We’ve got some great news for those of you who will be attending the Days of the Dead horror convention in Indianapolis this coming July 5-7th. We received word that talented indie director Adam Ahlbrandt’s gory horror flicks The Cemetery (Review here) and Cross Bearer (Review here) will have their Indianapolis sneak preview with cast and crew in attendance! The unholy trinity of writer/director Adam Ahlbrandt, actress/producer Natalie Jean and SPFX/Producer Doug Sakmann are indie filmmakers who command attention and deserve the exposure that Days of the Dead will bring. Read on for more details down below.
From The Press Release
The yet-to-be released, the highly anticipated horror movies ‘Cross Bearer’ (2012) and ‘The Cemetery’ (2013) will be screening Saturday July 6th and Sunday July 7th at Days of The Dead Indianapolis(Wyndham Hotel, 2544 Executive Drive, Indianapolis, IN 46241). Both will be highlighted at the convention’s “JABB 48 Hour Film Fest”, followed by Q & A panels from the trio behind the features- Adam Ahlbrandt (director/writer/Cinematographer), Natalie Jean (Lead Actress), and Doug Sakmann (SPFX) – all who acted as co-producers along with their respective titles. Cross Bearer, after developing a rabid fan base on the convention and festival circuit the past six months, will be headlining the Saturday night lineup of films. Its recently completed sister film ‘The Cemetery’ will be playing Sunday afternoon, one of its first public screenings ever. Both movies have recently been picked up at the Cannes Film Festival in German speaking territories by Austria’s Illusions Unltd. Films with more to be announced!
Both movies are a sharp self-aware homage to the movies of Ahlbrandt’s upbringing. Combined with his praised cinematography and signature quirky dialogue along with an insane amount of gory practical effects, the movies embody the old and new schools of horror effortlessly. Some of underground rock and metal’s biggest bands make up the soundtracks, including Today Is The Day, CKY, Fleshgod Apocalypse and Gorod.
In “Cross Bearer”, a group of strippers looking to score big with a drug deal soon find themselves hunted by religious maniac hell-bent on purifying the Earth of its sins through murder and destruction. Armed with a carpenter’s hammer, the Cross Bearer hunts the girls in a sadistic crusade to cleanse the world.
In “The Cemetery”, a team of paranormal investigators must fight for their lives after accidentally releasing a demon from a forgotten cemetery. Alternately gut-punching hilarious and brutally violent, The Cemetery takes the best elements of the old-school slasher film and pushes them to the edge.
www.thecemeterymovie.com
“Adam Ahlbrandt is definitely a filmmaker to look out for. He makes movies that horror fans want to see. Films packed with blood, guts, tits and ass; this is the stuff that reminds me why I started watching horror flicks in the first place”
– Jake Cadaverous, The Silver Scream
Both movies were a co-production of Backseat Conceptions and Adversary Films, written & directed by Ahlbrandt and co-produced by Doug Sakmann who also provided the Special FX. Actress Natalie Jean (‘Men in Black 3’, ‘Black Swan’ as well as Darren Aronosfky’s upcoming ‘Noah’) stars in both movies and also served as co-producer on both films. Executive producers Brian Iglesias and Anton Sattler also produced the award winning Korean War documentary ‘Chosen’.
About ‘Cross Bearer’ – Starring Natalie Jean, J.D Brown, Isaac Williams, Kacie Marie, Julia Campbell, Victoria DePaul, Kelsey Lehman, Shaun Paul Costello and Dawn Vaughn
Heather is broke. She has a soul sucking job as a stripper. Her live-in girlfriend Victoria has a baby and a coke problem. Her boss Harry is an abusive maniac. Life cannot get much worse…or so she thought. Determined to get out of this living hell, Heather and her lover, Bunny, plan to rip off Harry, ditch Victoria, and leave town to live out their days on the Greek islands in peaceful bliss. One big score is all they need, and Harry gives them the opportunity when he asks them to take care of a drug deal with one of his clients at an old warehouse. As Heather and her friends arrive, everything seems to be going fine until they make a grizzly discovery and are trapped inside by a rambling, religious maniac hell-bent on purifying the Earth of its sins through murder and destruction. Armed with a carpenter’s hammer and a fanatic passion, the Cross Bearer hunts Heather and her friends down one-by-one in a sadistic crusade to burn clean the filth of the world. Heather’s dreams are shattered and if she survives nothing will ever be the same. Unflinchingly raw, primal, and horrifying, Cross Bearer is a trip to the darkest, most vile side of humanity.
“An apt about-face for the (slasher) genre. A showcase of gore effects reminiscent of a darker, more modern Herschell Gordon Lewis. There are no pretty bows to wrap up Cross Bearer (including its lingering and effective ending), but it’s a slasher that takes responsibility for its sins and has a hell of a time doing it.”
– Patrick Dolan – Rue Morgue
Official Selection of LA Horror Film Festival, Chicago Horror Film Festival, Cinema Wasteland (Ohio), Another Hole in the Head Fest (San Francisco), Prince Music Theater Series (Philadelphia), Sleaze Palace (Pittsburgh) and more TBA
Watch the trailer for Cross Bearer here,
About ‘The Cemetery’ – Starring Natalie Jean, Adam Huss, J.D Brown, Tim Cronin, Tabetha Ray, Ruby LaRocca, Roberto Lombardi and Billy Gram
Deep in the Pennsylvania hills, a cemetery for those who died during exorcism remains a dark secret for the church. In 1671, hundreds of men, women, and children suffered in bloody, torturous rituals at the hands of priests unable to contain the evil of the possessed. Were these possessions real, or is the story a hoax to cover up the sins of the deranged priests thirsty for human blood? Bill and his team of cynical paranormal investigators plan to find out the truth. As the producer and host of the reality TV show “Ghost Seekers,” Bill and his crew have seen it all: abandoned prisons, haunted houses, and decrepit mental hospitals. Night after night of boring trips to empty run down buildings has left them sure that the dead stay dead and that ghosts are the furthest thing from being real. Their lack of faith will soon be repaid in blood. Armed with the church’s historical record, they set out into the wilderness to uncover this series of forgotten atrocities. The demons of the past are invited to return and the gory details of old sins are revealed as the possessed begin hunting the living. Alternately gut-punching hilarious and brutally violent, The Cemetery takes the best elements of the old-school slasher film and pushes them to the edge.
“This film is extreme adult horror in its sleaziest and goriest best; if you guys are not familiar with Adam and his films you really are truly missing out…This film delivers and does it a lot!
– James DePaolo, Wicked Channel
Watch the trailer for The Cemetery here,
