EVENT: Maine horror film premiere SUNDAY!

Filmmakers Shawn French and Sue Stevens lead the way into no-holds-barred terror in the latest Maine horror film to hit the big screen. A short Q&A session with the cast and crew will follow Sunday's screening, as an extra treat to premiere attendees.

There's a great article about the movie in today's Portland Press Herald (click here to read).

WHAT: "The Wrong House" makes its premiere in its homestate!
WHEN: Sunday, September 20, 2009, at 6:30pm
WHERE: Cinemagic Theater, Westbrook, Maine
COST: A mere $5 to help support local film arts!
FMI: thewronghouse[at]gmail.com

The story: An isolated house in the woods looks like an easy mark to a group of friends camping in the Maine wilderness. The thieves haul away several ounces of pot and hallucinogenic mushrooms in the heist. But when the homeowners track them down, the thieves learn too late that there are some people you just shouldn't mess with... and that they picked The Wrong House.

The story was inspired by a rash of area burglaries around the home of husband/wife producers Shawn French and Sue Stevens (who play serial killers in the film). They initially started working on the script to vent frustration, but once the story fell into place, they knew they had to shoot this movie.

"The Wrong House" was written by Shawn French of Wisdumb Productions and co-directed by French and Andy Davis of Emptyhouse Film.

"We were incredibly fortunate to find a group of actors who were up for anything we threw at them," said French. "From waterboarding to very physical fight scenes, we put this cast through the ringer. Everyone walked away bruised."

"The Wrong House" is a hardcore flick with horror effects created by artist Eric Anderson (recent winner of the Portland 48 Hour Film Festival award for Best Makeup) of the Portland-based FX group The Shoggoth Assembly. It features an original score by composer Timothy Butcher of Washington and music by local artists The Motengata Band, Damien Zygote and Stream Reggae.

View trailer online here.

Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at the door, or in advance at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/79348

Horror comes home again!

Wisdumb Productions has just announced the emergence of their new partnership with Emptyhouse Film and Motion Media Entertainment to produce the feature-length horror film, "The Wrong House." Production is scheduled to begin in Limerick, Maine, in September.

"Obviously, we're thrilled to have Emptyhouse Film and Motion Media Entertainment on board for this project. Their involvement takes the film to a whole other level," said Wisdumb Production's Shawn French, who will co-direct the film with Emptyhouse Film's Andy Davis. Motion Media Entertainment's Olin Smith will Executive Produce.

"The Wrong House" was written by French after a string of area burglaries in March 2008. It tells the tale of five college-aged friends who break into an isolated house in the Maine woods, which looks like an easy mark to them while they're out camping in the wilderness. The thieves haul away several ounces of marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms in the heist. In the following days, the thieves are visited by the robbed homeowners, who deliver an ultimatum to return what was stolen. Thinking the homeowners won't call police to report stolen drugs, they ignore the warnings. Once the deadline passes, the thieves learn too late that there are far worse things than being arrested—and that they picked on The Wrong House.

A strong narrative structure, increasing tension as the thieves argue whether to return the stolen goods, and a pair of serial killers who believe themselves to be agents of karma combine for a perfect blend of suspense and horror. "Shawn told me the story, and immediately I was hooked. I loved the brutal nature and the structure of the story. I'm really excited to help create this film" said Emptyhouse Film's Andy Davis.

Emptyhouse and Motion Media Entertainment are some of the state's most prolific independent filmmakers, and must be familiar to readers of the Strange Maine blog by now, since we've enjoyed covering the production and release of their other Maine-made films, "Mud," "I'm Sorry," "Monster in the Woods" and the zombie opus "2".

Casting for the film has been ongoing, with roles paid on a lo/no/deferred basis.

Writer/director Shawn French has a decade of experience as a stand-up comic and has appeared in the feature films, “The Miskatonic Acid Test,” “2” and “Monster in the Woods.” “The Wrong House” will be the first film under his new banner, Wisdumb Productions.

Cinematographer Andy Davis of Emptyhouse Film has directed five feature films, including the zombie opus “2” (which Fangoria magazine called “Smart, dark and bold” and Revenant Magazine raved “Incredible. One of the best Indie zombie films in recent history.”) Wisdumb Productions is thrilled to have a filmmaker of Davis’ caliber as cinematographer.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact Shawn French at Thewronghouse@gmail.com