A Nightmare To Remember – Film Festival Screening

ANTR-Poster-2013

This Saturday The Can-Cannibals Double Feature (Grindhouse Trailers) will be screen at the 2013 A Nightmare To Remember International Horror Film Festival in San Francisco, CA. It’s an independent film festival ran by Miss Misery a local horror tv host. I hope to attend the event to support my film and the festival. If I do I’ll post pictures.

Date: June 15 at 7:00pm
Location: The Opera Plaza 601 Van Ness Ave San Francisco, CA 94102

Event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/190941684388089/

Official website: http://www.anightmaretoremember.com

Also on June 22nd is the auditions for my next horror project, “Trap, Neuter, Kill!”
Check out the auditions here: http://www.alwayswrongfilm.com/2013/05/27/trap-neuter-kill-auditions/

Trap, Neuter, Kill! Auditions

I’m making a brand new fake horror/grindhouse trailer this summer entitled “Trap, Neuter, Kill!” It’s co-written by my girlfriend, Kendy. Much like my last project The Can-Cannibals Double Feature, we’re shooting the trailer portion of the film only. There will be dialogue but it’s brief. Expect over-the-top characters, some vulgarity and plentiful amounts of blood!

Synopsis: Two crazy cat ladies take revenge on society that ignorantly neglects the current plight that cats are facing in their city. They target cat abusers and the corrupt police and politicians that hindered the welfare of cats.

Auditions:
Date: Saturday, June 22
Time: 12pm – 3:30pm
Location: Stanislaus County Library (down stairs in the Conference Room)
1500 I St  Modesto, CA 95354
*Once you enter the library, immediately turn right to the elevator or turn left to the stairs. You’ll be greeted by my girlfriend and we’ll have you sign in.

Experience and head shots are not required, but preferred.
Auditions will consist of cold reads from the script.
Will be shot in Modesto, CA.

No pay, but you will receive a DVD copy of the film and an IMDb credit.

Characters:

Lucy – Lead Female, age 18-35, strong acting abilities required, more reserved of the two leads, but firmly believes in their cause. She justifies her actions (killings) by only targeting the worst offenders.

Irena – Lead Female, age 18-35, strong acting abilities required, eccentric, aggressive and ambitious. She thinks of grandiose schemes to further the point of their cause, which clouds her judgment. Is more than willing to kill to get her point across, she does not need to justify her actions, she embraces them.

Police Officer – Male, age 30+, Sleazy corrupt cop who harasses Lucy.

Customer Victim – Male, age 18+, gleefully admits to hating cats and thinks they’re vermin.

Male Neuter Victim – age 18+, No nudity, but will be in underwear, can wear a top/shirt.

Female Neuter Victim – age 18+, No nudity, but will be in underwear, can wear a top/shirt.

De-claw Victim – Male or Female, age 18+, thinks cats are an accessory and can be customized to his/her liking.

Doctor Victim – Male or Female, age 25+, likes to trap cats and take them to the pound.

Cat Followers (4-8) – Male and Female, age 18+, a group of people join the cause of the two crazy cat ladies.

Extra Victims (2-3) – Male and Female, age 18+, aftermath of their death is shown, their dead bodies are displayed as a message to other wrong doers. Actors will be drenched with blood, possible make-up effects and duck tape on mouth. Actors can be creative with their own character, which we can discuss.

Extras (3-6)- Male and Female, age 18+, a crowd of people disgusted and shocked at the site of the dead bodies.

If you have any questions please email me (Matt) at alwayswrongfilm@gmail.com

We shoot mainly on Saturdays, sometimes Sundays. We all have full time jobs too, so there’s no problem with working around your work schedule.

Thanks!

New Faux Grindhouse Trailer and Feature Length Film (In Progress)

Lots of cool new projects coming up! I’m working on a new fake grindhouse trailer (like my Can-Cannibals trailer) and it’s being co-written by my girlfriend (Kendy). The reason why I’m making a new faux trailer is because my brother (his facebook) is adding footage to his short film Cinco De Mayo in order to make it into a feature length movie. He posted on facebook that he is making two fake grindhouse trailers and that inspired me to make a new one too. So he’ll be needing actors for his two trailers and I’ll be casting for mine within the next month. I’ll post a plot synopsis, character descriptions and audition dates soon. Right now I can only share that it’s going to be shorter than my last faux trailer and it will be bloodier!

At the same time, I’ve decided to put most of my energy into making a feature length project, which would be my first. It started out with five different concepts, then down to three and now I believe I’ve settled on the right one to pursue. I’m only in the writing phase currently. My plan is to write it in the next few months and then go into production this year.

2013 Horror Hotel: International Festival Screening and Live Can-Cannibal Footage

Great news! The faux grindhouse trailers The Can-Cannibals Double Feature has been selection to screen at the 2013 Horror Hotel: International Festival and Convention and has won 2nd place in the best trailer category. http://www.horrorhotel.net/page7.php

It will be screen on Saturday, May 18th in Hudson, Ohio.
https://www.facebook.com/events/523892277653028/?ref=ts&fref=ts

I also uploaded live raw footage from The Can-Cannibals 5th Year Anniversary Show at the Oakland Metro Operahouse on Feb. 09, 2013. Also there’s a couple of brief interviews with two of the Cannibals. I was shooting by myself so the camera is shaky, sorry!

Part 1.

Part 2.

Rmar Music Video Is Done! …Late Blog!

Wow man I’m really bad at keeping up with a blog. I didn’t even make a post the very day I posted the new music video. But no one is really reading and my computer when out for a week, but those still aren’t good enough excuses. I’ll try to do better :)

First: The music video for Gabber Nullification Project.

Second, I’ve been wanting/planning to do more blog posts less about self-promotion and more about no-budget film techniques, advice and tales. I’m hoping to post a simple one soon then move on to how to build squibs, make blood and more!

Happy New Year – Rmar Production Update

I hope everyone had a great holiday and a safe/fun new year :)

Just updating everyone on the Rmar music video. Sadly I didn’t make the deadline of uploading the music video before the new year. But hopefully I’ll have it ready for early 2013. So I wanted to open up on the reasons why it has been taking longer than usual to edit this video. There’s two things:

1. This is the first time I’m editing while working a regular full-time job. So I don’t get that much time during the week to work on the video, nor do I on the weekends because I’ve been pretty busy lately. I know other people can manage it, so I know I should be able to do it too. Which I will of course. *Quick aside, I did have a “normal” full-time job when editing The Can-Cannibals grindhouse shorts but as I will explain in a later post that too was difficult to manage. But that’s a different story for a different time.

2. To be honest, I’ve been having trouble with the structure of the video; on how to format it. Unlike my previous music videos which were pretty much short films, this video is more fast paced, rapid with many cuts, essentially it’s and more like a music video, lol. So I’m having a hard time grasping exactly how to edit it with such little time to work on it. But I’ve got some good news, I’ve recently come up with a new approach to the video, and I feel this is the right direction to take it. I’m not giving up! If there’s any major updates I’ll share them on my Facebook or here.

Thanks to those involved for your patience :)

Lastly, I just want to share some inspiration for this video. I know it’s weird to share another music video while working/promoting my own, but whatever. Remember: I’m influenced by not taking (stealing) from Pearl Jam’s “Do The Evolution” music video.

And I was inspired by the film A Clockwork Orange; then again I’m inspired by A Clockwork Orange for almost every project I work on.

And the opening credit sequence from Enter The Void

 

 

Brutal As Hell Review of The Can-Cannibals Double Feature

Here’s another review of The Can-Cannibals Double Feature; that was just posted! The review was written by Keri O’Shea for the website Brutal As Hell. We not only get a new review/perspective on the faux trailer (obviously), but we can a female perspective as well, which is awesome.

In the review, she mentions a term that’s being used to describe modern exploitation movies (Machete, Father’s Day, Dead Hooker in a Trunk, etc) that have been coming out that were influenced by the 70s/80s grindhouse films. The term is “rewindhouse.” I’ve never heard of it until this review, so to the reviewer’s disdain I just might start using the term, lol. I’m not entirely committed to it though. Anyways not only check out the review but the whole website too.

Excerpt from the review:

“But, what you do get is a sense of fun from proceedings and of a cast enjoying the experience of filming. Hell, I’d have been happy to see the girls (a real-life burlesque troupe) going even more over-the-top in their performances than they did, and I was happy that they got some good old-fashioned lo-fi gore in there. A grindhouse trailer ain’t complete without some blood and guts. Of the two ‘trailers’, I think Rebelle’s Revenge is the superior one for me: one big reason for this is that Courtney Cipriani as Rebelle brings the right sort of sneering attractiveness to her role. She looks the part and talks the talk, and we get the best lines of the film in this half of the reel. ” – Keri O’Shea (Brutal As Hell).

Read the whole review: http://www.brutalashell.com/2012/11/horror-in-short-the-can-cannibals-double-feature/

Also for any other short filmmakers, Brutal As Hell is looking for short films to review and here’s the article link: http://www.brutalashell.com/2012/10/short-film-makers-brutal-as-hell-wants-you-2/comment-page-1/#comment-75185

Daily Grindhouse Interview and Promote Horror

Man I’m horrible at keeping a blog, lol. Here’s some self-promotion but it comes from other websites! First my short film was featured and had a nice/short review on Daily Grindhouse. I also had the honor of being interview for the site also. I’ll be honest and this is the first time I’ve every been interviewed regarding one of my films. Also this project (The Can-Cannibals Double Feature) is the first project that has given me the opportunity to be covered by other websites too. It’s real exciting. So anyways, it was a great interview with Daily Grindhouse and even if you know me/worked with me I think you should read my interview because there’s some real insight into the way I work and what’s coming up next. I’m not saying I give brilliant answers that all should read, but it’s worth a read :)

From the review:

“Those familiar with the fake trailers in Tarantino/Rodriguez’s GRINDHOUSE will know what to expect here, and director Ragsdale has done a quality job replicating the look, feel and soundtrack of classic exploitation. It’s all quite intentionally silly – and features some of the least convincing fake intestines I’ve ever seen – but it’s nasty, bloody fun and doesn’t overstay its welcome. The acting from the Can-Cannibal gals is inconsistent (to say the least), but fans of 70s female gang films like Jack Hill’s SWITCHBLADE SISTERS will find plenty to love here.” – Doug (Daily Grindhouse)

Feature/Review: http://dailygrindhouse.com/thewire/no-budget-nightmares-short-film-round-up-the-end-2012-the-can-cannibals-double-feature-2012-and-a-certain-kind-of-monster-2012/

Interview: http://dailygrindhouse.com/thewire/no-budget-nightmares-interview-with-the-can-cannibals-double-feature-director-matthew-ragsdale/

Lastly, there’s a great promo on PromoteHorror.com. The website promotes pretty much everything horror related, like films, books, kickstarters, etc. It’s a great write-up and I’m really appreciative of the detail put into it, which I didn’t supply to the writer.

My promo: http://www.promotehorror.com/2012/11/watch-can-cannibals-double-feature-today.html

Rmar Production Update and ITSA Film Festival 2012

Just a quick update on my new project “Rmar,” which is a music video for Gabber Nullification Project. This is my second video for the band. If you read my earlier blog post in September I posted an open call audition for Rmar. I had to cut some characters out which was fine because I cut some extra roles and one character that was only added for one gag in the video. But sadly one person dropped out and I had to cut a major character from the video. I don’t mind, that shit happens, but it could have been handled better on the actor’s part. But now looking at the footage I think the video will work better without these characters. I always have the tendency to shoot too much footage, which can ruin the flow of the scenes and I just have to cut out good material because of time.

We shot the video in two days and it was great. The weather was great, we shot locally and had very few props or costumes. I and some actors were late on both shoots, but that was the only problem we ran into. I loved working with actors from previous projects but I was also able to cast some new faces. Because of my regular work schedule, it will take quite a bit of time to edit this thing together. So to my actors: please be patient with me :)

On Saturday (November 3rd) was the screening of The Can-Cannibals in Sonora, CA at the 2012 ITSA Film Festival. My girlfriend and I attended the festival but before we arrived we went to Murphys, CA and ate vegan beet burger sliders on a house made challah bun with house made chips on the side at Mineral. It was really fucking good! Anyone in the area seriously has to go try them, even if you’re not vegan you will love them.

We attended the horror segment of ITSA Film Festival called Reel Scary. The Can-Cannibals kicked off the event by screening first. The festival was real fun. This was our second time attending; the first time was for the Attack of the Killer UFOs music video. This time I got to speak for a little bit to the crowd about the project. And got to talk to a couple of cool people about film. Hopefully we stay in contact because it’s really important for our local film community to stay connected.

Here are a couple of short films that I really enjoyed:

He Dies At The End. Written & Directed by Damian Mc Carthy.

Dark Times by Peter Horn & Jared Marshall

More updates coming soon!

Horrible Imaginings Art Gallery Screening

Very cool news! The Can-Cannibals (Grindhouse Trailers) will be screen at the Horrible Imaginings Art Gallery in San Diego, CA! The art reception starts Wednesday, October 24th at 7pm. Location: 10th Avenue Theatre 3rd Floor – 930 10th Ave San Diego, CA and will run for 2.5 weeks.

Just to make it clear, my film was not an official selection of the festival, but it’s still really cool to be given the opportunity to have my work shown in an art gallery, along with other cool films and to be exposed to a new audience.

The art show is in conjunction with the the Horrible Imaginings Film Festival; it will showcase dark or macabre artwork from a variety of artists working in a variety of mediums.

A number of shorts and one feature film will run on a loop in the Gallery side room.
Short Films:
This Little Light by Jeff Cohlman
The Transmission by Brian Lonano
Killing Candi by Julie Ufema
Sacha the Bear by Francois Morisset
Thy Kill be Done by Greg Hanson and Casey Regan
The Can-Cannibals by Matthew Ragsdale
Feature Film:
Video Diary of a Lost Girl by Lindsay Denniberg

VIDEO DIARY OF A LOST GIRL Trailer from Lindsay Denniberg on Vimeo.

Art Show Schedule: http://www.hifilmfest.com/newspost/art-gallery-opening-reception-october-24th/

Film Festival Schedule: http://www.hifilmfest.com/films-and-showtimes/