|
There has
been much cynicism over the last twenty years over
announcements that Hammer Films are coming back into
production. The 2000 takeover which saw Hammer
transferred from Roy Skeggs to a media consortium headed
by Charles Saatchi resulted in at least two separate
announcements of production slates, which came to
nothing.
The
takeover in May of this year by a new European
consortium headed by John De Mol was marked out by the
additional announcement of a £25 million seed fund which
should ensure a return to active production before the
end of the year. Just three months later and
unofficialhammerfilms.com can reveal that Hammer are
going back into production within the next few weeks,
after details of a casting session held on August 16th
and 17th were posted on the
ConstantCasting website.
The first
dramatic Hammer film production for over twenty years is
a full-length vampire flick which will also see an
episodic release over the internet and is being shot on
35mm film stock. The title of Hammer's new horror -
BEYOND THE RAVE.
The title
is a witty nod back to the horror films of the 1970s and
also plays upon the popular Amicus title Beyond the
Grave - itself an episodic portmanteau feature. With
Amicus having recently announced a return to production
as well, it looks as if the battle of the horror giants
may once again be on.
From the
descriptions provided in the agency release, the film
will feature a wide range of cast members in what
appears to be a reworking of the vampire-club scenario
of Dracula A.D. 1972 with the vampire threat
linked to the drug-addled rave culture. The release also
confirms the casting of Rick Warden in the role of
Strigioli. The 36-year old British actor has had key
roles in Band of Brothers and Rome on
television.
According
to the
BBC Film Network the art director for Beyond the
Rave is Melanie Light - her profile suggests that
the film will be cut into 20 separate segments for the
net and mobile phones. Light's professional website is
here.
Casting
was conducted by Hannah Birkett on August 16 and 17.
Production is due to start on 15 September and end 2
October 2007.
To date
there has been no formal announcement or press release
for the production, and it would seem that the
production itself is surrounded in secrecy. We'll keep
you up to date with any formal announcements.
For the
sake of record the text that appeared on the
ConstantCasting website is here.
|
-