R.I.P. LEGENDARY DIRECTOR JONATHAN DEMME

Legendary Film Director Jonathan Demme passed away last week - forgot to posted here on eyepus.  Very sad news to hear. Will always be legendary for the amazing Silence of the Lambs and of course many other films.  May he rest in peace.

Davide Melini "DEEP SHOCK" - "Italian Giallo is ready to make its return!"

Davide Melini upcoming short film DEEP SHOCK, looks visually stunning and fiercely beautiful.  Mr. Melini is ready to strike us with a new masterpiece. The film is in post production now, due out this Summer.  The film pays tribute to "giallo" (thriller, mystery, horror noted for psychological themes of madness, alienation, paranoia and sexuality). The title Deep Shock pays tribute to the horror film titles from the legendary Italian film directors Mario Bava and Dario Argento. I mentioned this before here on EYEPUS - Davide Melini has the eye of what is true giallo and he falls in the realms of the legendary Italian horror filmmakers such as Bava, Argento, and Fulci.  Check out his teaser trailer DEEP SHOCK.

SYNOPSIS: "Sarah can't completely overcome the deaths of her grandfather and her older sister.  The trauma and lack of sleep cause her to embark on a strange journey of apparitions and murders, apparently caused by her mind..."

Starring: Muireann Bird, Francesc Pages, George Bracebridge, Lorna Larkin, Erica Prior and Luis Fernandez De Eribe.

Written and Directed by DAVIDE MELINI

Produced by Luca Vannella ("Avengers", "Thor", "Harry Potter", "Apocalypto", "Heart of the Sea"), Alexis Continente (Murder on the Orient Express", "Transformers: The Last Knight", "Thor"), Vincenzo Mastrantonio ("Titanic", "Moulin Rouge", "The Passion of Christ", "Romeo + Juliet"), Bobby Holland ("The Dark Knight Rises", "Game of Thrones", "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows", "007 - Quantum of Solace"), Ferdinando Merolla ("Troy", "Gangs of New York", "Hannibal Rising"), Roberto Paglialunga.

Official Website: davidemelini.com/DEEPSHOCK/

THE NEW PENNYWISE CLOWN "IT"

I am a big fan of Pennywise The Clown played by Tim Curry in Stephen King's IT tv mini-series (1990). I'm not sure if I like the new Pennywise Clown version (above) for the movie version. Maybe the film version will be a hit or a flop - who knows, hoping it doesn't flop like another sucky bad remake (A Nightmare On Elm Street 2010 remake). The outfit the new Pennywise The Clown is wearing in this Entertainment Weekly photo looks tacky, and even the whole clown look - I don't know, it looks tired.  Pennywise The Clown, 1990 version was one, scary, deadly son of a bitch, the squeamish, saucy make-up, the big red wig and the outfit just scary. I hope and I pray Stephen King's IT movie version will give us one hell of a great scary ride at the movies come 2017.

PENNYWISE THE CLOWN (TIM CURRY) - STEPHEN KING'S IT - 1990 TV MINI-SERIES

ANTIBIRTH Official Trailer (2016) Natasha Lyonne Horror Movie HD

I just saw the trailer for ANTIBIRTH starring indie legends Natasha Lyonne and Chloe Sevigny and is a must see.

THE EXORCIST TV SERIES POSTER

HANNIBAL, ASH VS. EVIL DEAD, BATES MOTEL, TEEN WOLF,  THE OMEN, SCREAM, WOLF CREEK and the list could go on of all the television spin offs from horror films, now comes THE EXORCIST. A classic horror film now a television series for FOX.  I am wondering how they are going to get away with all the horror, the God cussing, the gore, the vomit and the blasphemy like the original film.  Maybe this would've been better for HBO, SHOWTIME where they could get away with everything like ASH VS. EVIL DEAD for STARZ. I'll check it out.  But I tell you -Hollywood is running out of original ideas now they digging into old classic horror films and putting them for the small screen.  We need original horror ideas for the big and small screen.

- eyepus

AMERICAN HORROR STORY SEASON 6: TEASERS

AMERICAN HORROR STORY SEASON 6: TEASERS. Can't wait for this new season, the teasers look like a throwback to films The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and It's Alive.  We don't know what to expect from Ryan Murphy but this season looks Eerie and Scarily Fucked up.

IT - PENNYWISE THE CLOWN NEW LOOK

Entertainment Weekly magazine gave us the first look at the new IT, Pennywise the Clown. "IT" is due out fall of 2017 in movie theaters.  Starring Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise.  Directed by Andres Muschietti.  He looks like one scary motherfucker...

SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN - SHORT FILM REVIEW

SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN, Directed by Corey Norman, based on a short story by Stephen King...  Ms. Sidley, a grumpy, bitchy, unfriendly elementary school teacher (played by Anne Bobby from Clive Barker NIGHTBREED) asks one of her students named Robert to use the word TOMORROW in a sentence.  Robert answers back: “Tomorrow something bad will happen”.  As Ms. Sidley looks through her eyeglasses, she sees a reflection of Robert turning into a monster, is it a hallucination or is it real?  Does she sees good little kids or little monsters or is she hallucinating?  “There are more of us now” Robert says to his shady teacher Ms. Sidley.  With a chip on her shoulder, she takes matters into her own hand in a very sick way. But I wont tell you no spoilers here – you need to see this awesome short film.

Filmmaker Corey Norman did an awesome job with this horror short opus with great direction, cinematography and top notch acting from the cast.  A MUST SEE...

ANN BOBBY as Ms. Sidley

NOSFERATU ART BY S.A.D.

"NOSFERATU" Ink, Pencil on cardboard paper. © 2014 by S.A.D.

INTERVIEW WITH ARTIST JIHANE MOSSALIM

This month latest EYEPUS interview feature we have artist JIHANE MOSSALIM, an extraordinary artist who creates truly fierce, jaw-dropping, phantasmagoric art works.  Check out her interview below and visit her website www.jihanemossalim.com for more of her iconic art works.  

EYEPUS: Can you tell us about yourself and your jaw dropping, awesome works?

Jihane: Born and raised in Montreal, I was always a big fan of everything dark and strange. Horror movies being at the top of the list. I could spend hours watching one after the other. At 12 years old, I discovered special make-up effects and my mind was deeply set to become a SFX make-up artist. My Dad convinced me to pursue my studies and get a college diploma so I went in Fine Arts at Dawson College simply as a mean in perfecting my SFX skills. 

As soon as I graduated, I took Dick Smith's correspondence classes and started working on every sets I could work on. A couples of years later I had a family and I couldn't picture myself working crazy hours on sets anymore. That's when I started painting seriously and was happily surprised to find people interested in buying my works. I gave it a shot and it worked out. I am now exhibiting, working as an illustrator and teaching art classes in college. Of course what I paint continues to be on the darker side of things... 

EYEPUS: What is your process in making your art?

Jihane: I get ideas often times while reading or watching movies or sometimes it just seems to come out of the great nowhere. The ideas I get, I put them as images on my computer, print them out and use them as references, once I'm ready to start a new painting. I always paint not with background music- but with background interviews, mostly those of filmmakers. 

EYEPUS: Who are your all time favorite horror filmmakers and artists?

Jihane:  I love the works of John Carpenter, Guillermo del Toro, Dario Argento, Wes Craven, David Cronenberg and Stanley Kubrick. I also enjoy reading Stephen King and Clive Barker (of course!). I'm particularly fond of their earlier works.

EYEPUS: What was the last great horror film you seen?

Jihane: I'm a fan of the older horror movies, especially the ones from the 70's and unfortunately, I'm rarely impressed by recent horror films. Not too long ago I saw "Citadel" by Ciaran Foy and I have to say, that movie creeped me out! It was very different, very original and there is this strange atmosphere throughout the movie that makes you feel so uneasy. I really liked it.

EYEPUS: Who are some artists from past and present who have influenced your works?

Jihane: Basically all of the filmmakers and writers I mentioned above... But the first visual artist whose works truly had an effect on me is Canadian painter Maya Kulenovic.  Her children's portraits of broken spectacles and bloodied nose were something I had never seen before. Her paintings made me want to paint my own.

EYEPUS: All your works are eerily fascinating, but one of your art pieces is Italian Horror Director Dario Argento (My all time favorite Film Director) holding a butcher knife, why you chose him for your art piece?

Jihane:  I discovered the movies of Dario Argento when I was in College; if I remembered correctly I saw the documentary ''Dario Argento: An Eye for Horror'' before any works of his, this of course, made me want to rent a few of his movies. I fell in love with Suspiria. Argento's movies are so dream-like it's uncanny and to me, very inspiring. Of course I had to paint the Man!

EYEPUS: Can you tell us about some of your horror pieces and what inspired you to create them?

Jihane: As you probably noticed, quite a few of my paintings depict horror movie scenes; scenes that left a mark either by their subject matter, by their visuals or both. Sometimes I get an urge to paint particular scenes.  Such was the case for ''Metro Incident''. Other paintings simply depict ideas I get. "Pocket Full of Posies" came from the idea of painting a well known nursery rhyme through the story it represents, the one of the Great Plague. The children are dancing while the plagued hand with darkened fingers is overseeing them.

EYEPUS: What was the hardest work you ever done?

Jihane: The hardest work I have done was probably painting a commissioned piece consisting of two huge canvases: one representing a cute little lady, the other, a cop, both full body figures set in a creepy abandoned amusement park. For me working on big canvasses is always a challenge as I lose interest when a piece is taking a long time to finish. 

EYEPUS: Are you working on any projects now? 

Jihane: Absolutely! I am currently working on inside illustrations for a fantasy/horror series of books published here in Montreal and recently did some illustrations for Joe Hill short story ''Snapshot 1988'' published by Cemetery Dance Magazine. I have a few paintings soon on exhibit in Salem Ma and an exhibition of 20 pieces here in Montreal. I'm also working on my own little series featuring kids and insects. Along with the teaching and the family, I'm pretty busy and I can't complain! 

EYEPUS: Can you tell us your experience in showing your art works in galleries?

Jihane: My experiences with galleries where as much positive as they were negative. What it did give me is more confidence in what I do. I would say choose your gallery wisely; when everything seems so grand and wonderful, sometimes it is just smokes and mirrors.

EYEPUS: How do audience react to your art works?

Jihane:  Ha! People usually react positively to my work especially with the old fashioned children's portraits. For some it's like a trip down memory lane. For other paintings I often get the: "It's nice! But I wouldn't want it in my living room...!"

EYEPUS: What is the greatest advice you can give to other artists who are trying to break into the art world?

Jihane: I would say: keep doing what you do whatever it is you're doing and when you're ready, get it out there any ways you can. Don't worry about rejections, they will happen. Just keep going and at some point the right door will open for you. Always keep working at your art and work hard. There's a quote from Stephen King that is highly appropriate for what I'm trying to say: "Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.''