Sean Connell at the Manhattan Monologue Slam...

Sean Connell - an acting buddy of mine who appeared in Trapped [Part 1, Part 2] (2005), Signing Off (2008), and Skinner (2009) - is currently in New York, and recently he appeared at the Manhattan Monologue Slam. You can view his monologue in the above video, and read about his experience via his blog (also linked to in the links section down there on the right).

You can also check him out in my short film from a while back, Skinner, below.

Get In There: Gary Ugarek's films...

I'm going to start a new series of posts called "Get In There" where I share things that I'm into around the interwebtubes and think you might like - first port of call...

Gary Ugarek is a buddy of mine who has produced indie zombie flicks Deadlands: The Rising and Deadlands 2: Trapped, and most recently the gangster pic All In The Game (which features members of the cast of The Wire). You'll perhaps have already read me talking about him as he's very much a champion of other indie filmmakers - indeed he very kindly supported the I Am Zombie Man short films I made a while back by showing them as supporting features during the theatrical exhibitions of the two Deadlands flicks, and included them on some of the home video releases. Furthermore Gary even helped produce some of the music for the second two IAZM shorts with Brian Wright (a fellow musician, and co-star from the first Deadlands movie).

You can purchase All In The Game through his website - www.wetnwildradio.com - and his other flicks elsewhere on the web (including Amazon), but Gary has also uploaded all three films (workprint versions of the two Deadlands movies) to YouTube. So if you're into indie cinema, then you'll do well to check out his YouTube Channel.

Deadlands 2: Trapped on Blu-Ray review...

The guys over at High-Def Digest have done a review of Gary Ugarek's indie zombie flick Deadlands 2: Trapped - and in the extra features you'll find a familiar something from DeadShed Productions.

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/2684/deadlands2.html

"I Am Zombie Man" Series (HD, 39 min) — Three short films by British filmmaker Nick Thomson of Deadshed Productions. After a brief introduction by the writer/director, viewers can enjoy the goofy faux-documentary about a very lonely zombie. It's all done for a laugh and a good time, with the third movie in the series being probably the best.

Deadlands 2 - limited edition Blu-Ray...

http://diabolikdvd.com/category/Browse-All-Titles/Deadlands-2-~-Trapped-Limited-Edition-%28Blu~Rayr-and-DVDr-Combo%29.html

Make your way over yonder if you want to snap up one of the remaining Blu-Rays for Deadlands 2: Trapped. It's a limited release done by the director, Gary Ugarek, himself.

The special features are as follows:

Region Free Blu-Ray (BD-r) and Region Free DVD-r (2 Disc Set)

1. Extended and Unrated Version of Deadlands 2: Trapped with over 2 minutes of additional never before seen footage
2. 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio
3. Director's Commentary
4. Introduction by film star Jim Krut
5. Introduction by Helena, Hussy of Horror
6. Composing Deadlands Featurette (10 Mins)
7. Weapons and Tactics Featurette (20 Minutes)
8. I am Zombie Man Short film Series - Includes I am Zombie Man 1, 2, & 3 w/ intro by UK writer/director Nick Thomson (35 Minutes)
9. Deadlands: The Rising - Work Print w/ Alternate and original ending (73 Minutes)
10. Trailers (4 Deadlands 2: Trapped trailers, 1 Deadlands: The Rising Trailer) (12 Minutes)
11. DEADLANDS: The Rising DVD-r (A DVD-R of the ORIGINAL and NOW out of print DVD release for Deadlands 1, now you get both versions of Deadlands 1)

Since each disc is manufactured, and printed by the director himself quantities of this 2 DISC SET will be limited.FUTURE RELEASE OF DEADLANDS 2 BLU-RAY will have different special features, so this is a COLLECTOR'S ITEM

Price: $29.99

"Deadlands 2: Trapped" coming to Blu-Ray...

http://fangoria.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1588%3Azombie-flick-deadlands-2-attacks-dvd-and-blu-ray&catid=1%3Alatest-news&Itemid=167

And here's the extra features list:

• Audio commentary by Ugarek

• “Weapons and Tactics” featurette

• “Indie Film School” featurette

• Introduction by star Jim Krut

• Introduction by Helena, Hussy of Horror

• Soundtrack excerpts

• Trailers

The Blu-ray will include all these, plus:

• I AM ZOMBIE MAN short film series with intro by UK filmmaker Nick Thomson

• DEADLANDS: THE RISING work print with alternate ending

• Additional exclusive trailers

...

Yes indeedy, kick arse! Gary has always been very helpful to, and supportive of, properly-indie filmmakers, and has been a fan of the I Am Zombie Man shorts since the first one in 2006. Two thumbs up to Gary!

Deadlands 2: Trapped - Official DVD Review...

In 2006 a low budget indie zombie flick called Deadlands: The Rising was released. Originally intended to be a short, it expanded into a feature length home made undead action flick seated stylistically somewhere between Demons and Return of the Living Dead.

Put together over a long period of time, the film showed what could be accomplished with $10,000, a community spirit, and a stubborn determination. The lessons of feature independent filmmaking are written large across all aspects of Deadlands: The Rising (both positive and negative), and consequentially the 2008 follow-up Deadlands 2: Trapped, confidently brandishes the fact that lessons have been learned throughout its 85 minute running time.

The DVD cover art.

Taking place on the night that a new nerve gas is to be tested upon an unsuspecting Maryland city population, Deadlands 2 is clearly a product of the George W. Bush era when controversy, tribalism and distrust in your own government seeped into the American public’s psyche like never before.

Pushed by a soulless, dead-hearted project leader Dr. Robert Mitchell (played by Jim Krut, aka the helicopter zombie from Dawn of the Dead), any in-house dissent is quelled as the intended effects of the nerve gas are soon felt amongst the target populace. Unwittingly about to be caught up in a tragic disaster, Ugarek (editor/writer/director) takes his time to establish his protagonists, who are all played proficiently by a young cast, with Joseph D. Durbin (Sean) giving a particularly strong and believable performance.

Joseph D. Durbin's Sean receives a bad call.

Before they know it, six strangers find themselves trapped within a local movie theatre, surrounded by an army of zombies and with few options for rescue or escape, as one of them slowly suffers the effects of a bite from one of these … experiments.

The zombies in Ugarek’s undead action flick are different from the traditional Romero breed. For a start, these are runners, but not only that, they’re smart runners capable of working together to lay primitive traps and launch attacks on the living. Undeniably, the runner is a controversial figure in the zombie sub-genre – 28 Days/Weeks Later never featured zombies (rather infected humans), and the glossy-but-shallow Dawn of the Dead remake threw out subtle, creeping shamblers for the blunt-force trauma of sprinters – but Deadlands 2 stands above the negative connotations of this updated horror antagonist.

The gore - punchy and violent.

This flick has more going for it than running zombies; indeed the zombie action isn’t the primary focus of the script, instead it’s the characters and plot. Deadlands 2 is also an independent film, and similar to its predecessor, the sense of community spirit shines throughout. What’s more, on a budget of merely $6,000, Ugarek has done the hardest thing of all – make a good indie movie with a bigger scope (certainly bigger than normal indie fare) on less money than the original film.

The stuff of kid's nightmares alright.

All aspects of the filmmaking process – acting, writing, directing, shooting, editing, the lot – have come on leaps and bounds from the rough-edged learning curve of Deadlands: The Rising (also available on DVD). Looking, feeling and sounding a damn sight better than what you’d usually see in an indie flick; it’s clear that Deadlands 2, with its ‘deep shadows & brilliant highlights’ visuals, has been crafted with intelligence and endurance. What’s more the film is even prefaced by a short introduction from Helena: The Hussy of Horror, an internet horror hostess (www.hussyofhorror.com).

Helena: The Hussy of Horror

Compared to the work print (which I saw some time ago now), this final version of the film has a sure and more consistent pace, as well as a real sense of urgency and action whenever a shot of adrenaline is injected into the heart of the plot. What we are presented with is a kick arse zombie flick, with a truly independent spirit, and something a bit deeper going on inside its head. Zombie fans, indie film fans, and horror fans in general should really check this movie out – it’s an impressive step up in all respects.

Jim Krut revels in being this movie's evil bastard.

Finally – the DVD package itself – available to buy from Anthem Pictures (www.anthemdvd.com/store), you will be treated to an informative and revealing set of interviews with the director (who also provides a commentary track) and cast, as well as a look inside the scoring process, and how to put together a convincing on-screen military presence with an extremely low budget.

Watch the official trailer on YouTube.

Central Cast:
Dr. Robert Mitchell (Jim Krut)
Sean (Joseph D. Durbin)
Chris (Christopher L. Clark)
Jack (Josh Davidson)
Casey (Ashley Young)
Shelly (Corrine Brush)

Cinematography:
Krystian Ramlogan

Editing:
Gary Ugarek

Music:
Brian Wright
Gary Ugarek
Marq-Paul LaRose

Producers:
Gary Ugarek
Chris Kiros
Elias Dancey

Writer/Director:
Gary Ugarek

Deadlands 2: Trapped - limited edition HD-DVD release!

Now, I made mention of something cool and different that I got up to recently in a post a while back, and now that the special features list has been officially posted, I can reveal what that something cool and different was...

Gary Ugarek (the writer & director of the Deadlands movies) asked me if I wanted to record a fan commentary for the Work Print version of Deadlands 2. I said yeah, and roped in a couple of mates to chip in - Gareth "I Am Zombie Man" Knox, and Sean "Signing Off"/"Skinner" Connell. The commentary will be appearing on the limited edition HD-DVD version of the movie - Gary, being a big fan of the HD-DVD format (which lost-out to Blu-Ray last year) wanted to provide something for the fans of the format (there's still something like over a million HD-DVD players in North America so I've been told) - and here it is.

You can pre order your copy of the limited edition of the HD-DVD format disc via this link (only 200 copies left out of 500 last time I heard)
http://anthemdvd.com/store/products/DeadLands-2%3A-Trapped-HD-DVD-collectable.html


The Special Features are as follows:

1920x1080 Versions of both the work print and the unrated cut
Director introductions for both versions
2.35:1 Aspect Ratio
Indie FIlmmaking Documentary (28 Minutes)
Another Discussion about Indie Filmaking (20 Minutes)
A Discussion about Zombie Films (22 Minutes)
90 Minute interview with me (90 Minutes)
Weapons and Tactics (20 Minutes)
Composing Deadlands 1 & 2 (10 Minutes)
Cast & Crew Interviews (9 Minutes)
all 3 Trailers (Total time 7 Minutes)
Directors Commentary (EXTENDED UNRATED EDITION - Brand new commentary for HD DVD Version)
Commentary with British filmmaker Nick Thomson (Work Print Version of film)
5.1 Dolby Digital Audio UNRATED and WORK PRINT EDITIONS
2.0 PCM Lossless Audio (WORK PRINT and UNRATED Editions)

Also of note, The Helena Hussy of Horror introductions will now be separated from the film. you the viewer can choose whether or not to view the intros before watching the film.

So there you have it, that was the cool and different thing I alluded to a couple of weeks ago.

It was fun to do, and we all enjoyed recording the commentary ... we ramble off into various tangents, but always hook back over to the film itself, express our thoughts about zombies movies, running zombies vs shamblers, what our ideal zombie movies would contain, and various other topics - plus, explaining exactly who on earth we are and why we're appearing on the DVD in the form of a fan commentary for the Work Print version.

Trapped (2005)...

This was my first zombie short and I sought to improve upon the previous year’s “my NIGHTMARE” in all respects, and I would say I succeeded with “Trapped”. I experimented with creating my own music (even though I’m not musically gifted – hence why I now use music by friends of mine, and royalty free stuff), produced a more focussed looking film, and a tighter edit. Again, it’s another one of my fond memories – my mates and I out and about causing havoc filming zombies in the woods (and my garage).


You can watch Trapped (split into two parts) here:

Deadlands 2: Trapped...

Well here we are, after the rather bloody successful Deadlands: The Rising (a true case of indie spirit - a bunch of mates get together, learn as they go, and put out a cheap-but-full-of-scope slice of zombie mayhem). So great stuff indeed ... even if the zeds do run (I'm firmly in the 'shambler camp' - that said however, Deadlands and recently Dead Set are my exceptions).

I remember describing the original Deadlands, at one point, as a "technical lava lamp" ... I think what I was meaning by that (whilst also day-dreaming of pulling out my own lava lamp from the cupboard), is that Deadlands was a melting pot of attention-grabbing, learn-as-you-go, full-on indie spirit.

Deadlands 2: Trapped is similar in its success - only this time everything is ratcheted up several notches, displaying in abundance Writer/Director (and a few other titles) Gary Ugarek's dedication to improving on his craft as a filmmaker. Not to say Deadlands: The Rising was bad (I've been a staunch pro-ponent of the flick), but Deadlands 2 is leaps and bounds beyond it.

The cinematography and editing are two distinctly immediate slabs of improvement served up to your eyes. The pace is tight throughout, the coverage is more organised, and the camerawork itself - again, nothing but improvement. At times, the 24-like quiver amplifies the power of the more violent scenes, helping to sell a genuine sense of "oh fuck!" when the zeds storm a military checkpoint for example, or capturing a war of words among our cinema-dwelling protagonists.

Plot wise, it goes like this - some rather unsavory government types are up to no good with a secret biological test, which as any good zombie flick hound knows doesn't go too well ... or does it? Caught in the middle however, are your average and everyday middle-Americans either working the register at the Hagerstown 10 cinema, or out for a night of bar-hopping.

The characters are fleshed out fully in the first act, and are performed well - especially for an indie production. Obviously, you're not going to find Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino burning up the screen over a cup of coffee, but anyone expecting such things from the indie scene simply don't understand the scene. That said, even the non-professional turns dotted here and there stand up against other similarly grounded flicks - but its the central performances that shine. Jim "helicopter zombie" Krut brings the suit-and-tie-menace in gleeful abundance as the diabolical biological project leader, and Durbin, Davidson, Clark, Young and Brush all push their respective boats out.

Excuse my inability with connecting names to faces, but 'dude with the cap' and 'chick with all the ear-rings' were absolutely superb, they grasped the intensity of the situation at hand, the over all "we're fucked" nature of proceedings and delivered performances that punch above the usual indie belt. I'll be honest, I got a few chills up and down my spine during the more explosive scenes.

One of the things that most excites me about Deadlands (the original, and now this sequel), is that sensation of people at the start of their careers (be it in front of, or behind the cameras). This is certainly no truer than the case of the young lads behind Spaghetti Industries - these guys serve up some fantastic, blood-soaked moments of gore.

Finally - scale - there's a boat-load of the stuff, and considering the budget (even lower than Deadlands, which wasn't exactly surfing on the budget of Heaven's Gate) it's incredible to see so much on offer, again leading Deadlands 2: Trapped to punch above the usual indie belt - especially on such a small budget (just to hammer the point home).

Any bad? To be honest there's not much point focussing on any minor, fleeting issues all that much. The political stance of the film (during certain scenes) occasionally strays into blunt-force territory, some dialogue doesn't quite roll off the tongue, and (as a filmmaker myself, at the relative start of my career admittedly) I noticed a few editing issues here and there that I would have tweaked or perhaps done slightly different - but that last point shouldn't bother the vast majority, that's just the filmmaker inside me talking.

What's that pedantic filmmaker amidst my juicy viscera saying? The odd audio issue (e.g. quiet car journeys, the occasional scream bursting forth a bit too loudly, the odd moments of the audio mix being a bit out-of-synch or levelled inconsistently) - the occasional edit issue (e.g. the odd shot appearing grey in comparison to the gloriously deep blacks throughout, and the final moment - which I'd have edited slightly differently...but then again, Gary isn't me and I'm not Gary, so that's purely personal editing choices & styles).

But as previously stated, said issues are piffling in the face of a properly successful, and properly indie-spirited venture - roll on Deadlands 3!

8/10

Deadly anticipation...

*sigh* you'd have thought having GTA IV pre-ordered for over a year would have entitled me to have it arrive at least on launch day from the online retailer ... but no ... lame.

I could have gone to town this morning and gotten one at the local Woolies, but of course my money was already taken as it was posted yesterday morning ... so I continue to wait ... tomorrow (Wednesday) is possible, but who knows, a big dollop of lame could spoil my day and make me wait yet another 24 hours to gawp in utter awe at the gaming event of the year ... now yes, there are famines and all sorts of nasty things in the world that actually matter ... but I'm not talking about GTA IV in the global realm, but rather exclusively in the realms of entertainment ... this much anticipation is insane, and having to wait longer and longer is of course - annoying.

Still though, when it gets here ... awesomeness will be had.

...

Anyway, onto other things - speaking of anticipation, I'm proper looking forward to checking out Gary Ugarek's Deadlands 2: Trapped. He sent me a short zombie clip from it and bloody nora does it look awesome - for those not in the know, it was on the DVD of Deadlands #1 that I Am Zombie Man appeared, it even appeared (along with IAZM2) at the theatrical run at the Hagerstown 10 cinema (where DL2: Trapped was shot), so we tend to share clips of what we're up to back and forth, teasing each other with little snippets of entertainment anticipation.

Good stuff indeed.

...

Onto another thing, I was off out filming today for this not-for-profit campaign film that Joe Jenkins is doing. I'm shooting and editing it, and it'll end up being something like 10 minutes and will be shown in his local parish, or ward, or whatever you call your local area/village in rural communities. Not sure of a title yet, but that as well as other info regarding will be posted as-and-when-appropriate.

...

One more thing - VHS-2: Long Play is currently being edited, even though I've got a bit more filming to do for it ... I've done some rough editing (cutting down the footage basically for the more choice cuts), and next up I'll be doing the colouring via the superb Magic Bullet - after that the proper editing will be done, and of course, as soon as it's up on YouTube I'll pimp it about.

Oh yeah, on my YouTube page I recently posted a short, random 'behind the scenes' sort-of video for VHS-2, so check that out if you will ... it's rough-as-old-boots, just a bunch of clips really, but well it might be of interest to those wanting to check out the film itself as-and-when.