Malignance is now being edited and will move into the final stages of colour correction and sound mixing before the Summer of 2014 is out. Here is a teaser trailer that you can check out in the meantime:
A lot of hard work has been put into this short film and it showcases a number of Saskatchewan talent and the motivation to those here that love the movie making process.
Malignance is a different perspective of the horror, cabin in the woods genre. This film is not about blood and guts like so many other examples out there. It is also not about a supernatural entity that appears in the bathroom mirror to scare the protagonist. Malignance is about the realism and emotional tension created from a horror situation like this, not a campy exhibition. This film creates suspense through the uncertainty of darkness, the possibility that something is out there and it wants you!
There is often a dissociation between the opposing forces of the good versus evil representation in the horror genre, where the creature’s motivation to stalk the protagonist is often driven by animalistic tendencies opposed to intellectual ones. The unique aspect of Malignance is that it explores the intimate relationship between good and evil, light and dark, innocent and corrupt. The creature is pure evil through a highly sophisticated understanding of perversion and terror, which is driven by the unyielding desire to devour the illness that plagues the protagonist. The balance of the relationship is exemplified from both perspectives of the situation, which in itself becomes quite terrifying. It is important to create the film in this manner to build a rapport between the division of good and evil. The relationship between them becomes something personable; the menacing act of something stalking you in the night becomes increasingly tense. This thematic interpretation has not yet been explored in other related horror genres.
Here is some additional info below to give you a better sense of what we are working on:
Synopsis
It has been nine years since Merle returned to the cabin where he spent much of his childhood. He always intended to return but it was never made a priority, life kept getting in the way. After receiving devastating news from his doctor, Merle decides that a week immersed in the natural surroundings of northern Saskatchewan maybe exactly what he needs. Merle says goodbye to his pregnant wife, packs up his dog Rolly, and heads for the cabin for one last taste of freedom before the inside of a hospital becomes his reality.
The cabin is not quite how Merle remembers it but he welcomes the challenge of restoring the place his grandfather built with pride. He spends the first few days cleaning and repairing the old cabin and his nights sitting on the front porch guzzling whiskey.
After a few days the Creature comes to them. He talks with Merle, converses with him in a deep, guttural voice. It ingenuously explains to him that it will eat him, swallow him down for the disease cultivating within him. It seems Merle’s internal nightmare has manifested into his immediate external one. The Creature toys with Merle, playing him like the scorpion riding the frog, it is in his nature. Merle will have to figure out how to survive against two illnesses in this secluded lonely place.