Canadian Sorority Slasher Flick THE SCAREHOUSE Premieres Just In Time For Halloween

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Coming off rave reviews of its Sneak Peek at Montreal HorrorFest last month, THE SCAREHOUSE hosts its theatrical World Premiere in Windsor, ON October 5, 2014. Tickets at Eventbrite.

Look for THE SCAREHOUSE on VOD and iTunes in CAN/US on October 21, 2014.

In THE SCAREHOUSE, “two friends open a Halloween fun house on Devil’s Night, an elaborate party for their former sorority sisters. As these six sisters arrive one by one, they are confronted by a troublesome past. When their hosts’ true intentions are revealed, everyone inside the Scarehouse will find out that, indeed, revenge is a bitch.”

Check out the official trailer:

[youtube id=”dl44rG-wGxA” width=”600″ height=”350″]

Last summer I asked lead actress Sarah Booth about the importance of the all-girl cast, what’s new for audiences in this film and all about the awesome kill scenes! Read the interview at http://bit.ly/tshinterview.

For immediate updates on THE SCAREHOUSE follow on Facebook and Twitter.

Official website at scarehousemovie.com

 

Demons and Murder and Scandal, Oh My: A girl’s guide to Hellions, a new film by Bruce McDonald

This Halloween, Whizbang Films and Storyteller Pictures bring audiences face-to-mask with director Bruce McDonald’s newest terror flick, HELLIONS. The film tells the story of Dora, a teen who must survive a hellish Halloween fighting pint-sized demons who stake claim on more than just delicious bags of candy. HELLIONS will haunt you for weeks, hammering home the old adage, “be careful what you wish for, it just might come true”.

The film stars Chloe Rose (DEGRASSI: THE NEXT GENERATION), Robert Patrick (TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY, TRUE BLOOD), Rossif Sutherland (REIGN, HIGH LIFE), Luke Bilyk (DEGRASSI: THE NEXT GENERATION) and Rachel Wilson (REPUBLIC OF DOYLE, BOMB GIRLS).

The Kill Spot sat down with Chloe and Rachel to learn a little more about the movie through the eyes of the ladies who battle these malevolent masked creatures.

TKS: Great to meet you both. I know you’re in between takes, so I’ll get right to it! I describe HELLIONS as a mash up of THE WIZARD OF OZ meets TRICK ‘R TREAT meets ALIEN. These movies all feature strong, young, female protagonists. Who are some of your favourite heroines in film and did you draw on them for your characters?

Chloe: That’s a great question. I don’t think I’ve pulled on anyone specifically. I’d like to think Dora is a person of her own. I think that’s what makes her really interesting. She has no insecurities, she knows exactly who she is and she has no problem being exactly that. They’ve written an interesting teenager. Most teenagers are portrayed as subdued and quiet, or angsty, because they don’t know who they are yet, where Dora is angsty because she knows too much and is too intelligent for her own good. It’s kickass that the heroine has to kick butt and pull herself together.

TKS: What do you think the significance is of making the protagonist/heroine a teenage girl?

Chloe: The hellions are kind of reflections of Dora’s childhood. When Dora gets some life changing news, she really must face growing up even though she’s not ready to be an adult.  She experiences things as, you know, a girl, that guys just never will – physically, mentally, socially etc. It’s a poetic and intense coming of age story, like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, with more blood and guts!

TKS: Rachel, my next question is for you. HELLIONS takes on the mother-daughter relationship. What resonates with you about motherhood and family as the subject of this film?

Rachel: When it comes to losing someone you love, a parent losing a child is the most devastating. There’s definitely the sense that if you add motherhood and family to any horror movie you’re raising the stakes. The things that happen to Dora are basically the worst things that you can imagine happening to your child, all coming true. That will really hit home for a lot of people.

TKS: This is a script written by a man and directed by a man but it features leading women. I am wondering how the collaboration with Bruce affected or shaped the female voice of the story.

Chloe: I mean, working with Bruce has been really interesting. He’s totally open to anyone else’s interpretation and ideas. I’ve said this a lot in interviews because it’s the only way I can describe it. He has this vision and then he takes everyone else’s ideas and he morphs them together. So I don’t think it tainted the idea of the woman protagonist.

Rachel: He’s very collaborative. He just did an amazing job. He strikes me as a person who has a lot of sensitivity so you’re not going into a film with a director who is super macho. I mean he’s a compassionate, warm, sensitive human being so he’s going to create a film that has all those elements.

Chloe: On top of being super cool at all times. Altogether, I don’t think they could have picked a better director for something like this.

TKS: Thanks so much guys, for sitting down with The Kill Spot.

Chloe and Rachel: Thanks Alison.

HELLIONS is written by Pascal Trottier (THE COLONY), directed by Bruce McDonald (PONTYPOOL, HARD CORE LOGO) and produced by Frank Siracusa (HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN) and Paul Lenart (HONOR CODE).

 You can stay up to date with the latest HELLIONS news on Twitter and Facebook.

And, be sure to check out the HELLIONS Video Contest! The contest is open to anyone with a scary video, up to two minutes long. The theme: Red. Submissions can take any form – a fake trailer, a scene from a horror script you’ve been writing, a short film – as long as they somehow connect to Red. Red like blood, red like hellfire, red like blind passion, red like Blood Moons on Halloween … use your wildest imagination. You have until February 28, 2014 to enter. For more details about the contest and/or to find out more about the film, visit hellionsmovie.com.

True Crime: John List

… On November 9th, 1971, List had written a note to the principal of Patty’s school, saying she would be out for a few days. Another similar note was written to the other schools. To his boss, he wrote, “I’m sorry that it all had to end this way but with so little income I just couldn’t go on keeping the family together. And I didn’t want them to experience poverty.” He made the same excuse to Helen’s mother, the children’s maternal grandmother. He also mentioned that he could not be sure that their souls would remain pure in the future, giving the impression that he believed he had killed them for their own good. To save his own mother from anguish, he had killed her, too.

It was time to search the house more thoroughly to piece together what had happened on that gruesome day.

Read full article at trutv.com.

Lived to Tell: Inside The Scarehouse with Sarah Booth, by Alison Milward

D Films’ most recent venture, The Scarehouse, has wrapped principal photography in Windsor, ON. The feature film began shooting in August 2013 with intended release in Fall 2014. The movie is directed and co-written by Canadian filmmaker Gavin Michael Booth of To Hell, With Love acclaim. His wife, Sarah Booth, is the co-creator and star of this movie. I was lucky enough to sit down with Sarah to dig up some dirt on what we can expect this year from what is being described as a “Mean Girls meets Saw” take on horror.

TKS: Hi Sarah! Walk me through what The Scarehouse is about.

SB: The Scarehouse is about two girls who seek revenge on their sorority sisters and they open a haunted house as the perfect place to execute their plan. It’s a revenge plot; it’s a girl on girl torture comedy.

 TKS: What are you most excited about that will get audiences excited as well?

SB: One of the things I am most excited about is that it’s an all-female horror film. There are just so many stereotypical female roles in horror films and I think what’s really fun with The Scarehouse is that, yes, all the characters are kind of stereotypes, but there are so many variations of those stereotypes included that I think every person will be able to find someone in their lives that they can identify … and, perhaps get some satisfaction out of seeing their Hollywood demise. Is that dark?

Also, the kills. There are a lot of kills that I haven’t seen before.

And, I don’t think that The Scarehouse is your typical horror film format either. You’re rooting for the killers. You’re not trying to figure out who the killer is, you’re actually trying to figure out why the killers are killing.

TKS: There’s a lot of estrogen in this movie. Do you think there is a void in horror for strong female leads?

SB: Absolutely. I think, like I said before, there are a lot of stereotypical roles in horror, in film in general, but especially in horror – the girlfriend, the slut, the smart girl – you know who is going to go first. I think characterizations are really interesting in this one just because it’s girls interacting with girls. There are strong ones and there are weak ones; I think audiences will have some familiarity and be able to identify. You know, wonder and think, “Oh, I hope that’s how I would act”, or not.

A big thing also is, I’ve never seen so many females on screen as I did with The Scarehouse. Every principal female character has more lines than men in this movie. We received over 120 tapes for just the principals. The female talent in this country is astounding. Just having these girls step up and do these roles … the girls conveyed that they were excited to play such meaty characters – not just show your tits stuff. Juicy roles where you had to dig and act. These are some badass ladies.

TKS: There are some awesome kill scenes in The Scarehouse. What are some of your favourites out there and how do they compare to the ones in TSH?

SB: I will always remember the Johnny Depp death in A Nightmare on Elm Street, I loved that one, but I think, probably, my number one favourite kill scene is the Drew Barrymore scene from Scream. I didn’t grow up with a big film background. I didn’t have all this knowledge or history of horror films but that film always stuck with me. It was epic. That was by far the best opening of a horror film I have ever seen. With The Scarehouse you also have the comedy that Scream injected and the same ‘you don’t always get what you expect’ factor.

TKS: Canada has a list of notable movies and directors that have helped shape the international horror landscape. What do you think The Scarehouse brings to the genre?

SB: I think something unique that The Scarehouse brings, definitely, is that you’re rooting for the killers. It’s something new we’ve seen with Breaking Bad and Dexter, but it’s something that hasn’t really been done that much before in film horror. I mean, you know, maybe with sequels you get to know the killers, but off the bat with The Scarehouse, you get to know these girls and once you find out what they are up to and who these other girls are, you have that feeling where you think these other girls deserve to die. It’s kind of scary as a human to feel that, it makes you feel like shit, but honestly I think that its the most important thing in film, to create empathy (for a character) that you would never imagine having/doing in real life. You get to feel sympathy even, for something, somebody that you would never justify in your reality. Storytelling allows us to imagine.

TKS: You wear many hats on this movie – co-creator, casting director, associate producer, lead actress – what are some tips you have for entrepreneurs who aspire to “do it all”?

SB: This is my first time on a project this large wearing this many hats. I think one of the biggest things is to know what kind of person you are. You have to realize the commitment to each role that you are making, and deliver. Some days I did not want to be a producer but sometimes things come up and you’re in it and you just have to make it happen. I really think that if you want to try and do it all, just do it. It can be a lot of trial an error to figure out what works. I think one of the biggest things to remember is that it’s not about you at the end of the day – it’s about a lot of other things.

Also, having a spark of imagination, (putting it down on paper), and having fun with it matters.  If I could do one thing for the rest of my life it would be horror and action.

TKS: I understand The Scarehouse was shot in an actual funhouse and began filming on a full moon, and you shot through a Friday the 13th. Did you experience any weird, creepy things during the filming of this movie?

SB: Yes! I believe in ghosts and they brought a paranormal team into the building where we were shooting. Only about the third week into production did I feel that I was dreaming dark and crazy dreams. I was getting woken up by things. I think by being in the horror atmosphere for so long – you walk around the corner and there is a severed hand or you have blood on your hands for 12 hours – you start absorbing creepy vibes. One time I felt something crawling on me, one time I felt a hand slide down my face. A couple of people were telling me creepy things that were happening to them too like lights dying for no reason and running into apparitions.

TKS: Can you leave us with a list of your top 3 horror recommendations that horror fans ‘must see’?

SB: 1.) I haven’t seen this one but I heard amazing things coming out of the Fantasia International Film Festival about a Canadian indie called Antisocial.  2.) If you haven’t seen Scream, go fuck yourself. You have to see this movie. 3.) Honestly, the first Saw was a big game changer. Saw brought us that format twist where we didn’t know who the killer was – you know, don’t show the monster, let people’s minds wander.  Paranormal is a good example of this too.

Thanks to Sarah for sitting down with The Kill Spot for this interview.

The Scarehouse stars Sarah Booth, Kimberly-Sue Murray, Emily Alatalo, Dani Barker, Katherine Barrell, Jack Ettlinger, Jennifer Miller, Ivana Stojanovic and Teagan Vincze.

For more information about the movie visit The Scarehouse on IMDb.

Like The Scarehouse – Movie on Facebook here.

Interested in visiting The Scarehouse Windsor? Learn more at https://www.facebook.com/scarehousewindsor 

13 Of The Creepiest Cinemagraphs You’ve Ever Seen

Read article at: http://www.buzzfeed.com/h2/fbsp/yourenext/13-of-the-creepiest-cinemagraphs-youve-ever-seen

13 Of The Creepiest Cinemagraphs You've Ever Seen
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13 Of The Creepiest Cinemagraphs You've Ever Seen

13 Of The Creepiest Cinemagraphs You've Ever Seen

 

Six Horror Movies with Amazing Beginnings by Evan Dickson as seen on bloodydisgusting.com

 

By Posted by EvanDickson on July 25, 2013 on Bloody Disgusting.

Last year I wrote a piece called 5 Horror Films With Amazing Endings. You guys wound up digging it so I did 5 MORE Horror Movies With Amazing Endings, along with 5 Horror Movies With Horrible Endings and 5 MORE Horror Movies With Horrible Endings!

So, having pretty much tapped out the ENDING thing for now, I figured I’d take a look at some BEGINNINGS. Some of these movies start strong and end strong but others, more often than not, never fully achieve on the promise of their initial 15 or so minutes.

Head below to check ‘em out!

DAWN OF THE DEAD (2004)

Dawn Of The Dead Beginning 7 23 13 6 Horror Movies With Amazing Beginnings!!!
You knew this one was going to be on here didn’t you? While the James Gunn scripted/Zack Snyder (still his best) directed film is pretty damn good all the way through, most people would agree that it’s first 10 minutes or so are a true tour de force. From the economic, yet efficient, character introductions to Sarah Polley’s reactions to the chaos breaking out around her. This, and the opening credits, are a masterstroke.

FRIDAY THE 13TH (2009)

Friday The 13Th Beginning 7 23 13 6 Horror Movies With Amazing Beginnings!!!
You guys know by now that I dig this whole movie, but the first 20 minutes especially shine. There’s just something great about the quick dispatch of teens who could potentially have been our protagonists, right up until that great shot of Jason charging towards the camera smashes us into the main story.

SCREAM

Scream Beginning 7 23 13 6 Horror Movies With Amazing Beginnings!!!
While Scream is pretty much a classic at this point, I’m not sure if it ever beats the opening Drew Barrymore sequence. It’s lighter on laughs than the rest of the film, but makes up for it with a sadistic level of suspense that the remaining 100 minutes have a hard time recapturing (those 100 minutes are still pretty great though).

RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD

Return of The Living Dead Beginning 7 23 13 6 Horror Movies With Amazing Beginnings!!!
It’s remarkable how efficiently Dan O’Bannon sets up his universe – just a hair to the left of the Romero films – and establishes the tine of his utterly unique piece. The humor, the horror, that body in the bag twitching in the freezer – it’s all there.

SINISTER

Sinister Beginning 7 23 13 6 Horror Movies With Amazing Beginnings!!!
Not so much an opening sequence as an opening shot, whatever your opinion may be of Scott Derrickson’s Sinister – there’s no denying the power of this image.

GHOST SHIP

Ghost Ship Banner 10 02 12 6 Horror Movies With Amazing Beginnings!!!
Our contributor Wolfman wrote at length about this, and he’s d*amn right. The scene that possibly BEST demonstrates this article, it’s all downhill from here. Enjoy!

To Hell, with Love (2013) – Director: Gavin Michael Booth

Title: To Hell, with Love
Year: 2013
Country: Canada
Director: Gavin Michael Booth
Writer: Gavin Michael Booth
Producer: Gavin Michael Booth, Sarah Booth, Kelly Chmilar
Production Company: Mimetic Entertainment

To Hell, with Love premiered April 14, 2013 at the Reelworld Film Festival in Toronto as an official selection. It’s also showing at this year’s Fantasia International Festival in Montreal. More details at: http://www.fantasiafestival.com/2013/en/films-schedule/279/to-hell-with-love.

Plot Summary:

Dr. Desai is desperate to prove the existence of an afterlife. Unfortunately for one feisty prostitute, Cheri, his obsession will become her nightmare in a battle for survival.

Best Horror Movies of All Time from best-horror-movies.com

Here is a top 100 list of horror recommendations from best-horror-movies.com starting with number 100:

100. Suicide Club (2001, Written and Directed by Shion Sono)

99. Cape Fear (1991, Directed by Martin Scorsese)

98. Black Sheep (2006, Directed by Jonathan King)

97. The Mist (2007, Directed by Frank Darabont)

96. Darkness Falls (2003, Directed by Jonathan Liebesman)

Find out the other 95 titles at Top 100 Horror Films (2012)