It's HP Lovecraft a-go-go in "The Miskatonic Acid Test", the first feature from American Entropy Productions. It's 1969, and cosmic horror infects a psychedelic rock "happening" in witch-haunted Arkham, Mass. It's a zonked out brew of poetry, philosophy, cosmic horror, and 60's-style acid rock; probably the first horror movie that's more heavily influenced by the Monkees' "Head" than by George Romero... This is the official trailer.View the trailer here!
If you dig the tunes, please pop over to Dark Lord Rob's YouTube page to see footage of various initiates of the Arkham Sound roster, including such bands as The Barrow Wights, The Conqueror Wyrms, The Plasma Miasma, and the Gyre Falcons.
In 1969 a group of students at Miskatonic University in witch-haunted Arkham, Massachusetts decided to emulate the West Coast and put on their own sort of "happening", where "music and atmosphere could combine to create an alteration of consciousness," with the clandestine help of a little LSD. Or maybe a lot. However, it is said that one should be very careful when experimenting with the nether regions of consciousness, particularly when one's psychedelic event is occuring under the watchful eye of a philosophy professor who specializes in the study of Evil, and most particularly when that selfsame professor has access to the darker realms of the Miskatonic University library, where reside ancient tomes that should never be read under any circumstances, especially not aloud, and especially not in front of a crowd, and most especially not in front of a crowd that is under the effects of mind-altering drugs...Dark Lord Rob can be contacted in various ways, but the easiest and least diabolical method is to e-mail him at darklordrob[at]americanentropy.com.
Filmed in the summer of 2005 in Middleboro, Massachusetts, The Miskatonic Acid Test is one of the most ambitious motion pictures ever attempted on a shoestring budget. Inspired by the work of early twentieth-century pulp horror author H.P. Lovecraft and told in the style of a 1960's documentary, the movie's concept is described by its writer/director, Dark Lord Rob as "sort of like Monterey Pop, only at the end monsters attack everybody."
The movie, currently being edited for anticipated 2007 festival dates, features a talented young cast headed by Boston actors Erika Dyer and Sam Cohan. With a witty, literate script featuring over two dozen speaking parts, a small herd of extras, a faux coterie of psychedelic rock bands (performing vintage-styled original compositions created especially for the movie), light shows, and special effects, the movie strives to achieve much more than the average indie horror feature.
One of the most interesting and ambitious features of the movie is its creation of "The Arkham Sound", positing a unique musical identity for the various rock groups playing in the fictional town of Arkham in the late 60's. Over a dozen "bands" were created for the movie, four of which appear in the movie as stage acts and the rest of which lend atmosphere as their various regional "hits" are played over a portable radio during early scenes. The songs, created by Dark Lord Rob (a critically acclaimed songwriter from the first garage/psychedelic revival, ex-The Not Quite) and Jim Terry, a Portland-based musician/engineer, are top-flight recreations of the era and are now available as a triple-CD set.
Writer/Director/Actor Dark Lord Rob, formerly lead singer and bass player with The Not Quite is the founder of American Entropy Productions, overseeing a wildly ambitious slate of zany projects. The Miskatonic Acid Test, starring Erika Dyer, Sam Cohan, Jonathan Silver, Shawn French, Emily Griffin, and Chris Lobdell, was produced by Jasmine Koushki. Director of Photography: Eric Angra. Written and Directed by Dark Lord Rob.
1 comment:
Michelle & all - Strange Maine is a delight. Just linked this over at the HPLblog.
Keep up the great work.
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