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Versus-director Kitamura talks Clive Barker's Midnight Meat Train

After blasting Japan with handful of fantastic films (Versus, Alive, Godzilla 2000) Ryuhei Kitamura talks a bit about why he chose to come make an American film now. " I was looking for the right project for the past couple years," he continues, "I read 50-60 scripts and I knew I'd have to be very picky about it, something I could put my stamp on it and make it my movie. I was looking but couldn't find it and was actually desperate last year."

Kitamura says that the reason he picked this Clive Barker project is because he picked up the original Japanese book back in 1987 and has been a fan for over 20 years. “I read it and was surprised, it was good,” he remembers.

With Hideo Nakata (The Ring Two) and Takashi Shimizu (The Grudge, The Grudge 2) making slow, atmospheric films, what made [b]Kitamura want to do a gore film? "What's the point in doing something similar to someone else? I am not interested in that idea."

Another thing Kitamura talked a bit about was planning for the future and more sequels, especially since they have an iconic new horror character, "[The] first conversation I had with Clive [Barker] was about this... [we had to] keep in mind this endless world of Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, Pinhead, Ash, Leatherface - that’s it," he continues, "after them I don’t need any new super cool horror icons, Jeepers Creepers a little, but I don’t keep on buying." So what he's trying to say is that there aren't many horror icons and they needed to find something special for him, which is creating a special look and weapon, "For 20 years we don’t have this new horror icon. We talk a lot about what costume he'll be wearing, what weapon he (Mahogany) has. Clive and I designed a custom hammer for him."

When creating a new horror icon, you have to be thinking sequel, "if it came up (a sequel) and was good," he tells, "but I don’t like doing the same thing again and again. If I do a sequel I'd need something new to the storyline."

Watch out for MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN in 2008.



"Friday the 13th" remake coming in 2009?

Platinum Dunes is aiming to get their remake of Friday the 13th in theaters by 2009.

This film's life may depend on how well Rob Zombie's Halloween does at the end of the month, so fingers crossed.

No word on whether Jonathan Liebesman is still attached to the project, but its heard that they're not using Mark Wheaton's story.

Watch for the return of Jason Voorhees and his mother in 2009!



Raimi, Hartnett talk about "30 Days of Night"

Ghost House producer Sam Raimi talked a bit about his interest in acquiring 30 DAYS OF NIGHTS for the big screen, "I think it started with Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith’s incredible graphic novel. I love the original take on the vampires they illustrated. These guys have created a unique and very rich mythology for them. I really liked learning about them and I wanted to know more."

Star Josh Hartnett chimed in with his thoughts on the graphic novel, "I read the graphic novel and spoke to director David Slade on the phone… really the biggest sell for me were the people involved," he continues, "I am going to get shot for saying this but I have never really read a lot of comic books, but I flipped through this one and I saw that the visuals were astounding, and with the help of David, and the visuals, [I knew] this would be a spectacular film." In addition to the comic book blowing his mind, he really dug the screenplay, "The script was great… what it would be like in a situation where you have no escape and you are being hunted…you are in conflict the entire time, and there is no logical way of getting out of it. I have always liked horror films and vampire films, yet I haven’t found a thing for me that had the right element, until this one."

Writer/Creator Steve Niles talked a bit about adapting his own story, "For me they gave me a first shot on the screenplay…it’s been great, everyone has kept me in the loop pretty much through the entire process. I felt really attached to it, pretty much since I first met David I knew it would be in good hands."

Niles also chatted a bit about making vampires scary again, "Something that Ben [Templesmith] and I went through when we were making the comic is that vampires aren’t scary anymore," he replies, "They hang out with you; teenage girls date them on TV. We had to strip away all that and use the idea that a creature that looks very much like us, yet look at us like cattle…like food. That is something we really wanted to do… make actual frightening vampires again."

Director David Slade adds to this, "I can make these vampires anything I want them to be," he explains, "my ambition was to make a truly terrifying film, fusing the fantasy and beautifully drawn things and the gritty terrifying thing."

Star Ben Foster loves vampires, in fact you might say he has a fetish, "I have a great vampire fetish. When I was going to the comic book store about two years ago and I found this book, I bought it and I ended up buying several copies of it for friends. It was something that really turns me on. David calls and says I think I have some thing for you called 30 Days of Night.. So I go GREAT!!" Although he jokes, "he wouldn’t let me be a vampire!"

Sam Raimi concluded with a bold statement, "I have never seen a better vampire film. It’s rare that you come across a great graphic novel, in the field of horror, at least I never had. It was wonderful refreshing and thrilling to come across Steve Niles and this property!"

30 DAYS OF NIGHT hits theaters on October 19, 2007.



"Painkiller" video-game being adapted for the big-screen

Guy Walks Into a Bar (Starship Dave) has decided to go to purgatory, acquiring feature rights to the videogame Painkiller from DreamCatcher Interactive.

Game centers on a character stranded between heaven and hell who's forced to become a pawn in the battle between good and evil.

"Painkiller" first bowed for play on PCs as a first-person-shooter game in 2004, and was followed up by "Painkiller: Hell Wars" for the Xbox in 2006.

DreamCatcher's planning to release a sequel to the original soon.



Guillermo Del Toro set to produce "The Changeling" remake

Director extraordinairre Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy) will produce Rogue Pictures' The Changeling, the long-delayed remake of the classic George C. Scott film from 1979.

The film, which inspired The Ring, follows a man who is haunted in his mansion by the ghost of a girl.

The screenplay for the remake was written by Paul Haggis and Dave Kajganich, although no word yet on if their draft will be used.



Award winning "The Other Side" set for US theatrical and DVD release

The US distribution rights to the crowd-pleasing action/thriller The Other Side were snapped up this past week for an undisclosed amount by Allumination Filmworks, who will be handling the domestic theatrical and DVD distribution of the movie. Bleiberg Entertainment has acquired the film rights for the movie’s foreign distribution.

Allumination Filmworks will release the film in select theatres this year.

Written/Directed by Gregg Bishop and Produced by Chad Eikhoff, The Other Side is a low-budget, Atlanta-made feature about a man who escapes from Hell to find the person who killed him, but is hunted by a team of Reapers - invincible, gun toting madmen - who are sent from the Netherworld to bring him back.

The film stars Nathan Mobley from Yesterday Was a Lie and Jaimie Alexander, who stars as Jessi XX on ABC’s hit show Kyle XY.

A film festival favorite, The Other Side premiered in competition to sold-out crowds and rave reviews at the Slamdance Film Festival and won the Grand Jury Award for Best Feature Film at ShriekFest. The film also swept the awards at IFFYNTX (Independent Film Festival of North Texas) winning Best Picture, Best Screenplay and Best Actor (Nathan Mobley).

Variety called The Other Side “a lean, propulsively paced supernatural thriller, packed with pulse pounding excitement.”

Scott Weinberg of eFilmCritic.com calls it “fast paced, creative and entertaining. A solid handful of unexpected surprises.”

SciFi Dimensions raves “an impressive feature length debut. Gregg Bishop may be the next big thing in horror movies.”

John Koenig of Dark Romance says that “this movie blew my mind! It’s like a blazing gunfight on a demonic roller coaster ride!”

Steve Biodrowski of Hollywoood Gothique says that The Other Side “may be the El Mariachi of horror movies” and hailed it as “one of the best films of the year.”

“The response this movie has received has exceeded our expectations in every way,” says Bishop. “We are thrilled that the film will be released theatrically and that the movie will be available to audiences everywhere”. Eikhoff adds, “we made The Other Side as a non-stop thrill ride and are looking forward to audiences having the chance to experience it theatrically and on DVD.”



(References - bloody-disgusting.com, movies.yahoo.com, variety.com, hollywoodreporter.com, aintitcool.com, iesb.net, blackfilm.com, latimes.com, impawards.com)