This is the story of seven horror icons picked to visit a horror convention and have their lives taped to find out what happens when fans stop being polite and start getting real.
Okay, so comparing a horror movie to a season of MTV’s “The Real World” is a little abnormal, but who wouldn’t want to see a house full of movie monsters living together, trying to be normal people? While the upcoming horror-comedy Smothered doesn’t follow this path to the letter, it does follow it in spirit.
Directed by John Schneider (Smallville, Dukes of Hazzard), Smothered tells the story of a group of real-life horror icons as they attempt to survive a small, grueling horror convention, Voodoo-Con, on Friday the 13th. With the promise of a little extra money, these ominous souls travel to a local trailer park to scare up the residents, only to learn that they are the ones that should be fearing for their lives.
The stalkers (turned “stalked”) are a mix of actors in the horror biz: Bill Moseley (House of 1,000 Corpses, The Devil’s Rejects, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2); Kane Hodder (Jason Goes to Hell, Jason X, Hatchet); R.A. Mihailoff (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3, Hatchet 2); Don Shanks (Halloween 5). Also featured are Brea Grant, Michael Berryman, and John Kassir.
Smothered seems to be emulating the idea of putting real-life actors into the film action that they are known for but probably don’t ever do in real life, found recently in films like This is the End (starring James Franco, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson, Jay Baruchel, etc. etc. etc.) and My Name is Bruce (starring Bruce Campbell). The only difference is that the actors aren’t playing themselves exactly (Bill Moseley is not playing the part of Bill Moseley), but caricatures of themselves and other horror actors.
Smothered is premiering at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel on Friday May 16, including a pre-screening social hour and post-screening Q&A with Schneider. The film is due for release late in 2014.