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REVILED – The Underground World of Zombie Pit Fighting
Written by Brian Linsky
From writer and director Jim Stramel (Degenerate’s Ink, Thrillbillies), comes REVILED, a five-part film series which tells the story of a desperate father and his deceased daughter lost in the underground world of zombie vs zombie pit fighting.
Filmed in the backwoods of Powhatan, Virginia, Frank Sonney (Randall Robinson) finds himself in a post apocalyptic world trying to survive, while also trying to protect his daughter Jessie (Gabbi Herzberg / Sara Carpenter) who’s become zombified.
When Frank sees an opportunity to capitalize on the situation by entering Jessie into a zombie pit fighting ring, he turns to an acquaintance named Moonie (J.R. Foster), who points Frank and Jessie in the direction of the pit leader, Bern.
Following Jessie’s brutal first fight, in which she takes on a one-eyed oddity with a beer can embedded in his head, Frank realizes he didn’t make as much money as he had hoped for, and is approached by Moonie with a proposal to take Jessie on the road where there’s larger crowds and more money to be made.
Each new fight pit along the way introduces us to a new cast of deranged and deviant characters, and a different pit leader for each location. In REVILED, the atmosphere is savage, the fights are violent, and the consequences of cheating are severe, as seen at the end of the second episode.
Not sure who he can fully trust, Frank Sonney only has one thought running through his mind… How do you save your daughter when she’s already dead?
With 3 more episodes of REVILED still to come, I’m excited to see where Frank and Jesse’s journey takes them next, what wacky freaks they’ll encounter along the way, and what new ways the director will think up to rip the zombies apart during their fight scenes.
Wanting to know more, I recently caught up with director Jim Stramel to see if he’d answer some questions for iHorror.
iH: In 2015, REVILED won an award for Best Short Film at Dead Walk Fest, the same year Randall Robinson won for Best Actor. He really did a great job owning that role, how rewarding is it for you as the director to know that you not only made a bad ass film, but also cast the right guy for the role?
JS: It’s incredibly rewarding. You get so close to actors and their characters while making the movie that it’s hard to keep a proper perspective, so it’s great when people with no connection or expectations see the movie and respond to an actor and his or her character. I mean, I know Randall’s a scumbag, but it’s rewarding that others can see it too!
iH: The REVILED series is beautifully shot and avoids the shaky footage usually seen in a lot of zombie films. How long did it take you to film the fight scenes?
JS: Each fight scene was filmed in half a day or less. It’s pretty much all of the time we had because the make-up was a build done that morning and recreating it would be really difficult, plus the budget and schedule didn’t allow for more than that anyway.
We filmed other bits while the zombies were being made up and then shot until we ran out of light. Once the sun went down, that was it. Which is why I feel that I still haven’t been able to get the fight scenes to where I want them yet, but I’ve learned a lot and ironed out some issues so episode 3 is going to make up for it!
iH: Can’t wait to see it. I understand your wife Renee does a lot of the make up and special effects, How long have you worked together on films?
JS: Renee’s been there from the beginning, from the first short film all those years ago, before we were married. She’s the only one who understands what the hell I’m trying to say or do when everything’s going wrong and I’m reduced to pointing, grunting and swearing. She can do and has done about everything, except wise up and kick me out, for which I am eternally grateful.
iH: You’re a lucky man. Congratulations on winning 6 Horror awards to date, and also for getting your films on ibleedindie.com. There’s a lot of great independent horror films out there and its great people now have a place to check ’em out on demand. Do you think the future of films will be through streaming services? Do you like the direction the industry is heading?
JS: Having REVILED streaming on ibleedindie is a huge deal to an independents like myself. Having a platform that’s willing to showcase and support truly independent films is vital for a project like REVILED to reach a broader audience outside of our normal social media, word of mouth sphere. I don’t know if streaming will replace physical media, I’m sure for some viewers it will.
Personally I like having a dvd, blu ray, vhs, etc, but streaming is a great platform to introduce people to movies and projects that they wouldn’t have heard of or had access to otherwise. Like us.
iH: Most of your work involves a profuse amount of blood and guts. In fact you’ve won Best Gore at the Independent Horror Movie Awards, and Best Blood & Gore at Things2Fear Film Fest 2016, but is there ever a time when you’re thinking to yourself, “Wow, this may go a little too far.”?
JS: No. You can’t over do blood in a scene that screams for it, if it’s supposed to be raining blood then you got to make it rain blood, or do the best you can. Which is not to say that every scene needs it either.
Sometimes a few drops are going to punch an audience in the face much harder than a bathtub full of the stuff, it depends on the scene, what you’re trying to do. But when the gore calls, answer the phone. The funny thing I was actually pretty disappointed in the amount of blood in ep. 2, I really envisioned those scenes much redder and wetter and was disappointed in how, for whatever reason, dry they turned out, but then it goes out and gets 2 blood awards, ha ha ha ha. I guess I’m a little jaded.
iH: Do you find it difficult thinking of new ways to end each pit fight? There’s only so many ways you can get ripped apart, right?
JS: Yeah, that’s a challenge, but also the fun of it. Trying to figure out what these things are going to do to each other, something that’s going to be really fun for somebody sitting in the audience. But once again, in my mind they’ve all, so far, been compromised to one extent or another, never reaching what we had written on the page – I’m really looking at episode 3 to get it right!
iH: I love that several of your films feature music from Angry Johnny and the Killbillies, what is it about their music that works so perfectly with your films?
JS: I feel really fortunate to have had, and continue to have, Angry and the Killbillies be a cornerstone of our movie making. You can’t underestimate their contribution. They definitely have the ability to tap into a dark, dirty, bloody, and at the same time lonely, musical current, so as long as I keep shooting stories about degenerates, drunks and broken-hearted down and outers we’re going to be set for soundtracks!
iH: Awesome. What else are you working on?
JS: I have a story about a young woman fighting to save her soul from the devil that I really like.
I’m working on that now, writing it as one segment of a three-story horror omnibus movie. Then there’s another bloody crime story that I’m tinkering with. There’s always bits and pieces of movies floating around, in various stages, ready to take flight.
We also just finished shooting a music video for the band BAT and are editing that now, due out at the end of the year, and we’re in the early planning stages for a larger, multi-song video project for another band. But the main thing, the big one, is to tell the rest of the REVILED story. That’s my prime obsession.
iH: Right on Jim, it’s a great story and thanks for talking to iHorror about it. We’ll do our part to tell the world.
Episodes 1 and 2 are currently streaming right now on ibleedindie.com, and you can get more info on the film’s official website Reviledzombieseries.com Check out the trailers below.
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‘The Strangers’ Invaded Coachella in Instagramable PR Stunt
Renny Harlin’s reboot of The Strangers isn’t coming out until May 17, but those murderous home invaders are making a pit stop at Coachella first.
In the latest Instagramable PR stunt, the studio behind the film decided to have the trio of masked intruders crash Coachella, a music festival that takes place for two weekends in Southern California.
This type of publicity began when Paramount did the same thing with their horror movie Smile in 2022. Their version had seemingly ordinary people in populated places look directly into a camera with an evil grin.
Harlin’s reboot is actually a trilogy with a more expansive world than that of the original.
“When setting out to remake The Strangers, we felt there was a bigger story to be told, which could be as powerful, chilling, and terrifying as the original and could really expand that world,” said producer Courtney Solomon. “Shooting this story as a trilogy allows us to create a hyperreal and terrifying character study. We’re fortunate to be joining forces with Madelaine Petsch, an amazing talent whose character is the driving force of this story.”
The movie follows a young couple (Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez) who “after their car breaks down in an eerie small town, are forced to spend the night in a remote cabin. Panic ensues as they are terrorized by three masked strangers who strike with no mercy and seemingly no motive in The Strangers: Chapter 1 the chilling first entry of this upcoming horror feature film series.”
The Strangers: Chapter 1 opens in theaters on May 17.
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Movies
‘Alien’ Returning to Theaters For a Limited Time
It’s been 45 years since Ridley Scott’s Alien hit theaters and in celebration of that milestone, it is headed back to the big screen for a limited time. And what better day to do that than Alien Day on April 26?
It also works as a primer for the upcoming Fede Alvarez sequel Alien: Romulus opening on August 16. A special feature in which both Alvarez and Scott discuss the original sci-fi classic will be shown as a part of your theater admission. Take a look at the preview of that conversation below.
Back in 1979, the original trailer for Alien was kind of terrifying. Imagine sitting in front of a CRT TV (Cathode Ray Tube) at night and suddenly Jerry Goldsmith’s haunting score begins to play as a giant chicken egg starts to crack with beams of light bursting through the shell and the word “Alien” slowly forms in slanted all caps across the screen. To a twelve-year-old, it was a scary pre-bedtime experience, especially Goldsmith’s screaming electronic musical flourishes playing over scenes of the actual movie. Let the “Is it horror or sci-fi?” debate begin.
Alien became a pop culture phenomenon, complete with kid’s toys, a graphic novel, and an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. It also inspired dioramas in wax museums and even a frightening setpiece at Walt Disney World in the now-defunct Great Movie Ride attraction.
The film stars Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, and John Hurt. It tells the tale of a futuristic crew of blue-collar workers suddenly awakened out of stasis to investigate an undecipherable distress signal coming from a nearby moon. They investigate the source of the signal and discover it’s a warning and not a cry for help. Unbeknownst to the crew, they have brought a giant space creature back on board which they find out in one of the most iconic scenes in cinema history.
It is said that Alvarez’s sequel will pay homage to the original film’s storytelling and set design.
The Alien theatrical re-release will take place on April 26. Pre-order your tickets and find out where Alien will screen at a theater near you.
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Home Depot’s 12-Foot Skeleton Returns with a New Friend, Plus New Life-Size Prop from Spirit Halloween
Halloween is the greatest holiday of them all. However, every great holiday needs amazing props to go with it. Luckily for you, there are two new amazing props that have been released, which are sure to impress your neighbors and frighten any neighborhood children who are unfortunate enough to wander past your yard.
The first entry is the return of the Home Depot 12-foot skeleton prop. Home Depot has outdone themselves in the past. But this year the company is bringing bigger and better things to their Halloween prop lineup.
This year, the company unveiled its new and improved Skelly. But what is a giant skeleton without a loyal friend? Home Depot has also announced that they will release a five-foot tall skeleton dog prop to eternally keep Skelly company as he haunts your yard this spooky season.
This bony pooch will be five feet tall and seven feet long. The prop will also feature a posable mouth and LCD eyes with eight variable settings. Lance Allen, Home Depot’s merchant of decorative Holliday gear, had the following to say about this year’s lineup.
“This year we increased our realism within the animatronics category, created some impressive, licensed characters and even brought back some fan favorites. Overall, we are most proud of the quality and value we are able to bring to our customers with these pieces so they can continue to grow their collections.”
But what if giant skeletons just aren’t your thing? Well, Spirit Halloween has you covered with their giant life size Terror Dog replica. This massive prop has been ripped out of your nightmares to appear frighteningly on your lawn.
This prop weighs in at almost fifty pounds and features glowing red eyes that are sure to keep your yard safe from any toilet paper throwing hooligans. This iconic Ghostbusters nightmare is a must have for any fan of 80s horror. Or, anyone who loves all things spooky.
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