Editorials
“Channel Zero” Showrunner Nick Antosca on Building the “No-End House”
On September 20th Syfy will take the tale of “Channel Zero: No-End House,“ the second season of the anthology series that will bring another Creepypasta tale to the small screen.
Inspired by Brian Russell’s Creepypasta tale, “Channel Zero: No-End House” tells the story of a young woman named Margot Sleator who visits the No-End House: a bizarre house of horrors that consists of a series of increasingly disturbing rooms. When she returns home, Margot realizes that everything has changed.
We caught up with Nick Antosca, who returns as executive producer, showrunner, and writer for the second installment, who explained to us the process of finding their favorite Creepypasta.
“We go for the Creepypasta stories that strike a chord,” Antosca tells us. “We look for a great horror premise that we can expand on. My favorite adaptations are things like Apocalypse Now and The Shining and There Will Be Blood, that capture the mood of the source material but become their own thing.
“Sometimes we end up veering from the source material,” he adds, “or taking only elements and then building something very new. Go where the nightmare takes you!
“I have a list of stories I’d like to adapt for future seasons. Some are famous and some are obscure. We can only adapt ones where we can find the original author, so we can option the rights from them.”
What’s great about “Channel Zero” is that it never overstays its welcome, each season is only six episodes long. To Antosca “it’s the perfect length for telling a story” that leaves “room to explore,” adding, “not so much room you have to pad it out excessively.”
Antosca also explains what is what about the “No-End House” Creepypasta that struck a cord.
“I just loved the idea that you escape from this haunted house and slowly begin to realize that what you perceive to be reality is actually the last room of the house. And then what does the house do to try and keep you there?”
If that sounds strange, here’s about bizarre and trippy this season will get:
“The fact that Sarah Sitkin and Guy Maddin both worked on it should tell you something,” says Antosca, referring to their nightmarish works. “That said, it’s also in many ways a very grounded, season. At heart, it’s about a young woman and her relationships with her father and her best friend.”
In regards of how long this show could run: “Well, we have two more installments to come. We’re shooting the third one now. It’s really weird. And we’re writing the fourth one. That’s all that’s been officially ordered. But I’d love to do more, of course.”
While he’s keeping everything under wrap,s Antosca also reveals that he has some other projects in the works with Don Mancini, another “Channel Zero” and “Hannibal” alum and of course, creator of Child’s Play.
“Channel Zero: No-End House” premieres September 20th on Syfy.
I was never against Sony’s initial idea to produce solo movies based on Spider-Man’s most memorable supervillains. After all, a hero is only as good as his Rogues’ Gallery is intimidating, so it stands to reason that there were plenty of dark stories to tell here.
While rushed productions like Morbius and Kraven the Hunter didn’t quite turn out as I had hoped, it’s a relief to see James Gunn and the DC Extended Universe learn the right lessons from Marvel’s flops by investing in supervillain stories that aren’t afraid to step into the horror genre.
The new trailer for James Watkins’ upcoming Clayface movie is a great example of this, as the new footage confirms our suspicions that the movie is set to be a full-on piece of body horror focusing more on telling a standalone scary story than setting up a brand.
With that in mind, I’ve decided to take a closer look at the trailer in order to find out what we can expect from this highly anticipated comic-book adaptation from hell.
So without further ado, here are four things we learned from the new Clayface trailer!
4. Matt Hagen is a Club Vesuvius Regular
A seedy nightclub owned by “former” mobster Johnny Sabatino, the comic books have established Club Vesuvius as a hotspot for criminal activity and metahuman action since 2009. Throughout the years, the club has seen everything from an attempted arson by Firefly to magical acts performed by Zatanna herself.
The trailer for Clayface appears to suggest that Vesuvius will feature prominently in this story as well, as the footage shows us several shots of Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries) casually attending the club as well as a couple of more concerning moments where Gotham City Police roll up to the establishment to deal with some kind of emergency.
3. The Movie Will Not Adapt Any Single Specific Comic
As I mentioned before in my Clayface primer for horror fans who aren’t all that familiar with the character, the initial teaser for the film had me convinced that the project would be more of an adaptation of Batman: The Animated Series’ two-part episode Feat of Clay rather than any specific comic-book.
This latest trailer has only confirmed my suspicions, with Hagen’s predicament here feeling much more in line with Marv Wolfman and Michael Reaves’ sympathetic vision of the character than the more traditional criminal that we usually see in the comics. That being said, I’m curious to see how the filmmakers intend to connect this tragic version of Clayface to the more unpleasant monster we saw in Creature Commandos now that it’s been confirmed that these are indeed the same person.
2. James Watkins is Combining Practical and Digital Effects
I’ll always prefer a well-executed practical effect over CGI simply because the former is closer to the stage magic that inspired early moviemaking. That being said, there’s an undeniable artistry to well-crafted visual effects, and I’d argue that a character like Clayface requires the best of both worlds in order to be convincingly brought to life on the big screen.
I’m clearly not the only one who thinks so, as the trailer has shown us that Watkins is combining digital imagery with prosthetics and plenty of flesh-colored goop to depict Hagen’s unique brand of monstrous body horror. James Gunn had already promised us that the film would feature plenty of old-school practical effects wizardry, so it’s exciting to see that this approach in action.
1. Hagen Will Eventually Transform into Clayface’s Iconic True Form
In the comics, whenever Clayface isn’t pretending to be someone else, the character spends most of his time in his “natural” form resembling a gigantic golem-like monster. This look has certainly evolved over the years, but, at this point, most artists have settled on a vaguely humanoid shape accompanied by a gaping maw (though the villain’s terrifying re-imagining in DC’s Absolute Universe is a bit more complicated than that).
While fans were initially skeptical regarding whether or not the upcoming adaptation would even feature this admittedly outlandish design, the trailer has basically confirmed that Hagen’s condition will get progressively worse until he finally resembles the hulking monstrosity from the comics!
Be sure to comment below if you think we overlooked any interesting details in the trailer, and keep in mind that Clayface will be hitting theaters on October 23.
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