Movies
Comic Con ’11: ‘The Darkest Hour’ Will Be PG-13, Trailer, Concept Art!
Just left the Darkest Hour trailer debut at Comic-Con and I came away mildly impressed, and yet still unconvinced whether the film, now coming out December 23rd, will ultimately add anything new to the alien invasion genre outside the unique moscow location.
In addition, inside we got our hands on some pretty cool production art, along with the previously released official still featuring Emile Hirsch taking Moscow by storm.
Inside you’ll find all the goods, alongside a few choice quotes from my conversations with producers Tom Jacobson and Monnie Wills:
On not making the August release date: “We had a very aggressive [post-]production schedule from the beginning to try and make the August date,” said Wills. “[But we just were never really sure that we would be able to make our post schedule…nothing to do creatively with the film, just the nuts and bolts and x’s and o’s of what we have to do.”
On the rating/tone of the film: “It’s gonna be rated PG-13,” Wills told me. “I think that it’s a movie that parents can see with children of a certain age.”
On when the “invisible” alien creatures, which were not shown in their pure physical form in the trailer, become visible in the course of the movie: “Part of the journey of the characters is to discover what these beings are,” answered Wills. “It’s not until the third act that you really get a good look.”
On shooting in 3D and 3D fatigue: “We shot it in native 3D, so it’s embedded in the feel of the movie,” said Jacobson. “And then there’s something about our effects, the particular way that the alien kill and attack…people that’s effective in 3D. Cause they shred things and throw them away, and they can throw them toward camera. …So it’s not just where we’re selling it so much as the 3D is the reason to see it…it’s [more] like the production design. It’s part of the feel of the movie.”
Below you’ll some pretty astounding concept art, with the trailer premiering soon:
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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