Veteran genremeister Albert Pyun sent along some info from his new feature INFECTION, which he directed from a script by Cynthia Curnan and which won Best Film and Best Direction awards at last year’s Semana Internacional de Cine Fantástico y de Terror in Estepona, Spain. “It’s the best film I’ve ever done!” Pyun tells Fango. “It’s a sci-fi/horror/thriller about the spread of an alien infection, captured in a single, unedited 72-minute shot.”
Supposedly based on true events, the movie begins with a meteorite crashing to Earth, with the alien organism inside infecting a rancher (Alan Abelew), then an investigating police officer (Scott Paulin) and finally a teenager (SPACE: ABOVE AND BEYOND’s Morgan Weisser) parking with his girlfriend after their prom. The girl, Cheryl (Virginia Dare, Paulin’s daughter), escapes and is pursued by the growing number of infected folks while trying to alert outside authorities of the extraterrestrial affliction. Rob Ladesich produced the movie with veteran actor and past Pyun collaborator Norbert Weisser (father of young star Morgan), who also takes an onscreen role as Deputy Ben, from whom Cheryl seeks help.
Pyun and his cinematographer Jim Hagopian used the new Sony HDV system to shoot their one-take wonder, reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock’s ROPE and the Bruce Campbell-starrer RUNNING TIME. “The logistics were extremely challenging,” Pyun tells Fango scribe Nicanor Loreti. “Beyond the technical camera and sound-recording demands, the movie was designed to be a moving shot, at night, over four miles of forest back road in deep canyons with no ambient light. With actors spread out over that distance, at night, for over an hour—on difficult terrain—yeow, what were we thinking?” The unusual approach paid off, however: “It was surprising how effective the real-time element becomes and how it gets the audience swept up into the story,” he says. “The single shot at night creates a weird, altered state of mind in the viewer. After a while, you are not aware of the gimmick. It’s just totally involving. Your attention is consumed by the voyeuristic quality.”
The director is currently wrapping up negotiations with a major genre-friendly distributor to release INFECTION, and further reveals that his H.P. Lovecraft adaptation COOL AIR, will have its world premiere at the 2006 Estepona fest. You can find out more about Pyun’s movies at www.filmwerks.com.
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