A few days ago I stumbled across a tweet from the account for a movie ‘The Catalyst’. I was curious, and upon further investigation, I found a website address. On the website, which is still under construction, I found a place where people can submit their true ghost stories by a post or video. I couldn’t resist, I submitted my tale (yes I believe in ghosts), then I continued on, to the part of the site dedicated to the movies, Alan Fine intends to make into a franchise.
The movie has an interesting plot. In ‘The Catalyst’ a couple, challenged with fertility problems, finally have the daughter they longed for, but as a child the daughter is killed in a freak accident. After several years the couple is blessed with another daughter. When the girl turns the same age at which they lost the first daughter, strange paranormal activity begins to plague the family. The smallest accident, the drop of pen, the breaking of a dish, triggers a flurry of nightmarish activity. The family is scared to move about in their own home in fear of angering the spirit, essentially becoming prisoners. For someone as clumsy as me, it would be a non stop nightmare.
I wanted to know more, so I reached out to ‘The Catalyst’s’ writer and director, Alan Fine. I was surprised at how friendly Fine was and how excited he was to talk about his project. Fine will be making his directorial debut in horror with ‘The Catalyst’, but he is already a veteran in the movie business, as a screen writer, editor, producer and documentary filmmaker. Fine also worked for several of the major studios, including Paramount, Universal and Dreamworks.
I spoke with Fine for almost an hour about his plans for ‘The Catalyst’. I’ll be honest, I’ve talked with many people about their films, but Fine has to be one of the most passionate. It’s always great to talk with someone, who is truly in love with their project and loves the genre.
As Fine explains it, ”The Catalyst’ will be “non stop action” and unlike most paranormal films, “the ghost will be able to hurt you”. “It’s style will be a mashup of the 80’s and today, mixing smooth dolly and Steadycam shots with handheld mayhem for the ghost’s point of view.” I will say this, it’s different than anything you have seen and the franchise will have it’s own unique style. ‘The Catalyst’ is a movie you are definitely not going to want to miss.
‘The Catalyst’, which is the first film of the series, is now in early preproduction and we will be following the film’s progress closely. For frequent updates follow Alan and ‘The Catalyst’ on Twitter and visit www.catalystghoststories.com .