ART OF THE MONSTERVERSE

Horror filmmaker Larry Fessenden’s Monsterverse is a series of contemporary independent films that draw from the classic Universal monster movies of the 30’s and 40’s: Dracula (Fessenden’s HABIT, 1997), Frankenstein (Fessenden’s DEPRAVED, 2019) and the wolf man (Fessenden’s BLACKOUT, 2023). Fessenden’s films blend classic horror tropes with contemporary themes. Aesthetically the films are crafted with an artisanal low budget cinematic style, employing tactile, traditional art techniques in the building of the imagery, tapping into primal childhood and folkloric memories. In promoting the films, classical techniques in portraiture and painted posters call back to cinema’s past. This exhibit celebrates the collaborators that have contributed their artistry to the Fessenden Monsterverse.

THE LOGOS
Beck Underwood who designed the Glass Eye Pix logo, also designed the iconic “Habit” logo in 1996.
THE ANIMATOR
James Siewert embarked on a seven-month journey to create 300 acrylic paintings for the animated hallucination of the werewolf for BLACKOUT.
THE PAINTER
John Mitchell, who created paintings and drawings for the BLACKOUT protagonist’s on-screen artwork, was also tasked with creating 150 pen and ink images for an animated sequence that depicts the man transforming into a werewolf.
THE PHOTOGRAPHER
The classic monster portraits by Nelson Bakerman evoke the studio pictures that celebrated the work of makeup maestro Jack Pierce; not location shots or film stills, but portraits on white or black backdrops that were reproduced in monster magazines hawked to impressionable kids during he Monster Craze of the 60s and 70s. Bakerman’s work for the three films has appeared in Fangoria Magazine, The Village Voice, and inspired the posters displayed here.
THE POSTERS
Graham Humphreys is an illustrator and designer with 40 years experience. One of the few contemporary illustrators using the traditional medium of gouache to paint his images, Graham is best known for his work within the horror genre. Humphreys is the perfect illustrator to create the Retro Style Monsterverse Posters that pay tribute to the art of the original films (which the director grew up staring at).
FAN ART
Adam Markiewicz creates a delightful encounter between the Universal Monsters and their contemporary counterparts in this work of fan art encouraged by BLACKOUT vfx artist Eugene Lehnert.

On display at the IFC 2nd Floor Exhibit Space Starting March 8, 2024
Thanks to Posteritati for loaning out the space and IFC for hosting
HEY NY — SEE IT LIVE!

from DEADLINE

Universal’s monster movie Abigail helmed by Radio Silence’s Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett has been set to world premiere as the closing night film of horror fest The Overlook Film Festival, which is taking place this year at the Prytania Theatres in New Orleans from April 4 – 7.
…
Other highlights from the lineup include Larry Fessenden’s Blackout

Blackout
Director: Larry Fessenden
Cast: Alex Hurt, Addison Timlin, Motell Gyn Foster, Joseph Castillo-Midyett, John Speredakos, Michael Buscemi, Joe Swanberg, Barbara Crampton, James Le Gros, Marshall Bell

Not your typical werewolf story, Blackout follows a painter, haunted by guilt, who becomes convinced that he is transforming at night and wreaking havoc in his small town in this genre-bending and often hilarious portrait from the legendary Larry Fessenden (Habit, Wendigo).

Read full article at Deadline

Larry Fessenden joins the JUNKIES this week to talk some Indie Horror!! Larry is an Actor, Producer & Director with such projects as Blackout, Jakob’s Wife, We Are Still Here & Habit just to name a few from a resume a mile long! Join us in the chat with all your questions as we will have plenty to talk about!!

BLACKOUT unspooling Wednesday 3/13 & Thursday 3/14 at 12:45 PM
check website for more showtimes

JOHN MITCHELL | BLACKOUT: Painting & Drawings
for Larry Fessenden’s independent feature film BLACKOUT
March 13 – 23, 2024
Planthouse Gallery 55 West 28th St NY NY 10001

Opening Reception: Wednesday, March 13, 5-7 pm

This exhibition will run in conjunction with the film premiere at 7:30PM
IFC Center, 323 Sixth Avenue at West 3^rd Street, NY, NY.

Wednesday March 13 at IFC in NYC. 7:30 PM
followed by Q&A featuring Fessenden, Alex Hurt and Special Guests

Thursday March 14 at 7:00 PM
followed by Q&A featuring Fessenden, Alex Hurt and Special Guests

Check IFC WEBSITE for Tickets and Info on additional screenings

GEP pal Iris Olympia searches for a familiar connection between art, music, and the soul in a MoMA essay for eyes and ears. Check it!

From the intro:

When Naeem, MoMA’s content producer, asked me to do a MoMA Mixtape, it felt like the stars were aligning. I had been to the Museum once before, for the Glass Eye Pix retrospective featuring my partner’s film Foxhole. Yet my connection with Naeem was much more random—it was on a small street in Brooklyn when he saw me and asked to take my photograph. Two disconnected events bound me to MoMA.

My method for this visit was to find what resonates—if I could do that, the music and the structure of this collection would appear. And so it did.

Take the journey with Iris!

Late Phases (2014) Revisited – Horror Movie Review

Have you seen the 2014 werewolf movie Late Phases? If you haven’t, it just might be the best horror movie you never saw

BY ANDREW HATFIELD

… Director Adrian Garcia Bogliano enjoyed the script he read from Eric Stolze and had built up a reputation with his segment of The ABCs of Death as well as Here Comes the Devil from 2012. While he has slowed down a bit since this movie’s release, he continues to work in film and TV today. Eric Stolze has far less to his name but also most recently wrote surprise 2020 hit The Stylist. The talent assembled in front of the camera is far more recognizable, well except one who is a name you will know but I literally didn’t recognize him until looking it up. The lead is blind veteran Ambrose Mckinley played to salty perfection by Nick Damici. Damici was first known to me when he showed up in that early 2000s sleazy Meg Ryan and Mark Ruffalo movie In the Cut but has a trilogy of good and underseen horror movies with today’s flick, the American remake of We Are What We Are, and Stake Land. He also wrote Stake Land, We Are What We Are, and several episodes of underrated TV show Hap and Leonard.

We will get into more of the cast later, but the movie opens up Ambrose looking to pick out his headstone as he is moving to a senior living space. The salesperson is played by Larry Fessenden who shows up in nearly every independent horror movie now but that’s also because he helps produce so many of them, including this one. Ambrose’s son Will, played by Ethan Embry, drops him off at his new living arrangement and even though Ambrose is curmudgeonly to put it lightly, he makes friends with his very sweet neighbor. He’s not as kind to the welcoming party but to be fair, he’s not wrong. These characters would bug the heck out of me too. This is Damici’s movie in every sense. His line delivery, the added age makeup as even though he was in his early 50s, the character was a decent amount older, and his mannerisms while playing blind are all incredible.

He finds a claw in his new wall, and we learn what it belongs to much quicker than anticipated. A Howling size bipedal werewolf kills both his new neighbor friend and his guide dog. Kudos to the movie for getting right into it with the monster of the movie and having the guts to kill that sweet dog. Ambrose is unable to get his gun in time to save the dog or kill the monster, but he is motivated … 

Read full rave at JoBlo.com

INVADER is the newest flick from director Mickey Keating (PSYCHOPATHS, DARLING).
Produced by Joe Swanberg (BLACKOUT) for Forager Films (DEPRAVED).

A young woman arrives in the Chicago suburbs and begins to suspect that something terrible has happened to her missing cousin, but soon realizes that her greatest fears don’t even begin to scratch the surface.

INVADER hits Alamo Drafthouse theaters in MARCH!

Trailer and Poster HERE. Check it!