The Undead News Thread (20090630.03)

Zombieland

Arrow in the Head just released more movie stills from the up-and-coming Zombieland with Woody Harrelson. I still think this looks like one of the better horror/comedies coming out in the next year or so. Remember, even Bill Murray is making a cameo as a zombie. The new stills are just below.

"In a world overrun by zombies, a guy described as 'the most frightened person on Earth' looks to find refuge and bring a band of people to safety." Zombieland stars Woody Harrelson, Mila Kunis, Amber Heard, Jessie Eisenberg, Abigail Breslin, Emma Stone, and even Billy Murray as a zombie.

You can check out the first batch of stills I posted here and the Zombieland trailer here.

Source: Arrow in the Head

The Undead News Thread (20090630.02)

Night of the Creeps

"Fans of Fred Dekker's 1986 cult favorite NIGHT OF THE CREEPS have a chance to influence the packaging for what is undoubtedly one of the most-anticipated genre titles ever to hit DVD. Amazon.com is giving you a chance to vote for one of three possible covers for the DIRECTOR'S CUT (pictured below), which hits DVD on October 20th. Amazon.com is already taking pre-orders for $17.99, which includes a price guarantee - If they lower the price, you get the best deal."

"Night of the Creeps is a 1986 horror film written and directed by Fred Dekker. Night of the Creeps stars Tom Atkins, Jason Lively and Jill Whitlow. The film is notable as an earnest attempt at a B movie and a spoof of the genre. While the main plot of the film is related to zombies, the film also mixes in takes on slashers and alien invasion films."

I, personally, think all three of the covers suck. I agree with other fans, that they should have just kept the classic one sheet as the cover, instead of fucking up the Director's Cut cover to this cult legend. Regardless, I'm still excited to see that this is finally getting its due with a DVD release. Click here to vote for which pile of shit looks less like a pile of shit than the other two.

Source: Fangoria

The Undead News Thread (20090630.01)

Untitled Yoshihiro Nishimura Project

"Japanese filmmaker/makeup FX artist Yoshihiro Nishimura has tackled all sorts of genre staples and given them his own bizarre spin in his features, from the mutants of TOKYO GORE POLICE to the modern variations on traditional creatures in his new VAMPIRE GIRL VS. FRANKENSTEIN GIRL. While presenting the world premiere of the latter at the currently running New York Asian Film Festival, Nishimura revealed he’ll be tackling the walking dead next.

"'I’m going to work on a film where high-school girls go around running over a bunch of zombies,' he said. 'You heard it here first! I think it will be lighter, but also bloodier than TOKYO GORE POLICE.' Anyone who’s seen the latter knows that’ll be quite a feat."

I can't say that I've ever seen any of this man's work, so I'm not sure how to predict or anticipate his next project. I guess I need to get to watching his other movies.

Source: Fangoria

The Undead News Thread (20090627.01)

The Eaters

"The Eaters is a 2009 independent horror film directed by Katie Carman. The film stars Elizabeth Lee, Jun Naito, Ivy Hong and Chesley Calloway. The film's World Premiere is scheduled for June 26, 2009 at the Anthology Film Archives. A Brooklyn band, General Malacarne, is practicing when once again, the power goes out. Little do they know that this blackout is unlike any other, and that while they relax and smoke up in the basement, everyone above ground is being transformed into vicious, undead eating machines. THE EATERS follows the band's journey out of post-apocalyptic Brooklyn to the imagined safety of Long Island."

This looks halfway decent, probably somewhere along the lines of Automaton Transfusion, but with a little humor. So at least it won't take itself too seriously.

Source: Cold Hands Productions

The Undead News Thread (20090626.01)

Grindhouse

"An early announcement to retailers indicates that Genius Products and The Weinstein Company are set to release Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino's GRINDHOUSE on Blu-ray on August 11. No edition details are available, other than this would be a two-disc set, but it may well be the theatrical Grindhouse double feature.

"If true, this would be the first time that the entire presentation has been available for home viewing in the U.S. (sans Cable broadcasts). A 6-disc DVD collection was previously released in Japan, and included all of the faux trailers along with a host of bonus features. With the added capacity of the BD format, it's very likely that we could see this material show up here.

"Wal-Mart.com is now taking pre-orders for a 2-disc Blu-ray set for August 11th - showing an MSRP of $34.98 ($23.86 actual), AND they're taking pre-orders for a 3-disc DVD set listed for December 31st, with an MSRP of $29.95 ($19.86)."

Japan got a 6-disc set, and all we got were two separate, barely any bonus content DVDs sold individually? What a bunch of shit. This is still more along the lines of rumor than anything else, but it does seem to be likely. I reviewed Planet Terror a few days ago, and obviously I loved it, but I felt that Death Proof only had a good opening first half, and the second half fell through. I thought the movie in general was just boring. Hell, the climax happened at the halfway mark. Regardless, the fake movie trailers were a definite highlight in Grindhouse. And even though you can view all four of them on YouTube, it'd still be cool to actually see them on a DVD. Here's the trailer for Machete, by Robert Rodriguez, who had so much fun filming it that he made 40 minutes of it and has decided to go back and finish it for a DVD release on its own.

Source: Fangoria

The Undead News Thread (20090623.02)

Pontypool

"Pontypool is a 2009 Canadian horror film directed by Bruce McDonald and adapted by Tony Burgess from his own novel Pontypool Changes Everything. Shock jock Grant Mazzy has, once again, been kicked off the Big City airwaves and now the only job he can get is the early morning show at CLSY Radio in Pontypool Ontario, which broadcasts from the basement of the small town's only church. What begins as another boring day of school bus cancellations, due to yet another massive snow storm, quickly turns deadly when reports start piling in of people developing strange speech patterns and evoking horrendous acts of violence start piling in. But there's nothing coming in on the news wires. Is this really happening?

"Before long, Grant and the small staff at CLSY find themselves trapped in the radio station as they discover that this insane behaviour taking over the town is actually a deadly virus being spread through the English language itself. Do they stay on the air in the hopes of being rescued or, are they in fact providing the virus with its ultimate leap over the airwaves and into the world?"

Pontypool released in March (in Canada). I guess I completely missed another one this year, though technically "director Bruce McDonald stressed the victims of the virus detailed in the film were not zombies, calling them 'Conversationalists.'" Regardless, it's a very interesting concept, and one I'll be checking out once I find it. Here's some screen caps and the movie poster:

Source 1: The Walking Dead Fan Club
Source 2: Tribute

The Undead News Thread (20090623.01)

The Forest of Hands and Teeth

"Carrie Ryan's young adult zombie novel The Forest of Hands and Teeth has just been sold to Seven Star Pictures, the studio behind Kristen Stewart's upcoming movie K-11. The novel, which was published in March by Delacorte Books for Young Readers, has been an instant hit with critics and book bloggers. It tells the story of Mary, a girl living in a small village bordered by a fence to keep out the Unconsecrated -- savage zombies intent on destroying the town and everyone in it. Add a little bit of romance and a gutsy female heroin, and you've got a teen thriller to rival Twilight. Rumor has it that an A-list actress is tipped to star in the movie (could it be Kristen Stewart?), and a first draft of the screenplay is being written as soon as possible."

While this might be considered undead news, that doesn't make it good news. I haven't read any of this woman's books, but dumbing down zombies and writing a preteen girls story about flesh-eating corpses is practically sacrilegious. And casting anyone associated with Twilight is criminal. Then, to top it all off, she added some cheesy, high school love story, which I'm sure is more in the foreground than the zombies themselves. Sometimes I pray for a real living dead apocalypse. If Darwin was still alive, I bet he would, too.

Source: ReelzChannel

The Undead News Thread (20090622.01)

Fear Itself

In almost creepy timing, considering I just found out about this show, which was canceled last year, apparently Lionsgate stated today that they: "will issue the NBC horror series FEAR ITSELF on DVD in September. All 13 episodes of the show will be included in this release, including five that never made it to broadcast when it went off the air last summer.

"FEAR ITSELF will be a four-disc set, streeting September 15, packaged in a special collector’s-edition skeleton-tombstone case, containing Stuart Gordon’s 'Eater,' Breck Eisner’s 'The Sacrifice,' Mary Harron’s 'Community,' John Landis’ 'In Sickness and In Health,' Brad Anderson’s 'Spooked,' Ronny Yu’s 'The Family Man,' Darren Lynn Bousman’s 'New Year’s Day,' Larry Fessenden’s 'Skin and Bones' and the unaired episodes: Ernest Dickerson’s 'Something With Bite,' Rob Schmidt’s 'The Spirit Box,' John Dahl’s 'Chance,' Rupert Wainwright’s 'Echoes' and Eduardo Rodriguez’s 'The Circle.' Four of them (unspecified as of now) will be director’s cuts presumably containing footage too graphic for network airing, and each will be accompanied by a featurette with cast/director interviews and behind-the-scenes footage. MSRP is just $29.98."

That's actually a very decent price, considering each episode's runtime is 40 - 45 minutes in length. I reviewed New Year's Day yesterday, and I just watched Eater (pictured below) tonight, before finding out about this, and if the rest of the series is this good, I'll definitely be picking this up. You can watch most of them at FEARnet for free, just like New Year's Day yesterday.

Source: Fangoria

The Undead News Thread (20090620.02)

Colin

Welsh director Marc Price claims Colin, his zombie movie that premiered at Cannes Festival in May, had a production budget of $72. "The makers of Colin shot their film on a camcorder and persuaded actors and make-up artists to donate their service for free. The most extravagant expense was a crowbar, some mini DV tapes and some tea and coffee. 'The main actor, Alastair Kirton, is a friend of mine. We’d made a short together before and then we worked on Colin. I then got friends to come along and play both zombies and humans. A lot of them doubled up and end up getting killed as both zombies and humans. We ended up with over 100 people in the film. We were fans of zombie films, but they all seem to focus on a siege scenario, where people are trapped in a shack or a shopping mall, or a strip mall,’ Mr Price said. ‘It’s a case of them fighting off the zombies until all the humans either die or get away. We knew we couldn’t compete with that type of film, not having any money, so we decided to make a zombie film from the point of the view of the zombie.’"

"‘For the make-up, I sent out a message on a few websites putting out a call,’ Mr Price explained. ‘I said we wouldn’t be able to provide any material, that they would need to being their own equipment. But I said they could create whatever type of zombie they liked and we would give them footage for their portfolio. And we decided that in an end of the world situation, people wouldn’t have much time to find amazing weapons anyway, so we just used things like shopping trollies and other bits and pieces. Two Japanese film companies have made a bid to distribute the movie and the 30-year-old director is hoping that more offers will start coming in. We seem to have sorted something out for Japan, which means we’ll get to do a Japanese dubbed version. I’d love to have a UK or US distribution deal. I just want people to see it.’" The trailer actually wasn't too bad at all. You can tell it's very low budget, but it's amazing what they seem to have pulled off with next to nothing.

Source: CNN

The Undead News Thread (20090620.01)

Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation

Not exactly 'zombie news,' but I think I find Care Bears resurrecting the dead a bit too hilarious not to mention. Back in 1986, Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation came out. This was the ‘80s, which were supposed to be a harmless time for toys and the cartoons that sold them. "The Care Bears were purportedly intended to promote Christian values, but they generally pushed the same lessons as filthy amoral heathen cartoon characters: believe in yourself, eat your vegetables, don’t litter, don’t cut in line, don’t be an asshole, and don’t sell your soul to demons. Yet there’s one moment where the sky-dwelling bears go into full-blown Jesus mode and raise the dead.

"The second Care Bears movie pits the legions of bears and other toy-friendly animals against a malevolent shape-shifting creature named Dark Heart, who demands a picked-on girl’s soul in exchange for making her the best athlete in her summer camp. The girl, later realizing she’d been a moron, joins the Care Bears in confronting Dark Heart at the film’s end, and, in a strangely morbid turn for a cartoon inspired by American Greetings, catches a villain-propelled lightning bolt and, at about the two-minute mark in this clip, dies.

"As the human-shaped Dark Heart cradles her lifeless form, the Care Bears devise a solution straight out of old Peter Pan plays: yelling that they care and asking all of the movie’s audience to join in. Of course, it works, thus teaching children that one can resurrect the deceased by sheer force of will. One can only imagine all the soon-to-be-disappointed kids left screaming at dead family pets or grandmothers’ caskets."

Source: Topless Robot

The Undead News Thread (20090619.02)

Resident Evil: Afterlife

Yesterday, according to writer Paul Anderson (who also directed the first in the series): "Once again we're doing it completely with the blessing of the videogame company. We got a lot of flack [on the sequels] for, 'Why isn't the movie set in the mansion just exactly like the very first videogame?' That's just not progression for me. As the Resident Evil videogames themselves have developed in leaps and bounds -- it's like when we did the last movie people were like, 'Resident Evil doesn't take place in the desert. What the (expletive) is this?' Well, where does Resident Evil take place? Does it take place in Raccoon City exclusively? Well, I don't think so because the game has been in Antarctica, in Raccoon City, now it's in Africa."

I used to have more faith in Anderson, who was the man behind Event Horizon and Soldier. Then again, he was also the man behind Mortal Kombat and Alien vs. Predator. I think he's a bit confused as to what the fans are bitching about. I don't think it's where the movies are taking place. It's all the shit he's changing and massively fucking up. Remember how this guy turned out:

Now Movies Online is reporting: "Yesterday we gave you an exclusive update that the upcoming Resident Evil 4 is done and today we have an update to that. Hot off of our own exclusive AITH got word that the script is done and that yes it will be shooting in Toronto which will double as ALASKA and that it will also shoot in Tokyo. The script is complete and they are now in the process of reworking it and scouting locations. Patrick Tatopoulos is doing the special FX and apparently the vibe will be similar to Resident Evil 2."

It's official. Paul Anderson is definitely not in tune with the Resident Evil fans. Apocalypse was the worst of the three. Though no one can dispute that the first movie was at least decent. Case in point:

The Undead News Thread (20090619.01)

Corpus Delecti (The Passion of the Zombie Christ)

"Ira Hunter of The 13 Flames Empire and Nick Parsons of Monster Media sent along the eye-catching trailer for their in-the-works feature project CORPUS DELECTI (THE PASSION OF THE ZOMBIE CHRIST), which promises to put a spin on the story of Jesus that Mel Gibson never dreamed of. Parsons, who’s serving as a producer on the movie, provides some background: 'Ira is the creator of the cult underground comic books CHAMPIONS OF HELL and ZOMBIE JESUS,; he tells Fango. 'About 12 years ago, he entered a local filmmaking contest in Victoria, Canada called Scrapshots. The criteria were that the movies had to be done entirely in one shot, with no post-production whatsoever. Ira entered one called CORPUS DELECTI (THE PASSION OF ZOMBIE JESUS), and surprised everyone by taking first place!'"

"'Twelve years went by,' Parsons continues, 'and Ira decided to ‘remake’ the CORPUS DELECTI short into a feature utilizing Victoria’s first greenscreen production facility, Island Industrial FX. After five months of planning and replanning, and realizing just how difficult and expensive it is to organize 30 volunteers, the decision was made to shoot a trailer over one weekend in the hopes of landing production money for the full film. Ira changed the title of this version to CORPUS DELECTI (THE PASSION OF THE ZOMBIE CHRIST), and is hopeful that a big-name star like Bruce Campbell or George A. Romero—who expressed interest in ZOMBIE JESUS to Ira nearly 10 years ago at Comic-Con!—will come on board in some capacity.'"

My friends and I have been talking about this idea for years now. I always talked about how the Last Supper, where Christ told his friends: "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me," and "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." It always seemed a bit cannibalistic to me. Maybe even zombie-like. I also remember one of my friends (Tyler) asking if Easter was the day that Jesus "rose from the dead and walked the Earth again, right?" It's too bad we never made this movie ourselves years ago. Oh well. If this guy can pull it off right, I'm down for it. I'm sure I'm well on my way to Hell now (like I wasn't before). Here's the original short that won him first place at the Scrapshots Film Competition.

Source: Fangoria

The Undead News Thread (20090618.03)

Zombieland

Just a few days ago I posted the first pics from the new Zombieland movie with Woody Harrelson. Well, today they released the first trailer for the movie. I can't wait to see Bill Murray as a zombie. This is definitely on my must-see list for 2009. God, this looks awesome. Check it out.

Source: JoBlo

The Undead News Thread (20090618.02)

Dead Snow

"Dead Snow is a Norwegian horror film, starring, among others, Charlotte Frogner, Stig Frode Henriksen, Bjørn Sundquist, Ane Dahl Torp and Jenny Skavlan. It is directed by Tommy Wirkola. The film was released on 9 January 2009 in Norway. The US premiere was held at the Sundance Film Festival, after which IFC Films purchased the US distribution rights. The film will have a limited release in the US on June 19 2009.

"The plot of the film is set around a group of Norwegian medical students who go away for an Easter vacation in a cabin up in the mountains. Unfortunately, the area they are staying in was used by the Nazis in the German occupation of Norway during World War II. The Germans raped and pillaged the locals and stole all their gold, until the locals chased the Germans up the mountains, where they supposedly froze to death. The medical students find a box of gold in the cabin they are staying in, which had belonged to the Germans. As a result, zombie Germans come back to reclaim their gold, with deadly results."

I somehow missed this one, and it slipped under the radar. Apparently the film is being released tomorrow. Nazis, and zombies, and I knew nothing about it. I should be ashamed of myself. Here's the trailer though. I guess it's a big hit at Sundance.

It looks fucking badass. Anyone else catch the sickle and hammer?

Source: Fangoria

The Undead News Thread (20090618.01)

Paris By Night of the Living Dead

"A young married couple has to survive in a post apocalyptic Paris filled with zombies. Will love triumph over death?" Paris By Night of the Living Dead is a 12-minute short film that featues, yes, you guessed it, the living dead. It's still playing at festivals, so it'll be a while before it's posted online. But here are some screen caps from Fangoria until then.

Source: Fangoria

The Undead News Thread (20090616.01)

Night of the Creeps

"In 1959, an alien experiment crashes to earth and infects a fraternity member. They freeze the body, but in the modern day, two geeks pledging a fraternity accidentally thaw the corpse, which proceeds to infect the campus with parasites that transform their hosts into killer zombies." Thanks to the always awesome FEARnet I have actually gotten to see this twice. That's a bit tricky, you see, because the movie has been out of print since its release on VHS. But that's all about to change, on October 9th. The film finally has a DVD release date. Not only that, but the special features are immensely extensive. Take a look.

*Audio Commentary with Members of the Cast
*Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Fred Dekker
*Deleted Scenes
*Alternate Ending – Theatrical Version
*Original Theatrical Trailer
*Trivia Track
*6 Behind-the-Scenes Featurettes:
*Birth of the Creeps - Writer/Director Fred Dekker discusses his influences and early filmmaking experiences and how NIGHT OF THE CREEPS evolved into his debut feature film.
*Cast of the Creeps - Actors Jason Lively, Tom Atkins, Steve Marshall, and Actress Jill Whitlow talk about their experiences on the film, and how they have dealt with the film's enduring cult success over the past 25 years.
*Creating the Creeps - Make-Up FX Creators David B. Miller, Robert Kurtzman and others discuss the extensive make-up creations in the film, and how they brought the slithering sluglike "creeps" to life.
*Escape of the Creeps - A detailed look into the film's post-production and why the film was barely released to theatres with Writer/Director Fred Dekker, Composer Barry DeVorzon, and Producer Charles Gordon.
*Legend of the Creeps - Final words from the cast & crew on the film's enduring cult popularity plus interviews with the film’s biggest fans.
*Tom Atkins: Man of Action – A detailed look at the career of Tom Atkins with testimonials from filmmakers he’s worked with over the past thirty years.
*Footage from the June 2009 cast reunion screening at The Original Alamo Drafthouse Cinema.

"Night of the Creeps is a 1986 horror film written and directed by Fred Dekker. Night of the Creeps stars Tom Atkins, Jason Lively and Jill Whitlow. The film is notable as an earnest attempt at a B movie and a spoof of the genre. While the main plot of the film is related to zombies, the film also mixes in takes on slashers and alien invasion films." The film is just classic 80's horror. And it stars the infinitely gorgeous 'dream girl' Jill Whitlow, who kicks more ass in the movie than any of the guys. If you don't like this cult film, you don't have a soul.

Source: Arrow in the Head

The Undead News Thread (20090615.01)

World War Z

Some unfortunate news just surfaced today regarding the adaptation of Max Brooks' (Mel Brooks' son) World War Z, which is "the story of the world's desperate battle against the zombie threat with a series of first-person accounts 'as told to the author' by various characters around the world."

"In an interview with Migros Magazin (via Dark Horizons), Forster says that the script still needs developing, and the project is 'far from realization.' So much so that he's moved on to another film, this one called Disconnect."

So, it's not looking too good on seeing this on the big screen. Time will tell. Up top is the first piece of concept art that was made for the film.

Source: Arrow in the Head

The Undead News Thread (20090614.03)

World War Z

"Ten years after the human victory over the world wide Zombie epidemic, referred to as World War Z, an anonymous editor scours the world collecting the stories and experiences of those who have survived the conflict that almost eradicated humanity."

"The screenplay was written by Babylon 5 and Rising Stars creator J. Michael Straczynski, who identified the challenge in adapting the work as 'creating a main character out of a book that reads as a UN Report on the zombie wars.' Marc Forster signed on to direct on November 13, 2008, and described the film as reminiscent of 1970s conspiracy thrillers like All the President's Men."

I still haven't gotten around to reading the book it's based on, which I heard is nothing short of the greatest zombie book ever written, but I do own his 'The Zombie Survival Guide,' so this should be amazing once it's finished.

The Undead News Thread (20090614.02)

Deadworld

"Deadworld is a comic series that depicts an apocalypse in which humans are overrun by flesh-eating corpses. It picks up four months after that event, where the Dead overtake the Earth, with humans few and far between. Protag is King Zombie, a Harley-riding corpse who holds a grudge against the survivors who made him an outcast."

It's being written and orchestrated by none other than David Hayter, the screenwriter for X-Men, X2: X-Men United, and Watchmen, and the voice of Solid Snake from the Metal Gear Solid video games. So, yeah, it should turn out pretty fucking good.

Source: Arrow in the Head

The Undead News Thread (20090614.01)

The Book of Zombie

"A small, sleepy Utah town gets an undead wake-up call when all of the townspeople of Mormon faith suddenly transform into flesh-eating ghouls! Now, a group of 'non-believers' unaffected by the mysterious epidemic must band together to survive the night and answer the burning question: How do you kill a Mormon zombie?"

I had never heard of this one until now, and I have to say, this looks terrible, maybe even worse than Automaton Transfusion, which was very bad. So that's why I have to see this. I'm hoping for abysmal dialog, excessive gore and T&A, and clichés galore. This should be fun.

Source: Arrow in the Head