New Horror Anthology: Chill Factor

The series, which is a group collaboration between Savini and long time friends Marty Schiff and Jeff Monahan, is aimed at filling the horror anthology niche which has been vacant for some time.  Schiff explains further:

Good [horror] stories being told in different ways every week.  When’s the last time you really saw something like that on television?

Tom seems to be quite excited about the project as he gets to sit in the director’s chair once again.  Most of you will know that he was director of the Night of the Living Dead remake that was done in the early 1990’s.  Tom feels that this series will give him the freedom to do what he wants, something he feels was lacking on the set of NOTLD 90.

It was a chance for me to exorcise all the demons that have plagued me, creatively, since [the remake of] NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.  As everyone knows—I sure haven’t been quiet about it all these years—that was very much a nightmare for me. I had all these ideas, all these little visual things I wanted to do, and I wasn’t allowed to do any of it.

To this day, I have nightmares about being back on that set. By the end of the shoot, I wasn’t inspired; it was just my body, showing up, sitting in a chair, yelling ‘Action’ and ‘Cut.’ With this one, I was totally inspired. I saw it all in Jeff’s script, and when I sat down to do my director’s polish, all this stuff just came out of me! All these little visual treats! I told [Marty], ‘Whatever movie I do next, whatever I didn’t get to do on NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, I’m going to do on this!

Although limited by a small budget and minimal sets to film on, Savini is quite pleased with what he and his crew were able to accomplish.  He explains further about some of the techniques they used during filming to keep the movie fresh rather then get the bogged down feeling of too much dialogue.

It’s full of these little visual nuggets. Blood becoming shadows, windows in one location suddenly taking you through windows in another, scenes set on the other side of keyholes…these little presents. That’s how I think of them, when I see things like that in movies.

The first part of the series, House Call, stars Bingo O’Malley (Creepshow), Maryann Nagle (Welcome to Collingwood) and newcomer Jason Hoehnen.  With any luck the show, which has already garnered praise from several horror icons and fans, will get a much bigger shot at producing more episodes.  All the episodes will be released straight to DVD to cash in on the current surge in DVD sales.  To check out more on this series and also order your own copy visit the official website at www.tomsavinischillfactor.com.

Source: Fangoria