Written, directed and edited by Kevin Colligan.

Synopsis: Three volunteers are tormented by their most primal fears when a medical trial for a new anti-anxiety medication goes awry.

Tagline: A prescription for terror

Starring Rachael Drummond, Andy Hoff, Dana LaRue and Bryan Van Huis.

Produced by Christina Colligan.

See WellToldTales.com/SideEffects for complete cast and crew.

Explicit: senseless violence, gratuitous blood and salty language

 

 Side Effects [10:55m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (2714)

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No, this post is not about Rog, Dwayne and Rerun. It’s about the creepy new trailers proliferating around the Web for M. Night Shyamalan’s new movie “The Happening.”

I think Shyamalan is a helluva filmmaker. Yes, his last few flicks have been subpar, but after raising our expectations so high with “The Sixth Sense,” it was easy for fans and critics to be disappointed.

The “red band” (ie: under 17 not admitted) trailer gives me hope that Shyamalan is back at the top of his game. Enjoy:

If you’re an honest youngster, fear not, IGN.com and Apple (among others) have the PG-rated trailer as well.

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Earlier this week, “Iron Man” director Jon Favreau discussed his comic book-based hit film on “The Treatment,” the KCRW public radio show hosted by film critic Elvis Mitchell.

Favreau discusses how “Iron Man” — like all his films, including “Swingers,” “Elf” and “Made” — are modeled on the Joseph Campbell archetypes famously detailed in the book “The Hero With a Thousand Faces.”

“You need a roadmap,” opines Favreau, “and why not pick the best roadmap there is?”

Explosions also help.

“The Treatment” is one of my go-to podcasts. If you’re a screenwriter or filmmaker, you’ll probably enjoy it as well.

Link >

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There was a remake of John Carpenter’s 1978 classic “Halloween” released last year, so it’s only fitting that a do-over of the copycat 1980 “Friday the 13th” film is currently in production.

Producer Brad Fuller is blogging about the new 13th over on the blog for Platinum Dunes, the Michael Bay production company which also brought us the re-imagined Texas Chainsaw Massacre series.

There’s not much about the movie up yet — the first on-set photo features a Crystal Lake police car (yikes!) — but more pix, video interviews and the like are promised if you’re into that sort of thing.

Link to Platinum Dunes blog >

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Technological advances in digital filmmaking have led to an explosion in the number of short films available on the Web.

I always enjoy finding good ones, so I’m glad someone tipped me off to this stylish, spooky horror short written and directed by Jacob Swanson.

More options at Vimeo.com.

Link >

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In honor of Mother’s Day, we here at Well Told Tales came up with our top 10 moms from horror, sci-fi and crime/hardboiled films.

Chime in on the comments section if you think we missed someone.

Happy Mother’s Day!

(more…)

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The creators of Internet film sensation “Star Wreck” are at it again. This time with “Iron Sky,” a movie about … well, I’ll let them tell it:

“In 1945 the Nazis fled to the moon. In 2018 they are coming back.”

More from their site: “Iron Sky is a film about conformity: those who want to conform, those who want to make others conform, and those who refuse.”

The film is in pre-production (the trailer above contains no actual movie footage — just some conceptual look and feel) and they are looking for people to help out. Sounds like fun.

Link

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Battling insomnia one night, I stumbled across this short film by Canadian director Trevor Canwood and was completely mesmerized.

The surreal stalking creatures are quietly menacing. And the ’70s look of the film is pitch-perfect. Needless to say, I didn’t get back to sleep easily after watching this.

(Link to hi-res version: http://www.terminus-movie.com/movie.html)

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Let’s get the obvious out of the way immediately: George A. Romero, father of the modern-day zombie movie, is a genre — and general — filmmaking giant. Mr. Romero could release a 90-minute test pattern and his legacy would be secure.

But man alive (or undead), is his latest film dreadful.

I love the ‘Dead’ series like Pittsburgh zombie’s love human flesh. So when ‘Diary’ came out, I searched all over L.A. to catch it (and the fact that it was only playing at Grauman’s Chinese Theater did little to dampen my enthusiasm.)

Sadly, it was probably the worst movie I’ve ever watched in its entirety — and I’ve seen several Uwe Boll flicks.

It’s on DVD soon, so you can see for yourself.

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It’s amazing no one thought of this sooner.

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