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Exclusive: Producer Kyle Stroud, whose credits include the Mel Gibson-starring Fatman, has unveiled the debut slate at his newly-launched production and finance outfit Carte Blanche.

On the roster is an under-the-radar movie starring Oscar-winner Anthony Hopkins, which has been shot and produced by cinematographer Dante Spinotti, with costumes designed by Colleen Atwood. The pic has quietly filmed and is now in post, with further details to come.

On the development slate for Carte Blanche are: a film produced by and starring Q’orianka Kilcher to be directed by Adam VillaSeñor (In Full Bloom); Oscar-winner David S. Ward’s Red Ivory, which explores the illegal ivory trade in Africa; an offbeat Charlie Kaufman-esque dark comedy packaged by ICM; and Hunter Adams’ Southern gothic thriller Death Don’t Have No Mercy, which was chosen by the Academy as one of the top 40 screenplays of 2019 out of more than 7,000 submitted to the Academy Nicholl Fellowship.

A grieving sister encounters strange, supernatural forces in the new thriller Dig Two Graves, and to commemorate its release in theaters and on iTunes, we caught up with co-writer / director Hunter Adams for our latest Q&A feature to discuss collaborating with actor Ted Levine, filming in a brutally cold winter, and much more.

Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions for us, Hunter! How and when did you first come up with the idea for Dig Two Graves?

Hunter Adams: I was interested in the idea of a dark fairy tale about a young person who has to wrestle with a morally ambiguous decision. The three moonshiners were modeled after the three witches in Macbeth. Like Shakespeare’s hags, I wanted to create mystery around the moonshiner’s intentions and powers. Are they supernatural or just manipulative? Do they have motivations or are they simply agents...

MaryAnn’s quick take… Muddy and muddled 70s-style backwoods gothic Americana only comes to life when it rises to the accidentally silly. Little more than an incoherent showreel. I’m “biast” (pro): desperate for movies about girls

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

Edge-of-your-seat suspense thriller,” they said. “A young girl’s obsession,” they said. “A nightmarish journey,” they said. I would like to see that movie. Dig Two Graves is not it. Young teen Jake (Samantha Isler) is not obsessed over the accidental death of her brother, just normally sad. When she meets the creepy carnival-esque trickster magicians who offer to bring her brother back from the dead, she mostly runs away from them — maybe that’s the “journey”? — and when she isn’t running away, she’s remarkably matter-of-fact about them. American writer-director Hunter Adams, in his second feature,...

A backwoods gothic that’s more successful at conjuring atmosphere than delivering a satisfactorily cohesive plot, Dig Two Graves’ hints of horror gradually disperse, revealing a fairly conventional tale of revenge and redemption that should primarily lure audiences with a provocative trailer and enticing casting.

In an effort connect the storyline with prior events transpiring in the 1940s, writer-director Hunter Adams sets the film in the rural Midwest during the mid-'70s. After the mysterious drowning death of her older brother Sean (Ben Schneider) in a flooded quarry, 13-year-old Jacqueline (Samantha Isler), known as “Jake,” tries to support her grieving parents while...

Chicago – One of the local filmmaker heroes has been Hunter Adams, the director of “Dig Two Graves.” Shot in Southern Illinois in the infamous “Little Egypt” area, Adams took a shoestring budget and created a tense and mysterious supernatural thriller. “Dig Two Graves” will get its theatrical and iTunes release on Friday, March 24th, 2017, and will play in Chicago at the AMC River East Theatre (details below).

The film mixes unexplained elements with a thriller about generational violence that has plagued a small town. After 13-year-old Jacqueline Mather (Samantha Isler) loses her brother in a mysterious drowning, she is visited by three backwoods moonshiners who give her a strange offer…they can bring her brother back to life. This bizarre promise is linked to Mather’s grandfather, the local Sheriff Waterhouse (Ted Levine), as his dark history is tied to the true intentions of the moonshiners. The film is set in the 1970s,...

Welcome back to the Weekend Warrior, your weekly look at the new movies hitting theaters this weekend, as well as other cool events and things to check out.

So we’re going to try something different this week, because the Weekend Warrior has been getting a little long in the tooth, and we’re worried that our busy readers may prefer shorter and more concise pieces. We’ll give this a try over the next few weeks and maybe I’ll write a little more when there’s a bigger movie opening.

How Will Power Rangers and Two Other Movies Fare Against Disney’s Beauty and the Beast?

This past weekend, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast reigned supreme with nearly $175 million--over $20 million more than my prediction (ouch!)--and even with a substantial drop this weekend, it’s unlikely that any of the three new movies will be able to...

In preparation of our screening this coming Friday, we have a new exclusive clip from the chiller Dig Two Graves. Check it out! Dread Central will be hosting the NYC premiere of director Hunter Adams’ supernatural shocker Dig Two Graves,… Continue Reading →

The post Dig Two Graves Robbed of an Exclusive Clip; Friday NYC Screening Reminder appeared first on Dread Central.

Set mostly in 1977, with recurring flashbacks to events that took place three decades earlier, Dig Two Graves goes refreshingly light on the period signifiers. Writer-director Hunter Adams, making his feature debut, shot the film in the Little Egypt region of southern Illinois, which is semi-rural enough (at least as depicted here) to seem a decade or so behind what were then the times. A few characters sport feathered hair or porn-star mustaches, but this isn’t a story “about” the ’70s; Adams appears to have chosen this particular era primarily to avoid the trappings of modern technology, a move that’s becoming increasingly common as we all get more and more glued to our smartphones. It paid off, in this case: The movie looks superb, especially for its minuscule budget. While Adams is clearly a very promising director, however, his screenwriting chops aren’t so advanced. This is one ...

Bloody Disgusting just landed a pair of exclusive clips from Hunter Adams‘ (The Hungry Bull) widely praised Dig Two Graves, in theaters and On Demand March 24th. The clips appear to go together, with the first setting the stage for a confrontation of a porch. The cinematography is so goddamn good in this movie, really soaking it in tension and dread (Ted […]...

In Hunter Adams’ “Dig Two Graves,” the death of her brother turns into an inescapable obsession for young Jake Mather (Samantha Isler). What follows is is a blurring together of classic horror with fantasy and drama.

Read More: Watch: Fantasy And Reality Collide In Trailer For Takashi Miike’s Supernatural Horror ‘Over Your Dead Body’

When her brother dies after cliff diving accident, Jake takes it upon herself to discover the truth. She encounters various mysterious figures, who all promise to offer her the kind of magic that could bring someone (like Jack) back to life, but someone has to take his place — wherever that may be.

If Jake wants to bring her brother back, she is faced with the decision of just how far she will go — what price will you pay in order to bring back someone you love? For Jake, it means meddling around in the dangers of magic,...

Dread Central will be hosting the NYC premiere of director Hunter Adams’ supernatural shocker Dig Two Graves, and you can win a pair of tickets to the star-studded premiere and after party! This special event will take place on Friday,… Continue Reading →

The post Dread Central to Host Dig Two Graves Premiere in NYC! Win Free Tix! appeared first on Dread Central.

Join the ‘Dig Two Graves’ Twitter Party Live @HorrorNewsNet on March 14th at 7pm Pst / 10pm Est. https://digtwograves.com/ You’re invited to a Twitter Party with Hunter Adams @thehunteradams and Troy Ruptash @Troyruptash, of Dig Two Graves The prizes include: painting (the grand prize–signed by Troy), 1 Dig Two Graves mystery box, 2 – …

The post Hnn hosts Twitter Party for ‘Dig Two Graves’ on March 14th 7Pm Pst/ 10Pm Est first appeared on Hnn | Horrornews.net 2017 - Official Horror News Site...

"How far would you go to bring someone back?" Area 23a has debuted a trailer for an indie horror titled Dig Two Graves, from director Hunter Adams, which has been waiting for distribution for years. This film premiered at the New Orleans Film Festival way back in 2014, but is just now getting released in theaters March 2017. Dig Two Graves is a supernatural thriller about a young girl's obsession with her brother's death which leads her on a nightmarish journey where she is faced with a deadly proposition to bring him back. Samantha Isler stars as the lead, with Ted Levine, Danny Goldring, Troy Ruptash, Rachael Drummond, Dean Evans and Bradley Grant Smith. This looks fairly creepy, and probably forgettable. Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for Hunter Adams' Dig Two Graves, direct from YouTube: A supernatural thriller about the generational violence that plagues a small, backwoods town, set in the 1970s,...

Keep up with the wild and wooly world of indie film acquisitions with our weekly Rundown of everything that’s been picked up around the globe. Check out last week’s Rundown here.

-The Weinstein Company has acquired the distribution rights for the U.S. and Canada to director Joel Hopkins’s upcoming film “Hampstead.” Written by Robert Festinger, the film stars Diane Keaton, Brendan Gleeson and James Norton. The project was produced by Robert Bernstein and Douglas Rae at Ecosse Films. “Hampstead” focuses on an American widow and her relationship with an unkempt man in the Heath whose lifestyle comes under siege by property developers.

“We’re thrilled to work with Robert Bernstein, Douglas Rae and the incredible Diane Keaton and Brendan Gleeson on this film,” TWC co-chairman Harvey Weinstein said in a statement. “‘Hampstead’ is a great example of the power we all can have when we stand...

Chicago – On Tuesday, December 1st, the Midwest Independent Film Festival will award their 2015 “Best of the Midwest” with a ceremony at Rockit Bar & Grill, 22 W. Hubbard, in Chicago. The evening will be hosted by Festival Director Mike McNamara, and nominees include the short film “Baby Mary” (directed by Kris Swanberg), plus feature films “Full Frame” (directed by Christopher Kelley), and “Anguish” (directed by Sonny Mallhi).

Presented by the Midwest Independent Film Festival

Photo credit: MidwestFilm.com

A new category is being added this year, “Best Artistic Specialization.” This honors previously unsung production titles that are vital to the look and completion of their particular films. The Midwest Independent Film Festival is a year-round movie event in Chicago that takes place the first Tuesday of every month, at the Landmark Century Centre Cinema. The festival has been recognized by Chicago Magazine in their “Best of Chicago” issue, and has become one...