Exclusives
Calvin Reeder’s ‘The Rambler’ Begins Dangerous Journey; Confirmed Casting!
Bloody Disgusting has received exclusive word that XYZ Films and production partner Brooklyn Reptyle Films’ The Rambler will begin principal photography in Roswell, New Mexico on April 15, 2012.
The film, from an original screenplay by writer/director Calvin Lee Reeder (The Oregonian), will star Dermot Mulroney (New Girl, “The Grey”) and Lindsay Pulsipher (pictured; “True Blood”, The Oregonian).
Here’s the official plot crunch: “After being released from prison, a man known as The Rambler (Dermont) stumbles upon a strange mystery as he attempts a dangerous journey through treacherous back roads and small towns en route to reconnecting with his long lost brother.” Pulsipher will once again play “The Girl”. She also starred in Reeder’s critically-acclaimed short of the same name that screened at the Sundance Film Festival and SXSW back in 2008. Reeder was also named as one of the 25 new faces of independent film in Filmmaker Magazine for 2007. You can watch said short film below; it’s a must-watch! Reeder is also the lead in our original production, V/H/S, acquired by Magnolia out of January’s Sundance.
Currently, XYZ has the hit action film The Raid: Redemption in theaters via Sony Pictures Classics. The company just wrapped production on Frankenstein’s Army, which was shooting in Prague.
XYZ Films’ (The Raid) co-founder Nate Bolotin will produce alongside Brooklyn Reptyle Films’ Roger M. Mayer and Christo Dimassis. Aram Tertzakian and Nick Spicer from XYZ will be on board as executive producers. The film is an AKA Pictures presentation and is being financed by Michael Benaroya through his low budget/genre label, AKA Pictures. AKA/Benaroya Pictures head of production Joe Jenckes is serving as executive producer along with his Bow Street Films partner, David Dickson, under a new partnership between AKA and Bow Street. Clayton Young of Benaroya Pictures will produce on behalf of AKA Pictures.
Foreign sales will be handled by Celluloid Nightmares, the partnership between XYZ Films and Celluloid Dreams.
WindowLight Productions, headed up by Alan Trever and Carl Lucas, will handle production services. Additional members of the crew include director of photography Dave McFarland (“Your Name Here”) and production designer Geoff Flint.
Exclusives
‘The Haunting of Pennhurst’ Exclusive Clip Trains Scare Actors For Historic Haunt in Tribeca Doc
The past and present collide in haunting, poignant ways in the genre documentary The Haunting of Pennhurst, which sees a Halloween haunt serve as a reclamation of true historic horrors.
Ahead of its world premiere at the 25th Tribeca Film Festival, we have an exclusive clip that sees scare actors in training for the Halloween season. The catch? This haunt is opening at the historic Pennhurst State School & Hospital site, a facility that caused immense harm to its disabled patients over decades of its operation.
In the documentary, “For over seventy years, Pennhurst State School & Hospital was called a place of care. What happened inside killed over half its population. It closed in 1987, leaving behind unmarked graves and an unresolved history. Today, on those same grounds, disabled performers – many living with the same conditions that once sent people to Pennhurst – put on their makeup, pull on their costumes, and prepare to scare people for a living.
“Through grit, compassion, and buckets of blood, the eclectic performers of the Pennhurst Asylum haunted attraction are wrestling with a space that is at once a lucrative business and a gravesite.”
The upcoming documentary hails from directing trio Nathan Stenberg, Mike Attie, and Katarina Poljak, who explore their socially-relevant subject through archival footage, first-hand accounts, and an immersive verité.
“Pennhurst has haunted us since we first passed through its dragon-tooth gates; the horrors of the institution echo through the site today. We are so grateful to bring this film to the Tribeca Festival, particularly the Escape from Tribeca section, which feels right for a story where past and present bleed together. We hope audiences leave unnerved and asking the same uncomfortable questions we did,” Attie, Stenberg, and Poljak said in a statement.
Watch the clip below that sees disabled and neurodivergent scare actors learning the ropes of a Halloween haunt, reclaiming the site’s grim history in the process.
Tribeca Screenings:
- Public 1 (Premiere) Screening – Friday, June 5 at 9:15PM at Village East by Angelika
- Public 2 Screening – Sunday, June 7 at 3:15PM at Village East by Angelika
- Public 3 Screening – Tuesday, June 9 at 6:15PM at Village East by Angelika