A few months ago we were sent information about a viral video that had surfaced which may or may not have been real. Almost immediately all sorts of odd reports began surfacing. Apparently a YouTube video appeared earlier this year which showed a girl overdosing while her friends stood around and jeered her. Now the word is that before this video surfaced, an extortion plot was hatched to get some scratch out of the people involved in the scene (which resulted in the girl's death).
No one would pony up the dough so parts of the 393 minutes of footage began leaking online... enter Quentin Tarantino.

The story goes that Tarantino bought the footage and planned on releasing it as a film entitled Upper. Initially he was allegedly going to make a film based on the entire story with actual footage sprinkled in. Then he was just going to release the footage as-is.

For more on all of this confusion, check out our original story on Upper here. Or just check out the new festival trailer below, which brings you up-to-speed quite nicely. Clocking in at nearly seven minutes, it ought to. It's also been announced that Upper will play only a single time in Park City, Utah later this month outside of the Sundance Film Festival.

On a bright and sunny Friday the 13th, Dread Central was invited alongside several other journalists to have "Tea with Toby"- the demon behind all the terrifying shenanigans in the Paranormal Activity series- as well as a few of his co-stars and the mastermind behind it all, writer/director/producer Oren Peli.

During tea we had the opportunity to chat with Peli, stars Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat (whom we first meet during the original film) as well as Christopher Smith, Chloe Csengery and Jessica Tyler Brown from Paranormal Activity 3.

Over the course of a few hours, we heard from everyone in attendance on pretty much anything and everything fans of the Paranormal Activity franchise would want to know. Peli chatted with us about what to expect on the upcoming Blu-ray release of Paranormal Activity 3, the mythology of the highly popular series, the massive amount of support the films get from Paramount and why, no matter what, the Paranormal Activity movies will always strive to stay true to their fans.

We also heard from the cast members, who shared with us their thoughts on their involvement with the Paranormal franchise, what deleted scenes they would have liked to see make the cut, doing their own stunts and how the youngest stars of PA 3 - Csengery and Brown - managed to stay brave while making one of last year's scariest movies.

Sadly, Toby ended up being a little on the shy side around us journalists so we missed out on hearing from the demon himself. Check out some of the highlights from our tea party below, and don't forget there are two ways you can enjoy the Paranormal Activity films this month: either check out Paranormal Activity: The Chronology, which is now available via iTunes, etc., and cuts together the entire trilogy in chronological order; or check out Paranormal Activity 3 (Blu-ray and DVD review here) independent from its predecessors when it hits home video shelves everywhere on January 24th.

Oren Peli on the mythology of Paranormal Activity: Well, usually we work on them one at a time, but as we were doing the second one, we saw that there was a mythology emerging so we figured let's kind of build on that and plant some seeds. Then, depending on whichever direction we decide to go for a third one- if we were lucky to get to do a third one- we have options to go forward in time, go backward in time or really go any direction we wanted to; and all of those choices allowed us to expand or explore the mythology more.

Peli on PA 3 directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman: Henry and Ariel were absolutely fantastic to work with on this one. They were incredible with the cast and crew and kept a very smooth atmosphere on set, and I think everyone felt like it really was a "family" making the movie.

Peli on Paramount's support for the Paranormal films: Paramount is always extremely involved with these movies and incredibly supportive of us and this franchise. Anything we need, they've always stepped up. They work with us when it's time to choose directors, when we're meeting with producers and writers, and there have been times where we're all there in a meeting, and a lot of higher ups at Paramount would be right there with us debating for hours over what the motivation of the demon is. They're that passionate about these films, and they want to make sure we get it right and that we don't disappoint the fans.

Peli on what deleted scenes made the home release of PA 3: A lot of the stuff that ended up on the cutting room floor that was in the trailers will be included on the Blu-Ray, and I think fans will really enjoy seeing it for the first time.

Peli's thoughts on Paranormal Activity: The Chronology: I think it's cool. If it's your first time watching the movies, I think it's better to watch them the way they were released, but for the fans of the franchise, I think this presents a really cool, new way to experience these movies and in an unusual way, too. I think there's a lot to gain from both ways of watching the trilogy, but I think it's pretty cool that there's now both options.

Peli discussing the future of the Paranormal Activity franchise: For me personally, I consider every single movie as the one we're going to concentrate on so I never think beyond the present. I never even thought there'd be a part two- each time it's all about coming up with a great story for that movie in particular, making sure it serves our mythology, and if fans want another film, we'll think about that when the time is right. But I just think it's greedy to ever think about anything beyond the movie you're currently working on.

Peli's official word on Paranormal Activity 4: We have some ideas, but I can't say anything. At all. Sorry. Usually we just don't say anything about anything until we're ready to say something.

Katie Featherston on the loyal PA fanbase: The whole thing has been unbelievable. On a daily basis I still have people who come up to me to tell me how much they love these movies, and it never gets old; I never become blasé about it either because I think Micah and I are just so grateful for the people who were excited about the movie from the beginning. It's overwhelming how amazing it has been to be a part of all of this.

Featherston on her experiences with the original Paranormal Activity and the success of the sequels: I was just shocked there was a sequel. I still sit here even now remembering me sitting across from these two guys (Peli and Sloat) at California Pizza Kitchen, brainstorming over lunch and trying to come up with stuff for the first one. To have as much success as we've had and to be sitting here celebrating the third round is still mind-blowing. I haven't even really come to terms with it yet.

The whole experience with the first movie was the greatest test of patience I think any one of us has ever been put through, but I always trusted in Oren. Oren had several offers he turned down because he had a gut feeling about this and we were a team. Throughout the entire process, I never once doubted Oren- even when there were murmurings of remaking the movie and recasting it, too, he stood by our movie and I knew that when it would 'happen' for us, it would happen exactly the way it was always meant to.

Featherston on future projects and PA 4: I did a few episodes of Oren's new show, "The River", for ABC, which premieres February 7th, and there's an independent movie I did called Flutter that I'll be filming in the next few months. But I don't know anything about PA 4... but I am stoked for it.

Micah Sloat dishes on his deleted scenes: For me personally, there were a lot of improvised songs I did during both Paranormal one and two that never made it into either final cut that I would love to eventually see get released somehow. I thought they were a lot of fun and I think everyone else cracked up during them so that would be fun to see.

Sloat discusses missing out on the Paranormal Activity premiere: They always make me sneak out the back door, especially after the first movie was just about to come out since I was technically 'dead' so I couldn't even go to the premiere. I remember watching it from across the street, hiding behind a mailbox and watching everything.

Christopher Smith ('Dennis' in PA3) discusses Paranormal Activity 3 deleted scenes and the evolving script process: We did a lot of scenes around the dinner table where we just talked around the table and those never made it in, but they were really fun scenes to shoot. They really helped us all relax and come together as a 'family' so maybe a few of those will pop up on the DVD or Blu-ray.

They gave us a script at the beginning but they told us that even though this was the script, it was probably going to change. And boy did it change- probably week to week even- so things got taken away, scenes got switched up, and by the end of it we had a rainbow script because every new change meant a new color of paper went into the full script. It was constantly evolving also because we were encouraged to improvise, too, because in many cases they wanted to see if something would spark right there 'in the moment.'

We shot a lot of scenes where something special would happen and you'd just sit back and say, 'Man, I really hope that makes the cut.' But by the end of it, you just knew it was futile to really want anything in the picture because we had no idea what kind of story we had told during those four months of shooting.

Smith explains the intricacy of the 'kitchen gag' in PA 3:They nailed it and in one take. I don’t know how they pulled it off, but I do know they rehearsed exactly where Lauren was going to go and stand over and over. It was really exciting because everyone was waiting to see if it would work; what you saw was a huge set-up and they spent like a day just setting it up. It was really on Lauren to make it all work because the stunt was going to happen and whatever was going to happen, all of the other elements needed to be right on the money.

Jessica Tyler Brown (Young Kristi) on her onscreen family from PA 3: Once you get involved with everyone and start to get comfortable, then you start to feel like a real family. And I felt like we were a real family.

Tyler Brown talks about doing her own stunts: It was scary and fun at the same time. I almost fell actually, but there were a lot of mattresses stacked up, like The Princess and the Pea, underneath me and then I got to jump down two feet. It was fun and scary- like I said. Henry and Ariel said if I ever felt uncomfortable that I should just say 'cut' and they'd cut. I never had to say 'cut' though because I knew I was safe.

Chloe Csengery (Young Katie) on being scared: I've seen parts of our movie but I haven't seen the last 15 minutes though. It was never scary on set because we always had our parents close by and the directors would always tell us what was going to happen during the scene beforehand. They were the best directors; they always helped us, especially when we got scared.

Csengery discusses her favorite deleted scene and preparing to play Katie: One thing I did do that didn't make it into the movie was where I was singing a Whitney Houston song because my character was very outgoing and stuff so I thought that helped show how outgoing Katie was.

I wasn't allowed to see the two other movies so my mom kind of told me how Katie was. I watched a few clips online on YouTube and that's how I prepared for when I went into the audition.

Follow Paranormal Activity on Twitter (@TweetYourScream) for more upcoming announcements, and as always keep an eye on the official Paranormal Activity website!

Some people tuned in to "American Horror Story" for its weirdness. Some for its violence. But us? We tuned in to see just what the hell star Jessica Lange would be doing or saying next! Fresh off of her win for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television at last night's Golden Globes, Lange recently spoke about her possible return to the series for Season 2.

According to TVLine, Lange allowed for the possibility that she will be among the “two or three” cast members returning for Season 2 next fall. “Yes, we are considering a second season,” the actress shared backstage at the Globes. “Nothing is definite yet.”

Either way we'll be there, but please, Jessica... come back to us as evil as you can be. Look for more on "American Horror Story" soon.

We've seen many various retellings, reimaginings, and retreads of the famed tale of Dracula, which was originally penned by the legendary Bram Stoker. Everything from cartoons to pornos, but now? Now the original fanged fiend goes to war!

According to Screen Daily, Canadian director Jim Donovan is set to direct a reimagining of Stoker’s vampire myth called Fangs of War. Donovan will direct from a script by Geoffrey Gunn. Stealth Media Group will be representing the film at the 2012 Berlin Film Market. Shooting is expected to begin this June. More soon!

Synopsis
The year is 1944. The Nazi Supernatural Division has taken Castle Dracula and set up a secret lab there with one purpose and one purpose only: unlock the secret behind the legendary Count Dracula’s immortality.

The Allies, however, aren’t blind to the Nazis’ ambition, thanks to their man behind enemy lines, OSS agent RM Renfield. But when Renfield goes dark in Transylvania, it’s up to Lieutenant Jonathan Harker to bring him back, along with the vital “intel” discovered at Castle Dracula.

Begrudgingly, Harker accepts the mission and travels with Dr. John Seward to Romania, where they meet up with members of Harker’s old covert ops team: Texas sharpshooter Quincey Morris and the beautiful and brainy Anna Van Helsing.

Together they plan a daring assault on Castle Dracula, but there’s more than just Nazis waiting for them behind the castle walls. Dracula himself and his blood-lusting brides have a plan of their own, and they will stop at nothing to see it come to fruition. It will take every ounce of strength and every shred of ingenuity that Harker and his team possess if they’re to survive the night and stop both the Nazis and Dracula from reaching their goals...

Okay, show of hands ... who's ready for some agricultural horror? No really, agricultural horror! Come on! Sometimes you guys are no fun at all. Anyway... 100 Bloody Acres, which we originally told you about during AFM, has officially begun production so you'll be getting a dose of it soon enough!

Colin and Cameron Cairnes direct. Damon Herriman (J. Edgar), Angus Sampson (Where the Wild Things Are), Anna McGahan, Oliver Ackland, Jamie Kristian, John Jarratt (Wolf Creek), Chrissie Page and Paul Blackwell all star. More on this one as it comes.

Synopsis
James is heading to a music festival in the bush with girlfriend Sophie and best mate Wes. He plans to propose to her this weekend, unaware (for the moment) that she and Wes have been screwing on the sly. When their car breaks down, friendly local and co-owner of a struggling blood and bone fertilizer business, Reg Morgan, stops to offer a lift. But Reg is eying off a business opportunity here: He and his partner, big brother Lindsay, have recently discovered a rich new ingredient to their organic blend – human corpses! James, Sophie, and Wes are about to discover that relationships can be bloody hard work, especially when someone’s trying to turn you into liquid fertilizer.

New artwork from the upcoming us vs. them alien invasion flick based on the Hasbro board game Battleship has surfaced and we have it for you here guns blazing! Dig it!

Peter Berg (Hancock) produces and directs Battleship, an epic action-adventure that unfolds across the seas, in the skies and over land as our planet fights for survival against a superior force.

Based on Hasbro's classic naval combat game, Battleship stars Taylor Kitsch as Lt. Alex Hopper, a Naval officer assigned to the USS John Paul Jones; Brooklyn Decker as Sam Shane, a physical therapist and Hopper's fiancee; Alexander Skarsgard as Hopper's older brother, Stone, Commanding Officer of the USS Sampson; Rihanna as Petty Officer Raikes, Hopper's crewmate and a weapons specialist on the USS John Paul Jones; and international superstar Liam Neeson as Hopper and Stone's superior (and Sam's father), Admiral Shane.

Look for it on May 18th, 2012 via Universal, and for more in the meantime visit the official Battleship website, "like" Battleship on Facebook, and follow Battleship on Twitter.

We caught up last Friday the 13th with actress Sarah Butler (star of last year’s Steven R. Monroe-directed feature I Spit on Your Grave) to chat with her regarding psychological thriller The Stranger Inside, which just previously had been filming in Copenhagen, Denmark, under the eye of writer/director Adam Neutzsky-Wulff. Read on for word on the production as well as to see a new batch of production stills.

“I'm still here to do a press conference with the Danish media,” stated Butler from Copenhagen. She appears in the role of ‘Sarah’ opposite co-stars Estella Warren (2001’s Planet of the Apes) and William Baldwin (Backdraft). “Billy and Estella, along with Scandinavian actor Kim Bodnia, had some more scenes that they shot here, too, which were set in New York. We had three hundred extras for a scene at the Royal Theater downtown last Monday, and for the rest of the week there were some scenes shot in a shut-down old sheetrock factory warehouse that will most likely please the horror-loving crowd.”

Now wrapped, Butler stated of her experience on The Stranger Inside (which also shot on location in Mallorca, Spain), “I have had such an amazing time on this film. Two of my most passionate interests are acting and traveling, and the fact that I got to combine these two made the whole experience a dream come true.”

“Also, working with (production company) Drama Deluxe has been a real eye opener in a couple of respects,” Butler offered. “First, the company is the first in Denmark to independently finance and produce a major feature film. That alone is impressive, and I have confidence that what our director delivers will more than stand its ground. I have been on set most days, even when I'm not shooting, and I love to watch each shot get set up. The director of photography Michael Sauer Christensen and the whole crew have worked to make this an absolutely beautiful movie.”

“It was also a pleasure working with Billy Baldwin,” she continued. “I always learn on a set, mostly from the other actors, and Billy was an excellent example. When I first got here, I watched my steps around him because I thought of him as a ‘movie star’, so unlike little old me. But now at the end of the shoot, I still consider him a star but also a friend. Besides his talent and charm, I find it extremely inspirational that he’s a devoted family man. From the way he talks so lovingly about his wife and kids, I see him as a guy who has figured out how to have a successful career and a strong family. I want that someday.”

As The Stranger Inside moves into post-production, we’ll keep you updated. In the interim see our previous article here for more on the film, and check out the new photos below.

Let us be clear ... any film in which Nicolas Cage goes crazy in any capacity whatsoever is one that we are all over. If lunacy were fuel, this man could launch a rocketship to Mars. That's why we're especially happy to hear about what could be his new flick, Dark Highway.

According to the Chronicle Herald, Nicolas Cage (Ghost Rider, Season of the Witch, Wicker Man) is close to landing the lead role in Dark Highway, Bruce McDonald's follow-up genre film to the glorious Pontypool.

"Now it's all about timing and everybody's schedule," McDonald says of when shooting might begin.

The film is described as a supernatural thriller, and the "story follows a man being chased who is trying to get to a certain place in one day. He doesn't know whether the situation is real or his imagination."

Dark Highway was written by Christopher Kyle (Alexander, K19: The Widowmaker) and will be produced as a joint venture between Palomar Pictures and Foundation Features.

The first details are coming in for Joss Whedon's latest project, the supernatural romance In Your Eyes, and we've got the first possible casting news for you right here, right now. Dig it!

According to The Hollywood Reporter Abigail Spencer (pictured right), perhaps best known for playing Don Draper’s mistress on "Mad Men", is in negotiations to star in the flick that Joss Whedon wrote and is producing.

Brin Hill (Ball Don't Lie, the upcoming Planet B-Boy) is directing the low-budget movie, which Whedon is producing with Kai Cole via Bellwether Pictures, a "micro-studio" the duo created in order to produce smaller-budget movies.

Plot details and official casting to follow. Stay tuned.

Believe it or not, it's been over a year since last there was anything to report regarding the latest historical horror mash-up, but lo and behold a trailer has come our way for FDR: American Badass. Check it out!

Actor Garrett Brawith will make his directorial debut helming this rewriting of history from comedy writer Ross Patterson that sees Franklin Delano Roosevelt slaying werewolves, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Emperor Hirohito with his weaponized custom wheelchair. Barry Bostwick, Lin Shaye and Bruce McGill star.

Check out the goods below, and look for more soon!

Some more sales art coming in just in time for the 2012 Berlin Film Market, this time for a film that's looking to make you extra paranoid when getting lifted, Black Forest: Hansel and Gretel & The 420 Witch. Toke up!

Twilight actor Michael Welch and "Castle" star Molly Quinn will play the endangered siblings, while Lara Flynn Boyle (Men in Black II) will play the sinister witch.

Synopsis
Siblings, Hansel (Michael Welch) and Gretel (Molly Quinn), battle a witch (Lara Flynn Boyle) who lures teenagers into her suburban home with her special blend of marijuana before she kills and eats them to maintain her youth and beauty.

This past Friday the 13th the Blade anime series made its debut on G4 and was met with a rather warm reception. If the series has you excited, strap in because we've got a clip for you from Episode 2.

Blade was directed by Mitsuyuki Masuhara (Chi's Sweet Home, Kobato) and written by Kenta Fukasaku (Battle Royale). Tetsuya Takahashi (Appleseed, Resident Evil: Degeneration, previous Marvel anime series) handles the music.

"Harold Perrineau voices Eric Brooks, the supernatural Daywalker known as Blade, making his animated series debut with more action, terrifying villains, and bloodthirsty monsters than you've ever seen before. Following in the steps of other hit Marvel anime series, Blade offers viewers 12 half-hour weekly episodes destined to leave you wanting more, exclusively on G4."

Look for the Blade anime series every Friday at 11:00 pm on G4TV.

You want some fresh images from Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance? Well then, today's your lucky day as we have dozens of them right here waiting for you! Check it out!

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, stars Nicolas Cage, Nicolas Cage's hair, Idris Elba, Johnny Whitworth, Violante Placido and Ciaran Hinds. The movie finds Johnny Blaze, aka Ghost Rider (Cage), hiding out in remote Eastern Europe and struggling to repress his curse. Blaze is recruited by a sect to take on the devil (Hinds), who wants to take over his mortal son’s body on the boy’s birthday. Its scheduled release date is February 17, 2012.

Synopsis
It has been several years since making a deal with the Devil and Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage), living in self-imposed isolation, finds himself as the only person who can help save 10-year-old Danny – and ultimately the world – thanks to his unwanted and uncontrollable power – his ability to transform into the hell-on-wheels monster known as The Ghost Rider.

Radical Entertainment's Design Director Matt Armstrong began his career in the video game industry over 13 years ago working on the seminal classic Final Fantasy VII as a QA Tester. A few short weeks of this was enough to convince Matt that his future lay more in the creative arts, and he soon found himself working as a 3D modeler, texture artist and animator before eventually finding himself drawn into the world of game design. Since then, Matt has worked in senior design positions at Blitz Games, Rockstar Games and Radical Entertainment, culminating in his current role as Design Director for Prototype 2.

Fun Fact: I have been told that Matt has a serious and disturbing obsession with the Mass Effect franchise and into double figures for the combined number of times he has completed them. Matt is also bravely weaning himself away from this addiction by sticking to a strict, doctor-prescribed regimen of fine Canadian beer.

With a dude as fun as this, you KNOW I was gonna ask him a buttload of questions about the upcoming Prototype 2!

Crix: For those who haven't played the original Prototype, how would you describe the game's story leading into Prototype 2?

Matt Armstrong: The first game's story puts you in the role of Alex Mercer, a man who wakes up on a mortuary slab about to be dissected by men in Hazmat suits. Mercer then breaks out of the secure facility in which the autopsy was about to take place and emerges into the heart of Manhattan with no memory of who he is or how he got there. A violent encounter with a clean-up squad of Special Forces sees Mercer repeatedly shot, seemingly without effect. This is only the first sign of Mercer's burgeoning powers, but he quickly begins to display other incredible traits including the abilities to run vertically up the side of buildings, absorb people for their memories, change his physical form into that of the people of he's consumed and transform his arms into a wide variety of organic weaponry.

As New York begins to fall victim to a deadly virus that turns millions into hideously mutated monsters and a mysterious military force named Blackwatch commences open warfare against the infected hordes, Mercer uses his new-found abilities to cut a murderous superhuman swathe through the city in search of knowledge about himself and his own role in the ongoing chaos and carnage. Mercer eventually comes to the devastating realization that he was in fact the person responsible for unleashing the virus onto the city. The game closes with Mercer thwarting Blackwatch's last ditch plans to detonate a nuclear weapon in the heart of Manhattan, but his reasons are unclear. Did he do it to save the city, save himself or maybe just to ensure the survival of the virus itself?

Crix: Prototype 2 has been in development for three years...can you give me ONE tasty tidbit about this game that you've done to let your fans know it's WELL worth the wait?

MA: While it’s been three years since the launch of the original game, we’ve actually only been working on PROTOTYPE 2 for two years. In terms of the tasty tidbits, all I can say is that all is not as it seems in the world of PROTOTYPE 2, and there are some truly massive surprises in store for our fans. 
 


Crix: Other than Alex Mercer, is anyone else from the first game making an appearance?

MA: It's certainly safe to say that Alex Mercer will be returning and playing a pivotal role in PROTOTYPE 2. As for other characters from the first game, you'll just have to wait and see.

Crix: Prototype 2 is (fittingly enough) using the Titanium 2.0 engine...what does this mean for the game mechanics?

MA: We rebuilt the Titanium 2.0 engine from the ground up for PROTOTYPE 2 to allow us to deliver truly competitive visuals without losing any of the elements that made the first game so iconic. In the end, the Titanium 2.0 engine has allowed us deliver far higher fidelity in terms of physics, special effects, dismemberment and character and world detail while still delivering the enormous crowd scenes and epic battles that fans loved about the first game.

Crix: Let's talk James Heller...who is he and what does he mean to Prototype 2?

MA: James Heller means a few different things to PROTOTYPE 2. As a soldier who lost his wife and child to the virus while he was serving overseas, his grief and anger is something that is very easy for players to understand and relate to. He also represents a far more self-directed and driven personality than Mercer did in the first game. As an experienced soldier, Heller is very much used to finding himself in highly stressful life-or-death situations and acting decisively.

Finally, Heller reinforces the fact that the true star of the PROTOTYPE games is actually the Blacklight virus. The virus really is the heart of everything that happens in the PROTOTYPE universe, and it's really exciting to have the opportunity to tell completely different stories based around how the virus affects completely different protagonists.

Crix: Prototype 2 sees the addition of tendrils and the ability to put enemies in webs to "save them for later"...were these requested by the fans?

MA: The Tendrils were very much a product of internal brainstorming at Radical. We knew we wanted to bring a really iconic and meaningfully different new power to the table for PROTOTYPE 2 – something that made people sit up and take notice. In the end, the Tendrils have really delivered on that goal and they're definitely one of the things I'm most proud of and excited about in the game. The emergent physics properties of the Tendrils mean that you never see the same outcome twice and that means that the end result is always unique, unexpected and enormously fun.

Crix: How much do you pay attention to the needs of players in the forums and did any of it influence the direction Prototype 2?

MA: We paid an ENORMOUS amount of attention to fan feedback and critical feedback when defining the direction for PROTOTYPE 2. We knew the first game wasn’t perfect, so it was extremely important for us to listen to the fans in order to know what really excited them versus what left them cold. That gave us a really clear roadmap in terms of which areas we needed to reboot versus which ones represented a really solid foundation for us to build on for a sequel.

Crix: Can you describe Prototype 2's three different "zones" and how you came up with them?


MA: The idea for PROTOTYPE 2’s three zones occurred almost organically from an exploration of what the post-PROTOTYPE world would look like. This led us to a kind of “three ring” approach to the containment of the virus.

The outer ring is the Green Zone. This area is the closest thing to normality in the world of PROTOTYPE 2, but it doesn't take long for you to begin noticing the heavy Blackwatch presence in certain parts of the city – military helicopters flying overhead, tanks rolling down the city streets, watchtowers on urban rooftops, and heavily fortified military bases reveal that this is where Blackwatch has drawn the line where they will not allow the virus to cross.
Closer to the heart of the original outbreak is the Yellow Zone. This previously pleasant suburban neighborhood has been transformed into a sprawling, overcrowded mass of makeshift shanty towns. It's within this zone that Blackwatch and Gentek (the scientific arm of Blackwatch) find themselves with a free hand to conduct a wide variety of deeply unethical experimentation on the captive populace.

At the very heart of our world is the Red Zone. This area is what used to be Manhattan, but it's now a devastated wasteland of shattered skyscrapers and enormous viral outgrowths. Oh, and it's also swarming with vast quantities of grotesquely mutated bloodthirsty Infected monstrosities; some the size of a normal human being, and some the size of a three-story building J.

Crix: What was the hardest part about getting Prototype 2 from concept to completion?

MA: That's a really good question. The hardest part was probably getting it off the ground and getting the team pointed in the right direction. There's always a huge amount of excitement at the start of a big project like PROTOTYPE 2 and lots of great ideas about where to go with it. The tricky part is selecting just the right combination of ideas and then getting everyone onto the same page so that the whole team is singing from the same hymn sheet.

Crix: 
How much pressure did you feel to deliver a bigger experience yet keep the feel from the first game?

MA: Immense pressure, is the short answer. The first game showed us that we were on the verge of delivering something very special, but we knew that we would have to make some major changes in PROTOTYPE 2 in order to really deliver on that promise. I think our fans and critics saw that, too, and that's generated a real weight of expectation that has certainly resulted in a lot of pressure. It's a very positive pressure, though. I'd far rather feel the pressure of a rabid, excited fan base than the pressure of working on a project that no one cares about.

Crix: Ken Rosman stated that there WILL be DLC for Prototype 2; can you give us a wee bit more of what that DLC will be? Plllllleeeeeeeease?

MA: Ha ... absoultely not! – Ken would kill me. Just kidding…he’d probably just maim me a bit. But in all seriousness, we've got exciting plans for PROTOTYPE 2, but we're not quite ready to talk about it just yet. However, I can say that you should definitely stay tuned for more info on this front because exciting news is just around the corner.


Crix: Who are your influences, gaming wise?

MA: I've always been an obsessive gamer with an interest in a very wide range of genres, so my influences come from all over the place. In terms of specifics, I'm certainly a huge admirer of what the teams at Rocksteady and Ubisoft have done with the Batman and Assassin's Creed games, respectively, but I also love the kind of avant garde thinking that underpins games such as Catherine or (going back a few years) Killer 7. I'm also a fan of the Mass Effect games because of the strength of their storytelling and the very clever design decisions that allow them to deliver such compelling narratives.

Crix: Who're your horror influences?

MA: Our biggest influences have really been in the areas of monster design. Specifically, it's been classics like John Carpenter's “The Thing” and the work of character and special effects designers such as Steven Wang and Carlos Huante that have really had the strongest influence on us.

Crix: If you found yourself in New York Zero, where would you last longer: Red or Yellow?

MA: The Yellow Zone. My life expectancy would be at least 30 seconds greater over there (pushing it up to a total of about 32 seconds in total).

Crix: 
What's the main thing you want players to take away from Prototype 2?

MA: A sense that they had a huge amount of fun. If players reach the end of the game with a big, broad grin on their faces, I'm happy. That's what it's really all about.

Crix: (obvious question here, BUT...) ARE there any plans for a Prototype 3?

MA: I'm sorry, I can't hear you...there’s some static on the line…(insert static noise here)…you're breaking up...hello...? Hellooo...?

Damn…

Well, can't blame a girl for trying, right?

Ready to murder your maker? You'd better be as Prototype 2 will be available for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on April 24th (US) and April 27th (EU) of this year!

Thanks again to Matt Armstrong for sitting in the hot seat with me!

Jean-Claude Van Damme possesses a rare ability. The older he gets the more badass he becomes. It doesn't matter if he's stabbing dozens of people every five seconds (thank you Universal Soldier: Regeneration) or holding a puppy. The guy's just menacing. The good news? We're gonna see even more of him!

According to Variety Adam Brody will be throwing down with '90s action star Jean-Claude Van Damme in a survival thriller shooting next month in Puerto Rico.

The duo will star in Rob Meltzer's Welcome to the Jungle, which "follows a group of staffers at a design firm who go on an office retreat to a tropical island, where total chaos erupts after they become stranded. A "Lord of the Flies"-type situation unfolds, and Brody's protag is forced to match wits with the power-hungry leader in order to rescue his co-workers."

Rob Huebel, Dennis Haysbert and Kristen Schaal co-star. Look for more on this one as soon as either A - learn to do one of them zany splits or B - master some of JCVD's smooth dance moves.

Even though Lionsgate's The Hunger Games hasn't played on a single screen as of yet, that doesn't mean that the sequel news cannot begin to start flowing. Official confirmation has come in terms of who the writer will be for book two in the franchise, Catching Fire.

According to The Wrap, Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours) is writing the script for the second film in the budding franchise/ Gary Ross, who directed Hunger Games, will also direct the sequel and is supervising the writing of the script.

Stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrelson and Liam Hemsworth are expected to return for Catching Fire, which will hit theaters November 22, 2013. The release date was announced while the first film was still shooting.

Speaking of the first film, a new still has hit the interwebs and you can dig on it below.

The Hunger Games, directed by Gary Ross, stars Donald Sutherland, Woody Harrelson, Wes Bentley, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Liam Hemsworth, Paula Malcolmson, Willow Shields, Latarsha Rose, Lenny Kravitz, Brooke Bundy, Leven Rambin & Jack Quaid (#1), Alexander Ludwig & Isabelle Fuhrman (#2), Ian Nelson & Kalia Prescott (#3), Ethan Jamieson & Tara Macken (#4), Chris Mark & Jackie Emerson (#5), Ashton Moio & Kara Petersen (#6), Sam Ly & Leigha Hancock (#7), Samuel Tan & Mackenzie Lintz (#8), Imanol Yepez-Frias & Annie Thurman (#9), Jeremy Marinas & Dakota Hood (#10), Amandla Stenberg & Dayo Okeniyi (#11), and Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss) & Josh Hutcherson (Peeta) (#12).

Set in post-apocalyptic America, the movie will introduce heroine Katniss Everdeen (Lawrence), a self-sufficient 16-year-old who lives in District 12, one of the poorer districts in the nation of Panem, what used to be known as North America before its utter destruction several years earlier. Katniss becomes a participant in the Hunger Games, an annual televised tournament where one boy and one girl from each of the nation's twelve districts must fight to the death until only one competitor, or "tribute," is left standing.

Be sure to keep your eyes on the official The Hunger Games Facebook page and the official The Hunger Games Twitter feed for updates leading up to the film's March 23, 2012, release date.

Two girls - Amanda Seyfried and Elizabeth Olsen. Two Movies - Gone and The Silent House. One reaction - Boring. That's right, kids. Two new stills have been released for the aforementioned projects that are so dull it barely even made sense to include them, much less write separate stories. When you see them ... you'll understand.

Directed by Heitor Dhalia from a script by Allison Burnett, Gone centers on a young woman (Amanda Seyfried) who returns home from her night shift to find her sister's bed empty. She is convinced that the serial killer who kidnapped her two years before has come back to finish the job, but when the police do not believe her and with no one to turn to, the woman sets off to find her sister and face her abductor once and for all.

Look for the flick in theatres on February 24th, 2012.

Open Road Films and Liddell Entertainment have set March 9th, 2012, as the national release date for The Silent House, the horror thriller starring talented newcomer Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene) and co-directed by the filmmaking duo of Chris Kentis and Laura Lau (Open Water).

The Silent House tells the story of what happens when Sarah (Elizabeth Olsen) returns with her father and uncle to fix up the family’s longtime summerhouse after it was violated by squatters in the off-season. As they work in the dark, Sarah begins to hear sounds from within the walls of the boarded-up building. Although she barely remembers the place, Sarah senses the past may still haunt the home.

The newest release from the Bloody Disgusting Selects banner is locked and loaded for DVD release in April. Aliens, toxic air, amnesia, cryogenic slumber, World War 3: Welcome to Hellacious Acres.

Synopsis:
Montreal-based director Pat Tremblay wrote, directed, and played the titular character in this groundbreaking film, which Dread Central called "one of the best reproductions of a post-apocalyptic video game ever made." Tremblay also edited and co-scored the film and created most of the visual effects. The cast of Hellacious Acres also includes Navin Pratap, Jamie Abrams, Paula J. Davis, Laurent Lecompte, and Francis Dubois.

Hellacious Acres portrays John Glass, a man suffering from amnesia who wakes up inside a cryogenic freezer as a robotic voice bombards him with information about World War III, of damages caused by an alien invasion, and of the atmosphere having become toxic and unbreathable. John Glass soon learns that he is a warrior sent on a solo mission of the highest importance: decontaminating the Earth’s ozone, a task he has no idea how to achieve. Equipped with intermittently functional military armor, which he must not take off under any circumstance, he begins the exploration of a strange universe filled with hostile creatures.

The Collective, by way of Vivendi Entertainment, has scheduled Hellacious Acres for an April 3rd DVD and VOD release. No word yet on DVD extras.

Val Kilmer and Luke Goss are amongst a group of strangers that seek refuge from a storm in a home owned by Ving Rhames, only to find themselves trapped in a supernatural time warp of terror. Get ready to go Seven Below when this supernatural chiller arrives on DVD in April.

Arc Entertainment is set to release Seven Below from director and co-writer (along with Lawrence Sara) Kevin Carraway on DVD April 17th.

Synopsis:
A supernatural thriller in the vein of The Ring meets The Grudge with explosive terror and spine-chilling suspense and action about a group of strangers who must ride out a storm while stranded in a foreboding house where they encounter an evil presence.

In the midst of a hurricane in 1910, a 10-year-old boy named Sean brutally murdered his mother, father, aunt, and two little sisters. Now Adam (Matt Barr) and his brother, Isaac (Luke Goss), along with four strangers, McCormick (Val Kilmer) and his wife, Brooklyn (Bonnie Somerville), a young doctor (Christian Baha), and a local girl (Rebecca Da Costa), find themselves trapped in the same home where the murders occurred one hundred years later after a tour bus accident has left them stranded. Their host, a mysterious loner named Jack (Ving Rhames), has his own personal reasons for wanting the group to remain in his home. As the storm rages outside, strange and horrifying things begin to happen inside! This cinematic thrill ride will keep you on the edge of your seat from the stunning opening to the shocking conclusion!

Check out the trailer below for Seven Below.

Is the world ready for a torture porn movie from the director of You Got Served? No, it’s not called You Got Sawed. The title is The Helpers. Sadly, it’s not about African-American maids in Mississippi in the 1960’s getting revenge against their racist white employers by going all Jigsaw on them.

Kristen Quintrall (Wolvezbayne), Denyce Lawton (“House of Payne”), Christopher Jones (You Got Served, JoJo Wright (Bring it On: All or Nothing, and former “The Man Show” juggy dancer Rachel Sterling star in Chris Stokes' (You Got Served, House Party 4) upcoming The Helpers.

Here’s a plot synopsis that by the third paragraph goes from merely summarizing the story to spoiling major plot twists. Read at your own peril.

Seven friends, three couples (Claire, Todd, Jordan, Brandy, Ryan, and Anna) and their tag-along buddy Phil from Sacramento, California, all decide to go on a trip to Las Vegas. Phil decides to document their entire trip because his girlfriend Julia wasn't able to make it. All seems fun until they hit a detour/road block. A couple hours of lost driving later, both of the back tires on the truck are blown out! After some moments of confusion and arguing, the gang comes up with the plan that all the girls will stay inside the truck while all the guys walk down the road to find Help. A few miles down the deserted road, the guys stumble upon a gas station/diner/motel, which conveniently has a tire shop attached.

The guys think they're in luck when they're offered help by the super friendly gas station attendant Brad, who just happens to be great with cars. Brad introduces them to Steve, the owner of the place, and Norah. Steve offers to fix the truck and also offers Todd a ride down the road in the tow truck to pick up the girls, while Jordan, Ryan, and Phil all stay in the diner for free food and drinks. Todd is a bit hesitant at first but agrees to go along with the idea. Once the girls get back, the fun really begins. Steve lets them all know that their truck won't be ready until the morning so it would be best if they stayed the night in the motel free of charge. After some hours of drinking, partying, and karaoke, the gang all go to their rooms hammered!

The next morning, Phil wakes up with no memory of what happened the prior night. When leaving Todd and Claire's room in a hurry to get everyone up and moving, his head gets amputated by Brad. Turns out that Brad and all the friendly helpful people aren't so helpful at all but are really orphans who went crazy from being abused and beaten in a crooked orphanage a long time ago. Claire and Todd are both locked inside their room to watch all their friends die on the TV monitor in their room, one by one in the worse way possible. When Claire's past is brought into the light, she finds out that it's no accident that she and all her friends ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. In fact, her father used to run the orphanage in which all this abuse went on and is responsible for this entire ordeal.

You can keep tabs on the progress of The Helpers at the film’s Facebook page (link below). Have a look at the teaser trailer and try to see if you can spot how many different films this appears to be influenced by, including the very style with which the trailer is cut.