Hey everyone, how it goes? Yeah, it's been a while, but I've been busy. :P
Have some good news - and I hope Gary doesn't mind me posting this (I didn't ask..  ), but I wanted to give everyone a quick (non-spoiler containing!!) review of the work print I saw of Trapped Saturday night.
Since starting filming for Trapped there many months ago, we have become good friends with the people who run the Hagerstown 10 Cineplex. We were lucky this past Saturday night for a few reasons: Gary had just put together the first full-length rough-cut of Trapped (minus a few scenes left to film), and the H10 peoples were nice enough to let us sneak into one of the 100 seat theaters after hours for a quick peak. I have seen quite a few cips of the film because I'm helping score it and i've been on the set, but I had yet to see anything more than 5-6 minute clips at the most. Some were 1 minute sequences, so natually I was anxious to see them put together in a more coherent fashion.
We started right around 11:30pm. There were 14 people in attendance. What followed over the next hour or so was pretty intense. I'm not sure how to review what I saw without giving anything away, but I'll touch on a few things we know.
First - Trapped. Yeah, we got that. There are some people trapped in a theater during a zombie outbreak. We've seen this type of film before.. at least I thought I had.
Second - forget everything you know about Gary & Deadlands: The Rising. The only way Trapped resembles DL:TR is, well.. I don't know, all I can say is you can tell it's a Gary movie. But just know these are two totally different beasts, one being a much larger (and angrier) one - and it ain't DL:TR!
The first thing to note about Trapped is the acting. The five main characters in the film (played by Josh Davidson, Joe Durbin, Corrine Brush, Ashley Young and Chris Clark) are extremely good at their craft. The emotions in some of the moments in the film really do grab you - you actually feel for the characters and their suituation in the film. There was a moment or two in the movie where I can honestly say I choked up and one where I got goosebumps. There's some seriously creepy sh*t in here! The casting of the film couldn't have been better.
Scares. Oh, there's a few of them. Including a stellar sequence with Ashley and Josh Davidsons daughter, Alexa. About 1/2 way through the sequence Gary said "dammit little girls are creepy!" and he was right! All I will say is the sequence scared the ever living sh*t out of me, and when it was over I leaned over to Gary and said "now THAT was awesome!"
That's only one of quite a few.
The production values on Trapped are miles above Deadlands: The Rising. Many of you know I was in DL:TR, and while I still think the movie was an accomplishment considering the circumstances and budget that film was made on, Gary has done more than step up to the plate with Trapped - the fu*ker damn near hit a home run!
Dark - the mood in this film was surprisingly dark. Like I said earlier, I have seen many clips of the film, but put together like it is - and the pacing - this makes for one DARK and CREEPY fu*king affair. When you see it, you'll understand.
The movie was a tad on the dark side visually too. Gary said the movie has not been color corrected yet, but many of the sequences already looked pretty good. I think he was shooting more for just getting the sequences together in a nice flow rather than making the colors look pretty just yet. The movie also had a temporary score - a few of my compositions, a few of Garys, some we worked on together and some commerical stuff (some will be used, some won't. Getting rights to commerical music is a pain in the ass and expensive!) Also, I would say a majority of the film was shot handheld. It's a bumpy ride (Gary, lay off the fu*king Mountain Dew, will ya!) but that only adds to the intensity of the story and builds tension in some scenes like there's no tomorrow.
Man, I wish I could say more about the plot of the film. There's some much to be said about it, but I don't want to reveal a single thing. It's too good. Speaking of not giving away the plot, Gary surprised us all by cutting off the last 10 minutes of the movie. (Bastard!) He said he is not going to show the ending sequence nor put it on any work prints until the film is completed and screened. Good idea, but pissed me off when just as the movie was at it's climax... <bam> the end. ARGH!!!
So here's the bottom line: Gary has taken what he did with Deadlands: The Rising and has pushed the envelope once again as far as what can be done with an independent film and a minimal budget. Look, I was in deadlands, and while I think the movie was an accomplishment, Trapped makes it look like child's play. Seriously. The difference between the two is night and day. There's no time for light moods in Trapped, it's dark... it's scary.. it's desolate (for lack of a better word) and.. well, it leaves me with one more thing to say:
SOMEONE GIVE THIS MAN A DECENT GODDAMN BUDGET!
With the right money (nowhere near what Hollywood considers a 'big budget') he could make one of the best zombie films outside of Romero. Bold statement, yes, but you'll understand when you see Trapped for the first time. I honestly can say I'm surprised at what I saw, and completely creeped out by it too. He's got the talent, he needs the goddamn bank account (or budget) to go with it! Hey, Gary, start playing the lottery, will ya?
Wow, the movie is dark. Real dark. I can't explain it any other way. The mood is just 'heavy' throughout the whole film. It's almost as if you carry the weight of the characters right along with them.
I know that does't tell you much about the story itself, but that's about all I want to let on to. The less you know going in this time, the better. 
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