After a triumphant collaboration on 2008’s cult hit REPO! The Genetic Opera, Bousman and Zdunich had no where to go but down. ALL THE WAY DOWN TO HELL! Come experience their new musical endeavor, THE DEVIL’S CARNIVAL. THE DEVIL’S CARNIVAL features twelve original songs, written by Zdunich and Saar Hendelman, directed by Bousman, produced by Sean E Demott and Joseph Bishara (Insidious), and stars Victoriandustrial rocker Emilie Autumn, Dayton Callie (Sons Of Anarchy, Deadwood), M. Shawn “Clown” Crahan (of the Grammy award winning, cult metal giants Slipknot), Briana Evigan (Step Up 2), Sean Patrick Flanery (The Boondock Saints), Maggie “Captain Maggots” Lally and The Blessed Contessa (of The Bloody Crumpets), J LaRose (Insidious), Jessica Lowndes (90210), Mighty Mike Murga (of Mini Kiss), internet star Hannah Minx, Ivan Moody (of the chart-topping heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch), Bill Moseley (The Devil’s Rejects), Ogre (of the legendary industrial band Skinny Puppy), Marc Senter (The Lost), Paul Sorvino (Goodfellas), Alexa Vega (Spy Kids), and Zdunich.
Media Mikes has had a chance to interview a few people from this film and will be adding many more in the coming weeks. In our first wave we have creators, Darren Lynn Bousman and Terrance Zdunich. In the coming weeks, we will also have interviews posted with Briana Evigan, Jessica Lowndess and Ogre!! So stay tuned!!
Terrance Zdunich is known best for playing the Graverobber in “Repo! The Genetic Opera”, his first collaboration with Darren Lynn Bousman. The duo recently re-teamed on their new film “The Devil’s Carnival”. Media Mikes has a chance to chat with Terrance about the film, it’s music and their city tour.
Mike Gencarelli: Where did you come with the idea for this film? Terrance Zdunich: After Darren and I collaborated on “Repo! The Genetic Opera” 4 years ago, we knew we wanted to do another musical project. We looked around for awhile and eventually came up with this idea that really stuck with us. We knew that this was something we were now going to invest the next few years of our life creating and promoting. As far as the concept for I think it came out of a love for amusement park dark rides. Rides like Disney’s The Haunted Mansion where you get a really cool immersive experience. I thought of how cool it would be to create a world where it felt like you’re moving through one of those rides. That was the emphasis and “The Devil’s Carnival” grew out of that.
MG: Can you tell us about your character Lucifer in the film? TZ: Who doesn’t want to play the devil [laughs]? I think it’s a character I sort of sympathize with in some ways. He is the ultimate rebel. He was punished for questioning authority and as an artist that kind of spoke to me. I wanted to do a take on the character that maybe has not been done before. I thought that what if hell tries to do what heaven does and offer redemption. That would be the most rebellious act of the dark world. Put heaven out of business.
MG: Can you give us some background on the soundtrack? TZ: Like with “Repo”, you can listen to it and get one experience or idea of the world. When you see the songs attached to the imagery they will take on new and hopefully better doings. When you are doing a film where music is part of narrative it comes down to what are the stories, which are the characters and what is the heart of what they are doing? We then try to put all that to music. We had to distill what a song would sound like for each element in the film. The song “Trust Me” takes the theme of the Aesop’s Fable story “The Scorpion and the Frog”. We knew that character had to be seductive in gaining ones trust.
MG: Can you tell us about the song “In All My Dreams I Drown”? TZ: That song is one of the last ones we wrote. Up until about two months before filming there was only going to be nine songs on the album. We had originally envisioned a world where only the carnies sang. Darren and I thankfully changed that idea. It was a challenge to write a song for the Tamara character to where it seemed like she was singing in a dream. We came up with the idea of Lucifer representing all the men in her life. He really is the ultimate bad boy. We did a lot of research when writing that song.
MG: How do you feel this film compares to your work on “Repo! The Genetic Opera”? TZ: We knew that this was going to get compared to “Repo” no matter what we did. On one hand we wanted to live up to what fans love about that film. While on the other hand we really wanted to do something new. With “Repo”, the music was really a futuristic industrial sound. We used a lot of modern instrumentation and sounds. With “The Devil’s Carnival”, we decided to make everything sound like it was from the past. We used no electronic instruments. Everything is acoustic. I think tuba is the main instrument featured on the songs.
MG: Is there any truth to this film being the first in a series? TZ: That is absolutely true. This film is a little over an hour. Even though this film is a contained story we left it open to grow. The second film is actually already written. This story just continues to grow. The fact that we are using something like Aesop’s Fables gives us some 600 story lines to use. If the tour ends up being successful and the people respond we are chomping at the bit to do another one.
Darren Lynn Bousman is known for directing films like “Saw II, III & IV” and “Repo! The Genetic Opera”. Darren is reuniting with Terrance Zdunich from “Repo” on his newest film “The Devil’s Carnival”. They are also currently touring with this film to over 30+ cities. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Darren about the film and what we can expect.
Mike Gencarelli: Can you tell us about the origin of “The Devil’s Carnival”? Darren Lynn Bousman: Terrance and I have been trying to find another project to work on since “Repo! The Genetic Opera”. We just couldn’t find the right one. We knew the project had to be great and not just good. We threw ideas back and forth but nothing struck us as being great. All of a sudden this idea hit and we knew this was what we had to do. When you know you know and we jumped on this immediately.
MG: What do you feel is the hardest part of shooting a horror musical? DLB: Every aspect. This is a self funded thing. We actually received funding from Empire Film and Entertainment Group in Florida. I met them through one of the producers and they are great guys. There was no studio behind us. It was basically just us doing this thing. We had a real lack of support. This was just a bunch of friends making a movie together. It’s sounds awesome but it was really hard because there was no infrastructure. Doing everything from the soundtrack to the posters was the hardest part. We recorded an entire album without the help of any outside system. We shot the film which should have taken a month in just seven days.
MG: How do you compare this production with that of “Repo! The Genetic Opera”? DLB: This production I think is a little more mature. I will always love “Repo” as it is one of my favorite things. I just feel “Devil’s Carnival” is more mature and accessible. This film is equally bad ass and out of the box as “Repo”.
MG: Can you tell us about the cast? DLB: It’s as extremely diverse and equally crazy as the Repo cast. Emilie Autumn, who is my favorite person in the world now, plays the painted doll. Clown from Slipknot, Nivek Ogre, Sean Patrick Flanery and Paul Sorvino to name just a few. This cast just is extremely diverse. I think that makes it awesome! It gives the film that “What the fuck” factor. To me that’s my favorite thing about this movie. It is just so crazy and out there. This casting on this film was very unsafe.
MG: Can you tell us about the 30 city tour you currently have going on? DLB: It’s fucking insane! I am in a van right now with seven other people and it smells like feet and farts. It’s punk rock film making. The good people at Empire Film and Entertainment Group are funding this and we are doing this on the cheap for the art. Hopefully when people come out to the shows they see something they have never seen before. We want to make going to the movies and experience. This is a rock and roll concert in a movie theater.
The Devastated
“Devil’s Messenger”
Century Media Records
Producer: Chris Eck
Tracks: 12
Our Score: 2.5 out of 5 stars
“Devil’s Messenger” is the first release from Southern California’s The Devastated a band whose line up consists of former Impending Doom and Oblige members. Their album is being released via Century Media Records and features 12 original tracks produced by Chris Eck. Fans of these members’ previous groups will surely want to check out this album.
Each of the 12 tracks contained on “Devil’s Messenger” is a gritty, down tuned master piece each containing enough power to raise the dead. The song “Swallowing Tumors” is what I would assume pure evil would sound like while tracks like “The Devils Messenger” and “Zombies” will feed the needs of those in love with the standard breakdowns often associated with grind core music.
Chris Eck did a good job of capturing the sheer intensity of the music while creating a very listenable album. If you are looking to expand you grind core collection go out and get the debut album from The Devastated.
Track Listing:
1.) Drip Drip
2.) Psuedo Smile Campaign
3.) Swallowing Tumors
4.) Failure in Thrive
5.) Roof Top Party Drop
6.) The Devil’s Messenger
7.) Spit Vitriol
8.) Zombies
9.) Blood Bag Drag
10.) Tongue In Cheek
11.) Caprice
12.) Conductor
THANK YOU FOR ENTERING, THE CONTEST HAS ENDED. WINNERS HAVE BEEN CHOSEN AND NOTIFIED VIA EMAIL. PLEASE CHECK BACK EVERY WEEK FOR NEW GIVEAWAYS!
To celebrate release of “Devil’s Playground”, Media Mikes would like to giveaway 5 copies of the DVD. If you would like to win one of these great prizes, please leave us a comment below or send us an email and let us know your favorite zombie movie. This giveaway will be open until Monday October 17th at Noon, Eastern Time and is only open to residents of the United States. Only one entry per person, per household; all other entries will be considered invalid. Once the giveaway ends, Movie Mikes will randomly pick out winners and alert the winners via email.
SYNOPSIS
Flesh-eating zombies have taken over London, and humanity’s only hope for the future lies in one woman’s DNA. Cole, a hardened mercenary who works for the pharmaceutical company responsible for the horrific disaster, is charged with bringing her in. But, he’s already battling the demons of his violent past. Can he take on an army of bloodthirsty creatures as well? Find out-if you dare-in this terrifying sci-fi thriller filled with ravenous killers on a feeding frenzy.
DVD SPECIAL FEATURES
Behind-the-scenes Featurette and Deleted Scenes
Aspect ratio: 16×9 2.40 Widescreen Version
Sound: Engligh 5.1 Dolby Digital, English Stereo
Directed by: Mark McQueen
Starring: Danny Dyer, Craig Fairbrass, Jaime Murray
Distributed by Vivendi Entertainment
MPAA Rating: R
Running time: 93 minutes
Film: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Extras: 3 out of 5 stars
Ever since “28 Days Later” made zombies popular they have become very “in” in Hollywood. I enjoy a zombie movie just as much as the next person (even though the “Resident Evil” series seriously is loosing major steam). This film is decent and I definitely enjoyed it. It is not just your typical zombie rip-off. It is slow-paced with character development, some decent jumps and great effects. The quality of the film overall looks like has a decent size budget.
The plot is nothing new a pharmaceutical company is testing with drugs and SURPRISE people turn into zombies. We follow Cole, who is mercenary killer who searches for a cure for this zombie apocalypse before he turns into one himself. He is met up with a group of people that are trying to survive. One of the woman’s DNA in the group holds the key to survival. It is up to Cole to help save the day before it is too late. Before you ask…YES, the zombies are fast moving, kick some ass and there is show off some great stunt work in the film.
The special features are slim but decent and definitely watchable. We have some Behind-the-scenes featurettes, which are good because they go into some good parts of the films production. There are also some deleted scenes, not spectacular but worth a watch for sure. Even though it takes place in London, this is not “28 Days Later” but it also not a waste of time. Check it out!
LOS ANGELES, CA (September 13, 2011) – Prepare for a bloodcurdling invasion as Indomina Releasing unleashes Devil’s Playground on DVD and Video on Demand on October 11, 2011. When an experimental new drug treatment goes terribly wrong, the results are hair-raising as thousands of patients rapidly turn into insatiable killers. Distributed by Vivendi Entertainment, the DVD will be available at an SRP of $14.93.
SYNOPSIS
Flesh-eating zombies have taken over London, and humanity’s only hope for the future lies in one woman’s DNA. Cole, a hardened mercenary who works for the pharmaceutical company responsible for the horrific disaster, is charged with bringing her in. But, he’s already battling the demons of his violent past. Can he take on an army of bloodthirsty creatures as well? Find out-if you dare-in this terrifying sci-fi thriller filled with ravenous killers on a feeding frenzy.
DVD SPECIAL FEATURES
Behind-the-scenes Featurette and Deleted Scenes
Aspect ratio: 16×9 2.40 Widescreen Version
Sound: Engligh 5.1 Dolby Digital, English Stereo
INDOMINA RELEASING HAS HORROR COVERED
The critics are clamoring for Outcast, the gripping thriller about black magic and witchery that stars James Nesbitt (The Hobbit) and James Cosmo (Braveheart). Ain’t It Cool News calls it “an excellent film” to be seen “at all costs,” and Eight Rooks of TwitchFilm.com proclaims it “a genuinely menacing piece of horror.” Mary (Kate Dickie, TV’s “The Pillars of the Earth”) harbors a dark history, but must confront her past when a hunter with magical powers (Nesbitt) is assigned to capture her and kill her son. As the terrifying cat-and-mouse game continues, locals begin to die at the hands of an unknown life force and a deadly fear takes hold. Currently available on Video on Demand.
The Pack follows Charlotte (Emilie Dequenne), a beautiful but rough around the edges kind of girl, who drives a beat-up station wagon in the countryside of northern France. Her journey takes a turn when she picks up a mysterious hitchhiker (Benjamine Biolay), with whom she strikes an unusual bond. Stopping at a roadside diner, her new companion strangely disappears, and Charlotte finds herself knocked unconscious and held captive. She soon encounters a peculiar and disturbed woman (Yolande Moreau), and discovers that her blood is being used to feed a “pack” of flesh-eating ghouls. Available on Demand on September 27.
ABOUT INDOMINA RELEASING
The Indomina Group is a vertically integrated independent studio launched in 2008 by Vice Chairman and CEO Jasbinder Singh Mann. Operating in Los Angeles and the Dominican Republic, Indomina takes a transmedia approach to collaborating with content creators around the world to bring innovative entertainment properties to the market. The company’s global operations include the production and distribution of motion pictures, television, music, interactive games, and the ownership of world-class studio facilities and production services. For more information please visit www.indomina.com
ABOUT VIVENDI ENTERTAINMENT
Vivendi Entertainment is a full service independent film, television, DVD and digital distribution company operating in the United States and Canada. Representing a vast range of genres including action, comedy, urban, family, Latino, sports and stand-up comedies, Vivendi Entertainment has become a favorite distribution partner for independent content providers. The company has built an extensive catalog of over 3,000 titles, and its customer-centric business model was founded on the principles of collaboration and financial transparency. The company provides sales, marketing, and distribution services to many of the home entertainment industry’s most prestigious brands including: World Wrestling Entertainment, The Weinstein Company, Shout! Factory, Classic Media, Big Idea, RHI, Code Black, National Geographic, Salient, Televisa, Sid and Marty Krofft Pictures and Nelvana. Vivendi Entertainment is a division of Universal Music Group Distribution, the award-winning sales, marketing and distribution arm of Universal Music Group, the world’s leading music company.
For more information about Devil’s Playground, please visit indomina.com.
