Home Video
IFC Battles Comedy and Creatures with ‘Welcome To Willits’
We Are What We Are and American Psycho‘s Bill Sage, The Expendables‘ Dolph Lundgren, “Z Nation’s” Anastasia Baranova and “Entourage’s” Sabina Gadecki star in Welcome to Willits, which IFC Midnight has acquired with plans to release in theaters and digital platforms September 22.
Scream 4‘s Rory Culkin and A Nightmare on Elm Street‘s Thomas Dekker round out the cast in supporting roles with Chris Zylka, Garrett Clayton, Karrueche Tran, Serge Levin and Keelin Woodell.
The feature directorial debut of Trevor Ryan, written by his brother Tim Ryan, the film is adapted from their acclaimed 2015 SXSW Midnight Short “Welcome to Willits: After Sundown.”
Combining elements of horror, sci-fi and comedy:
“Welcome to the Willits takes place deep in the Northern California woods, where residents struggle to fight off repeated attacks from mysterious creatures.”
“When local pot farmer Brock (Bill Sage) is caught up with a wayward group of campers, the situation quickly escalates into total carnage. Together with a ragtag crew including his wife Peggy (Sabina Gadecki), niece Courtney (Anastasia Baranova), scruffy drifter Possum (Rory Culkin), wannabe singer/songwriter Zack (Garrett Clayton), resourceful good old boy Jeremiah (Chris Zylka), unemployed stoner Klaus (Thomas Dekker), Klaus’ naïve girlfriend Besh (Karrueche Tran) and ditsy sorority girl Cassie (Keelin Woodell), Brock struggles to maintain his sanity while defending his family from perceived supernatural threats. Dolph Lundgren portrays Derek, a weathered police officer from Brock’s past who comes back to haunt him.“
“Using old-school special effects techniques, augmented with digital finishing touches, Welcome to Willits will be a throwback to great horror and sci-fi films of the past, while also offering a fresh take on the genre,” commented director Trevor Ryan when production commended last year. “The film offers a more complex anti-hero in Brock, a sympathetic figure reminiscent of everyone’s favorite uncle who has a little too much to drink at the family reunion, and who you just wish would get a handle on himself before it’s too late.”
The film is produced by Jordan Yale Levine, Scott Levenson, Jon Keeyes of Yale Productions and Shaun Sanghani of SSS Entertainment. Matthew Helderman and Luke Taylor serve as executive producers alongside Patrick DePeters of BondIt Media Capital, Michael Rothstein, Brandon Baker and Serge Levin.
One of contemporary horror’s best werewolf movies is 2017’s Good Manners, and it’s finally set to receive a proper physical media release.
Icarus Films is partnering with OCN Distribution to unleash a new Blu-ray that’s now available to preorder via Vinegar Syndrome. and with a limited edition slipcover.
Set in São Paulo, the film follows Clara, a lonely nurse from the outskirts of the city who is hired by mysterious and wealthy Ana to be the nanny of her soon to be born child. Against all odds, the two women develop a strong bond. But a fateful night marked by a full moon changes their plans.
Good Manners is the second collaboration between filmmakers Juliana Rojas and Marco Dutra, who write and direct. Zama’s Rui Poças‘ cinematography captures this unique werewolf tale described as “Disney meets Jacques Tourneur.”
Our own Trace Thurman wrote in his review, “With Good Manners, Rojas and Dutro have made one of the best werewolf movies ever made. That they are able juggle commentaries on racism and classism while still managing to tell two deeply affecting love stories is remarkable.”
BONUS FEATURES:
- Commentary from film critics Shelagh Rowan-Legg and Carolyn Mauricette
- 12-page booklet with an essay by film critic Nicolas Pedrero-Setzer
- Making-of short film: The Making of a Werewolf (2 mins)
- Two additional short films from the filmmakers: A STEM (15 mins), directed by Juliana Rojas & Marco Dutras, and DOPPELGANGER (24 mins), directed by Juliana Rojas
You must be logged in to post a comment.