Writer/director Sean Cain (pictured on the set of his first feature NAKED BENEATH THE WATER) got in touch with some details about his second shocker, SILENT NIGHT, ZOMBIE NIGHT. A co-production of his Velvet Hammer Films and ArsonCuff Entertainment, the grisly feature gets rolling next month.
SILENT NIGHT stars genre vets Lew (THE DEVIL’S REJECTS) Temple, Felissa (SLEEPAWAY CAMP) Rose and Vernon (THE ROAD WARRIOR) Wells. “The plot is a little like a love triangle between three friends,” Cain tells Fango. “Frank Talbot and Nash Jackson have been partners on the LAPD for many years—almost the same amount of time that Frank has been married to his wife, Sarah. However, on the day an undead plague breaks out, Frank takes an injured Nash back to the younger man’s apartment and finds his wife there with a packed bag. Because of the zombies, they are trapped inside and having to deal with the fact that both men love the same woman. I found some inspiration in Roman Polanski’s KNIFE IN THE WATER—all that sexual tension in that tiny sailboat. I guess I like that Polanski guy, because NAKED took inspiration from THE TENANT.“But don’t think this movie is going to be some slow European talkfest that just happens to have zombies,” he continues. “I call SILENT NIGHT, ZOMBIE NIGHT a cross between BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID and 28 DAYS LATER. And while it includes the modern fast-moving undead, there are also old-school Romero-style ghouls. The outbreak in our film turns you into either a walking corpse or an insane-looking predatory creature with a lust for killing, and Tom Devlin of 1313FX has come up with really cool looks for each type.”
SILENT NIGHT also has a narrative scope beyond the hothouse of that central apartment. “Vernon and Felissa are survivors trying to find people who are still alive and bring them back to the Burbank airport, where the remainder of humanity has taken a stand against the zombie hordes,” Cain explains. “They live in the planes in the middle of the tarmac; with that wide amount of space, it’s easy to kill the zombies if they decide to get a little too close.”
Cain is also thinking more ambitious on a production level, noting that NAKED was “created in a semiprofessional environment, using a lot of my friends as actors. For SILENT NIGHT, I’ve tapped a group of pros who are going to really kick ass. Lew Temple plays the tragic Jefferey Hannigan; aside from his young son, this survivor’s family has been torn apart and he’s hiding out in the attic of his home. When Nash is close to death, Jeffrey manages to rescue the guy and nurse him back to health. The emotional linchpin of the movie rests with Jeffrey and his plight.”
While many previous genre films have had Yuletide settings—from GREMLINS to SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT and numerous other over-the-top Santa-slasher flicks—Cain believes his movie stands apart. “SILENT NIGHT is played totally straight—nothing campy,” he says. “It just happens to take place around Christmas, which I feel gives the story more emotional resonance, as the holidays tend to bring out the best and worst in people. So the fact that the zombies have ended Santa’s sleigh ride as we know it just makes the characters want to chop their heads off even more. Although Frank does shoot a Santa zombie in the head—but he’s a jerk anyway, so we’d expect that from him.” You can check out the Velvet Hammer Films website here.
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Fri 21 Nov 2008 15:41:39 CST
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Fri 21 Nov 2008 02:00:54 CST