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SCREAM ’09: Drac Studio Talks ‘Monster Mutt’, Zack Ward Reveals ‘Last Stop’

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We’ve got a pretty massive news break as on the red carpet arrivals for the 2009 Spike TV Scream Awards (airing Tuesday, October 27 at 10:00PM ET/PT) we caught up with Drac Studios Creative Director Harvey Lowry and Creative Director Todd Tucker, who revealed to us that they’ve signed on to work on The Mortician, while also spilling the beans on Monster Mutt, a 3-D children’s horror film recently completed. In addition, Monster Mutt star/producer Zack Ward, breaks the news on his next project, Last Stop, which he calls “Blair Witch meets Hitchcock.” Read on for the skinny!We caught up with Drac Studios Creative Director Harvey Lowry and Creative Director Todd Tucker who revealed to Bloody Disgusting that they’ve signed on to work on a new horror film entitled THE MORTICIAN.

We signed on a movie today called THE MORTICIAN,” says Lowry, “it’s shooting in New Orleans in about five weeks. It’s a 3-D thriller-horror film and is pretty graphic, but I don’t want to get into it too much yet.

Gareth Maxwell Roberts (Kill Kill Faster Faster) is directing the movie from his own screenplay. The redemption tale in which kindness triumphs over cruelty falls within the urban noir, contemporary fairy tale and psychological thriller genres.

Here’s the plot crunch: The Mortician processes corpses with a steely regard. He is alienated and cold. He feels threatened by his new employee, Noah, who brings the notorious gangster, Carver, to the mortuary door. The Mortician’s attention is pricked by the tattoo of Botticelli’s ‘Birth of Venus’ on the body of a murdered young woman, Jenny. A fleeting recognition triggers a sequence of haunting dreams from his childhood. He discovers a scared child, Kane, fleeing the morgue. Carver interrogates him about the whereabouts of the boy. The Mortician witnesses Noah drag Kane into the shadows of a derelict tenement. Forcing him to act, Kane sparks the Mortician’s emotional awakening. Emerging from his icy state, the Mortician and Kane become reluctant allies united in their struggle to escape the physical and emotional chains that threaten to imprison them.

In addition to THE MORTICIAN, the duo recently completed MONSTER MUTT, a family horror film.

Pictured: Todd Tucker, left, and Harvey Lowry

We also just finished out first in house production, which is MONSTER MUTT,” Tucker tells Bloody Disgusting. “Harvey produced and I directed. We’re about a week away from having it done and were gonna have it sold and out next year. It’s a family fantasy PG film about a family dog that gets turned into a monster. Zak Ward is in it.” He goes into a bit more depth about the actual plot, “[It’s about] a family dog that gets kidnapped by an evil corporation and they use it for testing and accidently turn it into a monster mutt,” he continues, “it finds its way home and the kids try and hide it from the rest of the neighborhood.

Zack Ward, who stars in and produced MONSTER MUTT, was also on hand to reveal his own project that he’s currently producing called LAST STOP.

The movie is called LAST STOP. It’s BLAIR WITCH meets Hitchcock,” he reveals. “I wouldn’t say it’s bloody disgusting, but there’s dread and it’s terrifying; it’s not about gore. I’m producing it and Travis Oates is directing it. He’s a screenwriter; he wrote the sequel to the OMEN and TO OZ, the sequel to THE WIZARD OF OZ. We’re shooting in Roswell, New Mexico.

Everything else was tight lipped. Check out more Scream 2009 coverage on the front page as it’s posted.

Pictured: Zack Ward

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‘The Strangers: Chapter 1’ Rated “R” for “Horror Violence” and “Language”

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We are now less than one month away from the release of Lionsgate’s The Strangers: Chapter 1, the first film in a brand new reboot trilogy from director Renny Harlin (A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Master, Deep Blue Sea). It’s coming to theaters May 17, 2024.

The Strangers: Chapter 1 has officially been rated “R” this week for…

“Horror violence, language and brief drug use.”

For the sake of comparison, Bryan Bertino’s original home invasion film was rated “R” for “violence/terror,” while Prey at Night was rated “R” for “horror violence and terror throughout.”

Madelaine Petsch (“Riverdale”), Froy Gutierrez (Hocus Pocus 2), Rachel Shenton (The Silent Child), Ema Horvath (“Rings of Power”) and Gabe Basso (Hillbilly Elegy) star.

Based on the original 2008 cult horror franchise, the project features Petsch, who drives cross-country with her longtime boyfriend (Gutierrez) to begin a new life in the Pacific Northwest. When their car breaks down in Venus, Oregon, they’re forced to spend the night in a secluded Airbnb, where they are terrorized from dusk till dawn by three masked strangers.

Here’s the full official synopsis: “After their car breaks down in an eerie small town, a young couple are forced to spend the night in a remote cabin. Panic ensues as they are terrorized by three masked strangers who strike with no mercy and seemingly no motive.”

Renny Harlin (CliffhangerDeep Blue SeaDie Hard 2) is directing from a script by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland (The Freak BrothersDue Date). Lionsgate will distribute worldwide.

The Strangers began in 2008 with Bryan Bertino’s original home invasion horror movie, a terrifying film that introduced three masked killers who returned 10 years later with The Strangers: Prey at Night in 2018. The first film took place in a remote house in the woods while the sequel brought the murderous Man in the Mask, Dollface and Pinup Girl into a trailer park.

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