Movies
A Sales Explosion for Arclight’s Revenge Thriller ‘Red Hill’
Since when did the revenge genre explode? There must have been a boat that missed, but hey, can I jump aboard now? One of the most buzzed about films at the EFM was Patrick Hughes’ Aussie thriller Red Hill, which stars Ryan Kwanten, from HBO series “True Blood”, as a cop in a remote town dealing with a convicted murderer seeking revenge. Arclight Films has sold UK rights to Momentum with several offers already on the table for U.S. Hughes broke on the scene with his YouTube short Signs (watch it here). Beyond the break you can watch an impressive teaser trailer, read the full synopsis and dig on the festival one sheet.
“When a young police officer, Constable Shane Cooper, relocates to the small high-country town of Red Hill with his pregnant wife, he does so in the hope of starting a new family. But when news of a prison break in the city sends the local law enforcement officers into a panic, Shanes first day on duty quickly goes from bad to worse.
Enter Jimmy Conway, a convicted murderer serving life behind bars, he returns to the isolated outpost seeking revenge. Now caught in the middle of what quickly becomes a horrifying blood bath, Shane will be forced to take the law into his own hands if he is to survive. A tight action/thriller, Red Hill unfolds over the course of a single day. Told with explosive action and chilling violence, the story is a modern day western set in high-country Australia.”
Ryan Kwanten (True Blood), Steve Bisley (Mad Max) and Tom E. Lewis (The Proposition) all star.

Movies
‘Herbert West: Reanimator’ First Look Introduces Contemporary H.P. Lovecraft Reimagining
A contemporary reimagining of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story Herbert West: Reanimator is on the way, and Deadline has unveiled the first look at the new Herbert West and the pathologist drawn to his orbit.
The original screenplay and storyline come from Jade Sandberg Wallis.
Michael Grossman (“The Originals”, “Pretty Little Liars”) directs.
The new images introduce star Joseph Morgan (“Vampire Diaries“), who plays “brilliant surgeon and scientist Herbert West, who is obsessed with creating a serum to reanimate the dead.” Katie Cassidy (Speed Demon) stars opposite as the pathologist with a troubled past who joins his efforts.
Together, they prove that conquering death may be the ultimate sin against life itself.
The film’s official synopsis: “As a child, Herbert West watches his father Peter reanimate his dead mother Judith in a secret basement lab — only for Judith to mortally wound Peter and nearly kill Herbert before Peter shoots her. The trauma leaves its mark on Herbert, but so does one final image: his mother’s finger, twitching after death. Thirty years later, Herbert West is a brilliant, secretive surgeon still chasing his father’s obsession.
“Pathologist Kate Locke arrives in town and is drawn into his orbit — first through a spark at a hospital fundraiser, then through his secret lab, where he reveals a serum capable of reanimating severed tissue. Kate, hiding a dark past of her own, is thrilled rather than horrified, and moves into West’s mansion to work alongside him. Their early experiments on a cadaver succeed only briefly. West concludes that dead tissue is the problem — they need something fresher.”
Supporting cast includes Scott Aiello, Ira J Amyx, Randall Newsome, Emma Reinagal, James D. Bryce, Kathryn A Bentley, Jack Lancaster, Amy Holland Pennell, John Pierson, Mindy Shaw, Eric Dean White, Tristan Wilder Hallet, Adrienne Lamping, Aaron Crippen, and Drew Patterson.
Makeup artist Jeff Lewis (“Star Trek: Voyager,” “Star Trek: Enterprise”) and cousin Roger Lewis are heading the production via their newly established Woodlake Entertainment.
Lovecraft’s short story, first serialized in Home Brew magazine in 1922, is the first among his works to mention the fictional Miskatonic University. It was most famously adapted into a 1985 horror movie from Stuart Gordon, starring Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West.
Herbert West: Reanimator is set in Alton, Illinois, where production is now underway.

Herbert West: Reanimator. Photo credit: Matt Lief Anderson

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