By Oh My Gore ! on August 29, 2009
"THE 4TH REICH" Heating Up To Fever Pitch!
There's a violent storm brewing, taking the form of an explosive feature film exploring the un-dead and human experimentation, during the conflict of war.Shaun Robert Smith is proud to present "THE 4TH REICH", an original exploration of fear, the highly anticipated feature, which promises to shake up the state of the horror genre today.
Following on from his short film, "THE SOLDIER", which gained a nationwide theatrical release in 2008, gaining a ‘Dead by Dawn' nomination, "THE 4TH REICH", is shaping up to be Shaun Robert Smiths' breakthrough movie, showcasing his eager to stamp authorization on the claim of being a truly thought provoking & visually engaging filmmaker.
Not only will he be faced with one of the most arduous tasks, the groundbreaking feature film; he must also exorcise any demons, which lie beneath, fear of the unknown.
"This is going to be a thoroughly engaging and imaginative journey but I think this is exactly what the genre needs, at the moment," "This movie, the public wants to see and this is the kind of preparation I'm geared up for."
The director, first became involved in film whilst watching his father busy at work with the family Cine camera, this sparked an interest, and led a young Shaun, to learn the fundamentals, that “people actually made films, created the blood, and most importantly, told the story”.
Watching horror films in secret such as, "THE GATE" with Stephen Dorff and writing about John Carpenter's "THE FOG" led Shaun to enrol in college and begin training as a Special Effects make-up artist. Seeing this as the best way to showcase his work, Shaun directed a series of short films, “I haven't looked back since directing my first professional short film in 2003 ‘This Place'.”
Everyone knows, "THE SOLDIER", is only the beginning, and the platform to reach potential audiences has been set in stone, for "THE 4TH REICH"'.
For those of us not versed in historical facts, the Nazi's re-wrote much of Germany's history and created the First and Second Reich's to precede them. Reich closely translates to Empire or realm.
The First Reich was considered by the Nazi's to be the reign of the Holy Roman Empire.
The empire covered most of Europe covering Northern France, Austria, the many German states, Belgium, Netherlands, Northern Italy, Czechlosavakia and half of Poland. This Empire was dissolved in 1806.
Nazi Germany and the Third Reich under the regime of Adolf Hitler himself established a totalitarian dictatorship between 1933 to 1945.
The Fourth Reich became a term used to describe in theory, a successor of the Third Reich, during the 60s and 70s due to key West German political figures having ties to the Third Reich regime.
The director's vision for, the 4th Reich, isn't really about the Nazi regime, it's an exploration of fear, “though this regime is part of history”, when you look around the world, such lessons are still present today”.
"THE 4TH REICH", represents a historical fiction piece, its setting and an event through the depiction of horror, being at the core of the story; by reconstructing characters and events, in the spirit of history.
The films' emphasis is to portray the idea of human terror, interwoven with the fictional story.
Whilst at college, Shaun produced a film based on the un-dead and human experimentation during the Vietnam conflict, called ‘AWOL to Horror', this led to the initial idea and over the years, the story evolved, when he discovered how horrifically close the human race came in the form of secret experiments. “ I always wanted this story to be told, the true humanity of Man.”
Having served his apprenticeship, with the scripts, ‘AWOL to Horror' and ‘The Twitching Dead' in the late 90's, both were envisaged as potential feature films.
A step in the right direction, and a platform to test the water within the industry, competing in, the 2 days later competition only served to confirm the potential audience, with the short film ‘The Soldier'.
Shaun, being a great admirer of Fulci, Scorsese and Argento, applied their passion for filmmaking to his own project leading him to direct the gutsy and truly terrifying zombie film, mixing both genres and drawing inspiration from Fulcis', The Beyond, which he categorically states is, “the ultimate zombie movie”.
"THE SOLDIER" gained a theatrical release during Halloween 2008, screening at the London Short Film Festival in Feb of that year, gaining a ‘Dead by Dawn' nomination. During 2009, "THE SOLDIER", will be showing in the UK for the second time.
The success of the film, quickly led to the completion of his script, "THE 4TH REICH", which quickly gained momentum and interest following on from his lead actor in "THE SOLDIER", Clayton Fussells' desire and commitment to return and play a supporting role, alongside a ‘second to none' effects team. With the quality of the script came quality talent, Sean Pertwee, Tom Savini, Axelle Carolyn, and Craig Conway are amongst the cast – led by casting director Jeremy Zimmerman, the two lead roles are yet to be confirmed!
By undertaking this challenge, treading the fine line between history and fiction, within this exceedingly challenging and ultimately tricky genre, “the setting was the most important ingredient”.
“Writing about a particular time in history, there tends to be an automatic focus on information from the period, the need for both accuracy and authenticity, which ultimately results in lengthy research whereas the aim of, The Soldier, became primarily a vehicle for delivering certain facts about the period, without a need to become over-involved in detail, in turn compromising my artistic appeal”.
The story was paramount and the idea of getting lost in the research process would be to the detriment of the story.
Whether or not to distort past reality or manipulate historical fact never became an issue, as the initial idea became the focal point, which was far more interesting and exciting
"THE 4TH REICH" begins an ambitious and arduous project; the film is to be shot in 3D, adding to the quality, confirming to most, "THE SOLDIER", was just the tip of the iceberg.
Shaun is well aware of the rarefied heights he may be on the verge of entering, having already secured an international distribution deal at EFM this year for The Soldier, the momentum is gathering pace whilst generating further sales, such lofty ambitions though suit the director well, he has proved his pedigree, and clearly, this story and film deserves to be seen by loyal fans of the genre. “I think it could even surpass the excitement of all those involved from conception to completion”.
Fans of the genre will always yearn for more of what they like, and it is much easier if the initial premise resounds under the loose banner of history, fiction or psychological drama, what happened and why it happened.
“The audience today are extremely savvy and the plot may be accepted as an event in history or simply appeal to their imagination, which allows for the characters, setting, and plot events as if they actually could have happened”.
“We see the horror film is currently riding a crest of popularity and my work in this genre, experiencing the past with vivid imagination and detail, allows the film to stir up emotions of pain, suffering and despair by engaging and entrusting the audience to enter the world and share in the need for security and freedom endured and felt by these characters”.
The ultimate aim and ambition for the director is to bring the viewer, something that they have never witnessed before.
By skilful blending of drama, conflict, history and fiction,"THE 4TH REICH" evokes thoughts of the past; only desire and commitment continue a tradition seen today, once you join the ranks.
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Synopsis : Beset by a barrage of German gunfire, Allied forces land on Normandy. In spite of the countless number of bodies strewn along the bloody beaches, the maneuver is hailed a success in the Allied efforts to liberate France.
However, there is no respite for war-weary Corporal Roberts and Sergeant Major Gordon as they are assigned on a covert mission progressing deeper into occupied France. Led by the battle hardened Captain Bathurst, the small select infantry are tasked with a mission to take over from where a previous operation failed – to eliminate the notorious Oberleutnant Dirlewanger and destroy the secret research facility he and his SS division are guarding with their lives. With the mission’s details being on a need to know basis, rumours amongst the infantry circulate about the Nazi’s occultish experiments.
As they advance through war-ravaged towns seeing off the last faithful members of Nazi resistance, Roberts discovers that the rumours may not be as far-fetched as he believed. Finding the macabre corpses of the first operation, the disturbing reality that they were not simply the victims of battle begins to sink in.
Their suspicions prove justified as they explore the deserted research facility, revealing the truly horrific implications of the Nazi experiments and discovering their successful trials to regenerate an indestructible 4th Reich from Dirlewanger’s SS dead division. The soldiers are now faced with an undead evil for which even the extreme nightmares of war could not have prepared them.
Source : Oh My Gore !
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