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“PYOTR495” Will Unleash the Beast at San Diego FilmOut Festival

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In 2014, Blake Mawson,like many of us, sat stunned as Uganda passed the now infamous “Kill the Gays” law, and Russia began its crusade against the LGBT community by making it illegal to even mention that we exist in public.  Like many of us, he was astounded by what he saw and as many artists do, he began to create something that that expressed his need for justice in a world that seemed to offer none.

“There was a lack of response in the media about how gay people were being treated,” he explained.  “The world was celebrating the Olympics in Russia while stories began to pop up about Russian LGBT people being catfished and then dehumanized on videos that were uploaded to the internet.  These people were losing their jobs and being disowned by their family and the larger media did not seem to care.”

He sat down and began writing and soon enough the story/script for “PYOTR495” was completed.

The film centers on a young man named Pyotr who agrees to meet up with a man he’s met on a hookup app.  He sets off late at night to meet the man in his apartment for a supposed night of sex but finds upon his arrival that he has stepped into a dangerous trap.

The man and his friends have intentionally lured Pyotr to the apartment to humiliate him.  They hold him down in a bathtub and shave parts of his head, painting the shaved sections blue.  They pour urine over his face, all the while yelling that they are only doing this to help him.  Pyotr cries out for help and begs them to leave him alone, but his cries only spur on his tormentors.

And then Pyotr cracks…and morphs into a beast with unimaginable strength.

For Mawson, it was in many ways a return to his horror roots.  His father was a fan of the classic Universal monsters and he recalls watching titles like The Wolf Man and Frankenstein and The Hunchback of Notre Dame repeatedly as a child.  The image of those mobs chasing the “monsters”  have always stuck with him and came to mean even more as he was coming out.

“[The monsters are] always being chased by villagers with pitchforks and torches,” Mawson recalled.  “As a gay person coming out to the world, you feel that way sometimes.  For a young Russian gay man in an environment that denies your existence and criminalizes it at the same time it has to feel like a curse.”

Mawson continued to develop this idea of gays being sent to hell until a new thought formed.  What if coming out was like going through hell?  What if going through hell changed you, gave you power you didn’t have before the process.  If you repress something like your sexual orientation your entire life, what happens when that repression is finally released?

All these questions and their subsequent answers worked their way into Mawson’s script and onto the screen.

Screenshot taken from PYOTR495

Mawson created a spectacular and dynamic film.  The abandoned streets and buildings of Berlin mimic perfectly the look of a destitute section of Moscow while he used interiors of an actual old church in Toronto to build the interior sets of the apartment where Pyotr is tortured.

The film’s star, Alex Ozerov (who you might recognize from recurring roles on “The Americans” and “Orphan Black”) is a native of Russia who left at age 13 with his parents to move to Toronto.  Ozerov brings beauty and sensitivity to the role of Pyotr before his metamorphosis.  He draws the audience in and fills us with sympathy as he is attacked, and I found myself rooting for him as the tables turned and the unkempt beast inside him emerges.

“PYOTR495” is currently making the rounds on the festival circuit and will be featured on Boys on Film 16: Possession which will release on June 12, 2017.  There will be a screening of the film at FilmOut San Diego LGBT Film Festival on June 10, 2017.

The young director said he is especially excited to see more and more LGBT film festivals carving out time for more genre fare.

“There is a long-standing relationship between queerness and horror and every single screening I attended at LGBT festivals which had created a horror showcase ended up completely sold out, so that definitely speaks to something!”

You can keep up with all of their screening dates by following them on Facebook.  You can also find them on Vimeo and follow them on Instagram!

PYOTR495 | Trailer from DRIVE-IN/KEEP OUT Productions on Vimeo.

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Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role

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Brad Dourif has been doing movies for nearly 50 years. Now it seems he is walking away from the industry at 74 to enjoy his golden years. Except, there is a caveat.

Recently, digital entertainment publication JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols talked to some of the Chucky television series cast members. During the interview, Dourif made an announcement.

“Dourif said that he’s retired from acting,” says Nichols. “The only reason he came back for the show was because of his daughter Fiona and he considers Chucky creator Don Mancini to be family. But for non-Chucky stuff, he considers himself retired.”

Dourif has voiced the possessed doll since 1988 (minus the 2019 reboot). The original movie “Child’s Play” has become such a cult classic it’s at the top of some people’s best chillers of all time. Chucky himself is ingrained in pop culture history much like Frankenstein or Jason Voorhees.

While Dourif may be known for his famous voiceover, he is also an Oscar-nominated actor for his part in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Another famous horror role is The Gemini Killer in William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III. And who can forget Betazoid Lon Suder in Star Trek: Voyager?

The good news is that Don Mancini is already pitching a concept for season four of Chucky which might also include a feature-length movie with a series tie-in. So, Although Dourif says he is retiring from the industry, ironically he is Chucky’s friend till the end.

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Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

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The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film
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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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