Busy filmmaker Richard Griffin of Scorpio Film Productions, who already has RAVING MANIACS (to be released by Brain Damage Films) and SEEPAGE (distributor TBA) coming later this year, gave Fango the word that principal photography wrapped May 27 on his latest opus, PRETTY DEAD THINGS, and provided us with a couple of early pics. Griffin (pictured above in black baseball cap) describes the new movie, which he wrote and directed, as “a bawdy tale of vampires, porn stars, political corruption, revenge and true love, starring William DeCoff [a regular in Griffin’s features], Danielle [KREATING KARLOFF] Lozeau, Patrick Pitu, Ross Kelly [from the Sci Fi Channel’s upcoming ARMY OF THE DEAD], Jason Witter [pictured below center], Salvatore Marchese, New York stage actor V. Orion Delwaterman and Robin [POULTRYGIEST] Watkins, along with newcomers Ashley Eaton and Jennifer Sharf.”
Produced by Ted Marr, PRETTY DEAD THINGS was lensed by DIE YOU ZOMBIE BASTARDS! director Caleb Emerson, whose work wins raves from Griffin. “I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the first day of rushes,” he says. “This was the first time we’ve filmed with the newest HD camera, and the results were just breathtaking. Caleb’s cinematography and [lighting director] Thomas Severinghaus’ lighting made it look like 35mm Technicolor film.”
Adds Marr, “We were very lucky with both cast and crew this time around. The performances were fantastic across the board, and I couldn’t be happier with our team. They brought the movie off the script page in a way I never expected. There were some things that Richard wrote, and we both looked at each other and said, ‘Yeah, well, we probably won’t get that shot, but…’ Somehow, though, they all ended up in the movie!”
Griffin promises that PRETTY DEAD THINGS offers something different in the glutted genre scene. “I think audiences are tired of the same old blood-and-guts stuff,” he says. “Slasher/serial-killer films are played out, Japanese ghost-story remakes are played out, remakes in general are played out. You can’t thrill audiences with just blood, guts and pointless CGI effects. With PRETTY DEAD THINGS, we’re going to take the audience into a new and exciting direction. And we’re so pleased with our cast. So many low-budget horror filmmakers make the mistake of trying to put a ‘name’ actor in their cast, usually some washed-up cult figure, but we believe in the old Hollywood saying: ‘Movies make stars, stars don’t make movies.’ ”
PRETTY DEAD THINGS now heads into postproduction, with a projected completion date of late fall 2006. You can find out more about SEEPAGE and MANIACS here and at the Scorpio site linked above, and look for Griffin’s Notes from the Underground piece in a future issue of Fango.
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