Tuesday, February 07, 2012

Wrestlers vs. Zombies— A New Twist



George Romero has always been one of of my heros for years. He literally reinvented the horror genre with his black and white cult classic, Night of The Living Dead. And now, the "living challenged creatures" are back with a vengeance. Zombies are killing it. Not just on your game console or your local movie screens, but  they've take over television with Frank Darabont’s adaptation of The Walking Dead comics on AMC. Though zombies have been a part of popular culture for almost half a century, there’s simply no doubt that they are currently a prevalent topic of entertainment and media coverage these days. It’s as if a virus was released into the media back in the 1960's that is spreading and taking hold of more creative properties every single year.

"Let’s do a horror movie," the screenwriter says to the producer.

"Does it have zombies in it?" replies the producer.

Sensing that his next paycheck is in danger if he says no, the screenwriter happily smiles and says "Yes! Yes, it's all about zombies! Why would you assume it wasn't?"

Why do zombies continue gaining popularity? What on earth is so lovable about them?



Frankly, nothing is lovable about zombies. Zombies are dead people who should be flat on morgue gurneys or buried six feet underground. They’re bluish-pale, vein-y, leaking bodily fluids from all their orifices, and (I imagine) they smell like unflushed wet feces stirred into old hamburger that’s been sitting out for a week. They shouldn’t be walking around, but they are, and it’s disgusting. To top it all off, they want nothing more than to consume living human flesh, which basically means you and me… and maybe the dog. There is no reason that any sensible person should like zombies. Yet the sales numbers prove it; we don’t just like zombies, we LOVE them. Resident Evil Afterlife debuted this weekend at #1, earning $43 million. The 2009 film Zombieland took in $24 million during its opening weekend. The Dawn of the Dead remake took in $102 million worldwide before leaving theaters. And the reason the DotD remake got a green light was because the zombie-deviant film 28 Days Later exploded in America after a more modest release in England. However, I can say with the utmost confidence and tenacity that the next zombie film will be far more successful than the last.

Why? 

Because The Franchise Shane Douglas has masterfully infused professional wrestling into the world of the undead. That's right, professional wrestlers will be slaying zombies in such gruesome ways that even Rob Zombie [the last name says it all] will find himself having to look away as the plot thickens and the blood spews into rivers of pure unbridled evil. shot "for the fans"

But we cannot do any of this without YOUR help. This film is being shot "for the fans"... that's rhe Franchise is starting a REVOLUTION and he's including each and every last one of you!

I, Bridget Petrella, am  just  one of the primary producers on this one-of-a-kind-project [until the sequel, of course]. Camera Bartollota and Cody Knotts are two of the most imaginative, thought-provoking producers/filmmakers I've met in a LONG time. They are fearless. When I asked Cody what had inspired him he was very candid, "I had this a story that I concocted in my head, but I never really attempted to put it into the movie because I figured there's only so much time. You just have to think, 'Okay, we have to push very hard in a short period of time as we're merging two types of fan favorites.' I think everyone can relate to that. I didn't really want to get into too much back story because I just thought it might bog the movie down. A lot of times, I see movies and I think, 'Yeah, we really do get it, you don't need to explain it all." 

Camera simply laughed and confessed to me, "What is anyone's motivation? They're insane, obviously." And I'm right there with them, no straight jacket and no safety net. Sometimes, people just have to channel the insanity and let it take on it's own form. Watch the footage and be prepared for a totally new horror genre, something NO ONE else on this planet would EVER attempt! The Franchise Shane Douglas is planning on taking the current versions of pro-wrestling back from the dead... LITERALLY! 

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