2008 may be the year of Greg Lamberson, this year marks the 20th anniversary of his first film Slime City (Read Review) and the release of his new novel Johnny Gruesome from Bad Moon Books (Read Review), but it doesn’t stop there. Lamberson has just announced two new film projects in development Deadly Rites & Slime City Massacre, the sequel to Slime City.

“Deadly Rites’ was written by a friend named Walt Jantzen, and we’ve been developing it for years,” says Lamberson. “The story is essentially ‘Deliverance’ meets ‘Helter Skelter’ with great heroes and villains—really strong material.”

Development of the project picked up steam when first-time producer Gregory Kurczynski agreed to tackle the horror thriller. “Gregory’s contacts have committed to funding 75% of the budget,” Lamberson explains, “contingent on casting, and he’s hired a casting director to handle that. This will be a ‘real’ film with a ‘real’ budget, and it looks like we’ll shoot on 35mm this summer.”

“Slime City Massacre is a celebration of the whole ‘80s era of latex filmmaking, not just a sequel to my film. I’m writing the screenplay now, and I already have one investor lined up. Robert Sabin and Mary Huner will be back in supporting roles, and I’m writing the lead for Erika Smith, who’s expressed interest, and a number of other roles for fan favorites. This will be a down and dirty film, just like the original, only with a lot of surprises.”

More concept art for Deadly Rites is posted on Lamberson’s website.