Exclusives
Charisma Carpenter on Her ‘Sibling Rivalry’, and Stealing Identities
It was announced back in February that “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” supermodel Charisma Carpenter would be toplining the new thriller Deadly Sibling Rivalry, directed by Hanelle Culpepper and written by Steve Peterson and John Murlowski.
The pic will follow an identical twin who secretly steals her sister’s identity in an attempt to start over with a new life and keep her sister out of her way. She stops at nothing to seek revenge on a sister that has always had the seemingly better life…
Horror fans hankering for a double dose of Charisma Carpenter rest assured, Deadly Sibling Rivalry will deliver. That’s the word from the actress herself, who plays twins Callie and Janna in the horror thriller. Currently in Australia for the Supanova Pop Culture Expo, the former “Buffy” and “Angel” star said the film is for people with sibling issues.
“I think it will appeal to anyone who hates their sister,” she said.
“I don’t have one, so I don’t know, but it was so much fun to play Callie and then to play her counterpart, particularly because I identified with both characters.
“I can be uptight and very business-minded like Janna, but very sassy like Callie too.”
Carpenter finished work on Deadly Sibiling Rivalry last month and said although she enjoyed working with a female director in Hanelle Culpepper, the shoot was “very short.”
“There wasn’t enough time to do it,” she said.
“It was a very short shoot and I just really could have got into the characters more and more and more.
“But Hanelle was wonderful; it was very different working with a female director.
“You don’t see a lot of women in that position number one and I admired her very much.”
The plot follows Callie and Janna, two twins who have always been competitive and vying for the love of their father. After an accident, Janna is put in a coma and Callie takes over her identity to get revenge on the sister she sees as always having had the easy route. The story also involves rock climbing, which Carpenter said was a real challenge despite having “done it before.”
“I’d been shooting another project straight before that so I hadn’t worked out in, like, a few weeks,” she said.
“I hadn’t been to the gym and I had to do all this rock climbing and I was so sore.
“The next day I had to drive to Arizona, which is a nine hour drive, and I was in pain everywhere.
“I had these heat packs on each shoulder, on my lower back, it was a painful drive.”
Carpenter said Deadly Sibling Rivalry isn’t “genre specific” but falls more comfortably into thriller territory.
Exclusives
New Documentaries Explore the Cult Legacies of ‘The Keep’ and ‘Wolfen’; Watch the Trailers Now [Exclusive]
Undersung werewolf gem Wolfen and Michael Mann’s The Keep get the spotlight in a pair of feature documentaries acquired by Antenna Releasing.
A World War II Fairy Tale, which covers the infamous production of and reception to The Keep, will receive a limited theatrical release in October, followed by a TVOD release on Apple/Amazon. The Keep will also screen as a double feature for some showings.
For Uncovering Wolfen, Antenna eyes a limited theatrical release for 2027. Both films are currently available for booking via Antenna prior to their theatrical and digital releases.
Both documentaries are directed by Stewart Buck, who co-helms with Stéphane Piter on A World War II Fairy Tale.
“We at Antenna are obsessed with film history,” said Chief Acquisitions Officer Billy Ray Brewton. “Stewart has done such a remarkable job of really diving into the deepest recesses of how these films were made and, in doing so, has created the definitive histories of both projects.”
“We’re delighted to be partnering with Antenna Releasing!” said director Buck. “It’s refreshing to see a filmmaker-friendly approach to distribution with people who know what it’s like to be in the trenches with independent projects that struggle to find a home in the crowded marketplace.”
Check out our exclusive trailer and poster reveal of both documentaries below.
Released in 1983, Michael Mann’s The Keep was a notorious box office bomb, critically lambasted and all but forgotten for years, save for the fascination with Tangerine Dream’s iconic score. In recent years, the film has enjoyed a bit of a resurgence and is widely considered a cult classic, though director Michael Mann and many cast members refuse to acknowledge it.
Wolfen, on the other hand, was critical success but was overshadowed heavily by its flashier 1981 siblings An American Werewolf in London and The Howling. It’s also a trailblazer for socio-political horror, and the doc will explore that via the craftspeople who made it.
Look for them both in theaters soon. Stay tuned for more as it arrives.
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