3.22.15: FOOD CHAIN, by scribe April Snellings, wraps recording at DigIt Audio, NYC, featuring Jeremy Gardner (THE BATTERY, SPRING), Fessenden, Sean Young (JUG FACE, DARLING), Drew Moerlein (VHS, SOUTH OF HELL), Jason Yachanin (V/H/S, POULTRYGEIST), pictured here with Tales producer Glenn McQuaid and Snellings.

Fessenden joins stellar cast including John Speredakos, Graham Skipper, Lauren Ashley Carter, Jeremy Gardner et al. GEP pals Brian Spears and Peter Gerner provide the effects. 36 day shoot comes to an end on Monday.

Fessenden and Begos

Glass Eye Pix produced STAKE LAND (Jim Mickle), THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL (Ti West), and THE INNKEEPERS (West) land on Netflix list of 10 Scariest movies on Netflix, along with other faves EVIL DEAD 2, THE HOST and LET THE RIGHT ONE IN. Also included on the list, Glass Eye Pal Adam Wingard’s YOU’RE NEXT, featuring Fessenden as opening kill.

List mysteriously totals only 9 films…

“genre fans with a sense of history should make this entertaining chiller a sought-after item for midnight slots, and a welcome pickup for specialty home-format distribbers.”

…

“A rare horror exercise whose characters are nearly all well into middle age, “We Are Still Here” introduces the Sacchettis as they drive toward their new home in upstate New York in the dead of winter. Both are grieving the recent loss of their only child, Bobby, in a car accident, but hope the move will provide some distance from that tragedy for Anne (Barbara Crampton, “Re-Animator”) in particular, who’s clearly suffering from major depression. To the dismay of her husband, Paul (Andrew Sensenig), however, she immediately claims to feel Bobby’s “presence” in their new digs.”

more from Dennis Harvey’s Review at Variety.

“Like his debut feature, the straightforward-yet-mega stylized Ritual, Mickey Keating’s Pod is mostly an overnighter. The young, excitable director injects energy into his movies, clearly interested in the propulsive snowball of an extreme situation that only grows more so. Riffing on another classical genre style, Pod switches out Ritual’s desert motel dilemma for the frozen Northeast and paranoid sci-fi horror to unfold like a 75-minute argument. The kind that you’re afraid won’t end unless someone dies. They do.

…

Pod strobes and smash cuts and pushes in on TVs, both escalating the sense of unease and discomfort, but also enjoying the ways it creates such atmosphere as only film can. Ritual had a similar preoccupation, with the viewer and the film itself aware the characters are increasingly in a situation purely from movieland. Later in Pod, a third act entrance from indie horror legend Larry Fessenden—draped in trenchcoat and fog—only pushes Pod’s movie-ness.”

more from Sam Zimmerman’s review at Shock Til You Drop

The reviews are coming in for WE ARE STILL HERE, directed by GEP pal Ted Geoghegan, starring Barbara Crampton and Andrew Sensenig and featuring Lisa Marie, Fessenden, and Monte Markham!

“Geoghegan lets loose and delivers a satisfying and chilling climax
while balancing the gore and tension nicely.
…Crampton and Sensenig make for a believable couple.
They’re both wounded and dealing with it in different ways.
…As always, Larry Fessenden delivers a rock solid performance with finely tuned comedic beats.”
– Patrick Cooper, BLOODY-DISGUSTING

“Geoghegan establishes what seems to be a simple haunted house set-up
but adds complications which make the outcome less predictable…
The pleasantly mature Crampton and Sensenig underplay sensitively, giving a little depth to their plight.
…an afternoon séance raises the wrong ghost, allowing Fessenden
to do an impressive possessed act, and the film starts to take after the gorier efforts of the 1980s”
– Kim Newman, SCREEN DAILY

“We Are Still Here is the first incredibly scary and pure horror film of 2015.
There’s just nothing out there like it, and there hasn’t been in quite some time.
…We all should consider ourselves lucky that Barbara Crampton decided to resume her acting career
because this lady brings a lot to the table that’s been sorely missing.
with solid performances from the always great Larry Fessenden,
the wonderfully odd Lisa Marie, and the ever-frazzled Andrew Sensenig;
and we have a winner here, folks.”
– Steve Barton, DREAD CENTRAL 

“Writer/producer Ted Geoghegan makes an assured directorial debut
with the stylish and mesmerizing WE ARE STILL HERE.
…it’s an absolute pleasure to see Barbara Crampton, Andrew Sensenig, Monte Markham,
and Larry Fessenden deliver note-perfect performances in substantial roles.”
– Peter Martin, TWITCH FILM

“It takes a special film and one that offers something different to the table
to not only revive the interest of the horror viewer, but the subgenre as a whole.
Thankfully, Ted Geoghegan’s WE ARE STILL HERE
is not only that something different that the genre needs,
but is also a wildly original and terrifyingly entertaining ride,
sure to be the most memorable genre film of the year.
…Lisa Marie and Larry Fessenden give two great performances as May and Jacob,
with Fessenden providing one of the scariest scenes in the entire film.”
– Jerry Smith, ICONS OF FRIGHT

“what elevates WE ARE STILL HERE even further is the way it manages,
from first line to very last, to imbue its exploration of the outer extremes of darkness and horror
with a real poignancy, heart and humanity.”
– Shawn Macomber, FANGORIA

Really enjoyed @tedgeoghegan‘s Fulci-inspired chiller WE ARE STILL HERE,
which as a bonus has the best Fessenden performance since HABIT.
erickohn @erickohn · INDIEWIRE

With all the buzz of SXSW swirling, the Austin Chronicle wrote up a great piece about GEP pal Ted Geoghegan, director of WE ARE STILL HERE (starring Fessenden)!

Excerpted From The Austin Chronicle:

“When I moved out to New York, I had quite a few people here meet me and be surprised. They’d say, ‘I know who you are. Who’s your publicist? I don’t feel like I should know you from any of the projects you’ve been involved with, so you must have a really good publicist.’ Well, I don’t, so I guess I’m my own publicist.”

We Are Still Here follows a middle-aged couple (Barbara Crampton and Andrew Sensenig) who move to a rural New England community to heal after the accidental death of their son. However, the Victorian house they have bought comes with dark and terrible secrets, and they soon realize that they may not be alone in their grief.

…As for the role of May’s husband, that part was written for another personal friend: Larry Fessenden, the uncrowned king of New York indie horror. While literally dozens of directors have given the writer/producer/director cameo parts in their films, Geoghegan envisioned something more for Fessenden. “He’s an immensely talented actor, and he has just such an expressive, incredible face, and I just wanted him to have a big, meaty role. If I had it my way, in my next movie, I’d have him in every frame of the thing.”

12 March 2015: Fessenden backstage with Kevin Corrigan Jon Wurster, Kim Gordon and Tom Scharpling at the Bell House Thursday night. Much merriment was enjoyed by the sold out crowd for two shows. Check out Scharpling and Wurster in Chicago and L.A.; check out their forthcoming box set and buy Gordon’s book, Girl in a Band !

TONIGHT AT THE BELL HOUSE!
SCHARPLING & WURSTER LIVE! WITH SPECIAL GUESTS
THU 3/12 Doors: 7:00 pm / Show: 8:00 pm
This event is 18 and over

FESSENDEN and KEVIN CORRIGAN reprieve their roles
as Sharpling and Wurster in a live reading of  THE GORCH
SOLD OUT!!