Exclusives
‘The Collector’ Writing/Directing Team Spill Details on Forthcoming Projects!
During B-D’s recent chat with writing team Marcus Dunstan & Patrick Melton to talk Saw VII and The Collector, they also touched briefly on the other projects they have coming up in the near future. While they were mostly mum, they did spill some very general details about the next two films on their slate. Read on for the skinny.
“There’s two other projects that I just can’t mention yet,” said Melton. “They’re pretty big projects, but we shouldn’t really mention them yet. For publication, you know. But we’re pretty immersed in some other big horror properties right now.”
Trying to get anything I possibly could out of them, I also asked whether the projects would be in line with their previous, hard-“R” horror credits like ‘Saw’ and ‘The Collector’.
“Well actually, what’s great is they couldn’t be further from it,” Dunstan said. “One is very much science-fiction, the other one is very much adult fantasy. And so, you know, we’ve had a good run with trying to blend humor with horror in the ‘Feast’ films, and then the straight terror and the mysteries of the ‘Saw’ films, and we have one more…hopefully one more kind of ‘giallo-on-steroids’ edition for ‘The Collector’ [meaning the sequel], to pound that home. And this whole time, we’ve always had imaginations for films of all types, and this well of science fiction and fantasy is built up well beyond our heads. So we’re pretty lucky to be really close to the signing line on a couple that would allow us to do that, and hopefully show you guys another angle.”
Alarm bells immediately started going off in my head, and I wondered if perhaps the duo would be going the way of directors like Peter Jackson and Sam Raimi in deviating from their horror roots. Melton reassured me these films indeed will be worthy of coverage on Bloody-Disgusting.
“The sci-fi movie does have elements of horror as well,” he said. “The fantasy movie’s about a serial killer… that’s horror. So they’re within the same school as the horror we’ve been playing with, but just perhaps a little bit bigger in scale, that’s all. And it’s not like we’re doing ‘Pretty Woman 2’. That would probably be the furthest thing from what we’re doing, I imagine.”
Melton also seemed to shoot down the idea that he’d ever follow in Dunstan’s footsteps and take a stab at directing a film on his own.
“I’m just waiting for [Marcus] to be fired on one of these projects so I can just step in. [Laughter] No, that’s not really the plan. It’s not really how we work. Marcus is the director. We write together, Marcus directs. And I show up for two hours right around lunch and then go home. [Laughter] Directing’s hard work, man. All that time! I get tired just thinking about it.“
Exclusives
New Documentaries Explore the Cult Legacies of ‘The Keep’ and ‘Wolfen’; Watch the Trailers Now [Exclusive]
Undersung werewolf gem Wolfen and Michael Mann’s The Keep get the spotlight in a pair of feature documentaries acquired by Antenna Releasing.
A World War II Fairy Tale, which covers the infamous production of and reception to The Keep, will receive a limited theatrical release in October, followed by a TVOD release on Apple/Amazon. The Keep will also screen as a double feature for some showings.
For Uncovering Wolfen, Antenna eyes a limited theatrical release for 2027. Both films are currently available for booking via Antenna prior to their theatrical and digital releases.
Both documentaries are directed by Stewart Buck, who co-helms with Stéphane Piter on A World War II Fairy Tale.
“We at Antenna are obsessed with film history,” said Chief Acquisitions Officer Billy Ray Brewton. “Stewart has done such a remarkable job of really diving into the deepest recesses of how these films were made and, in doing so, has created the definitive histories of both projects.”
“We’re delighted to be partnering with Antenna Releasing!” said director Buck. “It’s refreshing to see a filmmaker-friendly approach to distribution with people who know what it’s like to be in the trenches with independent projects that struggle to find a home in the crowded marketplace.”
Check out our exclusive trailer and poster reveal of both documentaries below.
Released in 1983, Michael Mann’s The Keep was a notorious box office bomb, critically lambasted and all but forgotten for years, save for the fascination with Tangerine Dream’s iconic score. In recent years, the film has enjoyed a bit of a resurgence and is widely considered a cult classic, though director Michael Mann and many cast members refuse to acknowledge it.
Wolfen, on the other hand, was critical success but was overshadowed heavily by its flashier 1981 siblings An American Werewolf in London and The Howling. It’s also a trailblazer for socio-political horror, and the doc will explore that via the craftspeople who made it.
Look for them both in theaters soon. Stay tuned for more as it arrives.
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