At The Mountains Of Madness

I guess this is the "official announcement" (since I did as much on the radio this evening).

What you see to the left is a mock-up poster for my next movie, entitled Closet Space. Shooting is currently scheduled to begin April 1st. We are mass-producing a run of postcards to give out at the Texas Frightmare Weekend this coming weekend to generate some pre-production buzz.

There is a pretty exciting collaboration in the works for this movie - I can't say much about it at this point other than that I hope that it works out.

Look for more announcements to come in the next few weeks as we ramp up towards principal photography.

Witchcraft 13 Trailer

Here are links to the new "full" trailer. It's not much longer than the teaser, but there are more hints at story elements.

Windows Media

Quicktime

In totally unrelated news, I went to check out Criteria last night. They fucking rocked. Radio Pioneer opened up, and played their best show to date (at least I think so). Since they are to be featured on the Witchcraft soundtrack, there is talk of doing a video in the near future. Should be fun.

Last night's show gave me a musical kick in the ass...I've been slacking for a number of reasons (the movie obviously being the biggest one), but I miss writing and playing live. Fortunately, I may be making a pretty big musical announcement along with the movie project announcement later this week. It would suffice to say that my rusty-playing ass has to get some practice time in ASAP. Cue the Iron Maiden.

Hammer To Fall

Big announcements to come in the next few days involving my next project. It's shaping up quite nicely, and things are already looking to run smoother than on the Witchcraft shoot. I'm extremely excited about the material, locations, tone, and budget as well (as I have stated before). I hope to have some info on the movie (at least a teaser poster at the very least) by next week's Texas Frightmare Weekend.

Regarding Witchcraft - we are still working toward a final cut of the film that all parties can be happy with. Hopefully WC13 won't end up being a Thomas Lee film...but I have to admit that some of the changes make me uncomfortable with the flow and the overall quality. We'll see how that goes, I guess. After this is all said and done, I'll definitely have lots of material for a memoir of the experience of making this movie. Regardless of all the usual behind-the-scenes mess, we are still on track for the premiere at the Alamo Drafthouse on February 22.

The Silent Hill trailer makes that movie appear to be the adaptation that Resident Evil wishes it was. They even cop soundtrack elements straight from the game. Awesome.

Big fish eat the little ones...

Witchcraft 13 is on its way to the Executive Producer for final approval/notes/changes. We are on track for the premiere on the 22nd of February at the Alamo Drafthouse, and we have gotten exposure about that from Dread Central, Arrow In The Head, Bloody Disgusting, Horror Movies.Ca, TheHorror411.com and probably some others that I haven't even seen yet. Awesome. Thanks to all those that help us spread the word - I know more than anyone about the stigma that this series carries. Hopefully Blood Of The Chosen will change that a little.

And even if that doesn't come to pass, I guess it doesn't really matter. My next feature project is just about greenlit, and we are pulling the trigger on this one fast. Like before Spring Break fast. And it's a full-blown supernatural Lovecraftian-gory-but-not-jokey horror script. I think Hell has indeed frozen over. Either that or my most recent attempt to sell my soul to the Dark Lord Baphomet was successful. More to come on the Untitled Mel House Project in the next few days.

What's more the Public Access issue is coming to a close, and the Executive Director has stepped down. This is awesome for me personally, because I think the previous regime ruined public access in Houston (and not just because they fired me on trumped up charges). Just for a little context (very little, and with an admittedly personal slant), the former HMS executive director was the executive director of Austin Public Access 'round about the time that Robert Rodriguez was editing El Mariachi on the 3/4" machines there. When asked about Robert, all I got from her was "I don't like him", "he's not what access is about", and "he's not that special".

Okay...maybe not liking him is subjective (although having met him a few times during my stint at UT, I would have to say he's one of the coolest guys I've ever talked to). But to say that the guy who more or less single-handedly redefined the independent film paradigm not just once, but twice, (and arguably three times) is "not what access is about", and "not that special"? The guy gave "capital-H" Hollywood the finger with both hands, and she makes him out to be a pariah? There's something wrong there, and this woman does not need to be running a cornerstone of free thought. We might as well have put Sean Hannity in charge of Pacifica.

Then again, it may bode well for me symbolically.

So, in closing, here's a big fat middle finger (with both hands) to Houston MediaSource version 1998-2006.

And if you were one of the "live show haters" (you know who you are, "talent" included) - I hope you can hear the cackle of my resounding mean-spirited laughter aimed squarely at you.

DVDTalk is Cheap

Someone found this review online wherein DVDTalk makes sideways mention of Witchcraft 13 in their review of Witchcraft 6. Funny stuff.

Purgatory

Electric Purgatory has some new screenings coming up:

February 20 at the Alamo Drafthouse West Oaks in Houston Texas.

Sometime between February 9 and 20 at the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles (ahem, Jason and Cesar).

And, oddly enough, EP is showing at the Lake County Film Festival in Libertyville, IL on the same weekend that we will already be in the area for the Fangoria Weekend Of Horrors. At least that's what Raymond is telling me. Looks like they haven't updated their site from last year yet, but there will be more info here when they do.

These screenings could not come at a better time, since (for various reasons) I really hate me some Whitey right now.

"Sometimes if you want to get rid of the gun, you have to pick the gun up." - Huey Newton

Death to Videodrome -

- Long live the new flesh.

For various reasons, I feel like I've reached a seachange in my life/career. It could be the Witchcraft 13 trial-by-fire...it could be the extremely horrible conditions that I have to endure at my place of employment....it could be the fact that now everything seems to almost be falling into place for my next movie (and the one after that, as well). Things are actually happening, and I'm pretty excited about that.

What are the projects looming on the horizon? Can't say just yet, but I'm very excited about them - at the very least I'll be collaborating with some new faces on some dark and gritty horror material. And, when I say "dark and gritty", I don't mean Saw. Saw is for pussies.

I'm also in the process of setting myself up to make a living doing this, rather than take another fiscal ass-reaming in the name of cinema. That's the biggest challenge of course...but day by day, it becomes an easier goal than one might think.

My buddy Mike Scrutchin has asked me to write up a story about the making of Witchcraft 13 for his website, flipsidemovies.com. It will basically be a more linear version of what you've been reading here, but I think I'll be adding some new perspective, what with the project almost behind me. Look for that in the near future.

The tentative screening date for Witchcraft 13 at the Alamo Drafthouse is Wednesday, February 15th (pending final approval of the movie by the powers-that-be). My cadre of graphic designers is hard at work on a poster as I type this.

In other news, my buddy Dwayne and I went to see Hostel. Eh. It had a few okay moments, but otherwise I was nonplussed (although I enjoyed it more than Cabin Fever). I don't feel like going on about it, but if you want specifics, I pretty much agree with the Fangoria review of the film.

But I just did Witchcraft 13, so what the fuck do I know?

"I'm saying I'm an insect who dreamt he was a man and loved it, but now that dream is over ...and the insect is awake."

With just one touch of my burning hand...

Here's the news:

WC13 is in the final stages of post-production. Can't really say much more than that.

I have four (yeah, that's right...FOUR) projects in varying stages of pre-production, pretty much ready to pull the trigger on any of the four to get rolling on my next movie. I actually have meetings with producers throughout this week. Hey, look at me, I'm a bona-fide Hollywood player. Time to buy an Italian suit and a Blackberry.

There are new interviews done with the Tripod Films guys and myself over on this site.

We do have a screening date lined up for WC13, provided that everyone involved agrees on a picture lock before said date. More on that as it develops.