Greetings webstalkers and welcome to the first edition of MONSTRO BIZARRO!  Each month I will delight you with tales of mysterious monsters from around the world.  And by monsters I mean the sort that people report seeing in the shadowy corners of the “real world” as opposed to those that typically haunt the “film world.”  We’ve all heard of the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, Mothman – to name a few – but what about the bat-like Kongamato, the man-animals known as Almas, the terrifying Mokele-Mbembe, Dobhar-Chu, the Ahool??  What about all the real-life monsters whose tales have been lost, underestimated, or devoured by larger cover stories.  These lesser-known beasts often get stomped by the commanding presence of mainstays such as Bigfoot, but they are no less interesting or lacking in horror-appeal.  But rest assured, if ol’ Bigfoot, Champ or Nessie were to poke their head out, I’ll be sure to keep you posted on that as well.
Let’s face it, we love real-life monsters.  That’s why their legends run deep in all cultures and are continually re-invented for marketing or re-investigated using the latest technology.  Even vampires, werewolves, and zombies started their careers as real horrors born of such things as medical ignorance, superstition, or religious beliefs.  Yet even in our science-savvy world, sighting of these creatures are still reported!  So let’s have a look at a few of the forgotten and/or the most horrifying monsters that lurk in the shadows of our lakes, forests, and perhaps even our collective subconscious.  This is….

Who Am I?
Some of you may know me as the frontman of the outlaw horror rock band from Texas known as GHOULTOWN.  Those that do are probably aware of my affinity for all things that have to do with monsters, horror, and spaghetti westerns.  I’ve been a fan of these type movies since childhood and have somehow managed to roll them into the themes of our genre-bending music.  I’ve penned songs for horror movie soundtracks, written the theme song for Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, and have appeared with Ghoultown at many horror conventions around the U.S. over the years.  A time or two, Rue Morgue has written great articles on the band, so some of you long-time readers may have seen those.  But enough about the band and onto the reason for creating Monstro Bizzaro…

(Proudly displaying my Bigfoot robot toy as a kid)
Among my personal interests of collecting monster toys and memorabilia, I’ve always been fascinated with reports of real-life monsters such as hairy ape-men, lake monsters, goat-suckers and the like.  Reading all those “Strange But True” books as a kid and seeing the movie The Legend of Boggy Creek at an impressionable age got me hooked.  In fact, The Legend of Boggy Creek (based on allegedly true stories of a hairy ape-like creature haunting south Arkansas) is significant for several reasons, one of which is that the movie was filmed in Fouke, Arkansas only a few hours north of my home in Texas.  As a kid my dad and I hunted much of the backwoods of Texas and near Texarkana, so it was particularly exciting (and disturbing!) to think that a monster like this might really exist.  For my young mind, it was the best of all things – getting to hunt and camp with my father while keeping an eye out for any possible monsters that my have been lurking just beyond the campfire light.

(Me with Bob Gimlin – of the famous Patterson-Gimlin film – in 2009)
To some these creatures are science, to others entertainment, and to some it’s all just BS.   But whether you’re a believer or a skeptic, it doesn’t matter.  After all, it’s only monsters… and monsters make for great tales.

Making a movie these days is more often than not a very big, expensive, and complicated goal.  You have literally hundreds of people working together in various parts of the project from the astute and goal oriented Director of the film, all the way down to the coffee getting Production Assistant who gets shit on and verbally assaulted every day.  It’s those type of people, the Production Assistants, the Set Decorators, The Grips, the Lead Carpenters: they all have just as important a role to play in the creation of a film that is equally important as any other job.  But… you know… f**k them, we came to see some of those assholes that we see in the tabloids.  They sell the movie as we all know (and hate to admit), so hows bout me and you take a journey down an alternate road of history where some of our favorite characters were played by completely different actors.  That’s right kiddies, we’ve got another addition of "who almost got the role".  It’ll be fun, I promise.
Beetle Juice (Dir: Tim Burton - 1989) Situation: Tim Burton wanted Sammy Davis Jr. to play Beetle juice.
It has been said that Sammy Davis Jr. was an icon to a young Tim Burton and this was supposed to be the project that united Tim Burton with one of his idols in Sammy Davis Jr.  However, the studio didn’t want to go in this direction and they wanted someone a little bit younger.  Michael Keaton got the role at a point in his career when he was being relegated to comedies like Mr. Mom and low budget horror films like Night Watch.  After Keaton showed his acting chops in Beetle Juice playing an iconic horror character that is insane, focused, and full of black humor, he went on to land a career-making role as Batman in… Tim Burton’s Batman.  I guess you could say that this was an extremely important step on the ladder to making Michael Keaton an A-List star.  It was the right call to make over Sammy Davis Jr., but still that would have been pretty interesting to watch.
Escape From New York (Dir: John Carpenter – 1981) Situation: The studio wanted Charles Bronson to play Snake Plisskin.
No one is arguing the fact that Charles Bronson isn’t a bad ass.  I mean, for crying out loud he played the title character in one of the most awesome vigilante justice films of all time (Death Wish).  The studio wanted Bronson for the role because he was well known as a tough guy, and Kurt Russell, the man that John Carpenter wanted had only had one starring role as Elvis Presley in a TV movie (which John Carpenter directed).  Eventually, John Carpenter was able to convince the studio that a 60 year old man running around in leather pants and an eye patch wouldn’t be the best idea.  Again, this worked out for everyone considering that it helped bond the film relationship between John Carpenter and Kurt Russell and also led to collaborations with The Thing and Big Trouble in Little China.  I don’t want to live in a world where these three movies don’t exist. 
Gremlins (Dir: Joe Dante – 1984) Situation:  Emilio Estevez was considered for the role of Billy.
Now, I don’t often like to refer to simply role "considerations" because they are so vague.  I mean, a consideration could just be a passing sentiment between two producers at a cocaine party spouting off such sentiments as "hey how bout Arnold as the 90 year old woman in that buddy cop movie we’re working on?" and then someone calls the guy stupid and it’s all over.  I added this one because the idea of a young Emilio Estevez, or for that matter, anyone that isn’t Zach Galligan as Billy seems absolutely insane.  Galligan nailed the role perfectly of an innocent and dough eyed all American boy in a town that practically craps Americana.  No strikes against Emilio, but I mean c’mon, this is the guy who was in Men at Work and the bad ass punk from Repo Man.  It would have taken Gremlins into a new direction of a ridiculous black comedy and turned it into a… ridiculous black comedy.  You know what, I kinda would want to see the train wreck that this would have become.  It may have been a glorious train wreck, like Starship Troopers.
28 Days Later (Dir: Danny Boyle – 2003) Situation: Ewan McGregor and Ryan Gosling was offered the main role of Jim before Cillian Murphy.
Danny Boyle’s well received zombie infected movie 28 Days Later is well known for not only helping to revive the zombie genre to a new generation of horror fans but also by gaining a lot of critical acclaim for the performance of Cillian Murphy as the main character of Jim.  It’s not clear why Ewan McGregor didn’t take the role, but the only reason that Ryan Gosling didn’t have the spot was because of a scheduling conflict.  I’m not sure exactly what project caused the scheduling conflict but I see three movies made around that time that it could possibly be.  It could have been The Believer, The Slaughter Rule, or Murder by Numbers.  Good call Gosling, well actually The Believer was pretty good, but still was it worth not taking a project from the man who did Trainspotting and would go on to win an Academy Award for best director?  I guess gosling wouldn’t have known that at the time, but I mean… c’mon now…. It’s Danny Boyle.
The Terminator (Dir: James Cameron – 1984) Situation: OJ Simpson was considered to play the lead role of The Terminator.
They didn’t select OJ Simpson as the Terminator because producers thought that he was "too nice" and would never be taken seriously as a killer.I swear that is true and not just a sick joke I made up

Those of you who read comics I'm sure picked up at least one copy of DC's mega event Blackest Night. Geoff Johns was presumably wrapping everything up in Brightest Day when it came to the Black Lanterns. Well it appears that this October in time for Halloween they will be back. The official blog for the DC posted the image below with simply the title: What is the Return of the Black Lanterns?
As you can see the photo features the characters who were presumably brought back to life at the end of the events of Blackest Night, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Firestorm, Martian Manhunter, Deadman and Aquaman. Not sure what this means for their future but I'm sure we will hear more at Comic Con.

A couple months ago the news brole that Tim Burton would be directing an adaptation of Dark Shadows that would star Johnny Depp. It should be no surprise that Depp would appear in the film considering the close nit friendship the two seem to have. Depp will be playing the role of Barnabus Collins.
Today Deadline has learned that author Seth Grahame-Smith has been brought on board to work on the script for the adaptation. Seth is probably best known for his novel Pride Prejudice & Zombies. But it is most likely he got it based on his other novel Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. That novel was optioned by Burton and Timur Bekmambetov. Keep it here for more.

After they pulled their panel from Comic Con they went and set up their own event which will be taking place off site at the Regal Horton Plaza on the 22nd. Of course Aja will be on hand along with the footage they were going to play at Comic Con. Even though they won't be at Comic Con word is they are going to be doing a lot of promoting at the event.
Today a couple of posters for the Wild Wild Girls popped up online as well as an offcial website for them. Now I will note that the official website is definetly NSFW. You can see the posters below courtesy of Bloody-Disgusting.

I Spit on Your Grave has two strikes against it right out of the block: one, die hard horror fans are very vocal about their distaste for remakes of their favorite films of yesteryear; and two, the fact that it's a remake of one of the - if not the - most brutal rape revenge films ever made means that even if it's good (it is), the subject matter is way up there on the controversy barometer. So the big question is: did I Spit on Your Grave need to be remade for a 21st century audience? Director Steven Monroe (Wyvern, Storm Cell), a huge fan of the 1978 original (also known as Day of the Woman), seems to have thought not, but made the film out of a sense of necessity: at the pre-screening introduction of the film's world premiere at Fantasia he said that when he saw the rights had been acquired for a remake he had to get the directing duties if only because he didn't trust any other filmmakers to do it justice. What anybody else would have done with it is a moot point now, as Monroe has delivered a solid film that mostly stays true to the original in tone and emotion while also creatively upping the tension and dread for audiences of today.
The premise is simple: city girl writer Jennifer Hills (Sarah Butler, in a breakout performance) retreats to a cabin in the sticks to focus on her next novel, only to be brutally raped and left for dead by a gang of local country boys. It isn't long before each of them realize (too late, of course) that Jennifer didn't die and is intent on getting revenge in very creative ways. While it doesn't sound like there's much to it, the film runs almost two hours, with a good chunk of the running time devoted to the graphic depiction of the humiliation, torment, and gang-rape of Jennifer by the thugs. It's very uncomfortable to watch and yet the viewer is hard-pressed to even blink, for we know that these guys will get what's coming to them in the end (pun semi-intended...see the movie, you'll get the joke).
The subtle differences in the 2010 version actually make for a much less controversial film. This Jennifer Hills is about as squeaky clean as they come. Sure, she drinks and smokes the occasional joint in private, but she doesn't do anything that can even remotely be seen as inviting to the yokels who end up violating her, as opposed to the shades of gray in the moral ambiguity of the original. Obviously, nobody deserves to be raped, and I Spit on Your Grave 2010 makes that very clear. The biggest difference (apart from the addition of the Sheriff Storch character, played brilliantly by Andrew Howard of The Devil's Chair and Blood River fame) is the contemporizing of the revenge meted out by Jennifer. Many will say it amounts to the torture porn of such films as Hostel and the Saw series, but in this case there's a valid reason for it. And how!
As evidenced by the patron who fainted and fell down a flight of stairs at the premiere and the fan at the post-screening Q&A who praised executive-producer Meir Zarchi - who was present along with Monroe, Butler, and producer Lisa Hansen - for the 1978 original he directed while basically calling Monroe's remake a gory piece of crap (Anchor Bay is releasing it unrated, as the MPAA had ordered more than a hundred cuts to the film in order to get a rating), this version will no doubt polarize viewers and incite much discussion. Props to Miss Butler for having the guts to go to a very dark place and take on what must have been an emotionally draining role and turning in a fascinating performance. I Spit on Your Grave can best be summed up in a few words: brutal, intense, and morbidly satisfying.
originally reviewed at www.ioncinema.com, where you can also see video footage of the world premiere.  

Since I first saw her on Dexter I've become quite a fan of Julie Benz. At some point she found time to squeeze in enough time to do a horror film titled Held Hostage. Today Image Entertainment has announced that they will be releasing Held Hostage on DVD for a suggested retail price of $27.98 on September 14th.
Michelle Estey (Julie Benz) is a single mother and a bank manager, living with her young daughter Breea (Natasha Calis).  One fateful night, masked gunmen break into their home, binding both of them with duct-tape… and wiring them with explosives.   They give Michelle an unnerving ultimatum:  cooperate in a bank heist, or she and Breea will die by the explosive controls in their captors’ hands. 
After the robbery, Michelle and her daughter are left unharmed, but they are not yet out of danger. Neither the police nor her colleagues accept Michelle’s frightening story.  The facts remain in the dark while details of her abusive past come to light – as Michelle is informed, “it’s called dirtying the victim.”

Today a cast photo for Frank Darabont's The Walking Dead has appeared online. It looks like it does not actually contain all of the cast members. But it could be that this is how the show is going to start with them picking up some of the other already announced cast members later on. Check out the photo below courtesy of io9:

From Dimension Films comes word that the official site for Piranha 3D has gone live.  The Site features cast and crew information, “Survive the Attack” piranha shooting game, Wild Wild Girls ringtone and more! Experience the site at www.Piranha-3D.com. The piranhas will be released WIDE on August 20, 2010.

Sweet mother slug, look at that poster! Toronto illustrator and RM Nightmare Gallery contributor Jason Edmiston was commissioned by Fright Rags to commemorate their very special screening of Fred Dekker’s ’80s horror classics Monster Squad and Night of the Creeps. On Saturday July 17, at Rochester’s Dryden Theatre, creator Fred Dekker and Tom Atkins will both be in attending to talk about the making of the films. RM’s Justin Erickson and I will be heading down to check out the event and hang out with the folks at Fright Rags central for the day.

Starting Friday July 16th, Fright Rags will also host An Evening With Tom Atkins, showing John Carpenter’s The Fog and Halloween III. Mr. Atkins will bee in attendance for that as well. To check out the fine poster made for that event and more details on this fright filled weekend, click here.

When it comes to the Predator and Alien collectables.. it really doesnt matter what types they are: figures/statues/artwork, the deadman never gets tired of seeing them.  Those two franchises have some of the sweetest collectables and with the addition of the Berserker Predator 12 inch Figure and the Alien Resurrection Statue the sweetness value has just jumped up to "JUICY!"
Here's what Sideshow Collectables had to say:
Sideshow Collectibles and Hot Toys are proud to present the 1/6th scale Berserker Predator Collectible Figure from the Predators movie. The movie-accurate Berserker Predator collectible is specially crafted based on its image in the movie, highlighting the newly sculpted and painted head and body armory, interchangeable open and closed mandibles, face mask and detailed weapons.
The Berserker Predator 12 inch Figure features:

• Authentic and detailed fully realized likeness of Berserker Predator in the movie Predators
• Realistic and accurate 1/6th scale of 14 inches / 35 cm tall
• Over 22 points of articulations
• Newly sculpted and painted head and body armor
• Interchangeable open and closed mandibles
• Two (2) pairs of interchangeable palms including:
• One (1) pair of fists
• One (1) pair of relaxed palms
• Each head sculpt is specially hand-painted
• Articulated shoulder cannon
• Three (3) interchangeable metal blades of different lengths
• Faux-leather kilt and straps
• One (1) pair of forearm armor, including one for inserting blade
• Mask with LED light-up function
• One (1) bone trophy
• Figure stand with Berserker Predator nameplate and the movie logo

: click here

Joining Sideshow's award winning line of Alien collectibles is the Alien: Resurrection Statue from the 1997 sci-fi classic. Each piece is individually painted and finished, each with its own unique quality and detail that is the trademark of a handcrafted Sideshow Collectibles product. The Alien: Resurrection Statue is the perfect compliment to your Alien collection, an outstanding addition to any display.

Price: $249.99Scheduled to be released: 1st Qtr 2011For more images: (click here)
via: Sideshow Collectibles
 

Some celebrities are consistently cast in horror films, forever to remain on the run from knife-wielding maniacs.  However, some actors have successfully used the horror genre to launch mainstream careers that have catapulted them into the A-list, leaving the world of psychos and monsters firmly in their past.  Here we celebrate the film stars who began their careers in the world of horror.
1)    Jamie-Lee Curtis (Halloween, The Fog, Prom Night, Terror Train) The original ‘Scream Queen’ had her film debut in 1978 in John Carpenter’s ‘Halloween’, playing Laurie Strode, the unfortunate sister of psychopath Michael Myers.  The film was credited with launching the ‘slasher’ genre and continued to have seven sequels, three of which Curtis appeared in.  Carpenter went on to cast her in his film ‘The Fog’, which did well in the box office, but was slated by critics.  Curtis continued to appear in the low budget films ‘Prom Night’ and ‘Terror Train’ but never reclaimed the horror success of ‘Halloween’.  In 1983 she appeared in her first mainstream film ‘Trading Places’ and has never looked back (with the exception of the Halloween series which she re-visited in 1998!)

2)    Jennifer Aniston (The Leprechaun) Despite quite a few fairly successful mainstream films, Aniston is still best known for portraying ‘Rachel’ in ‘Friends’ (and for being the ex-Mrs Brad Pitt).  However, her film debut was in the 1992 horror film ‘Leprechaun’, which was badly received at the time of release but has since gone on to become a cult classic.  She played teenager Tory Redding, who was terrorised by a demon Leprechaun intent on reclaiming his stolen gold coins.  Two years later ‘Friends’ began and Jen went on to become a household name with a much copied haircut and 10 years of work before the series ended in 2004.
3)    Johnny Depp (A Nightmare on Elm Street) Best known as Captain Jack Sparrow in the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ series,  Depp began his film career playing Glen Lantz, Nancy Thompson’s boyfriend in the 1984 film ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’, where he was unfortunately slaughtered by dream stalker Freddie Krueger.  With the exception of 2007’s ‘Sweeny Todd’, Depp has largely stayed away from the horror genre, preferring to stick mainly to quirky Tim Burton films and the aforementioned Captain Sparrow.

4)    Paul Rudd (Halloween – The Curse of Michael Myers) Paul Rudd really entered the consciousness of the general public playing Mike Hannigan, Phoebe’s boyfriend in ‘Friends’.  However, like fellow cast member Jennifer Aniston, his first film role was a horror.  In 1995 he played a teenage Tommy Doyle, the little boy who survived the original ‘Halloween’ film in ‘Halloween 6 – The Curse of Michael Myers’.  He then went on to have a role in the same year in the moderately successful ‘Clueless’ before joining friends in 2002.  Since then he has become a hugely successful comedy actor, regularly appearing in films with the Will Ferrell gang.
5)    Laurence Fishburne  (A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 – Dream Warriors) Best known as Morpheus from ‘The Matrix’ films, Laurence Fishburne had his first big film role in Apocalypse Now in 1979.  However, even he wasn’t immune to the lure of the horror film, appearing in 1987 as orderly Max Daniels in ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 – Dream Warriors’ (which also starred a young Patricia Arquette).  Since then he has rarely been out of work and is now regarded as one of the most respected and bankable film stars in Hollywood.
6)    Linda Hamilton (Children of the Corn) Despite a long and varied film career, Linda Hamilton is still best known as Sarah Connor from the ‘Terminator’ films.  However, 1984, the same year as the original of the Schwazenegger series she also starred in the film adaption of Stephen King’s ‘Children of the Corn’.  As Vicky Baxter, she and her boyfriend Burt have to battle against a remote town of murderous children who follow a boy-preacher and a supposed demon that lives in the corn fields.  The film went on to have six sequels, none of which involved Hamilton, who was content to battle robots from the future instead.

7)    Naomi Watts (Children of the Corn 4 – The Gathering) The ‘Children of the Corn’ series also gave Australian actress Naomi Watts a helping hand into the movie industry.  In 1996 she starred as Grace Rhodes in the fourth film where the children are trying to resurrect their murdered child preacher.  The film was not successful, but Watts became well known battling another creepy child in ‘The Ring’ films and is now a highly successful and bankable actress (and Nicole Kidman’s best friend).

8)    Seth Green (IT) Scott Evil starred as 12 year old Richie Tozer in Stephen King’s ‘IT’ in 1990 where he battled an evil force presenting itself as a clown.  Although released as a television film it went on to be a success, and also starred a grown up John- Boy from ‘The Waltons’.  Green had several film appearances following ‘IT’ but didn’t become a household name until 1997 in ‘Austin Powers:International Man of Mystery’.  The film had two sequels which he was also involved in.  Despite a few big blockbusters since, his other main claims to fame are as Oz in the ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ series and as the voice of Chris Griffin in ‘Family Guy’.

Just a couple days ago we told you that the new SyFy original movie would star Debbie Gibson and Tiffany. Today THR is reporting that Micky Dolenz will be joining the mix. He did make an appearance in Rob Zombie's Halloween so he is not totally unfamiliar to the genre. But he's most known for being part of The Monkees.
Gibson will play a fanatical animal-rights activist who frees illegally imported exotic snakes from pet stores, sending them into the Everglades, where they grow to mega sizes. Tiffany will play an overzealous park ranger who uses dangerous methods to save endangered alligators. No word on what role Micky Dolenz will take on but hopefully he will be able to throw some kind of mutated monkey into the mix.
In the script the two get into at a party and then take it to the swamp where I assume they draw up their respective creatures. Now if that isn't over the top enough for you I don't know what is. The idea originally came to SyFy when Tiffany said she wanted to work with Gibson while working on her last SyFy movie.

It's a little bit odd to be talking about The Lost Boys since the passing of Corey Haim. It would have been really cool to see the Frog Brothers all together again. But we'll have to make do with Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander. Next week they will be at Comic Con where they will premeire the movie and hold a panel on the film as well.
Today however Warner Bros. Premiere has released the official synopsis for The Lost Boys: The Thirst. Check it out below:
As the lost boys and girls of San Cazador prepare to party under the Blood Moon, an alpha vampire conspires to turn these unsuspecting ravers into an army of undead. The only thing that stands between him and the annihilation of the entire human race is the infamous vampire fighting Frog Brothers. Armed with double-barrel holy water balloon launchers and multi-arrow crossbows, Edgar (Corey Feldman) and Alan Frog (Jamison Newlander) join forces to kick some blood-sucker butt in this latest high-energy, action packed adventure in the Lost Boys franchise.

Cold Prey aka Fritt Vilt has become one of the better foreign made slasher franchises in recent memory. The second film is still seeking U.S. distribution while part 3 will make its theatrical debut in Norway on October 15th. An official synopsis is hard to come by but we do know that this time around it is going to be a prequel.
A smaller version of the poster has been making its rounds on other websites. But B-D managed to dig up a larger version. Check it out below:

Christopher Nolan's Inception has been looking really good lately. Plus we all know Nolan has the directing chops to make yet another outstanding film. The hype for this movie has been pretty heavy and today they have added yet another wrinkle to the already diverse amount of stuff that they already have out there.
Today Yahoo has posted a comic on there site that has a special reader with it. You will be able to go panel by panel by pressing the next button. It works similar to the way digital comics do for portable devices. You can check out Inception: The Cobol Job now right here.

I am fascinated by mythical creatures such as Sasquatch, the Jersey Devil and Chupacabra, so it always peaks my interest when I see something in the mainstream media about these creatures.  To that end, comes a story from Texas where a rancher and animal control officer shot and killed two animals that they described as "Unlike anything they had ever seen." 
Judging from the video, I would have to agree.  But are they the legendary Chupacabra?  I guess ultimately, the jury will be out until DNA testing is completed.  I for one will be anxiously awaiting the results of those tests.

Lindsay Lohan and Sexy rarely go in the same sentence for me but below from Celebbuzz you can checkout a new promo image for Robert Rodrigeuz's MACHETE feautring Lindsay Lohan as a Nun... with a gun.

Following the heels of thegoldensimatar's news of the trailer for "Devil," we now have the poster for the film.

Devil.  Set in a high rise, several people in an elevator discover that one among them may in fact be the Devil.  That's about it in a nutshell, pretty simple and sometimes the simplest plots work the best.  The screenplay is by Hard Candy scribe Brian Nelson with producer M. Night Shyamalan also receiving a story credit. 
The film is directed by John Erick Dowdle (though IMDB also lists his brother Drew Dowdle as director), who also directed Quarantine and the as of yet unseen Poughkeepsie Tapes. Devil is due out September 17, 2010.
via: IMP Awards

Dead cell = dead friend.
That’s the premise behind Blood Cell, a Web-only series starring Jessica Rose, a.k.a. Internet phenom lonelygirl15. Created by filmmaker Eduardo Rodriguez (TV’s “Fear Itself”), the series stars Rose as Julia, a young woman who receives a late-night cell phone call from her friend Susan. A desperate Susan tells Julia that she has been kidnapped. But Julia can’t turn off her cell or call the police lest the masked madman snuff out her friend’s life. The kidnapper proceeds to tease Julia with texts which indicate that he’s watching her every move. Will Julia be able to save her friend?
Blood Cell originally premiered last October on The WB’s website in the U.S., and CTV is re-broadcasting all 18 episodes online here in Canada. Six have been posted as of this writing, and you can watch Episode 1 here: http://watch.ctv.ca/blood-cell/blood-cell/blood-cell—episode-1/#clip30....
We spoke to Rodriguez about creating Blood Cell, working with the Web, and his background in horror.

Eduardo, you directed a couple of short horror films prior to creating Blood Cell. What is your background as a horror fan?
It all started with H.P. Lovecraft. When I was a kid I read one book, and after that it was Stephen King and Poe and all the other guys. So it’s been awhile since I became a horror fan. And I always wanted to make movies so it seemed like the perfect combination, to marry both, and it just happened that I was able to do it.
Tell me about the origins of Blood Cell. How did you come up with it?
A few years ago everybody wanted to get on the Internet, and I’d done at that time the re-shoots on The Messengers which was a Sam Raimi movie that he produced and The Pang Brothers directed. But they wanted to me shoot… a new ending and a new beginning.
So Sam Raimi saw my short film “Daughter” that I did and he wanted me to do the re-shoots. And after that everyone was really happy with what I’d done. And Sam wanted to generate content for cell phones and the Internet in Europe so he called me and asked, ‘Do you have any ideas?’ And I suggested something related to cell phones.
After I talked to them I was driving home, and my writer and I came up with the idea of [a killer] using cell phones to lure people to be his next victim, so it’s like a cycle where I call this girl and I make her call her friend and I use that girl to get the next one. I called him back right away, they were excited. I remember I wrote five pages, which was pretty much the entire series as it is right now, and that was going to become the first episode for the cell phone, but it never happened.
Then about a year after…  the company that I’m repped by, they created a company called 60 Frames and they were going to do content for the Internet, and they were like, ‘Hey, do you have anything?’ And I actually do have something because I wrote something a year ago for the same reason. And they really liked that so I just expanded that a little. I kind of just chopped the five pages in half so it was the beginning and then the end, and then I wrote whatever was in between.
What are the advantages and constraints of working within the webisode structure?
I don’t think there are that many constraints. You always have to deal with budgets. If you have $100 million you want to make a $200 million movie.
Actually I think you have a lot more freedom because, for one reason, the budget isn’t that big, no one’s risking a lot of money. And the other reason is I think the Internet allows you to do anything; you don’t have to use a formula, you don’t have to follow what’s done before. People can innovate on the Internet so I think it gives you a lot more freedom.
What was really exciting to me was writing the script because I knew that I had to have a cliff-hanger every four pages, so at the end of each episode people would want to see the next one. So that was a whole different game because I had written short films, I had written pictures, but I had never written anything like that. So it was kind of like a whole new experience because I had to write ‘okay, page four, I need to have a cliff-hanger here and I need to have one here.’ So it was interesting to have these mini-stories within the whole story.
You have a masked killer who sends cryptic text messages. What sort of horror villains influenced your creation of the bad man in Blood Cell?
You know, if they did, it was subconscious. I was always a fan of Jason from Friday the 13th. To me, he was the best out of all those guys. He didn’t talk. He’ll come and he’ll destroy you right away. So he didn’t waste any time.
For this guy it was more like… this was another thought when I was writing the series: nowadays you have all these cell phones and iPads, iPhones, i-whatever. And actually, when you talk to people, nobody listens to anyone and everybody interrupts you, and it’s crazy. You have all these devices to communicate, but I think communication between people has gotten worse or more complicated than when you didn’t have any of these tools.
So he’s using these things against people. If you would have listened the first time you made that call, maybe none of that would have happened to that girl. It’s kind of playing with that idea, but I don’t think I was consciously making any homage to any slasher.
Blood Cell star Jessica Rose
Your star Jessica Rose rose to fame in another web series, lonelygirl15. Why did you cast her in this?
I cast her for two reasons. The first was it was actually a 60 Frames idea, like ‘look at this girl, she’s really good.’ Actually, by the time we had these conversations about Blood Cell, I had no idea about lonelygirl, I was very ignorant about that. They just said she’s a really good actress. So I went to the computer and watched all the episodes.
And the other reason was I met with her and she was super, super-cool. We had coffee here in L.A. She wasn’t thinking about ‘oh, well, I want to move on, I want to make features, I want to do this, I want to do that.’ She just wanted to keep acting and keep working, and to me that’s really important.
What is your next project? Do you plan to stay in the realm of horror?
The most fun time I’ve had has been working with horror so I’ve got to do horror, man.
Right now I’m developing a couple of movies, and I’m writing my own script. One is with After Dark (http://www.afterdarkfilms.com/); I’m developing a movie with those guys, hopefully to shoot this year. And I’m developing another film with Valhalla Films, and that’s Gale Anne Hurd.
And I’m developing my own script. I have to admit, I’m not the best writer in the world. I put it down because I need to get it out of my system.
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