Exclusives
[Exclusive Video] Watch The Opening Scene From ‘Scars of Xavier’
Given the wide variety of tastes among you, my fellow horror fanatics, it’s practically guaranteed that a decent chunk of you are fans of films such as Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, The Ugly, and both versions of Maniac. I’m talking dark and twisted films that might not necessarily cake on the visceral carnage in droves, but certainly tear into one’s soul as they are watching them. The DTV market is littered with such wannabes on a yearly basis, but few ever manage to even come close to reaching the artistic talent of said films. Lucky for us, Scars of Xavier plays in that very sandbox and does it well.
Scars of Xavier tells the tale of a disturbed young man living in Europe who has a nasty habit of kidnapping, torturing, and murdering women. The film is still traveling on the festival circuit, but you can at least get a taste of what’s coming in this exclusive clip below, courtesy of writer/director Kai E. Bogatzki. In it you will find the deadly protagonist making a mess of things with the Czech police…
I was lucky enough to catch it in its world premiere at Gateway Film Center’s Nightmares Film Festival last month. There, it not only left its mark on the audience, but also managed to walk away with the festival’s Best Thriller Feature Night Mare Award. The movie has some great sequences (including a murder in reverse) and a killer lead performance (pun intended) by actor/writer Marc Engel. If you’re curious about my full thoughts on it, feel free to read my review. Be sure to also check out the production’s Facebook page to see if it is playing anywhere near you during its festival run.
Scars of Xavier is a serial killer thriller. It is directed by Kai E. Bogatzki, from a screenplay by Marc Engel and Kai E. Bogatzki. The film is produced by Sascha S. Goldbach, Jorg Lindner, Kinkats Official, Daniele Rizzo, Kai E. Bogatzki, and Marc Engel. It stars Marc Engel as ‘Xavier’, Isabelle Aring as ‘Sandra’, Dirk Sonnenschein as ‘Petr’, Alexia von Wismar as ‘Karolina’, Constanze Wetzel as ‘Mother’, and Oliver Troska as ‘Dominik’.
A gnarly infection threatens to claw its way out of a moving camper in the first trailer for Shudder’s claustrophobic Hellcat.
The feature debut of writer/editor/director Brock Bodell, who previously edited the Fantasia title Ultrasound, makes its debut on Shudder on August 14.
In Hellcat, “Lena wakes up in a moving camper trailer with a horrifying wound. She’s warned by the driver that they have one hour to get to a doctor, or she’ll succumb to an unimaginably awful fate. As the pain sets in and reality begins to fray, who should really be afraid?”
Dakota Gorman (Natural Disasters) leads the cast that also includes Todd Terry (“Breaking Bad”), Liz Atwater (The Other People), Jordan Mullins (The Bikeriders), and James Austin Johnson (“Saturday Night Live”) in a voice role. Bodell also produces alongside Andrew Duensing and Nate Eggert.
Hellcat made its world premiere last summer at Fantasia. I wrote in my review, “Hellcat is a bit of a Trojan horror that defies easy classification, by design. Bodell’s sneaky debut feature is occasionally too sparse in its worldbuilding in its bid to preserve the mystery, but not enough to detract from the thrilling road thriller that transforms into a completely left-field type of horror we don’t get nearly enough of. The stripped-down tribute to a classic horror staple catches you off guard in more ways than one, marking Bodell as one to watch.”
In other words, there’s a lot more than meets the eye to Hellcat‘s simple infection setup, delivering plenty of surprises along its bumpy road of horrors.
Check out the trailer and poster below and add Hellcat to your watchlists asap.
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