Curiosity was heightened, to say the least, when Variety announced Fortress Entertainment’s acquisition of Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan’s latest pitch, a genre project that centered around a heist with horrifying results.
The project marks the writing duo’s second horror effort following the Project Greenlight poster child Feast.
Fortress’ Mike Gozzard attended a weekend screening of that John Gulager-directed, head-exploding sloppy gorefest as did Dread Central. Before the show, DC had a brief chat with Gozzard regarding this heist project. Despite his efforts to butter him up, he remained mum on plot details but talked freely about its influences.
“It’s in a closed environment, a one location type film. Think ‘Silence of the Lambs’ meets ‘Panic Room,'” Gozzard says teasingly. The premise is a budget conscious effort and in order to get more bang for their buck, Fortress is looking to shoot in Louisiana to take advantage of the tax breaks. “We shoot in the outer lying areas, we don’t need to use New Orleans. It’ll be shot in a country location – very creepy, cypress trees, swamps…it’s gonna be pretty cool.”
The untitled horror picture, currently being scripted by Dunstan and Melton, will begin production next year. “These guys are really fast and talented. They’ve already turned in pages for the outline, which are just phenomenal. It’s gonna be scary as hell, we hope some people will walk out of this one because it’s gonna be so grapic and nasty. Hopefully the script will be turned around before the holidays are over.”
Gozzard also tells says Marcus Dunstan will be making his directing debut with this one. Fortress is also developing a teen slasher pic and the Edgar Allen Poe flick The Lighthouse at the End of the World.
For over 20 years the Horror Asylum has continued to bring you the very best genre news, reviews, giveaways and interviews in the horror world.