KRAZY HOUSE: “When Russian workers in Bernie’s (SHAWN OF THE DEAD’S Nick Frost) house turn out to be wanted criminals, Bernie must man up and save his wife (Alicia Silverstone) and the rest of his studio audience approved sitcom family.”
The film is written and directed by Steffen Haars and Flip van der Kuil, and stars Nick Frost, Alicia Silverstone, Kevin Connolly, Gaite Jansen, and Walt Klink.
XYZ Films will be releasing the film on VOD on October 4th. The week prior, on September 28th, filmmaker and podcaster Kevin Smith will host a special theatrical screening of the film at his Smodcastle Cinemas in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, with stars Nick Frost and co-director Steffen Haars in attendance.
—
RUMOURS: “Ricocheting between comedy, apocalyptic horror, and swooning soap opera, Rumours follows the seven leaders of the world’s wealthiest democracies at the annual G7 summit, where they attempt to draft a provisional statement regarding a global crisis. With unexpected, uproarious performances from a brilliant ensemble cast that includes Cate Blanchett, Alicia Vikander, and Charles Dance, these so-called leaders become spectacles of incompetence, contending with increasingly surreal obstacles in the misty woods as night falls and they realize they are suddenly alone. A genre-hopping satire of political ineptitude, the latest film from incomparable directors Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson and Galen Johnson is a journey into the absurd heart of power and institutional failure in a slowly burning world.”
- Directed and Written by: Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson
- Starring: Cate Blanchett, Roy Dupuis, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Charles Dance, Takehiro Hira, Denis Ménochet, Rolando Ravello, Zlatko Buric, Alicia Vikander
- Produced by: Liz Jarvis, Philipp Kreuzer, Lars Knudsen
- Executive Produced by: Ari Aster, Cate Blanchett, Phyllis Laing, Jorg Schulze, Joe Neurauter, Tyler Campellone, Adrian Love, Michael O’Leary, Andrew Karpen, Kent Sanderson
In Theaters on October 18, 2024
—
BRAND NEW CADILLAC: “In this horror comedy, Lana and Strode, a mother and daughter, take to the road for a five day killing spree. Which makes perfect sense when mom is a vampire and her daughter is a would be serial killer. But what should be a simple once a year blood frenzy for Lana, turns into a far more complicated bonding experience for the estranged pair.”
Premiere Screening: Sun, Oct 13th, 4:15 PM @ TCL Chinese 6 Theatres as a part of ScreamFest
- Directors: Sophia Tatum, Stacy Haiduk
- Screenwriter: Bradford Tatum
- Producer: Nicole Lipp, Stacy Haiduk, Sophia Tatum
- Cast: Stacy Haiduk, Sophia Tatum, Reina Hardesty
To purchase tickets, visit: https://screamfest2024.eventive.org/films/66e2695a2d8e4900267f723f
—
The Chilling Sounds of I’ll Play Mother, Interview with Composer Adam Langston
Brad Watson’s latest horror/thriller, I’ll Play Mother, proves that evil has many forms, not just masked killers or evil clowns. Like Esther in Orphan or Damien in The Omen, I’ll Play Mother reminds us that children can also be terrifying. The film’s synopsis reads: “After the death of their birth mother, two young children are placed in the care of prospective adoptive parents, Michelle (Susanne Wuest) and Cyrus (Shubham Saraf). However, it isn’t long before the new family begins to sense that something far more sinister is at play”.
Adding to the uneasiness of the film is the score by composer Adam Langston who describes his music on the film as “A horror score which isn’t dominated by what we might think of as explicitly horror music”. Adam goes into more detail about his work on the film in the below interview.
You can watch I’ll Play Mother here.
How did you first become involved with I’ll Play Mother?
By pestering Brad, the director! We were both at a birthday party, which happened to be for another director, our mutual friend. Fairly late in the evening Brad was talking about the film, and it sounded like something that would be exciting to be involved with. After the party I was walking home through London, thinking about musical ideas for the film that I could pitch to Brad. My first pitch was not really what he was looking for. But happily, Brad did call me back when he had something to brief me with, and we started from there.
How would you describe your score for the film?
I’ll Play Mother is a horror score which isn’t dominated by what we might think of as explicitly horror music. It certainly has those moments and sequences, but leans a little more towards music for the adopted family that these two young siblings find themselves in. The many aspects of what that family experiences, such as anticipation, connection, wonder, confusion, isolation, doubt, despair, as well as fear, are explored in the music too.
-Can you talk about working with I’ll Play Mother director Brad Watson? Did he have a very specific idea of how he wanted the score to sound or did you have more freedom to experiment?
Working with Brad is a joy and a privilege because he is very attuned to and appreciative of music, and what it can contribute to the film. Brad is a composer as well as a director and editor, so he understands the challenges the composer faces. He can be quite sparing in his use of music; he doesn’t use it as ‘wallpaper’ for the film. Absolutely he has a clear idea of how he wants the music to sound, and he’ll direct that, he’ll provide a roadmap. But I find that if you are creative, that roadmap can be freeing, because it allows you to have fun and try things along the journey, without worrying about whether you are heading the wrong way!
-Did you have a favorite scene to score in the film? Why?
A favorite scene is often the one I did first, which in this case was the first scene after the opening song, where we meet Cyrus, the main protagonist. Perhaps it’s because I’m at the start of the process, so deadlines seem a long way away, and there is all this potential for what is to come. I’m discovering the structures, colors and melodies that feel like a part of this film, and it’s like the birth of something, or the first steps… before life gets more complicated! That said, I loved scoring the montage-type sequences, such as ‘Preparation’ on the soundtrack album, because music can really add to those, tie them together and run with them. Also, it was a lot of fun doing the ‘Hangman’ sequence, where we combined glowing festive music with much darker orchestral undertones.
-Do you find it challenging to score jump scare scenes? When is less, more?
They can be challenging because you need to try and watch them as if you are seeing them for the first time, like the audience. That in itself is something which takes focus and empathy. But then, I think that’s true for all scenes really. Less is probably going to be more, until the actual jump scare, when more is probably more. But it’s context-dependent, so there are bound to be times when that is not the case. Overall, I wouldn’t say that I find them more challenging than other scenes. They’re all challenging!
–I’ll Play Mother isn’t your first horror film to work on. Do you find your approach on horror projects is different than other genres?
I think horror scores are interesting because the films are generally quite theatrical, whether or not they are aiming to be ‘realistic’, and the music can play a part in that in interesting ways. The music can probably be more eclectic than some other genres. But I also think my approach to the music depends more on the film, than the genre. The horror genre, in particular, has such a variety of great scores, from the Saw movies to The Omen, from Candyman to Jaws, all of which sound wildly different from each other. But they do perhaps share that sense of theatricality in parts, horror being a type of film where we’ll accept the music being quite a strong presence at times. Maybe that subconsciously reminds us that we’re being entertained, and not watching these terrors unfold for real…who knows?!
You have worked with Hans Zimmer before. What was the best piece of advice he has given you?
I think he probably confirmed for me that attention to detail is so important. There is so much detail in his music. I think the first music of his I ever heard was The Lion King, and I’d never heard anything like it. And he continues to do that to this day. And it’s detail with intention, there’s a point to it. Also, it’s ok to stay up late and spend as much time as possible on things. I think all creative people can probably learn something from Hans Zimmer.
-Anything else you would like to tell us about your work on I’ll Play Mother?
There is a soundtrack released on Friday 27th September!
-Are you personally a horror fan? If so, what are some of your favorites?
Yes, I love horror films, and I think they are the most exciting films for me right now as a viewer. Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy are probably my favorite films, and of course he started out making outrageous low-budget horror! I have countless favorites, but I’d have to mention A Nightmare on Elm Street (Wes Craven, iconic music by Charles Bernstein), Eden Lake (James Watkins, devastating music by David Julyan), Halloween (John Carpenter, brilliant music, direction, writing), Hostel (Eli Roth, wonderful, transformative score by Nathan Barr), Scream (Wes Craven, Marco Beltrami blowing the roof off), Host (Rob Savage, no music score at all). Also, I love The Conjuring films (James Wan, Michael Chaves), Joseph Bishara does amazing work on those scores, and The Ring (Gore Verbinski), Hans Zimmer’s score is incredibly atmospheric. There are great short films too, Lights Out by David Sandberg springs to mind of course, and Zach Strauss’s film Bad Peter which is kind of horror adjacent.
-What are you working on next?
I’ve done another film with Brad, and the producers Ben Charles Edwards and Kirsty Bell, and I’d love to do more with them. Ben and Kirsty make great genre films with their company, Dreamtown, which is a part of Goldfinch, an institution when it comes to U.K. independent film.
