Titles Out Now & Coming Soon From Dark Sky Films & MPI Home Video
- Anthony Nadeau
- Sep 11, 2021
- 4 min read
Title Currently Available:
Dwight (Patrick Fugit) prowls the streets after dark. He searches each night for the lonely and forlorn, looking for people who won't be missed. Dwight takes no joy in this, but he needs their blood. Without fresh human blood, his fragile young brother Thomas cannot survive. Each death takes a larger toll, the burden of his crimes weighing heavier each time, threatening to crack his spirit. But Thomas (Owen Campbell) and his sister Jessie (Ingrid Sophie Schram) are all the family Dwight has left, and as a fiercely private and close-knit family unit, they depend on him and the rituals they've learned in order to keep their secret. But while Dwight yearns for another life, Jessie needs them to stay together. And always the boy must feed.
With his austere feature debut, featuring remarkable performances from the entire cast, writer, and director Jonathan Cuartas has made himself a filmmaker to watch. His restrained approach, sparse frame, and sharply wound focus weave the mythological elements of his story into a neo-realist family drama that elevates the traditional micro-budget American indie into something altogether unique. —Landon Zakheim
MY HEART CAN'T BEAT UNLESS YOU TELL IT TO
Written and Directed by: Jonathan Cuartas
Country of Origin: United States
Language: English
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Distributor: Dark Sky Films
Produced by: Kenny Oiwa Riches, Anthony Pedone, Jesse Brown, Ian Peterson, Patrick Fugit
Cast: Patrick Fugit, Ingrid Sophie Schram, Owen Campbell
Production Designer: Rodrigo Cuartas
Cinematographer: Michael Cuartas
Run Time: 90 minutes
Coming to DVD September 21, 2021--Night Drive
Russell (AJ Bowen) is a driver in Los Angeles who’s reeling from a series of bad decisions. While his life seems to be caught in a downward spiral, a business proposition from an alluring butenigmatic passenger named Charlotte (Sophie Dalah) proves too good to turn down. A simple ride turns deadly, catapulting Russell into an even darker place, but Charlotte may be the key to asecond chance he thought he’d never have...if he can make it through the night.
NIGHT DRIVE
Directed by: Bradford Baruh (John Dies at the End, Dead Night) & Meghan Leon (Dead Night)
Written by: Meghan Leon
Cast: AJ Bowen (You're Next, The Signal), Sophie Dalah (Unbroken, Dead Night)
Country of Origin: United States
Language: English
Genre: Thriller, Science Fiction, Independent
Distributor: Dark Sky Films
Produced
by: Bradford Baruh & Megan Leon
Run Time: 80 minutes
Coming to DVD September 28, 2021
Kevin, his older sister, Brittney, and her fiancé, Tony, set off to their parents’ lakeside cottage expecting a leisurely weekend getaway, but little did they expect the horror that awaits them.
Their holiday turns into a trip from hell as they enter a scene of mass murder, where their parents and neighbors this side of the lake all lie dead.
Terror strikes when the armed murderer confronts them, alleging to be fighting demonic forces that had possessed them all. They pin him down and lock him up in the cellar, but soon he claims to not to be alone down there.
As unexpected and traumatic events keep unfolding, they will have to find a way to survive the night without turning on each other, or becoming possessed.
BLOOD CONSCIOUS
Written and Directed by: Timothy Covell
Country of Origin: United States
Language: English
Genre: Horror
Distributor: Dark Sky Films
Cast: Nick Damici, DeShawn White, Lenny Thomas, Oghenero Gbaje
Produced by: Christina Behnke
Run Time: 81 minutes
Arrives October 5, 2021, on Digital Platforms, DVD, and Blu-ray
from MPI Home Video
An unlikely daytime TV hit that became a cultural touchstone for generations of viewers, the gothic serial Dark Shadows continues to cast a spell on fans old and new. Now, the actor who played the series’ tormented vampire Barnabas Collins is profiled in a compelling new biographical film, DARK SHADOWS AND BEYOND - THE JONATHAN FRID STORY. The documentary arrives on digital platforms, on MPI Home Video DVD and Blu-ray on October 5, 2021.
Soon after its debut on ABC-TV in 1966, Dark Shadows gained devoted fans, who thrilled to the eerie goings-on at the haunted Collinwood estate in Maine. The series broke the rules of traditional soap operas by blending stories of gothic romance, horror, and the supernatural. Storylines centered on ghosts, witches, demonic possession, and time travel. The breakout character was Barnabas Collins, a 175-year-old vampire, who after being unintentionally released from his chained coffin, arrives at Collinwood to begin a new life.
Frid’s portrayal was a key reason the series, which ran until 1971, became must-see TV for 20 million daily viewers. Dark Shadows, which spawned two theatrical films starring its original cast – as well as a 2012 reimaging with Johnny Depp – has been cited as a key influence for contemporary genre films and series such as Twilight, True Blood, and The Vampires Diaries. Almost six million DVDs of the original series have been sold and or over four decades Dark Shadows fan conventions have been held nationwide.
This first documentary devoted to Canadian-born star Jonathan Frid covers the fascinating life and career of the Shakespearean actor, who became a TV icon in the role of Barnabas Collins. The feature-length film reveals the man beneath the vampire’s cloak, exploring Frid’s personal and professional struggles, artistic triumphs, and rise to fame in part through his personal letters read by actor Ian Buchanan.
DARK SHADOWS AND BEYOND - THE JONATHAN FRID STORY is from producer Mary O’Leary, a multi Daytime Emmy winner for General Hospital and The Young and the Restless. O’Leary says, “Jonathan’s years on Dark Shadows have been well covered in print interviews. To gain insight, I chose to interview people who were close to him, ranging from his years at Yale, to his work in regional theater, to those involved in his one-man shows, which he toured across the country in his later years.”
Among Frid’s family, friends, and colleagues, who offer fresh views are veteran talk show host and Yale Drama School classmate Dick Cavett, actresses Marion Ross (Arsenic & Old Lace) and Christina Pickles (Oliver Stone’s Seizure), San Diego National Shakespeare Festival associate Anthony Zerbe, and Dark Shadows co-stars David Selby, Lara Parker, Nancy Barrett, Marie Wallace, Kathryn Leigh Scott and James Storm.
Special features of the DVD and Blu-ray include: rare performance footage; archival material from Frid’s private collection; a PBS-TV discussion with Frid; promotional pieces with the actor; Frid reading an excerpt of Washington Irving’s classic tale The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and the compilation video, The Best of Barnabas, rounds out this expanded and collectible release.
DARK SHADOWS & BEYOND: THE JONATHAN FRID STORY
Directed by: Mary O'Leary
Country of Origin: United States
Language: English
Genre: Documentary
Distributor: MPI Media Group
Produced by: Mary O'Leary
Run Time: 102 minutes
Comments