Friday, March 29, 2013

Give Until It Hurts

Horror fans are always sniffing out fresh blood, so WildClaw is hoping you'll check out this kickstarter campaign for Yellow: A Modern Giallo Horror Film.

Gialli, the Italian psychological thrillers known for slowly building tension that culminated in grand guignol displays of gore, were named for the yellow-spined, mass-marketed paperback books that became synonymous with mystery and suspense thrillers in Italy. The Giallo movement is considered to be the predecessor to the American 1970’s slasher movie craze.

Filmed in Chicago and featuring WildClaw collaborator H.B. Ward, Yellow tells the story of a woman whose new life in the big city has barely started before it begins to unravel. Then the bodies start piling up.

Check out their trailer, read up on the cast, and donate some cash if you can. If anyone should be responsible for bleeding you dry, it’s these guys.

Monday, March 25, 2013

Tomorrow Night, The Curtain Falls on Kill Shakespeare!

Tonight and tomorrow at 8 p.m. are your last chances to catch WildClaw Theatre company members Brian Amidei and Steve Herson in Hugen Hall's awesomely ambitious comic-kaze midwest premiere of Kill Shakespeare!

Image by Andy Berlanger
 
William Shakespeare's most notorious villains have decided to destroy their creator and become masters of their own fates, and it's up to his greatest heroes to stop them! Will Lady MacBeth and Iago cheat their way to the top? Is Richard III as big a dick as everyone thinks? Will Hamlet finally decide living is worth killing for?

Originally a graphic novel, this page-to-stage transfer allows the audience to watch Andy Berlanger's beautiful artwork while by Anthony Del Col & Conor McCreery's dialogue is voiced by some of Chicago's finest voiceover talents, directed by Strawdog Theatre's own Anderson Lawfe
r. Hailed as, "Your chance to be entertained by a Shakespearean action adventure," this wildly innovative production combines the epic scope of a comic book with evocative sound design to bring this clever play on classic plays to life before your eyes.


Go HERE to buy tickets and for full event details.

Friday, March 22, 2013

Catch a Creepy Flick This Weekend!


Looking for a dark, brooding noir to block all this sunshine from your eyes?  Look no further this weekend than the Music Box, where Orson Welles' THE STRANGER is screening Saturday and Sunday, March 23 and 24.  In Welles' 1964 tense noir, he casts himself as an incognito war criminal, dodging the vigilant eye of Nazi hunter Mr. Wilson, played by Edward G. Robinson.

If you're looking for an all-day movie experience, head to the Portage Theater on Saturday for the Universal Monster Party.  Doors open at 11:30am for a noon screening of ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN, followed by FRANKENSTEIN, THE WOLF MAN, DRACULA, JAWS, and DEMON KNIGHT.  All monsters, all day!  You cannot have more fun for $10.

And running at the Siskel March 29-April 4, catch a double-bill of Alfred Hitchcock's PSYCHO and Sacha Gervasi's 2012 film HITCHCOCK.  Get a discount when you purchase tickets for both.  




Hemlock Grove Trailer: Netflix Series by Eli Roth

Famke Janssen! Pennsylvania! Monsters! I am excited for this yall...starts April 19th.

Friday, March 15, 2013

Our Panel at c2E2 yall! BE THERE!!!-WildClaw Presents: Deathscribe! Writing and Producing Horror Radio Plays

Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2) 2013 Session Details - WildClaw Presents: Deathscribe! Writing and Producing Horror Radio Plays


WILDCLAW PRESENTS: DEATHSCRIBE! WRITING AND PRODUCING HORROR RADIO PLAYS #35

Date: Saturday, April 27
12:15 pm - 1:15 pm
Location: W473
Speakers: Allison Amidei, Brian Amidei, Chris Hainsworth, Paul Foster, Scott T. Barsotti
Description:
WildClaw Theatre, Chicago's Horror Theatre Company, brings you a small taste of its Annual Deathscribe Horror Radio Play Festival! Our panel of Chicago actors, playwrights, foley artists, and artists will discuss the challenges of writing and producing audio dramas with a focus on creation, execution, foley work, voice acting, and finding your audience. Then watch and listen as we perform a spooky radio play complete with foley work!
Tracks:
Performance, Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Plague Pit in England...Ring a bell?

Plague victims' skeletons are unearthed during the constructions of the Crossrail train link in London. Photograph: Crossrail/PA

Another WildClaw play becoming a reality.  First zombies...now some plague pits...what's next?  My vote is for sexy lady vampires...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/mar/15/black-death-victims-city-london

Thursday, March 14, 2013

EVIL DEAD reviewed by Dr. AC

So I guess this is happening.  I guess we're going to have to see the remake of EVIL DEAD.  Too many signs have been pointing towards it:

The film is name-checked and pimped in this week's episode of SciFy's Face Off (go J. Anthony!  Final Four: time to bring the big guns!)


Charlie Athanas stirs up the interfacewebs by posting rumors of Army of Darkness 2.


And the good Doctor, our friend and emeritus founding member, has given his stamp of approval from a pre-screening at SXSW.

Read his literate and spoiler-free review here.  Return to this blog often.

Now to convince Grandma and/or Grandpa Morlock to mind the baby evil one and convince Lady Morlock that an afternoon with Deadites but NO BRUCE CAMPBELL is not squandering precious moments of child-less freedom.

Monday, March 11, 2013

idle hands

I wanted to share some of the ghastly and gorgeous pieces of art I've seen trapped in the 'webs recently:

Fashion designer duo the Blonds' 2013 Fall line was inspired by classic horror movies. Can you guess all of the movies? Or, more importantly, isn't that shower curtain trench coat truly to die for?

How long does it take for bones to knit? artist Shanell Papp has a very literal take on that question. Go here to help bring her upcoming book out of your nightmares and into reality.

Speaking of knitting, yarn seems to be the preferred medium these days for turning creepy and crawly into cuddly and comforting. I'm blaming the weather.

But are scarves and hats enough to contain the deep ones? I'm a frayed knot.

And as long as you're on etsy, don't forget to visit WildClaw favorite Heron and Lamb, whose delicate and haunting Victorian-inspired designs were a huge hit at our Clockwork Nightmare Benefit last year.

Have more fun and frightening projects we should sink our teeth into? Post them in our comments section!

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Scott T. Barsotti's BREWED is now open!

WildClavian Scott T. Barsotti's newest play BREWED just opened at Theater Wit (1229 W Belmont in Chicago), and we think you should check that out.  In fact, we think you should check it out soon.
You can get your tickets on Theater Wit's website and The Ruckus and Tympanic are offering $5 off the next two Thursdays (3/7 and 3/14) with the discount code SISTER.


New City Chicago says "RECOMMENDED. When the first line of a play is “motherfucker,” you know you’re probably in for a good time. Brewed is a lively production full of everything from ultra violence to the supernatural and even some dark family issues.Read full review.



Splash Chicago Magazine says "Brewed is recommended for its very dark satire and wickedly awesome fight scenes...My brother and I sometimes fight, but in the world of Brewed the sisters look like they are auditioning for "Fight Club" (by the time the play was over there were mangled feet, bloodied noses, and blackened eyes). Read full review.



WildClaw company member Casey Cunningham assistant directed this beauty, and you may recognize Erin Myers from our 2011 production of Carmilla

If you've ever watched a family drama on the stage or screen and said to yourself, "I might have liked that better if there were more actual punches thrown.  Or more mysticism.  Or more body horror," then BREWED's the play for you.  It's dark, it's funny, it's violent.  What more could you want from a night out, friends of the Claw?

Tympanic Theatre Company and The Ruckus present
BREWED
by Scott T. Barsotti
directed by Anna C. Bahow
March 2-24
Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 7pm
@ Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave.
The task is stirring a pot…all day, every day. The sisters don’t share it as they once did. With Nannette busy racing stock cars and Roxette off doing her own thing, the others are left to shoulder the burden. But Paulette is fed up; Collette is clueless; and Babette, crippled in more ways than one, is volatile. Juliette does her best to maintain order and civility…for now. But why must they do this? And where else can fights go when you already use your fists?  When Roxette brings her new girlfriend home and calls everyone together, old venom bubbles up and grievance flares, setting into motion an impossible moral struggle. BREWED is a play about gatherings, sacrifice, and the dark art of obligation.

Scott T. Barsotti's website
The Ruckus Theater's website
Tympanic Theatre Company's website
(Photos by Gerard Van Halsema)