"Только переехавшего в город школьника Броуди и
местного сорванца Закка объединяет любовь к тяжелому металу. Они создают хеви
металлическую группу. Однако, когда эти два неудачника-металиста случайно
пробуждают темные силы, их мечты о славе приходится отложить в долгий
ящик."
DEATHGASM
A
splatter horror/black comedy about two heavy metal-thrashing losers who have to
find their inner strength to stop a malevolent force which they inadvertently
unleashed.
A
“RETINAE PRODUCTIONS” FILM
WRITTEN
BY JASON LEI HOWDEN
Bruce
(introverted, well-intentioned) and Denny (domineering, a pathological liar)
are two average teenage boys, if your definition of “average” involves blasting
ear shattering Death Metal, setting fire to things and avoiding personal hygiene
products.
Tired of
getting rejected by girls and being bullied mercilessly, they set about trying
to utilize black magic to reverse their fortunes. They approach the task in
their usual half-assed fashion: by searching for backwards messages on Slayer
albums, getting witchcraft books out from the school library, and messing with
an Ouija board.
But when
they stumble upon an ancient page of sheet music and attempt to play it in
their garage band, they unwittingly summon an ancient evil entity known as The
Blind One, who threatens to tear apart existence itself. Their classmates and
family become inhabited by demonic forces, causing them to tear out their own
eyes and become psychotic murderers.
After
chopping, bludgeoning and decapitating hordes of possessed townspeople they
must prove they aren’t just long haired losers and stop a force of pure evil
from devouring all existence.
DEATHGASM
will be a throwback to the low-budget splatter films of the 80s, which achieved
entertaining and hilarious special effects on micro budgets. It will combine
socially awkward humour with gut-wrenching lo-fi practical gore effects, while
revitalising the long-stagnant Heavy Metal horror genre with a brutal
soundtrack including some amazing Metal and Hard Rock tracks. We will make sure
that DEATHGASM has an OST that will be the bane of noise control officers the
world over.
With
some of the most inventive and shocking gore ever captured, DEATHGASM will gush
bodily fluids, rain limbs and tickle your funny bone, before tearing it out and
giving you a stiff beating with it.
Death
metal horror film Deathgasm wins funding.
You may
have read our previous coverage of Deathgasm, the metal-themed horror film that
independent producer Jason Lei Howden of New Zealand intends to make. The film,
which focuses on the story of two teenage boys who unwittingly summon an
ancient evil entity known as The Blind One, will begin shooting in another
eight to ten weeks.
Deathgasm
is able to be produced because its producers won funding from the Make My
Horror Movie competition designed to foster higher quality independent horror
films. “With some of the most inventive and shocking gore ever captured,
Deathgasm will gush bodily fluids, rain limbs and tickle your funny bone,
before tearing it out and giving you a stiff beating with it,” the film’s
prospectus promised.
Funds in
the form of $200,000 will enable the filmmakers to create the final movie. The
film idea beat out 400 other entries and will be funded by Make My Movie, the
NZ Film Commission, MPI Media USA and nzherald.co.nz. Director Jason Lei Howden
is currently seeking death metal bands who would be willing to allow their
songs to be used on the soundtrack, with a preference for underground acts.
February 13, 2014
Death
metal themed horror film Deathgasm competes for funding.
Some
time ago we wrote about Deathgasm, a death metal themed horror film which is
attempting to get the most Facebook “likes” to get $200,000 of funding so it
can be made.
Thanks
tot he many metalheads out there clicking away, the movie made it into the
final round of competition for funding. This pits it against a dozen other
competitors, with the most popular option (determined by Facebook likes)
winning the funds.
Naturally,
this means that Deathgasm still needs your clicks, so if this fits your agenda
head on over to the Deathgasm project page and click the Facebook “like” icon
in the upper right corner.
October 31, 2013
Death metal
horror film Deathgasm solicits funding.
A New
Zealand director is campaigning to get his death metal themed horror film
funded through a crowdsourced campaign. The film, named Deathgasm, will concern
the adventures of social outcasts who discover music that can summon evil.
Written and
to be directed by Jason Lei Howden, Deathgasm is designed as a throwback to the
early 1980s budget splatter films and the Heavy Metal horror genre. The
director promises that Deathgasm will have a soundtrack that “will be the bane
of noise control officers the world over.”
The plot
revolves around evil, antisocial behavior, Slayer lyrics and black magic, but
ultimately turns on a plot point related to music itself. Deathgasm will thus
be a themed film with death metal as an integral part of that outlook.
We got a
few questions back from director Jason Lei Howden to give our readers more of a
feel of where the film is going.
What’s your
history with horror movies, and heavy metal?
I’ve been
obsessed with horror since I was a kid, and was naturally attracted to the
imagery and dark storytelling of Heavy Metal.
When I was
really young, I remember seeing Motley Crue and Iron Maiden cassettes and
thinking the contents must be the most insanely satanic shit. Which in
hindsight seems absurd.
I quickly
progressed towards Thrash and Death, those amazing years in the early 90’s,
Slayer, Cannibal Corpse, Obituary, Deicide. Such a great time for Metal.
What are
the connections between Deathgasm and heavy metal? What about death metal
specifically?
The
characters are teenage outcasts. Death Metal is their only form of release.
They won’t be wearing Disturbed t-shirts or anything like that; these kids are
pure death fans. They are social rejects but find strength in the music. I want
to stress that we aren’t out to parody or make fun of Metal, it’s more of a
salute to the genre.
I want
heaps of references to the classic bands in there, but if we could get some up
and coming Death Metal bands on the soundtrack it would be awesome.
There are
some amazing Heavy Metal horror films, and Trick Or Treat is a big influence.
But it’s a dormant genre and it’s about time to combine brutal sounds and gore
again. Death Metal in particular has imagery with is extremely horror when you
think of the album covers and lyrics.
There are
also occult and satanic themes, they start to dabble in black music and get in
over their heads.
In saying
that, I want to clarify that you won’t need to be a Metal fan to enjoy
Deathgasm, just like Metalocalypse appeals to a huge audience. Anyone who has
felt like an outsider will relate to our characters, and fans of Evil Dead, Bad
Taste or the Troma films will love the Deathgasm.
Do you
think there’s a horror movie culture? What about a heavy metal, or death metal,
culture?
New Zealand
is so small it’s hard for me to gauge, but Metal culture seems to be far
smaller than it used to be. Because there are so many sub-sub genres now, it’s
more fragmented. Maybe Metal is better off being underground, whenever it gets
too mainstream it de-fangs it a bit.
Horror
seems to be still huge, seeing shows like “The Walking Dead” and “American
Horror Story” on mainstream TV and getting Emmys is surreal.
Can you
tell us about your history with film and horror film?
I went to
film school and since then have finished a couple of fantasy/post-apocalyptic
short films. It’s really hard to get horror funded here, our industry is based
around small coming-of-age dramas.
But even if
I don’t get funding, I’m adamant I’ll do a horror next. I work as a visual
effects (VFX) artist, working up to 80 hours a week. I need to get outside and
throw blood and guts around. We are really lucky to have the Make My Horror
Movie Competition; it’s a great opportunity.
You’re
launching a funding drive for Deathgasm right now. How close are you to what
you need? When you get there, what happens?
The winners
get $200,000. The project with the most Facebook “likes” gets into the top
five. Right now we don’t have many votes compared to some other projects, but
we only submitted recently. We would need a couple of thousand more Facebook
“likes” to crack in to that threshold.
There is no
sign up or spam, if people go to the page and just click the Facebook “like”,
then maybe share it with friends it gets the project visibility and lets the
judges know there is a market for a brutal Heavy Metal Horror film.
If we don’t
win we may develop the idea more and do a Kickstarter campaign. I want it to be
a community thing, with an awesome soundtrack and heaps of Death Metal in-jokes
and references.
And gory as
hell! The Evil Dead remake was shot in NZ and was pretty gory, but we can take
it up a notch or two from that. We have some talented friends and contacts in
the practical effects industry here, I don’t want to give too much away but we
have some awesome death set-pieces planned. We want to keep it practical; VFX
gore just doesn’t look right.
If all goes
well-ish, meaning according to plan and accounting for life’s little glitches,
when will we be able to see this movie? And where (theatres, Netflix)?
Dark Sky
films is a partner, they distribute some great horror, recently Frankenstein’s
Army and Hatchet 3. So a lot of people are going to see it. I’m unsure about a
theatrical release, netflix would be pretty probable. Would be looking at a
late 2014/early 2015 release I would say.
October 12, 2013
