Movies
MPI Media/Dark Sky Films Finance ‘Frankenstein’s Army’
After the debacle that was Worst Case Scenario, we were immediately skeptical when a promo trailer was released for Richard Raaphorst’s Frankenstein’s Army. Thankfully, this sucker is now officially financed and going behind cameras. Thumbs up!
It was announced today that MPI Media Group, LA-based XYZ Films and Pellicola of Amsterdam have entered into a coproduction deal to produce Richard Raaphorst’s Frankenstein’s Army. Shooting is to begin in the spring in Prague and Amsterdam and will be completed by late fall.
Raaphorst’s Worst Case Scenario stands as one of the great horror films that never was. The Nazi-zombie project whipped up a massive international following thanks to two early promo reels. But due to financing and production difficulties, the project was abandoned in 2009. Now, director Raaphorst will bring his visionary design skills to this new horror movie, to be distributed by MPI/Dark Sky Films in North America.
“Using shocking vintage newsreel footage as his jumping-off point, Raaphorst has hit on a unique and bold premise. Toward the end of World War II, Russian soldiers pushing into eastern Germany stumble across a secret Nazi lab, one that has unearthed and begun experimenting with the journal of one Dr. Victor Frankenstein. The scientists have used the legendary’s Frankenstein’s work to assemble an army of supersoldiers stitched together from the body parts of their fallen comrades – a desperate Hitler’s last ghastly ploy to escape defeat.” More producer details inside.
Director Raaphorst co-wrote FRANKENSTEIN’S ARMY and the film will be produced by Nick Jongerius and Daniel Koefoed (Harry Doright and Dead End) of Pellicola and Todd Brown of XYZ Films. Nate Bolotin, Aram Tertzakian and Nick Spicer of XYZ Films will serve as Executive Producers, and the director of photography will be Gabor Deak (Sextet).
MPI’s Greg Newman, in announcing the production, said: “We are excited to be partnered with XYZ Films and Pellicola in bringing to the screen the next work by one of the truly remarkable filmmakers working today. If the worldwide public clamor for Worst Case Scenario is any indication, Richard’s startling vision for FRANKENSTEIN’S ARMY will thrill viewers everywhere.”
MPI’s Dark Sky Films, known for the large catalogue of respected genre films it distributes, has also become an acclaimed horror producer with such modern highly praised films as, Ti West’s The House of the Devil , Adam Green’s Hatchet II, Jim Mickle’s Stake Land and West’s highly anticipated The Innkeepers, starring Sara Paxton and Kelly McGillis.
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
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