RedFall Filming: Day 3

I realize we are moving along very slow, but that's how it goes sometimes. Day 1 of filming was back in October and Day 2 was in November. Day 3 was supposed to be knocked out back in December, but things with Christmas came up so we decided to take a short break for the holidays to pass.

Now that it's 2013, we are going to be filming a lot more. My goal is to be done filming by the end of May. Which would give us five good months to get everything filmed. We are also working on editing the film as we finish filming days. This way post-production will go by very smooth.

Anyway, that is all I can say for now. Enjoy the Day 3 video diary below.

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My Top 10 Horror Films of 2012

Disclaimer: I would like to add that I didn't get to see every horror film that was released this year. So if you don't see something on this list, it might be because I didn't see it. This list is my opinion and my opinion only. If you do not agree with my list then that is your problem. Feel free to post your list in the comments, but do not start a flame war over this. It is just a list.

That being said, here is my list...

10. V/H/S

I was looking forward to seeing V/H/S all year and when I finally got to see it, I’ll admit I was expecting more. However, it was better than most of the horror films released this year. It was a good anthology film. My favorite segments were the couple on vacation and the Halloween party at the end.

9. Chernobyl Diaries

Chernobyl Diaries is also in the same boat. It wasn’t the best horror film released this year, but it was defiantly better than most of them. Most people passed this one off as just another crap movie, but it’s actually not as bad as people say it is. To me it’s The Hills Have Eyes only in Chernobyl. (Hands up is you recognize the areas from Call of Duty 4.)

8. The Woman in Black

The Woman in Black is to me a decent horror film. Some would argue it’s more a thriller than a horror, but to me they are the same thing. I mean it’s a ghost film. I thought it wasn’t going to be anything to talk about, but after I watched it I was very surprised by how good it was for being a mainstream PG-13 horror film staring the Harry Potter guy.

7. The Possession

I tend to dislike exorcism/possession type films, but The Possession was the first one in a long time to actually entertain me and have me enjoy it. Yeah, another PG-13 horror flick, but it was better than half the exorcism/possession R rated flicks I have seen over the last decade or so.

6. Prometheus

Again, some would say that this isn’t a horror film. Well to me sci-fi horror is horror no matter how you look at it. Prometheus is a quasi-prequel to Alien. It has a slow build, but it pays off at the end. Although I was expecting a little more from it, I still enjoyed it a lot. I’m not given anything away, but the abortion scene is so awesome.

5. The Divide

Yes, I consider this a horror type film as well. Perhaps this is the one movie on the list that could possibly be placed in a different genre, but oh well. A post-apocalyptic movie where people turn on one another and then rape and kill sounds like a horror movie to me. The music during the very end scene is beautifully done; it almost makes me cry how awesome it is.

4. Mother’s Day (2012)

I’m a huge fan of director Darren Lynn Bousman. I loved his entries in the Saw series (which they need to make another), so I was really looking forward to Mother’s Day. I’d like to add that I have never seen the original Troma film, but at least I know it’s a remake and I’m not some mindless drone. This movie is brutal from start to finish, it’s a shame it didn’t get a big theater release. It did get a limited release, but it deserved more. Pure awesomeness.

3. Grave Encounters 2

This movie and it’s predecessor is proof that some straight-to-DVD films can be good. Grave Encounters 2 blew me away. They really pushed the bar on ghostly found-footage movies. The people behind Paranormal Activity really need to take some notes, because this is how it is done. (And when I say take notes, I don’t mean ripping it off. PA4’s end scene with Katie completely ripped off Grave Encounters 1. Sorry, I had to say it.)

2. Sinister

Sinister follows a crime author that finds a box of super 8 home movies in the attic after moving into a new house. Upon viewing the films, he discovers that they are the grizzly recordings of families being murdered. There is much more to it, but I don’t want to sit here any explain everything. Sinister is a great horror movie. The deaths on the super 8 films are some of the most f-ed up onscreen killings I’ve seen in years. I also really enjoy the music in Sinister, it just always felt so unsettling, which made the movie even more strange than it already is. The only thing I did not like about the movie (spoiler) is the jump scare just before the end credits, I think it could have benefited by not including that at all. Other than that though, I think this movie is amazing.

1. Cabin in the Woods

I heard about this movie way back in 2009 or 2010, but it took forever to finally get released. Apparently, they were going to convert it to 3D. I’m glad they didn’t, because it might have sucked. (3D sucks) Anyway, there isn’t much I can say without giving too much away. What I will say is that it’s a beautiful blend of horror and comedy that is done just right to make it an awesomely brutal horror movie. And the cameo at the end is out of left field.

So there is my Top 10 Horror Films of 2012. If you haven’t seen or even heard of any of these films, then I suggest you really look into them. If you’re into horror, then you should at least rent them or something.

Update Aug 2017: The movie Sinister was not originally part of this list. (the original list) This list was posted in December of 2012 and I didn’t have the chance to watch Sinister until a few months into 2013, when it was released on Bluray. Over the years, I always felt it deserved to be in the top 10 and it bugged me that I never added it. So I added it.

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Check out the rest of my lists on my page A List of Lists.

RedFall Filming: Day 2

 Day 2 is down. Enjoy.

RedFall Filming: Day 1

RedFall is finally happening. Day 1 of filming is in the can. We will be filming video diary's after every shoot so please enjoy the Day 1 diary below. Trust me, they will get more entertaining as the shoot goes on. Stay tuned for more RedFall news and videos.

RedFall: The Hunt for a Retractable Knife

I have been searching online for a retractable knife to be used in the film for about a month now. I began searching for a company that already has retractable knives made that I could buy or possible even rent. I found some websites that rent or sell retractable knifes. However they charge you about $2,000 for them and some also require you to have insurance. That’s just something I really couldn’t afford.

After that failed, I tried searching for special effects companies, in hopes of getting a retractable knife created. I did find some big time special effects companies and some small time companies. Some had no clue of what I was asking. You’re a special effects company for films, how do you not know what I’m talking about? Others said they could make one for me; however they were all charging considerably more than what I could afford. Prices ranged as low as $450 to over $1,000. I know that doesn’t seem like too much, but keep in mind that we are making this film independently. If we had a studio backing us, then this hunt would have ended weeks ago.

The hunt continued and I kept searching. After sending out 40 plus emails, I finally found a guy at a special effects company that will make us the retractable knife for $250. That’s a great price for an independent filmmaker to afford. Thus the hunt was over. The retractable knife is being made as I write this and should be ready in time for the scenes it will be used for.

As I was searching, I found a lot of people online that were also searching for retractable knives for their projects. Some seemed to always be talked out of it by someone telling them to film the scene in a way so a retractable knife isn’t needed. I myself even had a special effects artist tell me to film around the actual knife stabbing someone. This really pisses me off. I feel that the scene that I wrote only works if you see the knife stabbing the person. If you didn’t see it then the whole scene isn’t as effective. I would rather re-write the scene completely then film around it. Which I’ll admit I was about to do as I felt that finding a retractable knife was like finding the Holy Grail.

I want to end by saying that even though it was hard to find someone to make us a retractable knife, I still did it. I searched, and searched, and searched. And that searching finally paid off. If you’re an independent filmmaker and you really want to use one for your film then you need to get out there and search. Don’t change your scenes or film around it.

RedFall Update: 2012!

2012 is now upon us, so I thought I'd bring you all up to speed on what's going on with RedFall. Production was set to begin last October, but we due to some unforeseen circumstances we had to set it back. We are a very small crew, so things are taking a little longer than anticipated. Thanksgiving and the Christmas season set us back even more as people involved with the film were busy with family plans and work. However, now that the new year is here, we are set to go full swing into RedFall, starting now.

There are a few small things we need to tweak before filming begins. I will keep you posted on when filming starts and how things progress. I've been thinking about starting a YouTube account so I can post videos from the set to keep you all up-to-date faster. Stay tuned for that! 2012 is going to be a huge year for RedFall, so stay tuned to my blog and DeepDarkThoughts.com for updates.

Also be sure to like us on Facebook if you haven't already.

RedFall Update: 10-23-11

I know there has not been an update in awhile. The truth is that things have been pretty slow. October was going to be the month we started shooting the film, but now it might not happen until November or December. We are a very small crew and there are so many things we need to get in order and it’s taking longer then expected.

Today Dan Houser and I had a fun photo shoot for the film. (Dan is also the co-producer, editor, camera operator, and he will be playing Sam in the film.) We took over one hundred pictures of me dressed as our masked killer, “The Ghost.” We are working on turning some of them into posters; other photos will be revealed when the time is right. Keep a look out for them. We also filmed some test footage for the film so we can try out some ideas we have.

Check out the RedFall page for official news, and like us on Facebook.

In the mean time, enjoy our already released Teaser Poster.

Update: Dead links removed.

RedFall Update: Synopsis, Info and Pics

The following was posted over at HorrorBid.com...

Pre-Production has begun on a new independent horror slasher. The film, currently titled RedFall, is slated to start filming later this summer in Maryland and will be shot in the style of The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity.

Written by Chris O’Brocki and M. T. Smith, RedFall will follow a group of young college students making a documentary for their film school class about the bizarre and unexplained dead bodies that keep popping up in their neighboring county. After traveling to the nearby country to capture their footage, they accidentally film a mysterious man dumping a body in the woods. Scared, the group must decide quickly what to do with their footage. Unfortunately, before they can do anything, this mysterious man shows up to silence them.

RedFall is set to star Chris O’Brocki (Fear of Clowns 2, Bounty), Chris Clark (Deadlands 2: Trapped) Jemma McDime (Jebediah), and Erin Chaney. M. T. Smith is also set to direct the film while also portraying “The Ghost,” the films mysterious serial killer.

Below is an exclusive behind the scenes progress picture of The Ghost's mask.

The following pics are for my blog readers...

Welcome

Hello to everyone reading this. This is Matthew Smith, also known has M.T.Smith, and this is my official blog. I did away with the website, because it was just too much to handle. I can keep track of everything right here on this blog a lot easier and for free. Hell, if Rob Zombie can do it, I can do it too.

I'll try to update this blog as often as possible with updates of my movies, or any other projects I have going on. Plus personal rants and anything else I feel like writing about. Hopefully I could post about one entry a week, but we will see how things go.

Here is a quick update on my current film...
The mask for our currently untitled movie arrived in the mail yesterday and it looks sweet. We are still working on the costume that the killer is going to wear, but I think we are on to something. We should be having a small photo shoot before filming begins, if all goes well. So perhaps a teaser poster or image will spring up soon. That's all that I can say now.

Feel free to follow me on Twitter (link on right) as I will also be giving more updates on there. For more detailed updates stay tuned.