As we reported back in January, Lionsgate contracted horror-comedy Cooties after its premiere at Sundance, taking control of North American distribution for the film. But the version that sees release from the label won't quite be the same as the one screened at Sundance. Read on!

In an interview with Twitch Film at the Toronto Fan Expo, producer/star Elijah Wood spilled the beans about the last-minute change, which he says makes the film better than it previously was.

"Off of the pickup from Lionsgate, which was always the home we had hoped for, we ended up getting some more money to make a new ending, which we're really excited about," said Wood. "We only had so much money, and the ending we made we weren't always that happy with so we got to make a new ending, and we're psyched. I'm excited for people to see it; it's really funny."

As far as a release date is concerned, Wood says that Lionsgate is looking to spread Cooties in January of next year, though nothing is set in stone.

The comedic horror film marks the feature film directorial debut for directors Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion. It is written by Leigh Whannell (co-creator of Saw and Insidious) and Ian Brennan (co-creator of "Glee") and stars Elijah Wood, Rainn Wilson, Alison Pill, Jack McBrayer, Leigh Whannell, Jorge Garcia, and Nasim Pedrad.

Daniel Noah, Josh C. Waller, Elijah Wood, Steven Schneider, Georgy Malkov, and Tove Christensen produced the film with Leigh Whannell, Ian Brennan, Hayden Christensen, Seth William Meier, Vladimir Poliakov, Sarik Andreasyan, and Gevond Andreasyan as executive producers.

In Cooties, a substitute teacher at a new school experiences the worst first day imaginable when he discovers that an outbreak of a mysterious virus is transforming the students into rampaging tykes. The film hilariously illustrates that sometimes kids can literally turn into little monsters.

Creative Assembly is pleased to let us know today that Alien: Isolation has "gone gold" and will be hitting shelves and digital storefronts worldwide from October 7, 2014. With the release just one month away, the team has put together a series of short trailers, the first out today.

From the Press Release
"#HOWWILLYOUSURVIVE?" is a series of short trailers running through to release, showcasing many of the unique ways that players will discover that surviving the creature, and the world of Sevastopol, means learning a whole new set of skills.

In Alien: Isolation the creature is hunting you. If it hears you, it will track down the source of the noise; if it sees you, it will pursue at speed; tackling it head-on is not for the faint-hearted. It’s ruthless, relentless, and unstoppable. Which makes us ask, #howwillyousurvive?

Alien: Isolation is a first-person survival horror game capturing the fear and tension evoked by Ridley Scott’s 1979 classic film. Players find themselves in an atmosphere of constant dread and mortal danger as an unpredictable, ruthless Xenomorph is stalking and killing deep in the shadows. Underpowered and underprepared, you must scavenge resources, improvise solutions, and use your wits, not just to succeed in your mission but to simply stay alive.

Alien: Isolation will be available from October 7, 2014, for Xbox One, PS4, Windows PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.

For more info visit the official Alien: Isolation website, "like"Alien: Isolation on Facebook, and follow Alien: Isolation on Twitter.

UK filmmaker Mark Murphy has just wrapped production on his second feature Awaiting, which we've been keeping tabs on here on Dread. Though we don't have much new to report today, some slightly altered sales art has just come across our desk...

...which we thought you might be interested in taking a bite out of. Awaiting was written and directed by Murphy and, along with Tony Curran and Diana Vickers, stars Rupert Hill, Sophie Lovell Anderson, Peter Woodward, and Charley McDougall.

For more info visit the official Awaiting Facebook page.

About Awaiting
Green Screen Productions, in co-production with Solar Productions, presents Mark Murphy’s second feature, Awaiting, a psychological thriller starring Tony Curran (Underworld: Evolution, Gladiator) and "X Factor" finalist Diana Vickers (Little Voice, Give Out Girls).

Awaiting is an engaging journey of introspection into the depths of human nature and the capabilities of twisted minds. The plot follows Morris (Curran), a recluse with psychotic tendencies, whose life changes when his innocent daughter (Vickers) rescues one of his victims and befriends him. Jake (Hill), an ordinary businessman, soon realizes that he is stranded, and his presence in the house gradually reveals unexpected and dark mysteries from the past.

Murphy previously said of the film, "We have a strong script, a blisteringly talented cast, and a crew at the top of their game. I have no doubt we’re going to deliver a film which will appeal to cinema goers globally."

The Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor have officially been delayed. Warner Brothers announced today that the expected release date of September 30th has been pushed back to November 18th in North America and November 21st in Europe.

Warner Brothers was vague in its explanation, only saying that the game “will take more time in development.” This delay only applies to the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions.

Xbox One, PS4, and PC users can still expect to receive Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor on September 30th in North America and October 3rd in Europe. However, European PC gamers will now be granted access on September 30th.

We find the main characters on "The Strain" nowhere near as interesting as the supporting players, but with just four episodes left in Season 1, we're not about to stop watching now! Here are some stills and a preview of Episode 1.10, "Loved Ones."

In addition, FX has released an "inside" look at one of those supporting players: "The Rat King," Vasily Fet, who is ready to save the world. In the video co-star Kevin Durand explains why the plague has given New York’s best exterminator his time to shine.

Related Story:Visit our news archive for "The Strain"

"The Strain" Episode 1.10 - "Loved Ones" (airs 9/14/14, 10PM)
Eph (Corey Stoll) investigates Kelly’s (Natalie Brown) disappearance and struggles with what he finds. Dutch (Ruta Gedmintas) pursues a plan to retaliate against Palmer (Jonathan Hyde), and Fitzwilliam (Roger Cross) makes a surprising choice. Teleplay by Gennifer Hutchison; directed by John Dahl.

For more info "like""The Strain" on Facebook, hang out with "The Strain" on Google +, and follow "The Strain" on Twitter.

When last we talked about High Moon, an adaptation of John Christopher's novel The Lotus Caves by Bryan Fuller ("Hannibal"), it was being called a pilot; but now it seems to be just another in the network's long line of Original Movies.

High Moon, starring Jake Sandvig, Chris Diamantopoulos, Jonathan Tucker, and Charity Wakefield, tells of a group who arrive on the moon and realize they've got company... and they DON'T come in peace!

Adam Kane ("Being Human") directed the script penned by co-executive producer Jim Danger Gray ("Pushing Daisies") from a story adaptation written by Fuller and Gray.

The film airs on Monday, September 15th, at 9/8c on Syfy. Check out the trailer and a still below.

On tap right now are several videos from Robert A. Mitchell pertaining to the Toronto International Film Festival premiere of Kevin Smith's Tusk. Sit back and hear from Smith along with co-stars Justin Long, Genesis Rodriguez, and Haley Joel Osment. Also included is the film’s introduction by Kevin Smith and programmer Colin Geddes.

Read our Tusk review.

Tusk, written and directed by Smith, stars Justin Long, Haley Joel Osment, Genesis Rodriguez, and Michael Parks. Long plays a journalist who finds the story of a lifetime in Mr. Howe (Parks), a worldwide adventurer with amazing tales and a curious penchant for walruses.

Producers are Sam Englebardt, William D. Johnson, and David Greathouse for Demarest and Shannon McIntosh for Smith’s SModcast Pictures banner. Jennifer Schwalbach and XYZ's Nate Bolotin are executive producers.

Related Story: New Tusk Poster Offers Spoilers

Look for the flick in theatres on September 19, 2014.

For more info visit the official Tusk website, "like"Tusk on Facebook, check out Tusk on Instagram, and follow @Tusk_TheMovie on Twitter using the hashtag #WalrusYes.

Matthan Harris caused a stir on the indie scene a few years back with The Inflicted, and now he has a supernatural horror film in pre-production entitled Baphomet. Check out the first details, some early concept art, and more right here!

Harris serves as writer, director, and producer with Incisive Pictures on Baphomet. Emmy-nominated FX artist Jeff Farley designed the film's demon, and artist Simone Giongrandi crafted the teaser poster, both of which you'll see below.

Casting should be firming up shortly, and we'll keep you updated as production commences. For more info in the meantime, keep your eyes on the Baphomet Facebook page.

Synopsis:
A family in Northern California celebrates their 24-year-old daughter’s pregnancy. The celebration is interrupted when Satanic cult leader Henrik Brandr unexpectedly visits their ranch. Henrik offers to pay the family a large sum for ownership of their land, claiming it is sacred to his congregation. Jacob Richardson, the father, rejects the offer due to the priceless sentimental value of the ranch. Henrik, displeased, begins to put devastating curses on the Richardsons, trying to force them off their land - even if it means murdering them.

After suffering unexplainable tragedies, the Richardsons seek help from Marybeth, a white witch high priestess. They soon discover a terrible secret about their house, revealing why their land is sacred to the cult. They realize they must protect their house from the cult at all costs, and a violent battle between good and evil ensues.

Jason Blum's Blumhouse Productions has a slate of movies a mile long. Now he's going to be taking things a step further as it was announced today that Blum has launched BH Tilt...

...a new label dedicated to generating movies from Blumhouse and other filmmakers for multi-platform release.

According to Deadline, the new label begins with the Creep trilogy by the Duplass brothers, which will be released by RADiUS-TWC; the films Mockingbird, Mercy, Not Safe for Work, and Stretch, which Universal Studios Home Entertainment will release digitally in October; and The Town that Dreaded Sundown, which Orion is releasing in October.

Blum confirmed the expansion and said: “Our company is built on the idea of betting on yourself. As a result of our micro-budgets, we encourage our filmmakers to take risks and make the movies they have always dreamed of making. The purpose of BH Tilt is to be part of the continuing evolution of distribution, whether it be through changing marketing strategies, changing revenue sources, or changing windows. We are excited to launch BH Tilt and can’t wait to share these films with genre fans through every means available.”

Blumhouse, which recently entered into a new 10-year first-look production agreement with Universal Pictures, has had a high ratio of micro-budget genre movies that were well suited for wide theatrical release, but there is an improving market for films that don’t warrant a wide release but can find an audience through such multi-platform strategies as day and date releasing. The label, he said, gives directors creative freedom to make the movies they want, how they want. Given their low budgets, the films can be distributed both traditionally and in new ways. BH Tilt will focus on tailoring distribution strategies that maximize opportunities for Blumhouse films not being released wide in theaters.

Decades from now horror fans will no doubt look back at this point in time and deem it the golden age of horror television. Truth be told, all year we've seen better horror at home than in theatres, and it just might be getting even better!

Bloody Disgusting is reporting that on the heels of the “Scream” pilot getting under way for MTV, Wes Craven is said to be close to signing a deal with NBC/Universal Cable to produce TV for NBC/Universal cable outlets including the Syfy channel.

This is great news if it turns out to be true, but as a horror fan growing up in the Nineties, I also remember a slew of bad "Wes Craven Presents" movies like They, Dracula 2000 (which admittedly is a bit of a guilty pleasure), and more. Approach with caution and stay tuned, kids!

First we saw the standard package. Then the Limited Edition (and awesome) “Tree Walker” set. Just like zombies, the choices of which The Walking Dead: Season 4 pack you need just keep on coming...

The Play/eOneDirect-exclusive Blu-ray Limited Edition Collector’s Book was recently revealed, and we have all the details here. D’you hear that, Carl?

Carl?

This Limited Edition hardback book features high gloss stills and character gallery photos from Season 4 alongside all 16 episodes – plus over three hours of audio commentaries, deleted scenes, and featurettes spread across 5 Blu-ray discs.

It’s available to order exclusively via the eOneDirect store at Play.com.

Synopsis
In the aftermath of the war with the Governor, we see Rick and the group of survivors fostering a thriving community in the safe haven of the prison. Sadly, in this brutal world, happiness is short-lived and walkers are no match for greater dangers brewing inside the fences. The group's home and new way of life will be thoroughly tested, and they will find themselves prepared to do whatever it takes to survive.

Special features on all available sets of The Walking Dead: The Complete Season 4 include:

FEATURETTES
• Inside THE WALKING DEAD
• The Making of THE WALKING DEAD
• BEHIND-THE-SCENES FEATURETTES:
- Drawing Inspiration
- Hershel
- The Governor Is Back
- Society, Science & Survival
- Inside KNB Studios
- A Journey Back To Brutality

DELETED SCENES
• 30 Days Without An Accident
• Live Bait
• Dead Weight
• Too Far Gone
• Still
• The Grove
• Us

AUDIO COMMENTARIES
• DVD and BLU­-RAY: Ep. 4.01: Audio Commentary with Executive Producer Scott M. Gimple, Executive Producer/Unit Production Manager Tom Luse and Executive Producer/Special Effects Makeup Artist/Director Greg Nicotero
• DVD and BLU-­RAY: Ep. 4.05: Audio Commentary with Executive Producer Scott M. Gimple and Actor Scott Wilson
• BLU­-RAY ONLY: Ep. 4.09: Audio Commentary with Executive Producer/Special Effects Make­up Artist/Director Greg Nicotero, Co­-Executive Producer Denise Huth and Actor Danai Gurira
• DVD and BLU-­RAY: Ep. 4.12: Audio Commentary with Director Julius Ramsay and Actor Emily Kinney
• DVD and BLU­-RAY: Ep. 4.12: Audio Commentary with Writer/Producer Angela Kang and Actor Norman Reedus
• DVD ONLY: Ep. 4.14: Audio Commentary with Director Michael E. Satrazemis and Actors Chad L. Coleman and Melissa McBride
• BLU­-RAY ONLY: Ep. 4.14: Audio Commentary with Executive Producer Scott M. Gimple, Executive Producer Denise Huth and Actor Andrew Lincoln

EXTENDED EPISODES
• BLU-RAY ONLY: Ep 4.09 ­ After
• DVD and BLU-RAY: Ep 4.14 ­ The Grove

Back in 2011 a short film adaptation of Stephen King's short story "The Things They Left Behind" was making the film fest rounds, and now it looks like the tale is heading to the small screen... CBS to be exact!

Per Deadline, CBS bested the competition for "The Things They Left Behind," a supernatural procedural drama based on King’s story from Seth Grahame-Smith and Greg Berlanti. The project, produced by Warner Bros. TV and Berlanti’s studio-based Berlanti Productions, has received a put pilot from the network.

CBS, which has had success with its adaptation of King's "Under the Dome," is no doubt looking for lightning to strike twice.

"The Things They Left Behind," set in the aftermath of 9/11, was originally published in 2003 as part of the compilation Transgressions: Volume Two. It was adapted into the aforementioned extended short film by Pablo Macho Maysonet IV.

Written by Grahame-Smith, the pilot for "The Things They Left Behind" centers on an unlikely pair of investigators carrying out the unfinished business of the dead. Grahame-Smith and his producing partner, David Katzenberg, will executive produce through their KatzSmith banner along with Berlanti and Sarah Schechter.

Grahame-Smith and Katzenberg are currently adapting King's IT for the big screen at Warner Bros. with Dan Lin and "True Detective" director Cary Fukunaga. Berlanti, who is behind The CW's "Arrow" and "The Flash," is also prepping the high-profile "Supergirl" series.

This one sounds more procedural than supernatural, but we'll keep our eyes on it and proceed accordingly.

Gearing up for another year at Sheffield's Showroom Cinema, horror film festival Celluloid Screams has announced the full line-up of blood-soaked goodies it has in store for the weekend of October 24-26 – and boy, is it Astron-omically good!

Here it comes... straight from the press release to your eyeballs:

OPENING GALA: THE EDITOR (UK PREMIERE)
Director: Adam Brooks & Matthew Kennedy | Canada | 2014 | 1hr 42 mins
Kicking off Celluloid Screams 2014 in fine style, we proudly present the mind-boggling new opus from Canadian filmmaking collective Astron-6 – an affectionate tribute to the Italian giallo thrillers of the 1970s and 1980s.

Rey Ciso was once the greatest editor the world had ever seen, but after a horrific accident left him with four wooden fingers on his right hand, he’s had to resort to cutting low budget trash pictures. When the lead actors from the film he’s been editing turn up murdered at the studio, Rey is fingered as the number one suspect. As the bodies continue to pile up, Rey struggles to prove his innocence and learn the sinister truth lurking behind the scenes.

We are delighted to welcome Adam Brooks, Matthew Kennedy and Conor Sweeney to Celluloid Screams to introduce the film and participate in a Q&A afterwards.

HOUSEBOUND
Director: Gerard Johnstone | New Zealand | 2014 | 109 mins
Few films nail the perfect balance between the creepy and the comical, but Gerard Johnstone’s terrific debut feature achieves this feat effortlessly.

After a botched robbery, Kylie Bucknell is forced to return to the house she grew up in when the court places her on home detention. Her punishment is made all the more unbearable by the fact she has to live there with her mother, Miriam - a well-intentioned blabbermouth who's convinced that the house is haunted. Kylie dismisses her mother’s superstitions as nothing more than a distraction from a life occupied by boiled vegetables and small-town gossip. However, when she too becomes privy to unsettling whispers and strange bumps in the night, she begins to wonder whether she's inherited her overactive imagination or if the house is in fact possessed by a hostile spirit who's not particularly thrilled about her return.

CREEP
Director: Patrick Brice | USA | 2014 | 88 mins
Looking for work, videographer Aaron (played by director Patrick Brice) comes across a cryptic online ad: $1,000 for the day. Filming service. Discretion is appreciated. Low on cash and full of naiveté he drives to a cabin in a remote mountain town where he meets Josef (Mark Duplass), his cinematic subject for the day. Josef is sincere, and the project seems heartfelt so Aaron begins to film. But as the day goes on, events take a disturbing turn, and it becomes clear that Josef may not be who he claims to be.

Mesmerizing and at times unbearably tense, Creep’s strength lies in the chilling interplay between its two protagonists and the feeling of dread that permeates much of the film’s running time. Soon to be continued with two further films to complete the trilogy, this sinister shocker will linger in the memory for a long time...

CHOCOLATE STRAWBERRY VANILLA
Director: Stuart Simpson | Australia | 2013 | 88 mins
In this brilliantly unique psycho thriller, awkward ice cream van driver Warren Thompson's only respite from his drab existence comes in the form of gorgeous soap star Katie George. Besotted with the young actress, Warren can't help but imagine what life would be like with Katie at his side. After suffering another in a long line of savage beatings from local thugs, Warren's fragile psyche cracks under the strain, and his infatuation with Katie turns into psychotic obsession. As the lines between reality and fiction blur, Warren's quest to make Katie his will have catastrophic implications for all who populate his simple world.

STARRY EYES
Director: Kevin Kolsch, Dennis Widmyer | USA | 2014 | 96 mins
From the producer of CHEAP THRILLS comes a tale of desperation and sacrifice in the dark heart of Hollywood. Struggling actress Sarah (Alex Essoe) works as a waitress whilst doggedly answering casting calls in pursuit of her big break. Battling rejection and the jealous backbiting of her so-called friends, Sarah finally secures her dream part after a series of strange auditions for enigmatic production company Astraeus Pictures. However, this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity comes at a horrifying price that will transform Sarah in mind, body and soul until the glamorous career she’s always dreamed of becomes the stuff of nightmares.

WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS
Director: Taika Waititi, Jemaine Clement | New Zealand | 2014 | 86 mins
Meet Viago, Deacon and Vladislav - three flatmates who are just trying to get by and overcome life's obstacles- like being immortal vampires who must feast on human blood. Hundreds of years old, the vampires are finding that beyond sunlight catastrophes, hitting the main artery and not being able to get a sense of their wardrobe without a reflection, modern society has them struggling with the mundane like paying rent, keeping up with the chore wheel, trying to get into nightclubs and overcoming flatmate conflicts. A dryly hilarious mock-doc from the makers of "Flight of the Conchords" and Eagle Vs Shark.

COOL GUYS: THE SHORT FILMS OF ASTRON-6
Directors: Astron-6 | Canada | Various | 90 mins
Our obsession with Astron-6 continues as we dedicate our 2014 Short Film Retrospective to them. Expect cool guys, laser ghosts and much more! (Plus a Q&A afterwards)

SOCIETY (followed by Q&A with director Brian Yuzna)
Director: Brian Yuzna | USA | 1989 | 99 mins
Bill Whitney (Billy Warlock) is a privileged teenager growing up in Beverly Hills with everything he could possibly desire. Despite his family’s wealth and status, Bill has a nagging feeling that something is not quite right with them, something he explains at length to his therapist. When Bill’s friend presents him with apparent evidence of bizarre and disturbing goings on involving his parents and sister, he decides to investigate the truth about them, but nothing could have prepared him for what he discovers... With outrageous, landmark special effects by Screaming Mad George, SOCIETY is a film once seen, never forgotten.

Brian Yuzna is Celluloid Screams’ Guest of Honour and will introduce this special screening and participate in a Q&A afterwards.

SUBURBAN GOTHIC
Director: Richard Bates Jr. | USA | 2014 | 90 mins
From the director of EXCISION comes a quirky oddball horror comedy that couldn’t be more different than its predecessor. Raymond (Matthew Gray Gubler) is having a tough time. His college degree hasn’t paid the dividends he’d hoped, and he is forced to make what he believes is the ultimate backward step: moving back in with his parents. This temporary setback is compounded when the supernatural visions that have plagued him since childhood return with a vengeance to make his stay as miserable as possible. Raymond’s only solace is his friendship with former schoolmate Becca (Kat Dennings), who leads them on a quest to solve a century-old murder mystery and resolve Raymond’s problems for good.

DAGON (with introduction by Brian Yuzna)
Director: Stuart Gordon | Spain | 2001 | 98 mins
Paul (Ezra Godden) and his girlfriend, Barbara (Raquel Rabal), are on a boating holiday off the coast of Spain. Following an accident they pitch up at the small village of Imboca to seek assistance. But there is something strange about the people of the town, and as night falls, Paul finds himself the target of occult worshippers. Will Imboca's darker secret envelope both Paul and Barbara, or can they find a way to evade the ancient god of the sea, Dagon?

One of a slate of films produced by guest of honour Brian Yuzna in Spain in collaboration with Spanish production company Filmax, Dagon is a stylish and scary tale from the pen of author H.P. Lovecraft.

SPRING
Directors: Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead | USA | 2014 | 109 mins
A young man in a personal tailspin flees the US to Italy, where he sparks up a romance with a girl hiding a dark secret. What begins as a naturalistic romance in an idyllic Mediterranean town takes an unexpected turn as the two lovers confront figurative and literal relationship monsters. Balancing dark humor, heart and visceral thrills, SPRING evokes undercurrents of Beauty and the Beast by way of Linklater and early Cronenberg, while retaining a highly original style that we’ve come to expect from two of contemporary horror’s most interesting voices.

We are delighted to welcome back Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead to Celluloid Screams to introduce the film and participate in a Q&A.

CELLULOID SCREAMS SECRET FILM
Director: TBC | Country TBC | Year TBC | Running Time TBC
Much like the alien lifeform in John Carpenter’s The Thing, our annual secret film lies in wait in amongst our line-up, waiting to take shape and reveal itself. It could look like anything, and you’ll only know what it is as it’s about to begin...

THE ABCs OF DEATH 2
Directors: Larry Fessenden, Todd Rohal, Marvin Kren, Jim Hosking, Julien Maury, Alexandre Bustillo, Julian Gilbey, Soichi Umezawa, Lancelot Imasuen, Jerome Sable, Robert Boocheck, Aharon Keshales, Navot Papushado, Bill Plympton, Rodney Ascher, Erik Matti, Steven Kostanski, E.L. Katz, JULIAN Barratt, Hajime Ohata, Vincenzo Natali, Chris Nash, Jen Soska, Sylvia Soska, Robert Morgan, Kristina Buozyte, Bruno Samper, Alejandro Brugues, Dennison Ramalho, Juan Martinez Moreno | Various | 2014 | 125 mins
In 2013 the craziest anthology ever created was released to an unsuspecting public. It immediately divided audiences. Some claimed it was a much-needed adrenaline shot to the heart of genre film, while others claimed it was reprehensible and the death knell of cinema as we know it.

In 2014 it’s happening again. This time with an all-new line-up of international directors. Twenty-six NEW directors. Twenty-six NEW ways to die.

CLOSING GALA: DEAD SNOW 2: RED VS. DEAD
Director: Tommy Wirkola | Norway/Iceland | 2014 | 100 mins
If the worst day of your life consisted of accidentally killing your girlfriend with an axe, chain-sawing your own arm off and watching in horror as your closest friends were devoured by a zombified Nazi battalion, you'd have to assume that things couldn't get much worse. In Martin's case, that was only the beginning. Dead Snow 2 is an improvement on its predecessor in every conceivable way. Like the very best sequels, it takes everything that was great about the first film and ramps it up to another level. It’s extremely gory, very funny and a perfect way to close Celluloid Screams 2014.

The Celluloid Screams weekend also brings with it the now-customary all-nighter, during which this year those with superhuman eyelid strength or the Bottomless Flask of Caffeine +3 can catch:

BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR (with introduction by director Brian Yuzna)
Director: Brian Yuzna | USA | 1989 | 95 mins
Doctor Herbert West is back... Having absconded to Peru with fellow doctor Dan Cain to continue his experiments under the cover of being a medical volunteer, West and Cain travel back to Arkham to resume their roles at Miskatonic Medical School. Once there, West discovers he can reanimate individual body parts and sets about creating a living being from disparate body parts, including the heart of Cain’s dead fiancée, Megan. Along the way West incurs the wrath of the police and the evil Dr Hill, whose severed head is all that remains of his body after the “Miskatonic Massacre”...

MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE
Director: Stephen King | USA | 1986 | 97 mins
For his one and only directing credit, horror legend Stephen King chose to adapt his own short story in which machines take on a life of their own and become homicidal. Emilio Estevez stars as Bill Robinson, an ex-convict who ends up leading a band of survivors trapped in a truck stop diner surrounded by murderous machinery.

NIGHT OF THE CREEPS
Director: Fred Dekker | USA | 1986 | 88 mins
Two college students, Chris and J.C., accept a fraternity challenge to break into a cryogenics lab in order to steal a cadaver, but the trial goes wrong when the duo unleash a decades-old frozen corpse that is possessed by an alien parasite. Pretty soon the campus is overrun by flesh-eating zombies, and only one man can save everyone: Detective Ray Cameron (Tom Atkins), a cop haunted by the past. We guarantee by the end you’ll be screaming like banshees...

KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE
Director: Stephen Chiodo | USA | 1988 | 88 mins
We round off our 2014 all-nighter with the Chiodo Brothers’ iconic 80s schlockfest. When Mike and his girlfriend, Debbie, turn up at the local police station warning that a gang of homicidal alien clowns have arrived in the town of Crescent Grove, the cops are naturally skeptical. Talk of popcorn-firing guns and a spaceship shaped like a circus tent out in the woods hardly helps to convince them. Before long, however, reports start coming in from anxious locals reporting similar run-ins with the colourfully-dressed, large shoe-wearing assailants. There can no longer be any doubt - the Killer Klowns from Outer Space are here, and they’re out to turn the population into candy floss.

Celluloid Screams festival passes are now on sale at the Sheffield Showroom Cinema website. You can pick up an Ultimate Pass, which is a full weekend pass including the all-nighter, for £80 (£70 concessions), or a reduced rate pass is £65 (£55 concessions) if you're planning to get some sleep instead.

Standalone all-nighter tickets are available for £25 (£20 concessions) and can be purchased at Showroomworkstation.org.uk.

For more info, check out the official Celluloid Screams website, give them a 'Like' on Facebook, and hit up @SheffHorrorFest on Twitter.

We'll see you there!

We're all about random factoids here at Dread Central – always looking for new info to mash into our brains to push the useless stuff out – so we just had to nab this latest infographic celebrating Wolf Creek 2's impending UK release even if it does upset Australia's tourist board...

Directed by Greg Mclean, written by Mclean and Aaron Sterns, and produced by Helen Leake (Swerve, Black and White, Heavens Burning), Greg Mclean, and Steve Topic (Crawlspace), the sequel started production seven years after the original Wolf Creek hit screens internationally in November of 2005.

Entertainment One unleashes Aussie wild man Mick on DVD and Blu-ray across the UK on September 15th.

Synopsis
Mick Taylor (John Jarratt) is back on the hunt, and it’s not wild pigs or crocs that he’s after. Out for the kill, this Outback psychopath continues to add to his staggering body count as he mutilates, dismembers and tortures anyone and everyone he lays his eyes upon.

When two young backpackers venture into the wilderness, they soon find themselves face to face with evil, begging for their lives and bringing a wake of death and gory destruction with them as they attempt to flee. Armed with his trusty knife, sniper rifle and unquenchable thirst for murder, Mick butchers and crashes his way through the wasteland, loving every bloody moment of the violent carnage.

If there's one "found footage" flick that you should really be putting the effort in to dig up, it's director/actor duo Derek Lee and Clif Prowse's thrilling Afflicted– and it'll be spreading its charms on UK DVD this October 6, courtesy of Entertainment One.

Executive produced by Insidious and Sinister producer Brian Kavanaugh-Jones alongside producers Chris Ferguson and Zach Lipovsky, Afflicted stars Clif Prowse, Derek Lee, Michael Gill and Baya Rehaz.

Special features on the disc are yet to be determined.

Synopsis
Best friends Derek and Clif embark on the trip of a lifetime, planning to travel to the ends of the earth, see the world, and live life to the fullest, while documenting their adventures via video footage posted to their website. But things take a dark and bloody turn when, following an amorous encounter with a beautiful woman in Paris, Derek starts to show signs of a mysterious affliction.

Now, thousands of miles from home, they must race to uncover the source of Derek’s illness before it consumes him completely.

If a step-by-step guide were written for how to create a standard zombie narrative, it would be titled "Z Nation." Start with one part outbreak footage, and mix in some overlapping audio clips of news regarding said outbreak.

Simmer it in a stock of basic characters with one part brown-haired stubbly leader, one part love interest, two parts mysterious drifters with unexplained combat prowess, and three parts uninteresting zombie chow to beef up the cast.

Marinade in a standard post-apocalyptic world, equal parts towns trying to make it and traveling caravans with dubious intent. Bake for 45 minutes in standard character dilemmas, adding in a mission to cure the virus for some longevity. Garnish with dialogue.

I try not to be too critical of things for being standard. I can’t expect everyone watching something to have the same breadth of exposure as I do, and in my experience there’s nothing worse than a critic who decries something for not “pushing the barriers of cinema/the genre” without any good insight in how to. That being said, zombie narratives have inundated our minds and media in all forms, ranging from the classic Romero siege films to Brooks’ survival guides to Left 4 Dead's balls-out run and gun zombie action. No kid gets through middle school without coming up with a zombie plan nor high school without dreams of a team loaded out to his specifications and containing at least one of his crushes. We all have places to go, entrances to secure, weapons to brandish, and badassery to accomplish.

If you were to take every cliche straight from the collective imaginations of every standard zombie fantasy, slap them together without care for plot or cohesion, and figure out how to do it for about half the budget, you would get "Z Nation." Starting in an almost overrun military base, a scientist is testing a batch of zombie vaccine on some less than willing convicts. It works on one of them, and he becomes humanity's last hope. Cut to some time later, and introduce a small town where good people are just trying to get by. Introduce a grizzled protagonist who's lost his nerve to kill. Introduce lead soldier from intro with immune person in tow. Begin quest. Destroy starter town for dramatic effect. Find badass locked in cage and encounter punk rock sniper. Recruit them to your team. Kill a baby zombie.

It would be fine if the ligaments that held these shambles together had some heft, but this is an Asylum production. The dialogue is terribly canned and the characters stiff. There isn’t a single thing that happens that isn’t expected with certainty, with perhaps the sole exception of a twist ending that I still would have bet on with 80% odds. It seems to have a slightly bigger budget than the usual Asylum fare, but in typical Asylum fashion the scenes go on just a little too long and characters seem driven by a desire to advance a script rather than act as individuals in any real world.

"Z Nation" is not without its cool parts. There's a traveling gun merchant who stood out as kind of unique, but I highly doubt the character will ever return or the concept will be interestingly expounded upon. There's a segment at the beginning where the convicts were read an executive order that gives scientists authority to test on them, which was a cool touch of order versus chaos that I similarly doubt will be implemented in future episodes. The titular "Z Nation" is actually the name of a radio station being run out of an NSA research facility by DJ Qualls, a left-behind soldier who is now our last hope for unity in fighting the outbreak. While this idea isn’t exactly new, it’s well enough implemented to give the narrative some legs and keep me interested in the general concept.

Syfy channel shows have always been propped up by their ability to do wacky shit. "Haven" is a terrible show that I have watched every episode of out of sheer interest as to what crazy shit they will do next. "Warehouse 13" is just a bad buddy cop show with magic, and I love every second of it. Without anywhere to go other than the standard zombie key points, I can’t see how "Z Nation" would hold my attention. I’m used to Syfy shows asking me not to think too hard, but it's usually because there’s some magical ass shit going on that doesn’t make sense if you try to apply real world logic. Asking for that leap of faith when showing a baby zombie go from crying in a crib to sprinting around is just stupid. If you find that "The Walking Dead's" big talky words make your head box get the bad pains, then "Z Nation" might be just for you!

"Z Nation," produced by The Asylum, is an action-horror series about the epic struggle to save humanity after a zombie apocalypse. The 13-episode "Z Nation" stars Harold Perrineau ("Lost,""Oz"), Tom Everett Scott ("Beauty and the Beast,""Southland"), and DJ Qualls (Road Trip, "Supernatural"). It premieres this Friday, September 12th.

The cast also includes Michael Welch (The Twilight Saga), Kellita Smith ("The Bernie Mac Show"), Anastasia Baranova (The Darkness II), Russell Hodgkinson (Big Fish), and Keith Allan (Rise of the Zombies).

Karl Schaefer ("Eerie Indiana,""Eureka,""The Dead Zone") serves as executive producer and showrunner. Acclaimed action director John Hyams (Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning) directed the pilot.

Synopsis:
"Z Nation" starts three years after a zombie virus has gutted the country, when a team of everyday heroes must transport the only known survivor of the plague from New York to California, where the last functioning viral lab waits for his blood. Although the antibodies he carries are the world’s last, best hope for a vaccine, he hides a dark secret that threatens them all.

With humankind’s survival at stake, the ragtag band embarks on a journey of survival across three thousand miles of rusted-out post-apocalyptic America.

Zoe Bell’s made a career kicking ass in the movies. Judging by the premise of her new nature gone amok thriller Freshwater, it sounds like she better be ready to add alligator wrestling to her impressive array of fighting skills.

Zoe Bell (Deathproof, Raze) and Joe Lando (“Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman”, “The Secret Circle”) headline writer-director Brandy Berry’s currently in-production Southern fried creature feature entitled Freshwater. Amy Paffrath, John Bobek, and Alison Haislip co-star.

Synopsis:
Lake Charles in Louisiana is the idyllic spot to catch some sun and enjoy the tranquil miles of freshwater. When a group of 20-somethings meet up at their island lake house for a weekend of partying, one of the friends never shows up. As more lake visitors are yanked underwater by what seems to be some giant alligators, the screams bring the group out of the lake house. Frantically discovering their boat has drifted away, they have to watch helplessly as more of their friends are pulled under the water. Will anyone get off the island alive and in one piece? Something more sinister seems to be at play.

That premise sounds remarkably like Shark Night but with alligators. I’m sure there’s got to be more to it...

Expect to hear more about Freshwater soon.

Welcome to our fifth and final week of exclusive on-the-set coverage from Atlanta for Spirit World Films'Creature Feature. This is SWF’s fifth feature in less than three years, their last two films, Realm of Souls and Buried Cain, having both been picked up for global distribution.

Spirit World is the brainchild of three talented indie trendsetters: Chase Smith, Lance Paul and Edward Boss. These Southerners are turning the game upside down on what the true meaning of indie global films is.

With films budgeted at less than $20k, their combined multi “hat-wearing” skills are proving that you don’t need a giant budget nor a Hollywood soundstage to create cult classics.

Creature Feature is comprised of four short vignettes and one overall story that connects them all, similar to classics such as Creepshow and Trick 'r Treat.

Do clowns scare you? Have you ever looked at a scarecrow and wondered, "What if?" Are zombies or naked witches your thing? Or what about a good ole classic such as a werewolf? Have you ever heard of Gentleman “Spring-Heeled” Jack? If not, you will come October 2015!

Time - The Friend and Enemy of Every Filmmaker!

Like everything in life you are judged off of time. Be it rushing to a job or contemplating where your life has gone. Doesn’t it always seem like time flies in a blink of an eye? Film is no different, with the rush of call times or waning months of pre-production you may always feel like you're behind the hammer just trying to keep up. As an indie filmmaker the pains are even more real. Every minute counts, especially when you can only shoot in a location for a set amount of time or can only afford a certain prosthetic for one shot. Speaking to creators Chase Smith and Lance Paul this week it seemed like the perfect subject to cover for our final coverage on Creature Feature. Time… we can always use more of it.

Unlike most films they have done, Creature Feature was originally written a while back and not first in line to be shot. It was only after contract negotiations took the better part of a life span with a cult classic actor's agent that the boys from the South pulled Creature Feature out of the pile and put it into production. Due to the time spent negotiating on the last film they were strapped. With only two months before production would start, they began the process of raising a budget and beginning the dreaded pre-production.

Thankfully, through both Lance's and Chase's efforts with investors, plus Realm of Souls being picked up in China, their budget came quicker than they expected. But a budget isn’t everything -- I mean, these boys are shooting one epic monster movie! That takes time. You need to have the right SFX/MUA, you need to have time to make your molds, and you need to have time to order in all the prosthetics you need. All of which are not things you can just go down to your local Halloween store and purchase. With just a few days out and prosthetics from Europe mailed in, plus them being fortunate to have such an experienced head MUA from "Walking Dead" with Alex Revel, the monsters were set. Or were they?

“It’s great to have your “i’s” doted and “t’s” crossed, but come the day of filming anything can happen. You need to always be one step in front of your game and have a backup plan. Nothing was more apparent than with Creature Feature. CF may of been our hardest and most taxing film to shoot. Between prosthetic delays due to shipping or having to recast a good majority of your talent (some even the same day), having a backup or even a Plan D is something I highly recommend every filmmaker to have,” Lance Paul (Creator, Producer, Artist).

With principal filming now wrapped on CF, it felt like the perfect time to ask Chase and Lance what was the most hectic and most taxing of all the days of filming? What scene had wiped them out the most? According to Chase Smith (Creator, Writer, Director) and Lance, the scene that hit them the most was the final scene in the movie, filmed only halfway through production.

The final scene entails not only the final revel of the lead monster orchestrating everything but also every monster in the production, plus three deaths. So if you’ve been reading all the articles and keeping track, that’s five creatures, three deaths and three nude witches who assisted in the mayhem. All filmed in one night. Because keep in mind this is the wild west of indie filmmaking. You only have one day for the location and one take to get the kills right and hours of makeup to have all your monsters ready at once.

Could they do it? Thankfully, due to these three Southern filmmakers' time management, they were able to land the scene. But not without its share of headaches. Each creature had a sliding scale of how long he had to sit in the makeup chair and how long he could wear the prosthetic before it melted in the Georgia heat. With the Werewolf taking the longest, which meant he had the shortest life span out of all the prosthetics.

Another issue with this scene was the amount of talent and crew needed to pull something like this off. Though they had shot bigger scenes with more talent, such as the giant rave scene, this scene was special because it included reveals for all the monsters and them all joining up and attacking the main cast. As any filmmaker can vouch, add more pieces to the puzzle and the harder it gets.

In the end, though the hardships were intensive, this scene and all of Creature Feature turned out amazing. From all the stills I have seen and the behind-the-scene shots and videos, these Southern filmmakers know how to make a movie and have fun doing it. As should you, I look forward to what will come out of Creature Feature and Spirit World Films in the future. Maybe even a squeal, as production was wrapping and I was getting all the information for this article, both Chase and Lance were excited with news from their investors and distribution about the possibility of a spinoff. So I guess only time will tell.

The Gentleman “Spring-Heeled” Jack and his Lovely Witches

When initial plans were drawn to make a conglomerate film involving so many different creatures, Chase knew from the get-go that he would have to have some kind of big daddy monster that was pulling all the strings. While researching obscure monsters from folklore to bring into the project, he landed on the legend of Spring-Heeled Jack.

Spring-Heeled Jack is originally an English folklore started around the 1830’s. In its time Spring was a very popular folklore, due to the tales of his bizarre appearance and his ability to leap incredibly fast and far away from trouble. He was described as a gentleman with a black clock and top hat, with fingertips that were molded into metallic claws. Many stories also mentioned his demonic look and eyes that “resembled red balls of fire.”

Once Chase brought the character of Jack up to Lance and Ed, everything fell into place. Using Jack seemed to make the most sense. He was obscure and hardly had graced the silver screen. Something all the boys were hoping to find. Next came character designs.

Lance from the get-go decided to play more on his English gentleman attributes and mix them with a steampunk kind of vibe while designing him. As you can tell from the original sketches, he didn't fall too far from the concept. The biggest hurdle with him was really playing up the clawed hands but not to fall into the Nightmare on Elm Street kind of vibe. With sketches in hand this fell to Alex to design.

Using resin and skin prosthetics molded to the actor Jason Veil’s fingers, he was able to design bladed claws that came out of his white gentleman gloves. Alex also designed an aged prosthetic that gave the appearance to Jack that he was centuries old.

"This is a character that hasn't been done much at all in film or television so we wanted to stay as true to Lance's vision as possible -- an elderly gentleman type with razor-sharp fingers and teeth. We only altered his fingers a bit by making the razors a little smaller for Jason to be able to perform in, so we sewed finger extensions into a glove that we simply slid on and off. Which was great because his process ended up being the longest due to the fact he had to have old age stipple and some hair laid for his chops. I believe it was a four-hour process we eventually got down to two. At the end of the day he's a very striking figure onscreen and I hope he makes his mark on the film.” Alex (Head MUA/SFX)

Though makeup made the look, the real talent showcasing Jack was the actor, Jason Veil, under all of the prosthetics. If you read week two’s article a couple weeks back, you may be familiar with the talent's name. Jason helped out in a pinch with SW and took the reins of one of the lead roles in the Zombie story. Mr. Veil is a classically trained actor that fully embraced the role of Jack.

Chase, Lance and Ed greatly appreciate you following their journey over the last month and hope this whet your appetite to what they have coming out soon. Realm of Souls will be on DVD, Blu-ray, and VOD in the next couple months and Creature Feature will be in theaters by fall of next year. Stay tuned for more from Spirit World Films and enjoy all the behind-the-scenes pictures and art.

For behind-the-scenes pictures by Producer and Creator Lance Paul, visit Lance Paul on Instagram, also "like"Creature Feature on Facebook, and follow Spirit World Films on Twitter.

Chase Smith directs. Libby Blanton, Tenille Houston, Lance Paul, Stephanie Davis, Michael Maponga and Jason Vail star.

Synopsis:
Creature Feature is comprised of five interwoven tales of terror that occur one foggy Halloween night in Georgia. A babysitter learns a new appreciation for fine art and a hard lesson about the consequences of being irresponsible... and naughty! A group of college kids stumble on the mother of all scarecrows. Two teenagers are forced to steal from the wrong cantankerous old hermit who has been known to occasionally howl at the moon. A murdered father comes back for vengeance against his gold-digging wife and traitorous children. All of this Halloween fun is made possible by a London gentleman known only as... "Jack."

Giant robots from another galaxy arrive on Earth with more on their minds than disguising themselves as our vehicles and rocking out to Linkin Park. Can Ben Kingsley and Gillian Anderson save us from Robot Overlords?

Grabbers director Jon Wright and writer Mark Stay are the overlords behind this new sci-fi action adventure thriller from the UK’s Embankment Films that sees the world as we know it enslaved by colossal machines from outer space.

Oscar winner Ben Kingsley and Gillian Anderson ("Hannibal,""The X-Files") appear to be leading the adult resistance against intergalactic tyranny, but from the looks and sounds of this one, Robot Overlords seems to be aimed at more of a teen audience.

Callan McAuliffe (The Great Gatsby) and Ella Hunt are the two younger heroes adorning the quite impressive poster art.

Synopsis:
Earth has been conquered by robots from a distant galaxy; survivors are confined to their houses and must wear electronic implants, risking incineration by robot sentries if they venture outside.

In robot-occupied Britain, city centres are devastated and a gang of teenagers live in a seaside town constantly under robot threat. Intimidating sentries patrol the streets; snipers are merciless death machines. The Mediator is deceptively childlike but unnervingly coercive. The robot base is The Cube, a massive mother-ship that dominates the horizon.

And I for one welcome our new robot overlords. I’d like to remind them that as a trusted internet personality, I can be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground sugar caves.

Director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett are known for their collaborations on A Horrible Way to Die, You’re Next, and the V/H/S franchise. They’re back at their unique brand of darkly comedic horror with The Guest (review), which opens in theaters nationwide on September 17th.

In The Guest a mysterious soldier shows up on the doorstep of the Peterson family, claiming to be a friend of their son, who died in action. After the young man is welcomed into their home, a series of accidental deaths occur, which seem oddly connected to his arrival.

We got a chance to catch up with them to ask a few questions… hope we didn’t overstay our welcome!

Dread Central: How come you built the story around a soldier, who is evil? Was there any hesitation in presenting America’s hero as a villain?

Simon Barrett: No. I mean, it’s funny because I think Adam and I both saw all the post-Iraq war movies, and I’m specifically thinking of like Stop-Loss and Jarhead and In The Valley of the Lost and films like that. And those films all were kind of box office failures regardless of the individual film’s artistic merit. It felt like a lot of filmmakers during that period were trying, I think Adam said this before, to make important statements on the war. It felt like the filmmaking community had to respond.

Adam Wingard : But it also felt like, even beyond that, people wanted to make a definitive Iraq war movie statement. But if you look at the Vietnam movies, a lot of those, you know like Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket, and things like that, they’re actually really interesting, entertaining movies that have a very fantastical take on war. And they kind of forgot that this time around and they got on their high horse about it and nobody wanted to see those films because we know that war is bad and who cares? You’re not really saying anything.

SB: Yeah, I think a lot of people, myself included, were so kind of morally outraged about the Iraq war in 2003 that they forgot to tell entertaining stories. I first started writing the script that became The Guest in 2007 and I got about 20 pages in and I was like, “I’m literally writing a story for no one and this is stupid and pointless and I don’t want to keep doing this with my life,” and I stopped writing it. But it was a completely different project. But it was funny because when Adam started talking about the film that he wanted to make and how it be this kind of fusion of The Terminator and Halloween and stuff, I don’t know why it just fused instantly organically with that story in my mind about a returning soldier that would deal very obliquely with themes like PTSD and the military industrial complex, but it did and it just clicked for me. That’s a way to actually make that story entertaining and there’s certainly some political commentary in The Guest but it’s an entertaining movie first. If you don’t politically agree with Adam and me, you’re still going to enjoy the movie.

AW: And you know we don’t have any delusions in thinking that our opinion on that type of stuff is any more important than anybody else. I mean, we’ve never been in the military. I don’t even think we have close family in the military. I have a friend that has gone over to Iraq and stuff but none of them have had their leg blown off or something like that so I almost feel like it would be disingenuous for us to come at everybody and say we’re going to tell you why this is bad as though you don’t already know. And if you don’t know, a movie is not going to change your mind anyways. If anything, it’s just going to push your Republican hard body stance on the whole situation even harder just because you don’t like somebody preaching it.

SB: Yeah, you know, like some of the Hollywood liberals who don’t know what they're talking about, which we admittedly don’t, preaching to you. And it’s interesting too because if you look at, say, the post-Iraq war documentaries and the post-Iraq war dramas, it’s not like those movies were changing anyone’s mind. You didn’t go see them if you didn’t agree with them.

AW: Fahrenheit 911... it won Cannes and all that stuff, but you know what? We still elected George W. Bush. It didn’t change anything.

SB: Yeah, and more than anything else Adam and I do not want to make movies that are just preaching to the choir. We want to make movies that everyone can enjoy that can reach people like the movies that reached us when we were younger and affected us, which weren’t, by the way, documentaries.

AW: And I hope this doesn’t come off as defeatist, but at the end of the day the world is going to do what it’s going to do and we’re just making movies and we don’t have any delusions about that necessarily. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t comment on things in our own way but we have to be true to ourselves and we can’t take that out of perspective.

SB: Well, I think you can change people’s minds with a film, but you have to make them actually want to see it. You know, having a strong female protagonist in You’re Next, a lot of people kind of called attention to the fact that we were trying to do something different with Sharni Vinson’s character of Erin in You’re Next, but we weren’t trying to make a feminist horror movie specifically. We don’t necessarily come from a knowledgeable place for that. We were just trying to make one that wasn’t sexist. And I think that’s kind of our attitude towards our political statements and stuff in The Guest. And yeah, we did specifically want to touch up on this subject matter that it feels like Hollywood kind of got scared away from with all those dramas. We did want to be like, “We’re going to do our take on that and you’re going to want to see it because it’s going to be fun.” I think that was part of the challenge but we knew we were going to make a fairly over-the-top movie in a lot of ways with The Guest and we did want it to be grounded in a kind of reality for the characters, for the plot, and for the story so I think that’s why we embraced certain elements of that.

AW: You’ll also notice in the film that the movie never specifically says where Dan’s character served. It doesn’t say that he went to Iraq or Afghanistan and we wanted to keep that obscure because it doesn’t really matter. There’s always going to be some sort of weird third world conflict that America's involved in. And to us it was like, I wanted this movie to stand up over time and to also be relevant. The relevant thing is there’s always going to be special forces somewhere doing some sort of weird CIA covert ops.

SB: Yeah, messing with someone else’s economy and what not. Actually the script only specifically referenced at one point on one draft we made it in Somalia or something like that just because we specifically didn’t want to make it seem like we were making a statement about Afghanistan or Iraq just because we didn’t want to make it seem like we were preaching about something we’re not fully knowledgeable about even though we read Noam Chomsky.

DC: On a more fundamental level I’d like to know, as a director, Adam, and as a writer, Simon, how did the two different types of psychological horror come in when the killer is invited into your home as opposed to some slashing stranger with a machete?

SB: Well, that was just kind of more of a follow-up challenge to You’re Next because we’ve done one type of home invasion, which is they come in through the windows with crossbows, and here’s a different kind of home invasion where he charms his way inside and ends up, in some ways, kind of dismantling the family from within. I don’t necessarily find one more horrific than the other. I would be quite scared if someone came in through my window with a crossbow. But it was more just after You’re Next that was what I felt in the mood to write. I think Adam and I have a lot of creative guidelines, but one of them is we try really hard to never repeat ourselves.

AW: Yeah, and even on a structural level... You’re Next is a movie that takes place in a very condensed amount of time. It basically takes place over a few days with the emphasis being on one really long night. With The Guest I think we wanted to world build a little bit more and kind of stretch out and let the time play out in a longer kind of way. Even though The Guest still just takes place over like a week or something. But it’s really funny because recently Simon and I went and saw Face/Off at the New Beverly theater and a lot happens in Face/Off. A lot happens to those characters in that film; they go through a lot [and] at the end of the movie you feel like this must have been taken place over three months or something like that... and then someone just casually mentions, “This has been a crazy week.” Like what? This is all one week?

SB: I re-watched the film, since then at the Beverly... and the movie plays on reality because at the beginning of the movie he sets that bomb which, insanely, he sets for like nine days in the future. Anyways, the structure of that film is really fascinating.

DC: You were talking about your decelerating time frames in your films from one night to now about a week; do you think you guys will ever be doing the “1900 of horror movies”? [laughter]

AW: No, we’re not Bertolucci! Yeah, it’s project by project, and to be honest with you, I actually prefer doing movies that take place over one night just as a director because it gives a focus. You know the trajectory of the film and actually that’s much easier to do than to try to balance over the course of a couple days and make that work in a fluid kind of manner and keep it all coherent and everything.

SB: In terms of our future projects that are at various stages right now, I can think of one that actually takes place over a couple months, but I can’t imagine wanting to do like the Boyhood thing. But I do think one thing Adam and I always try to do is we try to make our movies very tight and precise, and if anything can be cut from the script [or] from the film, we try to cut it. We try to make movies that have a really solid momentum to them because those are just the films that we enjoy the most right now. And those kinds of narratives do kind of lend themselves best to a short period of diegetic time.

You’re Next, V/H/S, V/H/S/2, and A Horrible Way to Die's Adam Wingard directs from a script by Simon Barrett while Keith Calder and Jessica Wu produce for Snoot Entertainment. Look for the flick in theatres on September 17th.

The Guest stars Dan Stevens, Maika Monroe, Brendan Meyer, Sheila Kelley, Leland Orser, and Lance Reddick.

Synopsis
David is the perfect guest. Friendly and helpful, this young soldier arrives on the doorstep of the Peterson family, claiming to be a good friend of their beloved son who died in action. The Petersons welcome David into their home and into their lives, but when people start mysteriously dying in town, their teenage daughter Anna starts wondering if David is responsible. Distributed by Picturehouse, THE GUEST visits theaters Wednesday, September 17th. Let us know if you'll be letting him in.