 Welcome to our intermittent horror news round up. This week we bring you a special horror movie round up. Featuring news on In a Foreign Town, Brain Freeze at this years The Fantasia International Film Festival, Sam and Mattie make a Zombie Movie, which looks to be the feel good horror film of the decade, and news of one of the most brutal films we have reviewed, Beyond Fury from director Darren Ward. ‘In a Foreign Town’ launches on ALTER - Adaptation of stories by horror master Thomas Ligotti creeps to the digital screen. Michael Shlain’s In a Foreign Town has just launched on Gunpowder & Sky’s horror platform ALTER. The short horror film stars Yuri Lowenthal (Spider-man Ps4, Love, Death + Robots, Sarah Connor Chronicles), Tony Amendola (Annabelle, Stargate SG-1), David Rees Snell (The Shield, S.W.A.T.) and Strange Dave (The Smiling Man). In a Foreign Town is produced by Shlain, Jason B. Milligan and Travis Stevens at Butcher Bird Studios. Thomas Ligotti consulted on the project which includes music by Current 93 and Nodding God. The film is a proof-of-concept for an upcoming TV anthology series created by Michael Shlain. An international co-production between Butcher Bird Studios (USA) and Analogue Pictures (UK), the series is currently in active development. Do not avert your eyes. This is no dream. You’re all going to see everything… In a Foreign Town premiered on, March 31st, at 8am PT via the following links: About In a Foreign Town The film started its successful and fruitful festival run where it premiered at the LA Shorts International Film Festival, made its international debut at the 2019 Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFFF),and won 2nd Runner Up at the 2020 Final Frame horror short film competition sponsored by StokerCon and the Horror Writers Association. About In a Foreign Town In a Foreign Town is a short horror film based on the stories of acclaimed horror author Thomas Ligotti. The story follows a troubled man – played by Yuri Lowenthal (Spider-man Ps4, Love, Death + Robots, Sarah Connor Chronicles) – who recalls a strange childhood journey to a town with no name and the horrifying apparition that has followed him ever since. A first-class cast and creative team bring Ligotti’s surreal, disturbing dreamscapes to life. The short was shot over 5 days at Butcher Bird Studios, the Universal Studios backlot and on location in Hollywood and Downtown LA. Michael Shlain, In a Foreign Town’s Director, says, “Ligotti’s stories speak to an experience of dread, alienation and nameless anxiety that I believe many of us can relate to today. We are very excited to be working with the team at ALTER to bring In a Foreign Town to a wider community of horror fans.” About Michael Shlain A former agent turned writer-director, Shlain’s work has traversed the realms of comedy, high-tech action, and the inner world of dreams and nightmares. Shlain is a co-founder of Butcher Bird Studios, a premiere creative production studio in Los Angeles. He has directed a wide range of narrative, branded and commercial content for clients including Twitch, Nat Geo Wild, and BBC America. Shlain is currently busy producing a series based on In a Foreign Town. About Thomas Ligotti Often named as the successor to Edgar Allan Poe and H. P. Lovecraft, Thomas Ligotti is recognized as a modern master in the genre of supernatural horror. His first volume of stories, Songs of a Dead Dreamer, prompted the Washington Post to dub him as “the best kept secret in contemporary horror fiction.” Steady acclamation of his works culminated when Ligotti was named a recipient of the Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. Following award-winning graphic novel adaptations of his writing by Fox Atomic Comics, he became one of the few living authors whose books have appeared in the prestigious Penguin Classics series. Among these titles is The Conspiracy against the Human Race, a wide-ranging survey of pessimism in philosophy, psychology, and horror literature. This work has been cited by the creator of the HBO series True Detective as a key influence on the show’s expressions of pessimistic thought, which have been viewed as being among the elements that accounted for its popularity. About Butcher Bird Studios Butcher Bird Studios is a premiere full-service creative production studio founded by multi-faceted director-producer-creators Steven Calcote, Jason B. Milligan, Luis Reyes, Michael Shlain and Travis Stevens. From Virtual Production to live-streaming and interactive formats, Butcher Bird harnesses razor-edge technology to tell engaging cinematic stories for a global audience. Butcher Bird’s original productions include the independent horror comedy feature Better off Zed and the world’s first live interactive sci-fi adventure series Orbital Redux. Orbital Redux premiered on Legendary/Nerdist’s Project Alpha channel and will be re-released on Gunpowder & Sky’s sci-fi channel DUST in summer 2021. About ALTER ALTER is a horror brand for novel and grounded stories exploring the human condition through warped perspectives. Giving voice to emerging, diverse and established filmmakers, ALTER’s owned and operated channel is distributed across YouTube and Facebook, with more than 25M monthly uniques, where three short films or series are released each week. In addition to curating and distributing award-winning content, ALTER develops unique stories with some of the most innovative minds in the genre through its ALTER Studio projects - which are not bound to a particular platform or format. In October, ALTER, along with Executive Producer Sam Raimi (Evil Dead, Spider-Man), premiered Part 2 of the horror series “50 States of Fright”, starring Rachel Brosnahan (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”), Travis Fimmel (“Vikings”, Warcraft: The Beginning) and Christina Ricci (“Monster,” “Z: The Beginning of Everything”). In 2019, the BAFTA-nominated horror short, The Blue Door starring (Gemma Whelan - Game of Thrones, The End of the F***ing World) premiered on ALTER, and earlier this year it was also announced that “Moreau”, a sci-fi TV series that puts a modern spin on the classic novel, “The Island of Dr. Moreau” by H.G. Wells has gone into development and will be written by Zack Stentz (X-Men: First Class, Thor, Rim Of The World). In addition, the psychological thriller “Horror Accidental”, based on the Japanese TV drama series, ‘Horror Accidental 1&2’, will be brought to life by writer and director Evan Daugherty (‘Divergent,’ ‘Tomb Raider’). Follow the film: www.inaforeigntown.com Facebook: @ForeignTown Facebook group: The Foreign Town Council Twitter: @Foreign_Town Follow Michael Shlain: Facebook: @MichaelShlain Instagram: @mshlain Twitter: @shlain Follow Butcher Bird Studios: www.butcherbirdstudios.com Facebook: @ButcherBirdStudios Instagram: @ButcherBirdStudios Twitter: @TheButcherBirds Follow ALTER: www.watchalter.com Instagram: @WatchALTER Twitter: @WatchALTER FANTASIA’S 25th EDITION TO OPEN WITH WORLD PREMIERE OF THE ASTOUNDING QUÉBÉCOIS ZOMCOM BRAIN FREEZE The Fantasia International Film Festival will be celebrating its 25th edition as a virtual event accessible to audiences across Canada, with a dynamic program of scheduled screenings and premieres, panels, and workshops running from August 5 through August 25, 2021, once again using the leading-edge platform created by Festival Scope and Shift72. As the summer approaches, the festival will be following advice from local health authorities, with the possibility of also adding a range of flagship physical events to the lineup. Last summer’s virtual edition was a phenomenal success, screening to 85000 spectators and amassing a record amount of media coverage, with 475 accredited journalists from around the world covering Fantasia and its titles. The lineup showcased 104 features, a quarter of which were World Premieres, with the majority securing distribution out of the festival, with highlights including THE BLOCK ISLAND SOUND selling to Netflix, COME TRUE to IFC, THE PAPER TIGERS to WellGo USA, ANYTHING FOR JACKSON to Shudder, PVT CHAT to Dark Star, and MINOR PREMISE to Utopia. For the creation of its 25th anniversary poster art, pictured below, Fantasia has once again turned to the talents of renowned illustrator Donald Caron. Taking inspiration from Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima’s beloved LONE WOLF AND CUB, Caron has created a work that not only acknowledges the key role that Japanese culture has played across Fantasia’s history, but also one that hints and honours our upcoming edition’s embrace of Japanese cinema as a core cinematic theme. Fantasia is proud to be opening its upcoming edition with the World Premiere of a major Québécois genre feature - Julien Knafo’s BRAIN FREEZE. First pitched at Frontières, the festival’s world-renowned international co-production market, the film is a smart and stylish zombie comedy that slyly comments on social concerns both domestic and universal, telling the tale of an environmental disaster that leads to a fast-spreading virus ravaging a wealthy gated community off the island of Montreal. BRAIN FREEZE joins the ranks of recently-released cinema that holds an eerie mirror up to our collective experience even though scripted and shot pre-pandemic. While production on the winter-set chiller was abruptly halted four days before completion following Quebec’s lockdown, shooting was miraculously able to wrap the following summer. There could not be a more perfect film for Fantasia 2021 to kick off with! Following the World Premiere on August 5th, BRAIN FREEZE will see theatrical release throughout Canada on August 13th from Filmoption International. Produced by Barbara Shrier (THE YEAR DOLLY PARTON WAS MY MOM, MÉMOIRES AFFECTIVES), the film stars Roy Dupuis (LA FEMME NIKITA, THE ROCKET), one of Quebec’s leading actors for the past three decades who celebrates his 50th feature with this role, alongside Iani Bédard (MON AMI WALID). The impressive cast is rounded out by an array of acclaimed figures in Québec cinema, including Marianne Fortier (AURORE), Anne-Élisabeth Bossé (LAURENCE ANYWAYS), Mylène Mackay (NELLY), Simon-Oliver Fecteau (BLUFF), Stéphane Crête (DANS UNE GALAXIE PRÈS DE CHEZ VOUS), Mahée Paiment (LES BOYS), Louis-Georges Girard (MAFIA INC), Claudia Ferri (BAD BLOOD), and Jean-Pierre Bergeron (SUR LE SEUIL). Equally gorgeous as it is bloody, BRAIN FREEZE presents a clever take on corporate greed, the growing rift between the haves and have-nots and a government in crisis that uses a zombie outbreak to express its truth and succeeds at being both a charming horror comedy, coming-of-age tale, and a story of unexpected friendship in hazardous times.  The 25th edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival will be presented by Videotron in collaboration with Desjardins, and will be made possible thanks to the financial assistance of the Government of Quebec, SODEC, Telefilm Canada, the City of Montreal, the Conseil des arts of Montreal and Tourisme Montréal. Fantasia’s full programming lineup will be announced in several waves across the coming months. For more information, visit us on the web at www.fantasiafestival.com Sam & Mattie Make a Zombie MovieInspiring Documentary Chronicles Two Teens with Down Syndrome Who Rallied their Friends and Neighbors to Make a Hollywood Dream Come True Available Nationwide on Cable VOD and Digital HD  What happens when two best friends with Down syndrome rally their hometown of Providence to help realize their dream of making a horror film? The documentary Sam & Mattie Make a Zombie Movie captures this inspiring story of unfiltered optimism and barrier breaking, overflowing with gallons of fake blood and DIY spirit. Gravitas Ventures will release Sam & Mattie Make a Zombie Movie April 6 on a number of digital and cable platforms, including iTunes, Amazon Video, Vudu, Google Play, Spectrum and Cox. “I don’t think I’ve ever smiled more while watching a movie in my life,” says Oscar-winning filmmaker Peter Farrelly (Green Book), who serves as executive producer. “Sam and Mattie are superstars!” Since they met at the Special Olympics, Sam Suchmann and Mattie Zufelt have forged an unbreakable bond fueled by their passion for movies. Sam and Mattie pitched their idea of the ultimate cinematic experience to all who would listen: a racy teen zombie flick they proudly proclaimed would be “the greatest movie ever,” exploding with sex, gore, and more over-the-top violence than you can shake a machete at. They convinced Sam’s older brother Jesse and his band of filmmaking friends to join them in bringing their film to life. The only rule: the duo’s original artistic vision must remain intact. This meant Sam and Mattie would storyboard, script, produce, cast, and star in their dream project: Spring Break Zombie Massacre.  “This is just one of those magical stories,” says co-director and director of Spring Break Zombie Massacre Bobby Carnevale. “We started out thinking we’d be filming their movie with iPhones and ketchup, but Sam and Mattie’s big dreams were infectious, so everyone offered to pitch in. The fact that we ended up with such an incredible film proves that when you bring the right people together, you can do anything.” With Jesse narrating the journey, Sam & Mattie Make a Zombie Movie chronicles the unique and often emotional challenges of this independent film production and the unexpected triumphs along the way. Living the dream finds the team launching a successful Kickstarter campaign, attracting the attention of Farrelly, and landing television interviews all over the country, including a raucous guest spot on Conan. The documentary culminates in the ultimate payoff: presentingSpring Break Zombie Massacre to the world. Proudly unconventional, totally honest, and a little punk rock, Sam & Mattie Make a Zombie Movie spotlights an underdog story like no other. It shatters disability stereotypes and celebrates the creative power of neurodiversity. Ultimately, the film challenges viewers to reach for the stars themselves, echoing Sam and Mattie’s personal mantra: “Rock on, go wild!” Beyond Fury releasing in the us and italy"A delirious triumph of genre greatness" - thepeoplesmovies.com "Violence has never looked so pretty" - Severed Cinema "Glorious to behold...Blood-flow like prime Lucio Fulci" - SGM "Violent Revenge thriller that set's a new standard - Stunning" - DVDHeaven "Stunning...A powerhouse of a film" - Twisted Minds  Beyond Fury will be released on BluRay April/May 2021 in North America and DigitMovies are releasing June/July in Italy from Darkside Releasing Director Darren Ward had this to say about the film The film completes my very brutal and bloody crime trilogy, and is my homage and love for 70's/80's Italian cinema (Sudden Fury 1998, A Day of VIolence 2010). BEYOND FURY was shot on a blackmagic camera in RAW 2.5K with Arri primes lenses. Production was over four years from April 2014 - November 2018. Beyond Fury stars Italian Horror legend Giovanni Lombardo Radice (Cannibal Ferox, City of the Living Dead, House at the Edge of the Park), Dan van Husen (Spaghetti Western veteran, Band of Brothers, Nosferatu), Jeff Stewart (The Bill, Dead man Running, Lake Placid 4), Dani Thompson, Gary Baxter, Glenn Salvage and many more We screened a workprint (Missing over 200 vfx and sound design) at WEEKEND OF FEAR, Germany in 2019 and Won the Silver Glibb, Audience Award for best film. The workprint was also screened at THE ROMFORD FILM FESTIVAL in 2019, it was nominated for 7 awards, winning 2 (Best supporting Actor Giovanni Lombardo Radice & Best Director) Post-production was finished March 2020 and then COVID hit.....We got to the finals at the 2020 Italian Horror Fest (last 5 features out of 360). Due to play at this years Horror-On-Sea festival, but again due to Covid moved to January 2022!  Synopsis Michael Walker has turned his back on his Special Ops past and is about to start a family with his beautiful wife Claudia. However, a chance encounter with crime syndicate footsoldiers wipes out his future in spectacularly brutal fashion. Hell-bent on ultimate revenge, Walker reawakens the savagery that earned him the moniker “Angel of Death”, and unleashes an unrelenting wave of momentous violence.  the heart and soul of horror websitesComments are closed.
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