‘The Dead Place’: New Horror Film Inspired By Terrifying True Events Stars Art The Clown [Giallo Julian’s Indie Spotlight]
Giallo Julian
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Longtime Fright Fiends who’ve haunted Dread Central for a while will know that I’m not big on ghost movies. Just could never get into the sub-genre. But that doesn’t mean I won’t ramble on about them like everything else. No rambling today, though, because this time I have something to focus on — director Michael Pickle’s upcoming film, The Dead Place!
Read the full synopsis below:
“The Dead Place is the tragic story of Isaac Stecker, a young man burdened with the gift of seeing beings that remain hidden from most eyes… the evil that haunts Isaac escalates from the spectral to the physical and invades his life in ways that have tragic consequences for everyone around him…. If Isaac fails to overcome these forces, he risks… becoming a tool for the very evil he desperately fights against.”
The film is inspired by a true-life supernatural encounter Pickle experienced while visiting a “haunted abandoned asylum” back in 2008. On the incident, Pickle said:
“My friend and I visited the Rancho Los Amigos abandoned asylum in Downey, CA around 2006… We explored the asylum and went down into a small concrete sealed basement. As we descended the stairs, we heard GROWLING… the growling got louder and more vicious… We walked down… and checked every corner. There was nothing and nowhere for the animal to escape. After we left the asylum, a feeling of dread washed over me… This black cloud hung over me all the next day… I got home that night to find my daughter sleeping in my bed with my wife, so I went to lay in my daughter’s bed. I woke up the next morning to… loud voices all around the bed… I closed my eyes and it looked like I was laying on a conference table. People from my life, both living and dead… discussing whether I should be committed to an asylum. I sat up in bed opening and closing my eyes… Hoping it was a waking dream. I closed my eyes again and a grotesque demon was growling in my face. My wife heard me yell… she sat on the bed next to me and I couldn’t hear her… over the voices around the bed. My wife left the room, not sure what to do. I closed my eyes again, and there were TWO demons screaming in my face. I opened my eyes and they were sitting in the bed with me… Suddenly, my wife walked in with the Bible and they stopped. No voices, no demons, nothing… That’s when I had the idea for The Dead Place… I quit my band and launched my career as a filmmaker… My desire to be a filmmaker is so strong that I can’t believe it wasn’t there my entire life until I went to that asylum. Maybe it was and I just needed this experience to trigger it… it changed my life and I have yet to determine whether it’s… for the better because it’s been an artistically fulfilling road, but otherwise a living nightmare.”
Well… damn. Harrowing stuff. At least he was able to bring artistic inspiration from that experience!
The film’s villain — a malicious entity known as “The New Kid” — will be played by David Howard Thorton of Terrifier fame. This role is a departure from Thorton’s sinisterly silent portrayal of Art the Clown, with The New Kid being “highly talkative and deviously witty”.
Filling out the rest of the cast is Idris Veliu (Power), Suziey Block (Horror in the High Desert), Nick Theurer (Slapface), Lexi Dali (Cop Car), Eliot (Stand and Deliver), Angel Bradford (The House That Eats Flesh), and Bill Oberst Jr. (Circus of the Dead). It’s stated that this is an “impressive collection of horror veterans and rising stars”, and I’m inclined to agree. I mean, there’s Angel Bradford again. I’ve been seeing her name everywhere!
The creative team behind the film is being led by James Rivera, who helped create Pickle’s Horror Show, a “highly successful horror variety program that draws millions of dedicated viewers.” Also enlisted are Steve Deering (creative consultant on films such as The Neon Demon, John Wick, and Moonlight) and Nick Theurer (one of the producers of The Bay and Slapface).
From what I understand, this film is intended to be the first part of a trilogy following lead character Isaac and his bestie Katherine in their crusade against the insidious New Kid. To make that happen, however, the filmmakers need some help — which can be given to them by checking out their Indiegogo here. They have a lot of rad stretch goals for donators, so be sure to give it a look! The film is planned to be released in 2023. As always, once I know more, you will.
Until next time…
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