Fango correspondent, author and filmmaker Nicanor Loreti got in touch to talk up two (of the many) horror features he is currently attached to. The first flick, titled LEFT FOR DEAD (not to be confused with the Danielle Harris film of the same name), has Loreti serving as co-producer, with Albert (CYBORG) Pyun attached to direct. Joining Loreti in the producer capacity are Mario (TERMINATOR 2) Kassar, Michael Najar, Kamel Krifa, Gary (PUPPETMASTER) Schmoeller and Hernán (DEAD LINE) Findling, working from a script by Chad Leslie.
“LEFT FOR DEAD is a Western with horror elements,” Loreti tells Fango of the project. “It’s a story of obsession and broken hearts with a supernatural twist. There’s a ghost involved, a great character named Mobius Lockhardt [pictured in the production sketch above] and characters that hide very dark secrets. It’s pretty original and shocking stuff!
“I got in touch with Albert a year ago,” says Loreti of his introduction to the prolific director. “I was interviewing Albert for my upcoming interview book [CULT PEOPLE: AMAZING TALES FROM HOLYWOOD’S EXPLOITATION A-LIST, out from Headpress next January]. We got along great and he got involved as producer of my upcoming movie BLOODY BROTHERS [which Loreti plans to direct in mid-2007] and then we started discussing him directing LEFT FOR DEAD. He liked the idea, so here we are.”
Currently in the midst of a two-month preproduction on the project, Loreti is enthusiastic to get the cameras rolling. “I can’t wait to see how Albert works, since he has made so many films and has a unique style of filmmaking that I really want to check out. So far, our communication has been great and we’re working hard on making this happen.” While the cast is not yet set, the production has tapped Alejandro (DEATH KNOWS YOUR NAME) Millán as director of photography, with Daniel (CHRONICLE OF THE RAVEN) de la Vega “doing camerawork.” Providing the grue for the two-week shoot (which will take place in Buenos Aires) is Argentina’s FX Studio, and Loreti says their work is cut out for them. “There will be a lot of blood. It has plenty of atmosphere, but there are a number of gory scenes, specifically a few involving a hook!”
Following LEFT FOR DEAD, Loreti, who previously helmed 2005’s horror short EL KUERVO (of which SLiTHER director James Gunn served as co-producer, with a feature-length version nearing completion), plans to get back into the director’s chair in February for POPcinema’s THE SOULLESS, which he is penning with indie horror filmmaker Greg (UNDYING LOVE) Lamberson. “I had been in talks with POPcinema about doing a project with them for quite a while,” Loreti says, “and finally this one was approved. I have to thank [the company’s] Paige Kay Davis, who put me in contact with Michael Raso [who will serve as executive producer] for making this happen.”
While the script is still a work in progress, Loreti does say that he has already cast newcomer Javier Diment in the title role, and further reveals, “It’s in the tradition of REPULSION and THE TENANT, with plenty of blood, some nudity and a lot of atmosphere. A young girl living with her boyfriend in a decadent apartment building in a dark, undetermined city discovers that a demon posing as a drug pusher has moved in, and is slowly devouring everyone’s souls. Of course, it’s hard [for the girl] to prove until one day all hell breaks loose and blood starts flowing.” Set to shoot THE SOULLESS in Argentina, pairing once again with LEFT FOR DEAD cinematographer de la Vega, Loreti doesn’t want to give much more of the plot of THE SOULLESS away, but does add that the production will “have fun slaughtering the building’s tenants.”
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