Halo-8 Announces New Comic Book/Illustrated Film The Long Knives

Debi Moore |

Apr 7, 2010

Halo-8 Announces New Comic Book/Illustrated Film The Long Knives During their recent panel at WonderCon entitled “Halo-8: Comic Books and Illustrated Films,” Halo-8 reps announced their next original comic book/illustrated film transmedia combo will be Matt Pizzolo’s The Long Knives, “a giallo horror, bare-knuckled revenge movie with an otherworldly Tim Burton-esque aesthetic.” The artwork will be courtesy of newcomer illustrator Ana Ludeshka.

“I wanted to do a gritty realism horror with a dark-hearted toughness like the first Mad Max, which totally kicked me in the nuts when I first saw it as a kid,” explained Pizzolo, “but I didn’t want the over-the-top visuals to fall into torture porn so it seemed like an awesome fit to do this in a giallo style and tie in the stylized horror of my faves Mario Bava and Dario Argento. Ana Ludeshka’s ethereal visuals and extreme use of color are a perfect fit, and I was super excited to discover her for this.”

Similar to Pizzolo’s previous transmedia project Godkiller (which will make its feature film debut at Chicago’s C2E2 April 16), The Long Knives will be simultaneously produced as a comic book and an illustrated film. This will also mark the first time two Halo-8 titles take place in a “shared universe,” common to comic books but unique for film.

“Godkiller and The Long Knives take place in a shared world so there will be crossover between the two projects,” said Pizzolo. “We’re going to do something fun for a Godkiller epilogue on the full-length DVD/Blu-ray [coming May 25], but we’re not ready to announce that yet.”

Though no formal announcements have been made about the voice cast for The Long Knives, Pizzolo has already begun assembling his ensemble. The Godkiller ensemble included genre heroes Lance Henriksen, Danielle Harris, Bill Moseley, Nicki Clyne, and Tiffany Shepis; alt-culture icon Lydia Lunch; and rock stars Justin Pierre and Davey Havok. With any luck we’ll be hearing some of those same voices in The Long Knives.

“Illustrated films” are a new style of animation developed by Pizzolo with his producing partner, Emmy-winner Brian Giberson. Starting with sequential still images, the illustrated film adds 3D CGI, motion graphics, elaborate sound design, and dramatic voice performances for an edgy, sophisticated, intricately detailed new form of animation. Upcoming illustrated films from Halo-8 Entertainment include Tim Seeley’s Loaded Bible and James Farr’s Xombie: Reanimated.

Check out some early artwork for The Long Knives below, and keep it here for more as it comes.