Shooting underway on psychological horror Basement with Danny Dyer

Danny Dyer

By Sarah Cooper – ScreenDaily.com

Principal photography is under way on psychological horror Basement, starring Danny Dyer, at Pinewood Studios.

Written and directed by first time feature film-maker Asham Kamboj, it tells the story of five people who inadvertently enter an underground base and run into a nightmare scenario.

It is the first feature project to come out of Paperknife Productions, which is based at Pinewood studios and is co-owned by Kamboj and businessman turned producer Ish Jalal. Terry Stone’s Gateway Films is also onboard as associate producer.

Asham Kamboj

Made on a budget of approximately $1m (£600,000), the film is entirely funded by private investors and Revolver Entertainment, who pre bought UK and Eire rights for the film. The project is due to be released in the UK next spring.

“[Revolver] just loved the script and were really excited about it,” said Jalal, who also had an offer from Sony Pictures, but chose Revolver because they guaranteed theatrical release.

The film is shooting for three weeks at Pinewood, and seven days on location in and around the studios. Post production will also take place at the studio.

Other cast members include Kierston Wareing, who was recently nominated for a British Independent Film Award for Fish Tank, Emily Beecham and Jimi Mistry.  

According to producer Jalal, Basement shows off a different side of Dyer. “He’s vulnerable, he cries. It’s not what you expect of Danny, and it’s been a real surprise to a lot of people working on the film. He’s really good.”

Meanwhile, Paperknife is currently looking for studio funding for their next project another psychological thriller, Kamera, which has been in development for three years and will also be directed by Kamboj.

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“The Hole” a 3D horror movie with a lesson

By Natasha Senjanovic – Hollywood Reporter

 Joe Dante returns to coming-of-age horror with the 3D film “The Hole,” which is essentially a psychological thriller imparting a lesson.

Teri Polo

Luckily, Dante and writer Mark L. Smith (“Vacancy”) never get too preachy with their message.

“The Hole” needs strong marketing to find its audience, however. Today’s adolescents, at whom the film is aimed, have grown up on more hardcore stuff and probably aren’t familiar with the director’s biggest hit, “Gremlins.” On the other hand, older Dante buffs may be turned off by a teen movie. But the ride is enjoyable, and there is enough camp, warmth and chills to make this a family film.

After their latest move around the country with their mother (Teri Polo), brothers Dane (Chris Massoglia) and Lucas (Nathan Gamble), along with their neighbor Julie (Haley Bennett), discover a bottomless pit in the basement of their new house. In reopening it, they unleash a mysterious, evil force that seems to haunt only those who have looked inside the hole.

Haley Bennett

Adults should figure out why before the kids do, as each character is forced to face his or her innermost demons. A moody teen terrified with unresolved family issues, Dane will have to protect the little brother he usually shuns, and Julie will make amends with a tragedy from the past. Gamble draws the short straw in his climax, in a sequence with a clown that never scares. Then again, a 10-year-old’s fears can only run so deep.

The young stars do fine with their material though they don’t always hit all the emotional notes. But that’s to be expected with the kind of life-changing catharses that can only happen in the movies. Massoglia looks like a young Zac Efron, if that’s not a contradiction in terms, and ably carries the film, while Bruce Dern is great in his cameo.

Chris Massoglia

The 3D is used to good effect, though maybe not enough. It’s great when we’re in the hole looking up at the characters or when a baseball is tossed in our faces, but “The Hole” would probably work just as well in 2D. The film’s finale benefits the most from the technique, in an off-kilter set straight that looks like a video game of “Alice in Wonderland.”

Joe Dante talks about his new Thriller ‘The Hole’

Director Joe Dante (Gremlins and The Howling) will be bringing us “The Hole”. Chris Massoglia, and Haley Bennett, play two brothers that move to a new town and discover a bottomless hole in the basement of their house that brings their nightmares to life. Together with with neighbor played by actress Haley Bennett (The Haunting of Molly Hartley) they must face their darkest fears in order to ut an end to the mystery of the hole.

Joe Dante

The movie, written by Mark L. Smith (Vacancy), was filmed in Vancouver, Canada. “It’s for the younger horror set,” Bennett explains in an interview with the horror buffs at ShockTillYouDrop.com:

“It’s very psychological. We all have fears, especially when we’re younger. I was afraid of clowns. It’s not my fear in the film, but it would be my fear in my life. And the hole feeds on your deepest, darkest fear. You don’t really know if everyone else is seeing what you’re seeing. We’re creating our own realities, but it does happen that we start seeing each other’s fears. We have to face them in order to set us free.”

“The Hole” should be coming to a theater near you sometime in the year 2010.

Rodriguez, Pena, Moynahan join Eckhart in ‘Battle: L.A.’

Michelle Rodriguez

By Borys Kit – HollywoodReporter.com

Michelle Rodriguez, Michael Pena and Bridget Moynahan have been recruited to join Columbia’s “Battle: Los Angeles.”

Bridget Moynahan

 

The sci-fi actioner, directed by Jonathan Liebesman and produced by Original Film’s Neal Moritz, stars Aaron Eckhart and is set to begin production in the fall.

“Battle” revolves around a Marine staff sergeant (Eckhart) and his new platoon’s battle against an alien invasion on the streets of Los Angeles.

Rodriguez will play Crpl. Adriana Santos, a member of a radio battalion.
Pena plays the father of a boy the Marines find along the way, and Moynahan plays a veterinarian.

“I’m thrilled to reunite with Michelle,” said Moritz, who worked with Rodriguez on “S.W.A.T.” and “The Fast and the Furious” movies. “Her intensity is just right for the platoon.”

Ori Marmur is overseeing for Original. Doug Belgrad and Sam Dickerman are overseeing for Columbia.

Aaron Eckhart

Rodriguez next appears in James Cameron’s sci-fi epic “Avatar” and will star and co-produce her first film, the historical drama “Tropico de Sangre,” through her production company Cheshire Kat. She is repped by UTA and the Collective.

Pena, who most recently appeared in “Observe and Report” with Seth Rogen, recently completed production on Werner Herzog and David Lynch’s psychological thriller “My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done.” He is repped by CAA and Management 360.

Moynahan, repped by WME and Brillstein Entertainment Partners, next appears in Fox’s “Ramona and Beezus,” starring opposite John Corbett and Ginnifer Goodwin.

Michael Pena