Movies
Video Interview with ‘Birdemic’ Director Part 2, New York Premiere Announced!
Got another massive update for Severin Films’ ongoing Birdemic: Shock and Terror road show that’s taking one of the best-worst movies of all-time across the country. The film will have its New York premiere March 26-27th at the IFC Center (tickets here, more info inside), followed by a Q&A with writer/producer/director James Nguyen and actress Whitney Moore. In addition, we’re very excited to bring to you PART 2 of our ongoing interview series with director James Nguyen. Seriously guys, don’t miss a chance to catch this in a theater!
Watch part 1
Come See Entertainment Weekly’s “New, Crazy Movie Obsession” And What Videogum Predicts
“Might End Up Being The Greatest Film Of All Time“
NEW YORK, NY, March 11, 2010 – On the heels of two sold-out screenings in Los Angeles, Severin Films (http://www.severin-films.com/), in conjunction with Bloody-Disgusting.com (http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/), today announced the highly-anticipated New York City premiere of BIRDEMIC: SHOCK AND TERROR (www.birdemic.com), on March 26th and 27th at the IFC Center. Following the screening, attendees will be treated to a Q&A with writer/producer/director James Nguyen and actress Whitney Moore. Severin will transform the theater into a temporary aviary with epic displays of BIRDEMIC special effects, props and costumes that will put the Smithsonian to shame. A trailer for BIRDEMIC can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnNvBucoNSY. Fans can connect with BIRDEMIC on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/birdemic), Twitter (http://twitter.com/birdemic) and the Web (www.birdemic.com). Press can RSVP by emailing birdemic@cornerstonepromotion.com and more details about the screenings will be announced in the coming weeks.
“It is with great pleasure that Severin is aiding `BIRDEMIC’: SHOCK AND TERROR’s migration towards the East coast,” said Carl Daft, CEO and co-founder of Severin Films. “The greatest avian-based romantic thriller since THE BIRDS certainly deserves a place upon the world’s largest stage. But after watching the denizens of Los Angeles barely escape James Nguyen’s birds of terror, my question is…will Gotham survive?”
BIRDEMIC, described by Nguyen as “a romantic thriller,” is a horror/action/special-effects-driven love story about a young couple trapped in a small Northern California town under siege by homicidal birds. BIRDEMIC also tackles topical issues of global warming, avian flu, world peace, organic living, sexual promiscuity and lavatory access.
Nguyen, a 42-year-old Vietnamese refugee, wrote, cast and shot the film over the course of four years using salary from his day job as a mid-level software salesman in Silicon Valley. The film pays homage to Hitchcock’s THE BIRDS via location shooting in Mission Bay, California, as well as an appearance by star of THE BIRDS Tippi Hedren (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tippi_Hedren). When rejected for an official screening slot at Sundance, Nguyen spent eight days driving up and down the festival’s nearby streets in a van covered with fake birds, frozen blood and BIRDEMIC posters, while loudspeakers blared the sounds of eagle attacks and human screams. The tactic caught the attention of festival organizers, filmgoers and local police, as well as executives from Severin Films. Severin’s executives walked into a screening, took one look at Nguyen’s masterwork, and immediately locked up BIRDEMIC’s worldwide rights for the next twenty years. Discussions are currently underway for Severin to add an additional thirty years to the initial agreement.
About Severin Films:
Severin Films was formed in May 2006 with offices in Los Angeles and London. Hailed as “cheerfully perverse folks” by the New York Times, the label is dedicated to restoring and releasing the most provocative and controversial features from around the world for DVD and Blu-ray. Their previous successes include Enzo Castellari’s original action classic THE INGLORIOUS BASTARDS; Richard Stanley’s HARDWARE; THE SINFUL DWARF; lifetime Goya Award winner Jess Franco’s MACUMBA SEXUAL and BLOODY MOON; Walerian Borowczyk’s IMMORAL WOMEN; the unrated Director’s Cut of GWENDOLINE starring Tawny Kitaen; and Oscar
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
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