Before BeetleJuice, Batman, Pee Wee Herman’s Big Adventure, and Sweeney Todd, Tim Burton directed a modern gothic violent retelling of Hansel and Gretel. Never heard of it before? It exists. Although little evidence of its existence can be found. Chances are if you haven’t seen it, you never will.
This live-action film featured a cast of amateur Japanese actors and was filmed for $116,000 on 16mm. The movie featured kung fu fights and Japanese toys, as Burton was obsessed with Japanese culture at the time of production. The design style and color schemes paid homage to the Godzilla movies and was heavy on special effects, making use of front projection, forced perspective and even some stop-motion animation. The length of the film is not confirmed. Most sources claim the film runs a full 45 minutes, while other reviews I’ve read have claimed anywhere from a 15-30 minute runtime. The plot of the film? Hansel and Gretel must escape a witch and her gingerbread house to find their father.
Tim Butron’s Hansel and Gretel aired on the Disney Channel on Halloween night 1982, and was never seen or heard from again. This gem is near impossible to find. Tim Burton has publicly stated that he is embarrassed of this early work, which might explain why it has never been released on home video or DVD. I have yet to see this film, nor have I met anyone who has personally seen it. It’s become somewhat of an urban legend around Hollywood. I’m not even sure exactly how accurate the above description is because accounts of this short vary from person to person, and from source to source.
Paramount has released the first trailer for The Ruins, an adaptation of Scott Smith’s (”A Simple Plan”) best selling horror novel of the same name. The story is set against the backdrop of an archeological dig in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico where a group of tourists run across some trouble with a pretty nasty plant. Think Little Shop of Horrors without the singing and well, you get the picture.
FANGORIA RADIO spoke to genre veteran Wes Craven not long ago, and the filmmaker gave us an update on his LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT remake, which he revealed Rogue Pictures will begin shooting in South Africa (recent home to his production of THE BREED, as well as Neil Marshall’s Rogue project DOOMSDAY) in January. Craven noted that Greek director Dennis (HARDCORE) Illiadis is “very talented,” and when asked why his recent spate of remakes and sequels to remakes (!) have utilized foreign-born directors like THE HILLS HAVE EYES’ Alexandre Aja, HILLS II’s Martin Weisz and now LAST HOUSE’s Illiadis, he cited budgetary concerns: “They are not DGA directors, so we don’t have to make the films under DGA guidelines. Productions become more expensive when you have to add on assistant directors, 2nd assistant directors, etc.”
It was revealed this past week that Steve Miner’s Day of the Dead remake will be heading to DVD on April 8, 2008 from First Look Home Entertainment. The original follows a group of scientists and military personnel holed up in an underground bunker because the world above is overrun with zombies. The lumbering flesheaters eventually find a way in and wreak havoc on the scientists who’ve been experimenting on their undead brethren. Head over to Amazon to pre-order it.
After the success of 2001 Maniacs and the recent release of Driftwood, many fans are wondering what’s next? It has already been announced that writer-director Tim Sullivan is working on getting 2002 Maniacs: Beverly Hillbillies off the ground, which has been long-delayed, but after that the former Fango scribe has two more films on his slate.
Tim Sullivan tells the Windy City Times:
“My next flick is the sequel to Maniacs, and then after that, a project I am directing for Tobe Hooper with Diamond Dallas Page called Clowns. After that, however, I am going into production on a supernatural love story called Brothers of the Blood, depicting a love triangle between two male vampires and a female mortal. It will be sexy, scary, tragic, elegant, operatic and, yes, highly erotic. Thomas Dekker, who was on [ TV’s ] Heroes and is John Connor in the new Terminator TV series for Fox, will be playing the young male vampire, and we are in talks with Rob Lowe to play the elder.“
Columbia Pictures has revealed the new teaser poster for Will Smith’s superhero dramedy Hancock. Directed by Peter Berg, the July 2 opener co-stars Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman and Johnny Galecki.
Very nice … the good lads at Dread Central have got the skinny on I Sell The Dead the new film from Larry Fessenden’s ScareFlix. This one stars Fessenden and Dominic Monaghan - who you may have seen once or twice in Lost and the Lord of the Rings films - as grave robbers caught and condemned to death while Ron Perlman plays the priest assigned to administer last rites.
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