Exclusives
Horror Nights ’09: Danielle Harris Talks ‘Stake Land’
Friday night Bloody Disgusting hit up the red carpet premiere of the Chiller Eyegore Awards, which kicked off the annual Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood (it’s also open at Uni Orlando). While on the red carpet we caught up with the beautiful Danielle Harris who chatted with us briefly about her forthcoming role in Stake Lane, the second feature film from Mulberry Street director Jim Mickle.
“I don’t know what happened!,” Harris says with a smile in reference to her being cast in a bunch of new films this year. As for STAKE LAND, the star of Rob Zombie’s two HALLOWEEN films explains that it’s a cross-breed of genres. “STAKE LAND is like post-apocalyptic road trip vampire movie, which takes place over the course of a few years. It’s really cinematically beautiful, hardcore, very real and not your typical “TWILIGHT”… it’s more for these fans,” she says of the hardcore horror junkies.
Jim Mickle’s MULBERRY STREET is an incredible low budget film that is highly praised among the horror community. Harris tells BD that his style is what brought her on to do the film.
“Yeah, the reason I wanted to do it was because I saw MULBERRY STREET and was like `WOW’. I watched it with my boyfriend before I started to do the movie and I called my manager and asked if the same people were doing it `cause I loved [the] style. He [Jim Mickle] did that movie in one room with a crew of five. So I thought, `my god, he’s got a much bigger budget now, a great cast, amazing script and we’re shooting all over the place…’.”
“It’s a really cool plot,” she adds, “I read a lot of vampire movies and I really wanted to make sure that I did one that I wanted to do and it was. So it went great!”
The film takes place following a global spread of vampirism. McGillis plays a nun who joins a small team of survivors (including Damici, Danielle Harris and Conor Paolo) as they make a treacherous journey north to safety through the war-torn U.S. McGillis’ character, “Sister,” faces a crisis of faith during the vampire bloodshed, ultimately taking up arms to do battle with her newly formed family unit.
Exclusives
‘The Haunting of Pennhurst’ Exclusive Clip Trains Scare Actors For Historic Haunt in Tribeca Doc
The past and present collide in haunting, poignant ways in the genre documentary The Haunting of Pennhurst, which sees a Halloween haunt serve as a reclamation of true historic horrors.
Ahead of its world premiere at the 25th Tribeca Film Festival, we have an exclusive clip that sees scare actors in training for the Halloween season. The catch? This haunt is opening at the historic Pennhurst State School & Hospital site, a facility that caused immense harm to its disabled patients over decades of its operation.
In the documentary, “For over seventy years, Pennhurst State School & Hospital was called a place of care. What happened inside killed over half its population. It closed in 1987, leaving behind unmarked graves and an unresolved history. Today, on those same grounds, disabled performers – many living with the same conditions that once sent people to Pennhurst – put on their makeup, pull on their costumes, and prepare to scare people for a living.
“Through grit, compassion, and buckets of blood, the eclectic performers of the Pennhurst Asylum haunted attraction are wrestling with a space that is at once a lucrative business and a gravesite.”
The upcoming documentary hails from directing trio Nathan Stenberg, Mike Attie, and Katarina Poljak, who explore their socially-relevant subject through archival footage, first-hand accounts, and an immersive verité.
“Pennhurst has haunted us since we first passed through its dragon-tooth gates; the horrors of the institution echo through the site today. We are so grateful to bring this film to the Tribeca Festival, particularly the Escape from Tribeca section, which feels right for a story where past and present bleed together. We hope audiences leave unnerved and asking the same uncomfortable questions we did,” Attie, Stenberg, and Poljak said in a statement.
Watch the clip below that sees disabled and neurodivergent scare actors learning the ropes of a Halloween haunt, reclaiming the site’s grim history in the process.
Tribeca Screenings:
- Public 1 (Premiere) Screening – Friday, June 5 at 9:15PM at Village East by Angelika
- Public 2 Screening – Sunday, June 7 at 3:15PM at Village East by Angelika
- Public 3 Screening – Tuesday, June 9 at 6:15PM at Village East by Angelika