Interview with Mike Pine of Zombie Girl Diary

UPDATE The teaser trailer for Zombie Girl Diary is now online, you can see it here


It seems like originality is more the exception than the norm in Hollywood now.  Studios are content to crank out sub par remakes and teen romances disguised as horror. The true horror fan finds himself looking more and more to independent and low budget films to find anything that isn’t a retread or a Twilight rip off.

The latest low budget horror film to come to my attention is Zombie Girl Diary by writer director Mike Pine.  According to the movies official Facebook page, Zombie Girl Diary is the story of a mother and daughter fighting to survive during the zombie apocalypse.  Along the way they encounter other survivors and come together to attempt to survive in a world turned upside down.

Zombies are all the rage right now, in large part due to the success of The Walking Dead, so Zombie Girl Diary should have a large potential fan base.  However The Walking Dead has also set the zombie bar pretty high.  While not all horror fans are crazy about the show, it is better than a lot of what we see in theaters.

The cast of Zombie Girl Diary includes the beautiful Vanessa Rae Bent as Sara, Tessa Wagaman as Sara’s mother, model Eliza Jayne as the zombie tree girl, and just announced Jimmyo  Burril, of the Chainsaw Sally show, as Mark.

Word is spreading about Zombie Girl Diary and I can’t wait to see it.  This week I sat down (figuratively, honestly I have just always wanted to say that) with director Mike Pine for a quick interview.

Lord Dixie: So what about Zombie Girl Diary sets it apart from other films in the zombie genre?

Mike Pine: Well I am taking it in a way I really haven’t seen before where all the zombies have to follow the rules of nature. Like in winter they freeze and in the hotter months they decay faster and die.

LD:  So are these slow zombies, fast zombies or a combination?  I have heard the natural rules aka rigor mortis, rot, etc. used in arguments for both sides.

MP:  A little of both faster for the ones that just turned and slower for the ones that have been turned for a while.

LD:  Will the for the most part follow the "Romero rules" head shot to kill, eating flesh vs. just craving brains?

MP: Well yes head shot to kill, eating flesh, but it might not have to be from the living, and that’s where I will leave that.

LD:  Fair enough and you have me interested in that. Actually that’s something that always bugged me about zombies, but I will wait till I see the film and we can discuss it.

 So what movies influenced you and what is your favorite horror or zombie movie?

MP:  Well a lot of movies.  Of course all of the Romero films, Dawn of the Dead is one of my favorites, as well as the Phantasm films, and I could just go on and on.

LD:  So where are you at in production, and when can we expect to see Zombie Girl Diary?

MP:  We start filming next month and should be released later this year.

Hopefully I can catch up with Mike again once filming is underway and chat more about the film.   But for now be on the lookout for Zombie Girl Diary and help support independent horror.  It’s where it’s at!

Find out more at the official Facebook page.

RIP Jonathan Frid and William Finley

On April 14, two men passed away with little fanfare and little notice from the mainstream media. One was William Finley, star of the cult classic Phantom of the Paradise as well as numerous other roles. The other was Jonathan Frid, star of the classic horror series Dark Shadows

Finley was lesser known than Frid, even in the horror community, even though he starred alongside celebrities like Chick Norris and Jessica Harper, and in films directed by Brian DePalma and Tobe Hooper. Still it was Finley who so many fans remember as Winslow Leech, the Phantom. His unique look lead to many small quirky roles, but nothing compared to the Phantom.

Frid was the man of so many childhood nightmares. His Barnabas Collins was a household name, at least in the horror community. Even many people, who don’t consider themselves horror fans, know the face if not the name, and many, like my late mother, freely interchanged the word Barnabas with vampire.

The media could almost be excused for not reporting heavily on Finley’s death. He was the star of a cult film, who remained masked for most of the film. Not only was his face hidden, but his signing voice was dubbed by Paul Williams for most of the film. Still he was a part of the horror community, our community, and his fans will miss him.

The lack of news on Jonathon Frid is nothing short of perplexing. While many inside the horror community might not know the name Winslow Leech, who is it that doesn’t know Barnabas Collins? The original series was remade in the 80’s with Ben Cross playing Barnabas, and now a remake starring Johnny Depp and directed by Tim Burton is in the works. With a trailer just released, and the movie being talked about, both good and bad, by horror fans, how in the hell was Jonathon Frid’s death not headline news this weekend?

***********(It appears that the Frid family may have only released the information today, which makes sense, still the fact remains that "lesser" celebrites are routinely overlooked by the press and often die with little notice)******************************

Shame on all the “news” sources that ignored these people’s death, they were important to us in the horror community. You have ignored so many others deaths, like Vampira, Ingrid Pitt, and Tura Santana. Maybe they weren’t guaranteed to snatch high ratings like a story about Snooki’s pregnancy, or Beiber’s latest haircut, but dammit they deserved more than they got. They deserve the same respect as others who have done less with their lives and are still celebrities. It pisses me off to see them ignored. It pisses me off to find out, along with so many others five days after the fact, that they have passed away.

RIP William Finley and Jonathon Frid, the mainstream news may have forgotten you, but your fans never will. You will live on in our memories forever

William Finley as Winslow Leech

Jonathon Frid, the original and only Barnabas Collins

One more look at Holly

Holly too hot for Facebook

Avert your eyes Chillen, here there be tush,  See MORE of Holly at www.akahollyanne.com

Holly too hot for Facebook sneak peek

Beautiful lady and I will broach no disrespect for her.  Post any trash comemnts and I will delete them before you can spit your momma's tit out.  If you want to see the whole picture show me some blog love.  Minimum 3 comments here, in good taste, before I will even consider posting it, or three ad clicks.  More comments and I will post more pics.  Simple? damn skippy

Come Die with the Middle Part

Die:Roll to Proceed from Ashley C Williams

Horror fans know Ashley C Williams primarily from the Human Centipede. However some astute fans, and loyal (crickets chirp) readers of the Dark Domain might also know that Ashely is a co-founder of Mind the Art Entertainment, a collaborative arts and entertainment company in New York City.

The beautiful Ashley C Willians

Many of you might even remember my last post about their newest production, "Die:Roll to Continue". If you didn't catch it, (shame on you dammit, read my shit!) "Die" is an interctive comedy in which the audience, by way of rolling a six sided die, control the direction of the play. Reportedly there are 72 different versions of the play, die rolls at various key moments, determine which version of the play the audience gets.

After publishing the last post, I had a small chat with the beautiful and talented Ashley C Williams (name droppa) and she told me about a very special event happening April, Friday the 13. Mind the Art Entertainment along with Ashley C Williams present "Come Die With the Middle Part".

Ashley C Williams

Come die is a special presentation of "Die Roll to Proceed" to celebrate her horror fans and hopefully get them to come out and enjoy the show. That night, which Ashley referred to as "Human Centipede" night, all tickets to the show come with a free beer (ok horror fans I said free beer, get on it!) Not only that after the show fans can hang out in the bar and enjoy drinks and Ashley will sign your memrobilia FREE OF CHARGE. That's right bring your own swag and Ashley will sign it for free.

Ashley will also have her own headshots and stills from the film for sale for the dirt cheap price of just 10 bucks. Come on you can't get the get a random stormtropper from Empire Strikes back for ten bucks now a days, and just try getting that short stormtrooper! Tickets for the show are going fast, I believe there were only 30 left as I am writing this and are 15 bucks a head (or middle part).

Die:Roll to Continue from Mind the Art Entertainment

So come out see a great new play, meet the lovely, talented and super friendly Ashley C Williams and get her to sign your swag. Even better, show your appreciation for a lady who hasn't forgot her horror fans and buy some of her stuff.

Beautiful and talented Ashley C. Williams from the Human Centipede

Here's the event page
https://www.facebook.com/events/248599811897677/

Also go here for more information on the show
www.DieRollToProceed.com

"Die: Roll to Proceed" from Ashley Williams

Most horror fans know of Ashley C Williams from the cult horror, soon to be classic, The Human Centipede.  Not all horror fans know just how multi talented, and multi tasking she is.  The lovely Ashley, along with being an actress, singer, and dancer, is also one of the co-founders of Mind the Art Entertainment, and a member of the board.

Photo by Luigi Novi
The beautiful Ashley C Williams
(apologies to the photographer for the lack of original credit)

Mind the Art Entertainment is, for those not familiar, a New York based collaborative arts and entertainment company.  There latest production is an unique and interactive play entitled Die:Roll to Proceed.  Die, is written by Joe Kurtz and directed by Christian de Gre'.  Ashley C Williams serves as one of the producers, along with director de Gre' and Emily Meier.

Die:, is basically the story of a man who is fed up with all of the wrong decisions he has made in his life.  So he makes one more decision to surrender his fate to random chance and the roll of a six sided die. Here is where the interactive part comes in.  At certain, pivotal points in the play, the fourth wall is broken and a member of the audience is asked to roll a die.  Depending on the number rolled, the play will then follow a preset path.

Due to the fluid nature of this, there are reportedly 72 different versions of the play.  The random die roll determines which version the audience will see.  This dependency on a random roll of the dice leads to a strange, unpredictable comedy the likes of which has never been seen before.

DIE: Roll to Proceed will play at The Red Room (85 East 4th Street) with two preview performances on March 30th and March 31st at 10:30pm. Officially opening on Friday, April 6th, the production will continue to play every Friday night at 10:30pm through October 19th. Tickets, priced at $15, can be purchased online at www.DieRolltoProceed.com. For more information, you can visit www.DieRolltoProceed.com.

If you are in the area it is definitely worth checking out

Read more: http://broadwayworld.com/article/Interactive-Comedy-DIE-Roll-to-Proceed-to-Begin-Run-at-The-Red-Room-330-20120228#ixzz1pjjgnbSd