Max Haaga ... Film Reviewer

Wow, I've been an updating fool these days. It's almost like this thing is turning into a real blog.

Just a small and quick update today, but a special one ... because my son, Max Haaga, became an official online journalist today. Max was asked to contribute a review of TRANSFORMERS 2: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN for my good friend Adam Jahnke's excellent movie critique site, Jahnke's Electric Theatre (sponsored by The Digital Bits). Check it out:

MAX HAAGA'S FIRST PUBLISHED MOVIE REVIEW

Wow. And I didn't get my first web review published until I was well into my twenties. That's nepotism, I guess ... But I think that Max's observations were astute and concise for a 7 year old.

Speaking of reviews, DEADGIRL opinions keep coming in and overall they're pretty positive. Here are a few:

BRUTAL AS HELL's DEADGIRL Review

eSplatter's DEADGIRL Review

That's all for today. I'll post more news when I get it ...

-T

SLICES!

Got the DVD artwork and release date for a movie that I'm in ... a little anthology picture called SLICES. Looks like it'll be out on August 4th. For those of you in the Los Angeles area, there's going to be a SLICES release party/signing at DARK DELICACIES on August 8th, which I'll be at (schedule permitting).

Here's a gander at the DVD cover:



DEADGIRL's theatrical release is a scant few weeks away and it continues to be a love/hate type of movie.

VAULT OF HORROR just put up an interesting review of the movie. They seem to really like it. But someone who visits their site really, really dislikes it. You can read the review and the subsequent comment exchange right here:

VAULT OF HORROR'S DEADGIRL REVIEW

I find the entire debate fascinating. And it's interesting that no one seems to want to ask the writer about his intentions with the movie ... but I also am happy to let the film speak for itself instead of the filmmakers. Nevertheless, it always amuses me that some folks seem to immediately refer to "torture" and "misogyny" in their criticisms of the movie. Torture, to me, denotes that the kids took pliers and a blowtorch to the Deadgirl ... which they don't. I'd argue that they're less violent toward her than Jigsaw is to his female victims ... but I think that what makes folks most uncomfortable is that there are no clearly defined "good" and "bad" people in the movie. Just like in life. Also, I tend to think of the film as generally hopeless and completely misanthropic as opposed to merely misogynist. It doesn't have nice things to say about humans in general, not just women.

But, as I said, it's best to leave that stuff up to the viewer - this will probably be the last time I even bother to explain myself. Let the film speak for itself and the viewer will have to decide what they're going to walk away from the experience with.

At least it's not some forgettable movie about teens on the way to a concert whose van breaks down and then they all get picked off by a psychotic hillbilly with a bag on his head ...

-T

DEADGIRL U.S. DVD Artwork?

Got a tip from a Facebook friend that Deadgirl's U.S. DVD is available for pre-order. So I went to go and check out the site - DVD Empire - and, lo and behold, it looks like they've got the box art.

From what I understand, this art isn't completely finalized, but it will definitely be similar to this:



Don't know about you, but I dig it. Kind of creepy without giving too much away and without screaming "low budget horror movie" (which I don't really consider us to be anyway).

So go ahead and pre-order DEADGIRL from DVD Empire, why don't ya? Here's their really excellent synopsis for the movie:

It has been called "audacious" (Hollywood Reporter), "unsettlingly sexual" (IndieWire) and "pretty much f***ing brilliant" (Ain't It Cool News). Thought to be too controversial to release, it would go on to shock festival audiences, outrage religious groups, and blow away midnight movie crowds from coast to coast. It remains one of the most daringly original and disturbing films of our time.

Shiloh Fernandez (Red), Noah Segan (Brick), Michael Bowen (Kill Bill) and Candice Accola (Juno) star in this story of two high school misfits who cut school to explore the remains of an abandoned hospital. The gruesome discovery they make will test the very limits of their sanity and tear apart their young lives forever: A woman stripped naked and chained to a table. She's abandoned, beautiful and dead...or is she? From the producer of Hellraiser and Heathers comes this depraved, poignant and genre-busing new indie classic about intimacy, morality and the horror of growing up. You may scream in terror, gasp with disgust, or debate it for days, but one thing is for certain: You will never forget Deadgirl.

Wow. Makes me wanna see it!

-T

DEADGIRL in New Fangoria

Just a quick update here. Got the new Fangoria magazine this week (issue #285) and there's a full page article about DEADGIRL star Noah Segan. We're also mentioned in Tony Timpone's editorial and in the Terror Teletype. Most exciting is the fact that there will be a full feature on the film itself in the upcoming issue (September). Here's the cover and a look at the Segan article:





Pretty cool. I've been a Fango reader since I was just a Junior High horror fanatic, so it's really cool to see my movie there.

More updates to come as the theatrical release nears ...

-T

Deadgirl Theatrical List and One Sheet ...

Looks like that theatrical screening information I posted and then removed is now officially okay to talk about ... Because I just read about it on Bloody-Disgusting.com. They also put up the "official" one-sheet for the movie which basically looks like the original one but with quotes and the Dark Sky Films logo in the lower left hand corner. Here it is:



And here's a link to DEADGIRL'S THEATRICAL INFORMATION

DEADGIRL also came out on DVD in Germany last week, so the bit torrent-ing is going nuts on the movie. We are currently ranked #60 on the imdb's MovieMeter ... which nestles us right in between Slumdog Millionaire and Iron Man 2(!) ...

And - finally! - a piece of non-Deadgirl news!

Fangoria.com ran an article announcing the imminent DVD release of JESSICKA RABID, which you can read right HERE.

Looks like my good friends at Plan 10 Pictures will be releasing the DVD sometime soon ... which would make it the 4th movie I've done that Plan 10 has put out, right next to EASTER BUNNY, KILL! KILL!, THE TREK, and ERECTION. Crazy. Here's a sneak peek at the DVD cover art:



That's it for the time being. Trying to keep myself busy with some projects that I can't and won't discuss for now ...

-T

DEADGIRL Still Going Theatrical ...

... Despite the fact that I had to take the info down. Once again, I asked for permission to post information that was given to me and then told it was okay and then told to remove it a few days later. I assume that the good people involved in the theatrical release know what they're doing and have some sort of special announcement plan that doesn't include the writer's blog. Nevertheless, the movie will be playing theaters across the country in July. That includes Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Austin, Seattle, and now St. Louis. I'll provide all the details as soon as I'm allowed.

Interest in the movie seems to be higher than we anticipated, which is great. We're one of the top twenty illegally downloaded movies in the world right now and on the IMDB our popularity rank is nestled somewhere in between TITANIC and the television series THE OFFICE. Pretty amazing for such a little movie with no real stars in it, etc.

Folks seem to love it or hate it, as evidenced by the activity on DEADGIRL's IMDB Message Board.

I hear that we're supposed to have some sort of write-up or article in the upcoming issue of Fangoria magazine, but no one involved in the film seems to have been interviewed or even knows if this is true or not. I also hear that we're the "DVD of the Month" in an upcoming issue of BIZARRE MAGAZINE, which is one of my wife Lynh's favorite periodicals, so I'm probably most excited about that coverage. I'll certainly update if either of these happen ...

And a few more reviews come trickling in:

The Horror Review

PopCultureMadness.com

HorrorNews.net

Not too shabby so far. And to think, it all started with me wanting to shoot something fast and cheap at the locations from Toxie 4 ...





Expect more updates soon ...

-T

UK DVD Reviews Coming In ...

... Here are some of the ones I've found so far ...

EYE FOR FILM's Review

My Reviewer

SexGoreMutants Review

-T

If You Live in the UK ...

... You can purchase the DEADGIRL DVD (available from Metrodome Entertainment) TODAY!



BUY THE REGION 2 DVD HERE

Looks like some reviews are starting to come in from that release, as well. So far they've been pretty positive overall, but give it a few days and I'm sure that the "hated it" reviews will come ... because that's the kind of movie we made. Here are a few links for now:

Den of Geek's Review

Total Sci-Fi's Review

-T

What's New?

Not much, but a few new links and whatnot. Wish that I had some new projects to report, but alas ... I've been in talks about a few projects, but nothing that I feel I can report on at this stage of development. But there's always DEADGIRL news ...

We had a couple of successful screenings at the Seattle International Film Festival this weekend and, as usual, some love it and some hate it. It's interesting that even the negative reviews seem to have things to say about the movie besides "it sucked" or "it was boring" or "stupid." As long as people are debating it, I feel that we've succeeded at what we were trying to do. We knew from the get-go that the movie we were making wasn't a blockbuster that was meant for everybody. Here are a few links from the Seattle screenings:

Seattle Met Blogs Review

A SIFF Blog

Review from a site called Alliterates

A site called Rain City Guide

There may be more reviews out there by now, but I don't feel like searching for em right now ...

A site called THREE IMAGINARY GIRLS also did a really extensive interview with the directors (who were in attendance) that you can read HERE.

If you're in the UK, you'll be able to buy or rent DEADGIRL in a week (June 8th).

Despite it's lack of rating, DEADGIRL is going to be getting a DVD release in Germany on June 18th. You can see the German distributor's DEADGIRL page right HERE.

Okay, that's it for the time being. Maybe I'll be back later in the week for a little op-ed piece that I've been thinking about ...

-T