Saturday Morning Mystery 2012 - REVIEW

One of the things I loved as a kid was getting up on Saturday mornings and racing my sister to see who could get to the TV first. It didn't really matter who won, we'd always end up in a fight that led to me slamming her head with a cabinet door and her threatening to kill me with a can of Spaghetti O's. I shit you not, that really happened. But I digress... what I was trying to get to was that Scooby Doo was always one of my favorites. It's kinda like a subtle introduction to horror for kids, at least that's what I think anyway. So, when I heard about this one, I was immediately intrigued.

In Saturday Morning Mystery (previously Saturday Morning Massacre), a team of amateur paranormal investigators struggle to make ends meet by debunking reports of supernatural incidents. With the group on the verge of bankruptcy, Nancy (Ashley Spillers) takes on a case involving rumors of suspicious disappearances and violent deaths linked with the abandoned Kyser schoolhouse. Discounting stories of satanic practices, the team proceeds, desperately chasing cash and the opportunity to encounter their lives' mission - to catch a real ghost. On a tour guided by the local sheriff (Paul Gordon), the team learns of the schoolhouse's gruesome past. Despite the sheriff's advice to spend the night in a hotel, they decide to stay, set up their gear and prepare for nightfall. When the sun goes down, the truth comes out: the Kyser house might actually be haunted by sadistic spirits - or something even worse.

As with the original Scooby Doo, we're given a cast of four main characters, Nancy, Floyd (Jonny Mars), Chad (Adam Tate) and Gwen (Josephine Decker) and let's not forget their trusty dog, Hamlet. All of whom bear some resemblance to the original "Gang", be it through their voices, actions and so on. We're introduced to them via opening dialogue by Nancy, which immediately settles me a bit as she delivers her lines with great promise AND a hint of "Velma". I'm always leery about how the acting will be in indie films mainly because when you're working on a micro budget, your options are sometimes limited but in this case, I was very pleased. Every one of the actors pulled it off like seasoned pros. No, they're not all newbies but still, they are more than responsible for holding this film together in more ways than one. There are so many things that can really damage a films credibility and bad acting is one of them. No worries, you won't find any of that here.

It also doesn't hurt that director Spencer Parsons knows his shit. Yes, he's relatively new to the scene but the simple way he played with shadows and corners in this film tells me he's gonna have quite the career as a film maker. He has an obvious passion for the genre and film making in general. Saturday Morning Mystery is shot very well and given the circumstances, (a relatively dark house), that's saying a lot. There's a lot to putting together a good film. You have to have a crew that you trust and a cast you believe in and this whole "Gang" fit together rather perfectly. The dialogue and interaction between the characters seemed genuine and believable and I liked that while it's loosely based on the cartoon, it didn't reference it so much that it became redundant and boring. Watch for the hallway chase scene... it's EPIC! In the end, it breaks down to this, Saturday Morning Mystery is what Scooby Doo never was... REAL. If you're not a fan of Scooby Doo, then you're EVIL (just kidding but not really), you probably won't dig this one but for the rest of you I would definitely recommend it! 

Rhodesclosed Productions and Willow Road Entertainment Announce Horror Anthology

Rhodesclosed Productions and Willow Road Entertainment join forces with groundbreaking horror anthology “I Scream You Scream” in 2013.

Chicago, IL [November 14th 2012] Rhodesclosed Productions, Willow Road Entertainment and producers Danny Rhodes, Teresa Schaeffer, Emily Vajda and Marc Singletary are setting their gears to full speed ahead with horror anthology “I Scream You Scream,” slated for a late January, early February shoot date.

“I Scream You Scream” is a modern day throwback of “The Twilight Zone: The Movie” and “Creepshow” with a darker and original twist. Horror anthologies are making a major comeback in 2012 and 2013 with films like “V/H/S” and “The ABCs of Death”, which has also made the producers dead set on providing fans with a fresh twist as well as terrifying stories.

The producers will be attaching seven to eight directors in the fall of 2012. Directors that are currently attached include Jack Perez (director of Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus and Some Guy Who Kills People), Spencer Parsons (director of SATURDAY MORNING MASSACRE), Kris Swanberg (Empire Builder), Frank Ross (mumble core director of Audrey the Trainwreck and Tiger Tail in Blue). Brian Levin (Cyrus: Mind of a Serial Killer) is attached as Director of Photography.

Casting will begin in December 2012.

Visit their Facebook pages for more information:
http://www.facebook.com/iscreammovie
http://www.facebook.com/WillowRoadEntertainment

Scooby Doo Gets Dark in Saturday Morning Massacre

Let's be honest... most horror lovers probably started out with our asses planted in front of the TV on a Saturday morning watching Scooby Doo and the gang solve one mystery after another. And since we're being honest we should all just go ahead and admit that we STILL love Scooby Doo. It actually does my old heart good to see that the cartoons I grew up with are now being enjoyed by my kiddos.

Film makers have been struggling for years to come up with new concepts and ideas. There's been tons of horror films that play off of one fairy tale or another and I'm sure if I think hard enough I'll come up with one that's based of a cartoon but it's still early and I haven't had enough coffee yet so I'll just leave you with this upcoming Indie film from director Spencer Parsons.

The film stars Ashley Spillers, Josephine Decker, Jonny Mars, Adam Tate and Paul Gordon.

In Saturday Morning Massacre, a team of amateur paranormal investigators struggle to make ends meet by debunking reports of supernatural incidents. With the group on the verge of bankruptcy, Nancy takes on a case involving rumors of suspicious disappearances and violent deaths linked with the abandoned Kyser schoolhouse. Discounting rumors of satanic practices the team proceeds, desperately chasing cash and the opportunity to encounter their lives’ work – to catch a real ghost.

On a tour guided by the local sheriff, the team learns of the schoolhouse’s gruesome past. Despite his advice to spend the night in a hotel, the team decides to stay; they set up their gear and prepare for nightfall. When the sun goes down, the truth comes out: the Kyser house isn’t haunted – it’s inhabited by a sadistic feral family with an insatiable appetite for torture.

Saturday Morning Massacre is a bloody parody of mystery cartoons and the consequences of meddling with the supernatural.

Be sure to check out the Saturday Morning Massacre Facebook page here.