Movies
‘Haunting Melissa’ App Gets a Sequel!
Hooked Digital Media, a next-generation production company, announced today that principal photography for the sequel to the widely popular and chilling digital narrative Haunting Melissa, which has scared more than 5.5 million viewers, is already underway in Calgary, Alberta.
Haunting Melissa 2 will be available exclusively from the App Store on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch later this year!
The sequel, designed specifically for a new generation of connected viewers, will continue the story of the first film which took fans into the world of Melissa, a teenage girl who believes her recently deceased mother is haunting her. This next installment picks up one month after Melissa’s disappearance with her return home.
“When we first imagined Haunting Melissa, our intention was to create a world that could be endlessly explored on a terrifying and engaging journey with Melissa,” said Neal Edelstein, president, Hooked Digital Media. “The response to Haunting Melissa and our new distribution platform has been overwhelming. With the combined efforts of the creative team at Hooked Digital Media along with the talented cast and crew of Haunting Melissa 2, we’ll continue to push the boundaries of the horror genre using the proprietary distribution and story technology that we have created for Apple devices.”
Haunting Melissa 2 will harness Hooked Digital Media’s proprietary platform with Dynamic Story Elements (DSE), a patented technology that can change the story upon repeat viewing. The sequel was written specifically for Hooked Digital Media’s platform and will be released exclusively on Apple’s new iOS8.
The series was conceived, directed and produced by Neal Edelstein, producer of hits such as The Ring, The Ring 2 and Mulholland Drive.
Best-selling author Andrew Klavan (“True Crime,” “Don’t Say A Word”) returned to pen Melissa’s new terrifying journey. Haunting Melissa 2 features a cast of talented actors, including the return of Kassia Warshawski as Melissa Strogue, Travis Nelson as Brandon, Barb Mitchell as Katherine Strogue, Greg Lawson as Jack Strogue, Lorette Clow as Dr. Carroway, Larry Reese as Mike Cole, Tom Carey as Officer Roy, Lisa Moreau as Amanda Maynard and Stefanie Bartlett. Rising star Jenna Berman joins the cast as Emma, along with newcomers Megan Tracz and Rohan Campbell.
For those who have not yet experienced Haunting Melissa, the app is available from the App Store on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch or at www.AppStore.com/HauntingMelissa.
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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