Welcome to The Tower, a podcast that explores the films that took the rulebook, doused it in gasoline and lit a match. The Tower tarot card represents chaos and the upheaval of old forms, and here I will focus on films that did just that for my brilliant guests. The films that changed them forever are the films that belong in The Tower. In each episode, Bennett interviews visionaries in cinema, from directors to festival programmers, from actors to writers, from critics to psychoanalysts, and explores their favorite paradigm-shifting films. The fire is burning. Come dance with us in the flames.
Crew The Tower is created and hosted by Emily Bennett produced by Jordan Gass-Pooré and presented by Glass Eye Pix. Technical adviser is Justin Brooks. Sound engineering by Mark Bush. Original music composed by Graham Reznick. Art by Steak Mntn.
EPISODE 1 FEATURING LARRY FESSENDEN DROPS 11.10.25
Tommy and Gene uncover more than they bargain for when strolling through a graveyard at midnight. Writer and Score, Glenn McQuaid; Director, Larry Fessenden. Featuring Jaxon Bartok and Leon Barrett. Tales Theme by Jeff Grace. Poster by Brian Level.
Glass Eye Pix celebrates its 40th anniversary with a new collection of audio horror.
RUE MORGUE got the first word about the sixth season of TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE, the homage to classic radio terrors overseen by Larry Fessenden (BLACKOUT, DEPRAVED, WENDIGO) and Glenn McQuaid (I SELL THE DEAD, THE RESTORATION OF GRAYSON MANOR). A teaser for the new lineup titled THE HOST, directed by Fessenden, written and scored by McQuaid and featuring young performers Jaxon Bartok and Leon Barrett can be heard below; the poster was created by TALES regular Brian Level, and the series’ returning theme was composed by Jeff Grace.
A new entry in TALES’ season six will be released every second Thursday of the month, beginning on November 13 and available wherever you get your podcasts. The talent involved includes both TALES regulars and exciting newcomers:
THE SLAUGHTERED, by Joe Maggio (BITTER FEAST, BLISS)
ORPHEUS, by Jenn Wexler (THE RANGER, THE SACRIFICE GAME)
THE NEXT VOICE YOU HEAR WILL BE YOUR OWN, by Emily Bennett (BLOOD SHINE, ALONE WITH YOU)
SUPER, by Rigo Garay (SIZE UP, actor in CRUMB CATCHER, BLACKOUT)
THREE RAPS ON THE BUOY, by McQuaid
MADGE, THE WORLD SPIDER, AND ONE LAST DRINK, by Richard Newby (author, WE MAKE MONSTERS HERE)
FOX HUNT, by Craig Ian Mann (author, PHASES OF THE MOON)
EVERYTHING MUST GO, by Ted Geoghegan (WE ARE STILL HERE, MOHAWK, BROOKLYN 45)
Also coming up are new tales from Graham Reznick (I CAN SEE YOU, DEADWAX), Clay McCleod Chapman (author, WHISPER DOWN THE LANE, GHOST EATERS, ACQUIRED TASTE), Roxanne Benjamin (SOUTHBOUND, BODY AT BRIGHTON ROCK, V/H/S) April Snellings (author, FOOD CHAIN), Joe Lynch (SUITABLE FLESH, MAYHEM) and Fessenden himself. The casts are also rife with familiar names and newcomers, such as James Le Gros, Barbara Crampton, Alex Hurt, Bennett, John Speredakos, Jeremy Holm, Garay, Lorraine Farris, Bill Sage, Kareem Savinon, Chloë Levine, Asta Paredes, Clay von Carlowitz, Xero Gravity, David Cardoza, Dante Fiallo, Romanichel and Benjamin Frankenberg.
“Here we are,” McQuaid says, “a little older, none the wiser, and once again trudging beyond the pale with a brand-new collection of TALES. This season gathers some of the sharpest, strangest, and most brilliant writers we’ve ever had the pleasure to work with. The mics are hot, the celery’s snapping, and the tape is rolling.” Adds Fessenden, “It’s delightful to be back making mischief with artisans old and new. In a time when mounting a movie is so arduous, it’s fun and essential to be able to tell stories in a more spontaneous format.”
Also part of the TALES team is producer Jordan Gass-Pooré, with primary recording and mixing by Matt Rocker of Underground Audio. Musical collaborators Reznick, McQuaid and Dave Eggar also make multiple contributions. You can check out the first five seasons of TALES on iTunes, Audible, Spotify, Amazon and at the official website.
Independent horror filmmaker Larry Fessenden began his directing career with No Telling, a low-budget rural riff on Frankenstein featuring heavy relationship drama and animal experimentation. Nearly 30 years later, Fessenden returned to the “Frankenstein complex” with Depraved, a modern take set in New York that begins with the murder of a millennial web designer whose brain is plugged into a stitched-together creation. “Adam” is unaware of the life that was snuffed out to bring him to life. Over its long development period, Depraved suffered a drastic budget reduction, but Fessenden’s threadbare resources are mostly outshone by committed performances from David Call as Henry, our narcissistic creator, and Alex Breaux as Adam. The film honors Shelley’s conception of the Monster with an uncommon degree of sensitivity and notably deploys an array of optical effects to emphasize the experience of Adam’s secondhand eyes taking in the world for the first time.
In the beginning, THE OFF SEASON appears to be the story of a young couple from New York City moving up to Maine to get away from it all. Soon, strange things begin to happen in the one-room apartment that they occupy — things that the once close couple cannot discuss with each other. This is not a typical ghost story resulting from a tragic death, but the tale of a place haunted by guilt and the fear of abandonment.
“The Off Season delivers both remarkable character development and terrific “jump” moments. Prepare to scream, shudder and never shower in a motel again.” —The Chronicle
“deliberately-paced ghost story from executive producer Larry Fessenden. At first glance, the plot plays out like The Shining, but more probing reveals that there’s a lot at work here and that the film has merit on its own.” —DVD & Video Guide 2007
Ramping up to GEP’s 40th Anniversary, we celebrate 40+ projects that have come from our shop
Werewolves haven’t had the same pop cultural penetration as their fright-night brethren like zombies, vampires, and the assortment of slasher villains, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have movies worth howling for. As with most movie monsters, the earliest efforts in the genre are among the best, as they open audience eyes to previously unseen worlds of terror, and illuminate a future of sequels, ripoffs, and remakes. 1941’s The Wolf Man, with Lon Chaney Jr., remains the fast and furriest, though we also pay tribute to its 1935 progenitor Werewolf of London.
Since ol’ Wolfy got a late start compared to other Universal Classic Monsters, at a time when their influence was beginning to wane, the studio was quick to put him in crossover sequels that were the style at the time. 1940s movies like Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man and The House of Frankenstein saw Chaney doing his best in a crowded cast.
Things frankly got quiet for a few decades, until in 1981 no less than three influential werewolf movies came out: Wolfen, The Howling, and An American Werewolf in London. Being back in the spotlight, and this being the ’80s, of course werewolves also got a teen comedy (Teen Wolf) and a kid-friendly romp (The Monster Squad).
Highlights since that ’80s heyday include the feminist deconstruction Ginger Snaps, action-packed Dog Soldiers, and getting the sexy treatment in both Underworld and Twilight.
If it’s a bright night out with a full moon, then you know what that means: Barricade the door, smelt all the silver in the house down into bullets, and get ready for a fur-flyin’ fight. That, or just check out our guide to the 30 Essential Werewolf Movies and settle in for a howling good time. —Alex Vo
Screening & Q&A BLACKOUT Monday, October 27th at 7:30 PM with filmmaker Larry Fessenden and executive producer Franklin Laviola in person Discussion moderated by film critic Maitland McDonagh $20 Public | $13 Members
Charley has a secret… he believes that he has been transforming into a werewolf. He can’t remember the things he’s done but the papers report random acts of violence taking place at night in this small upstate hamlet. Now the whole town must rally to find out what is tearing it apart: mistrust, fear, or a monster that comes out at night. (2024, 103 mins)
Following the World Premiere at Sitges, Glenn McQuaid’s I SELL THE DEAD opens at Toronto After Dark Film Fest, Oct 24, 2008.
Arthur Blake is about to be executed by guillotine for the crime of grave robbing. But before he faces the blade, he agrees to confess to Father Duffy in the hope that the priest might be merciful enough to spare his life. Arthur tells his life story to the priest, which begins with him stealing valuables from the deceased as a youth. But as he relates his battles with zombies, ghosts and other fiendish ghouls, his tale takes a turn for the supernatural.
“McQuaid never lets go of the deadpan Gaelic wit that makes the film so effortlessly enjoyable.” HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
“Fright Night, With Thrills From Six Feet Under” NEW YORK TIMES
“Droll perfs, diverting f/x and handsome B-pic atmospherics ensure a good time for horror fans with a memory past last weekend’s slasher remake.” VARIETY
Across his singular, stubbornly independent body of work, the New York-based filmmaker Larry Fessenden has specialized in stories about monsters and madness, crafting character-driven dramas that—from the vampirism-as-disease allegory Habit to Blackout, about an alcoholic who begins to suspect he’s a werewolf—draw their bone-chilling horror from morally conflicted men struggling to tame their inner darkness. But it’s perhaps Depraved, his re-envisioning of Shelley’s Frankenstein, that most succinctly captures Fessenden’s fascination with the tragic consequences of all that which man creates but fails to control. Playing out in a decaying Brooklyn loft, Depraved follows a disillusioned combat medic who, unable to make sense of his own lingering trauma, stitches together a man from body parts and brings him back to life. In recasting its central monster as the tortured offspring of one man’s heartbreak as much as his hubris, Fessenden gets at something essential about what makes Shelley’s story so enduringly ripe for reanimation. That he does so while deftly exploring such modern issues as war-time trauma, American exceptionalism, and urban malaise makes clear why he’s one of our savviest genre iconoclasts.
Glass Eye Pix is the fierce independent NYC-based production outfit headed by award-winning art-horror auteur Larry Fessenden with the mission of supporting individual voices in the arts. Read more...
