BLOOD FLOWS FROM THE EAST COAST
By Patrick Green
Taking advantage of the bleak exteriors provided by the east coast winter, several Atlantic-side indie filmmakers are hard at work to bring you the thrills you crave. In Roanoke Va., writer/director John Birmingham is bringing to life a splattery vampire comedy called “The Vampires Of Zanzibar” (formerly “Sex, Blood and Chocolate”). Troma prez Lloyd Kaufman appears in a cameo, along with Robin Watkins (Poultrygeist), Monique Dupree and horror hottie Dark Spider.
Birmingham , who describes himself as a “slapstick comical entertainer”, is shooting on high end 24p DV, which is as close as you can get to “film look” in a digital format, for all you non-tech heads. The plot concerns a high school senior who unwittingly starts a vampire plague when his own latent half-vampire nature overtakes him during a heated moment. He must then single-handedly try to contain the spread of vampirism.
Birmingham plans to hit the fests, and then: ”…to shake down every sales rep and distributor in existence until we are offered a decent distribution deal. ”
The coastal movie town of Wilmington , NC plays host to a thriller called “The Artifact”, but there’s little info on this one. Mike Roberts is directing from his own script. Despite the trailer, which can be found at myspace.com/theartifactmovie, no story or plot is discernible from the limited information provided.
Also in North Carolina , director Aaron Harvey, writer Jason Melling and crew brave the harsh mountain weather to bring you an outdoorsy slasher called “The Deranger”. Here’s the synopsis:
Five college friends head toward the woods for a weekend of drinking and partying at an infamous party spot. Their bud and beer binge is suddenly interrupted by a local park ranger who delivers the mother of all ghost stories. He tells them of another ranger who was burnt alive in the surrounding woods several years back by a group of partying teens who had little respect for nature. Initially shaken up, the group brushes the story off as just a baseless scare tactic. The hard-charging leader of the group, John, proceeds as normal, ignoring everything the ranger warned them about, littering and disrespecting the forest without so much as an afterthought. As the weekend grows longer, things start slowly going down hill for the group as the woods start caving in around them. Tension arises between the friends and round about they end up separating. Then they start dying. As they fight to stay alive, they’re plagued by a mysterious apparition in an old forest service parka. Is it the ranger, or possibly a crazed local? Maybe it’s something more ominous.
The producers cite 70s classics “Halloween”, “Friday The 13th”, and “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” as influences but hope to blend the flavor of those groundbreakers with the sensibility of more contemporary fare such as “Wolf Creek”, “Cabin Fever” and Belgium’s “Calvaire”. Keep an eye on this very spot for the link to their soon-to-be launched myspace.
Finally, New Jersey ’s Amel Figueroa is set to direct the hallucinogenic thriller “Hush” from his own script.
The plot centers around college student Michael Rose(Adam Ciesielski of “Kanyon’s End”, and “Miami Vice” ‘06). Trying to piece his life back together in the wake of his mother’s death, he finds himself plagued by shadowy apparitions and an alternate identity who threatens a hostile takeover. There’s more info here: (officeamel.com)
