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FIRST LOOK: Halo 8 Announces Illustrated Film: ‘The Long Knives’!

Published

14 years ago

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Well even though “WONDERCON” ended a few days ago we are still getting new info in that was announced over the weekend. Today we got word that publisher Halo 8 (“GODKILLER”) will be bringing comic book fans another of their unique “illustrated films” with the horror story, “THE LONG KNIVES” that is described as “a giallo horror, bare-knuckled revenge movie with an otherworldly Tim Burton-esque aesthetic.”. If that sounds as cool to you as it does to us then make the jump and check out the full press release and first photos on the project!

Here Is The Official Press Release…

“At WonderCon, Halo-8’s next original comic book & illustrated-film announced:

Giallo ‘The Long Knives’ by Matt Pizzolo

– Award-winning filmmaker to tackle giallo in next comic/film transmedia combo –

San Francisco, CA, April 6, 2010 – During WonderCon panel “Halo-8: Comic Books & Illustrated Films,” Halo-8 reps announced their next original comic-book/illustrated-film transmedia combo will be Matt Pizzolo’s The Long Knives, “a giallo horror, bare-knuckled revenge movie with an otherworldly Tim Burton-esque aesthetic.” That visual aesthetic will come courtesy of newcomer illustrator Ana Ludeshka.

“I wanted to do a gritty-realism horror with a dark-hearted toughness like the first Mad Max, which totally kicked me in the nuts when I first saw it as a kid,” explained Pizzolo. “But I didn’t want the over-the-top visuals to fall into torture-porn, so it seemed like an awesome fit to do this in a giallo style and tie-in the stylized-horror of my faves Mario Bava & Dario Argento. Ludeshka’s ethereal visuals and extreme use of color are a perfect fit, and I was super excited to discover her for this.

Similar to Pizzolo’s previous transmedia project Godkiller (which will make its feature film debut at Chicago’s C2E2 April 16), The Long Knives will be simultaneously produced as a comic book and an illustrated film. This will also mark the first time two Halo-8 titles take place in a “shared universe,” common to comic books but unique for film.

“Godkiller and The Long Knives take place in a shared world, so there will be crossover between the two projects,” said Pizzolo. “We’re going to do something fun for a Godkiller epilogue on the full-length DVD/Blu-ray [coming May 25], but we’re not ready to announce that yet.”

Though no formal announcements have been made about The Long Knives voice cast, Pizzolo has already begun assembling his ensemble. The Godkiller ensemble included genre-heroes Lance Henriksen (Aliens), Danielle Harris (Halloween 4, 5, I, II), Bill Moseley (The Devil’s Rejects), Nicki Clyne (Battlestar Galactica), Tiffany Shepis (Night of the Demons), alt-culture icon Lydia Lunch (Hardcore), and rockstars Justin Pierre (singer of Motion City Soundtrack) and Davey Havok (singer of AFI).

‘Illustrated-films’ are a new style of animation developed by Pizzolo with his producing partner, Emmy-winner Brian Giberson. Starting with sequential still images, the illustrated-film adds 3D CGI, motion graphics, elaborate sound design, and dramatic voice performances for an edgy, sophisticated, intricately detailed new form of animation. Danielle Harris told iF Magazine “it’s more like moving art than animation, with very good writing.” Upcoming illustrated-films from Halo-8 include Tim Seeley’s Loaded Bible and James Farr’s Xombie: Reanimated.

About Halo-8 Entertainment

Halo-8 Entertainment (www.halo8.tv) is a Hollywood-2.0 movie studio using bleeding-edge strategies to create and distribute daring new films and lifestyle videos. Recent releases include the megapopular animated series Xombie: Dead On Arrival (which Bloody Disgusting called “one of the best online animated series to date”), the legendary NY hardcore documentary N.Y.H.C. (which Cinematical called “smashing… a terrific, well-told, engaging story”), the award-winning hardcore-punk thriller Threat (which Urb Magazine said “makes ‘Kids’ look like an after-school special”), and the campy, interactive horror-DVD-game Slumber Party Slaughterhouse: The Game (starring Tiffany Shepis, Joanna Angel, Melissa Bacelar, Masuimi Max). Upcoming releases include the erotic-art documentary The New Erotic (featuring XXX-auteurs Eon McKai, Kimberly Kane, Dave Naz, Jack The Zipper, Alejandra Guerrero), and the iconoclastic hero’s journey Godkiller (which Wired called “a horrific yarn of apocalypse, quantum physics, culture jamming & conspiracy theory”).”

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‘The Toxic Avenger’ Returns with Cover Artwork for First Issue of New Comic Book Series [Exclusive]

Published

5 days ago

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May 13, 2024

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With a remake on the way and a new 4K restoration of the original classic now streaming, it’s a good time to be a fan of Troma’s The Toxic Avenger. Additionally, Matt Bors — the founder of The Nib and a political cartoonist who has twice been named a Pulitzer Prize finalist —and acclaimed artist Fred Harper (Snelson) are collaborating on an all-new 5-issue comic book series starring the satirical superhero of the Troma Films cult classic films!

TOXIC AVENGER #1 will land in stores on October 9, 2024.

While you wait, you can exclusively check out the issue #1 cover art from Fred Harper below, along with a set of emojis designed by Harper for the extremely online teens of Tromaville.

“The Toxic Avenger delivers what Troma fans want,” said AHOY Comics Editor-in-Chief Tom Peyer. “The series has violent action, gross mutations, bursting pustules, eye-popping visuals, and trenchant humor.” 

“If there was ever a superhuman hero for these toxic, miserable times, Toxie is the one!” said Lloyd Kaufman. “Only AHOY Comics and Bors & Harper could pull this off…er…mop this up! Toxie and the Troma Team can’t wait ‘til you read -no, experience – the art and stories that the Toxic Avenger Comic Book will explode in your brain, your soul, and your heart. Above all, remember – Toxie loves you and so do I.”

“This series will combine elements of the original films with the Toxic Crusaders cartoon and characters in familiar ways, updated to tell a story of environmental devastation, corporate control, and social media mutation,” said Bors. “The Toxic Avenger is first and foremost an environmental satire, one about a small town and its unremarkable people trapped and transformed by circumstances they don’t control. The story Fred Harper and I are telling is about people frustrated by authorities telling them not to worry about their life, that things are fine, even as their dog mutates in front of their eyes. And at its core it is about a powerless boy, Melvin, who finds out he can be incredibly strong, hideously mutated, well-admired, and incredibly heroic… but still ultimately powerless over human behavior.”

In The Toxic Avenger, teenager Melvin Junko helps run his parent’s junkyard in Tromaville, a small town in New Jersey where nothing much ever happens — until an ill-timed train derailment of toxic waste transforms Melvin into a hideously deformed creature of superhuman size and strength: the Toxic Avenger!

Under a media blackout imposed by Biohazard Solutions (BS) and their PR-spewing Chairwoman Lindsay Flick, Melvin emerges as a hero fighting against BS and the mutated threats that keep popping up around Tromaville.

Eventually Melvin uncovers a vast conspiracy more far-reaching than he could have ever imagined — but he knows if everyone is simply made aware of the crisis, they’ll act to stop it. Right?

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