SAN DIEGO — The horror-comedy “Zombieland” looks at the world after a zombie invasion and two men who are doing everything they can to survive the aftermath.

The cast of “Zombieland” talked about the project at Comic-Con International in San Diego.

“It was high time I got offered a zombie movie,” said Woody Harrelson, who plays gun-toting zombie battler Tallahassee.

“I thought, this is probably going to be a silly movie, ‘Zombieland’? What?” he said. “And then reading it, I found it absolutely riveting. … Anyway, they wrote an amazing script, it’s a page-turner.”

“Zombieland” was conceived as a television pilot but was adapted to a feature film when it seemed it would be too expensive to realize on TV.

Jesse Eisenberg plays Tallahassee’s nerdy partner, Columbus. Columbus is a bit of a wimp with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

This prompts him to create a list — 47 rules of how to survive in Zombieland.

Along the way, Tallahassee and Columbus meet up with Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin).

“I was not as put off by the idea of it being a zombie movie, because I thought it would be kind of cool,” Stone said. “And then it was wonderful, and I learned I would get to shoot a gun. I went to a gun range a couple times and learned how to shoot a pump shotgun, so that was kind of nice.”

The shoot took place over 42 days in Georgia. While that’s not a long shoot, director Ruben Fleischer said it seemed long enough to him.

“I come from a low-budget, music video and short film background, so for me it seemed like a really long amount of time,” he told the Comic-Con crowd.

- by Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

The trailer for the remake of “Nightmare on Elm Street,” with Jackie Earle Haley (”Watchmen,” “Bad News Bears”) as Freddy Krueger. Feel free to share your thoughts about the remake in the comments!

LOS ANGELES — Briana Evigan is one of a pair of famous daughters in “Sorority Row,” opening in theaters today. The daughter of “B.J. and the Bear” star Greg Evigan co-stars with Rumer Willis, the daughter of actors Bruce Willis and Demi Moore.

Evigan said Willis doesn’t at all have a stereotypical Hollywood personality.

“She’s got the sweet, shy, honest personality going on,” Evigan, 22, said.

As for her own industry parents (her mother is a former ballerina, agent and model), Evigan said they will give her feedback on projects but don’t impose on what she does.

“I send them scripts sometimes when I get a job and ask them what they think,” Evigan said.

“Sometimes my dad will attack my script with notes and hand it back to me with hundreds of notes all over it. And he says take or leave it. … if you hate ‘em, throw ‘em, and if you love ‘em, use ‘em. And other than that, he checks out my head every time I get home to make sure it’s not bigger.”

The slasher film “Sorority Row” is a throwback to the 1980s, and Evigan said viewers are supposed to have some fun along with the violence and body count.

“After I watched it, I was like, ‘Nobody can make fun of us, because there’s so much making fun of ourselves already in the film,’ and I love that,” she said. “There’s definitely that tongue-in-cheek feel.”

“Sorority Row” is a loose remake of 1983’s “House on Sorority Row.” It is directed by Stewart Hendler.

Evigan plays Cassidy, who disagrees with the judgment made by the sorority girls after they are caught up in a prank gone wrong. Despite her character disagreeing with the other characters, Evigan said she and her co-stars became fast friends.

“Every single one of us got along very well,” she said. “The cool thing was because we became such close friends so quickly, we could be open (in our work).”

As for her own favorite horror films, Evigan prefers less gore.

“(My favorites are) ‘The Shining,’ ‘Psycho,’ ‘Alien,’ ‘Carrie.’ I like the classics a little more. I’m not into the gore, (or) ‘watch me cut your body open.’”

- By Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

SAN DIEGO — Writer/director Bo Zenga and the cast of Stan Helsing held a riotous, freewheeling panel at Comic-Con International on Friday night.  Attendees were introduced to several clips from the film, which features four partygoers running across parodies of six top horror characters.

Steve Howey, who starred on “Reba,” plays the title character, Stan Helsing.   Kenan Thompson, Leslie Nielsen, Diora Baird and Desi Lydic joined Howey and Zenga on the panel.

Asked how he liked appearing in a Superman-like spandex suit the entire film, Thompson said, “It made me want to start running, stuff like that. Working out.”

Multiple fans expressed appreciation for the careers of Nielsen and Thompson.  Nielsen, of course, boasts a 50-plus year movie career, while Thompson has been on television for most of his life, with roles in “All That” and “Kenan and Kel.”

Nielsen plays a waitress in “Stan Helsing,” spending his role in drag.

“It’s not often you get a chance to make that switch and get away with it,” he said.

Thompson said the slasher parody idea drew him to the film.

“I grew up in the 80s, so I was close to slasher films growing up,” he said. “And it was one of the few movies going last summer, so I jumped on that.”

Nielsen, 83, indicated he has no plans to retire.

“I hope to keep doing funny movies til I drop dead,” he said.

- Matt Price

Thomas Dekker, left, and Anthony Fitzgerald in "Laid to Rest."

Missing Lena Headey and Thomas Dekker after FOX cancelled “Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles”? You can catch them in the movie “Laid to Rest,” now available on DVD.

Anthony Fitzgerald, who co-stars in the film, talked to The Oklahoman about the slasher movie, and his character’s possible Oklahoma ties.

“I play a very obnoxious kind of party kid who’s in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Fitzgerald said. “I’m on my way to a rave in Atlanta, and when we were filming it, we joked that we might be from Oklahoma; we’re two young guys on college spring break more or less.”

Fitzgerald went to college in Kansas, and one of his best friends attended college in Oklahoma.

“I’ve been to Oklahoma many many times,” Fitzgerald, who now lives in Los Angeles, said. “I’ve flown out there and driven out there, and I’m a huge fan of Garth Brooks.”

But you won’t hear Fitzgerald’s character humming “Friends in Low Places.”

“In real life, if you have a killer chasing you, you don’t have time to explain how old you are, where you come from, your parents and all that stuff,” Fitzgerald said. “And that’s why I’m proud of ‘Laid to Rest,’ I think it’s a very accurate portrayal of what you would do in a situation. You’d be very afraid. You’d lock the door. You wouldn’t run up the stairs, you’d run out the door.”

“Laid to Rest” is directed by Robert Hall, who was a special makeup effects creator on “Sarah Connor Chronicles,” as well as a special makeup designer on “Angel” and “Buffy: The Vampire Slayer.”

“If you are a horror fan, then this movie will not disappoint,” Fitzgerald said. “The movie revolves around Chrome Skull, the lead, played by Nick Principe, chasing our lead female, who has a case of dementia-slash-amnesia, and doesn’t know who she is or why she’s being chased. You end up finding out why the killer is chasing her towards the end of the movie.”

- by Matthew Price
From Tuesday’s The Oklahoman

The video on demand horror network FEARnet is offering a five-film showcase of Sam Raimi horror selections, starting with the classic “Evil Dead 2.”  Check back each day with FEARnet for a new release.

Want more Sam Raimi, including some “Spider-Man 4″ news?

Raimi hints in a FEARnet video that Morbius the vampire could be a possible villain for “Spider-Man 4″ in this video.

“The best villains, they have some positive qualities,” Raimi says.

In another video, Raimi discusses coming back to horror for “Drag Me to Hell.”

To see  a preview clip for “Drag Me to Hell,” click here.

Doug Hutchison’s web series “Vampire Killers” features a group of sexy vampires and those who hunt them. An edited version of episode 2 is embedded above from YouTube. To see the complete series, visit www.vampirekillers.tv. See my interview with Doug Hutchison, who currently stars as Horace Goodspeed in “Lost” and recently played Looney Bin Jim in “Punisher War Zone,” in Friday’s The Oklahoman or online at NewsOK.com.

– Matt Price

 Developer 1C has launched a site for the upcoming PC game “NecroVisioN” at www.necrovision-game.com.    I played a preview of this game at last year’s 1C press preview event, and now seems a good time to share my impressions:

NecroVisioN is a World War I shooter that has horror and fantasy elements.  As the game begins, the gamer takes on the role of  an American soldier battling Germans.

Soon, though, the game takes a supernatural turn.  A war between vampires and demons is spilling to the surface, and your character must fight to save humanity.

The game was visually impressive and action-packed in the preview I played.  The design is suitably scary, and the effects were well-done.  A nice twist in gameplay allows the gamer to play with a weapon in each hand, if the weapon can be wielded one-handed.

Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft, the game melds horror and military adventure.  Look for more on NecroVisioN as the release nears.  

See the full press release about the new site after the break.

– Matt Price

Moscow, February 4, 2009 – 1C Company and Aspyr have today unveiled a website – www.necrovision-game.com- for upcoming horror FPS NecroVisioN, the game that sees players crawling through the trenches of World War One straight into the jaws of Hell. NecroVisioN is launching exclusively on PC in Spring of 2009.

Fans looking for a classic old-school FPS experience can use the website to uncover more information about the B-movie style plot of NecroVisioN. Why are the dead rising from their graves? How did a mad German scientist build a huge robot in 1917? What is the mysterious war between vampires and demons? The answers to all these questions and more, can be found within the different pages of the site.

Alongside details about the plot, the site also contains a range of screenshots from NecroVisioN, exclusive videos of the game in action and wallpaper for gamer’s desktops. Plus, there’s also a forum where players can chat about their tactics for disposing of the undead with other zombie hunters.

NecroVisioN is a fast-paced and furious first-person shooter from The Farm 51 that blends historical detail with horror and alternative reality. Players are put in the shoes of Simon Bukner, an American soldier, who decides to help the British effort to take out the German threat. But that’s only the start of his troubles and Bukner soon realizes that there’s something far more terrible stirring in the trenches: a string of hideous beasts and demons.

This isn’t the 1996 Tom Berenger film, but instead a Danish import from 2007 directed by Ole Bornedal. “The Substitute” is part of the “Ghost House Underground” series of horror films selected for DVD release by Rob Tapert and Sam Raimi, the producer and director, respectively, of the “Evil Dead” films.

In “The Substitute,” an alien, puzzled by the concept of love, lands on Earth, mimics human form, and becomes a substitute teacher for a group of sixth-graders. She’s horrifically mean to them, and can read their minds. However, when the kids point this out to their parents, the kids are told they are being overly imaginative.

This is the kind of film that could have been made in the U.S. in the 1980s: A non-R rated horror film, like “The Goonies” or “The Monster Squad” that is aimed at the pre-teen audience.

Paprika Steen is suitably menacing as Ulla, the substitute. Jonas Wandschneider plays Carl, the student at the center of the film, already reeling from his mother’s death in a car accident prior to the substitute’s arrival.

“The Substitute” is clever, funny horror that’s almost entirely gore-free. There are some similarities to Robert Rodriguez’s “The Faculty,” but “The Substitute” is a better film.

Producer Rob Tapert knows his scary movies.

He and director Sam Raimi got started together, making the “Evil Dead” films starring Bruce Campbell.

Tapert is currently working to line up films for the “Ghost House” line with Raimi. Eight branded horror movies are out now in the “Ghost House Underground” set: “Dance of the Dead,” “No Man’s Land: The Rise of the Reeker,” “The Substitute,” “Dark Floors,” “Trackman,” “Room 205,” “Last House in the Woods” and “Brotherhood of Blood.”

Tapert recently talked to The Oklahoman about the scariest movies he’d ever seen. On Halloween, if you’re looking for a last-minute rental to scare the pants off of you, here’s three recommended by a master.

The Exorcist (1973)

Two priests attempt to exorcise a demon from a 12-year-old girl. The film was directed by William Friedkin (”The French Connection”) based on the novel by William Peter Blatty.

“I saw ‘The Exorcist’ at the Woods Theater in Detroit, Michigan,” Tapert said. “I had read the book. It was the first time in my life I ever thought, this would make a great movie – and I was a kid, too. And it exceeded my expectations even then, as it was far scarier than the book.”

Halloween (1978)

Michael Myers escapes from an institution and goes on a Halloween killing spree. This film was the debut of Jamie Lee Curtis. Donald Pleasence plays a psychiatrist on the trail of the killer in this film by co-writer and director John Carpenter.

“I saw ‘Halloween’ in a packed house and in an empty house,” Tapert said. “When I saw it in a packed house, that was an experience I had never imagined before. That was a visceral experience.”

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

Tobe Hooper’s tale of five friends terrorized by a killer with a chainsaw became the highest grossing independent film of all time. It was based, very loosely, on the crimes of serial killer Ed Gein.

“The first Texas Chainsaw, I saw it at midnight in college, and that was horrifying, that was really scary at the time.”

– Matthew Price
Assistant Features Editor
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

Here’s a few more questions with Toby Wilkins, director of “Splinter,” beyond what we could fit in the newspaper.

Matt Price: Has the reaction to Splinter been what you were expecting?

Toby Wilkins: We screened it twice now, for an audience.  At Screamfest was the first time I had seen it with an audience, and I was blown away by the reaction.  It was a really great mix. Screamfest being a horror festival has this hardcore horror audience who are there to watch and love horror movies.  And then the other half of the audience were people I’d invited, people from the industry and friends of mine who don’t necessarily watch horror movies all the time.

And it was a great blend of audience to see it for the first time with, horror fans cheering at all the right gory moments and the stuff that they love, and the less experienced horror audience screaming at all the right moments and laughing at all the right jokes.  It was a really great experience, I can’t imagine a better audience to have seen it for the first time with.

MP: What can Oklahoma City fans who attend your screening expect?

TW: I’d guess there’d be an introduction and a Q&A afterwards.  I would imagine or hope some of the local crew and cast will be able to attend.  But basically they’re in for a roller coaster ride of a horror movie!

MP: And you’re also distributing “Splinter” in kind of a new way.

TW: The way theatrical distribution is going, with a third more independent films launching each year, something like 600 movies per year, the number of theaters you can actually get a movie into is becoming greatly reduced.  And there’s a huge audience for horror movies and especially independent horror movies, people are really excited to see them.  So it’s a great, cutting-edge type of distribution that Magnet have been able to secure for “Splinter.”  You can actually see the movie right now, before it releases in theaters on Halloween, if you don’t live in one of the four cities, New York, Los Angeles, Austin or Oklahoma City, where the movie is being released, you can watch it through your cable’s on-demand service, for basically the price of a movie ticket.

I think independent film in general needs to find a more efficient way of reaching an audience.  Because even if you do what in independent film is considered a very wide release of 100 screens, that still cuts out a huge section of an audience who may be responsive to a film.  With the internet as a distribution method, things like iTunes rentals and downloads, and video on demand, which is obviously becoming very popular, there are great opportunities to release movies to a much wider audience.

What: “Splinter” screening

Where: Oklahoma City Museum of Art’s Noble Theater, 415 Couch Drive

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday with director Toby Wilkins; additional screenings at 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Price: Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and students and $5 for museum members

Information: 278-8237 or www.okcmoa.com/film

There’s a mysterious creature roaming through the woods of Oklahoma – but that’s actually good news for the state.

A combination of elements conducive to the script and incentives from the Oklahoma Film Commission drew director Toby Wilkins to Oklahoma to shoot “Splinter.” The horror film gets an Oklahoma City premiere Thursday at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.

The state is “one of the few places you can still find isolated, rural pockets of civilization, like gas stations in the middle of forests, which is a key element of the script,” Wilkins said in a phone interview. “And I don’t want to spoil the movie, but for various reasons having very warm summer nights played a part in how the script worked.”

The key roles in “Splinter” are filled by Shea Whigham (”Wristcutters: A Love Story”), Jill Wagner and Paulo Constanzo. Whigham was the first aboard, Wilkins said, as escaped convict Dennis Farrell.

“With the 15 or more movies that he’s done, (he brought) an enormous amount of weight to the casting process.”

Wilkins hadn’t been familiar with Wagner’s genre background in “Blade: The Series,” but he said once he learned of it, it was a nice bonus. She and Constanzo play a couple who take to the woods for an amorous anniversary.

Wagner provided “a strong, powerful female lead who is a take-charge and confident character at the beginning of the movie, but still has access to the vulnerability that’s needed for the scares in a horror movie to work,” he said.

And Costanzo, best-known for his role on the “Friends” spin-off “Joey,” was interested in attacking something in another genre.

“The nervous energy that Paulo brings to the character of Seth is really what I was looking for from the beginning,” Wilkins said.

Wilkins said he was pleased with the talent of the local crew, which included many Oklahomans. And it’s not only Wilkins who is pleased with the finished work. The film won six awards this month at the eighth annual Screamfest horror movie festival in Hollywood.

“It’s a record-breaking sweep,” Wilkins said. “I’m so blown away that the crew involved in putting the movie together and creating it and making it what it is are getting the recognition they deserve.”

From Wednesday’s The Oklahoman
By Matthew Price

In Toby Wilkins’ “Splinter,” a couple who just wants to spend their anniversary camping come upon an unexplained terror from the woods. Jill Wagner (”Blade: The Series”) plays Polly, a capable woman taking her somewhat nerdy boyfriend Seth (Paulo Constanzo, “Joey”) out for an sexy outdoor rendezvous on their anniversary. But after a tent mishap, the two decide to head for a motel. Along the way, they stop to pick up a woman (Rachel Kerbs). But it turns out she and her just-released-from-prison boyfriend (played by Shea Wigham, “Tigerland”) want to hijack their SUV, with them still in it.

After the truck hits a raccoon – infected by a strange plague – the foursome are stuck in a rural Oklahoma gas station. And that’s where the “splinter” plague intends to pick them off.

While plot-wise, it’s not that different from many a horror movie, this movie shines in the acting and execution. This movie is absolutely trying to scare you – and despite some gory scenes, it’s not doing it with only gore. There’s psychological suspense and creeping dread. While monster fans might be disappointed that, for much of the film, there are only glimpses and quick looks at the monster, it’s an effective way of sharing with the audience the uncertainty and fear of the characters.

- Matthew Price
From Wednesday’s The Oklahoman

Congers, NY (September 26, 2008) – Wizard World Texas just got even bigger with the announcement today that the pop culture extravaganza will host the hottest horror show in Texas, Texas Fear Fest, as part of the festivities November 7-9 at the Arlington Convention Center.

Wizard World, the largest family-friendly comics and pop culture convention in the United States, returns to Texas November 7-9 at the Arlington Convention Center.

Frank Forte, creator of The Vampire Verses, Insidious Tales and Warlash, invites fans to take a look at a preview for his new horror anthology The Asylum of Horrors.

The 96-page anthology will feature 16 stories for $4.95.

According to a release, the book’s premise is that a mad psychiatrist induces dreams in his psychotic patients, which he is then able to view.

“I’ve always been a fan of horror and now I want to do the kind of book that pulls no punches,” Forte said in a release.

– Matt Price

The comic book, limited to 10,000 copies, will be distributed at FEARNet’s booth #4313 during Comic-Con. 

Part 1 of the Web series “30 Days of Night: Dust to Dust” is available now on FEARNet.com.

– Matt Price

“My Name is Bruce” stars B-movie icon Bruce Campbell as, well, Bruce Campbell. He’s mistaken for his character Ash from the “Evil Dead” trilogy and forced to battle a real monster in Oregon, according to imdb.