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Later this year (2006), in fall most probably, the British
indie horror comedy is set to come out but the promotion campaign for that
movie has already started to gain momentum. So let's take a look at what
might be the next British cult horror ...
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What the ads say ...
Stagknight is set to be the
next cult hit British comedy/horror film.
... following in the
footsteps of Shaun of the
Dead, Stagknight boasts better kills, hotter babes,
more laughs and one of the most original horror villains ever seen. Featuring
Sandra Dickinson (Hitchhiker's Guide to the
Galaxy) and Jocelyn Osorio this
will be a project to watch! By producer/director Simon Cathcart and producer
Rob Mercer (Razor Blade
Smile).
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It has violence that few movies
can compare to, it has gratuitous sex and bad language, it has thrills,
scares and a big budget look that wouldn't be possible without the expert
direction of Simon Cathcart, who has had both acting and directing
experience, both to universal acclaim.
A rare British gem of super
violence, forget teen slayer movies, this film has been heavily influenced
by banned material from the 80’s
British comedies are back and it
begins with Stagknight ...
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Drinking and strippers !!!
Things you might find at any proper stagparty ... |
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... but will the film be able to pull off these claims ?
My guess is it might ...
The sweet and lowdown ...
In a nutshell, the film is about a stagnight going horribly wrong. A
group of guys are planning a stag party for one of their friends, that
involves paintball, strippers and a staged Black Mass. Unfortunately,
along the proceedings a knight from King Arthur's times is awakened after
centuries of sleep, and when h starts taking out people, you get the idea
that he might be a bit grumpy in the morning ...
Stagknight was the brainchild of its director Simon Cathcart [click
here to read my interview with Simon Cathcart], in his civilian
life an film acting coach who - as a director - already had the short film
Black Velvet under his belt, a documentary on the oil industry that
comes along with the tagline corruption is the last thing you need to worry about.
Simon Cathcart began writing the raw script back in 1999, consciously
choosing the horror genre as horror films in general are the most easily
saleable in the indie market (according to his own words "All
true horror fans see all horror movies, its a kinda
snobbery amongst them.") and always keeping an eye on keeping the
budget low. Soon enough, Simon realized that it would be a good idea to
add comedy to the mix, and his straight horror became something along the
lines of Predator meets Porkie's ...
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... and here's where the situation gets out of hand |
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With a finished first draft of Stagknight, Simon Cathcart approached
producer Rob Mercer [click here to
read my interview with Robert Mercer], who has previously produced
Razor Blade
Smile, an indie horror/action comedy that has turned out to be a
surprise hit back in 1998 and is still selling strongly on DVD. Rob Mercer
showed interest in the project, and the two of them sat down together to
write the finished screenplay, which pretty much meant to spice Simon
Cathcart's script up with ridiculously horrific but easy to accomplish
gore effects and making the whole thing cheap and easy to film without
making it cheap-looking ... and eventually Predator meets Porkie's became SEX…DRUGS…GUNS…AND
ONE KILLER KNIGHT OUT ...
Having Rob Mercer on board as producer might be crucial to the success
of the movie, because with Razor Blade
Smile, he has already proven how to get the most out of a very
small budget and give the project a lush look not necessarily found in (or
even expected from) indie horror ... and according to all reports, Stagknight
is going to look just as fine.
When casting the film, Simon and Rob went for unknowns, for two
reasons: for one, if you have any big names in it, you can always be sure
that they will survive the proceedings, which somehow takes the suspense
out of the film. The second reason though might be more mundane and might
have something to do with money.
The only big name in the cast is Sandra Dickinson, most
prominent probably for her role as Trillian in the BBC
production of Hitchhiker's Guide to the
Galaxy back in 1981, who in Stagknight plays the sinister owner
of the paintball shooting range who seems to have an agenda all of her own
... or has she ?
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He's prepared for war ... |
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... they ... well ... might be ... |
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... while he's beyond fighting ... |
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... and here's a sexy photo, just to end this article on a happy note. |
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The female lead of the film, 21 year old Chile-born actress Jocelyn
Osorio [click here to read my interview with
Jocelyn Osorio], might be of special interest: Not
only is she gorgeous looking, unlike most other actresses in indie horror,
she ahs actually studied acting for three years and has appeared in quite
a number of serious stageplays. Actually, she was cast for a much smaller
role nthe film, but her talents have assured her the lead before the first
day of shooting was over ...
If I may take a guess, we will hear from her again.
Shooting for Stagknight commenced in early spring 2005 in Surrey ...
maybe not the best time and location for a film that is primarily filmed
outdoors, as conditions turned out to be rather harsh, cold and dirty, but
however, Simon Cathcart did manage to finish principal shooting of his
first feature film in six weeks.
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A verdict ?
If the film is going to be good I can't say of course, but
it sure as hell does sound interesting, more interesting than pretty much
all the Hollywood shockers that have been coming out lately. Plus it's of
course nice to hear that there are still people out there producing
independent horror that goes beyond just ripping off stuff from the
1980's.
And as an added bonus, legendary electronica artist Jimi
Tenor has since been hired to do the soundtrack ! Now if that doesn't
sound promising I don't know what does ...
If this article got you interested in Stagknight,
you can also read my interviews with Robert Mercer (producer), Jocelyn Osorio (star) and Simon Cathcart (director), and you can of course also visit the film's website
http://www.stagknight.com.
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amazon.com
amazon.co.uk
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