Asylum Bits and Pieces

It's been a newsworthy week for everyone's favorite independent studio, as they've turned up a couple of times in popular media. Check out these links:

CNN's Outfront Blog spoke with Asylum producer Paul Bales on mockbuster moviemaking.

Then there was this list of the Greatest Shark Attacks in Film as compiled by Complex Magazine. Not only does Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus occupy two of the 31 spots, number 29, 30, 31, come courtesy of The Asylum and yours truly, from 2 Headed Shark Attack. 


And last but certainly not least, here's Asylum producer David Michael Latt conversing with American Airlines' American Way Magazine about, you guessed it, making these wild and wonderful movies.

HAUNTING OF WHALEY HOUSE Details, Courtesy of Fangoria

The next Asylum ghostly-feature, The Haunting of Whaley House, has been shrouded in mystery until now, thanks to the most venerable of horror publications, the mighty Fangoria. In this recent post, they spill all the juicy exclusive details.
 

And while I'll let Fangoria break most of it to you, I do want to give mention of the film's writer/director Jose Prendes. Whaley House will mark Mr. Prendes' fourth script for The Asylum, and the second with "Haunting of" in the title: Haunting of Winchester House, The Terminators, Countdown: Jerusalem, and now The Haunting of Whaley House. Mr. Prendes also wrote and directed the films The Monster Man with Tom Savini and Linnea Quigley, and Corpses Are Forever with Richard Lynch, Debbie Rochon and Ms. Quigley. 

Bottom line, this one is in good, skilled hands. No release date as yet on this one, but I'm thinking somewhere closer to Halloween...

BIKINI SPRING BREAK Gets a Poster! PLUS 3 New Titles Listed!!!

From something so spectacularly titled as Bikini Spring Break, one should be able to expect a scintillatingly straight-forward poster; thank god the guys at The Asylum always deliver...

Behold:

Ta-da! One guaranteed hit, courtesy of writer/director Jared Cohn (Born Bad), The Asylum, and whoever the marketing genius is who designs their posters. I work in a really large independent video store, and with two dozen or more direct-to-DVD flicks clogging the New Release section every week, I know a standout when I see it, and believe me, this baby's gonna move.

Lead the pack yourself when Bikini Spring Break, starring Robert "Revenge of the Nerds" Carradine and a bevy of beautiful actresses, hits DVD shelves both actual and virtual on June 26th. 

But wait, there's just a little bit more. Though there's no real information on them as yet, in the Coming Soon bar in the bottom right corner of The Asylum's homepage, three new titles have been mentioned, and this only days after learning about Alien Origin and Adopting Terror: Haunting of Whaley House, Super Cyclone and Golden Winter. 

Haunting, I know, involves a real haunted location in San Diego; Super Cyclone I can hazard a guess as to what it's about, but Golden Winter has me stumped. A global-warming disaster flick? Treasure-hunting holiday fare? A truly raunchy sexcapade? Only time and The Asylum will tell, and when they do, rest assured I'll share it here. Either way, though, 2012 is really shaping up to be a massive year for everyone's favorite independent studio.

First Details on ADOPTING TERROR!

Out of nowhere comes news of the next Asylum-Lifetime Movie, Adopting Terror, set to premiere Saturday, April 7th at 9p.m. on the cable network (with a DVD release set for September 11th), and man, is this one star-studded. 

But first things first, the synopsis: "Tim and Cheryl Broadbent are excited to finally adopt Mona, a beautiful baby girl. But when the baby’s biological father starts stalking them, their world turns upside down: through intimidation, manipulation, and violence, he is determined to take his daughter back."

Sounds pretty perfect for a Lifetime movie. Now let's get to that cast: Tim and Cheryl are played by Sean Astin (ummm...Lord of the Rings, Goonies, duh!) and Samaire Armstrong (The O.C., Entourage, Dirty Sexy Money), and rounding out the ensemble are Monet Mazur (Austin Powers, Torque), Brendan Fehr (Roswell, The Forsaken) and the one and only Michael Gross (Family Ties, Tremors, 100 Million B.C.). If that ain't a powerhouse cast, I don't know what is.

Adopting Terror is written and directed by Micho Rutare, who previously wrote and directed Meteor Apocalypse and also wrote Dragonquest, the story for Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus and the upcoming Bigfoot. Co-writing credits on the script go to Nik Frank-Lehrer. 


Check out the film's page on The Asylum site here, then dig the production stills over here. And once that whets your appetite, tune in to the Lifetime Network Saturday night, April 7th at 9p.m. when Adopting Terror makes its world television premiere.

MEGA SHARK VS MECHA SHARK!!! MEGA SHARK VS MECHA SHARK!!!

Oh such a glorious day, oh how the sky is bluer, the birds singing sweeter, how every atom of my being is twitching with electrical impulses of pure happiness, for today is the day that The Asylum announced to the world the greenlighting of the most stupendous, most amazing, most anticipated trilogy capper in all of cinema history: a third Mega Shark movie!!!

But this isn't even the greatest thing about this story, no, that would be the title:

Mega Shark vs. Mecha Shark

You can't tell because you're only reading this, but I fainted for like 3 minutes after typing that title; that's how awesome this is going to be. No further details as of yet, but for now, this is more than enough. Mega Shark 3!!! 

New Asylum Tidbits

Couple new things coming out of The Asylum camp today, including the poster for Abraham Lincoln vs Zombies and the title and description of a new found-footage film.

Let's start with the poster:

That there folks is a pretty fine poster. Bill Oberst Jr. (A Haunting in Salem, Princess and the Pony, Born Bad) plays the President in question. The film is out May 29th.

Then, continuing their string of found-footage hits - The Amityville Haunting, Anneliese: The Exorcist Tapes, 8213 Gacy House, Paranormal Entity - The Asylum brings us Alien Origin this summer. These are the only details provided: "Recently discovered footage from a lost military expedition exposes a horrifying truth about the genesis of life on earth. "

The film is set to street on June 12, and should be at least a thousand times better than the second X-Files movie...

Trailer for AMERICAN BATTLESHIP Now on You Tube

The Asylum's next sci-fi outing, American Battleship, at last has a trailer posted on You Tube. Behold:

The film - written and directed by 200MPH scripter Thunder Levin - stars powerhouses Mario Van Peebles and Carl Weathers, hits DVD, Blu-Ray and VOD on May 22nd. Enjoy!

ABE LINCOLN VS ZOMBIES Teaser Trailer!!!

Just like the headline says, the teaser trailer for Abraham Lincoln vs Zombies has risen over at You Tube, and this shizzle looks AWESOME. Check it out:

That's Bill Oberst Jr (A Haunting in Salem) playing Honest Abe in a film written and directed by Richard Schenkman. May 29th...that's the day your perspective on American History shifts forever...

2-Headed Shark Attack (kinda) on SyFy Tonight!

First of all, let me state that the above is an intentionally misleading headline. 2-Headed Shark Attack, the movie, is NOT on SyFy tonight. The 2-headed shark from 2-Headed Shark Attack, however, is. Allow me to explain.

Tonight at 11pm wherever in the States you live, SyFy is premiering its new reality show, "Monster Man," in which it follows the life and work of Cleve Hall, movie-monster-builder extraordinaire. And in the very first episode, the one airing tonight, ol' Cleve builds himself a 2-headed shark for the fine folks at The Asylum.

There are not words for how excited I am to see this, but if you're on the West Coast, and you're on Twitter, you can follow my live and probably somewhat inebriated tweets during the show.

Can't wait to see how the big guy came together!

GRIMM'S SNOW WHITE on DVD Today!!!

Mirror mirror, on the wall, what the most awesome film on DVD today of all? 

A cumbersome opening, to be sure, but the long and short of it is, today, The Asylum's latest production introduces itself to the world via DVD/Blu-Ray/VOD: Grimm's Snow White.

Simply scroll down a few inches to find my notes on the film, which overall I thoroughly enjoyed as an intelligent, thrilling, fantastical twist on the fairy tale. GSW stars the lovely and talented Eliza Bennett as the titular princess, Jane March as her wicked and vain stepmother, and Jamie Thomas King as the charming Prince. 

Written by Naomi Selfman (Mega Python vs Gatoroid, 18 Year Old Virgin) and directed by Rachel Goldenberg (Sherlock Holmes, Princess and the Pony) - two of the Asylum's best, in my humble opinion - this one's a guaranteed good time, but don't take my word for it, I'm biased as hell, go see for yourself then spread the word!

observation notes: GRIMM'S SNOW WHITE

For their next release - Grimm's Snow White, on DVD this coming Tuesday - The Asylum has gotten their fingers on the classic fairy tale and given it their own personal twist, which naturally includes murder, mayhem and tremendous monsters. Dig the plot: 

When the King is killed by ferocious reptile beasts, his Queen takes control of the kingdom. She tries to kill her beautiful stepdaughter SNOW, but she escapes into the enchanted forest...

In my continuing effort to not spoil films when I review them, I won't go much deeper into the plot except to say that this ain't your little sister's Snow White, not by a long shot.

The film is anchored with vibrant performances from its leads, including Eliza Bennett as the titular princess, who tackles the role as potent yet naive, as beautiful and elegant as a princess should be, but with the hidden soul of a warrior. Jane March as the Wicked Queen is delightfully deceitful and eloquently two-faced; this lady enters a room, it goes stone cold. And Jamie Thomas in the role of the Prince is indeed charming, but more than that he is steadfast and honest, a true prince among knaves, not blinded by his privileged existence but rather impassioned by it, and eager to serve the world. 


The script, from Asylum vet Naomi Selfman, retains all the classic elements of the original story, only now with utterly-Asylum updates, most notably the inclusion of said ferocious reptile beasts, and an interesting take on the dwarfs. The result is an epic yet intimate fairy tale on steroids, its more horrifying points amped to the Nth degree. This is Snow White like you never imagined it, the antithesis to the raven-haired, doe-eyed heroine of your childhood; this is dark, brutal, and awesome.

The direction from Rachel Goldenberg, another Asylum vet, is sweeping and elegiac, as Goldenberg makes wonderful use of the beauty and inherent spookiness of the British countryside, formulating the perfect fairy tale setting. Her work, teamed with that of the VFX department - who have hit it out of the park yet again, as far as I'm concerned - creates a film perhaps best described as a period-piece creature-feature, a Merchant-Ivory flick with work from Ray Harryhausen, or The Princess Bride as written by H.P. Lovecraft.

Overall then, if you're looking for a fantastical, frightening twist on a beloved childhood treasure, this is the version for you. Check it out for yourself this coming Tuesday, the 13th, when Grimm's Snow White hits DVD.

First Stills From BIKINI SPRING BREAK!!!

The Asylum's next saucy comedy, Bikini Spring Break, written and directed by the uber-talented Jared Cohn (Born Bad), may still be months away from its June 26 release date, but as of this afternoon, we got the first production stills, and it seems the title is no tease, because there are hella-bikini-clad young ladies in this one.

Bikini Spring Break stars the great Robert Carradine (Revenge of the Nerds, The Long Riders) and a plethora of nubile actresses. Mark your calenders now, gentlemen, and pray summer comes quickly...

Behold the Teaser Trailer for NAZIS AT THE CENTER OF THE EARTH

With only six weeks or so until the release of The Asylum's next impeding classic - and candidate for best title ever - Nazis at the Center of the Earth, the film's teaser trailer has at last hit You Tube this week, for all the world to relish:

Dominique Swain, Josh Allen, Christopher Karl Johnson, and Jake Busey star for first-time director (and long-time Asylum VFX maestro) Joseph J. Lawson, from a script by writer and producer Paul Bales.


April 24th is when it all goes down, so enjoy the trailer then spread the word; this one has the wings to become the biggest Asylum hit yet!

Bikini Spring Break Details

The first few details of Bikini Spring Break went up over at The Asylum site today, and it sounds like we got a scorcher on our hands. (you know, hot, bikinis...eh.)

First and foremost, the film is written and directed by Jared Cohn, the mad genius behind Born Bad, which KILLED at this year's Looney Award, becoming the first flick to win the big 5: director, actor, actress, script and picture.

Check out the plot: A group of coeds from a small conservative college break out of their shells when their marching band bus breaks down in Ft. Lauderdale during Spring Break.

Sounds like the perfect set-up for raunchy hilarity to ensue. Also has tinges of one of my favorite flicks, Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise, which has something else in common with Bikini Spring Break...

Robert fucking Carradine.

Oh yeah, people, this is real, happening, and in production as we speak. June 26th is all goes down...be there!

inmate profile: Jamie Thomas King

In Committed's final spotlight celebrating the creative talent behind The Asylum's next DVD release - Grimm's Snow White on March 13th - we look at actor Jamie Thomas King, who will be playing the role of Prince Alexander.

King started his career, as do many UK actors, with the illustrious BBC, before landing his first movie role in Tristan and Isolde, co-starring the lovely and talented Sophia Myles, and Shakespeare's worst nightmare, James Franco. 

From there King landed a 14-episode gig on the steamy historical Showtime series The Tudors, which lead to a trip across the pond and appearances in such notable American TV shows such as "Private Practice," "Mad Men" and "CSI: Miami."

King was most recently seen in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and can next be seen (after Grimm's Snow White of course) in Storage 24, a British horror/sci-fi film.

Dude looks princely to me, but let's find out for sure on March 13th, when Grimm's Snow White comes to town...

inmate reprofile: Naomi Selfman

Continuing my pledge to spotlight the creative forces behind the impending release of the promising Grimm's Snow White, here's another inmate profile, though shrouded in a tad bit of mystery. 

Naomi Selfman, the scribe behind this impending classic, has written eight films for The Asylum, yet there's virtually no information about her online. This picture is the best I could find, and I only found that when out of frustration I Googled "mystery woman." Could be that "Naomi Selfman" is a pen name for another writer, or it could be that Ms. Selfman is just a digitally private person? Either way, the only purported sighting of her is said to come in the making-of featurette for her first script for The Asylum, the horror film Evil Eyes, but I didn't have immediate access to that when I wrote this.

Whoever she is, Ms. Selfman has time and again illustrated her ability to work across genres - be it horror, comedy, sci-fi or creature features - and turn in compelling, convincing, empathetic and exciting stories every time out. 

After Evil Eyes, Ms. Selfman took a four-year hiatus from screenwriting before contributing the story for the Faith Films epic 2012: Doomsday. Since then, it's been full-steam ahead for Ms. Selfman, writing six scripts in three years: the other raucous sex comedies 18 Year-Old Virgin and #1 Cheerleader Camp, the two biggest creature features of the last year, Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus and Mega Python vs. Gatoroid, then Barely Legal, and now Grimm's Snow White.



I've got a lot of favorites when it comes to The Asylum - that should be annoying obvious by now - and the work of Ms. Selfman is among them. As a writer, I'm envious of her versatility; as an Asylum freak, I'm excited every time her name pops up. Team her up with a director like Rachel Goldenberg, and Grimm's Snow White is oozing with promise.

Get excited with me on March 13th, when Grimm's Snow White pops up on DVD.

inmate re-profile: Rachel Goldenberg

In honor of the DVD release of Grimm's Snow White on the 13th of March, Committed has been spotlighting the creative forces behind the film, and I thought the next inmate profiled should be the director, Rachel Goldenberg, whose resume with The Asylum is ridiculously impressive.

Besides the above-mentioned and forthcoming fairy-tale revamp, Ms. Goldenberg also helmed the well-received Princess and the Pony, the delightfully steampunk'd Sherlock Holmes and the strangely catchy Sunday School Musical. But beneath these three headlining gigs are a few years crammed to the hilt with production work for our favorite studio. Dig these credentials:


First Assistant Director on: 2012 Ice Age, The 7 Adventures of Sinbad, Princess of Mars, 2012 Supernova, Mega Fault, The Terminators, Monster, Alien vs. Hunter, I Am Omega


Line Producer on: Mega Fault, Dragonquest, Countdown:Jerusalem, 18 Year Old Virgin, Death Racers, Street Racer


And as though all this wasn't enough, she also wrote and edited two of her three directed-films for The Asylum, and over the last year or so has directed a handful of shorts for Funny or Die featuring the likes of Courteney Cox, Nia Vardelos, Bryan Cranston, Eric Stonestreet et al. Girl's got more hats than a Lids Store. If The Asylum put out Wheaties boxes (I know, work with me here), Rachel Goldenberg would for sure be one of the featured.

There's no doubt Ms. Goldenberg has a bright, bright, bright future ahead of her. My only hope is that she sticks around The Asylum long enough to make a few more films. I mean, it's a little late, but I'd line up for an Asylum Sherlock sequel; just sayin'...

That date again for the release of Ms. Goldenberg's latest film, Grimm's Snow White,  is March 13th. Add it to your cues now!

inmate profile: Jane March

Continuing Committed's spotlighting of the creative talent behind The Asylum's next release, Grimm's Snow White on March 13th, we turn now to the woman behind evil Queen Gwendolyn, actress Jane March.

Another native Englander (like Eliza Bennett), Ms. March first came to the attention of cinema-goers in a pair of scintillating films, The Lover and Color of Night, in the latter opposite Bruce Willis. She was the Jane to Casper Van Dien's Tarzan in Tarzan and the Lost City, starred opposite Harvey Keitel in The Stone Merchant, and sparred with Liam Neeson as Hestia in Clash of the Titans, not to mention her many genre films like Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula, Blood of Beasts and Stalker.

With a resume like that, it's no wonder The Asylum was quick to snatch Ms. March up for the role of Queen Gwendolyn. Find out just how far she knocks it out of the park on March 13th, when Grimm's Snow White is released nationwide.

Huzzah! First Stills From Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies!

Having just wrapped production in Savannah, Georgia on their latest masterpiece, Abraham Lincoln vs Zombies, The Asylum was kind enough this evening to post the first stills from the film on their Flickr page. And in a sentiment, this looks fucking awesome.

That's Bill Oberst Jr (A Haunting in Salem) as the president in question, and from the looks of it, he was pretty smart casting. Watch these picture come to bloody life when Abraham Lincoln vs Zombies hits DVD on May 29th.

Snow White 2012: Who's the Fairest of Them All?

As I mentioned when profiling Eliza Bennett, titular star of The Asylum's next release, Grimm's Snow White, Miss Bennett is only one of four women portraying the beloved fairy tale heroine this year. Here's a look at all four, each in character. 

Eliza Bennett in Grimm's Snow White

Lily Collins in Mirror, Mirror

Kristen Stewart in Snow White and the Huntsman

Ginnifer Goodwin in "Once Upon a Time"

No real reason for this post, certainly not to compare The Asylum's Snow White to other folks'. I mean, there is no comparison, really. Lily Collins looks like the floor model of an animatronic domestic servant, Kristen Stewart - though this photo seems to indicate it's her best acting to date - is in armor for most of her flick like she was Snow of Arc, and Ginnifer Goodwin, bless her heart, looks like she thinks she's shooting an Herbal Essences campaign. While Eliza Bennett, on the other hand, stares into the camera with a pensive concern, as though she almost regrets the amount of whoop-ass she's going to have to unleash upon a horde of ferocious reptile creatures. No comparison, really.

Grimm's Snow White, on DVD March 13; the other ones, I'm not too sure...