Chrome Skull: Laid to Rest 2 Trailer

A new trailer for Robert Hall’s sequel to Laid To Rest has hit the web. If you're a fan of the original, as I am, you won't be disappointed!

ChromeSkull: Laid To Rest 2 brings back Nick Principe as the villain, plus Thomas Dekker, joined by Brian Austin Green, Mimi Michaels, Danielle Harris, Angelina Armani and Gail O'Grady as well as one of my favorites from The Mentalist, Owain Yeoman

I am so psyched for this film! With a great cast, inventive kills and the effects talent of Robert Hall, I expect this one to be even better than the first!

SPLATTERFEST BRINGS CARNAGE TO COMICPALOOZA

Houston, Texas January 29, 2011

SplatterFest will be hosting the Comicpalooza Film Festival May 27-29, 2011 at the George R. Brown convention Center in Houston.

Special guests include Tony Todd (CANDYMAN, STAR TREK: NEXT GENERATION) and Linnea Quigley (RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD: A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 4) and many more.

Film submissions in the horror, sci-fi, action, animation, comedy and fan fiction genres are now open. The deadline for entry is March 31, 2011. Submissions are free - see splatterfest.com for details and entry form. Premiere trailers for upcoming movies will also be accepted on a case by case basis.

Comicpalooza is one of the best and biggest annual pop culture conventions in the southwest region of the United States, serving not only fans of comics, science fiction, fantasy, gaming, anime, music and film but also as a trade show and showcase for studios, publishers and manufacturers in those industries. Visit comicpalooza.com for more information and registration.

Exhibit booths are available at discounted rates for filmmakers who submit. All exhibitors will be included in the festival's massive PR campaign and numerous media outlets will have a presence at the convention making it a great opportunity for exposure.

SplatterFest, known for their weekend short film competition, began in 2010 producing 18 films with over 250 filmmakers and drawing an attendance of over 2000 at the Alamo Drafthouse West Oaks. SplatterFest will return in the fall of 2011 with it's annual short film competition.

Kill Theory 2009 - REVIEW

By mid-year, I usually have a list as long as my leg of films I want to see. Some I come across on my own and some I pick up from Twitter or Facebook. Occasionally I'm even surprised by a gem or two that comes up on Chiller TV. They are notorious for showing films that most channels just kick aside like a little homeless kitty. But it works out for them because I'm seeing their name and logo pop up more and more every day in the social networks. (Go Chiller!!) What I like best about Chiller is that their main focus is to shed some light on Indie Horror and I gotta say, "It's about fucking time someone did!" Because let's face it, that's where the good horror is coming from these days, not Hollywood.

Wow, I got off on a little rant there, my bad! My point was that somehow, some way, this one slipped by me. Which is strange, especially since it's an Afterdark Horrorfest 4 selection. I caught it on Chiller one night, recorded it and waited probably months to watch it. Again, my bad. "Normal" life tends to keep me too busy to be able to sit and watch films on a regular basis. I'll keep working on that.

A group of friends take off to a secluded vacation home to celebrate their upcoming graduation. The fun doesn't last long when a sadistic psychopath shows up and forces them to participate in his deadly contest. The rules are simple -- in order to survive they must kill each other. As tension builds, and relationships begin to crumble, they realize that only one can make it out alive. Could you trust your boyfriend? Your girlfriend? Your best friend? Only one can go home. So who will be the last man or woman standing?

Patrick J Flueger and Agnes Bruckner lead this 20 something cast of up and comers and I was pleasantly surprised by the performances from the whole bunch. I think their reactions to being in a kill or be killed situation were remarkably realistic. Personally, I think the most genuine and natural performance came from Daniel Franzese. He's portrayed as kind of the odd man out, the friend that we've all had in our lives at one point or another. The fun, chunky, lovable guy that everyone wants to be around. I predict Bruckner, whose been on my radar ever since I saw her in Venom a few years back, is going to have a very lucrative career in this genre. She just seems real to me, not to mention she's incredibly gorgeous! Pretty boy Flueger manages to hold his own as the level headed one of the bunch. His nice guy thing gets a little irritating at times but not so much that his character becomes unlikeable. I'm not a huge fan of Taryn Manning, could be because I haven't seen too many of her films. I liked her ok in The Breed and she did a decent job here too. We never see much of Kevin Gage but seriously, why do you even need to see him when you can just listen to him? He's got a voice that I will put right up there with Stephen McHattie and Lance Henriksen. It's like BUTTER! As for the rest of the cast, it wasn't anything spectacular but as a whole they appeared to play off each other well.

I don't know why it took me so long to figure out that it was Project Greenlight's Chris Moore who directed. That explains why it was done so well. Together with first time screenwriter Kelly Palmer they managed to create a shocking and unpredictable tale, which is rare these days. It's also not hard to tell that they were inspired by the Saw franchise with all the video tapes and traps but it's done in a subtle, classy way. It was well paced and had some extremely brutal kills but what really stood out for me was the psychological mind games the characters played on each other. It's enough to make you wonder what you would do in a situation like that or better yet, what would your friends do? Palmer obviously put a lot of thought into the script (it would be interesting to find out how many re-writes there were) there are some very interesting twists and turns. He also manages to do all this without the typical horror cliches. There is no big breasted virgin that finds her inner strength and defeats the bad guy and if you think you know who the last man standing is... think again.

Kill Theory was originally slated for a theatrical release from Lions Gate Films but instead went straight to DVD with a theatrical release only in Russia. Which is where my next complaint comes in. How can Lions Gate theatrically release shit fests like Disaster Movie but lock up a clearly superior film like it's an evil little step-child? It makes no sense to me whatsoever. Kill Theory is engrossing and entertaining and in my opinion with the right promotional campaign would've done just fine in theaters. It has a solid story line, it's well written, well directed and has some solid acting. I would definitely recommend it to someone looking for a taut psychological thriller.

NEWS! NEWS! NEWS!

I am extremely pleased to announce some amazing news to all you freaks out there... well I think it is anyway!!

The very talented, quickly on his way to the top, Indie producer/director Ron Purtee has brought yours truly on board to write an episode for his new web series based on his short The Social Media Massacre. As of today he has script in hand but no word yet on when shooting will begin.

There aren't any words to describe how happy I am to be a part of his team and I look forward to working with him!

Want to know more about Ron Purtee? He's been featured in several articles on Dread Central, all of which you can find here. To keep up with the progress of the web series be sure and check out thesocialmediamassacre.com. And for everything Ron Purtee, you can find him on twitter and Facebook!