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Dream Thief Dreams Of Being A Superhero On The Wednesday Run–May 15, 2013
Who doesn’t like a good “possession” story?
Yep, those sorts of ghost/demon/entity tales wherein a strange force takes over the body of a living host are where it’s at. I mean, The Exorcist, written by William Peter Blatty and directed by William Friedkin, is one of my favourite films. “Wolf in the Fold”, written by acclaimed horror author, Robert Bloch, is one of my favourite episodes of the original 1960’s Star Trek series. At their essence, those types of stories remind us that we’re not always in control of our actions; that human beings can still revert to their base, most wild forms.
But what happens when the ghost/demon/entity takes over the human host and turns him into a superhero…that kills villains?
That’s the intriguing question that today’s release of Dream Thief asks.
The Grind: Starkers Digs Deep for CineCoup
For over two months, I’ve been buried alive.
As it turns out, being buried alive is actually pretty exciting. All-consuming for sure. Back in February, when director Paul Thompson pitched me the idea for a porn-star-mom stalked by a psychotic fan, and said, “let’s make a trailer for it and try to win a million bucks”, I thought, why not? Let’s go for it! I’ve done dumber things for much less motivation.
And so we plunged into the CineCoup Film Accelerator, competing with 91 teams across Canada to earn a million dollars in funding for our feature film ideas. Making the trailer itself was an exhausting rolling disaster, with locations pulling out upon learning the subject matter, a constantly changing crew, and only Paul and producer Rick Jang’s drive to finish holding our fragile enterprise together. With only two days to go before the competition entry deadline, they finished shooting our trailer for a thriller that doesn’t exist. Paul then madly edited it together, the first of what would turn out to be many marathon sessions with Final Cut Pro and a case of Coca-Cola.
Since then we’ve made countless videos, one a week, for two months. We’ve pitched our team. We’ve talked about the importance of soundtrack, post-sound and colour correction, relatively cheap tricks that give your film so much character. We’ve made posters for people to vote on (and a ridiculous ad-man noir vid as a very silly companion piece). We’ve made a silent(ish) sequence, with no dialogue, delving into our characters in a short but moving vignette. And it doesn’t stop there.
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Biff Bam Pop Exclusive: The Rob Zombie Interview Part 2
Yesterday we had part one of our two part exclusive interview with the one and only Rob Zombie, the brilliant director behind The Lords Of Salem, opening this Friday. You can check that out here. Today, we finish of our discussion with a look at Rob and music – using it in film and making it himself (Rob’s new album, Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor is out April 23rd). Check out the song that is used to haunting degree in Lords of Salem and then read away!
Biff Bam Pop Exclusive: The Rob Zombie Interview Part 1
This Friday sees the release of director Rob Zombie’s sixth film, The Lords of Salem. Having seen the film at its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival back in September, I can tell you that, in my opinion, Lords is Zombie’s greatest achievement yet. You can read our review here to get an idea.
I make no bones about being a huge Rob Zombie fan, so you can imagine my excitement when I had the chance to talk to the director about his latest film, the creative process, his music and much more. On the phone, Zombie is a friendly, welcoming guy to talk to. You can tell that not only is he a creator, he’s also a fan of pop culture in all its various forms. He’s also given Biff Bam Pop a lot of support over the last year, putting our interview with Lords actor Dee Wallace on his own homepage. On that note, check out the trailer for The Lords of Salem and then jump right into the first part of our interview with the one and only Rob Zombie.
The Premiere of Rob Zombie’s The Lords of Salem
Andy Burns: I was at the premier of Lords of Salem in Toronto and as a guy that’s a big fan of yours, I was pretty eager to see what you’d come up with. So I’m wondering, when your film is screened for the first time, do you get excited at all? I always kind of view you as a pretty laid back guy. Do you get nervous?
Rob Zombie: I don’t get sort of anything. I don’t get excited or anything. I mean, I want people to see it, obviously. I wouldn’t make it if I didn’t. But I don’t get excited like, I can’t wait to show it. And I don’t really get nervous, like “oh, what if people don’t like it”. You just kind of show it and see where it goes.
Andy Burns: It kind of is what it is, eh?
Rob Zombie: It is what it is. I think if I was newer to this I would have a different reaction. But now this is my sixth movie, plus all the music I’ve done, I’ve gotten used to the fact that it doesn’t matter. Everybody has a different opinion, everybody’s opinions change. I find it funny. With House of 1000 Corpses, the first movie I did, now that movie is beloved, everybody loves it. “I love that movie, that’s the best one.” When that movie came out, everyone hated it. Hated it! Like it was the worst film they’d ever seen. Now everyone loves it! That’s why it doesn’t matter. Same thing with people who say, “you should get back together with White Zombie, those records kick ass.” Really? Cause back then everyone just fuckin’ hated them! So it’s just like, time changes everything. I figure, no matter what goes on, it doesn’t matter.
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Exclusive Interview: Biff Bam Pop Talks To Legendary Director Don Coscarelli About John Dies At The End
When it comes to horror directors, Don Coscarelli is among the leading lights of the last thirty years, having created certifiable classics with the Phantasm series, The Beastmaster and, of course, Bubba Ho-Tep. Coscarelli’s latest work is John Dies At The End, which hit DVD/Blu-Ray on April 2nd. Just a few days prior to its release, Don was in Toronto at Anchor Bay Canada’s headquarters to talk to Biff Bam Pop about the film, his creative process and much more. Check out the trailer for John Dies At The End below and then watch our exclusive interview with Don Coscarelli after the jump!
No Rest for the CineCoup’ed
Two more weeks down, and twenty-five more teams have exited the CineCoup contest. I’ve been blogging about being part of Team Starkers in the CineCoup Film Accelerator, a grueling socially-driven contest to award one three-person team $1 million to make their feature film. We started at ninety-one teams from all over Canada. Now there’s fifty-seven. And this weekend they’re voting on the Top 40, so another seventeen teams will be shown the door.
The competition’s been heating up, and the best teams are definitely raising their game to earn a shot at that Cineplex money. There were two challenges to deliver over the past few weeks. The first was to create two possible movie posters for your film. I was surprised to see how professional and well designed the results were, once again showcasing the talent so many of these teams possess. There’s a great gallery of all the posters you can check out on Pinterest. (You can still vote for your faves, if you click on the images, taking you through to each poster’s CineCoup page.)
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In the Thick of It: Duking It Out for CineCoup
Two weeks ago I wrote about taking the plunge on the CineCoup Film Accelerator, making a trailer for Starkers, a feature-to-be in the hunt for $1 million in Cineplex funding. We’re definitely swimming in the deep end; no water-wings for the teams competing from all over Canada. When the contest opened there were ninety-one teams. Now there’s eighty-two. Fourteen days, and attrition has set in.
We’ve done two Mission Videos already in that time. Every Sunday, the CineCoup teams scramble to get a video in by midnight, which appears for public viewing starting the following Monday at 9pm. The first Mission Video was a “power trio” vid, giving each team a chance to introduce their members. Teams leapt at the chance to unleash their pent-up creativity. Check out the the three top videos so far after the jump!
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Dear John…And A Constantine #1 On The Wednesday Run – March 20, 2013
Dear John,
It’s not me, it’s you. That’s the only explanation I can come up with for the current state of our relationship.
We’ve known each other for a long time now – very nearly thirty years – sharing tears and laughs and smokes and pints of ale together, but things haven’t been right between us for a while now, have they? Sure, there were good times, and I’ve told you about those days on a number of occasions. But lately, it feels like you’re not even here, never present the way I want you to be present. There have been some pretty dark times. None more so than last November. I won’t go into it now. I know you remember.
That November day hurt me, John. But I know, deep down inside your seemingly callous exterior and your mischievous, plotting habits, I know that it hurt you, too.
But hope springs eternal, doesn’t it? And this day, March 20, perhaps coincidentally the first day of spring, I still have hope for our us…
