Watch Hike on YouTube and Vimeo
Yup! You can now watch Hike on both YouTube and Vimeo!
Thanks for checking it out and please share Hike with any horror lovers you know!
The Vancouver sky
Not horror! Pretty! The sky yesterday was incredibly purple.
No camera filters…just good old Mother Nature!
wihm day16/Charlotte Gainsbourg&Antichrist
Anitchrist was hard to watch and it made me sick to my stomach – but I liked parts of it and have to say I’m glad I saw it. Charlotte Gainsbourg’s portrayal of “She” in Antichrist earned her the Palme d’Or from Cannes in 2009. Her acting is so unique – she has an air of total solidness while all the while almost whispering through the characters she plays. I’ve loved her acting in every movie I’ve seen her in and she is definitely someone who goes out on a limb when choosing roles.
Lars Von Trier – who wrote and directed Antichrist – originally offered the role to Eva Green. Green wanted to do it but on the advice of her agents declined due to the graphic nature of the story. That’s when Charlotte Gainsbourg stepped in. She really wanted the part and it’s great Von Trier gave it to her. It’s not easy viewing. Gainsbourg does an incredible job beginning the movie as the grieving mother you feel compassion for and ending the movie as the psychotically unbalanced female who’s descent into darkness becomes complete.
Nature plays a huge part both physically and symbolically in Antichrist; beautiful yet savage. It was interesting to read that Gainsbourg felt really insecure and vulnerable being in it. She spoke of her relationship with nature in the July 17/2009 Guardian interview - “I’m scared of nature. I don’t really understand it and I’m not attracted to it. I feel very good in a very, very civilized atmosphere.”
Von Trier says he wrote Antichrist in the midst of a deep depression. He claims the story is a metaphor for his depressed state of mind. Who knows? What I do know is that Gainsbourg is unrelenting in her portrayal of a woman who deals with her emotions in an extremely sexual and violent way. Whether you like the movie or not Charlotte Gainsbourg puts herself way out there. She fully commits to portraying a character not many actors might feel comfortable playing. That’s why I chose her for day 16 of women in horror month.
wihm day10/Isabelle Adjani & Nosferatu the Vampyre
Isabelle Adjani played the lead role of Lucy in Werner Herzog’s 1979 homage to F.W. Murnau’s version of Nosferatu. Adjani stars alongside Klaus Kinski who portrays Count Dracula in Nosferatu the Vampyre. Adjani plays Lucy (the wife of Jonathan Harker) with great depth – she completely sells the idea of a woman caught between a waking and sleeping nightmare that she cannot escape. Adjani is caught between the real and eternal world and torn between the love of her husband and a deep erotic calling to Count Dracula. Count Dracula pleads with her to give him just a taste of the love she feels for her husband.
The chemistry between Adjani and Kinski is powerful. She portrays the alluring innocence of love and beauty against Kinski’s portrayal of Dracula’s loneliness and despair at being doomed to live an eternal life. This version of Dracula is beautiful – the cinematography is rich and the use of symbols, nature and blurring waking reality from dreaming illusion gives the movie an incredibly dreamlike and surreal feel.
Werner Herzog discussing a shot with Klaus Kinski
Hike&Festivals
When setting out to make Hike, I had no idea where it would lead. I was a new film maker who never went to film school and only had a very, very, homemade music video and a first version of Hike (shot all outside on a old JVC camcorder that I held well directing the actors) under my belt. Needless to say, the learning curve was HUGE! So when I wanted to shoot the revised Hike as part 1 to Final Weekend’s part 2 ( our horror/thriller feature) I set out to find the right team of talented and creative people to bring it to life. I couldn’t have been luckier. The cast&crew that worked on Hike are amazing and most of them are coming along as we start pre-production on Final Weekend. They put up with a new director who was learning as she went along and to make matters more complicated – was learning on an outdoor shoot where we used all natural light. We worked hard and had fun and the shoot went great. After we finished the short we decided that we were going to show it to potential investors who might be interested in Final Weekend – use it as a calling card so to speak. We wanted them to see what could be achieved on a limited budget with a creative team of people who share the same vision. It was after a few people saw Hike and suggested entering it into festivals that we did and we’re proud to say that Hike has now been an official selection at 5 festivals:
Fargo Fantastic FIlm Festival 2010- http://www.valleycon.com/filmfest.html
A Night of Horror International Film Festival- Sydney Australia 2011 - http://www.anightofhorror.com/
Motor City Nightmares- Novi Michigan 2011 - http://www.motorcitynightmares.com/
Pittsburgh Horror Film Festival 2011 - http://www.pittsburghhorrorfilms.com/
Carnage International Film Festival – Wilmington NC 2011 - http://www.carnagefilmfestival.com/cff/index.html
L-R: Director of Photography -Thomas Billingsley, Production Sound Mixer - Edmond Burnett, Director - Jennifer Campbell, Actor - Tony Butler, Actor - Stefany Mathias, PA- Patricia Laroque
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