Seasoned horror industry makeup and effects guru Gary J. Tunnicliffe will step into the role of writer/director on his feature film project JUDGEMENT. Guaranteed to be a horror film like no other, Tunnicliffe has launched the project on Kickstarter.com.
Kickstarter.com, known for allowing the general masses (and more recently and under some scrutiny famed Director Spike Lee) to help build and fund a variety of projects will hopefully allow Tunnicliffe the opportunity to involve horror fans around the world to be a part of creating something radically different, disturbing and terrifying.
Tunnicliffe, who recently signed on to create the special make up fx on the much anticipated Kurt Russell project ‘Bone Tomahawk’ for Writer/Director S. Craig Zahler and who has just been tapped by ‘Haunt Maestro’ Jason Egan to work on his famous ‘Fright Dome’ Halloween attraction (ranked one of the top 5 haunted attractions in the nation), has spent the last 20 years based in Los Angeles working in the movie industry. He is responsible for creating some of the most disturbing deaths, kills and horror characters in a career that includes more than 70 feature films including films from such iconic horror franchises as the HELLRAISER series, HALLOWEEN, PUMPKINHEAD, CANDYMAN, MIMIC, EXORCIST, BLADE, PROPHECY, THE COLLECTION and SCREAM. His talents have also been utilized on big budget projects such as SLEEPY HOLLOW, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 2 and more recently OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN.
“I’ve been offered several low budget projects to write and direct over the last few years but honestly, the ideas and bullet points from the producers and studios involved were formulaic and derivative,” said Tunnicliffe. “We see the same teens being chased through the same sets by the same psychopathic, weapon wielding maniac and I (and I suspect the majority of horror audiences) have just had enough. It’s time for something startling and disturbing that truly terrifies even the bravest of horror fans.”
Known by many over the years as the “Miramax Assassin,” Tunnicliffe would frequently receive calls from producers at Dimension Films (previously owned by Miramax) asking him to come up with unique and interesting ways to kill people on film which looked blatantly realistic. This provided many years of opportunities for Tunnicliffe and his company to produce bigger and better kills for genre film after genre film.
Now Tunnicliffe is unleashing his well-known talent on his own project, although he is adamant that this is not a film with gore for the sake of gore. There are very few deaths in JUDGEMENT, but there are disturbing moments that will startle audiences and shake them to the core. In his vast experience the most subtle of things can be the most disturbing.
“I’ve sat in with test audiences and seen them react to a decapitation and let me tell you, you get a much bigger reaction when someone stubs their toe and rips half their toenail away,” he explains. “That is pain that people connect with. JUDGEMENT taps into that and so much more. It is an experience that reveals a world within ours, at times almost surreal owing more to photographer Joel Peter Witkin than to the regular horror auteurs.”
Fans have questioned why Tunnicliffe has chosen Kickstarter.com as opposed to presenting the script to producers and going through the more traditional process of making a feature film.
“Maybe if we were in Europe or Asia or in the seventies! But not in Hollywood, ‘JUDGEMENT’ is too avant-garde for mainstream producers today, when I’ve described scenes to them I’ve watched their eyes widen and jaws drop, they want to play it safe. Considering they want to make ‘horror’ films it seems like an oxymoron.”
The horror industry veteran sees Kickstarter.com as a place that supports invention and innovation, without restriction, in technology and art. The success of JUDGEMENT will come from funding by supporters and horror movie fans seeking something other than remakes and reboots. “It’s time for something more ‘cutting edge’… literally,” he adds with a smile.
For more information on JUDGEMENT, please visit www.judgementmovie.com. For detailed information on writer/director Gary J. Tunnicliffe please visit https://www.garyjtunnicliffe.com/
About Two Hours in the Dark Inc.
Gary J. Tunnicliffe has designed special make up, key props and creature effects for more than 70 feature films. He has worked with actors such as Gerard Butler, Johnny Depp, Nicolas Cage, John Travolta and Robert DeNiro. Directors including Patrick Lussier, Stephen Norrington, Renny Harlin, Tim Burton and Wes Craven have relied on Tunnicliffe’s Los Angeles-based company Two Hours in the Dark. Franchises such as HELLRAISER, HALLOWEEN, CANDYMAN, EXORCIST, BLADE, SCREAM and many more have entrusted their success to his twisted ingenuity.
