Dead Box

BREAKING NEWS! Midnight Syndicate's "The Dead Matter" was picked up by RedBox on October 23rd and is now available there for a limited time!

This is a really exciting development for an independently distributed film! The movie is also now available through Amazon and iTunes as well. Midnight Syndicate has a complete list of these at www.thedeadmatter.com/buydvd.htm.

Do you part supporting indie horror and spread the word!

Terror Vortex

Here's the teaser trailer for the upcoming film from our good friend, Christian Ackerman. We loved his first effort, WISCONSIN PROJECT X, and TERROR VORTEX is looking like it has upped the horror ante with its sleek production values!

Blood Rites

Just wanted to give a shout-out to an indie production company that has its severed head on straight: UNFILTERED ENTERTAINMENT. These folks are serious about making quality independent features (you may recall they joined Drive-In of the Dead's ZombiNation after their excellent WAKE THE WITCH), and their latest, BLOOD RITES, is no exception. Look for a review of the film at the Drive-In in the coming weeks - and while you wait, check them out on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Blood-Rites-2012/210787642339831?sk=app_190322544333196

Prescription Filled

From the good folks at Prescribed Films:

This looks totally rad...

http://prescribedfilms.wordpress.com/

Night Shift

Thought I'd pass along a press release from Fighting Owl Films about THE NIGHT SHIFT, a film we featured at the Drive-In last year. We knew a good thing when we saw it - and now here it is on DVD!

“THE NIGHT SHIFT” RELEASED ON DVD

Fighting Owl Films is pleased to announce that the family-friendly supernatural-adventure-comedy “The Night Shift” received North American DVD distribution by R-Squared Films on October 25. The film has been met with critical acclaim and a positive response from fans. The Night Shift is currently available at Amazon.com ( http://www.amazon.com/Night-Shift-Khristian-Fulmer/dp/B005ER6SLY/ref=sr_1_5?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1313892351&sr=1-5), Walmart and many other retailers.

“The Night Shift” is a supernatural-adventure-comedy about Rue Morgan, the undead night watchman at Pinewood Oaks Cemetery. Rue, along with his buddy Herb, a limbless corpse, spends his nights trying to keep the cemetery’s cantankerous residents in, and his days dreaming of a date with hard-nosed day-shifter, Claire. It’s an okay afterlife until a scourge of supernatural occurrences leaves Rue not only watching the cemetery, but also watching his back!

To stay abreast of the latest updates, please become a fan of Fighting Owl Films on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fighting-Owl-Films/73399032976). For more information, trailers, downloads, photos and cast information, please visit www.thenightshiftmovie.com.

Ack!

Got an update on upcoming projects from our good filmmaking friend, Christian Ackerman. It involves zombies - so you know we had to report on it! Here's what he had to say:

"I'm planning on making another zombie movie, working title "Christian Ackerman's Zombies of the Living Dead" it will be like a way better and scarier "Zombie SpooF" and right now I'm working on a little film called "Terror Vortex" a psychological thriller. "Terror Vortex" is a movie I'm making on a small Kodak Zi8 handy cam that shoots in HD 1080p. I've adapted two wide angle lenses and a telephoto lens with focus pull to it. I'm just doing it to see if I can make a movie all on a small camera. It's like a test and if successful it will be coming out soon to the public. I just don't know when. My wife and I are expecting a new addition to our family. First time Mom and me first time Dad, so excited. That's my next project you can say ha ha. Then, junior will end up in Dad's movies for sure!"

We were seriously impressed with Christian's debut effort: WISCONSIN PROJECT X, so we're definitely looking forward to whatever depravity he comes up with next!

http://www.fastcoastproductions.com/

AZM4 Update

A MESSAGE FROM TED V. MIKELS

Hello my dear friends: Thought it might be time to let you know what is happening. ASTRO ZOMBIES M4: INVADERS FROM CYBERSPACE is well under way!

Editing goes on until the wee hours every morning, both in Las Vegas, and Daytona Beach Florida, but the final story is taking shape. The Astro Zombies on their planet MOZORTSA- V are making a dramatic departure for planet earth through cyberspace as their planet is on an unavoidable collision course with asteroid XTG467.

The volunteering ASTRO ZOMBIES are causing death and destruction in all major corners of the earth using laser energy, hoping to force eartth's citizens to accept their presence. As always, the populace from Germany, England, Japan, Spain, Australia, and the United States fight desperately against these cybersapce marauders who have infiltrated our entire internet systems. San Francisco, California, New York City, Portland Oregon, Daytona Beach Florida, face destruction.

Gary Lester, my First Assistant Director, is utilizing all the current tricks of the trade in creating totally believable visions of carnage and destruction.

Homeland security personnel, our President, even with the help of our military, seem powerless to stop this cyberspace barrage. Richard Lester, my Associate Producer with Blue Heron Films, works diligently to help keep our international production units in total communication. Our Actors and Actresses have created a superb degree of credibility in making this latest of my Astro Zombie movies highly entertaining. Look for it by October this year. At this time, International Distribution is not set.

Even throughout my editing period, I answer hundreds of e-mails from individual senders, I love hearing from all of you.

Your friend and dedicated film-maker,

TED V. MIKELS

Available X

Just received this message from independent filmmaker Christian Ackerman regarding his terrific zombie film: WISCONSIN PROJECT X, which we featured here at the Drive-In late last year. Check it out:

As of now, my horror film "Wisconsin Project X" is available on demand!

As of May 1st 2011, Bound By Blood, Die Cheerleader Die, and WI Project X are now available on VOD with the following cable/Satellite/IPTV operators, but for Verizon FiOs, these programs will start on 5/11. This list is sorted in descending order with affiliates with the largest VOD subs at the top. Note that CCSA refers to a consortium of cable companies based in Canada. For Verizon FiOs, these programs will start on 5/11 and will be carried for 150 days.

For List of providers: http://www.angelfire.com/film/acksflicks/wpxondemand.html

The main message to push here is that these titles are now available On Demand starting May 1st and will run for 90 days with the following operators: Verizon FiOs (5/11 and for 150 days), Charter, AT&T U-Verse, Rogers (Canada), Dish VOD, Mediacom, Cogeco (Canada), Suddenlink, RCN, Eastlink Communications (Canada) and Bresnan. There isn't really a channel per se. It's going to be the OnDemand Channel for whatever operator. Most remotes now have a button that say "on demand" and it immediately takes you to the correct channel for the operator. In many cases it's going to be channel 0 or channel 1 or channel 1000. But it could be different throughout the country.

Thank you and let me know if you have any questions.

Christian Ackerman

400

For our 400th post here at Drive-In of the Dead, we're honoring one of those goofy schlock-fests that we love so much: BELA LUGOSI MEETS A BROOKLYN GORILLA. A weird little movie that features our main man Bela, this was billed as a horror/comedy - but it's really just a comedy (and a not very funny one at that). Cashing in on the goofy Jerry Lewis team-ups with Dean Martin, this film tries to capture that vibe with mixed results. This one's worth checking out for the gorilla scenes alone - but probably won't be remembered as one of Lugosi's greatest...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bela_Lugosi_Meets_a_Brooklyn_Gorilla

Moon Zombies

#9...#9...#9...

Check out this cool little feature from Darkstone Entertainment: a live feed from the set of their latest independent feature - PLAN 9 (a remake of the Ed Wood, jr. cult classic PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE). Visit their official website and then check out their production broadcast, which will have a daily Vlog from Director John Johnson as well as on occasion have a live feed from the production set! So tune in when you can and see the PLAN 9 remake being made LIVE!

http://plan9movie.com/index2.html

http://plan9movie.com/live_feed.html

Lights! Camera! Lights...

So with any spare time on the weekends, I've been chipping away at some scenes for Drive-In of the Dead's first foray into film. While I feel that it's all coming together nicely - I have learned that when working on a low budget (which is to say 'no budget') production, it's all about the lighting. I don't have big studio rigs to light my scenes, and have to work within the confines of my camera - knowing the limitations of your equipment is half the battle. What I'm shooting on is a pretty basic camera that doesn't hold up well in low-light environments, so finding a way to creatively light scenes while still telling the story I want to tell is a challenge (sometimes a frustrating, extremely time-consuming challenge). Some shots have had to be put off until much later in the day than I anticipated so I could use the low light of dusk - and don't even get me started on filming with snow! Some scenes I had shot over the winter had to be completely re-done because there was so much glare from the huge piles of snow outside (now thankfully gone!)

As we near the end of production, I'm grateful for all I've learned on this crazy experience - from the frustrations of relying on your spouse to run the camera when she really wants no part of it, to enlisting my 7-year-old as an assistant director, to building sets and staging scenes, to spending countless hours in front of a computer screen editing it all together, to waiting for the sun so the light is just right...it's all part of the magic of movies that most people don't even consider when they pop in a DVD from Netflix. I've always had an appreciation for how movies are made - but now that appreciation is on a whole new level.

More to come...

What Happens In Vegas

Just received an e-mail from ASTRO-ZOMBIES M4 producer Richard Lester in which he let drop a few interesting bits of info regarding legendary cult director Ted V. Mikels' latest Astro-Zombie movie. Here's what he had to say:

TVM Global Entertainment, in association with Blue Heron International Pictures, announced today that Ted V. Mikels' latest movie, Astro Zombies M4: Invaders from Cyberspace, is almost finished filming in Las Vegas. "We have three more scenes and a few pick-up shots to do here, and then we concentrate on second units in California, Oregon, Barcelona and Berlin," said Mikels from his Las Vegas studio. "Production in Florida, Tokyo, and New York City has been completed."

"I can assure you that the Astro Zombies are wreaking havoc and creating sheer terror throughout the world," said assistant director Gary Lester, who was in Las Vegas last week assisting Ted V. Mikels with principal cinematography. "Rumor has it that San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge will soon become a cinematic casualty." Only Ted V. Mikels knows, however, and he is not telling. "However, I will say that the people in California and Berlin better watch out," said Mikels. "They are in the direct path of an Astro Zombie invasion next month!"

Still Collapsing

Checked in with the Iowa-made zombie movie 'Collapse' to see how close this undead beast is to being finished. According to Jason Bolinger, the film's co-director, 'Collapse' has wrapped on principal photography, been edited, went through the color correction process, and is currently having a score written for it. No word yet on when a release date will be or if the film will be playing on any big screens (or in any festivals), although we have learned that 'Collapse' has attained foreign distribution through Fabrication Films and that they are working diligently on acquiring distribution stateside. As always, when we learn more about this ultra-cool zombie flick, you'll be the first to know. Until then, here's the plot for you in a nutshell:

The normal worries of a struggling small town farmer are blown away when the world is suddenly overrun by undead monsters. How can a good man protect and provide for his family in a hostile world without becoming a monster himself?

Production Update

So things are still moving forward on Drive-In of the Dead's first cinematic endeavor. Moving forward - but seemingly at a snail's pace. I'm not really one for putting the cart before the horse (like doing poster art before there's even a movie to promote); but this production is definitely at the whim of the weather, and mother nature simply isn't cooperating. So now it's practically April and we are a full month behind schedule of where I had hoped to be at this point. Our first teaser trailer is about 75% finished, but most of that was done in the month of February in a freezing (sometimes below freezing) garage.

Now we've come to a point where we simply have to have warmer weather - and no snow! - for the two and a half minute trailer to be completed. In other news, the trailer has thus far been assembled on an IBM computer using Microsoft's woefully inefficient MovieMaker program. Once that is at last completed, I have invested in a refurbished Apple G5 computer that's equipped with Final Cut Pro for the actual movie when we get to that point. I'm pretty excited about this development (I'm an Apple kind of guy) and can't wait to dig in to all the G5 has to offer. However, since the trailer was started on my PC, I feel like I should finish it there - no sense re-doing it all over! So hooking up the Apple for good will just have to wait. Sigh...

I will admit that the art for the above mentioned teaser poster turned out pretty darn good. I'm pleased with how it all came together in Photoshop, besides the fact that even THAT project had to be shot around the huge piles of snow here in Minnesota! The only other thing I have to report is that I've drawn up some official Drive-In of the Dead release forms to hand out to actors, extras, and crew so they can sign on the dotted line and make their effort on our project official. I hope to get the last few shots I needed wrapped up this weekend - it's supposed to be in the 50's on Saturday! - and then do some minor editing and tweaking to the trailer before it makes its debut.

Stay tuned...

Blood Eagle

This week's featured film: 'Experiment 519' was a unique, enjoyable take on the zombie genre by Blood Eagle Productions. We are very excited to be featuring this film's trailer on our big screen and recommend visiting Blood Eagle's website to see how you can get a copy of the film. For a low budget production, 'Experiment 519' has a lot of heart and definitely entertains.

We were impressed with what Blood Eagle was able to put together with this production on what was almost certainly a minimal budget - and we are definitely looking forward to what this indie film studio comes up with next (if their first feature film is any indication, we see big things ahead for these guys!) Stop by and check it out and get yourself a dose of 519!

http://bloodeagleproductions.com/

Quote of the Day

"It takes your guts and your entrails and your soul to make a film. It takes everything you possess within you."

--Ted V. Mikels

FOF

Check out progress on 'The Night Shift,' the first feature length film from the Alabama indie film studio: Fighting Owl Films. Work began on this picture in the summer of 2010 - and the story is based on a short film of the same name that was produced in 2009 that met with some good reviews. Inspired by the positive feedback, Fighting Owl decided to make it their first feature film. To learn more, visit:

http://fightingowlfilms.com/about.html

Wisconsin Project X

Cool news from one of the very first independent films we featured here at the Drive-In. Filmmaker Christian Ackerman's unique take on the zombie genre: 'Wisconsin Project X' has landed a distribution deal with Brain Damage Films, with a release date set for July 5, 2011! (And look for a mention of Drive-In of the Dead on the film's bonus documentary that will be included. Groovy!)


I've also been told that WPX may be included in the upcoming B-movie Celebration Film Festival. All great news for the little coffee-fueled indie film that could. My congratulations go out to Christian Ackerman and his cast and crew of WPX. We'll be sure to report more news as we hear it about 'Wisconsin Project X' as we near the release date this summer. Stay tuned!

http://www.angelfire.com/film/acksflicks/wpx.html

Get Your Fix

This week's featured presentation is extra groovy for me as it involves a film made by my good buddy Michael Heagle. A local legend in indie circles and a true gentleman in every sense of the word (for God's sakes don't tell him I said that!) I've known Michael for the better part of a decade - he was once my instructor in school and has been a mentor and confidant ever since. One of the things I dig about Michael - and his films - is that he has a uniquely skewed sense of humor. It sometimes feels like a challenge to be around the guy because you're always feeling like you need to keep up intellectually (don't tell him I said THAT either - I can sense his ego inflating as I type this...)

His film 'Planetfall' is a good example of taking a larger-than-life plot and making it come alive with almost no budget. He's one of those rare individuals who's able to realize a nifty idea with simply a camera, some Goodwill army fatigues, and plenty of ambition. I encourage you to check out his film - if not just for its truly independent spirit, then for my cool cameo I did as an alien in the space bar scene. That's right: I was fortunate enough to be able to visit the set for one day of shooting - and even got to dress the part (I'll leave it to you to guess which bar denizen I am). For more info about Michael and 'Planetfall,' visit:

http://www.michaelheagle.com/media/planetfall/