I've mentioned before in these virtual pages about the amazing Chris Ridenhour, composer of the scores for 28 Asylum movies to date. 28. By my figuring, that makes him the most-frequent Asylum collaborator that isn't one of the Big Three. That even trumps the versatile and prolific Mark Atkins, who has served as cinematographer on 24 Asylum flicks.
Ridenhour is pretty much the go-to guy for Asylum music, even releasing his own CD of scores (which you can find a link to above, or below.). While RIdenhour's next Asylum project has yet to be revealed (and man oh man am I crossing my fingers it's A Haunting in Salem), in the meantime Mr. Ridenhour's been getting a little bit of press, including this article from the Cape Cod Movie Examiner, in which Ridenhour is referred to, quite accurately I think, as The Asylum's Secret Sonic Weapon.
I recognize that not all great films are made exclusively by The Asylum and that, in fact, there's a whole world of film outside these walls, some of which might actually interest Asylum fans - when they're not watching or re-watching Asylum films, of course. And, being as I'm only looking out for your viewing well-being, here's a peek at some other DVD releases this month which might satiate you between Asylum releases. But remember, as always, Sweet n' Low ain't sugar.
June 7th
Exorcismus
Green Lantern: Emerald Knights
Rubber
Slices of Life
Tortured
Universal Squadron
June 14th
Battle: Los Angeles
Chained
Chatroom
Fall Down Dead
Hall Pass
Kill the Irishman
Red Riding Hood
June 21st
Black Rat
Mega Python vs Gatoroid (!!!!!)
June 28th
2012 Ice Age
starring Patrick Labyorteaux & Julie McCullough
written by Victoria Dadi & Paul SInor
directed by Trey Stokes
Dawning
Norwegian Ninja
Sucker Punch
Warehouse 13: Season 2
Enjoy!
With only a few months to go before the release of the impending horror classic A Haunting in Salem - produced by The Asylum, directed by Shane Van Dyke (Titianic II, 6 Guns) and written by Me (that's how I know it's an impending classic) - things are really starting to ramp up. Last week The Asylum released the second, more-gory wave of production stills, and this week, the film's IMDB page added another name to an already stellar cast that includes Bill Oberst Jr, Courtney Abbiati, Jenna Stone, Nicholas Harsin, Carey Van Dyke and Gerald Webb. That name? Josh Roman.
Roman started his career nearly fifteen years ago with some television roles, then took a ten-year hiatus from acting last decade, only to reappear late last year as "Elliot Snipes" in the immortal Titanic II.
In A Haunting in Salem, he'll be playing the role of "Kevin," about which I will reveal not a single thing. You'll simply have to see for yourself on August 23rd of this year when the film is released on DVD and Blu-Ray. And for those of you with 3D televisions, this one's got an extra dimension of scares.
So basically, what I mean by that convoluted title is that the purpose of this post is to recap the films The Asylum has released thus far in 2011, as well as look ahead at the rest of their slate. I figure it being June, midway through the year, now was a good time to refresh our memories on the various projects of our favorite independent film studio.
By my count, there are 14 films being released by The Asylum this year, making 2011 - if I'm not mistaken - their most prolific year to date, in regards to original productions.
The Asylum started 2011 off with a bang, releasing two films in January. The first was their foray in child-centric filmmaking, Rachel Lee Goldenberg's fun family film The Princess and the Pony, and the second was the SyFy Saturday Night premiere of Mega Python vs Gatoroid from director Mary Lambert and scribe Naomi Selfman, and starring the year's favorite duo, Tiffany and Debbie Gibson. From the disparaging themes of these two films, you just knew 2011 was going to be a fun year, and profitable: more than two million viewers tuned in for the latter's debut, and in the six months since its release, buzz has only been building. MPvG hits DVD at long last on June 21st, less than a month from now. I'm predicting a revival of enthusiasm for this one.
And as if all this wasn't more than enough, The Asylum plans to end the year, most likely, with the release of their third shark epic, the awesomely titled 2 Headed Shark Attack. No details to put out there on this one just yet, but with a title like that, what do you really need to know? It's gonna be awesome.
So there you have it, The Asylum's 2011 slate in a nutshell. It's been a rad year so far, but every indication is that the second half of the year is gonna be even better. God, this shit is rad.
Another in the Faith Films line, this apocalyptic disaster epic concerns a meteor of truly ginormous proportions headed right for Earth. Though we try to annihilate the problem by throwing all our nukes at it, this predictably only makes things worse, turning what was one massive meteor into thousands of splintered shards that rain down upon cities worldwide, beginning a wave of destruction that can only be described as "Biblical." When our hero's ("Dr. Quinn's" Joe Lando) family is herded away to quarantine by government agents, thus begins his quest within the chaos to find them. He is joined along the way by a beautiful and headstrong accomplice (the lovely and talented and Looney-nominated, here, Cooper Harris).
One thing I liked about this film right off the bat was where it began; what's typically act 3 for most meteor films - our last-ditch effort to destroy/deflect the meteor - was the launching point for this one. What follows is the real drama, how we deal with inescapable chaos. And in truth, this new situation is worse: a single, giant meteor would have wiped out all life on the planet, no questions asked; but now, like this, the planet will survive, civilizations will be decimated, yes, but life will go on for a good percentage of the population. The game then becomes to make it into that percentage, which is a far more unsettling premise than everyone being resigned to the same fate. All this is just to say Meteor Apocalypse opens tense and never lets up. It's a relentless drama and a thrilling tale of survival, determination and faith.
Joe Lando as the scientist/concerned father is a believably-gruff skeptic in the beginning, making his transformation to capable coper over the course of the film that much more hard-won and convincing. Third-billed Cooper Harris is the clear standout here: likable, relatable, and the most palpable of the characters. You feel her distress, her resolve. There's a natural ease to her performance which endears her to the audience. That, and her hotness. Audiences like hot ladies (picture a super hot, much younger Tina Fey).
Claudia Christian "Babylon 5" also stars as Lando's wife, and plays the role as a cold nag. She's not around all that much, but when she is, she works.
Overall, I found Meteor Apocalypse - written by Brian Brinkman & Micho Rutare, and directed by Rutare (writer of Dragonquest and Asylum Director of Development) - a smart film in that it's not just a straight-up astronomical disaster movie - though as one it's highly successful; the FX are awesome at depicting widespread heavenly chaos and metropolitan destruction - there's a medical-thriller aspect to this one as well, another sort of inevitable and randomly-selective killer that just throws another level of tension on the pile.
And as I've found with other entries to the Faith Films line - Countdown: Jerusalem, 2012 Doomsday, The Apocalypse - the message might be Christian, but it isn't overwhelmingly so; you want to watch this as a secular action film, you won't be distracted by theology. Think of it as a nice midway point, philosophically, between Left Behind and Armageddon.
A good time, all around, and very much so recommended.
Just a quick note today to extend birthday wishes to Asylum founding partner and executive producer David Michael Latt, a.k.a.one of the three dudes that makes every single Asylum film happen, a.k.a. one of my personal heroes.
So we here at Committed - that is, me - offer our many happy returns of the day.
I'm no studio executive, but I'm wiling to bet if I was one, and CNN Money did a story on my studio, the best-case scenario headline would be: "This Movie Studio Never Loses Money." I mean, doesn't that sound just about as good as it gets? The only thing that could make that better would be, "This Movie Studio Never Loses Money, and Cured Cancer." That's it. And who knows what the guys have planned for 2012?
Anyway, CNN Money did do a story on The Asylum, a video story, and they did title it, "This Movie Studio Never Loses Money." Check out the video here and PLEASE GOD rent or buy A Haunting in Salem when it's released August 23rd.
I know not all of my readers have been with me since the beginning, and I also know I'm a lousy tagger. The combination of these things means that there are a lost of posts that perhaps you haven't seen. That being the case, every now and again I like to post a megapost, if you will, that can catch you up with all the posts under a certain heading. This week's heading: creature features; below, please find a complete listing of every published feature to date. Enjoy!
With principal production on Dragon Crusaders - written and directed by the great Mark Atkins (Battle of Los Angeles) - already underway, I was wondering when we were going to get some cast names, and lo and behold, The Asylum has announced some over at the film's webpage.
Dylan Jones, Cecily Fay, Karl Greenwold, and Shinead Byrne are the names in question, and though they all appear to be relative newcomers - Cecily Fay was the only one I could pinpoint on IMDB, and she seems to have a background in stunt work, which is always cool - no doubt director Atkins has assembled a top-notch team for his period-set fantasy epic.
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| Cecily Fay in action. |
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Dragon Crusaders streets September 27th of this year, sandwiched between the August release of A Haunting in Salem and a probable October release for 3 Musketeers.
I'm not a fool, gentlemen. I know what brings you here, what lures you in, coaxes your hits, some of you at least. It isn't the snarky commentary, or the breaking news, the hard-hitting interviews or deep-digging profiles, no, it's not me at all, is it? I see the keywords from my Google hits, and I know a picture of a pretty lady brings in more readers than the phrase "observation notes."
Not that I can blame you: The Asylum employs a score of attractive and - more importantly - capable, intelligent and talented actresses well worthy of your search engine adoration. So, to gives my readers something I know they want and would never ask for, I tastefully present a pictorial tribute to some of The Asylum's beautiful leading ladies. Enjoy.
Amanda Ward
Alien Abduction
Way of the Vampire
Legion of the Dead
King of the Lost World
Halloween Night
Freakshow
Invasion of the Pod People
upcoming Born Bad
Amanda Barton
Jolly Roger: Massacre at Cutter's Cove
War of the Worlds
Frankenstein Reborn
Beast of Bray Road
Dead Men Walking
King of the Lost World
Hillside Cannibals
Dracula's Curse
Pirates of Treasure Island
upcoming 2012: Ice Age
Christina Rosenberg
Frankenstein Reborn
Beast of Bray Road
King of the Lost World
Dracula's Curse
The 9/11 Commission Report
Paton Ashbrook
Airline Disaster
200 MPH
upcoming Born Bad
Jennifer Lee Wiggins
Shapeshifter
King of the Lost World
Dracula's Curse
Pirates of Treasure Island
The 9/11 Commission Report
I Am Omega
Alicia Klein
The Legend of Bloody Jack
Halloween Night
Man oh man is this one shaping up to be a great film (and not just cuz I wrote it): The Asylum has released 8 new stills from A Haunting in Salem, now in post-production, and from the looks of things, this one's gonna be creeeeeepy.
Featuring cast members Bill Oberst Jr, Courtney Abbiati, Jenna Stone and Carey Van Dyke, it looks like director Shane Van Dyke and his erstwhile crew have made something destined to scare the crap out of viewers everywhere. Hop over to the film's official page on The Asylum site to see the whole, bloody set, then check back on August 23rd of this year, when A Haunting in Salem is released on DVD, Blu-Ray and Video On Demand.
This one's gonna kick your ass, believe it.
I had this post written last week, but decided to hold it until today, just in case; no one wants to enter the afterworld looking like a jackass.
As you may or may not have heard, the world was supposed to have ended this past Saturday. Obviously, it didn't, but according to this crazy nutter on the right here, the end was supposed to have begun by now (granted, it's the second time he thought that, but that's splitting hairs). He was going the rapture route, always a crowd pleaser, but in truth there have been doomsday profits of one sort or another for as long as there have been people. I thought - in lieu of crafting another rapture pitch (see The Asylum's 2012 Apocalypse, 2012 Doomsday and Meteor Apocalypse for fine examples of these) - I'd take a quick look at some other notable doomsday profits; you know, just for fun.
So there you have it, a rogue's gallery of doomsday prophets come and gone. Add these to the, like, eight times over the past 200 years the Jehovah's Witness said we were kaput, and you can see just how commonplace the apocalypse is.
So cheer up! But smoke 'em if you got 'em, cuz 2012's right around the corner, and that shit could be for real (unless of course you believe in this, in which case there's still time.)
This film is based on the same true story that inspired John Carpenter's slasher-classic Halloween: the story of a kid who witnesses the brutal murder of his mother, gets committed to an insane asylum, then escapes years later on Halloween night, no longer a kid, but instead a big, angry, murderous psycho, a hundred times worse than the creep who did in his mom. Evil is exponential, people; just sayin'.
So a tie-in of sorts, The Asylum's take involves a gang of nubile and beefy post-teens who find themselves one All Hallow's Eve as the intended targets of a homicidal psycho's reign of terror when they decide to throw a costumed bash in the psycho's old house. The requisite bloodshed and nudity ensues. And how!
A handful of Asylum old-school regulars appear in this one, including Erica Roby, Rebekah Kochan, Amanda Ward, Derek Osedach and Born Bad writer/director Jared Cohn; let's break these performances down one at a time:
Rebekah Kochan (Pirates of Treasure Island, When a Killer Calls) as female lead "Shannon" is equally sweet and sultry, straddling the line between victim and heroine like she was walking a tightrope in the circus. I like to think of her as Ashley Tisdale meets Brittany Snow, but with, you know, soul.
Erica Roby (Invasion of the Pod People, Exorcism: The Possession of Gail Bowers) plays a libidinous, confidant lesbian seductress of some experience consumed with coaxing a comely newbie, played by Amanda Ward. It's a brave and bold performance for Ms. Roby, and all nudity and girl-on-girl smooches aside, it really is the best I've seen her perform: she's powerful here, brash and curt, unapologetically empowered, and it suits her.
Ms. Ward (Legion of the Dead, King of the Lost World) as the above-mentioned comely newbie to lesbianism tackles her role with believable hesitancy, and even more believable eagerness.
Male lead Derek Osedach - an Asylum regular in front of the camera (Snakes on a Train, Pirates of Treasure Island, When a Killer Calls) and behind it (line producer on Pirates... and Dracula's Curse, second assistant director When a Killer Calls and Exorcism...) comes off a little scatterbrained and erratic, jumping in a little early on cues, but that may be his interpretation of the character and not a question of chops. To his credit, he does make the perfect too-cool-for-school dude you're dying to see...well...die.
And Jared Cohn (here billed as Jared Michaels)(Alien Abduction, Way of the Vampire) as rocker Daryll is appropriately cocksure, delightfully dopey, and gently aggressive, all while sporting a thoughtfully-nonchalant swagger and great hair. One would guess from his spirited performance that Mr. Cohn had a lot of fun with this role; I certainly had fun watching him.
Other cast standouts include Amelia Jackson-Gray, Nicholas Daly Clark, Sean Dury and Alicia Klein.
When all was said and killed, I found this film to be pretty faithful to both the root true story and the better-known cinematic version, right down to the white mask, though the killer's get-up here truthfully reminded me more of Frankenstein from Deathrace 2000 than Michael Meyers. The script (penned by Michael Gingold - Leeches - from a story by David Michael Latt) was pretty elaborate for a straight-up slasher flick, with more twists than I was expecting. The kills were inventive, the pacing adequate, and the story had a classic feel to it; I was expecting a tangential tie-in, just an excuse to get a bunch of pretty young folk naked and killed, but this film retained it's timeless feel, though with modern murder sequences to satisfy the gorehounds. Halloween Night was directed - as usual with frightening deftness - by the great Mark Atkins.
I had a lot of fun watching this one, and the ensemble cast is one of the best I've seen from The Asylum. And if all the above isn't enough to convince you to see it, perhaps my final sentence, below, will:
By the way, the topless-lesbian-vs-serial-killer-punch-out scene is one of the most awesome things I've ever seen in a direct-to-DVD film. I'm serious - it's Hall of Fame shit.
Enjoy!
As all movie buffs are aware, Cannes 2011 is wrapping up, and you better believe the fine folks of The Asylum were there pitching the goods. A media outlet called Digital Spy sat down with two of the three head honchos - producers David Rimawi and Paul Bales - for a talk on all things Asylum. Besides getting a quick glimpse at the (unreleased) posters for Born Bad and Dragon Crusaders (and also posters for those somewhat dubious alleged SyFy projects Bigfoot and Zombie Apocalypse), the interview really gives one a sense of how much fun these guys have, and how much enthusiasm they have for the films they make. It's awesome. Check out the interview right here.
