Uncork'd Entertainment recently announced that they've acquired the horror drama "Exit to Hell" formally "Sickle". The film stars horror icon Kane Hodder(Friday the 13th, Hatchet)and co-stars Tiffany Shepis (Nightmare Man, Dark Reel) and Rena Riffel (Showgirls, Mulholland Dr.) "Exit to Hell" hits VOD in early November and DVD early next year.
For more information on this film, you can visit the film's official website at: http://www.sicklemovie.com/
Press Release:
Uncork’d Entertainment has inked North American V.O.D., digital and home entertainment rights to the rough and rugged horror drama EXIT TO HELL (previously titled Sickle). EXIT TO HELL was written, directed and produced by Robert Conway and Funhouse Features producers David Friedman, Justin Anderson and Executive Producer Anthony Casanova. EXIT TO HELL is expected on VOD in early November and DVD in early 2014. Uncork’d Entertainment’s Keith Leopard made today’s announcement.
“Robert Conway and his producers truly understand the depth and cinematic history of this genre,” remarked Leopard, “and it’s all on the screen. Having iconic actor Kane Hodder adds another layer to this film that I’m certain will thrill a huge audience throughout the U.S. and Canada”
“Speaking for all of us here at Funhouse, we are very excited to be releasing EXIT TO HELL through Uncork’d Entertainment,” added Conway. “Much has changed in the world of home video distribution and Keith understands the shifting marketplace. The company embraces streaming VOD services such as iTunes and Xbox as well as the kiosk vendors who have largely replaced the traditional brick and mortar outlets. To put it simply, we know that our film is in good hands and we expect that EXIT TO HELL is merely the first of many titles we will release through Uncork’d.”
After robbing a mafia run strip club, a naïve group of thugs head for the border to enjoy their bounty. But when they enter the remote and wind-swept town of Redstone, they gruesomely discover that revenge is all in how you slice it. Kane Hodder (Friday the 13th, Hatchet) takes the title role as Sheriff Slade Sickle, a man with an abiding appetite for justice! EXIT TO HELL co-stars Tiffany Shepis (Nightmare Man, Dark Reel) and Rena Riffel (Showgirls, Mulholland Dr.) in this carnage-filled tribute to American Grindhouse cinema.
Season of Darkness LLC has send us over the first productions stills and information regarding the upcoming film "Season of Darkness". The film is the latest film from director Jay Woelfel and stars Richard Hatch (“Battlestar Galactica), Tiffany Shepis (Night of the Demons) Tim Thomerson (Trancers, War Wolves) and Nick Baldasare(Beyond Dream’s Door, They Bite). "Season of Darkness" is tenitively set for release next year.
Director Jay Woelfel (Closed for the Season) returns to horror with a psychological tale of mistaken identity. Woelfel’s Season of Darkness is a story that focuses on a protagonist who is an escaped mental patient. He finds his release daunting and strange. Once free, the public believes Dwight is actually a successful motivational speaker named Artemus Finch. Unsure of what is real and what is imagined, Dwight eases into his new role as Finch. But, there is a price to pay for Dwight’s new fame and loving wife.
Shades and faceless figures pursue him at every turn and they threaten Dwight’s love for Ellen. Will Dwight succumb to madness, or will he face his troubles head on?
Season of Darkness stars Richard Hatch (“Battlestar Galactica), Tiffany Shepis (Night of the Demons) Tim Thomerson (Trancers, War Wolves) and Nick Baldasare as Dwight (Beyond Dream’s Door, They Bite) in a classic tale of horror. To pay homage to past tales of the macabre, Season of Darkness was exclusively shot on 35mm film to enhance the dark and moody atmosphere of the film. This is a tale of true psychological horror few will forget.
The film’s logline:
“Dwight Stroud, a mental patient, escapes from an asylum seeking true freedom only to find horrifying insanity in the outside world.”
Director/writer: Jay Woelfel.
Producer: Lawreen Yakkel.
Cinematographer: Scott Spears.
Makeup/special effects: Brian Spears, Peter Gerner, Beki Ingram and John Ellis.
Cast: Nick Baldasare, Amanda Howell, Tim Thomerson, Richard Hatch and Tiffany Shepis.
*this title is the most recent collaboration between Emmy Award winning collaborators: Jay Woelfel and Scott Spears.
The Frankenstein Syndrome Year: 2011 Director:Sean Tretta Stars: Tiffany Shepis, Patti Tindal, Louis Mandylor MPAA Rating: Not Rated Studio: MTI Home Video Running Time: 90 Mins
Normally when your truly reviews independent horror, I don’t have much anticipation for the most of the films. But with this film, it was different. The film stars one of my favorite horror actresses, Tiffany Shepis. After watching “Nympha” and The Violent Kind, I was excited for this film.
“The Frankenstein Syndrome” follows Elizabeth Barnes, a young stem-cell researcher, who joins a top secret group that is looking for a serum that heals everything. During her research, she develops a serum that can brings the recently deceased back to life. But the serum has it’s side effects, as it makes that person mentally unstable. When a guard is murdered at the research facility, Barnes and her team resurrects him. Once resurrected, the man starts to exhibit childlike behavior. Soon he something much more violent than ever before. Barnes must find a way stop him and his behavior, before she becomes his next victim.
What happens when you take the elements of Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein and mix them with stem cell research. The end result is a surprisingly good movie.
This one of those horror films, where it was about the story and not about slashing people to generate scares. The direction here was handled very well. If your going to have a film that is influenced by “Frankenstein”, then it has to be dark. Writer/Director Sean Tretta does a very good job making the tone very dark. He’s able to generate the tone of the film, from the way the film was directed. The scenes never gave you a sense that its going to end well for any of the characters, including the main character. That’s what makes this very dark and makes you feel like your watching a medical horror film that also feels like a well executed chamber drama. Tretta also does a very good job with the way that he directs the acting. The acting here was very good. I liked, how he makes sure that the performances are dark and dreary. It’s doesn’t make you want to like any of these characters.
Also I thought, Tiffany Shepis and Patti Tindall did a very good job making their performances work. They made their characters dark and interesting. In films like these, the performances have to be good or else your in for a long boring film. These actresses did a very good job in making their characters interesting and dark. There’s also a few scenes, where these actresses also did a very good job making the exchanges between their characters work. It’s good chemistry with lead actors that make dramatic scenes work and keep your interest with the film.
Tretta’s screenplay combining the elements of Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein to the controversial topic of stem cell research to create an interesting story. He uses the topic stem cell research as an element to the story, instead of trying to be preachy about the pros and cons of this controversial research. It makes it feel like a movie and not the debates of this controversial subject. The other thing that I like about this, the way that Tretta tells this story. He tells from the point of view of Shepis’ character. By having the film being told through the FBI interview, your getting the story from the main character‘s point of view and negates the topic from becoming a major factor in the story.
By far, “The Frankenstein Syndrome” does not try to be a ripoff of the original “Frankenstein”. Instead. this is very horrifying medical horror film with very good lead performances and good direction from Sean Tretta.
MTI Home Video recently announced that they have acquired Sean Tretta's new film, "The Frankenstein Syndrome" starring scream queen Tiffany Shepis and slated it for release in July.
Press Release
MTI Home Video, the premier studio for independent filmmakers, has just acquired THE FRANKENSTEIN SYNDROME from American World Pictures for a July 5th DVD release.
The film was written, directed and produced by Sean Tretta (The Great American Snuff Film, Death of a Ghost Hunter, and The Death Factory Bloodletting) and was produced by and stars Tiffany Shepis (Nightmare Man, Night of the Demons). Also starring are Louis Mandylor (My Big Fat Greek Wedding), Patti Tindall (The Graves), Scott Anthony Leet (Freeway Killer), and film veteran Ed Lauter (The Longest Yard, Seabiscuit).
The film is a modern re-imagining of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, wherein a beautiful young stem-cell researcher, Elizabeth Barnes (Shepis) joins a secret research group attempting to develop a stem-cell based universal healing serum. Despite opposition from the project leaders Marcus Grone (Mandylor) and Dr. Victoria Travelle (Tindall), she quickly develops a serum that can bring the dead back to life - but with horrific results. Distraught, Elizabeth tries to leave the project, but the project's financier (Lauter) orders Marcus to hold the research team captive until their research is complete. When one of the project's security guards (Leet) is murdered and then re-animated, the team must contend with a man who at first is like a child, but quickly becomes something much, much more...
· Winner - Best Actress, Best Actor (Dark Carnival Film Festival) · Winner - Best Feature, Director, Screenplay, Actor, and Supporting Actress - (Oklahoma Horror Film Festival) · Official Selection - (Dark Woods)· Official Selection - (Motor City Nightmares) · Official Selection - (Phoenix Film Festival) · Official Selection - (Frightnight Film Festival) · Official Selection - (Gorezone Int. Film Festival) · Official Selection - (Weekend of Fear Film Festival) · Official Selection - (HorrorHound Convention 2011)
Shepis and Tretta will be in Indianapolis this weekend to promote the film at the Midwest's largest horror event, Horrorhound Weekend (March 25-27, 2011). A screening will be held on Saturday, March 26th.
In the meantime, here are some stills from the film courtesy of MTI Home Video
Live Evil Year: 2009 Director: Jay Woelfel Studio: MT Entertainment Stars: Tim Thomerson, Mark Hengst, Osa Wallander MPAA Rating: Not Rated Running Time: 96 Mins Official Website: http://www.liveevilthemovie.com/
“Live Evil” is a film that I’ve been kind of looking forward for two reasons. First, I saw the trailer to this film and thought it looks like some b-movie fun and it had Tim Thomerson of Trancers fame playing a badass. Going into this my thinking was, it has to be one of those mindless film that I would enjoy. Right?
The film is about a cowboy priest with a samurai sword, who is on a quest for revenge against a vampire clique. The clique also has some problems, as they a caught up in a underground civil war as groups of vampires are fighting over blood, as there’s a shortage in the blood supply due to most of the blood being contaminated with drugs, cigarettes and anything that changes the blood. Soon everything leads to a bloody climax, in which no one might walk out of. The film also features cameos from Ken Foree (Dawn of the Dead, Rob Zombie’s Halloween) Tiffany Shepis (the upcoming “Night of the Demons” remake, Nympha) and Ellisa Dowling.
“Live Evil” is one of those films that you just back and enjoy. Writer/director Jay Woelfel does a very good job making this, a fun one to watch. The reason for that was how Woelfel paces this film. He does a good job moving the action along, as it didn’t get bogged down or just pain boring. That’s what makes B-movies like this entertaining. Woelfel also does a good job making the performances good enough to make this fun. I liked how especially how he directs Tim Thomerson here, as his preacher character. The character reminded me a little bit of Jack Deth from the Trancers films, in which Thomerson played. Woelfel also does a good job developing chemistry between the four actors and actresses, who play the vampires, are being chased by the preacher. They did a very good job making the characters entertaining, as it added to the film’s campiness and made the story fun to follow.
Woelfel also did a respectable job with the screenplay. One of the reasons why this screenplay works, the film doesn’t take itself too serious especially with the film’s dialogue. It’s cheesy, but it’s the kind of cheesy dialogue that makes a film like this fun, instead of annoying. A film like this can’t try and take itself too serious or else it ends up unwatchable. That’s why I enjoyed this. The other reason was the way that Woelfel develops the preacher character, as I really dug that character. The backstory explains the reason why he acts like a loner. He also develops the reason why the preacher wants to get rid of these vampires that he’s been stalking, through the character’s backstory. In film like this, the main character must be likeable or else the movie is just plain awful. Thankfully, it wasn’t the case here, as the character was badass.
“Live Evil” is a bloody and fun vampire film that packs a lot of action and gore.
The film is available and Video on Demand (Check your local cable provider) and it will hit DVD on February 23rd.
Dark Reel Director: Josh Eisenstadt Studio: North American Motion Pictures / Barnholtz Entertainment Stars: Edward Furlong, Lance Henriksen, Tiffany Shepis MPAA Rating: R Running Time: 108 Mins. Official Website: http://www.darkreel.com/
Going into this film I wanted to see “Dark Reel”, only because one of my favorite scream queen, Tiffany Shepis. Never did I expect that the film would be this good, especially in the acting department, when you have actors like Edward Furlong (Cruel World), Lance Henriksen (Alien Vs. Predator) and Tony Todd (Final Destination) in one film.
“Dark Reel” is loosely based on the rare crime scene footage of an unpublicized murder in 1958 of an actress named Scarlet May. The film is about B movie fan Adam Waltz (Edward Furlong), who wins a walk on role featuring scream queen, Cassie Blue (Tiffany Shepis). Thinking that everything in his life has changed, until he walks on to the set, where there’s a killer on the loose. His role in the film starts to get bigger, as a publicity stunt, when one of the actresses in murdered on the set of the film. Soon people start dropping dead, as Adam begins to realize that someone is murdering the people on the set for Publicity for this new film, as everyone involved is a suspect, in this film that costars Lance Henriksen (Aliens, The Terminator) Mercedes McNab (Buffy, Hatchet) and Tony Tood (Final Destination, Candyman).
Dark Reel is a fun and bloody B horror/mystery. One of the reasons, this was a fun film, the directing. Josh Eisenstadt’s direction was good. I liked how, he approaches this film, like a film- noir meets eighties horrors films, as it works on both levels. Even though there weren’t many death scenes, they were filmed and directed very well. I liked the fact that there was build up to each of those scenes. The scenes were bloody and gritty enough so that the effects don’t take over the scene and become too distracting and become another hack and slash film. It’s one of those things where it’s quality is better than quantity. Another thing that Eisenstadt does very well, the way he directs his actors, as I couldn’t believe that he was able to get very good performances from Edward Furlong, who has been terrible in anything that he’s done as of lately, and Lance Henriksen, who always gives the same performance, for most of his films, but not here. He also gets good performances from actors that I expect to be good in their roles. Tony Todd, whom I think gave a very good supporting performance, as it ranks as one of his best performances yet. He really knows how handle this dark material, especially in the scene where he’s talking to Henriksen’s character. That was a thing that makes film-noir type films entertaining. Also, I can’t forget to talk about Tiffany Shepis’ performance here. She’s an actress, who just keeps getting better in each film that she’s in. She really portrays the Cassidy Blue character very well, as she makes her character come off, as entertaining and film noir like. It’s roles like this and “Nympha” that are the reasons, why I enjoy watching her films.
The screenplay written by Adam Pope was the mostly good, even though there were a few flaws. The positives. One of the things that Pope did well with the screenplay was to write a story that would be fun to watch, as this film felt like something that was made in the eighties. One of the reasons that was fun, the way he treats the death scenes. The build-up to those scenes were written very well, while building some actual suspense, as you thought the killer was going to do one thing, but instead does the other. That makes the film fun and unpredictable. Another thing that made it very good, the fact that Pope does a good job developing the characters and story for most of the film. They were interesting, because the characters weren’t annoying and the story had interesting elements like the relationship that Furlong’s character was in or the supernatural and noir elements that were used to help build this mythology of Scarlet May. It made this film interesting and fun to watch.
If there was some flaws in Pope’s screenplay, they occur mostly in the last act, especially in the last twenty minutes, where the movie starts to come off the tracks, especially when the movie jumps one month later, after the events of the film. It seemed like that Pope was in a rush to get to the finish line, because there were a lot of gaps that could have destroyed the film, as there is clearly five or ten minutes missing. Don’t know if it’s in the editing room floor or was purposely done. It’s very noticeable. There is a chunk of information that is missing, from that part of the film. But it didn’t do enough damage, as there is enough good material and the fact that the film is supposed to be a slasher film.
Dark Reel is bloody entertaining noir-ish horror film that features very good performances by Edward Furlong, Lance Henriksen, Tony Todd, and Tiffany Shepis. It’s bloody fun and suspenseful film.
Nympha Year: 2008 Director: Ivan Zuccon Stars: Tiffany Shepis, Carolina De Cristofaro, MPAA Rating: Not Rated Studio: MTI Home Video Running Time: 104 Mins Official Website: http://www.ivanzuccon.com/nympha.html
Nympha is a film that I’ve personally wanted to see, since reading a review for the film on the Gorehounds United blog late last year and seeing the film’s trailer online. The film looked very shocking. Well after watching this film, this film was indeed shocking.
Nympha is a young woman named Sarah (Tiffany Shepis), an American who travels to Italy to take her vows into the “New Order” Convent. Their rules are strict to the point that you could consider it torture. Her violent path is divided into four steps that she must hear, see, touch and talk to the lord. Suring this journey that she has embarked, she begins to be frightened with vision of a young woman (Carolina De Cristofaro), whose life was ruined by religious fanatic grandfather. He believed that he had direct communication with God, but in reality, he was insane. Now that the madness begins to haunt Sarah, as she will experience the torturous madness that lies within the walls of the Convent.
Nympha is a very dark and gothic supernatural horror film. Ivan Zuccon, who directed this film, does a great job with the overall production level of the film. The film comes off as creepy and intelligent supernatural film while avoiding all the cheesiness that low-budget supernatural horror films have. His direction was very dark and gothic, which is needed for a film like this. Zuccon does that by making the images and effects dark and shocking so that it generates effective scares. I liked how he also shot this film, as it added to the dark atmosphere that Zuccon is trying to project, especially with the film’s very erotic scene with actresses Tiffany Shepis and Carolina De Cristofaro. That scene all in itself adds to the film’s gothic tone, which makes this film successful. The film also has a very good score from Richard Band (brother of Full Moon Entertainment head, Charles Band), who did the scores for such classic horror films like Re-Animator and Puppet Master. His score for Nympha helped the dark and gothic tone that the film is going for.
Ivo Guzzarrini’s screenplay of the film was very haunting. The main reason for that is that tone of the film and his story is dark throughout. It helps generates scares and makes horrified of the film’s action. The screenplay also does a good job of developing the stories of Sarah and Nympfa. It makes you connect with each of the characters, as you see how they are alike in the situation that they were in. That makes you feel horrified of what’s happening to these characters, as they both innocent. His does a good job in the backstory of the sisterhood that Shepis’s character is trying to get in. Guzzarrini does that by exploring the sisterhood’s obsession with their religion, which made them terrifying.
But the thing about this film that was so great was its lead performances from both Tiffany Shepis and Carolina De Cristofaro. This is a film that shows how far Shepis has come in her acting ability from her first film appearance in Lloyd Kaufman’s Tromeo and Juliet. Her performance is what makes this film very good. She portrays this innocence that is needed for a role like this. Shepis also makes her character very scared and terrified of what’s happening to her. She hits all of her dramatic notes very well which helps makes you feel sorry for the character’s ordeal, as this is a very hard role to pull off, which Shepis pulls off very well. Not to be out here, the film also has another very good performance from little known actress Carolina De Cristfaro. She does a very good job bringing her character Nimfa to life, as she almost steals this film from Tiffany Shepis.
Nympha is a very dark chamber drama that provides great acting and some shocking scares.
Review Rating: 5 Stars
Dvd Extras:
Behind the Scenes Bios Photo Gallery Deleted Scenes Trailers
