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Untitled Document
One of the biggest thrills is to welcome back Midnight Madness alumni and this year I am excited to have the WORLD PREMIERE of The Burrowers, the new film by JT Petty, who shocked (and punked) audiences with S&MAN in 2006. That film was easily one of the smartest films that I selected that year and I am sure that those who were in the charged Q&A at Midnight would agree.
I love horror films that are set in time periods that you would not expect to find chills and thrills in. Films like Ravenous, Dead Birds and The Devil's Backbone all play in this area. Now reading the synopsis of The Burrowers, you might think of another film with a threat that lurks from underground...
"A horror take on John Ford's The Searchers unfolds across the isolated and expansive Dakota Territories, where a search party is forced to come to terms with the fact that what took their friends and loved ones was no mere band of Indians, but a sinister predator that stalks them from below the grassy plains."
Tremors? Not quite, but it's an easy assumption. Not too many other horror films with that premise, although I am surprised nobody brings up The Ruins...
With winds blowing across the sweeping and desolate landscape, JT crafts an unsettling atmosphere where his protagonists struggle with a threat beyond their imagination. The Burrowers is JT's 3rd narrative feature and it proves that he is a director to keep your eyes on! And if you dig into his bio, you'll learn that he was the writer of the Splinter Cell and Batman Begins videos games, as well as being a childrens' book author with his Clemency Pogue series.
And for fans of sci-fi and fantasy and Sponge Bob Squarepants, the casting of Clancy Brown in The Burrowers is a plus! Yes, the voice of Mr. Eugene H. Krabs! Not to mention other animated characters like Mr. Freeze and Lex Luthor. However, if you can't get a visual on him, watch his roles in The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, Highlander, The Shawshank Redemption, Starship Troopers (in pic below) and Brother Justin Crowe in the HBO series Carnivàle (which had many episodes directed by Canada's own Jeremy Podeswa).
For a review of The Burrowers, see what the lads over at Twitchfilm had to say. Here is an interview by Scott Weinberg over at Cinematical when JT was in Toronto for S&MAN . And over at Shocktilyoudrop.com, Ryan Rotten talks to JT about his new film.
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