Movies

Brief Backstory Delivered in Hilarious ‘Birdemic’ Behind-the-Scenes Video

Published

14 years ago

February 2, 2010

Severin Films officially announced today the acquisition of all worldwide rights to Birdemic: Shock & Terror, a hilarious indie feature from writer/producer/director James Nguyen that can only be described as “special”. Nguyen, on the other hand, describes it as “a romantic thriller”. The film is a love story about a young couple trapped in a small Northern California town under siege by homicidal birds. While those of you paying close attention have already been tuned in to the (astounding) backstory of Birdemic, beyond the break you’ll find a special EPK video that’ll give you some of the highlights. Those of you in the Los Angeles area don’t miss out on the Bloody Disgusting sponsored red carpet event taking place on February 27 (hosted by Tim & Eric!). Get more info here and join me for my 30th birthday extravaganza! “Why did the eagles and vultures attack?”

Birdemic: Shock and Terror EPK from Severin Films on Vimeo.

Nguyen, a 42-year-old Vietnamese refugee, wrote, cast and shot the film over the course of four years using salary from his day job as a mid-level software salesman in Silicon Valley. The film pays homage to Hitchcock’s THE BIRDS via location shooting in Mission Bay, California, as well as an appearance by star of THE BIRDS Tippi Hedren. When rejected for an official screening slot at Sundance, Nguyen spent eight days driving up and down the festival’s nearby streets in a van covered with fake birds, frozen blood and BIRDEMIC posters, while loudspeakers blared the sounds of eagle attacks and human screams. The tactic caught the attention of festival organizers, filmgoers and local police, as well as executives from Severin Films.

“BIRDEMIC is truly unlike any other film we’ve ever seen,” said Carl Daft, CEO and co-founder of Severin Films. “The fact that James Nguyen wrote, produced, directed, financed and self-marketed such a unique feature is in itself a story worth celebrating. On a certain level, this is a landmark independent production and James is truly an auteur for our time. We’re enormously excited for audiences to experience BIRDEMIC for themselves.”

Severin Films is planning a limited theatrical release for BIRDEMIC: SHOCK AND TERROR later this year. The film is the company’s first contemporary acquisition.

Movies

Melissa Barrera and Bailee Madison Want Roles in the ‘Scary Movie’ Reboot

Published

53 mins ago

April 24, 2024

John Squires

Abigail Overlook Film Festival 2024 - gory horror Abigail set visit

Pictured: Melissa Barrera in 'Abigail'

It was announced two weeks ago that Paramount is resurrecting the Scary Movie spoof franchise with a brand new reboot movie, which will likely arrive in theaters next year.

The new movie, a joint venture between Paramount and Miramax that will technically be the sixth installment in the franchise, is expected to go into production this coming Fall.

We don’t yet know who will be writing, directing or starring in the Scary Movie reboot, but two actors in particular have already expressed an interest in joining the franchise.

The first is Melissa Barrera, who can currently be seen in theaters in Radio Silence’s bloody horror movie Abigail. Barrera is of course also the star of Scream and Scream VI, which kind of makes her a perfect candidate to lampoon herself in a Scary Movie reboot.

“I always loved those movies,” Melissa Barrera tells the website Inverse. “When I saw it announced, I was like, ‘Oh, that would be fun.’ That would be so fun to do.”

The actress adds, “They have the iconic cast that did it, so we’ll see what goes on with that. I’m just excited to see a new one.”

In a tweet posted last night, Bailee Madison (The Strangers: Prey at Night, the upcoming “Pretty Little Liars: Summer School”) also threw her hat in the running.

Madison tweets, “Random but scary movie 6 hit me up cause I just feel like we’d have fun okay bye.” Your move, Paramount. And make sure you call Anna Faris and Regina Hall too.

Directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans, the first Scary Movie was released in 2000, just four years after Wes Craven reinvigorated the horror genre with his meta slasher masterpiece, Scream.

The film parodied horror movies of the time including Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and The Blair Witch Project, and the horror-comedy spoof scared up $278 million at the worldwide box office. The success of that first Scary Movie paved the way for an entire franchise of horror spoofs, five of them in total released between 2000 and 2013.