HIROSHI
KATAGIRI ASSEMBLES WORLD-CLASS PRACTICAL EFFECTS TEAM AND PROMISES
TO “SCARE THE LIFE OUT” OF HIS AUDIENCE
GEHENNA
… Where Death Lives - indie horror campaign live
now on kickstarter
LOS
ANGELES, CA (February 17, 2014) – Hiroshi Katagiri, a long time
special effects artist is making a bold jump to producing and directing
his first-ever feature film, an indie horror called GEHENNA … Where
Death Lives. A
large part of Hollywood’s practical effects community,impressed with the
script and fans of his talent, have come aboard to support
him. Katagiripromises “a film that fans of quality indie horror
will love and respect.”
Katagiri was
born in Japan, loved film as a child. He moved to the US
at 18 and found success as a primary artist at Stan
Winston Studios, mastering
the art of sculpture and character creation on films by Steven
Spielberg (Jurassic
Park, A.I., and War
of the Worlds), Rob
Marshal, Guillermodel Toro, Sam Raimi, as well as others. Additional
big-budget film credits include The Wolverine,
Pirates of the Caribbean, Alien v Predator Requiem, Cabin in the Woods, and The Hunger
Games; TV
credits include The X-Files where he was part of an
Emmy Award winning team. He most loves the horror genre and
has written and directed several acclaimed horror shorts. ForKatagiri,
directing his own feature film is the next logical step.
GEHENNA
… Where Death Lives tells a
story of 4 people scouting resort locations in Saipan, a remote
island in the Pacific Ocean. At one location, they find a hidden
cave-like structure which they decide to explore.
Soon they realize it’s a long-abandoned Japanese
military installationdating back to WW2. Inside they encounter
dried up corpses that deliver a dark omen. More shocking they
encounter a living, deformed man. After an explosion, the corpses
disappear and they are sealed inside. Concern becomes fear and fear
becomes terror. Each one of the group has strange visions borne of
private secrets as their reality begins
to blurs. They try to use theirsmarts to find clues
and even attempt to reason it through. But as the secrets of the
cave unfold,reality distorts still further. So too does the distinction
between life and death, bringing the film to a shocking conclusion.
“Gehenna -
Where Death Lives will
not rely on cheap horror techniques that are unrealistic”,
says Katagiri. “We use elements which make any film great - excellent
story line, believable characters, talented cast, and amazing practical effects.
Our characters are placed in a predicament and it grows and gets worse.
Worry and concern turn to dread, panic and terror. ButI think the test for
my success will be if viewers care so much about the
characters that they find themselves in the film and their heart
beat accelerates. This makes the viewers immersed in thatwhich
causes true horror. That will scare the life out of you.”
“I
absolutely loved the script”, adds Mike Elizalde, President of leading
effects house Spectral Motion. “So I am firmly committed to the project
both for my company and for myself as an artist.”
Effects
master Steve Wang, concept
artist Kouji Tajima, plus Joey Orosco, Tim Gore, and
Neil Winn round out the powerhouse effects team. Matt Martino, an
indie writer, producer, anddirector, with a pedigree in horror, is aboard
as Associate Producer. And the lithe and legendary Doug Jones (who played “The
Silver Surfer”) is aboard to play “The Creepy Deformed Old Man”.
“I
spent years on this script and was very careful to think it through,”
adds Katagiri. “Gehenna isa biblical term for horribly evil
place, and Saipan was site of heaviest fighting of WWII. To keep my independent
vision for this film, I have come to Kickstarter.”
Katagiri launched
his Kickstarter campaign in late February. He is offering
rewards ranging froma copy of the film, to t-shirts and posters
as well as sculptures and props from the film. He
is even offering a chance to have Katagiri himself sculpt a
statue of your face.
Katagiri splits
his time between Los Angeles and Japan. His kickstarter project is live at http://kck.st/1BQw9PM.
No comments:
Post a Comment