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It’s one of busiest opening weeks in some time for indie releases with Neon (Pleasure), Bleecker Street (Montana Story), IFC Midnight (The Innocents) and Roadside Attractions (Family Camp) in theaters — even as the imminent closure of the Landmark Pico underscores just how arthouses are struggling to win back core demos.

Also out, Grasshopper Films presents Michelangelo Frammartino’s Venice Special Jury Prize-winner Il Buco; Greenwich Entertainment documentary Mau is the first feature-length treatment on design visionary Bruce Mau; and Trafalgar Entertainment offers a remastered version of Lasse Hallstrom’s Abba: The Movie, which follows the group’s hugely successful 1977 Australian tour.

Roadside’s faith-based comedy Family Camp is the widest specialty release on over 850 screens. It’s the first feature from The Skit Guys — Tommy Woodard and Eddie James – targeting “family member from eight to eighty.” Two polar-opposite families find themselves sharing a cabin and vying for a coveted...

Roadside Attractions, K-love Films, and Provident Films have announced that their comedy Family Camp, starring Tommy Woodard and Eddie James of comedy duo The Skit Guys, will debut in cinemas nationwide on May 13.

It’s set to open against Universal’s Firestarter starring Zac Efron, IFC Films’ horror-thriller The Innocents and Greenwich Entertainment’s documentary, Mau.

The film watches as two seemingly polar-opposite families are assigned to share the same cabin for a hilariously eventful week at church camp. It also stars Gigi Orsillo, Cece Kelly, Robert Amaya and Heather Land. Brian Cates directed from the script he wrote with Rene Gutteridge. Darren Moorman, Trey Reynolds and Justin Tolley produced alongside The Skit Guys’ Chief Operations Officer, Jay Howver.

“For over 20 years, we’ve dreamed about making a comedy feature film,” said James. “Our goal is to always include humor, heart, and Him (God), and we were able to accomplish that in Family Camp.

"Get ready for the ultimate predator!" Madman Films has released an official international trailer for Big Freaking Rat, a ridiculous B-movie Troma horror special from filmmaker Thomas J. Churchill (also of the B-movies Nation's Fire and The Amityville Harvest). This was apparently already released last fall in the US, but we haven't heard about it until now. So why not give it a look?! Nothing like a gnarly Big Freaking Rat to ruin your day. Ha ha. A ranger is about to open a campground for the season. Everything is in order and the camp seems peaceful until a giant rat, mutated by dumped toxic waste, begins killing the campers and rangers. The film stars Scott C. Roe, Caleb Thomas, Cece Kelly, Nino Aldi, Mark Hoadley, and Theresa Ireland. It is one of those films to stay far away from, unless you want to laugh at how bad it is.

New Poster for Dachra: "Grisly, frightening, and stuffed with howling thrills, the new Tunisian horror film Dachra won over both Frightfest and the Venice Film Festival and is finally making its stateside debut. Equal parts Midsommar and The Blair Witch Project, Dachra begins with a simple classroom assignment and spins through double plot twists into high-tension cannibal sorcery.

Sent off with a documentary video assignment, three journalism students decide to interview Mongia, seeking new clues about the cold case. Intrigued and perturbed by the deranged woman’s story, the trio take their camera to the scene of the crime deep in the woods, led by the headstrong young investigator Yassmine (scream queen par excellence Yassmine Dimassi).

Soon they are welcomed to a secluded, hushed village where goats have free rein and raw meat hangs drying in the wind. Captured with a minimalist color palette in Hatem Nechi’s eerie...

Stars: Marci Miller, Jason Tobias, Danny Ruiz, Cece Kelly, Susan Moore Harmon, Justin Dray, James Schuler, Denver Isaac, Ivana Rojas | Written and Directed by Geoff Reisner, Jason Tobias

Fear, the debut film from writer/directors Geoff Reisner and Jason Tobias is pitched as a post apocalyptic action film. When it was released in the UK as F.E.A.R. Forget Everything And Run it was positioned as a zombie film with the tagline “They Won’t Stay Dead”. Which one is more accurate? Unfortunately, neither of them are,

A text crawl with voiceover informs us that a pandemic has resulted in a large section of the Pacific Northwest being walled off by the government. The survivors trapped on the wrong side of it are left struggling to survive.

Among those survivors are Josephine ‘Joe’ Allister, her husband Ethan and their kids Josh (Danny Ruiz; Mighty Oak) and Mia. Mia is infected and...

Exclusive: Devilworks, the genre sales specialist, has launched a full-service distribution label. Named New Era Entertainment, the banner will focus on North American releases, primarily for home entertainment.

New Era Entertainment’s first release will be action thriller Fear, which will debut in the U.S. and Canada on June 15. The film will receive day-and-date physical DVD and Premium Tvod, followed by a full digital release.

Pic follows a young family that faces a group of bandits who steal the last of their supplies; with time running out, they must form an alliance with the outlaws to protect their children. Marci Miller (Sinister Savior) stars with Jason Tobias (Downrange), Justin Dray (Boost), Danny Druiz (Mighty Oak), and Cece Kelly (Big Freaking Rat). Geoff Resiner directed and co-wrote the script with Jason Tobias. Producers were Action Figure Entertainment.

“As we maintain relationships with Independent filmmakers, producers, agencies and festivals, we wanted...

In a brutal post-apocalyptic world, a family fights to survive against ruthless bandits in Geoff Resiner's new movie Fear, and ahead of the thriller's June 15th release on DVD and Premium Tvod via New Era Entertainment, we've been provided with the exclusive trailer to share with Daily Dead readers!

New Era Entertainment have slated their first release for thriller Fear across the USA and Canada on June, 15th 2021.

The film will receive a full home entertainment release, with a day-and-date physical DVD and Premium Tvod, followed by a full digital release.

Fear is an action thriller, set in the desolate regions of Pacific Northwest where a young family faces a group of bandits who steal the last of their supplies; with time running out, they must form an alliance with the outlaws to protect their children.

Starring Marci Miller Jason Tobias,Justin Dray, Danny Druiz (Mighty Oak), Cece Kelly,

The...

Devilworks, the genre sales banner based in Malta, has launched a full-service distribution label named New Era Entertainment to help fulfill the demands of the market and broaden its release schedule.

“As we maintain relationships with independent filmmakers, producers, agencies and festivals, we wanted to develop a new label, that allows us to expand our acquisitions to a wider audience, across all genres,” Devilworks said in a statement. “We are looking for innovative storytelling and are eager to collaborate with new and current filmmakers, to release content that empowers and enthuses audiences.”

Devilworks’ new distribution arm has committed to releasing a number of titles that span across different genres every year. New Era Entertainment’s first film, “F.E.A.R.,” will receive a full home entertainment release across the U.S. and Canada on June 15.

Last fall, the European genre label launched its own U.S. distribution arm that aims to release at least 12 titles per year.

"What you need... is someone who knows the way." Signature Ent. has released an official UK trailer for an indie zombie apocalypse survival thriller titled Forget Everything and Run, also listed under the title F.E.A.R., which is an obvious anagram. This is set to open on VOD in April in the UK, but there's still no US release set or any other plans yet. When a terrifying pathogen is released, one family will fight to save their children against a band of marauders, hellbent on revenge. They escape and cling to hope, barely surviving in the mountains. The synopsis doesn't specifically mention zombies, but it's pretty clearly another zombie thriller. This stars Marci Miller, Jason Tobias, Cece Kelly, Danny Ruiz, Susan Moore Harmon, and Justin Dray. I dig all the snowy shots in this, but the rest of it looks like gritty madness. Check it out. Here's...

Marci Miller, Jason Tobias star in the title.

Genre firm Devilworks has acquired US distribution rights to Geoff Resiner’s action thriller Fear.

Devilworks, which distributes titles in the US alongside its UK-based sales operation, picked up the title from Breakthrough Entertainment and is planning an early summer release.

Set in the desolate Pacific Northwest of North America, Fear is an action survival thriller about a young family facing a group of bandits who steal the last of their supplies.

Jason Tobias and Anna Bradley produced the film for US company Action Figure Entertainment, with executive producers Blair Pennington and Lucas Solomon.

Stars: Scott C. Roe, Dave Sheridan, Caleb Thomas, Cece Kelly, Vincent M. Ward, Felissa Rose | Written and Directed by Thomas J. Churchill

How the can you not watch a horror film called Big Freaking Rat? Give your film a title that involves a oversized creatures and I’m there. Though after the disappointment of last years Dead Ant I’m approaching these kinds of films with a bit more trepidation these days… On the plus side, Big Freaking Rat comes from director Thomas J. Churchill, who’s only other film I’ve seen is Checkpoint, the Goldberg-headlining action movie that – despite some issues – said a lot about divisions in society being exploited by those in power, be it political or financial. But I very much doubt there’ll be any political talk in a film about a giant killer rat?!

Big Freaking Rat tells the story of Ranger Brody who,...

In today’s film news roundup, “Let Him Go” will open against “Bill and Ted Face the Music”; “Paradise Found” is in the works; “The Irishman” leads the way for Aacta International Awards nominations; and principal photography has wrapped on “Quiet in My Town.”

Release Date

Focus Features has set an Aug. 21 release date for the Kevin Costner-Diane Lane suspense thriller “Let Him Go,” opening against “Bill and Ted Face the Music.”

Costner plays a retired sheriff and Lane will portray his wife. After the loss of their son, the couple leaves their Montana ranch to rescue their young grandson from the clutches of a dangerous family living off the grid in the Dakotas. When they arrive, they discover the family has no intention of letting the child go.

The two collaborated on “Man of Steel” and “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” as the parents of Superman.