GUILLERMO DEL TORO NYC BOOK SIGNING: "THE STRAIN"

Dear LATIN HORRORphiles,

Guillermo Del Toro (Pans Labyrinth, Hell Boy 1 & 2, Blade 2) will make a rare public New York City appearance to promote his first novel THE STRAIN, part one of three books in the serialized vampire trilogy. I'm 3/4 through the novel and haven't been able to put it down! AND, my wife, who abhors horror in general, read it before even allowing me to begin my read and review. So that should say something about the quality of the book.

I will be there to have my advance review copy signed by the master [look out for our review shortly]. Del Toro is one of the prime reasons I started LATIN HORROR. If you love horror, and your schedule permits, come out to support one of the most creative members of our industry - and certainly the current king of the genre of Latin horror. Hope to see you there.

He will make two appearances --

June 4 at 7 PM

BARNES & NOBLE

33 East 17th Street

New York, NY 10003

212-253-0810

June 4 at midnight

BARNES & NOBLE

267 7th Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11215

718-832-9066

There will be SANGRE!

Edwin Pagan

Founder-In-Chief

LATIN HORROR

THE STRAIN - Guillermo Del Toro's First Horror Novel

Dear LATIN HORRORphiles:

"They have always been here. Vampires. In secret and in darkness. Waiting. Now their time has come.

In one week, Manhattan will be gone. In one month, the country.

In two months—the world."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In exactly one week from today, the vampire genre is set to be changed as the first novel from one of our most creative writer/directors' first novel hits bookstores everywhere. GUILLERMO DEL TORO's "THE STRAIN" is a vampire trilogy that kicks off in New York City and spreads around the world and promises to inject the genre with new blood (pun intended!). Watch a short trailer at --

http://www.youtube.com/deltorotube

Thanks to the lovely & talented Jovanka Vuckovic (editor of Rue Morgue) for bringing this gem to my attention. LATIN HORROR will review the book shortly.

The interactive website for the book has just launched. Make sure to enter the Harper Collins prize giveaway. The Grand Prize winner will receive a DVD player, a DVD library of Guillermo Del Toro movies, a signed first edition of The Strain, and an advance readers copy of the second book in the trilogy, The Fall, as soon as it is available. Five (5) runners-up will receive a signed first edition of The Strain.

www.thestraintrilogy.com

Join the Facebook group at --

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Strain-Trilogy/76000914502

On Myspace --

http://www.myspace.com/471723480

On Twitter --

http://twitter.com/thestrain

FREE Ticket to Tribeca Film Fest Screening of HYSTERICAL PSYCHO

Dear LATINHORRORphiles:

I got a pair of tickets for tonight's midnight screening of Dan Fogler 's new horror film, HYSTERICAL PSYCHO (Tribeca Film Festival) from my friends at FANGORIA Magazine. I am looking for a true horror fan to join me as my guest to the screening. The first horrorphile to reach back out to me, and confirm he/she can attend, will score the second ticket to the screening.

More about HYSTERICAL PSYCHO here --

http://www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide/Hysterical_Psycho.html

Please reply back to this message with your email address and/or cell phone and I will contact the lucky winner with all relevant details. The winner will also get a complimentary entree into our next HORRORphlies #3 screening (DTB).

There will be SANGRE!

Edwin Pagan

LATIN HORROR
http://www.latinhorror.com/
"Scaring Up A Revolution"

ZOE SALDANA MAKES THEM BELIEVE IN "THE SKEPTIC"

By Edwin Pagán, for LATIN HORROR

Seems like 2009 is the year when our marketable Latina actresses are taking the plunge into the darker side of the industry's genre landscape. First we mentioned here [http://tinyurl.com/cs4set] that Salma Hayek is riding a leading role in Paul Weitz' CIRQUE DU FREAK as the bearded lady of sideshow fame, now another venerable talent, Zoe Saldana (VANTAGE POINT, THE TERMINAL, PREMIUM, GUESS WHO), is set to hone her cognitive powers in the haunted-house thriller, THE SKEPTIC, which was written/helmed by Tennyson Bardwell (DORIAN BLUES) and hits theater in a limited run on May 1st at the IFC Center in New York and elsewhere. The film also stars Tim Daly, Tom Arnold, Andrea Roth, Edward Herrmann, Robert Prosky and Bruce Altman. The project marks Bardwell's second feature outing.

The suspense thriller follows a skeptical lawyer (Daly) who moves into a haunted mansion after the unexplained death of his aunt seeking to gain an inheritance and soon begins to experience supernatural incidents that increasingly become more terrifying and can no longer be ignored. Daly's character turns to a local coy medium, played by Saldana, who takes him on a journey to discover the long-hidden unspeakable truth that threatens to destroy him.

View the trailer here --

http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/the-skeptic/trailer

The New York-based actress who hails from the Dominican stronghold of Washington Heights, has had a meteoric career starting with stints on LAW & ORDER and leading to a breakout role in CROSSROADS (2002) as Britney Spears' BFF. She later went on to star in DRUMLINE, CONSTELLATION, DIRTY DEEDS, and PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL, among others. In 2009, her calendar is full with such top shelf projects as the highly-anticipated J.J. Abrams' blockbuster, STAR TREK, in the role of the beloved communications officer UHURA, and in James Cameron's next experiment, AVATAR. She is also on deck with s slew of pending ptojects such as Christopher B. Landon's BURNING PALMS, and Neil LaBute's DEATH AT THE FUNERAL.

The acquisition and release of the THE SKEPTIC also marks a recent trend at IFC to explore inroads into the highly lucrative horror genre. IFC also recently acquired the Latin horror gem, DARK MIRROR [http://tinyurl.com/dm8dk7], that is set to have its broadcast premiere on May 6th. The development looks promising for horror-handed filmmakers looking for alternative venues outside Lions Gate. The film opens May 1st at New York City’s IFC Center, on May 8th at Spectrum 8 Theatres in Albany (NY), and May 15th at Los Angeles’ Laemmle Music Hall 3. The film will also have a three-month run on the network's 'In Theaters' video-on-demand platform.

DARK MIRROR ACQUIRED BY IFC FILMS / PREMIERES MAY 6TH

Pablo Proenza and Erin Ploss-Campoamor of Cut Glass Productions have sold their film DARK MIRROR, a feature length supernatural thriller, to IFC Films, which has scheduled a May 6th date for its release on "Movies on Demand" as part of "IFC in Theaters" service. The film stars Lisa Vidal, David Chisum, Christine Lakin and Lupe Ontiveros. Variety said of the film: "tour-de-force performance," "excellent!," "a spin on the genre."

Watch the trailer at -- http://www.vimeo.com/4113686

With a broadcast premiere of May 6th approaching the husband and wife creative team are fanning out next week to bring added fanbase attention to the project. Pablo will be participating on a panel about the film at Fangoria's Weekend Of Horrors (http://tinyurl.com/cg7mjp) at the LA Convention Center, while Erin presses the flesh at the National Association of Latino Independent Producer's (NALIP) 10th anniversary conference (http://www.nalip.org/conference10), taking place at the Island Hotel in Newport Beach.

DARK MIRROR can be ordered starting May 6th from IFC Festival Direct, which will be available nationwide for 90 days on most major cable systems and reach about 30 million households! Not too shabby.

LATIN HORROR will provide a full review of DARK MIRROR in our May/June issue. And look for an interview with Erin Ploss-Campoamor in our forthcoming essay LADIES OF THE NIGHT, where LATIN HORROR profiles Latinas working within the genre of horror, which will also profile Shawna Baca and Monica Winter Vigil.

ABOUT THE FILM

Dark Mirror is a supernatural thriller about a beautiful Latina photographer named Deborah. When she and her family move into a strange old house, her happy life is turned upside down. First, Deborah sees things – horrible visions, a hooded stalker -- that make her increasingly paranoid and housebound. She changes from confident professional woman into obsessed housewife. She even becomes frightened of her own camera. Every time she takes pictures of people, they disappear. One day, in a fit of anger, Deborah decides to use this power against someone; she photographs her sexy neighbor flirting with her husband. And it works! Her neighbor disappears. But Deborah realizes to her horror... she’s also taken pictures of her own husband and son.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

Director, Pablo Proenza

Critically acclaimed filmmaker Pablo Proenza has been receiving rave reviews for his work ever since his break-out film, a short called ViDi, was screened at festivals around the world. (“Superbly accomplished. A masterpiece.” - Peter Keough, Boston Phoenix.) A passionate cinephile from an early age, Pablo was given his first camera at the age of eight. Since then, he has worked in all aspects of film production: writing, directing, producing, shooting and editing. The son of Cuban-American immigrants (an economist for the United Nations and a gifted ceramicist), Pablo had an international upbringing (Washington, D.C.; San Jose, Costa Rica; Rome, Italy; Miami, Fl). Dark Mirror is Pablo’s first feature film. Premiering in NY to a rave review from Variety comparing it to Repulsion and The Others and praising its “spooky" and "fascinat[ing]… spin on the genre.” (Ronnie Scheib, Variety).

Producer, Erin Ploss-Campoamor

Born in Canada to American parents, award-winning filmmaker Erin Ploss-Campoamor was raised all over North America, while learning to speak three languages (English, Spanish, and French). Over the years, she has written, directed, and produced several short films, including April in the Morning (recipient $25,000 Jacob K. Javits Fellowship; nominated Eastman Kodak Award), The Good Egg (winner Platinum Award & Best of Festival) and the semi-autobiographical La Americanita, inspired by the years she spent living with her stepfather’s Cuban-American family in Miami, FL (winner, two Best Short Film awards; semifinalist Angelus Film Award). Erin also produced Pablo Proenza’s debut feature film, Dark Mirror, which received a rave review for its star’s “tour-de-force performance” and was compared to some of Bergman, Amenábar and Polanski's best work.

ABOUT THE DISTRIBUTOR

A leading theatrical film distribution company launched in 2000, IFC Films brings the best of independent and specialized films to theaters near you. Independent film audiences nationwide recognize the IFC brand, which has rapidly become synonymous with first-rate product, aggressive and strategic release campaigns, utilization of brand cross promotions and artistic integrity. IFC is dedicated to realizing the visions of independent filmmakers without compromise and is a dedicated ground for nurturing these visions. IFC Films releases 10-12 films per year, building a slate of titles from an acquisitions program and selected in-house productions.

IFC Films releases include My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Casa de los Babys and Lost in La Mancha.. For more information, visit http://www.ifcfilms.com/.

RESOURCES:

Official website: http://www.darkmirrormovie.com/

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dark-Mirror/49243290681

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/darkmirrormovie

1st Annual MIEDO: Latin Horror Film Competition

Dear LATIN HORRORphiles:

This fall LATIN HORROR will produce the work of an emerging writer/director or writer/director team as part of its 1st Annual MIEDO: Latin Horror Film Competition, a juried competition looking to discover the next emerging Latin horror auteur. The official for call for scripts (10-15 pages in length), and related guidelines, will begin circulation May 1, 2009. Look for complete details soon.

There will be SANGRE!

- LATIN HORROR Team

ONLY "LET THE RIGHT ONE IN"

By Edwin Pagán, for LATIN HORROR

Last September Hammer and Overture Films announced they had tapped CLOVERFIELD director Matt Reeves to helm a remake of the critically-acclaimed Swedish vampire film, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN. The news sent chills up the spine of fans of the film (and genre) and even elicited a few choice words from the director of the original, Thomas Alfredson:

"Why can’t they just read the subtitles?" [MovieZine.se]

Any takers to that solid question?

John Ajvide Lindqvist, who wrote the novel on which the film is based, and wrote the script for the Swedish production, also opined:

"Tomas’ film is the definitive film, it is, I can’t imagine how anything would be better." [AICN]

I'm personally in complete agreement with Alfredson and Lindqvist on the matter of remakes of foreign films, especially when the original is of such high grade that it almost negates a re-imaging by its very nature. BUT, in all fairness, and to begin another point of discussion that is seldom pointed out, like the 800-pound gorilla in the room: Why complain after you have sold off the rights and deposited the check(s)? There obviously was another choice in direct line with their convictions:

"Thanks for the generous offer, sirs, but NO thank you."

If the undercurrent for this article is not entirely apparent, it is this - The trend of remaking hit foreign horror films began with the success of the Japanese brand [JU-ON begat THE GRUDGE, RNGU begat THE RING, JIAN GUI begat THE EYE, etc.]. The plague has now moved east and touched this Swedish gem. Soon, I dread, it may carry over to Latin/Spanish horror as the genre continues to gain traction and directors with a steady hand turn out true works of suspenseful horrific wonder. And I think to myself: What would a remake of Guillermo Del Toro PAN'S LABYRINTH be like? Or Juan Antonio Bayona's THE ORPHANAGE? I come short of hurling at the mere prospect. In 2007, New Line toyed with the idea of redoing Bayona's tone-perfect Spanish ghost story, but that seems to have evaporated into the ether (yes, there is a Goddess). Or maybe the mini-major is simply taking a prudent 'let's-wait-and-see' stance.

LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, some say, may go into production as soon as May from a script by Reeves himself. But Overture more recently contradicted those claims as ungrounded and pointed to the fact that a May start date would not be logistically savvy since the bulk of the story takes place in winter. J.J. Abrams scored a huge victory with his savvy word-of-mouth viral campaign for CLOVERFIELD, and is known to keep details about pending projects close to the chest. So it stands to reason that they would attempt to cast as much confusion onto the fan stage as possible since its worked in their favor in the past. SO to him, I only have two phrases: Sound stage / CGI (to whom he is no stranger and which will play a big role if he navigates the production -- did I mention the queazy feeling of needing to blow chunks?).

So the next time they come knocking, the answer can be as simple as ONLY letting the right one in. OR, not opening the door at all. After all, the door DOES swing both ways.

The remake -- LET ME IN (the name of Lindqvist's original novel) -- is scheduled for a January 15th release.