks, as well as a script from Smith that isn’t afraid to mine humor from unimaginable suffering.

14. Nurse 3D

14. Nurse 3D

Lionsgate

Directed by: Doug Aarniokoski
Written by: Doug Aarniokoski and David Loughery

Nurse 3D is largely about aesthetics: Inspired by photographer (and Lionsgate chief marketing officer) Tim Palen’s work, the film is basically a concept. But that concept — a homicidal nurse takes revenge on cheating men — gives the incomparable Paz de la Huerta free reign to be as freaky, naked, and bloody as she wants to be. The gruesome results don’t reinvent the slasher genre, and the plot — which revolves around the psychosexual manipulation of Danni Rodgers (Katrina Bowden) at the hands of de la Huerta’s Abby Russell — is very Single White Female, but de la Huerta thrives in the intersection of style and substance.Nurse 3D may not be high art — and with that title, that’s probably to be expected — but it’s still a relentlessly entertaining vehicle for its unique star.

 

Read the remaining entries here.

Has Found Footage Horror Entered a New Stage? 15 Years After ‘Blair Witch Project,’ ‘Afflicted’ Makes the Case

As seen on Indiewire.com.

Almost 15 years since “The Blair Witch Project” pretended to document an ill-fated journey into the woods, its impact is felt more deeply than ever.

Almost 15 years since “The Blair Witch Project” pretended to document an ill-fated journey into the woods, its impact is felt more deeply than ever. The found footage horror genre technically pre-dated the digital filmmaking boom by nearly two decades (with 1980’s “Cannibal Holocaust”) but the age of user-generated footage, when everyone with a smartphone has one trigger finger ready to hit record, has made the device too ubiquitous for its own good. The all-too-easy visceral jolt known as the jump scare populates countless tales of hapless protagonists making dumb decisions that usually culminate in their doom (and also crops up in countless YouTube pranks). At best, the economical storytelling device catches viewers off-guard by sneaking shock value into an innocuous storytelling device; at worst, it’s a lazy fallback used to rejuvenate formulaic narrative.

But “Afflicted” is moderately better than that. An uneven but effectively unnerving found footage horror entry opening this week about a pair of fun-loving vacationers who encounter dangerous, otherworldly forces, it illustrates the full cycle of evolution that the genre has endured since it first creeped us out.

Despite the breakout success of “Blair Witch,” it wasn’t until 2008 that found footage horror became fully co-opted by the mainstream. That year, the first “Paranormal Activity” movie screened at the Slamdance Film Festival and promptly secured a lucrative distribution deal with DreamWorks, immediately launching a franchise that has seen five instalments to date; the very same week that “Paranormal Activity” screened, Matt Reeves’ found footage monster movie “Cloverfield” dominated the box office. Both movies contained the usual blend of mockumentary ingredients with special effects that enhanced the dread predominantly because they looked so out of place in the shaky cam, homemade techniques.

Since then, the sequels to “Paranormal Activity” and the action-horror instalment “Chronicle” have continued to capitalize on the prospects of using CGI in the context of found footage. This has led to a noticeable shift from the “Blair Witch” tactic of leaving the darkest events up to our imaginations. Continue reading article here.

Toronto’s Blood in the Snow announces short film program

As seen on Fangoria.com.

The Blood in the Snow Canadian Film Festival is proud to announce its lineup for its BITS Short Showcase program playing Friday November 28th at 9:30 p.m. The lineup includes premieres of seven short films of the best Canadian genre shorts to be made this year. Last year’s prime time program was a huge hit selling out and adding a second screening.

For descriptions and trailers click here.

The remaining four features and the eight short films that will open all the features will be announced November 1st at Toronto’s HORROR-RAMA convention, with presentations running November 1st and 2nd.

Early bird festival passes ($65) and select individual tickets ($11) are on sale now here. For more, visit Blood in the Snow on Facebook.

Seven Reasons Why Most Horror Directors Aren’t Reaching Crowdfunding Goals

As seen on Dread Central.

Even well known directors with high profile projects and fans who are loyal and generous are failing to meet their crowdfunding goals. Why? Jeff C. Stevenson offers up seven tips that all filmmakers should abide by before they consider crowdfunding their film.

Number 7:  Know the 30% rule. In crowdfunding, momentum is king—and key. That’s why you want to have your “base” behind you before you post the project. Stats show that if you launch and 30% of your goal is quickly pledged within the first week, you have a 90% chance of reaching your target. And this 30% comes from the contacts you’ve cultivated two months before your product was launched. So remember: Campaigns that obtain 30% of their goal within the first week are more likely to succeed.

What happens if you haven’t reached 30% of your goal in the first week? Do you continue on or pull the plug and start over? Stats show that depending on the platform used, it’s estimated that only 14% to 40% of crowdfunding efforts succeed in reaching their goals. So most fail, and if you do, you’re not alone. Try again—just be sure to follow the above seven guidelines, and you’ll have a much better chance at reaching your funding goals.

Read tips 1-6 here.

WYRMWOOD – Review By Greg Klymkiw – Canadian Premiere Toronto After Dark FF 2014

As seen on The Film Corner.

The new Australian living dead chiller-thrillerWyrmwood might, at first glance, look and feel like a derivative post-apocalyptic zombie picture, but there’s nothing run-of-the-mill about it. Constructed with solid craft, spewing globs of gallows humour, walloping your senses, well, uh, senseless with bowel-loosening jolts, inspiring cold-cocking scares that slide you to the edge of your seat and of course, offering up a kick-ass babe of the highest order, all adds up to a rollicking good time.

With plenty of loving homages to George Miller’s Mad Max pictures and George Romero, helmer Kiah Roache-Turner and his co-scribe Tristan Roache-Turner, serve up a white-knuckle roller coaster ride through the unyielding Australian bushland as a family man (who’s had to slaughter his family when they “turn” into zombies) and a ragtag group of tough guys, equip themselves with heavy-duty armour, armament and steely resolve to survive.

Blasting through hordes of flesh-eating slabs of viscous decay, they careen on a collision course with a group of Nazi-like government soldiers who are kidnapping both zombies and humans so a wing-nut scientist can perform brutal experiments upon them. The family man’s insanely well-built, athletic and gorgeous sister is nabbed by the fascist egghead which allows for a harrowing rescue attempt and a bevy of scenes involving our babe in lethal fighting mode.

The movie has two very cool variations on zombie lore – one, a way for humans to telepathically communicate with and subsequently control the zombies as well as the handy discovery that zombie blood can be used as petrol for their souped-up fighting truck.

Roache-Turner proves himself a formidable talent. He employs … read the full article here.

Toronto After Dark Film Festival: 2014 REVIEW: WYRMWOOD

As seen in Toronto Film Scene.

Wyrmwood isn’t your typical zombie film, and that’s putting it lightly. There are things here that you’ve never seen before, and probably never even thought of, and the end result is a teeth grinding masterpiece. Touches of Mad Max, Dead Alive, and Evil Dead blend with a bloody road trip through this insane film.

Everything about this film, including the soundtrack, is madness. Things begin in a rather serious way, as we witness the outbreaks first victims, and it never slows down from there. The movie becomes increasingly crazy, with a pounding score and camera angles that leave you disoriented. There’s also a very dark sense of humour that begins to show up halfway through.

This is the kind of movie where you find yourself wanting to cheer every minute.

Read full review and watch trailer here.