Lisa Ovies to Direct Beverly Hills Lizard People

Cthulhu Crush Productions have announced that filmmaker Lisa Ovies will direct horror-comedy Beverly Hills Lizard People.

Written by Cthulhu Crush’s Jody Wheeler, Beverly Hills Lizard People is described as a mix of Slither and Scream, and tells of an ancient race of shape-shifting Lizard People from the depths of the Earth who return to the surface to reclaim what was once theirs: Beverly Hills.

An estimated 12.5 million Americans believe in the existence of Lizard People.

Wheeler and Steve Parker produce for Cthulhu Crush Productions alongside I No.Films.

Ovies is an award winning producer, director and actress. Her feature Taking My Parents to Burning Man took home audience choice awards at the Sonoma International Film Festival, the Newport Beach Film Festival and the Maui Film Festival. Puppet Killer, currently in post-production, has gotten huge buzz and anticipation based on its unique premise.

“Lisa got BHLP from word one. She not only got the horror elements, but the moments of humor peppered through the script, laughs that emerged from the terror, not in spite of it,” Wheeler said.

“Everyone swears they’ve met people who were not quite human,” Parker said. “Who knows? They may indeed have been shape-shifting reptilians looking to rule the world.  Or just looking to improve their tan.”

“I had to direct this,” Ovies said. “It’s a crazy blend of horror, humor, and personal empowerment — precisely the kind of stories I love to tell. I’m looking forward to getting people to wonder what’s really beneath the skin of their best friends or loved ones.”

Ovies is represented by Moving Pictures Talent & Entertainment Group. Her IMDb page.

Beverly Hills Lizard People will be the fourth Cthulhu Crush Production, whose films include Love, Colin and the current horror flick WTF!. Wheeler and Parker were also creatives on cult hits Judas Kiss and The Dark Place.

Production is slated to begin Summer 2018, in Vancouver, Canada.

Official Synopsis

Disturbed from their ancient slumber by the excavation of a cross-town subway, the ancient reptilian masters of a faded empire strike out to reclaim what was once theirs: Beverly Hills.

Ground zero for their invasion? A once popular, though now faded, hotel, currently the site of a reality TV cooking show competition, and directly overhead of their secret city. Can the collection of unlikely contestants — ambitious, backstabbing, and determined — stop the shape-shifting Terrors From Below below before the reptilian ravagers achieve their goal of conquering first Beverly Hills and then the world?

Jody Wheeler

CEO & Creative Partner

Jody Wheeler is an award-winning creative, based in Los Angeles. He is the writer-producer-director of the 2014 mystery-thriller THE DARK PLACE, the writer of HEAT WAVE, the producer JUDAS KISS and the forthcoming WTF!. He wrote for the groundbreaking TV series “Inside / Outside The Beltway.” His short film “In The Closet” was nominated for the 2008 IRIS Prize. He’s a graduate of the UCLA MFA Screenwriting program.

Steve Parker

CFO & Creative Partner

Steve Parker is an award-winning editor and executive producer, based in San Francisco. He directed, shot and edited the music video of Tom Robinson’s “Loved By You”, produced  the shorts “Begging for Change”, and “Barbie Boy,” and the feature films JUDAS KISS, THE DARK PLACE, and the forthcoming WTF!. He recently directed the short “Love, Colin”, set to premiere in 2016.

Want Me to Promote Your Film with Cartoon Captions?

No, I'm not offering a pay for promotion service, or any kind of paid service. This is just something I do for fun, that coincidentally can help to promote your indie film using humor; and also sates my sadistic tendencies for torture. :)

Some of you, yeah the both of you, have probably noticed the captioned screencaps I have been using to promote Slashening 2's crowdfunding. I started this on my own initiative promoting the release of Fear Town, USA and the first The Slashening on Blu-ray. The reason why is because if you've seen their work you already know they have a damn good sense of humor. And frankly, having seen the ending of Fear Town, USA, they pretty much set a line that would be hard to cross. They promised to cross that line in Slashening 2, and I'm not sure I want to see what can cross that line. O.O

Of course the point of that rambling is that Brandon and Rey have provided me with screencaps to use, perhaps at times regretfully on their part, and I don't know if there is such a thing as going too far when the picture you're starting with has a plate of vagina on the wall. But to do the same thing with others' films might offend someone.

If you want me to promote your film with my captioning, you'll have to tell me, and of course either provide screencaps or provide a download I can screencap myself. And of course you'll have to have a good sense of humor.

Before you ask me, have a look at some of the captioning I did for Slashening 2:

If you still have the daring and gumption to ask, contact me on my Twitter or Facebook page. And don't forget you can support the making of Slashening 2 by donating on their GoFundMe page.

Toxic Fletch

Movie Review: Skybound (2017)

Skybound (2017) - USA - Action/Disaster - Not Rated (14+)

Written and Directed by Alex Tavakoli

Starring Scarlett Byrne, Rick Cosnett, Gavin Stenhouse, Tyler Fayose, Carla Carolina Pimentel, Morten Suurballe, Jerry Coyle

An interesting premise with good direction and cast is riddled with clichés bringing it down like a jet plane out of fuel.

Five friends board a plane going from New York to California. What starts out as a joyride becomes terror as media outages and loss of contact with the ground leaves them to wonder what is happening below, and if they'll even be able to land.

It sounds interesting, and I don't doubt it could have been. With capable direction and a good cast it starts off promising. It's not long before "seen this...expected that" comes to the forefront of ones thoughts. You know you're in a nosedive to hell when you get the bravado rallying speech complete with musical accompaniment. I mean for Green Acres or Animal House this works because of the ridiculousness of it, but for something taking itself as serious it becomes its own self-parody.

Other elements in this with no bang for their buck include a love triangle which wilted the rose before it even had a chance, the most impotent bad guy I've seen in a movie of recent memory and a mixed bag of special effects from really good to video game quality, and I don't mean a good video game at that. And that is the film's problem in a nutshell is there was potential here too often ambushed by cheap one-offs.

From a standpoint of average fare for SyFy you could use to fill time, this would fit as it is entertaining enough for that. Perhaps I'm just being down on it as there was potential here to be more than that and it was brought down by screenwriting 101 checklisting: love triangle, check; bad guy, check; bravado speech, check; heroic sacrifice, check. To add to that the ending of this is truly "how the hell!?"

I would give standard SyFy time fillers 2 Fingers, but there are at least some better elements here such as the direction and a good cast.

My Rating: 2 Fingers Plus.

You can get Skybound on DVD or VOD from Amazon Video.

Movie Review: Hex (2017)

Hex (2017) - UK - Historical Thriller/Horror - Not Rated (PG)

Independent Feature Film - Rubicon Films

Directed by George Popov

Co-Directed by Jonathan Russell

Written by Jonathan Russell and George Popov

Starring Daniel Oldroyd, William Young, Suzie Frances Garton, Tony Broadbent

Tediously paced at times it overcomes this with nerve-racking tension in a story though set during the English Civil War is fresh and relevant in today's times.

Two soldiers on opposite sides during the English Civil War (1644) find themselves alone against each other in the forest. But they soon become suspicious they are not the only ones in this forest and that other one is a witch preventing them from getting out of the forest. Trust comes hard but fear and suspicion come easy.

Made for a staggering (wink) £1000, that's just over $1300 for us yanks, what these filmmakers have accomplished on a budget that wouldn't even buy lunch for a Hollywood film crew is simply outstanding. The use of lush woodland scenery, re-enactment period costumes and props, austere ruins and three top of their class actors imbues this film with quality components.

Up front, what doesn't work for Hex is tedium in some of the scenes, especially the nighttime scenes and not being well lit adds to it. It's just my feeling that having trimmed the running time of this could have improved upon it as it is a bit long for what could be an hour long Outer Limits episode.

What does work for the film is tension and story. From the first encounter of the two soldiers culminating in a brutal fight, which makes one wonder if some of the blood might be real, to a cat and mouse game between the soldiers early in the film the viewer's nerves are honed raw. Even as the film progresses reality and fear are often indistinct for the soldiers, as well the viewer. As much the soldiers fear the witch of the forest heightening their paranoia, even beyond that is the unsettling sense they might turn on each other at any moment.

What brings the story freshly into modern times is smartly using the English Civil War as a backdrop: most basically a war between political opposites the Royalists who sought to maintain a 'divine right' in leadership and the Parliamentarians who opposed a monopolistic monarchy and church. Congruency aside, even more germane in the face of xenophobia, building walls and decayed institutions is the rallying of distinct nationalities under a greater fear and hatred of another through a cloud of unknowing.

Despite some slowness in the film at places and dark nighttime scenes overall it is well done. A complete story that works as a whole gets my basic recommendation. But this additionally has rich dialogue, taut direction, beautiful cinematography and some of the best audio capture I've heard that captures every distinct sound, as well what lies beneath the story is thought provoking.

*Update

This is a first for me, at least on this blog, to change my rating of a movie. Some might consider my movie reviewing style to be a bit scopious, but it is for this very reason that it is such. I watch movies twice for a review. Usually I give myself a few days during that time for lingering afterthoughts, and especially to feel what staying power a film has. Usually it takes me several days to a week to review a movie. Being this film was being released on the 17th, I wanted to have it reviewed by the day before and really did not let it take time to sink in.

Yes, the film is tedious in several places as I said and that took it down a notch from 4 Fingers. Yet it has stayed with me. It has magnificent imagery and incredible sound quality where the slightest brush of grass or babble of a brook comes through with clarity; it's a pleasure in and of itself just to listen to this movie. I chose the screencap of Daniel Oldroyd as his expression in it defines the quality of acting in this. Of course there is the story central to the film which draws an allegory using the past as sort of a mirror for our present, and might I say beautifully done.

I've been having a lingering of conscience asking myself if I rated it fairly. Though it may be a fair rating something keeps clawing at me. Within the short time since I've seen this it has become one of my favorite films or 2017 along with Fighting Belle and Night Kaleidoscope. For these various reasons, to me, my rating has to go up a notch from the 3 Fingers Plus I originally gave it.

My Rating: 4 Fingers. That's 8/10 for IMDbers.

You can find out more about Hex on its Twitter and Facebook pages.

You can rent or buy Hex from Amazon Video.

New Update on the Coming Grassroots Indie Blog

There is going to be a delay in getting the new blog up and running. I have a Blogger site I originally set up to use as the blog, but complications with some features are making it more optimal for me to look into using Wordpress or another service, and thus having to use a hosting service for the blog. This will delay it at least a month or two.

One of the new features I want to add to the blog is primarily what necessitates the delay. I am presently working on my current blog to put up a presskit and resource page for a specific indie film. This gave me the idea that having such a service on the new blog would be useful.

It's not so much that reviewers are lazy, though some most definitely are, but rather having a resource page with a poster image, screencaps, summaries, productions notes, credits, contacts and social media links for cast and crew would be useful to many reviewers. Some of this stuff is available on IMDb. some of it is available on Facebook, but in one handy location, unless you specifically have a website for your film or production company, it is more often not.

Often the most time consuming part of reviewing a film is writing the review and checking your information. Sure, a reviewer can be lazy and assume the actor named Tommie is a guy and playing the male character, but I'm pretty sure SHE doesn't appreciate that. Presskits, resource pages and especially social media links help reviewers to get things right in the first place, have images to use in their reviews, have social media contacts to tag in links to reviews, but most importantly removes hurdles making it easier and therefore more likely your film will get reviews and those reviews will lack misinformation (I said 'lack' not 'be free of').

So how does this feature create a delay?

As the blog grows, having resource pages can become cumbersome in setting them up. Ideally this can be fixed by allowing filmmakers to create their own resource pages rather than having me do it. However, Blogger only allows a certain number of users to be added to a blog, I believe it is 100, and depending on how successful the blog is that can be maxed out in only a few months or less. It would be much harder to fix such a situation on the premise of 'if it happens' than to assume it will happen and fix it in the first place. This means using a different blog system, and the more economical and user friendly option is to set up my own hosting rather than trying to use Wordpress's service which is simply bloated.

*A Note on Posters

Although it is not common, some grassroots filmmakers don't have posters for their films. I have been known to make a poster for a review in such cases, and occasionally where I just didn't like their poster. The reason I do this is unless I have an attention grabbing screencap to lead the review (the first image will be grabbed by social media for display) I want to have a poster image to grab a potential reader's attention.

I am not a graphic designer, and no I'm not offering a poster service. I just use an image editor and a bit of creativity is all. Outside of my main editor, PhotoImpact (shaddup, it rules) I have been having fun with a freeware editor, Toolwiz Pretty Photo, for simple posters and adding speech bubbles to photos I have been using to torture some of you with.

Like any other program, Pretty Photo does have some bugs to get used to. For one, the more fonts you have on your system, I have over 400, will cause it to lag when trying to change fonts. Using more than one font on an image will cause it to lag more, so don't assume the program has froze up, just be patient. It also has a maximum image height and/or width of 1024 pixels, pretty much rendering it most useful for web images. You can load any size image, but if it goes above 1024 pixels in either dimension it will resize down to 1024 pixels while keeping the aspect ratio intact. Depending on your screen resolution, the full image may not show while you are editing it. Use the zoom feature below the image to zoom out to show the full image as it has a tendency to crop the image incorrectly when you save it if you don't zoom out; took me a while to figure out why it was doing that.

Now that may sound like some work with those bugs, but compared to using my main image editor it is a piece of cake and makes it real easy to do a simple poster or add cartoon captions to photos; just try to find a simpler way to add speech bubbles, and that gives you full control over size, position and text. And don't overlook using shadow and bevel when adding a title to a poster image; the shadow, in any editor, makes the text stand out rather just looking flat.

Toxic Fletch

Coming Soon to a Blog Near You for Nov & Dec 2017

I have quite a few things on a checklist for the next few months. There is no hard and fast schedule, but I'm writing things down here both as a reminder for myself and to let the one or two of you who read this blog know what to expect.

Grassroots Indie Blog

I have already posted about this, but to reiterate it is going to primarily be a directory of movie reviewers who do indie film reviews. The main function is to connect filmmakers with reviewers. I hope to add other features as it grows, but I'm trying to stay focused on the directory so no promises beyond that. My main wrestling point is in how to organize the directory to make it more convenient to search.

An additional feature I am considering strongly for a later date is a screener newsletter to give indie filmmakers an additional option to reach out to reviewers. I regularly receive emails for screeners via promoters for various independent studios' films. Well a lot of grassroots filmmakers don't have that capability as money is tight enough. I hope to be able to offer a free service that uses an emailed newsletter telling reviewers what is new among indie films and where they can access screeners, and other resources (stills, posters, trailers) if available.

Thanksgiving Horror Movies

Well, at least that's the plan. Putting together an article again for GulfCoast.stream for the month of November, so obviously it's going to be about movies for Thanksgiving. We'll just see if I have enough horror movies to make an article or if I need to make it more generic.

Soon to be Reviewed

Antihuman - A spellbinding sci-fi horror film that knits Orphan Black with the Resident Evil franchise, premieres on VOD this October from Wild Eye Releasing.

A young woman returns to the secluded, abandoned psychological research facility where her deceased mother once worked. Accompanied by three friends, she discovers that the ghosts of the past have found their way to the present when the hospital's legacy of experimentation and madness tears away all known bounds of time, memory and space.

Anya Korzun, Danielle Arden, Andrew Jardine, Katie Keight, and Kathryn Goldsmith star in a film by Luke Gietzen and Mark Robins.

Antihuman is now available on VOD from Wild Eye Releasing.

Ballerina I'm Not - Written and directed by Francesca Zappitelli, the “exhilarating” (SportStop) and “inspirational” (EEDA) Ballerina I’m Not its way to VOD this October.

An underground, underdog story of the prolific journey that women take to follow their dreams and find their way in a male dominated fight industry, Ballerina I’m Not is now available on Amazon.

Ballerina I’m Not features a who’s who of the wrestling world including Stacy Keibler, Gail Kim,  Maria Kanellis and Francesca herself.

“A great film.. that will make you stand up and cheer”, Ballerina I’m Not is available on VOD from Amazon.

Blood Harvest - Writer-director George Clarke’s latest sweat-inducing scarefest comes to U.S shores this November. 

The award-winning Blood Harvest, out of Northern Ireland, premieres on Digital 11/21 from Wild Eye Releasing. 

Robert Render, Alan M. Crawford, Jean Paul Van Der Velde, Griffin Madill, Rachael Stewart and Matt McCreary star in a George Clarke film. 

A rural village is terrorized by an evil force that drains the blood from its victims. A discredited police detective, who believes the killings are the work of vampires, must team up with his former partner to uncover the truth.

Kepler's Dream - Sean Patrick Flanery (The Boondock Saints, Powder), Kelly Lynch (“Mr.Mercedes”, Charlie’s Angels), and Holland Taylor (The Truman Show, “Two and-a-Half Men”) star in director Amy Glazer’s highly anticipated feature adaptation of the hit YA novel by Juliet Bell, in theaters and InDemand December 1st from Leomark Studios.

Eleven-year-old Ella (Isabella Blake-Thomas) is a city girl forced to spend the summer on the New Mexico ranch of her reclusive grandmother, Violet Von Stern (Holland Taylor), while Ella’s mom (Kelly Lynch) undergoes chemotherapy in another state. As she tries to cope with her grandmother’s strict rules and snooty friends, Ella longs for her mother and begs her estranged father for rescue. But Ella’s dad (Sean Patrick Flanery) has his own reasons to stay away from his childhood home. Meanwhile, Ella finds allies in fatherly ranch hand Miguel (Steven Michael Quezada) and his down-to-earth daughter, Rosie (Esperanza Fermin). But when a priceless book is stolen from Violet’s collection, Miguel is the key suspect, and Ella must find the real thief in order to save her friends. Emotional connections are reshaped, and a family that was lost finds its way. The music of Patrick Neil Doyle helps tell this unusual and heartwarming story.

Steven Michael Quezada (‘’Breaking Bad’’), Kelly Hu (X-Men 2), and Isabella Blake-Thomas (Once Upon a Time, Rise of the Guardians) co-star.

Kepler’s Dream in theaters across America and available on InDemand from December 1.

Skybound - The sky’s the limit for The Flash’s Rick Cosnett this November with Skybound, out November on VOD from SP Releasing!

Flight Plan meets Non-Stop in director Alex Tavakolis’ airborne sci-fi action-thriller that sees some of today’s hottest young stars battling more in the air than just turbulence! 

Five plane passengers are unable to land after a mysterious disaster happens on the ground, but they may be in worse danger than they thought when a stowaway is discovered on board carrying a dangerous secret.

Scarlett Byrne (the Harry Potter series), Gavin Stenhouse (“Black Mirror”) and Morten Suurballe (“The Killing”) co-star alongside Rick Cosnett (The Flash) in Skybound, repped by High Octane Pictures, out 11/7.

There will be some more films reviewed including indie short subjects but these are the ones on my definite list.

Toxic Fletch

Update on the Grassroots Indie Blog

A while ago I had proposed the idea of joining with others to start a grassroots indie film blog. Nothing was cemented at the time, just wanted to see what interest was there. Now right up front I am probably going to piss off a few people here, but I have had only a taste of what indie filmmakers already know: that trying to get the attention of movie reviewers apparently requires dynamite.

Focus has shifted on the idea of a grassroots indie film blog from trying to be a collective for reviewers to being a resource site for filmmakers. Being that movie reviewers vary widely from very responsive to review requests to complete film snobs who won't even respond to someone if it has nothing to do with a major Hollywood movie, my focus is with the former group of reviewers.

The main feature of the blog is going to be a list, directory if you will, of reviewers who are responsive and review independent films regardless who makes them or how low budget they are. Having seen some filmmakers, on social media, trying to get their films reviewed and helping out myself, it's frustrating trying to get someone's attention only to be ignored; a hundred times over.

A springboard for the list I am putting together has been actor Timothy J. Cox. He has been in a lot of indie films and knows how to promote the movies he's in. You can check out one of his films on IMDb and see anywhere from a dozen to over 50 external reviews listed for short films made on a budget of less than $5000 with actors and directors many of you have never heard of, and I'm including many movie reviewers in that 'you', as compared to some recognizable names making films on their own outside of Hollywood for a $100,000+ and having no more than a handful of external reviews.

Piggybacking on the work of Cox and some others I am putting together a list of reviewers. I am not going to publish the list until I have over a hundred reviewers on it, for the simple fact that having more reviewers available keeps them from being overloaded with review requests.

The main focus of the new blog is the reviewers list and also to eventually include other resources for grassroots indie filmmakers; those working with little or no budget and no resources for promoting their own work much outside of the internet and social media. I hope to eventually add reviews to the new blog, splitting those off from this blog as I'll use the new one for strictly grassroots indie films and this one for those that don't qualify as grassroots indie.

No, the definition, or boundaries, by what is and is not a grassroots indie film is still in the works. Comparing the film made by a recognizable actor or director for a few hundred thousand to the one made by a local filmmaker for $15,000 or less, mostly put on a credit card or borrowed, is an easy distinction. It's the dividing line of at what point one becomes the other that requires some delineation, and even that won't be written in stone so to speak.

Additionally I will be adding a new Twitter account to go with the new blog. One obvious purpose of the new Twitter account will be to have an account that focuses strictly on indie film. An additional purpose of the new account will be to have an account name that feels more comfortable to share a Tweet from than one called Sex and Blood Show. Yes, my original choice of a Twitter url for my profile page does not rank among my brightest ideas.

Toxic Fletch

Movie Review: Here Lies Joe (2016)

Here Lies Joe (2016) - USA - Drama - Not Rated (Family)

Independent Short Subject - Sweven Films - 23 Mins

Directed by Mark Battle

Written by Mark Battle and Pamela Conway

Starring Dean Temple, Andi Morrow, Timothy J. Cox, Mary Hronicek, J. P. Valenti, Kristie Stumpf Rork

A tactful approach to a sensitive subject that succeeds in flying high with feel good vibes.

Joe is another man in the walkabout of everyday life. Perhaps he is forgettable to anybody but himself, and those memories he carries with him. You see, Joe simply wants out of life, to end it, but on one day he joins a suicide support group and meets a disruptive young woman only calling herself 'Z'. This seemingly fearless woman with a swaggering pomposity gives Joe pause, not only about himself but about what Z hides beneath that facade.

Suicide is not an easy subject to approach in film, or TV for that matter. Hollywood and the networks are loaded with bad examples of tasteless portrayals of people with suicidal thoughts. One that comes starkly to mind is the short lived, thank goodness, TV show The Powers That Be in which David Hyde Pierce, pre-Frasier, played the suicidal son-in-law of a senator, to comical effect.

Though Here Lies Joe is a serious drama there is plenty of humor, but that humor is in the interaction of two people. These two might be looking for a way out, at first observation, but they just might be looking for an invitation to stay for a while.

Using a wraparound narrative, director Mark Battle begins at an advanced point in the timeline of the story and then goes back to events leading up to that point. Not events which are the cause of it, but events which put it into perspective, as well starting off with this part of the story puts the character of Joe and those few hours into perspective.

The acting in this is spot on. In the early part of the film at the suicide support meeting we are introduced to members of the group. Timothy J. Cox plays the tactful chair of the group as a man who is seemingly well balanced but does not like to have that balance tipped. Mary Hronicek is wonderful as the morose and attention seeking Carol. And of course Dean Temple plays the awkwardly polite Joe and Andi Morrow is simply a show stealer with her performance as Z.

The cinematography keeps the focus in check while blending supportive elements. One thing I want to particularly praise though, as often it is underscored until it is bad, is the excellent audio in this. I often overlook audio issues so long as I can hear the dialogue, but I just want to call out Robert Beal of BB3 Studio and Shawn McHenry for a job beautifully done. The audio on this is clear as a bell and so well balanced.

Here Lies Joe is a story that gives one something to think about in a presentation that is not only well done but is a feel good film. I can't say anything bad about it; hence my rating.

My Rating: 5 Fingers; I give it a High Five!

You can watch Here Lies Joe on Vimeo

Visit the Sweven Films official website.