Guess I should say Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Valentines day and a whole slew of other holidays I have missed since it has been that long since I have had time to sit down and make a blog entry.
But here I am, back if only briefly cuz I have a free weekend. I will quickly say hello and update any readers out there of what is turning out to be the busiest time of my short-lived career.
To re-cap: ROSEWOOD LANE was finished some time ago and it appears its fate will be a release on Universal Home Video. Though it is already out overseas as either a feature or a DVD, unclear on that.
Don't let the smile fool you: this paperboy only grins when there is something terrible afoot. Daniel Ross as Derek Barber in ROSEWOOD LANE.It's release was originally scheduled for this week by Universal, but now I am told it will be held for " in or around October". I guess I see the wisdom, though truth be told, I don't really think this is a Halloween release movie.
It is a thriller not a horror film -- but whenver it comes out, it will be good to see it finally in its finished form -- that's right, I really haven't seen the finished film.
I can't count ROSEWOOD LANE's festival premiere because unfortunately the digital projection of my latest feature film was far too dark up there on the big screen.
At some points Rose McGowan was just a floating head in a sea of black if that tells you just how dark the image was as the film unfurled -- and to top it off, the soundtrack was out of sync by about three to five frames. A big difference when it comes to dialog and sound effects believe me.
"Peek-a-boo" Rose McGowan gets a surprise waiting for her in the basement of her new house.Sounding like something just short of a Godzilla movie when it came to sync dialog and the dark, dark image that had something to do with improper digital projection -- for the filmmaker to see his finished film in such a flawed presentation, and to premiere it that way -- suffice to say it was not a happy occasion for me.
The Q and A that was planned for after the film also never happened -- for reasons I am not clear on, so apologies to all those who attended for that reason.
Believe me, it was no fun flying all the way in from Mississippi (where we were in preproduction on HAUNTED ) traveling all day to get to California for a Q and A that never happened and a first screening of ROSEWOOD LANE whose technical glitches included both sound and picture.
Paperboy from hell Derek Barber keeps a lookout at the top of Rosewood hill.The next time I get a film screened at a festival and it is going to be digitally projected? You can bet I will make sure we pre-screen and set the theater up for maximum effect.
As a young teenage filmmaker, I had a film history teacher at Diablo Valley College, (that I briefly attended in Northern California,) who once quipped, "a filmmaker is only as good as his projectionist" -- boy did I find that out to be true.
But enough kavetching about the ROSEWOOD screening. On the upside, it was a pleasure to meet those of you that showed up for the occassion. Sorry I couldn't of spent more time talking with all of you, but I had to be on a plane back to Mississippi almost instantly.
I am now in the homestretch of post production on the film I introduced to you as HAUNTED -- originally just a script rewrite I did for my long-time friend and Director of Photography Don Fauntleroy.
Thanks to Donnie's generosity and willingness to hand over the directing reigns, the ultimate sacrifice any filmmaker can make, and because of Don's suggestion to the producers and financiers of the project, I was the lucky one who ended up in the director's chair helming my rewrite.
Below: the principal cast of HAUNTED - minus the magnificent Tobin Bell. That's me back there beaming because this was one great cast. Not just great for the film, but great to work with.
Clockwise: Luke Kleintank, Lacey Anzelic, yours truly, Zack Ward, Anthony Rey Perez, Ethan Smith and Alex McKenna (the pregnant one)It was a great pleasure to welcome Tobin Bell into the cast of the film -- a great casting idea by producer Charles Agron. If you think Tobin is memorable in the SAW films, wait until you see the terrific turn he takes in our film. He has made a permanent impression on me, and I hope we get to work together again.
Along with myself and Charles, Don Fauntleroy produced, as well as shot the film -- as he has shot almost every film I have made since first discovering each other on my little indie thriller RITES OF PASSAGE,.
And believe me, he brings all the great looks of the JEEPERS films to this one. A haunted house film unlike any you have seen before.
The story idea is from Charles Agron, an original idea about a boy with a terrible gift and his connection to an old house. From this idea, and a very different first script -- I was allowed to run wild -- in other words, to do a page one rewrite and come back with a film that could be made on a modest budget but that had huge horror beats and a franchise possibility.
The process of bringing his story idea to the screen was long and arduous for Charles, whose relentless efforts to raise the money for it, resulted in our exodus to Greenville Mississippi to an actual antebellum haunted house there that was right out of the script.
The Susie B Law house off Lake Washington in Mississippi. For our haunted house flick, no extra set dressing was required.The film's title is being rethinked as there are at least seven feature films called HAUNTED and three or four TV series. HAUNTED was the title of the original screenplay I did a rewrite on.
In fact, if you look up HAUNTED on IMBD right now (our HAUNTED) you will get our cast but some other project's log line and story description. It is that congested in the world of projects titled HAUNTED.
Our film is not about a haunted house and a TV crew looking for proof of the paranormal, though that story line may have been given to IMBD mistakenly. And I don't know what other Facebook pages or Web pages called HAUNTED are announcing the film -- but I have seen none that accurately portray what this great little film is like or about.
Conceptual art for the film's mysterious and murderous Seth. Played by Tobin Bell, Seth is the leader of the films grotesque and terrifying "Axemen"I would suggest you disregard most or all of what is currently online announcing or hyping the film, many of them liberally using my name and the name of the Jeepers franchise without my consent or Francis Coppola's.
The film is about to be finished in the next few months and it will more than likely have a new title and a completely new -- and this time professional and accurate -- identity.
There are several ideas the producers and I are mulling over for the film's new title. My suggestion is WORMWOOD, which is the name, or rather local nickname for the moldy old haunted house that is at the center of our film. The final call will not be mine however. But I will keep you in the loop about the whos, whats, whys and hows of this great little horror thriller.
More concept art: After watching the new film, you may never look at a heating vent the same way again.And a real trailer -- not anything currently posted online -- is coming, so please hold off judgement until the real train leaves the station.
IN OTHER WORLDS
What's next? It is back to Greenville Mississippi this summer for THE RATTLEMAN, my exciting new horror franchise, of which I am certain I have talked about here and around the web.
And I am hoping for the terrific cast already discussed with the film's producers: Ray Wise, and Adrienne Barbeau (their first appearance together since Wes Craven's 1970 era SWAMPTHING),.The cast will hopefully also include the wonderful Diane DeLano as the town sheriff and as the title nightmare -- or character rather: the great Doug Jones as THE RATTLEMAN.
The search will also begin soon for some fresh movie faces: For the three Castle brothers at the center of this first installment of my new horror franchise: Young Nicky Castle (early teens) Wiley Castle (the middle brother mid to late teens) and Burton Castle (late teens). These are the three brothers (living with their violent alcoholic father) who unwittingly unleash the nightmare that is THE RATTLEMAN on their small seaside town.
More as that develops.
OH WHERE OR WHERE HAS MY LITTLE CREEPER GONE?I know most of you want to know what is up with the third and final chapter of the Creeper saga, affectionately referred to as Jeepers Threepers. I wish I could say there was more news about it finally getting financed and shot, but at this time I am afraid there is no new news.
