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Independent horror: micro-budget features, short films and first-time filmmakers doing more with less — and often doing it better.

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Horror Fuel

Cynema in Comedy & Film Finance

Show me The Money I read an article on Markus Persson, the billionaire developer of Minecraft and why the media says he hates being a billionaire: https://recode.net/2015/08/29/minecraft-billionaire-markus-persson-hates-being-a-billionaire/ Now I don’t know how much of this was taken out of context. I would think with that kind of expendable income, I could find a few things to at least occupy my time instead of whining to the media on how unhappy I am. Then again, I’m not a billionaire so there’s that. No doubt every jackass with a story is after you to give them money and that’s gotta be depressing. Everyone wants you, but they don’t, so yeah, it seems like a vicious circle for the person with money. And a pain in the ass. So my question to him and other people with money falling out of their assholes (and this has everything to do with Cynema, Ross Patterson and his two comedy films FDR American Baddass and Helen

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Oct 20, 2015
Horror Fuel

John Lepper On His New Record Setting Comic ‘We Kill The Dead’

John Lepper, film producer, writer, special effects makeup artist and horror fan, is now working on a comic titled ‘We Kill The Dead’. There is something very special about this comic, it will hold the record for most cameos by characters in horror films, supernatural characters to be exact. Not only will the comic have a ton of familiar characters, it will also have a few new ones as well. Unlike in some comic cameos, Lepper has permission to use the characters he’s featuring. And there are a lot of them, 22 to be exact. The list includes Reeker from ‘No Man’s Land’, Thorn from the film ‘Slasher House’, Dollman (Methodic), Mary Mattock (Blood Night: The Legend of Mary Hatchet), Verden Fell (FrightWorld), Jonah (Jonah Lives), Jack-O (Jack-O), Evil Highlander (Redwood Massacre), Stitches (Stitches), BBK (Gutterballs) and Black Night from the film ‘Dead of Knight’, just to name a few. Lepper is also in the process of writing a novel

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Oct 16, 2015
Horror Fuel

Cynema: Based On A True Story (Sort Of)

Inspired By True Events “Based On A True Story” “Based On True Events” “Most Of What You Are About to See Is True” “Some Of This Is Bullshit” “The Names Have Been Changed, Certain Dialogue Has Been Made Up” “We Have An Agenda And We Want to Entertain You” “You’ve Become So Ignorant to Real Events, You Wouldn’t Know What Was Real Anyway. Just Go With It” The Los Angeles Times recently ran a disturbing article on an equally disturbing trend quietly seeping into filmmaking. It’s been for some time, but as the general population falls into a deeper sleep, it’s almost imperceptible. The article is found HERE. The focus was the acclaimed “biopic” on Steve Jobs and is the latest film to take swipes at a dead man unable to defend himself. History is told by the winner. Or the one’s who control the information. Columbus Day has come under revisionist fire, seen as the celebration of a man

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Oct 13, 2015
Horror Fuel

A Look At Indie Film ‘The Quantum Terror’

In ‘The Quantum Terror’ Samantha’s twin sister Silvia has disappeared. The only clues Samantha has to go on are notebooks filled with strange quantum physics equations and scribbles about the occult, that she left behind. Silvia’s fellow college classmate and ex-boyfriend claims he has seen her enter nearby drainage tunnels. the tunnels run under the small town where they live. Sam suspects that he might actually have something to do with Sylvia’s disappearance. Sam, accompanied by her ex-lover Lucy and her new boyfriend, enter the maze of tunnels, where they will be forced to confront alien creatures, alterations of reality and their darkest truths. The question is, will they be able to find Sylvia and escape? This indie film was written, directed and produced by Christopher Moonlight (aka Christopher Cooksey). Moonlight is known for his animation, visual effects and practical effects. His also worked on the special effects team for Alec Gillis’ ‘Harbinger Down‘, the series ‘Passport To Explore’, The

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Oct 10, 2015
Horror Fuel

Robert Altman & Popeye vs. Cynema

To Clear A Few Things Up A few myths need to be dispelled about the 1980 Robin Williams film, Popeye. It was NOT a boxoffice failure. It was made for 20 million and grossed well over 60 million. While deemed a “disappointment” by Paramount Pictures, it hardly failed. 2. It is NOT Robin Williams’s worst film. I will argue it is his best, hands down. Like Williams and its director, the film paid a price for breaking away from formula. Popeye is fucking art, so there, I said it. Popeye fought Cynema and lost the first few battles, but I think it won the war. It was Robin Williams’s first film, and almost his last. It’s been called a mess, incomprehensible, a misfire, a disaster and a bomb. Bear with me as I show how this unique film stands up against Cynema. I’ll also lay out how this film reflects the present attitudes between industry and audience. Years after I

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Sep 19, 2015
Horror Fuel

The 90s: Designer Horror

Jordache Horror Somewhere in the 80s, someone got the idea that horror should be less frightening and more sexy and trendy. I am not sure where it happened, but a good starting point might be Michael Jackson’s Thriller. The “World Premiere Video” back when MTV aired videos and before its implosion was the thing to see. Director John Landis was in between the smash hit horror classic, An American Werewolf in London and the public relations nightmare of Twilight Zone: The Movie. Michael Jackson was truly The King of Pop, and his LP, Thriller elevated MTV into something else…exactly what, I don’t know, but Thriller was more than a video. It was a pop culture event and it used horror as its spring board. Vincent Price became known to a the Pepsi Generation as “the old dude who “rapped” in Thriller and laughed at the end. Academy Award winner and makeup genius, Rick Baker did the makeup effects and suddenly

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Sep 1, 2015
Horror Fuel

Consuming Cynema PART II

The Remake The road to the remake is a winding one. There is no clear pathway toward the answer of whether they are good or bad, needed or unwanted. They exist. They will continue to be made because there is demand. My previous article opened with a quote from George Bush’s post 9-11 speech which hinted at “living life” is a series of consuming events that follow an image that has been dictated to us by a media assault that has shaped us since birth. So what does that have to do with filmmaking and entertainment? Does art imitate life or the other way around? Why is Disney the Mecca of family vacations? Who said women are to look a certain way, smoking is glamorous, drinking a soda makes you like Michael Jackson or Beyonce? We have a new generation growing up with incredible access to entertainment. Cell phones, tablets, video game systems and computers allow instant access to everything,

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Aug 24, 2015
Horror Fuel

Consuming Cynema PART I

Go Shopping A persistent misconception immediately after the 911 attacks in 2001 is that President George W. Bush urged Americans “to go shopping.” This was not the case. Over the years it’s been simplified into that message. In reality The President said this, “It’s to tell the traveling public: Get on board. Do your business around the country. Fly and enjoy America’s great destination spots. Get down to Disney World in Florida. Take your families and enjoy life, the way we want it to be enjoyed.” George Bush, White House Archives Not once was the word “shop” or any form of it used. This is not a political defense. Rather, something in that speech to a shocked nation did stand out to me, and can be applied to the entertainment industry. While we were not directly urged to “go shopping” the simplistic picture of consumerism congruent to the picture of American life was apparent. We have accepted an image of

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Aug 23, 2015
Horror Fuel

Cynema: Godzilla vs. Gino

Go Go Godzilla “We spared no expense.” – Sir Richard Attenborough, Jurassic Park Rumors circulated Hollywood since the early 1990’s of an American Godzilla movie. Writers and directors left the project and by 1996, Toho and Sony/Tri Star came to terms and the producing team of Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich were anointed to bring a full fledged American Godzilla film to the US masses. He would attack New York City; it would boast a big name cast and incorporate state of the art visual effects. There would be no man in a giant rubber suit in this film since Jurassic Park raised the bar for giant reptilian creatures. Toho Knew In the wake of the successful 2014 reboot (which had its own issues), it seems like a cheap shot to take yet another swipe at the much maligned (and deservedly so) 1998 mess. This time it’s to see how this film fits the Cynema paradigm. It’s not Godzilla, it

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Aug 20, 2015
Horror Fuel

Cynema: Fright Night or…Why Remake When You Can Retitle?

A Valentine To Old School Horror Remaking a film falls under the old adage: “Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.” Netflix reviews or more accurately, article comments are dotted with such phrases like: “the film is old” or “it’s dated.” Better yet, “it’s foreign.” All three signify a concern in American pop culture: a fixation on the superficial and a refusal to give anything deemed “old” a chance, largely by a generation that prides itself on ignorance and is unappreciative for the previous work done by others that affords it the indifference it treats anything deemed unworthy of its attention. Horror is a breeding ground for remakes, but the focus of this article will be the 1985 horror hit “Fright Night.” The recent 3D remake of yet another 80’s horror film underscores not just the needless exercise in remaking films, but shows that audiences have become truly cynical in the product they pay for. There is

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Aug 19, 2015

More from Indie

Horror Fuel

Cynema in Comedy & Film Finance

Show me The Money I read an article on Markus Persson, the billionaire developer of Minecraft and why the media says he hates being a billionaire: https://recode.net/2015/08/29/minecraft-billionaire-markus-persson-hates-being-a-billionaire/ Now I don’t know how much of this was taken out of context. I would think with that kind of expendable income, I could find a few things to at least occupy my time instead of whining to the media on how unhappy I am. Then again, I’m not a billionaire so there’s that. No doubt every jackass with a story is after you to give them money and that’s gotta be depressing. Everyone wants you, but they don’t, so yeah, it seems like a vicious circle for the person with money. And a pain in the ass. So my question to him and other people with money falling out of their assholes (and this has everything to do with Cynema, Ross Patterson and his two comedy films FDR American Baddass and Helen

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Oct 20, 2015
Horror Fuel

John Lepper On His New Record Setting Comic ‘We Kill The Dead’

John Lepper, film producer, writer, special effects makeup artist and horror fan, is now working on a comic titled ‘We Kill The Dead’. There is something very special about this comic, it will hold the record for most cameos by characters in horror films, supernatural characters to be exact. Not only will the comic have a ton of familiar characters, it will also have a few new ones as well. Unlike in some comic cameos, Lepper has permission to use the characters he’s featuring. And there are a lot of them, 22 to be exact. The list includes Reeker from ‘No Man’s Land’, Thorn from the film ‘Slasher House’, Dollman (Methodic), Mary Mattock (Blood Night: The Legend of Mary Hatchet), Verden Fell (FrightWorld), Jonah (Jonah Lives), Jack-O (Jack-O), Evil Highlander (Redwood Massacre), Stitches (Stitches), BBK (Gutterballs) and Black Night from the film ‘Dead of Knight’, just to name a few. Lepper is also in the process of writing a novel

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Oct 16, 2015
Horror Fuel

Cynema: Based On A True Story (Sort Of)

Inspired By True Events “Based On A True Story” “Based On True Events” “Most Of What You Are About to See Is True” “Some Of This Is Bullshit” “The Names Have Been Changed, Certain Dialogue Has Been Made Up” “We Have An Agenda And We Want to Entertain You” “You’ve Become So Ignorant to Real Events, You Wouldn’t Know What Was Real Anyway. Just Go With It” The Los Angeles Times recently ran a disturbing article on an equally disturbing trend quietly seeping into filmmaking. It’s been for some time, but as the general population falls into a deeper sleep, it’s almost imperceptible. The article is found HERE. The focus was the acclaimed “biopic” on Steve Jobs and is the latest film to take swipes at a dead man unable to defend himself. History is told by the winner. Or the one’s who control the information. Columbus Day has come under revisionist fire, seen as the celebration of a man

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Oct 13, 2015
Horror Fuel

A Look At Indie Film ‘The Quantum Terror’

In ‘The Quantum Terror’ Samantha’s twin sister Silvia has disappeared. The only clues Samantha has to go on are notebooks filled with strange quantum physics equations and scribbles about the occult, that she left behind. Silvia’s fellow college classmate and ex-boyfriend claims he has seen her enter nearby drainage tunnels. the tunnels run under the small town where they live. Sam suspects that he might actually have something to do with Sylvia’s disappearance. Sam, accompanied by her ex-lover Lucy and her new boyfriend, enter the maze of tunnels, where they will be forced to confront alien creatures, alterations of reality and their darkest truths. The question is, will they be able to find Sylvia and escape? This indie film was written, directed and produced by Christopher Moonlight (aka Christopher Cooksey). Moonlight is known for his animation, visual effects and practical effects. His also worked on the special effects team for Alec Gillis’ ‘Harbinger Down‘, the series ‘Passport To Explore’, The

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Oct 10, 2015
Horror Fuel

Robert Altman & Popeye vs. Cynema

To Clear A Few Things Up A few myths need to be dispelled about the 1980 Robin Williams film, Popeye. It was NOT a boxoffice failure. It was made for 20 million and grossed well over 60 million. While deemed a “disappointment” by Paramount Pictures, it hardly failed. 2. It is NOT Robin Williams’s worst film. I will argue it is his best, hands down. Like Williams and its director, the film paid a price for breaking away from formula. Popeye is fucking art, so there, I said it. Popeye fought Cynema and lost the first few battles, but I think it won the war. It was Robin Williams’s first film, and almost his last. It’s been called a mess, incomprehensible, a misfire, a disaster and a bomb. Bear with me as I show how this unique film stands up against Cynema. I’ll also lay out how this film reflects the present attitudes between industry and audience. Years after I

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Sep 19, 2015
Horror Fuel

The 90s: Designer Horror

Jordache Horror Somewhere in the 80s, someone got the idea that horror should be less frightening and more sexy and trendy. I am not sure where it happened, but a good starting point might be Michael Jackson’s Thriller. The “World Premiere Video” back when MTV aired videos and before its implosion was the thing to see. Director John Landis was in between the smash hit horror classic, An American Werewolf in London and the public relations nightmare of Twilight Zone: The Movie. Michael Jackson was truly The King of Pop, and his LP, Thriller elevated MTV into something else…exactly what, I don’t know, but Thriller was more than a video. It was a pop culture event and it used horror as its spring board. Vincent Price became known to a the Pepsi Generation as “the old dude who “rapped” in Thriller and laughed at the end. Academy Award winner and makeup genius, Rick Baker did the makeup effects and suddenly

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Sep 1, 2015
Horror Fuel

Consuming Cynema PART II

The Remake The road to the remake is a winding one. There is no clear pathway toward the answer of whether they are good or bad, needed or unwanted. They exist. They will continue to be made because there is demand. My previous article opened with a quote from George Bush’s post 9-11 speech which hinted at “living life” is a series of consuming events that follow an image that has been dictated to us by a media assault that has shaped us since birth. So what does that have to do with filmmaking and entertainment? Does art imitate life or the other way around? Why is Disney the Mecca of family vacations? Who said women are to look a certain way, smoking is glamorous, drinking a soda makes you like Michael Jackson or Beyonce? We have a new generation growing up with incredible access to entertainment. Cell phones, tablets, video game systems and computers allow instant access to everything,

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Aug 24, 2015
Horror Fuel

Consuming Cynema PART I

Go Shopping A persistent misconception immediately after the 911 attacks in 2001 is that President George W. Bush urged Americans “to go shopping.” This was not the case. Over the years it’s been simplified into that message. In reality The President said this, “It’s to tell the traveling public: Get on board. Do your business around the country. Fly and enjoy America’s great destination spots. Get down to Disney World in Florida. Take your families and enjoy life, the way we want it to be enjoyed.” George Bush, White House Archives Not once was the word “shop” or any form of it used. This is not a political defense. Rather, something in that speech to a shocked nation did stand out to me, and can be applied to the entertainment industry. While we were not directly urged to “go shopping” the simplistic picture of consumerism congruent to the picture of American life was apparent. We have accepted an image of

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Aug 23, 2015
Horror Fuel

Cynema: Godzilla vs. Gino

Go Go Godzilla “We spared no expense.” – Sir Richard Attenborough, Jurassic Park Rumors circulated Hollywood since the early 1990’s of an American Godzilla movie. Writers and directors left the project and by 1996, Toho and Sony/Tri Star came to terms and the producing team of Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich were anointed to bring a full fledged American Godzilla film to the US masses. He would attack New York City; it would boast a big name cast and incorporate state of the art visual effects. There would be no man in a giant rubber suit in this film since Jurassic Park raised the bar for giant reptilian creatures. Toho Knew In the wake of the successful 2014 reboot (which had its own issues), it seems like a cheap shot to take yet another swipe at the much maligned (and deservedly so) 1998 mess. This time it’s to see how this film fits the Cynema paradigm. It’s not Godzilla, it

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Aug 20, 2015
Horror Fuel

Cynema: Fright Night or…Why Remake When You Can Retitle?

A Valentine To Old School Horror Remaking a film falls under the old adage: “Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.” Netflix reviews or more accurately, article comments are dotted with such phrases like: “the film is old” or “it’s dated.” Better yet, “it’s foreign.” All three signify a concern in American pop culture: a fixation on the superficial and a refusal to give anything deemed “old” a chance, largely by a generation that prides itself on ignorance and is unappreciative for the previous work done by others that affords it the indifference it treats anything deemed unworthy of its attention. Horror is a breeding ground for remakes, but the focus of this article will be the 1985 horror hit “Fright Night.” The recent 3D remake of yet another 80’s horror film underscores not just the needless exercise in remaking films, but shows that audiences have become truly cynical in the product they pay for. There is

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Aug 19, 2015
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