Full-scale screen used Hero Bumblebee robot from Transformers

From Seibertron.com

You could own the one and the only, Camaro Concept Bumblebee. No, we’re not talking about some one of a kind Legends figure, Deluxe repaint, or Human Alliance redeco. We’re talking about the real deal, the Bumblebee cast that was made for the movies. This full-scale replica of Bumblebee is probably the most impressive on-set item to be sold. As the auction describes;

Full-scale screen-used Hero Bumblebee robot from Transformers. (Paramount, 2007) Standing exactly 16 feet 10 7/8 inches tall and weighing 3200 pounds, this screen-used hero Bumblebee robot is an incredible feat of engineering craftsmanship. Built by renowned special effects company FXperts, Inc. (a.ka. John Frazier Special Effects), Bumblebee was the result of a direct request by Director Michael Bay for a full-size Transformer. He was used prominently in all the critical scenes in the film: when Sam and Mikaela are first introduced to all the Autobots; when Bumblebee is captured by Sector 7 with a helicopter; in the interior of the Hoover Dam; and on the back of a tow truck during the final battle sequences. As a major character in the film, Bumblebee has become one of the most popular and beloved Transformers. Since the opening of the movie, this Bumblebee robot has been on a worldwide tour, to such locations as Japan, Korea, London, Las Vegas, Dallas, Chicago, New York, and Bolton, Mississippi. He was also featured at the Los Angeles premieres, Universal Studios, Cannes Festival, and Indy 500, where he drew as big of a crowd at the Indy cars. With possible arms, Bumblee stands a full 16’ 10 7/8” tall and 13’ 5 13/16” wide when fully assembled. He is currently de-assembled and housed in three large wooden crates.

Click here for the Auction Website

Guillermo del Toro with a Hell Boy hand

Dawn C. Chmielewski and Geoff Boucher – LATimes.com

Walt Disney Studios and filmmaker Guillermo del Toro are forming a production company, Disney Double Dare You, to create animated films with a spooky edge.

Disney Studios Chairman Dick Cook announced the partnership today in a star-studded presentation to the D23 Expo fan convention that brought actors Johnny Depp, Nicolas Cage and John Travolta, and directors Tim Burton and Robert Zemeckis, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and singer-actress Miley Cyrus onstage in a packed auditorium at the Anaheim Convention Center. 

Del Toro, who is in New Zealand doing pre-production on the film “The Hobbit,”  delivered a recorded presentation in which he said he hopes to create animated films in the chilling but family-friendly spirit of one of his favorite Disney theme park attractions, the Haunted Mansion. The filmmaker waxed on about the “immersive” journey to another world that he experienced when four decades ago he stepped into the mansion, which to his young mind was “the most demanded real estate in the whole world.”

The first project is called “The Troll Hunters.” The filmmaker also said there will be a shared trait among all the Double Dare projects, which will include books, merchandise and films, but he kept that secret to himself on this day.

“I love to take audiences into fantastic new world and provide them with some anxious moments in the process,” Del Toro said. “It is part of the Disney canon to create thrilling, unforgettable moments in the process. It is part of the Disney canon to create thrilling, unforgettable moments and villains in all their classic films. It is my privilege for Double Dare You to continue in this tradition.”

It is unclear how many films the acclaimed director of “Pan’s Labyrinth” and the comic-book-inspired “Hellboy” is committing to make under the partnership with Disney — or when he’ll find the time. He is directing two “Hobbit” films for Warner Bros./New Line Cinema and MGM, which are scheduled for release in 2011 and 2012, and has been linked to half a dozen other projects, including “Drood” and a “Frankenstein” remake.

“Lightning Strikes”  is a SyFy horror film about a small Indiana town plagued by a creature of living lightning.

Annabel Wright

“Lightning Strikes” was filmed in Sofia, Bulgaria and directed by Gary Jones, who also directed “Boogeyman 3” as well as episodes of “Xena Warrior Princess” and “Hercules: The Incredible Journey”. Jones also contributed his special effects services to “Evil Dead 2” and “Army of Darkness”. Kevin Sorbo (Hercules) stars in this horror film, and Jarrett Crippen plays Deputy Johnson. In regards to working with Kevin Sorbo, Jarrett stated in his blog –“Kevin was a great mentor and made me feel relaxed.”

Annabel Wright stars as Nancy.

Yana Stoyanova is the special makeup effects artist. Read Yana’s Exclusive Interview with GoreMaster.com HERE!

By Ray Bennett – Hollywood Reporter

 George A. Romero’s latest zombie fest, “Survival of the Dead,” is a polished, fast-moving, entertaining picture whose mainstream success will depend on audiences’ tolerance of its tendency to become an abattoir of extreme carnage.

Zombie aficionados will feast on the inventive and often funny ways that the genre king — with the help of special effects makeup artist Francois Dagenais and visual effects supervisor Colin Davies — contrives to show heads exploding and bodies being blown apart.

GoreMaster George A. Romero

True to the form with savvy cultural points, clever wit and a nice twist on what might happen to the newly deceased, “Dead” should make a tidy box office killing.

Romero keeps his script simple and direct. The world is in crisis, with 53 million people dying each year but refusing to stay dead. The deadheads, as they’re now called, feed on live humans, who then become deadheads. And so on.

On Plum Island off the coast of Delaware, two Irish families, the O’Flynns and the Muldoons, are continuing their lifelong feud by disagreeing on how zombies should be treated. Rascally O’Flynn (Kenneth Welsh) is all for blowing them to pieces, no matter that they were once members of the family. Stern Muldoon (Richard Fitzpatrick) believes they should be chained up and held to await the development of a cure.

As the film opens, the feud has exploded, and Muldoon puts O’Flynn onto a boat to return to the mainland. There, meanwhile, a small band of soldiers led by Sarge (Alan Van Sprang) has turned outlaw, robbing others to stay supplied with food and ammunition and reducing deadheads to dead bodies whenever they encounter them.

They are seeking a relative safe haven, and through a quick series of events, they end up going to Plum Island with the exiled, vengeful O’Flynn in tow, little knowing that besides having deadheads to worry about they are now heading into a violent turf war.

Made in Canada with a Canadian cast, the film is expert in all areas, with Sprang a plausible leader and Welsh and Fitzpatrick old hands as the two faces of Irish charm. The mayhem includes heads responding explosively to the effects of fire extinguishers, flares and blades, besides the usual assault weapons. It’s surprisingly good fun.

by Deljhp – 24FramesperSecond.net

Back in the 60s and 70s Italy was a powerhouse of big budget, low budget and let’s face it no budget horror movie making. Film makers like Mario Bava, Ruggero Deodata, Lucio Fulci and of course Dario Argento shocked and appalled audiences with gratuitous nudity, violence and gore. Then sadly at the end of the 80s, it all just…. stopped and one of the few significant Italian horror movies of recent years was Dellamorte Dellamore (aka Cemetery Man), directed by Michele Soavi. So that’s the short history lesson of woe, onto the good news.

Looking like its taking a big leaf from the book of some of the earlier classics, The Darkside a new gore filled Italian horror is on the way. Directed by Gerard Diefenthal, The Darkside promises Witches, devils, dogs from hell, exorcism and yes you guessed it … blood by the bucket load. So will it be any good? The short answer, it’s too early to tell. So far there’s only the poster, some pics and a very short teaser to go on. But the fact that anyone in Italy has returned to making exploitation splatter horror is fine by us! Synopsis: In the summer of 1587 the inhabitants of Triora – a small village in the mountains ligurian – exhausted by a long famine begin to suspect that their ills were caused by a small commune of women who live a secluded life nearby. Accusing the women of being evil witches, the mayor of the village appeals to the church for help and two priests are despatched to investigate. On arriving they immediately arrested several women and subject them to unspeakable torture. Forced to implicate their friends the number of innocent people in prison soon rises. The process goes on for two long years and several women die from the hardship in prison. Seeking to end the scandal once and for all, commissioner Scribani of the holy inquisition condemns all 6 remaining women to death. Centuries later the six witches burned alive, resurrect via a pact with the demon Pazoozoo. Their only thought is revenge.

Actor Jim Krut, The Helecopter Zombie from Dawn of the Dead. photo by CHRIS KNIGHT, The Patriot-News

by T.W. BURGER, Of The Patriot-News

Sometimes, Jim Krut gets paid to be dead. For roughly the past three decades, Krut has been a more-or-less mild-mannered newspaper and magazine editor and a vice president at Adams Electric Cooperative.

Jim Krut as the Helecopter Zombie

But from time to time, he’s been one of the undead. And, it’s a hoot, he says. It all started when Krut, of Gettysburg, had a bit part in a gory zombie movie, “Dawn of the Dead.” The film was released in 1978, and is considered a classic in the genre.

At the time, Krut, now 63, was living in Pittsburgh and working as an actor with The Ironclad Agreement repertory theater company. He ended up being what is now known as the “helicopter zombie” in Director George Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead.”

If you don’t know the story of Romero’s zombie saga, it goes something like this: The dead come back to life and lurch around the landscape, devouring their victims. Those who are not devoured but only bitten die and become zombies themselves. The films focus on small bands of the living trying to fight their way to safety. The zombies can only be killed by severe trauma to the head or by fire. There is an extravagance of gore, grunting zombies and screaming victims.

Krut’s role in “Dawn” was simple. As a zombie at an airfield, he tries to attack one of the film’s characters who is fueling a helicopter. Krut’s character — who has no name — climbs a wooden crate to reach his intended victim, but gets his head too close to the whirling ‘copter rotor, loses the top part of his head and falls down dead again. Really, really dead this time.

Three decades later, Krut finds himself sort of a cult figure himself. “I’ve done a lot of film conventions over the past 10 years,” he said. “Some actors look on that sort of thing as a job, but not me. I’m still a kid in terms of being a fan of movies,” he said. In addition to the notoriety, his exposure in “Dawn” led him to other small roles, mostly in more zombie films.

People come up and ask for autographs. Kids want to sit in his lap and get their photos taken. Sometimes, it’s a little weirder. “It’s a little unsettling to have somebody come up to you and they’ve got your face tattooed on their arm,” Krut said.

Posted by Deljhp – 24FramesPerSecond.com

It’s been on our radar forever and a day, but ‘Ong-Bak’ stuntman Mike B’s (Brave) martial arts action pic The Sanctuary has now finally been given a release date. The film written and directed by Thanapon Maliwan (the helmer of Brave) is shot in English and Thai and features the fighting talents of Gary Daniels (Tekken), Rapeepan Bootthong and Dean Alexandrou (The Protector). The flick opens in Thailand October 8th and you can check out the trailer of teeth loosening, ass whooping action at the link.

Plot: In 1897, the “Poisoned Knife” clan broke into the royal palace of Thailand to steal the antiques which the King intended to give to America as a reward for its help in negotiations that avoided Thai territorial cuts. The clan succeeded in stealing the antiques, but the thieves didn’t escape with their lives. Before their deaths, they hid the antiques somewhere close to the palace. During his interrogation, the last bandit chose to end his life by Master Sawang’s sword and let the place where the Royal Antiques were hidden die with him. Now, Wisa (Winston Omega), the mafia boss whose ancestor masterminded the theft of the antiques wants to find them so he hires Patrick, the former director of the U.S. military National Subterranean Exploration Unit, to search for the lost antiques . Using U.S. Army satellite scans, Patrick and Selina, the beautiful and lethal assassin, retrieve them from beneath the Thai temple where Krit (Mike B – ‘Brave’), Master Sawang’s great grandson and a gifted martial artist resides as a temple boy. When they steal the antiques from the temple, it’s down to Krit with the help of Paifah, an Archaeology student to retrieve them. Together they fight against the powerful greedy group of thugs, will they be able to save Thailand’s national treasures?

Intira Jaroenpura

From ReelzChannel.com

first image SAW IV

With only a teaser trailer and a poster released for Saw VI, not much has been revealed about the latest sequel in the horror franchise, other than screenwriter Patrick Melton saying the movie will feel “resolved.”

It’s probably safe to assume that death traps are involved, as the first image of Saw VI reveals.

Saw VI opens October 23 and stars Costas Mandylor as Detective Hoffman, who has become the successor to Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) and sets a new game in motion as the FBI closes in on him. Shawnee Smith and Tanedra Howard co-star.

Make Up Department
  Patrick Baxter … makeup effects lab technician
  Amber Chase … assistant makeup artist
  Jason Detheridge … makeup effects technician
  Colin Penman … makeup department head

Visual Effects Department
  David Alexander … senior cgi artist: Switch VFX
  Jon Campfens … visual effects supervisor
  Feizal Cassamalli … CG artist: Switch VFX
  Peter Denomme … visual effects producer
  Amir Eftekhari … CG artist: Switch VFX
  Gudrun Heinze … senior digital compositor: Switch VFX
  Megumi Kanazawa … digital compositor: Switch VFX
  Jason Kozsurek … digital compositor
  Keren Kurtz … modeler and texture artist
  Jef Lonn … digital compositor: Switch VFX
  Kevin McBride … digital compositor: Switch VFX
  Mark Neumann … digital compositor: Switch VFX
  Beau Parsons … visual effects coordinator: Switch VFX
  Joel Skeete … digital compositor: Switch VFX
  Chris Wallace … digital intermediate colourist
  Beryl Wu … CG artist: Switch VFX

From ReelzChannel.com

In an extended interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, director James Cameron revealed that he has pretty much completed editing on Avatar and the studio is pretty happy with the result. So, now he is on to fine-tuning the visual effects 24/7.

“In the most important respects as a director, I’m 100 percent done because the film is shot and edited…. My job for the next few months until we deliver at the end of November is more as a visual effects person, working to make sure that the shots look real, that they’re all up to an even standard.”

Here, he seems to be for the first time directly addressing concerns that some of the special effects in the trailer were still a little too cartoonish. He indicates that at least some of the footage is going to get a significant upgrade.

“It’s just a question of getting in some of the remaining scenes from what we call template level where it looks like a video game up to the level of photo-realism…. The process is quite labor intensive. I’m working 14, 16 hours a day but all the major creative decisions have been made.”

Although part of the problem with the trailer was undoubtedly a level of hype about the special effects that no mere movie could ever satisfy, Cameron is still promising a game-changing experience that will go well beyond what we saw with Gollum in Lord of the Rings. It’s definitely going to be a busy three months.

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