Thursday, August 28, 2014

A CHRISTIAN HORROR FILM?

As Sony Picture’s new film, The Remaining, prepares to open in theaters nationwide Sept. 5, director Casey La Scalia (of Donnie Darko and A Walk to Remember fame) knew the dangers of producing a Christian “horror film” from the start. “I didn’t know if this could work. You’re talking about avid church-goers going to see Paranormal Activity. How do you get them to go?”

But The Remaining really isn’t in the same class as a straight-up horror film, he says. “It’s hard to pigeonhole this as a horror movie. It’s a supernatural action film, because it’s about the end of the world. There isn’t gratuitous violence and slasher stuff. Calling it a horror movie does it a disservice.”

For La Scala, who grew up in and was confirmed in the Lutheran church, sermons based on Revelation or about the rapture were his kind of creepy, so he used the New Testament as a template and a timeline to write, produce, and direct his take on the end of the world. The importance on biblical accuracy was tantamount, and the response from preview screenings was extremely positive.
“It’s really a ‘I need to find faith in God now and love the people I am surrounded by because tomorrow it could end’ movie. That’s really the message.”

And the message doesn’t end with the movie. Top horror artist Kyle Hotz is illustrating the graphic novel adaptation of The Remaining, set for a mid-August release from Kingstone Comics at retail and on all digital platforms. Sony is also partnering with Tyndale House Publishers on the September publication of The Remaining novelization by critically acclaimed novelist Travis Thrasher.
Read the full interview with Casey La Scalia in the October issue of CBA Retailers+Resources, available mid-September.

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