After movies like V/H/S and The ABCs of Death, I’m all for horror anthologies abiding by a particular theme. There’s something inherently fun about such a cornucopia of treats, as different directors populate one single film with so many distinctive styles and traits – as long as the segments set the stage for such fun. I’ll always give a horror anthology a try, from Chillerama to The Theatre Bizarre, which is why I’m happy to say we’ve got an exciting anthology coming our way with Fear Paris.
Newly announced, Fear Paris will join the likes of Joe Dante (Gremlins), Xavier Gens (Hitman/Frontier(s)), and Timo Vuorensola (Iron Sky), as they explore the horrific underworld of France’s iconic capital city. Here’s the full press release, accompanied by a tonal teaser below:
The producers behind Paranormal Activity, Insidious, and The Iceman join forces on the genre bending FEAR PARIS, an ambitious new film of unique interconnected stories exploring the dark underbelly of the city of lights.
Helmed by directors Joe Dante (Gremlins, The Hole), Xavier Gens (Hitman), and Timo Vuorensola (Iron Sky), the genre bending and connected stories will present a Paris unlike anything seen before, in a combination of fantasy, horror and science fiction. Casting is under way as the film will go into production this Summer/Fall. Two additional directors will join the line up soon.
Laura Rister (Untitled Entertainment) and Ehud Bleiberg (Bleiberg Entertainment), together with Steven Schneider (Vicarious Entertainment) join Darryn Welch (Instinctive Film) to produce the film.
Tony Noble (Moon) is the production designer. Kristyan Mallet (Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter) is onboard for special effects makeup and prosthetics.
The imaginative world will be created in collaboration with the great visual effects minds at Pixomondo (Hugo) and Prime Focus (Gravity, Judge Dredd). Richard Raaphorst (Frankenstein’s Army) is the concept designer.
WME Global and Rister will handle North American rights.
While the names previously listed are enough to cause excitement amongst horror fans, the inclusion of two yet-to-be named talents means there are still surprises left. For those newer horror fans, France has been producing some seriously demented horror films as of late (coining the genre “French Extremism”), so the concept of an entire horror anthology coming out of such a rich, terrifying area should create plenty of blood-curdling screams.
Doing a little detective work, I remembered a previously announced horror anthology titled Paris I’ll Kill You (a play on Paris, je t’aime), teasing ten directors from around the globe – including the late David R. Ellis. After digging up its IMDB page, I clicked on the official website listing, and you’ll now see that we’re brought directly to a Fear Paris website. Diving further, reading through the “About Fear Paris” portion, you’ll notice there are seven directors listed as participants. In addition to Dante, Gens, and Vuorensola, also listed are Christian Alvart (Case 39/Pandorum), Eron Sheean (Errors of the Human Body), Richard Raaphorst (Frankenstein’s Army) and Joern Heitmann – “Germany’s premiere music promo director.”
Richard Raaphorst is already listed above as concept designer, a brilliant move that anyone who has seen Frankenstein’s Army will agree with, but does this mean the last two spots will go to a combination of Alvart, Sheean, or Heitmann? This is all just speculation and sleuthing, but if the project has evolved from Paris I’ll Kill You into Fear Paris, all these names have been involved since the beginning and it makes perfect sense that any of these remaining names will round out our directorial cast. Damn, Paco Plaza ([REC]) was originally “attached” to Paris I’ll Kill You as well – super bummed his name is gone.
Only time will tell if my investigation methods uncovered any truths, but there is one constant here – Fear Paris is happening, and I’ll happily be anticipating its arrival no matter who else signs on. Be sure to check out the teaser below for some sick evil mime action – Vive la France…and Horror!
