Shallow Water Synopsis:

Shallow Water tells the story of a small group of fishermen who embark on a fishing trip to find a remote and mythical fishing hole deep in the Sea of Cortez. They scour the Baja peninsula, find it, but encounter unexpected sea life. Adds Collora: “It’s Mother Nature versus Human Nature.”

Sandy Collora is a longtime special effects artist who helped create some of the more renowned and revered creatures in modern cinema. He produced and directed the fan film Batman: Dead End, hailed by filmmaker Kevin Smith as “possibly the truest, best Batman movie ever made.” Collora has announced his long-awaited return behind the camera with an anthology of “long shorts” – 20- to 30-minute original genre films. His first entry in the anthology is Shallow Water, a gritty and intense film that unleashes a new cinema creature unlike anything seen before. To help fund it, Collora has launched a Kickstarter campaign.

Shallow Water combines Collora’s three greatest loves: horror, the ocean, and the environment. “The underlying theme of Shallow Water is simple; humans repeatedly disturb the ecosystem, and the planet gets pissed off.” In the film, Collora introduces the Tiburonera (“he who hunts sharks”), which he promises will be “terrifying and different.”

Here’s the pitch:

After producing the feature film *Hunter Prey, and publishing three volumes of The Art of Creature and Character Design, which he funded with the help of Kickstarter, Collora now returns to short film and to crowdfunding.

Shallow Water proved too costly to finance as a feature with crowd funding, and that started Collora on the path of the anthology. He seeks $85K from fans to help him make it happen:

With Kickstarter, I can stay independent, and not compromise my vision. That was a big factor in the success of *Batman: Dead End. But *Shallow Water is longer, with more effects — more ambitious, if you will — so I hope to augment the cost with monies from Kickstarter. For this reason, I went to town on the rewards for people who back it — great value at a low cost, and for those with more to pledge, some pretty intense limited-edition collectibles. I was proud Kickstarter designated this campaign as a ‘Project we Love’ on its very first day, and I think it was because of the cool rewards.

Rock Hard \m/

Queen Crab Synopsis:

A meteor crashes into a quiet lake in the remote countryside, awakening a centuries-old beast. She emerges from the deep and tears through a nearby town and its inhabitants. The humans must fight for their lives and stop this Queen Crab before she can hatch an army of babies that will overrun the entire world.

Rock Hard \m/

To help promote the video release, the first three minutes of the film can now be seen (in the player above). The scene is funny as hell with the dramatic slow-motion and somber music juxtaposed with the ridiculousness of the situation. If that’s not the best sales pitch of 2013, I don’t know what is.

Big Ass Spider stars Greg Grunberg (Heroes), Lin Shaye (Insidious, Insidious: Chapter 2), Ray Wise (Jeepers Creepers II, RoboCop), and Lloyd Kaufman.

The discs’ anamorphic widescreen transfers will be accompanied by:
• Audio commentary: Grunberg and Boyar tell Mendez how they really feel about him
• Cast interviews
• SXSW featurette
• Theatrical and international trailers
• TV spots

Big Ass Spider Synopsis:

A giant alien spider escapes from a military lab and rampage the city of Los Angeles. When a massive military strike fails, it is up to a team of scientists and one clever exterminator to kill the creature before the city is destroyed.

Rock Hard \m/

A trailer is little to go on, so what I read into it may be completely off (in reference to the other films I’ve mentioned), but there’s no denying that Dead Sea‘s poster is inspired by Steven Spielberg’s 1975 masterpiece, Jaws. From the red movie title to the blue sky and ocean to the shark’s and the girl’s upward ascent, it’s all there.

In addition to Slagle’s involvement, Dead Sea also boasts a cast that includes the talents of Alexis Iacono, Britt Griffith, Jw Wiseman, Devanny Pinn, James Duval, Chanel Ryan, Candace Kita, and Jennifer Woods.

Dead Sea synopsis:

A Marine Biologist is assigned to investigate the mysterious deaths of marine life in an inland salt water lake that have been attributed to a creature thought to have been the stuff of legend.

Stay tuned to Yell! Magazine and we’ll keep you posted on Dead Sea.

This is a franchise that’s had its fair share of difficulties, but it looks as though the third installment fans have been waiting for is finally going to happen. Shock Till You Drop and BloodyDisgusting are both reporting that Victor Salva (the man who directed the first two films and will direct the third) has stated that they are “close” to filming. In fact, back in October, Salva apparently spent a day filming.

Someone has basically gagged Salva, who could only say the following:

There may finally be some very good news for those waiting for the third Jeepers film to go before the cameras.

Official word on what direction Jeepers Creepers 3 will take hasn’t been revealed, and Salva has had a couple different scripts floating around. However, there is speculation that the film will see Jeepers Creepers 2 star Ray Wise reprise his role of Jonathon Breck (the Creeper) and Gina Phillips as Patricia Jenner (the first film’s survivor). So, we may also see an origins type of story that will take us back to the Wild West, which I think is unfortunate; films that push cowboys and indians on us are usually pretty weak. I guess as long as the film doesn’t spend too much time in the stirrups, it’ll be ok. There may also be a revenge story going on in Jeepers Creepers 3.

There’s no denying that the Jeepers Creepers franchise breathed new life into the creature/slasher genre when it came out, and a third installment is long overdue.

We’ll keep you posted as this story develops.

Rock Hard \m/

Earlier this year we brought you a review of Sick Boy (2012), which was a great zombie flick for genre fans. There were several things that made Sick Boy great, but the two things that stand out for us are the original zombie-genesis story and the top-notch FX the filmmakers pulled off with their limited budget.

Preternatural campaign pitch:

The same team that brought us Sick Boy, including writer/director Tim T. Cunningham, are putting together a new film. Preternatural will be a creature feature, blending the styles of true crime documentaries, monster films, and “straight-up horror.” The film and filmmakers, however, need your help to get this project going — and considering what this very experienced team did on Sick Boy with such a limited budget, you can consider your contribution to Preternatural money well spent.

Check out the press release (below) for more details, but if you’d like to contribute, you have until September 24th to do so. Visit the following links and do your part:

Campaign link: igg.me
Facebook: www.facebook.com/PreternaturalTheMovie
Twitter: twitter.com/GoatMansHill

Rock Hard \m/

Press Release

Goat Man’s Hill Launches Crowd Funding Campaign for Creature Feature

PRETERNATURAL

Goat Man’s Hill just launched an IndieGoGo crowd funding campaign for an
ambitious horror feature entitled PRETERNATURAL. The team behind the 2012
indie thriller SICK BOY describes the new project as an unreliable
documentary about fairies. “It’s not a found footage film,” says writer /
director Tim T. Cunningham. “Nothing against them, but this will be
something more in the ballpark of TROLL HUNTER, but without any of the
comedic trappings. It’s going to be a straight up horror film.”

The film is designed to start like a true crime documentary investigating
the mysterious disappearance of an accused murderer, but quickly turns into
a tale of monsters when questions are raised as to whether the person the
accused allegedly murdered is actually dead. Promising to take full
advantage of their visual effects backgrounds and boasting the creature
design talents of Chris Grun whose credits include LAND OF THE LOST, CABIN
IN THE WOODS, and R.I.P.D., the Cunningham brothers aim to create an
experience that feels as real as possible. “It’s not like we’re going to
be marketing this as a true story or anything,” explains cinematographer /
visual effects supervisor Sean C. Cunningham. “But if we can make the
documentary sections feel absolutely authentic it should really add an
extra layer of threat to the horror elements.”

With several features in development, Goat Man’s Hill is turning to crowd
funding for this particular project because it is the most outside the
box. “We’re actively developing five features right now and of the five,
PRETERNATURAL is the most difficult to pitch to traditional financing
outlets,” says Tim. “It really needs to feel low budget to actually work.
Well done low-budget, but low-budget. Except for the VFX, but that’s where
our sweat equity comes into play.”

If the crowd funding campaign is successful in raising the tiny $35K
production budget, Goat Man’s Hill intends to roll cameras late 2013.
Based on the strength of their pre-production and production efforts, the
filmmakers will raise the larger post-production funds through more
traditional methods.

The 30 day campaign runs through September 24, 2013.

Campaign link: https://igg.me/p/391703/x/3071200
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PreternaturalTheMovie
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GoatMansHill

The Syfy network has been digging into this sub-genre for quite a while, which may or may not have helped keep it alive or rejuvenated it, or something. Now, Big Ass Spider! is showing at Montreal’s Fantasia 2013 with some pretty big names in the cast, which leads me to believe that Insectula! might be the genre’s biggest shot at rebirth since David Arquette’s Eight Legged Freaks.

Good news! Actually, three bits of good news. First, the Syfy network has no part in this Insectula! (and we know, while Syfy creature features are as fun as any, they’re simply horrible). Second, I just came across the wickedly classic poster for the film, which was accompanied with a press release announcing the third bit of good news: A solid date of September 1, 2013, for a finished product. The last bit of good news comes from the fact that Insectula! makers have just penned a deal with Arsenal Pictures/G-Machine for post funds and distribution.

Insectula! is written and directed by Michael Peterson and stars Arielle Cezanne, Harrison Matthews (Living Dead Girl, The Hagstone Demon), Pasquale Pilla, Sarah French (Strip Club Slasher, Shriek of the Sasquatch!, The Bitch That Cried Wolf), Yasmin Moon, Hanna Hudson, and Antonia Kurtz.

Insectual! synopsis:

A giant alien mosquito-type insect is drawn to Earth from the CO2 pollution in search of blood. Del, a government agent, loses loved ones to the creature and is on a personal vendetta while Dr. Kempler is captivated by it and attempts to help the creature cleanse the Earth.

Rock Hard \m/