Oct 11 2012

Doug Bradley Talks about Pinhead, Masks, and Clive Barker

By Jason Harris

Doug Bradley

Doug Bradley, best known for the role of Pinhead in the Hellraiser movies, doesn’t think of himself as a horror icon. He jokingly said it sounds like there was a morning where there was a letter on his doorstep stating, “Dear Mr. Bradley, you are now a fully accredited horror icon with a membership card enclosed.”

He credits his appearances at conventions for helping him become known to his fans since he isn’t recognizable with the make-up on.

“I have always said that every actor’s biggest enemy is anonymity.”

Pinhead

He is known more as Pinhead then the character of Lylesburg in Nightbreed.

There’s always an interest in Nightbreed and that interest has been raised recently with the attempt to restore it back to the movie Clive Barker intended to have released in 1990, Bradley said.

Bradley and Barker became friends in high school in Liverpool back in the 60s when they were in a play together. He describes his friend as “the most extraordinary person I’ve met.” He says he “tries not to throw the word genius around lightly,” but he does apply it in Barker’s case.

Bradley said people expect Barker “to be weird and fucked up and sacrificing virgins [and] biting the heads off live chickens. For all I know, he may do all of that,” he jokingly said.

He considers Barker, “very funny, very witty” and a person with an “extraordinary imagination to be able to produce the movies that he has, the short stories, the novels, and his artwork.” He’s “a person with a tremendous sense of the absurd and the ridiculous.”

“For all these decades, it has been a privilege to be close to that process,” Bradley said.

Barker is one of the reasons he turned down portraying Pinhead in the ninth installment of the franchise, Hellraiser: Revelations, which came out last year.

“I didn’t feel like the movie was in anyway, shape, or form a serious attempt to move the franchise forward nor reinvigorate it in any way, shape, or form. I felt it was something of an insult to the franchise, to Clive, to me, to all the people who had worked so hard on the series over the years.”

Bradley hasn’t seen the movie, which had a microscopic budget and a brief shooting schedule, he said. He has heard about the movie from fans and nothing of what he is hearing about it is good, he said.

When he first became Pinhead, it took him five to six hours in the make-up chair, but it was shortened to about three to four hours by the time he made the eighth movie in the franchise. The longest time he was in the make-up for was 18 hours. It all depended on what was needed of him, he said. He could be needed for one scene or for several.

These days he is enjoying just acting and doesn’t have any aspirations to direct.

“I wouldn’t shy away from the possibility of directing, but it’s not something I have a desire to do necessarily.”

Besides acting, he has written a screenplay and a book. The impetus for his book, Behind the Mask of a Horror Actor, “goes back to his relationship with Clive” and how they were always working together for ten years in the theater before Hellraiser.

“We were always using masks one way or another as part of our work. I always had a fascination for it before I came to Pinhead so I guess I just had the ideas in my head …”

When asked about writing an autobiography, he isn’t thinking about writing one because it feels to him if you write one “your life and career are over,” which he feels he is nowhere near that point yet.

“If you are writing your autobiography, you want to make yourself sound as interesting as possible. You want to make your life story as interesting as possible. I don’t know if we’re necessarily capable of telling the truth about ourselves.”

Bradley recently read Lance Henriksen’s autobiography, Not Bad for a Human.

“He has an amazing story to tell particularly in terms of his early life and his journey into the profession. I truly enjoyed reading it.”

Bradley will be attending Rock and Shock this weekend at the DCU Convention Center & The Palladium in Worcester, MA.

Oct 8 2012

My Trip to Haddonfield

By Rob Watts

As a fan of many classic movies, I’ve had the pleasure of visiting a great deal of filming locations to those films. As a child I got to swim at the beach from Jaws in Martha’s Vineyard. I had the pleasure of visiting The Amityville Horror house in Toms River, New Jersey. Heck, I live within ten minutes of various movie locations in Boston where such films as The Town, The Departed, and Good Will Hunting were filmed. My absolute favorite location visited however was South Pasadena, California where the majority of John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN was filmed.

Rob Watts in front of The Wallace home where Laurie’s friend babysat. Photo by Shannon Watts.

Unlike a lot of filming locations, the neighborhood of South Pasadena was used primarily “as is.” There was very little film trickery involved as the town of “Haddonfield” had (has) a charm and beauty of its own that needed very little set dressing. Aside from bags of painted leaves being thrown around within frame to establish autumn in Illinois, very little else was manipulated. Upon first visit to the now iconic neighborhood, I was shocked to see just how much of it resembled that as it was in the film, even more than thirty years later.

The hardware store (as it is today). Photo by Shannon Watts.

You don’t have to travel far around town to see most of the locations either, as much of the daytime hours scenes were all filmed within streets of each other. For instance, the street where Laurie Strode is walking to school after dropping the keys off at the Myers house (Meridian Ave), leads directly to the hardware store that was broken into later in the day. Incidentally, the actual Myers house was moved and restored directly across the street from the hardware store (now a picture framing store) and is currently a doctor’s office located at 1000 Mission Street.

Rob Watts on the steps of the Myers House. Photo by Shannon Watts.

If you walk back down Meridian Ave., you will be walking in the direction of the streets where Laurie and her friends walked home from school. You’ll want to look for Magnolia Street, Montrose Ave., and Highland Street. These are the streets which were most visible throughout the first half of the movie. Probably the most iconic location from the film, and believe me it’s still there, is the famous hedge where Michael Myers hid behind as the girls approached him. It’s a little tricky to find at first because most houses on the street have similar hedges, but if you travel down Montrose Ave, going through Oxley Street, you will stumble upon the giant hedge. Just make sure no one is standing behind it waiting for you.

The babysitting scene street . N Orange Grove Ave
The babysitting scene street. N Orange Grove Ave. Photo by Shannon Watts.

The last half of the film, where the girls were babysitting, was oddly enough filmed on the corner of Sunset Blvd in West Hollywood. Although you’d never know it from watching the film, directly behind the camera crew was a bustling nightlife. It was a bit odd for me to look in the opposite direction of the street from the film and find a KFC and Blockbuster Video (because I’m sure Laurie Strode could have run in there for help if she really needed it.) But that was the genius of John Carpenter. He had a knack for taking a side street of Los Angeles’ most happening neighborhood and have it appear as a modest suburban town in the middle of America.

The street where Myers drove behind the girls. Photo by Shannon Watts.

The two houses where Jamie Lee Curtis’ character and her friend babysat are located at 1530 and 1537 North Orange Grove Street, off Sunset Blvd. The home where Laurie Strode babysat looks almost identical as it did in the movie. The house across the street has been updated a great deal over the years but still maintains some resemblance to how it did in the movie.

Rob Watts in front of the Doyle House (Jamie Lee’s). Photo by Shannon Watts.

So if you are ever in the West Hollywood or South Pasadena area of California and you love the original Halloweenthen it’s worth a venture around the filming locations of this incredible film. Just be respectful to the homeowners and respect their privacy. And for God sake, if you see a guy walking around in a rubber mask, RUN!

The creepy staircase in the Myers house. Photo by Shannon Watts.

Oct 7 2012

The Birth of ‘Dark Discussions’

The Birth of Dark Discussions

By Philip Perron

If you miss your favorite ESPN show, go get it on a podcast. If you want to hear news from some of the biggest news agencies in the world, you can get it through a podcast and listen to it a day later. Podcasting has been a spectacular if not largely known medium that provides programming for those folks who prefer to listen to their favorite topics when they want and wherever they want.

Though satellite radio has been a great phenomenon where folks are able to listen to an eclectic mix of shows on books, movies, sports, news, finance, and even cooking, niche audiences still may not be fulfilled with what they really want to listen to. What about themes such as video games, gardening, or even something as specific as horror movies? This is where podcasting really has promise. Not only is it free, it requires nothing more than an audio digital device, a laptop, or even a smart phone.

As an avid fan of the arts, specifically books and movies, I was always visiting websites to read about the production of Martin Scorcese’s latest film or the progress of the next Stephen King novel. Then one day I came across an audio review on the film Cloverfield as well as an audio round table discussion about the film No Country for Old Men. Afterwards, I saw that these audio files were also being streamed from Apple’s iTune’s store for free.

Getting programs on my little iPod was a convenient way to listen to programs I wanted to listen to while doing my daily walks in the woods or working out or commuting to work. And with the wide variety of programming available I was able to search for shows discussing upcoming books and movies. And yet even more specifically books and movies within the horror and techno genres.

The interesting thing was that many of the podcasts I listened to were done by amateurs or simply people who did them for fun. Their shows were filled on topics they were passionate about. The discussions were probably the same ones they’d be talking about over a round of beers. They weren’t making any money, they weren’t making any inroads towards a more promising career, they were doing it simply because they loved talking about their focused topic.

Early 2011, I figured I could do it myself. While grabbing burgers with a few guys, I noticed our discussions focused around either sports or genre fiction which included horror, science fiction, fantasy, thriller, techno-thriller, and mystery. And having added a number of genre themed podcasts as part of my weekly listen to-do list, I did my research and started putting together the idea. What resulted was a genre themed topical podcast entitled Dark Discussions Podcast.

Finding two wonderful folks online through various genre themed forums, myself along with Eric Webster, of Ann Arbor, Michigan and Michael Darwin, of Hudson Valley, New York came together and put together a weekly show on topics that anyone from the New England Horror Writer’s group would be familiar with. Not to be tagged as specifically horror, the tag line “Your place for the discussion of horror film, fiction, and all that’s fantastic” seemed to fit.

The podcast basically focused at first on themed discussions or specific movies. Topics such as a retrospective of the director and screenwriter Frank Darabont as well as the franchise of the Planet of the Apes were some of the early weekly episodes. But also films such as Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window and John Huston’s Moby Dick have been a focus. It’s true, we are no experts but our perspectives as fans of genre fiction were as well thought out as some of the genre websites and magazines available. And at the worst, we provide another voice on both obscure works and genre classics.

Some of the inventive ways the podcast has expanded were by being contacted by some folks for reviews and promotion. Horror Realm, a convention every September in Pittsburgh, emailed and offered the podcast passes to their convention. M.J. Preston, the author of The Equinox, asked if we’d be interested in a free copy of his novel to review. However, it was co-host Darwin who really got it. While attending Horror Realm 2011 as press, he not only interviewed the film stars of some of horror fans favorite films, but he started interviewing the vendors and independent talent. What resulted was Dark Discussions Podcast helping out folks who need promotion of some really fantastic works that anyone who enjoys horror should know about.

This is where Dark Discussions Podcast in a sense merges with the NEHW group. After Horror Realm 2011, Dark Discussions contacted the folks at both the Rock and Shock and Anthocon conventions and received press passes to attend and promote their events. This is where our podcast became what some would call an unofficial promoter of the folks we met specifically at Anthocon and therefore NEHW. We interviewed such NEHW members as Charles Day, Gregory Norris, and Inanna Arthen. Small presses as Evil Jester Press and By Light Unseen Media, which had tables at Anthocon were also focused on.

So after a year and a half, the podcast keeps going. The listenership grows. And topics as wide ranging as modern novels as Scott Sigler’s Infected and independent cinema as Simon Rumley’s Red, White, and Blue are featured. As an inspiring writer, I know the work folks go through juggling their everyday lives with writing. With Horror Realm come and gone and Rock and Shock and Anthocon coming up, Dark Discussions looks forward to seeing everyone and helping you promote your new and wonderful works. As an inspiring writer, I know the work folks go through juggling their everyday lives with writing.

Oct 7 2012

Chat with a NEHW Co-chair

Author and New England Horror Writer Co-chair Stacey Longo will be on the Writer’s Chatroom (http://writerschatroom.com) on Sunday at 7 p.m. (EST). The chat will be moderated by NEHW member Lisa Haselton.

A lucky chatter can win a copy of Dark Things IV, which contains a story by Longo. You have to be present in the chatroom to win. To log into the chatroom, click here.

Longo will also be at Rock and Shock next weekend where she will be on the Women in Horror panel with Heather Langenkamp at 7 p.m. and on the Horrors in the Movies panel on Sunday at 12 p.m.

Oct 6 2012

The Good and Bad of the 2012 NEIBA Fall Conference

By Jason Harris

The New England Independent Booksellers Association 39^thAnnual Conference took place from Oct. 3 through 5 at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence, Rhode Island.

I will start with the good first. I went to the first day of the conference on Wednesday. I was looking forward to the panel “Social Media 2.0: Beyond the Basics: Using Social Media to Drive Sales and Customer Engagement.” As the NEHW Director of Publicity and Webmaster and Marketing Director and co-owner of Books and Boos, a bookstore, I knew I could learn something from this panel. The panelists were Sarah Rettger, of Newtonville Books in Newton, MA., Mary Allen, of Northshire Bookstore in Manchester Center, VT., Kirsten Hess, of R.J. Julia in Madison, CT, and Ann Kingman of Random House.

The panelists mentioned there are ups and downs when using social media. One downside is that you have to use it five times a day, Hess mentioned.

One thing I was surprised to hear was the fact that the panelists don’t like Hootsuite, which could help with having to be on social media five times a day. The reason is it’s not genuine and people know it from seeing where the message is from. “Voice is important” when posting in social media, Hess said.

Hess also mentioned that people should be looking at other Facebook business pages, not just look at the book business.

Allen mentioned that people love photographs and live pictures of things with authors. She wasn’t talking about pictures of authors reading from their books either. She’s talking about a picture of them making a funny face or something behind the scenes before they become professional to do their reading.

Hess said customers want to see the people who sell them their books.

If you own a bookstore or any type of business, a good word to keep in mind is “partnerships” with other businesses in your community, Allen said.

Rettger said you should do what’s best for you and not to force it.

The other panel I checked out was “It’s All About Customer Service: Strengthening the Brick and Mortar Advantage.” This one wasn’t has interesting to me as the Social Media one, but it did contain some good ideas. The panelists were Susan Mercier, of Edgartown Books in Edgartown, MA., Ann Carmichael, of Kennebunk, ME, Michael Kanter, owner of Cambridge Naturals in Cambridge, MA., and Karen Corvello, of Baker & Taylor.

Kantor said that customer is all and everything. Stores should be kept cleaned and stocked, he said.

“My goal is for customers to leave the store and say ‘wow’ that was an amazing experience,” Kantor said.

He has noticed that in many bookstores employees are indifferent.

It was mentioned that every customer should be greeted as they come into the store.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” Carmichael said. She also said that customer service begins on the sidewalk before the customer even comes inside. This means that the landscaping to the windows to the building itself has to be in the best shape possible.

Now we come to the bad of NEIBA. I had a couple of assignments on Thursday, which kept me away from the conference. I was able to attend on Friday and I wish I didn’t. The main reason I was going to go on Friday was to attend the panel, “Think Tank Round Tables – New ideas for New Business.” This is how the program guide described the panel: “Whenever booksellers get together the room seems to fill with new ideas. This 45-minute ‘think tank’ is an opportunity to gather – at tables organized by small, mid and larger-sized stores – and talk with each other about what exciting things you’ve done in your store in the past year and what things you’ve learned at the Fall Conference you’re going to do. We hope this will be a useful and focused way to wrap up the educational offerings of the Conference.”

When I got to the convention center, I found out that the trade show exhibit room was already shut down and packed up. It only went on one day this year and that day was Thursday. I didn’t realize this would happen from the program guide. I figured it would go on the entire conference. This was the first year they only had it for one day I was told. NEIBA was trying something new this year. Hopefully, they will go back to having it open all three days next year.

After being disappointed about the trade show, I went to the room where my panel was going to be held. I was about twenty minutes early so I waited outside the room. As it started getting closer to the 11 a.m. start time I wanted to the door. Once it got to 10:55 a.m., I was leaning against the doorway and started to worry. When I heard Steve Fischer, of NEIBA tell Neil Strandberg of the American Booksellers Association to continue talking and that he had plenty of time and it was around 11:10 a.m., I started getting upset. Later on, Fischer said that Strandberg could continue until 11:30 a.m. The last twenty minutes of the supposed panel I went to see was used to continue the discussion of the Kobo e-reading program, which was the subject of the previous panel. I had made a two hour and fifty minute round trip from Connecticut for nothing and I wasn’t happy about this. If NEIBA wasn’t going to have the panel they promoted in its program then they should have gotten the word out. Instead of still promoting it, by having the panel’s name and description listed on the wall outside the convention center’s conference room.

Oct 5 2012

Actor Talks about the role of Michael Myers in the Original ‘Halloween’

Actor Talks about the role of Michael Myers in the Original Halloween

By Jason Harris

Actor Tony Moran portrayed the 23-year-old Michael Myers in the original Halloween (1978).

He had a great time on the movie and compares John Carpenter to a computer because of the way he had every shot planned out.

“We never shot more than three shots for every scene,” Moran said. “He was pretty amazing.”

He considers Jamie Lee Curtis, his Halloween co-star, “really cool and really good.”

“[She] was a down to Earth chick.”

When asked if there were any scenes filmed that didn’t make it into the movie, Moran didn’t know of any.

Moran was asked to be in the sequel, but turned it down.

“I didn’t want to wear a mask,” Moran said about his reason for turning down the sequel.

The mask was uncomfortable and “really hot,” he said.

“You couldn’t breathe through it. The only holes through it were for the eyes.”

When asked how long he was in the mask on a typical day, he replied. “It seemed like forever.”

Moran received credit in the sequel since footage from the original was used in it, he said.

He doesn’t plan on seeing Rob Zombie’s Halloween remake.

“It’s a remake of me so I won’t watch it.”

Moran is proud to have portrayed the character of Michael Myers

Tony Moran

and wouldn’t want to be known for Freddy Krueger or Jason Voorhees, two other horror icons from Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13^th fame, respectively. He states “Halloween started it all …”

Moran has added producer to his resume when he took on that job when a guy messaged him on Myspace and sent him a script for Beg, a short film. It’s now a full-length movie starring his friend Tony Todd, P.J. Soles, and Michael Berryman, who he got to be in the movie. Debbie Rochon is also in Beg.

He would love to work with director Martin Scorsese and actor Robert De Niro.

“They are brilliant.”

Moran will be appearing at The Nightmare Factory, located at 2 Museum Place Mall in Salem, MA. from Friday through Sunday.

Oct 2 2012

NEIBA Fall Conference Begins Tomorrow

The New England Independent Booksellers Association Fall Conference happens at the Rhode Island Convention Center at 1 Sabin Street in Providence, Rhode Island from Wednesday through Friday.

During the three-day conference, there will be exhibitors, lunch with booksellers, wholesalers and reps, panels, and plenty of other activities. You can check out the entire schedule by clicking here.

Some of the panels taking place during the conference include Best of Both Worlds: Understanding the Young Adult and Adult Crossover Market, Social Media 2.0: Beyond the Basics: Using Social Media to Drive Sales and Customer Engagement, Meeting the Literacy Needs in Your Community and ABA – E-book Solution.

There will also be autograph sessions with a number of authors inlcuding Joe Hill (Heart-Shaped Box), Nancy DiFabbio (Midnight Magic: Be Careful What You Wish For) and Kristy McKay (Undead) throughout the three-day event.

The 2012 Independent Spirit Awards will also be given out on Friday.

If you want to support NEIBA member stores in any of the New England states, click here.

Oct 1 2012

The Epitaph, Issue 24 (Septemeber 2012)

Issue #24 (Sept. 2012)

The Epitaph

Journal of the New England Horror Writers (NEHW)

The NEHW Board of Directors:

Tracy L. Carbone – Co-Chair
Stacey Longo – Co-Chair
Dan Keohane – Treasurer
Jason Harris – Director of Publicity/Webmaster
K. Allen Wood – Director of Publications
Scott Goudsward – Director of Events
David Price
Tim Deal (alternate)
T.J. May (alternate)

NEHW SIGNINGS AND READINGS:

Rock and Shock

The NEHW will have its usual table this years Rock and Shock (www.rockandshock.com) convention in Worcester, MA from 10/12 – 10/14 – a lot of the details are on our FB page.

We will be going to dinner at Viva Bene’s Saturday night at 7:30.

If you plan on selling at the booth or coming to dinner, Scott Goudsward needs to know ASAP. Email him at screaming602@gmail.com. An email chain will start soon with the details of attendance and panels. If your name does not get on the list then you will not be able to get in. Email Scott for questions and details.

The NEHW will be taking place in panels this year, Women in Horror, Small Press Publishing and Breaking into the Business – if you would like to volunteer to be on one of them (and there’s space) email Scott.

Oct. 28 Reading/Signing Event

There are plans in the works for a NEHW reading/signing event on Sunday, Oct. 28 in Billerica, MA from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. There will be a table where your books can be sold too. Please email Jason Harris at dudley228@gmail.com if you are interested in participating in this event.

Rhode Island Comic Con

The NEHW will be at Rhode Island Comic Con on November 3 and 4. The cost will be $25 per member to participate. Space is limited to six people. This event is now full.

Anthocon

The NEHW will have a table at Anthocon (www.anthocon.com) from Nov. 9 through 11. Participation is $10. Email Scott Goudsward at screaming602@gmail.com for details and to reserve a spot at the table to sell your books.

Tantasqua’s Holiday Craft Fair

The NEHW will have tables at the Tantasqua’s Holiday Craft Fair at the Tantasqua Regional Sr. High School in Fiskdale, MA from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on December 1. It’s $10 to participate. Contact Jason Harris at dudley228@gmail.com to be at the table.

Want to Give Back to the NEHW?

The NEHW has been asked by the Barnes & Noble in Manchester, CT to man its gift wrapping table. There will be a jar set-up for donations, which will go to our organization. We will be there on Dec. 9, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The table sits three people comfortably. There will be shifts. After gift wrapping ends, we can go out to eat at a local restaurant.

Email Jason Harris at dudley228@gmail.com if you like to help gift wrap.

NEHW WRITING OPPORTUNITIES:

From Trisha Wooldridge:

Doorways to Extra Time, a short story anthology, is now accepting submissions.

In our busy world of meetings and microwaves, car radios and cell phones, people always wish they could get an extra hour in the day. What if they could? Doorways to Extra Time is an anthology that explores ways to get extra time (be it an hour, a day, or a decade) and the impact it would have (whether upon a single life, a family or an entire world).We’re looking for stories with a touch of the fantastic—whether mystical, magical, mechanical, or just plain mysterious—but they can be set in any time or any genre: contemporary or historical, science fiction or fantasy, horror or magic realism. We could even find a place for a nonfiction essay if it was truly exceptional. In short, show us something show-stopping, and we’ll make time for you.

Suggested Length: full stories (from 3,000 to 7,000 words) and flash fiction (preferred under 1,000 words). We will accept good stories up to 10,000 words but longer lengths are a harder sell.

Due Date: Oct. 15, 2012

Editors: Anthony Francis and Trisha J. Wooldridge

Submission Guidelines: Please email your submissions to anthology@spencerhillpress.com. Put your story in the BODY of the email (no attachments) and put “DOORWAYS TO EXTRA TIME” in the subject line along with the title.

And now the boring bits: We can only accept previously unpublished stories. Please don’t use characters or material to which you do not own the copyright so Disney doesn’t come sue us—this is not a fan-fiction anthology. Contributor payment will be an advance of $10, a contributor copy of the print edition, and an equal share of the contributors’ portion of the royalties. Please make your work appropriate for a PG-13 audience and avoid gratuitous sex, violence, politics and puns.

For accepted submissions, Spencer Hill Press will take first print and electronic publishing rights, which are exclusive publishing rights for as long as the anthology remains in print. This means that authors will not be able sell or publish their stories elsewhere, and when the rights revert to the authors after the anthology is no longer in print, they will only be able to market the story as a reprint, which in nearly all cases is a harder sell and has a lower pay rate than first print. We at Spencer Hill Press hope that the anthology will have strong sales that will result in healthy royalty payments, but we want authors to go into this with eyes open, knowing how acceptance to one anthology limits the marketing of the same story down the road.

She hasn’t gotten anything from her NEHW colleagues and would really love more horror!!!

NEHW MEMBER NEWS:

From Jan Kozlowski:

Kozlowski’s novel, Die, You Bastard! Die!, edited by the legendary John Skipp, is now out in paperback! http://t.co/5eGWiXgE.

From Stacey Longo:

Longo will be the guest author on The Writer’s Chatroom on Oct. 7 from 7 – 9 p.m. (EST) for dark fiction month. TWC is a 5-time winner of Writer’s Digest 101 Best Websites for Writers. Longo will be raffling off a copy of Dark Things IV during the intermission at 8 p.m.

The chat is completely online, so be sure to visit http://writerschatroom.com on Sunday.

From Robert Heske:

I’m writing to let you know about Blessid.

Here’s the pitch:

A disturbed young pregnant woman searching for the will to live meets an enigmatic immortal that has moved in next door. He’s seen everything…but can he help her to survive her past?

Blessid is an indie film that is dark, funny, violent and ultimately uplifting. It’s a story about tragedy, guilt, survival and forgiveness.

I know you’ve heard from many, many people asking you to help fund their film project. What makes Blessid unique? Glad you asked!

Beyond a great script and a story that’s not been told before, we have an energetic, experienced director and crew who have collectively worked on the biggest feature films that have come to Boston in the past decade. Our producer had a short film accepted into Sundance this year. And the camera package we are shooting on is the same one that was used to film the summer blockbuster Prometheus. We have an unbelievable blend of New England and LA-based actors … and some exciting news to come. We believe so much in this project we are funding a good percentage of it ourselves. But every contribution helps and gets us closer.
Take a moment to check it out on Indiegogo and also share it with your friends. All the tools are there. Get perks, make a contribution, or simply follow updates. If enough of us get behind it, we can make Blessid happen.
http://www.indiegogo.com/blessidthemovie?a=933605&i=emal

From L.L. Soares:

Soares’ debut novel, Life Rage, came out from Nightscape Press on Sept. 21 and should be available soon afterwards on Amazon and the usual places. It’s also available for Kindle and Nook.

Soares’ second novel, Rock ‘N’ Roll, comes out in October from Gallows Press. He hopes to have copies at this year’s Rock and Shock Convention in Worcester.

From Dale T. Phillips:

Phillips will be one of the featured writers at the New England Author’s Expo on Nov. 11th, at the Danversport (MA) Yacht Club.

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS:

Sue Schuler (MA)
Elaine Pascale (MA)
Rona Gofstein (MA)

– Jason Harris, Editor, the Epitaph: Journal of NEHW
– Stacey Longo, Assistant Editor, the Epitaph: Journal of NEHW

Sep 27 2012

Massachusetts Native Talks about Writing and Hollywood

by Jason Harris

J.P. Ouellette

J.P. Ouellette has worked on a number of films in Boston such as The Box and The Fighter. Working in the city allowed him to “learn filmmaking from some of the best crews around” while being at home.

“The mix of local and Hollywood talent brought my knowledge of film to the next level,” Ouellette said. Being an assistant to great storytellers like Richard Kelly was better than grad school.”

Kelly was the writer and director of such movies as The Box and Donnie Darko.

Ouellette started working in Hollywood after taking a risk in order to pursue his writing career. He states that “Los Angeles is the best place to be for an emerging writer.”

“The whole city is dedicated to the film business, and there are endless opportunities here to build your resume.”

His latest film, Captured, which he produced, wrapped in June and is scheduled for release in October of 2013, which is “a perfect time” to release it, Ouellette said. It’s about a rock band that goes off to shoot a music video where an escaped convict becomes obsessed with them.

“It is a classic slasher flick with a lot of psychological twists. It blends genres, and is made for the true horror fan who is tired of the same old thing.”

Ouellette became involved with Captured when writer and director Joe Arias hired him to write new drafts of the script.

“It took us (a lucky) 13 drafts to get the shooting script ready. It was the hardest writing sessions either one of us has been apart of, but it was worth it, this story will blow your mind!”

Captured took three weeks to film, but it was in the works for two years since Arias came up with the film’s concept, Ouellette said. He is in the process of working on the sound editing, special effects, and the score now.

“It’s been quite a labor of love. It’s all very exciting to see something you help create come together.”

Along with finishing up Captured, he is producing another horror movie, Do Not Watch.

“Due to the high-concept of this project, the synopsis is being kept under wraps.”

Not only has Ouellette worked on more than 20 movies in his career, you can take a look at his Internet Movie Database profile, http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1965594/ to see everything that he has worked on, but he has also found the time to write a novel, 2501. His writing and this story’s style was inspired by Arthur C. Clarke and George Orwell. Its “hard science-fiction blended with political overtones is something everyone can get behind.” The e-book can be purchase on Amazon by clicking here.

It originally started out as a script idea, but “it was way too involved for the screen at that time.”

“I really had to dig into the characters and the science in order to find my story. Funny enough, the book now represents the outline for the proposed film version.”

He is still looking for the right Hollywood screenwriter to adapt 2501. He could adapt it himself, but he wants to step back and let someone else take care of it.

“The projected budget for this Blockbuster is over $50 million, and that is not in my price range … yet.”

He “would love Steven Spielberg to direct [2501] because of the Stanley Kubrick feel of the story.” If that happens he would love to be on-set, which he would consider “a dream project for sure.”

He does have an outline for another book, but his screenwriting schedule is keeping him from working on it.

“With 2501, I had to isolate myself while traveling in Mexico, writing the first draft freehand while sitting on the steps of the Mayan Ruins. It is the only way to get a novel done in this distracting day and age.”

Ouellette has a number of directors such as John Carpenter, J.J. Abrams, Duncan Jones, and Kelly, who has influenced him. He says that Kelly’s film, Donnie Darko, is the reason he went to film school, he said.

He has worked with many directors and actors, and wants to work with many more.

“They all have their own style to this art, and I love learning from them.”

He doesn’t have a dream project. All he wants to do is “to keep making great movies, and create opportunities to make more of them.”

Sep 24 2012

‘Terror and Cheap Thrills’ in New Movie ‘Barricade’

by Stacey Longo

Barricade (2012), the latest offering from WWE Studios, stars Eric McCormack (Will & Grace) as Terrence Shade, a recent widower who finds himself struggling to bond with his two children after her death. He takes the kids to a mountain cabin to experience a white Christmas, but what waits for them there is less ho-ho-ho and more ho-ho-horror.

After a cozy evening by the fire followed by a snowball fight in the morning, the Shades soon realize that something’s not quite right. All three of them are sick, but Terrence is unable to drive them all in to town for help, as their vehicle has been buried in snow by a blizzard. Terrence, his daughter and son are forced to hole up in the gloomy cabin, where nothing is as it seems. Terror and cheap thrills ensue.

This straight-to-video fright fest wasn’t bad for what can only be classified as ‘B’ horror. The creepy music plays up to sudden “gotcha!” moments, and a few times, I laughed at myself for jumping. I did find some of the apparent inconsistencies frustrating, but as the movie developed a Jacob’s Ladder feel, I realized that what I’d originally thought were consistency errors were in fact deliberate clues that helped play out the storyline. Once I accepted that not everything I was seeing was as it really happened, I was able to relax my OCD tendencies and enjoy the film more.

The role of concerned father trying to protect his kids is a stretch for McCormack, who is better known for comedic roles. He did fine, and I could feel his frustration at not being able to help his terrified and sick daughter and son. The children, played by Conner Dwelly (Passengers) and Ryan Grantham (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) were predictable as a preteen girl and younger brother, respectively, varying from irritating each other to providing sibling support.

Barricade, overall, isn’t going to win any Academy Awards, but it kept me interested. Definitely worth the buck at Redbox.

Barricade (2012), directed by Andrew Currie, is available on DVD on Sept. 25. It’s PG-13 and runs 82 minutes.