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Glass Eye Pix Press Releases

2010

FEB 2 — LEAKED!!!

Tuesday February 2
THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL out on BluRay, DVD, and DVD/VHS Bundle
In Stores Today!!

LA TIMES Writer-director-editor Ti West's retro thriller features long stretches where nothing much happens, outside of quiet, tense shots of a cash-strapped college student (Jocelin Donahue) exploring a creepy old house. Eventually, the movie does drip with gore and ring with screams, but what's made it a cult sensation is the way West allows genre fans to settle comfortably into the milieu of early-'80s horror schlock. The home video release is being handled just as smartly, with its almost avant-garde presentation of behind-the-scenes footage and its limited-edition VHS release, packaged in a puffy clamshell case (with a DVD thrown in). GATEHOUSE NEWS SERVICE "But most of all, “House of the Devil” succeeds because every element — the direction, the sound design, the performance, the sets and that last blast of bloody horror — work in nerve-wracking harmony. From the freeze-frame opening credits to the last-second plot twist, it all comes together beautifully. The only thing keeping it from being a perfect re-creation of those early 1980s horror movies? Frankly, “House of the Devil” is just too good." CINEMATICAL "The House of the Devil was not only my favorite horror film of 2009, but in my humble opinion, one of the best of the year in any genre. Borrowing inspiration from 1970s and '80s "auteur" horror films like those of Roman Polanski (Rosemary's Baby) and Stanley Kubrick (The Shining), writer-director Ti West created a modern-day vintage masterpiece with his tale of a babysitter terrorized by a crew of Satanic cultists. And it's not only his influences, but his effectiveness rendering a believable 1980s world – both cinematically and on-camera – which left me unsurprised when an odd-shaped package arrived at my house last week from the good folks at MPI Media containing an actual videotape of the film." MONSTERS and CRITICS "House of the Devil has a grainy, familiar feel to those of us growing up on horror movies in the home video age.  In my mind, the film that House of the Devil bears a resemblance to is the first Halloween film and that’s a good thing." POPMATTERS "House of the Devil is a very different creature of the night. West shows all of his influences, ranging from Polanski to Kubrick. This is clearly a filmmaker who did his time watching Rosemary’s Baby, When a Stranger Calls and The Hills Have Eyes and expects his audience to have done the same. What he creates is less a riff on these films and more a kind of formal experiment in faithful reproduction. " MSN "Ti West's old-school horror seems to come from another time, specifically the boom of the early '80s. There's a baby sitter (Jocelin Donahue), an isolated house in the middle of nowhere, and devil worshippers (Tom Noonan and Mary Woronov, appropriately creepy) but, title aside, this simple but effective little thriller is more John Carpenter than "Friday the 13th," favoring mood and tension over spectacle. It's a smart, shivery little film. The DVD and Blu-ray include two commentary tracks (one by director West and actress Donahue, another by West with the producers and production designer), a decent making-of and a short promotional featurette." MANIA "The film takes its sweet time to get going; you need to tolerate 75 minutes of long, torturous build-up in exchange for 20 minutes of pay off. It's absolutely necessary in order for director Ti West to create the atmosphere he's after, and the end results reward patient viewers admirably." E INSIDERS "Ti West has been known for a few years as an "up and coming" horror director, but "The House of the Devil" is proof that he's arrived (let's ignore "Cabin Fever 2"). It's one of the best American horror movies in recent memory." BIG SHINY ROBOT "“The House of the Devil” is a beautifully crafted film with the characters, plot, tension and dialogue you don’t normally see in a Horror film of this era. That is not to say I haven’t enjoyed any of the recent outings of the horror genre. But writer/director, Ti West has made a film that perfectly embodies the phrase, “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey.” And let me tell you, the journey was fucking terrifying. " AINT IT COOL NEWS "And for the record, I'm not making a dime off any copy of this. I just happen to think this is something that those old-school horror fans or VHS collectors might find extremely cool. The price seems very reasonable, so go crazy people."

Jan 29—STORY BREAKS in Variety and Shocktilyoudrop:

Ti WEST PREPPING "THE INNKEEPERS"

Ti West will follow-up his critically acclaimed House Of The Devil with The Innkeepers, a spooky story about the last two staffers of a haunted hotel that's going out of business.

MPI Media Group's Dark Sky Films will finance and produce along with Larry Fessenden's Glass Eye Pix. Derek Curl, Fessenden and Peter Phok produce.

West said he intends for Innkeepers to be "a truly terrifying" follow-up to his last pic. Lensing is set to commence in Connecticut this spring.

Jan 24

THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL coming to DVD, BLU-RAY and VHS February 2. Pre-Order your copy today! DVD | BLU-RAY | VHS/DVD Bundle "The House of the Devil is engrossing and unnerving despite its minimal dialogue and disinterest in overt scares. The cinematography, sound design, and especially the score are all outstanding. There's not a weak link or misstep anywhere along the line, really. Viewers weaned on Saw sequels and desaturated shakycam flicks might be bored with it, but for those of us who grew up with atmospheric, suspenseful horror like The Changeling -- a long-time favorite of mine and one of the touchstones pointed to in the extras -- The House of the Devil is essential viewing. Highly Recommended." —Adam Tyner DVD Talk

One of the Best HORROR films of the DECADE

Here's the thing about Larry Fessenden. He's an intellectual horror filmmaker. He uses his films as a way to explore philosophical ideas like subjective perception (Habit) and the random cruelty of life (Wendigo). His movies are frequently atmospheric and involving, and while the gulf between the visceral and cerebral can be awkward, I find his films consistently exciting. That admiration continues with The Last Winter, which is his biggest film yet, his most ambitious, and, at times, his best. This time, Fessenden has oil on the mind, and his way of adapting such a contemporary fear into the horror sphere is brilliant: since oil is composed of dead animal and plant matter, it's not much of a stretch to suggest that humanity's living on the ghosts of the ancient dead. Rotten Tomatoes, DaMu

January 21
Congratulations to producer Jacob Jafke
(collaborater on Glass Eye Pix projects I Sell the Dead, The House of the Devil, Bitter Feast, Hypothermia)
for his BAFTA nomination (Best short film) and SUNDANCE FILM FEST screenings Jan 25 and 27
of Jonathan van Tuleken's short film OFF SEASON

and speaking of cold-weather flicks, this just in: THE LAST WINTER (2007) "...But this is more than the most relevant horror film ever made, it’s a genre defying film, and remarkably important for giving headlines and warnings that punch-in-the-gut feel they so desperately need..." —Alex Boyd, DIGITAL POPCORN Jan 21 2010

Keeping Score: The Best Movie Music Of '09

Cinematical, Todd Gilchrist —#3 The House of the Devil

Jan 14 — Nice interview with Jocelin Donahue at Pretty Scary

1/12/10 – This Month's Rue Morgue Magazine #97 proclaims I SELL THE DEAD

----------- Best Indie Feature of 2009 -----------

And profiles Jim Mickle's STAKE LAND. Pick up your copy! On Stands Now!

Awesome promotional vhs soft pack for THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL
out on DVD and BluRay Feb 2

Jan 4 – Danielle Harris Reveals 'Stake Land' Webisodes!

Jan 4 — more awesome year-end love from all over the web for Glass Eye Pix people and projects:
The House of the Devil, I Sell the Dead, I Can See You, Ti West, Fessenden,
The Last Winter, Wendy and Lucy, Zombie Honeymoon, etc...

Read full article | Fessenden's post on THE ORPHANAGE from 20 November

Odd post in the middle of a debate about 90's movies on Pop Syndicate: That being said, the be all, and end all of psychological horror films for me was Larry Fessenden’s Habit (1996). I once watched it seven consecutive nights in a row. What Ice Station Zebra was for Howard Hughes, Habit is for me. Very nice NYC settings, great soundtrack that perfectly mixes original classical and pop songs, great cinema verite directing and acting. The problem is, it’s a very low key, slow burn about cultural vampirism and narcissism which tends to put people off. But it’s a brilliant movie that I really obsess over. Fessenden also made 1991’s No Telling, which is also a decent psychological horror film. full post

upcoming DVD Releases from Glass Eye Pix (including Ti West's maligned sequel to CABIN FEVER featuring Fessenden)

February 2	February 16	March 30	coming soon

upcoming theatrical releases from Glass Eye pix and Dark Sky Films

Spring 2010	Fall 2010	Winter 2011

2009 wrap-up

PRODUCER Accolades

Golden Hammer Award — Larry Fessenden
The Spirit Awards Piaget Producers Award Nomination — I Sell the Dead, The House of the Devil
Filmmaker Magazine — Glass Eye Pix

TOP 10 MOVIES of 2009

Time Out NY, Joshua Ropkopf — #8 The House of the Devil
Paper Magazine, Dennis Dermody — #8 The House of the Devil

BEST Indie HORROR Feature of 2009

Rue Morgue Magazine #97 — I Sell the Dead

TOP 10 horror MOVIES of 2009

Twitch, Todd Brown — The House of the Devil
Shock till you drop, Rob G — #7 I Sell the Dead, #3 The House of the Devil
Shock till you drop, Ryan Rotten — #5 The House of the Devil
Cinematical, Todd Gilchrist — #8 The House of the Devil
Movie Cynics, The Vocabulariast — #5 I Sell the Dead
Cinefantastique — #6 I Sell the Dead
All Things Horror — I Sell the Dead, The House of the Devil
CampBlood Blog — #10 I Sell the Dead, #4 The House of the Devil
Dread Central, Matt Fini — #3 The House of the Devil
Dread Central, Buz — #1 The House of the Devil
Dread Central, The Woman in Black — I Sell The Dead

TOP 20 horror MOVIES OF 2009

Horror 101 with Dr. A.C. — I Sell the Dead, The House of the Devil

Honorable mention:

Horror Squad — I Sell the Dead
Dread Central, Uncle Creepy — The House of the Devil

BEST Reviewed HORROR Movies of 2009

11th Annual Golden Tomato Awards — #4 The House of the Devil

Top 10 weird movies of the decade

366 weird movies — #8 I Can See You

Top 25 movies of the decade

Hammer to Nail — #11 The House of the Devil, #14 Wendy and Lucy

7 Masterpieces of the '00s you've Likely Never Seen

Movie | Line — Zombie Honeymoon

ten writers and directors to watch, 2000 – 2009

AMCTV, Maitland McDonagh — Ti West

The Ten Most Chilling Wintry Fright Flicks

AMCTV, Maitland McDonagh — The Last Winter, Wendigo (runner up)

Best HORROR films of the DECADE

Rotten Tomatoes, DaMu — #24 The Last Winter

The Best Movie Music Of '09

Cinematical, Todd Gilchrist —#3 The House of the Devil