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Fans of actor Bill Paxton — and we are legion — likely know that he made his directorial debut in 1980, helming the music video for Barnes & Barnes' immortal classic "Fish Heads." The video, made on a very, very low budget, featured Paxton as a buyer and enthusiast of the titular ichthyoid crania, shown throwing them a birthday party and generally enjoying their company. The video also featured a cameo from Dr. Demento, the famed Los Angeles DJ responsible for proliferating hundreds of well-known novelty hits, and for bringing "Weird Al" Yankovic to the world's attention. Paxton was a weird, wonderful man who ran on the fringes. The fact that he became a well-known mainstream star is kind of wild.

Paxton, of course, began appearing in feature films in the late 1970s and early 1980s, starring in notable genre films like "Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker" and "Mortuary." Many likely first noticed him in...

A new episode of our Best Horror Party Movies video series has just been released, and with this one we’re looking back at director James Wan’s 2007 revenge thriller Death Sentence (watch it Here). Now, you may be wondering, “How can this be a party movie when it’s incredibly depressing?” Well, to find out how we party to this movie, check out the video embedded above!

Directed by James Wan from a screenplay by Ian Mackenzie Jeffers that was based on a novel by Death Wish author Brian Garfield, Death Sentence has the following synopsis: Nick Hume is on his way home from a hockey game with his son, Brendan, and stops for gasoline. Helplessly he sees a street thug kill Brendan while robbing the station. Believing the justice system will fail him, Nick goes after the killer himself, setting off a war between him and the killer’s older brother.

There’s a lot of awful horror movie dads that come to mind around Father’s Day every year. Everett McGill’s “Man” from The People Under the Stairs or Jack Nicholson’s Jack Torrance from The Shining, for example. There’s also good horror movie dads like John Krasinski in A Quiet Place or Thomas Jane in The Mist (okay, he’s maybe a bit impatient in the end). But the duality of Bill Paxton’s “Dad” from 2002’s Frailty is quite the jagged little pill to swallow.

In the film, Paxton plays a widowed father to two young boys in a small town in Texas in 1979. He initially seems like a decent man and good father who goes to work everyday and comes home to have dinner and spend time with his kids. That is, of course, right up until he wakes them up one night to let...

No Troma remake should attempt to match Troma at its revolting, boundary-demolishing, trigger-happy game. Take 1980’s Mother’s Day, for example. Troma Entertainment ringleader Lloyd Kaufman let his brother Charles Kaufman shoot a rape-revenge exploitation sleazefest no mamma would applaud. Darren Lynn Bousman’s 2010 remake abandons Tromaville signatures almost entirely for a mean-mugging reinterpretation rooted in more straightforward thriller formulas because few indie studios are willing to push as far as Troma — especially in today’s acutely more socially attentive climate. You could get away with Mother’s Day (1980) in the 80s, especially with its cereal bowls filled with consumerism commentaries, but even today’s midnighter-loving moviegoer is looking for something more evolved.

Then again, Troma’s catalog might be the most fertile soil for remakes, given how even midrange studio pocket change would be a budgetary increase. Troma Studios has earned its legacy as an independent horror tentpole, but...

We’ve all seen the hackneyed, poorly CG-ed, primetime Asylum special on Syfy version of Stung too many times before. Director Benni Diez, every producer, and each department head go the extra mile to avoid such a fate for their 80s throwback creature feature. That’s what’s so endearing about a 2015 “When Insects Attack” flick with gigantic ideas and the right approach, rooted in buzzworthy practical effects. Stung would play gangbusters along with other abominations of nature like Zombeavers or Eight Legged Freaks (for different reasons), also classics like Them! or Mosquito, and deserves reappraisal for standing out from the swarm.

Screenwriter Adam Aresty hatched the idea while working on an actual catering gig with a wasp problem, which he morphed into the gonzo invasion that takes place. Julia (Jessica Cook) runs a catering company hired for an annual New York garden party hosted by newly widowed Mrs. Perch...

Mark Rosman‘s The House on Sorority Row (1982) and Stewart Hendler‘s Sorority Row (2009) feel shoved aside in their respective horror classes. Titles like Pieces, Black Christmas, and The Dorm That Dripped Blood get more frequent mentions when discussing pre-90s sorority or dormitory slashers. Remake debates rarely include Sorority Row in their reassessments of unfairly stigmatized 2000s horror revamps based on nostalgia biases (among other reasons). It’s interesting how both seem equally less popular despite their amassed cult followings after meager box office openings.

It’s almost like Hendler attempted to shake the original’s mojo by deeming Sorority Row an adaptation of Rosman’s screenplay Seven Sisters — the earlier iteration of what would become The House on Sorority Row. Don’t mind the trickiness because Josh Stolberg and Pete Goldfinger write their re-imagining indebted to The House on Sorority Row. Maybe late-2000s remake fatigue led to...

Netflix has closed a deal with Skydance to produce a reimagining of the Spy Kids franchise, alongside Spyglass Media, LLC and filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, who created the film series and directed all past installments.

The next film in the franchise, introducing the world to a new family of spies, will also be written and directed by Rodriguez. It will mark his second family film for Netflix, on the heels of the 2020 actioner We Can Be Heroes. David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Don Granger will produce for Skydance, which is overseeing development and production, with Elizabeth Avellan and Racer Max also producing. Gary Barber and Peter Oillataguerre will executive produce for Spyglass, which owns the Spy Kids franchise.

Rodriguez’s original Spy Kids film, centered on kids saving their spy parents from an evil, high-tech enemy, was released 21 years ago today, with sequels Spy Kids 2: The Island Of Lost Dreams...

Hey, "Agents Of Shield" fans. We hope you guys enjoyed tonight's episode 8. Now that it's officially over and done with, it's time to take a look at what the next, new episode 9 will look like. Thanks to the wonderful folks over at ABC, we have a very, very tiny idea of what episode 9 will feature via their press release. So, that's what we'll be referencing for this spoiler session. As usual, we will start things off with the title reveal. Episode 9 is officially labeled, "Collision Course Part 2." That's right, guys. This is part 2 of tonight's episode 8 that is aptly titled, "Collision Course Part 1." It featured evil Coulson aka Sarge taking over the leadership role for the Shield crew since he's the only one that knows what to do about that freak alien beast that can literally wipe out planets. As most of you can imagine, episode 9 will basically just be...

Hey, "Agents Of Shield" fans. We hope you guys enjoyed tonight's episode 7. Now that it's wrapped up and in the history books, it's time to take a look at what's about to go down in the next, new episode 8. Thanks to ABC's latest press release for episode 8, we have a few teaser descriptions to share with you guys. To get things started, we're going to take a look at the title for episode 8. It's called,"Collision Course Part 1." That means this will indeed be the first part of a two-part episode. It sounds like episode 8 will feature some pretty intense, action-filled and pretty interesting scenes as the Shield Crew tries to battle a hate beast. Something strange happens with Izel's crew and more. We'll go ahead and start this spoiler session off with the hate beast situation. It turns out that the Shield team will find themselves very busy,...

Hey,"Agents Of Shield" fans. We hope you guys enjoyed episode 3. Now that it's officially in the history books, it's time to take a look at what's about to go down in the next,new episode 4 which is due to air this Friday night, May 31, 2019. ABC was kind enough to serve up a press release for it. So, that's what we'll be using for this spoiler session. To get things started, ABC's press release revealed that episode 4 is entitled, "Code Yellow." The Co-Creator and executive producer for this show Maurissa Tancharoen is actually going to show up as a guest star in this episode. It sounds like episode 4 will feature some very interesting and quite serious scenes as Yo-Yo and Keller finally decide to go public with their fling. The human race gets threatened and more. We'll go ahead and start off this spoiler session with the Yo-Yo and Keller situation.

"This is starting to freak me out... None of this makes any sense." Screen Media Films has unveiled a trailer for a mysterious low-key sci-fi titled Bokeh, starring Maika Monroe (from It Follows, ID: Resurgence) & Matt O'Leary (from Live Free or Die Hard, The Lone Ranger) as a young couple on a trip to Iceland. After exploring around, they wake up one morning to discover that everyone is gone. They attempt to figure out what happened and start wondering if they're the only ones for a reason. The cast includes Arnar Jónsson and Gunnar Helgason. This looks pretty cool, I'm always intrigued by sci-fi like this. Have to check it out. Here's the first trailer for Geoffrey Orthwein & Andrew Sullivan's Bokeh, originally from Yahoo: On a romantic getaway to Iceland, a young American couple (Maika Monroe & Matt O'Leary) wake up one morning to discover every person on earth has disappeared.

If you had a way to see into the future, what would you do with that power? Would you use it to make money, to spark artistic inspiration, or to fix your relationship? All three happen in new indie sci-fi film “Time Lapse” when three friends discover a camera that can take photos of the future. They find the massive camera in their neighbor’s apartment, pointed directly at the living room window of their own Los Angeles bungalow apartment. Soon they figure out that “the machine,” as they call it, prints a photo at every day 8 p.m. of what’s happening 24 hours in the future. Roommate Jasper (played by George Finn) takes this opportunity to bet on dog races as the camera's Polaroids reveal the race results. Meanwhile, his painter roommate Finn (Matt O’Leary) breaks his creative block as the photos give him a peek at paintings...

Earlier this week, we gave you details on first wave of special experiences and events taking place at the 2015 Stanley Film Festival. We now have details on their impressive slate of features, short films, and additional special events, including screenings of The Final Girls, Deathgasm, Stung, The Invitation, and We Are Still Here.

We're teaming up with the festival for live coverage and special opportunities for Daily Dead readers, so be sure to check back all month for contests, features, and more.

"April 2, 2014 (Denver, Co) - The Stanley Film Festival (Sff) produced by the Denver Film Society (Dfs) and presented by Chiller, announced today its Closing Night film, Festival lineup and the 2015 Master of Horror. The Festival will close out with The Final Girls. The film, directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson, is the story of a young woman grieving the loss of her mother, a famous scream queen from the 1980s,...

XLrator Media has set a date for Bradley King's time travel thriller Time Lapse. The film will release in cinemas and on VOD on May 15th. But you already knew that. Yesterday.When you watch King's film you will get that. When three friends discover this mysterious machine in their neighbor's apartment, they encounter a number of pressing questions, not least of which is the whereabouts of their neighbor. Realizing the potential impact of the machine, Finn (Matt O'Leary), Jasper (George Finn), and Callie (Danielle Panabaker) attempt to cash in on their discovery.  But, when a dangerous criminal learns their secret, the friends must set aside their differences and confront the paradox of a future that was once predetermined and entirely uncertain. XLrator is releasing the film through their...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Read More: 'White God' Director On Unleashing 250 Dogs In Budapest And Why More Films Should Take Risks XLrator Media, the distribution company behind "Jimi: All Is By My Side" and "The Machine," has acquired the North American rights to "Time Lapse." Starring Matt O'Leary ("Fat Kid Rules The World"), George Finn ("Lol") and Danielle Panabaker ("The Flash" plus many Disney movies you've watched at sleepovers), the film is a time travel thriller that promises to blend action and twists with humor and smarts.  The official synopsis reads: "'Time Lapse' explores the possibilities of time travel through a machine that is capable of taking pictures 24 hours into the future. When three friends discover this mysterious machine in their neighbor's apartment, they encounter a number of pressing questions, not least of which is the whereabouts of their neighbor. Realizing the potential impact of the machine, Finn...

Audiences at the upcoming Tribeca Film Festival best be watching the skies and keeping an ear open for any suspicious buzzing sounds because that's where Benni Diez's mutant wasp creature feature Stung will be making its debut and we've got the international trailer here to whet the appetite for what's coming!For catering staffers Paul and Julia, Mrs. Perch's fancy garden party at her remote country villa is nothing out of the ordinary. A mishap with toxic plant fertilizer leads to the most unwelcome of dinner guests: giant killer wasps. Director Benni Diez takes audiences on a thrilling, gory rollercoaster ride from campy to creepy, in this delightful and dreadful creature-feature.Matt O'Leary, Jessica Cook. Clifton Collins Jr and Lance Henriksen star. Check out the trailer below![Full...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

The next time I yell at my roommate for not washing the dishes I'll think of Time Lapse, which recently won the feature audience award at the inaugural Other Worlds Austin science-fiction movie festival. It made me realize that my roommate problems could be a whole lot worse.

The movie's about three twentysomethings with their heads in the clouds -- think The Real World meets a Tales From The Crypt version of Friends. There's Finn (my man Matt O'Leary), the sensitive painter; his doting would-be writer girlfriend Callie (Danielle Panabaker); and gambling addict bad boy Jasper (George Finn).

All appears to be well, at least stable, for our merry band of misfits, until the day Finn -- who's financially supporting himself as the apartment's manager -- goes to check on a mysterious elderly tenant and discovers a large, steampunk-esque camera pointed at his living-room window. He soon discovers that this...

It's day 2 of the American Film Market and more poster art is presenting itself, touting upcoming films. Today, we have a look at art for Stung, a creature feature now in post-production, and Beyond Skyline, a sequel that will begin shooting soon.

In Stung, directed by Benni Diez, a fancy garden party goes terribly wrong after a local species of wasps mutate into giant predators. It’s up to Paul and Julia, two catering staffers at the high-society event, to stop the killer creatures – an effort that kick starts a budding romance between the two. Diez is making his directorial debut with a script by Adam Aresty. Jessica Cook, Matt O'Leary and Lance Henriksen star. Thanks to Twitch for the art.

The post Beyond Skyline & Stung Debut New Posters appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.

Top 100 horror movies of all time: Chicago Film Critics' choices (photo: Sigourney Weaver and Alien creature show us that life is less horrific if you don't hold grudges) See previous post: A look at the Chicago Film Critics Association's Scariest Movies Ever Made. Below is the list of the Chicago Film Critics's Top 100 Horror Movies of All Time, including their directors and key cast members. Note: this list was first published in October 2006. (See also: Fay Wray, Lee Patrick, and Mary Philbin among the "Top Ten Scream Queens.") 1. Psycho (1960) Alfred Hitchcock; with Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam. 2. The Exorcist (1973) William Friedkin; with Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Jason Miller, Max von Sydow (and the voice of Mercedes McCambridge). 3. Halloween (1978) John Carpenter; with Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence, Tony Moran. 4. Alien (1979) Ridley Scott; with Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt. 5. Night of the Living Dead (1968) George A. Romero; with Marilyn Eastman,...

It seems that in most time travel movies, the characters who are jumping through time are more concerned with not screwing up the timeline by making changes to it, than in personal gain but that’s about to change because the next evolution of the indie time travel movie is here: the selfish time travel crime thriller.

Co-written by Bradley King and B.P. Cooper, Time Lapse stars TV regulars Danielle Panabaker, Matt O'Leary and George Finn as three friends who discover a machine that takes pictures 24 hours in the future and decide to use that power to help themselves to some extra cash. That is until themachine starts spitting out some questionable photos tht suggest the trio's future could be in peril.

I love this concept and the look of King's feature film debut but I'm [Continued ...]...

The military thriller Drones opens in cinemas and on VOD on June 27. We have been given a series of exclusive key set stills to share with you. Drones stars Eloise Mumford (50 Shades of Grey) and Matt O'Leary (the upcoming Xyz Films creature feature Stung). The thriller was directed by Rick Rosenthal (Halloween II and Halloween Resurrection) and written by Matt Witten. Two soldiers are tasked with deciding the fate of a terrorist with a single push of a button.  As the action plays out in real time, their window to use a deadly military drone on the target slowly closes. With time running out, the soldiers begin to question what the real motives are behind the ordered lethal attack.Both Rosenthal and Witten have long histories...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Korean-American teenager Eden (Jamie Chung) finds a sneaked night out with a buddy ends up with her imprisoned in a sex slave compound on the outskirts of Las Vegas. Under the tyrannical regime of corrupt cop and uber-pimp Galt (Beau Bridges), she's regularly driven out of prison for assignments with grubby brothel clients. However, brutalised by the system, she eventually spots a means of escape by cultivating Gault's druggy deputy Vaughn (Matt O'Leary).

Stung is a film from production companies Rat Pack Filmproduktion and Xyz Films. The film shows some of that b-movie charm from the late '70s and '80s, where giant insects were the order of the day. In Benni Diez's first feature film, mutated insects crash an upper crust party. Also, the film stars Peter Stormare (The Big Lebowski), Clifton Collins Jr. (Tigerland), Lance Henriksen and Matt O'Leary. Now, a couple of early photos have been released for the film, since production has wrapped. The first photo (above) shows actor Matt O'Leary as Paul. He is a server at the party and he faces a monstrous creature in this still. A second photo shows actress Jessica Cook. Cook plays Julia, a waitress at the event. Julia gets a little too close to some wasp sauce, which covers her entire body. As well, a movie clip for this film was released earlier this year.

Get out your bug spray and industrial strength fly-swatters, my fellow fiends! It's time for a new trio of images from the upcoming giant mutant wasp fiesta known as Stung. Seriously, we want this one like yesterday!

The flick stars Peter Stormare, Lance Henriksen, Clifton Collins, Jessica Cook, and Matt O'Leary. Benni Diez directs.

Synopsis

A fancy garden party goes terribly wrong after a local species of wasps mutate into giant predators. It's up to Paul and Julia, two catering staffers at the high-society event, to stop the killer creatures - an effort that kickstarts a budding romance between the two.

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Beat off insects in the comments section below!

If you're a fan of b-movie tribute creature features such as 'Eight Legged Freaks' or 'Slither' then we reckon that upcoming Benni Diez helmed horror 'Stung' will be right up your street. A few new behind the scenes images from the now wrapped project have appeared over on it's official Facebook fan page featuring Matt O'Leary ('In Time') and hottie and former model Jessica Cook in the action and well bloodied up. Clifton Collins Jr. ('Hellbenders'), Lance Henriksen ('Aliens') and Peter Stormare ('Fargo') also star. Head below for the new images....

Someone must have bought director Benni Diez and his Stung stars Matt O'Leary and Jessica Cook a big can of Raid to deal with the film's giant wasps because things have wrapped up. Which I supposed means O'Leary and Cook can go wash the blood off, now. A fancy garden party goes terribly wrong after a local species of wasps mutate into giant predators. It's up to Paul and Julia, two catering staffers at the high-society event, to stop the killer creatures - an effort that kickstarts a budding romance between the two.Take a look at the most recent shots from the set of the shoot below. [Full disclosure: Stung is co-produced by Xyz Films, where I'm a partner.]...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

A stack of new stills have materialised from Benni Diez's new directorial debut creature feature 'Stung'. For those who enjoy a good old fashioned giant insect yarn will be in their element when this bad boy is unleashed onto audiences next year. The new stills focus mainly on our two main leads Paul and Julia, played by 'Brick' and 'In Time' star Matt O'Leary and the stunning model turned actress Jessica Cook. They also feature co-stars Clifton Collins Jr. ('Hellbenders') and a very aged looking Lance Henriksen ('Aliens'). Diez directs from a script provided by Adam Aresty and you can check out the new images below....

Ever since I witnessed giant ants make "that noise" in Them!, I knew one thing... I was officially hooked on giant insect movies. If you're like me, then the killer wasp flick Stung is high up on your must-see list, and we have a brand new set of stills to fan your flames! Dig 'em!

The flick stars Peter Stormare, Lance Henriksen, Clifton Collins, Jessica Cook, and Matt O'Leary. Benni Diez directs.

Synopsis

A fancy garden party goes terribly wrong after a local species of wasps mutate into giant predators. It's up to Paul and Julia, two catering staffers at the high-society event, to stop the killer creatures - an effort that kickstarts a budding romance between the two.

Visit The Evilshop @ Amazon!

Got news? Click here to submit it!

Beat off insects in the comments section below!

With production now moving into the back stretch a pair of new stills have arrived via the official Facebook page of giant wasp creature feature Stung. More shots of the bugs in question? Well, sort of. Part of one, at least, rammed through the torso of leading man Matt O'Leary.A fancy garden party goes terribly wrong after a local species of wasps mutate into giant predators. It's up to Paul and Julia, two catering staffers at the high-society event, to stop the killer creatures - an effort that kickstarts a budding romance between the two.Jessica Cook, Clifton Collins Jr and Lance Henriksen also star in the Rat Pack Filmproduktion / Xyz Films (where, full disclosure, I am a partner and directly involved in this) production....

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

While horror fans tend to not see eye to eye on many issues, one thing we can all agree on is that old school practical effects should never take a back seat to CGI - which they unfortunately do these days, far more often than they don't.

If you agree with this statement, then director Benni Diez is looking to please you with his first feature film Stung!

Our friends over at Twitch just shared the first still from the flick, which is produced by Twitch's founder/editor Todd Brown. While Diez had originally unveiled a proof of concept trailer that was loaded with CGI, the still shows a whole different vision, one that includes a badass looking animatronic bug. Word is that Diez will be using practical effects as much as possible with CGI as a supplement rather than a crutch.

Check out the still below along with the aforementioned proof of concept trailer!

A rather fun, creature-y pic from the killer wasp film Stung surfaced at Twitch (the team there is involved in the production).  I love it, because it evokes a vibe I got from early-'90s creature flicks teased in the pages of Fangoria (Ticks, anyone?).

The film, shooting now, stars Peter Stormare, Lance Henriksen, Jessica Cook and Matt O'Leary.

In Stung, a fancy garden party goes terribly wrong after a local species of wasps mutate into giant predators. It's up to Paul and Julia, two catering staffers at the high-society event, to stop the killer creatures - an effort that kick starts a budding romance between the two. 

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Got a thing about bugs? Stung director Benni Diez certainly does and now well into production on the creature feature, he's got some very large ones on his hands.A fancy garden party goes terribly wrong after a local species of wasps mutate into giant predators. It's up to Paul and Julia, two catering staffers at the high-society event, to stop the killer creatures - an effort that kickstarts a budding romance between the two.Regular readers of Twitch should be well familiar with this one by now. Matt O'Leary, Jessica Cook, Lance Henriksen and Clifton Collins star in the classically styled creature-feature comedy.Things here really kicked off with a proof of concept video Diez shot to prove that he could handle the complex digital VFX needed...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

After the bleak shorts I attended on Saturday, I decided a light romance was what I needed Sunday afternoon. I went to the screening of My Man Godfrey (1936) at the Paramount, introduced by Shane Black, and then drove over to the Rollins. 

Director Guillermo Fernández Groizard was there to introduce his film I'm Dating You Not, filmed in Madrid.  The fast-paced comedy stars his wife Virginia Rodríguez as Paula, a woman whose coworker Roberto (Dario Frias) is besotted with her. 

The director told us before the movie began that the budget for this work was in the hundred-thousands (!!), but I'm Dating You Not has the look of something with a larger budget. Rodríguez and Frias have a great will-they/won't-they chemistry and the script by Pablo Flores is silly without being stupid. The Spanish film was a perfect remedy.

In another vein entirely, I was able to view Rick Rosenthal's excellent thriller Drones.

While technology has allowed the military to operate with greater efficiency, intelligence and focus, the flipside is that it has removed a layer of responsibility from those pulling the trigger. We live in a time where from thousands of miles away, military personnel sitting in front of a bank of computers and monitors can unleash a devastating payload on a target with little more than few moves of the wrist. But what is the weight of those decisions, and how does it play into personal ethics and battlefield codes of conduct? It's against that backdrop that the thriller "Drones" unfolds. Directed by Rick Rosenthal, and starring Matt O'Leary ("Fat Kid Rules The World") and Eloise Mumford ("The River"), the film tells the story of two Air Force personnel operating an unmanned aircraft over Afghanistan from a trailer in the Nevada desert just outside Las Vegas. But their mission to take...

Looking forward to the new mutant wasp-laden horror comedy buzzing our way, Stung? Then get ready for an eye- and ear-ful as a series of production videos has hit the interwebs. Hey, it's Monday! Why not start your goofing off early this week?

Stung stars Matt O'Leary, Jessica Cook, Peter Stormare, and Lance Henriksen. The film is directed by Benni Diez and produced by Christian Becker and Benjamin Munz from Rat Pack Filmproduction and executive produced by Xyz Films. Stung was developed by Munz based on an idea by Adam Aresty, who won Rat Pack’s 2012 horror-writing contest "Write for Your Life."

"Stung, to me, is bringing the creature feature cult film feeling from the 80s into the present and a modern day fun-horror movie," director Diez said previously.

Synopsis:

In Stung a fancy garden party goes terribly wrong after a local species of wasps mutates into giant predators. It's up to Paul and Julia,...

The Bennie Diez-directed creature feature Stung begins shooting this week and a video production blog has kicked off to chronicle the production's effort.  You can watch the first two installments inside.

The film is set to star Peter Stormare, Lance Henriksen, Jessica Cook and Matt O'Leary.

In Stung, a fancy garden party goes terribly wrong after a local species of wasps mutate into giant predators. It's up to Paul and Julia, two catering staffers at the high-society event, to stop the killer creatures - an effort that kick starts a budding romance between the two. 

Read more...

Matt O'Leary, Jessica Cook, Peter Stormare and Lance Henriksen have all signed on for Benni Diez's creature feature comedy "Stung" from Rat Pack Filmproduction and Xyz Films.

The story follows two catering staff at a fancy garden party who battle a mutated species of wasp.

Christian Becker and Benjamin Munz will produce. Filming begins late October in Berlin.

Diez was a visual effects supervisor on Lars Von Trier's "Melancholia" and posted a VFX test reel for this project a year ago on Vimeo which you can see below:

Source: Screen...

Riding on the heels of last night's cast news, a visual FX test for the creature feature Stung has been sent our way.  The film is set to star Peter Stormare, Lance Henriksen, Jessica Cook and Matt O'Leary and is going to be directed by Bennie Diez.

In Stung, a fancy garden party goes terribly wrong after a local species of wasps mutate into giant predators. It's up to Paul and Julia, two catering staffers at the high-society event, to stop the killer creatures - an effort that kick starts a budding romance between the two.  Check out the Facebook page here.

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The World's End | Breathe In | Wadjda | The Frozen Ground | Easy Money | Eden | Suspension Of Disbelief | Roman Holiday | D-Day

The World's End (15)

(Edgar Wright, 2013 UK) Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman, Eddie Marsan, Rosamund Pike. 109 mins

Wright brings another Hollywood scenario down to earth by virtue of an utterly British setting, and the clash is still hilarious. Especially for the 1990s generation, since this sees Pegg and co attempting to relive their youth with an indie-dance-backed pub crawl down memory lane. Has their hometown changed because of high-street homogenisation, robotic infiltration, or the effects of 12 pints? All three, it turns out.

Breathe In (15)

(Drake Doremus, 2013, Us) Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Amy Ryan. 97 mins

As he did with Like Crazy, Doremus tells an age-old story with uncanny intimacy and powerful acting, particularly from Jones. Playing an exchange student in New England, she's drawn to Pearce's musician dad, with inevitable consequences.

Korean-American teenager Eden (Jamie Chung) finds a sneaked night out with a buddy ends up with her imprisoned in a sex slave compound on the outskirts of Las Vegas. Under the tyrannical regime of corrupt cop and uber-pimp Galt (Beau Bridges), she's regularly driven out of prison for assignments with grubby brothel clients. However, brutalised by the system, she eventually spots a means of escape by cultivating Gault's druggy deputy Vaughn (Matt O'Leary).

New banner poster for Gore Verbinski's The Lone Ranger, starring Armie Hammer, Johnny Depp A gorgeous new international banner has arrived for the Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures release, showing Armie Hammer as The Lone Ranger, Johnny Depp as Tonto, Tom Wilkinson as Latham Cole, Helena Bonham Carter as Red, Ruth Wilson as Rebecca Reid and William Fichtner as Butch Cavendish, among others. The western adventure opens in theaters July 3rd, reuniting the Pirates of the Caribbean and Rango team of helmer Verbinski and his ever-popular star Depp. The cast also has Barry Perrper, James Badge Dale, James Frain, Chad Brummett, Matt O'Leary, W. Earl Brown, Lew Temple and Harry Treadaway on board.

Phase 4 Films has unveiled the first trailer for the upcoming "Eden" thriller, starring Jamie Chung (Sucker Punch), Matt O'Leary (Death Sentence), and Beau Bridges. Check it out below. Plot: The true story of a Korean-American teenager (Chung) who is kidnapped from a bar in New Mexico and transformed into a sex slave in Las Vegas by ruthless international thugs. She joins forces with her captors in a desperate plea to survive. The new movie is directed by Megan Griffiths and premiered at the SXSW film festival last year. It's now set to hit theaters on March 20th, in limited release. Trailer:...

"Nothing short of gripping." Phase 4 Films has debuted the theatrical trailer for one of SXSW 2012's big hits, the Audience Award winner, a film called Eden directed by Megan Griffiths. It stars Jamie Chung as a young Korean-American girl, captured and forced into a prostitution ring for two years. The plot seems to involve her inspiring hope in the other girls, but she also "ensures her own survival by carving out power and influence" in the human and drug trafficking ring. The supporting cast includes Beau Bridges, Scott Mechlowicz, Matt O'Leary and many others. Music is a bit cheesy, but otherwise it doesn't look too bad. Watch the theatrical trailer for Megan Griffiths' Eden, originally in high def from Apple: Eden, a young Korean-American girl, is abducted near her home and forced into prostitution by a domestic human and drug trafficking ring. Throughout the two years she is held,...

The first trailer and poster for director Megan Griffiths' Eden is now online. Check them both out below, courtesy of iTunes Movie Trailers . Griffiths co-wrote the screenplay alongside Richard B. Phillips. The film tells the true story of a Korean-American teenager (Jamie Chung) who is kidnapped from a bar in New Mexico and transformed into a sex slave in Las Vegas by a band of ruthless international thugs. Beau Bridges plays an avuncular federal marshal, a good ol' boy, who turns out to be one of the operation's masterminds while Matt O'Leary is equally repellent as the boss's wildly erratic, drug-addled right-hand man. Eden is scheduled for a limited release on March 20.

Below, Matthew Lillard shares one of his favorite scenes from his directorial feature debut "Fat Kid Rules The World," currently playing in select theaters and slated to hit VOD October 25th (more details here). The coming-of-age tale stars "Terri" breakout Jacob Wysocki as the titular 'fat kid' Troy, who at the outset of Lillard's comedy attempts suicide by stepping in front of a moving bus. Enter Marcus (Matt O'Leary of "Natural Selection"), a charismatic young high school dropout, who saves Troy's life by pushing him out of the way. Before long, Marcus has enlisted Troy as drummer in his punk band, and though Troy's new identity gives him much-needed confidence and purpose, his father is less than thrilled by his choice of friends. ___________________ I have to pick a scene. One scene? Not easy. There are all kinds of pressure when you’re picking just one scene. It’s like "Sophie's Choice.

The trailer for Matthew Lillard's directorial feature debut "Fat Kid Rules The World" opens rather inauspiciously with a suicide attempt. Fortunately for Troy BIllings ("Terri" star Jacob Wysocki) --our eponymous fat kid -- a charismatic young high school dropout by the name of Marcus (Matt O'Leary) is there to push him out of the path of a speeding bus. Before long, Marcus has enlisted Troy as drummer in his punk band, and though Troy's new identity gives him much-needed confidence and purpose, his father is less than thrilled by his choice of friends. The story here is not new, but given the number of indie film fans who harbor nostalgic memories of punk rock adolescence, it will likely warm more than a few hearts. Check out the Indiewire review here.

Phase 4 Films has acquired all North American rights to director Megan Griffiths’ drama “Eden,” which had its world premiere at the 2012 SXSW Film Festival. The specialty distributor has scheduled a release in theaters for early 2013. Based on the true story of Chong Kim, “Eden” follows a Korean-American teenager who is abducted from a New Mexico bar in 1994 and turned into a sex slave in Las Vegas for two years before finally escaping. Jamie Chung, Beau Bridges and Matt O'Leary star. The film, which was written by Griffiths (“The Off Hours”) and Richard B. Phillips Jr., won the audience award for best narrative feature at SXSW as well as the Emergent Narrative Woman Director Award for Griffiths. Read More: 'Eden,' 'The Invader' and 'Five Star Existence' Take the Top Prizes at the Seattle International Film Festival Colin Harper Plank and Jacob Mosler produced the project through Plank’s.

Dictators, hitmen, and navy officers – oh my! It’s a big weekend for the dudes, the professional advantages mentioned above notwithstanding, and we can expect screens clogged with manly men doing male things. Even the invention of a sex toy (by a man, duh) and male grooming get sweet turns in the theaters. If only the powerful sight of pregnant women was enough to combat the male-dominated market. Ah well, perhaps another weekend. Let’s jump into the testosterone-fueled fray, shall we?

Political satire, social comedy, and gross-out humor each take their turn in the Larry Charles-directed “The Dictator,” which opened Wednesday. Sacha Baron Cohen is Admiral General Aladeen, the universal and undisputed leader of the fictional North African nation of Wadiya. Running (or perhaps “scaring” is a better word choice here) a nation with a sexist, racist, iron fist, threatening nuclear warfare while hoarding oil reserves, Aladeen is...

"Natural Selection" swept the jury awards at SXSW 2011, and has been generally hailed especially for Rachael Harris' performance, a dramatic turn from a well-established comedienne. The feature debut from writer/director Robbie Pickering, the film stars Harris as mousey Texas housewife Lindy who has been denied sex by her husband Abe (John Diehl) for 25 years because their religion forbids copulation without the express purpose of procreation, and wouldn't you know it, Lindy can't have any "special babies." Abe fulfills his needs secretly, at the local sperm bank, which Lindy doesn't discover until he keels over from a stroke, mid-jerk. With her entire world hanging in the balance, Lindy sets off on a road trip to find one of Abe's offspring to bring him back at the behest of her husband's dying wish (or so she thinks... or imagines), armed with only a name (Raymond), city and her trusty hatchback.

A pivotal point in the film Havoc involved Eric (Matt O'Leary) interviewing Alison (Anne Hathaway), as the latter lounges on a couch in her affluent house and flirts shamelessly with the outcast documentarian. While Havoc may have largely gone down as the film that heralded Hathaway's transition into more adult fare (evidenced in part by nudity on the actresses part), that scene featured more compelling characterization than the majority of the sunny but largely unnecessary Geek Charming. Here, the geek in question is Josh Rosen (it's reassuring that Disney is keeping budding filmmakers saddled with Jewish last names - good on you, Hollywood!), a film student who decided to keep his camera trained on social bee Dylan Schoenfield (Sarah Hyland). While Josh hopes to uncover Dylan's truly vapid popularity practices, what he uncovers...should I go on? Ok...what he finds is that Dylan is plagued by similar insecurities and...