From The Dig by J. Riddle: Roger Corman has been called a lot of things. Shrewd. Miserly. Maverick. He’s been given titles like King of the Cult Film, King of the B-Movies, and the Pope of Pop Cinema. The last is probably the most appropriate, and not just because it sounds cool and Corman says he likes it. For over 50 years, Corman’s particular breed of low-budget, action-oriented, socially conscious exploitation fare has graced the cinema, to the persistent delight of audiences and, in turn, to his significant profit. He’s brought his talents to bear on every genre under the sun, and has even invented a few of his own. He has a finely-tuned eye for talent–it’s only a little exaggeration to say it would be easier to list the big name Hollywood directors, writers, actors of recent decades who didn’t get their start with Corman than those who did.
Principle photography on G.H.O.S.T. ended two weeks ago – but you would never know it on the Mutantville Mothership. The producers have been hard at work keeping the websites updated, shooting pick up shots, designing posters, and editing the actual movie. The first assembly is coming together and we couldn’t be happier with the results so far. We keep producing new promo posters so keep checking here and on Facebook for the latest designs. Be sure to add your feedback so we know which posters people like. Speaking of posters – here’s a strong early contender for final poster status. It’s a simple still shot taken during filming – but it says everything about the project in one powerful image. What do you think?
Keep checking Mutantville.com for your up to the minute MVP news and more.
Check out this great video featuring the amazing, surreal and sadomasochistic visual stylings from Clive Barker’s video game masterpiece - JERICHO. The video is in German – so you’re safe from too many spoilers – unless you speak German that is.
From Wearemoviegeeks.com: This past weekend, Netflix delivered me a documentary that I have been wanting to see ever since I missed it at SLIFF back in 2007. The film was ‘Spine Tingler: The William Castle Story’. For those of you that don’t know who William Castle is, I implore you to check out ‘The William Castle Collection’ that was recently released on DVD (click here to see it at amazon.com) which also includes said documentary. While the meat of the story is how a man who turned some B-Movies into Grade-A events at movie theaters by offering a thousand dollar life insurance policies to attendees of one of his films if they die of fright. While I have always been a fan of Castle and his gimmicks/promotions, this really made me reflect advertising of film past.
homicidalWhen films really started becoming mainstream, the majority of the films were carried by the actors and actresses who headlined or had top-billing for a film. While Castle never had this courtesy, he knew of a way to get people in the seats. He created gimmicks. Believe it or not, PSYCHO by Hitchcock had a gimmick of – which the documentary points out as well – not allowing anyone after the first 15 minutes of the film has been shown. William Castle’s audience participation gimmicks ended in 1965 with ‘I Saw What You Did’ where seat belts were installed in seats to keep you from jumping out of your seats from fright. His ideas made movie watching a bigger thing. He wanted you to experience the film, to make the film fun. He also showed Hollywood and other film makers on how they could promote a film regardless of the content and quality.
From Fangoria.com: After watching hundreds (or thousands?) of horror movies over the course of decades, how many horror fans still get scared after watching a horror movie? I’m not talking about merely feeling tension because a character is in danger, but actually feeling frightened by a film.
All too often, it seems that people complain that a horror film was “bad” because it wasn’t “scary”. Without any context, this is essentially meaningless. For example, when was the last time a movie scared them, and what was it?
I feel that this “problem” has less to do with the quality of a film than it does with someone’s having built up a tolerance. Besides being a horror fan, I’m also a fan of very spicy food, and I have an assortment of hot sauces made from habanero and scotch bonnet peppers in my refrigerator at all times. My tolerance of spicy food is significantly higher than average, but my fiancee would argue that just because I don’t feel a dish is spicy, this doesn’t necessarily make it so.
Curiously, when horror films aren’t being accused of being bad because they’re not scary, it’s because they’re “not fun”. This seems to be a by-product of the ’80s, when so many horror films were glutting the market that the genre largely descended from “fright films” into horror-comedies – intentional or not.
I’m not talking about films that use comic relief to briefly release tension, I’m talking about films where you’re laughing at the film more than you’re laughing with the film – or are scared of the film.
With that, if a horror film isn’t “fun” is it a bad horror film? I don’t remember Tobe Hooper’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre being a particularly fun film, but does this make it a bad horror film?
I also find it puzzling when people suggest that I’m “immature” when I don’t find a film that emphasizes shadows, noises and even action from off-camera “scary”. It may simply be a by-product of getting older, but I stopped being afraid of the dark – and creaky houses – decades ago, though I hardly feel that this is a sign of my immaturity.
So have at it – are horror films supposed to be scary or fun? Both? Neither?
From Time.com: On the morning of June 2, 2003, Meyer woke up with the fading afterimage of a vision in her head, of a young woman and a vampire, talking, in a meadow. She didn’t want to forget it, so she wrote it down. Then she kept on writing. Sometimes you have the dream, and sometimes the dream has you.
Everybody knows where the story ends up. Meyer has sold 45 million books in the U.S. and 40 million more worldwide. Altogether her books have spent 235 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list, 136 of them at No. 1. The movie version of Twilight, which came out a year ago, made $350 million. New Moon opens on Nov. 20; the third installment, Eclipse, arrives in theaters next June.
Make-up FX Maestro Todd A. Britt brings another ghostly creation to life during the wee hours of the night.
Last night, Mutantville Productions wrapped principle photography on G.H.O.S.T. after a long fifteen hour shoot. Kathy Sandvoss earned her final Scream Queen stripes and Super Diva status by battling her way through another challenging shoot. Thanks to our good friend, couture designer, Luis Machicao for lending his tremendous talents in supervising the filming of his costume designs for the finale of the movie. Lead actor Scott Thomas persevered another bloody and bruising shoot to bring our central ghost to life. Clint Jones showed his horror heart by enduring several make-up sessions. Dave Tunik gave his all in taking another bloody bite out of his role and a gelatin prop. Jason Wheely gave a heartwrenching performance as a haunted young TV producer. Jack Stecher pulled out all the stops to give a bravura performance as the crazy caretaker of the opera house.
Special thanks goes out to MVP’S own maestro of make-up FX – Todd A. Britt for bringing all of his Sith talents to bear in creating several macabre make-ups over the course of the fifteen hour marathon. Additional thanks goes to Sylvia and Sierra for lending their talents to the make-up department by resurrecting our supernatural visitors once more. Thanks again to Allan Whitley for toughing out another long night to lend a strong hand and keep our boomstick steady for another night. Special thanks goes out MVP’S own Costume Diva, seamstress and assistant to Mr. Machicao, Angela Pritchett who although unable to attend our final shoot due to schedule conflicts, put in many a long night on the set of G.H.O.S.T., lending her considerable costuming talents to help bring the production to life. Thanks to John R. Sexton for putting on a layered performance as Grandfather last month. Thank you to Kayli Tolleson and her mom Janna for lending their talent, energy and support to G.H.O.S.T. over the course of the shoot. And last but not least a very special thanks goes to my mom, Momma Streebo, for being a beacon of strength and inspiration to me over the years and for dusting off her sewing machine to create Johnny Reb’s jacket in whole – mere days before the first shoot. And to anyone that helped that I may have overlooked here, thank you for your help, we could not have done it without you all. Thank you.
This project has been an amazing journey and I thank you all for sharing it with me. Production may be complete – but post-production begins immediately as we will continue with editing, sound design and shooting final make-up FX shots of the movie. Be sure to keep tuning in to Mutantville.com and Mutant TV for your up to the minute news on G.H.O.S.T., C for Chaos, and MVP.
Mutantville Productions is proud to announce that today is one year and a day since we began planning what became G.H.O.S.T.. Tonight marks the final shoot of principle photography. We are very excited about how great the performances, FX and footage has looked so far. We couldn’t be happier. Better still is the fact that next week we all get to celebrate by being lazy and enjoying Thanksgiving with our families. See you all soon. Remember it wouldn’t be possible without you.
~~Streebo
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From AMC Horror Hacker: I’ve decided I can completely ignore everything my parents ever taught me. Why should I bother with their boring advice when Hollywood gives me all I need to know? Stupid horror teens imparted many lessons about life, as did those ever-so-reliable monster hunters with their timeless wisdom. But for the more esoteric subtleties, you really must sample the tidbits of insight offered by the ultimate icon of horror movies — the vampire.
Blood Is Thicker than Water
Every family has an idiot. If you can’t think of anyone in your family who’s an idiot, then guess what? That’s right: It’s you, because every family has an idiot. And yet that idiot is still family, so you have to go to bat for them, even if they get mixed up with the wrong people. And yeah, that includes the wrong undead people — just ask poor Seth Gecko in From Dusk Till Dawn. His brother Richard takes him into the mouth of Hell, and Seth goes to bat for him. You can’t always save your idiot relative, but dammit, you gotta try, because blood is thicker than water (and apparently much tastier).
Always Look Fabulous!
Why are all vamps dressed so dang well? Apparently there’s no excuse for not looking sharp, and that includes being dead. What’s up with that, Interview with a Vampire peeps? And what’s with the leather body suits, Underworlders? And do you even need to look beyond Bela Lugosi in the original Dracula to see the devastating effect of a sharp-dressed man? Sure, vampires may rip the throats out of their victims and bathe in blood, but I think it’s clear they’re always wearing clean underwear. Their vamp moms should be so proud!
Welcome to Mutantville Productions MVP Blog. Join Streebo, Brento, Geo & the rest of the Mutantville Players as they set sail on the high seas of guerrilla filmmaking in their ongoing quest to bring you the finest in genre entertainment.
From The Dig by J. Riddle: Roger Corman has been called a lot of things. Shrewd. Miserly. Maverick. He’s been given titles like King of the Cult Film, King of the B-Movies, and the Pope of Pop Cinema. The last is probably the most appropriate, and not just because it sounds cool and Corman says he likes it. For over 50 years, Corman’s particular breed of low-budget, action-oriented, socially conscious exploitation fare has graced the cinema, to the persistent delight of audiences and, in turn, to his significant profit. He’s brought his talents to bear on every genre under the sun, and has even invented a few of his own. He has a finely-tuned eye for talent–it’s only a little exaggeration to say it would be easier to list the big name Hollywood directors, writers, actors of recent decades who didn’t get their start with Corman than those who did.
Principle photography on G.H.O.S.T. ended two weeks ago – but you would never know it on the Mutantville Mothership. The producers have been hard at work keeping the websites updated, shooting pick up shots, designing posters, and editing the actual movie. The first assembly is coming together and we couldn’t be happier with the results so far. We keep producing new promo posters so keep checking here and on Facebook for the latest designs. Be sure to add your feedback so we know which posters people like. Speaking of posters – here’s a strong early contender for final poster status. It’s a simple still shot taken during filming – but it says everything about the project in one powerful image. What do you think?
Mutantville Productions is proud to announce that today is one year and a day since we began planning what became G.H.O.S.T.. Tonight marks the final shoot of principle photography. We are very excited about how great the performances, FX and footage has looked so far. We couldn’t be happier. Better still is the fact that next week we all get to celebrate by being lazy and enjoying Thanksgiving with our families. See you all soon. Remember it wouldn’t be possible without you.