When it had its first public showing this past weekend at the New York City Horror Film Festival, writer/director Graeme Whifler’s NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH shocked and audibly grossed out the audience with its mix of extreme psychosis and assorted bodily fluids. The movie’s effect was particularly profound on one viewer: “I’m very happy to report that someone fainted at our premiere screening,” says Michael Brody, who produced WATCH with Jeff Kirshbaum. “He recovered shortly thereafter and was able to laugh about it, but the fact that he was a special makeup effects artist [Casey Kirkpatrick] made it more interesting.”
“I was down in the front of the theater,” recalls Whifler, “and I looked back and saw this guy flop down into the middle of the aisle. I didn’t know what was happening at first.”
“What was so great,” notes Kirshbaum, “was that when we ran into him later, he was telling us how the film really got to him—it was a slow buildup.”
“That was our first screening, too,” adds Whifler. “And I heard somebody else got hives. We’re still hoping for a death.”
NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH, which won the Best Special FX award at the New York Horror Fest, focuses on a deranged individual named Adrian (Nick Searcy) who terrorizes a young couple who have just moved onto his street. Look for more coverage of the movie in the pages of Fango early next year, and find out more about WATCH at its official website.
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