Movies
Video Interview with ‘Birdemic’ Director Part 2, New York Premiere Announced!
Got another massive update for Severin Films’ ongoing Birdemic: Shock and Terror road show that’s taking one of the best-worst movies of all-time across the country. The film will have its New York premiere March 26-27th at the IFC Center (tickets here, more info inside), followed by a Q&A with writer/producer/director James Nguyen and actress Whitney Moore. In addition, we’re very excited to bring to you PART 2 of our ongoing interview series with director James Nguyen. Seriously guys, don’t miss a chance to catch this in a theater!
Watch part 1
Come See Entertainment Weekly’s “New, Crazy Movie Obsession” And What Videogum Predicts
“Might End Up Being The Greatest Film Of All Time“
NEW YORK, NY, March 11, 2010 – On the heels of two sold-out screenings in Los Angeles, Severin Films (http://www.severin-films.com/), in conjunction with Bloody-Disgusting.com (http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/), today announced the highly-anticipated New York City premiere of BIRDEMIC: SHOCK AND TERROR (www.birdemic.com), on March 26th and 27th at the IFC Center. Following the screening, attendees will be treated to a Q&A with writer/producer/director James Nguyen and actress Whitney Moore. Severin will transform the theater into a temporary aviary with epic displays of BIRDEMIC special effects, props and costumes that will put the Smithsonian to shame. A trailer for BIRDEMIC can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnNvBucoNSY. Fans can connect with BIRDEMIC on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/birdemic), Twitter (http://twitter.com/birdemic) and the Web (www.birdemic.com). Press can RSVP by emailing birdemic@cornerstonepromotion.com and more details about the screenings will be announced in the coming weeks.
“It is with great pleasure that Severin is aiding `BIRDEMIC’: SHOCK AND TERROR’s migration towards the East coast,” said Carl Daft, CEO and co-founder of Severin Films. “The greatest avian-based romantic thriller since THE BIRDS certainly deserves a place upon the world’s largest stage. But after watching the denizens of Los Angeles barely escape James Nguyen’s birds of terror, my question is…will Gotham survive?”
BIRDEMIC, described by Nguyen as “a romantic thriller,” is a horror/action/special-effects-driven love story about a young couple trapped in a small Northern California town under siege by homicidal birds. BIRDEMIC also tackles topical issues of global warming, avian flu, world peace, organic living, sexual promiscuity and lavatory access.
Nguyen, a 42-year-old Vietnamese refugee, wrote, cast and shot the film over the course of four years using salary from his day job as a mid-level software salesman in Silicon Valley. The film pays homage to Hitchcock’s THE BIRDS via location shooting in Mission Bay, California, as well as an appearance by star of THE BIRDS Tippi Hedren (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tippi_Hedren). When rejected for an official screening slot at Sundance, Nguyen spent eight days driving up and down the festival’s nearby streets in a van covered with fake birds, frozen blood and BIRDEMIC posters, while loudspeakers blared the sounds of eagle attacks and human screams. The tactic caught the attention of festival organizers, filmgoers and local police, as well as executives from Severin Films. Severin’s executives walked into a screening, took one look at Nguyen’s masterwork, and immediately locked up BIRDEMIC’s worldwide rights for the next twenty years. Discussions are currently underway for Severin to add an additional thirty years to the initial agreement.
About Severin Films:
Severin Films was formed in May 2006 with offices in Los Angeles and London. Hailed as “cheerfully perverse folks” by the New York Times, the label is dedicated to restoring and releasing the most provocative and controversial features from around the world for DVD and Blu-ray. Their previous successes include Enzo Castellari’s original action classic THE INGLORIOUS BASTARDS; Richard Stanley’s HARDWARE; THE SINFUL DWARF; lifetime Goya Award winner Jess Franco’s MACUMBA SEXUAL and BLOODY MOON; Walerian Borowczyk’s IMMORAL WOMEN; the unrated Director’s Cut of GWENDOLINE starring Tawny Kitaen; and Oscar
A contemporary reimagining of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story Herbert West: Reanimator is on the way, and Deadline has unveiled the first look at the new Herbert West and the pathologist drawn to his orbit.
Adam Simon (The Haunting in Connecticut, “Salem”) and Tim Metcalfe (The Haunting in Connecticut, Kalifornia) penned the script. The original screenplay and storyline come from Jade Sandberg Wallace.
Michael Grossman (“The Originals”, “Pretty Little Liars”) directs.
The new images introduce star Joseph Morgan (“Vampire Diaries“), who plays “brilliant surgeon and scientist Herbert West, who is obsessed with creating a serum to reanimate the dead.” Katie Cassidy (Speed Demon) stars opposite as the pathologist with a troubled past who joins his efforts.
Together, they prove that conquering death may be the ultimate sin against life itself.
The film’s official synopsis: “As a child, Herbert West watches his father Peter reanimate his dead mother Judith in a secret basement lab — only for Judith to mortally wound Peter and nearly kill Herbert before Peter shoots her. The trauma leaves its mark on Herbert, but so does one final image: his mother’s finger, twitching after death. Thirty years later, Herbert West is a brilliant, secretive surgeon still chasing his father’s obsession.
“Pathologist Kate Locke arrives in town and is drawn into his orbit — first through a spark at a hospital fundraiser, then through his secret lab, where he reveals a serum capable of reanimating severed tissue. Kate, hiding a dark past of her own, is thrilled rather than horrified, and moves into West’s mansion to work alongside him. Their early experiments on a cadaver succeed only briefly. West concludes that dead tissue is the problem — they need something fresher.”
Supporting cast includes Scott Aiello, Ira J Amyx, Randall Newsome, Emma Reinagal, James D. Bryce, Kathryn A Bentley, Jack Lancaster, Amy Holland Pennell, John Pierson, Mindy Shaw, Eric Dean White, Tristan Wilder Hallet, Adrienne Lamping, Aaron Crippen, and Drew Patterson.
Makeup artist Jeff Lewis (“Star Trek: Voyager,” “Star Trek: Enterprise”) and cousin Roger Lewis are heading the production via their newly established Woodlake Entertainment.
Lovecraft’s short story, first serialized in Home Brew magazine in 1922, is the first among his works to mention the fictional Miskatonic University. It was most famously adapted into a 1985 horror movie from Stuart Gordon, starring Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West.
Herbert West: Reanimator is set in Alton, Illinois, where production is now underway.
Herbert West: Reanimator. Photo credit: Matt Lief Anderson
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