TIRING OF SEQUELS & REMAKES, LOW-BUDGET FILMMAKERS SET OUT TO PRODUCE AN ORIGINAL FEATURE
Mobile, Alabama based independent filmmaking group Fighting Owl Films is set to produce an independent feature in the city utilizing local talent. The feature, titled “The Night Shift”, is based on Fighting Owl Films’ shoestring budget short film of the same name which proved an online hit, was positively reviewed in “Fangoria” magazine’s online edition earlier in 2009 and has screened in several festivals across the United States.
A supernatural adventure-comedy, “The Night Shift” centers on Rue Morgan, the undead night watchman at Pinewood Oaks Cemetery. Rue, along with his buddy Herb, a limbless corpse, spends his nights trying to keep the cemetery’s cantankerous residents in, and his days dreaming of a date with hard-nosed day-shifter, Claire. It’s an okay afterlife until a scourge of supernatural occurrences leave Rue not only watching the cemetery, but also watching his back!
The short film’s positive reception coupled with the disillusionment with Hollywood’s current output of remakes and reboots encouraged the filmmakers to pursue their dream of turning the original “The Night Shift” into a feature length horror-adventure film. Thomas Smith, the film’s writer/director and co-producer, is hoping to recapture some of the cinematic magic of the 80s Amblin films he grew up with that had a lasting influence.
“Growing up as a child of the 80s, the world depicted on film had a completely different atmosphere,” Smith says. “The films possessed a graininess and lived-in look that added an extra dimension of realism. There also seemed to be a greater emphasis on character and storytelling and less of the headache-inducing flash and sensory overload that’s become so commonplace today. It was the era of ‘Gremlins’, ‘Ghostbusters’ and ‘Indiana Jones’, films everyone could enjoy, not just children or adult audiences. That’s what we’re hoping to recapture with ‘The Night Shift’.”
The independent feature has secured its cast. Returning from the short to reprise their roles of Rue Morgan, Claire Rennfield and Herbie West are Khristian Fulmer, Erin Lilley and Soren Odom, respectively. New additions to the cast include Andrew Crider as Adramalech, the villainous vengeance demon with an affinity for western wear, Jordan Woodall as Curly and Jonathan Pruitt as the mysterious Captain Roderick Blake. The film, currently in pre-production, is expected to begin shooting in May 2010.
For more information on Fighting Owl Films, “The Night Shift” and to view the original short film, visit them online at www.fightingowlfilms.com and www.thenightshiftmovie.com.
