Australian producer/director Daniel Armstrong of Strongman Pictures gave Fango the first news about his debut feature THE DISTURBED. Armstrong describes the movie as “a zombie film being developed for diehard horror fans. It serves up a cocktail of black-hearted fun, character-driven emotional gusto and a supersize side dish of blood and guts! At its heart is the tragic story of a man’s undying love for a woman, and the cataclysmic, zombie-fueled hell it unleashes.”
Set in an insane asylum, the feature is based on a dark chapter of America’s history. “From the early 1900s until the 1970s, more than 50,000 mental patients were lobotomized in asylums across America,” Armstrong says. “In 1946, the procedure was revolutionized by Dr. Walter Freeman. Using ice picks and hammering them through a patient’s eye sockets, Dr. Freeman could penetrate the frontal lobes of the brain and destroy them. The treatment required no anesthetic, took minutes to perform and could be taught within a day. This technique was considered a cure for mental illness until late into the 20th century. The result was a patient who was emotionally docile, easily led and responsive only to the most basic human drive—hunger. In short, a zombie. From this history, the dark plot, evocative setting and revenge-driven zombie hordes of THE DISTURBED were born.”
The Strongman team also consists of cinematographer Brett Anstey, editor Dave Redman, production designer Tony McWilliam, composer Phil Lambert and art director/makeup FX creator Justin Dix; the latter’s credits include Greg McLean’s ROGUE, the second and third STAR WARS prequels and the NIGHTMARES & DREAMSCAPES series. They’re currently putting together the financing to shoot the feature, to be lensed in Melbourne, and put together that impressive teaser to illustrate their visual ambitions for the movie. You can find it, along with photos and info, at the project’s official site here.
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