by Gina Myers
Despite the advancements in video production, the slick special effects, 3-D, and animation, there's still a certain charm to the low-budget exploitation films of the 1970s and early 1980s. Or at least that's the claim that Matthew Nothelfer makes. "It's a cinema that has an aesthetic that is more or less lost in the modern age of production...I love that old-school analog quality." The video producer has teamed up with friend and collaborator Micah Ginn to create
Night of the Loup Garou. "This is a schlock monster movie in direct homage to that style. The main idea is to have fun and hang that fun on the slimmest plot as possible."
Ginn, who is from Mississippi, wanted to do something with local folklore, and he came up with a Cajun werewolf. Nothelfer saw this as his chance "to make a film in a genre that was perfect for our fun writing and visual creativity." The plot of
Night of the Loup Garou is relatively simple. Nothelfer explains, "Monster terrorizes local community. Team is assembled. Team formulates plan. Monster kills team...or does team kill monster?" He adds, "There's a fun subplot and a lot of silly situations throughout, but that's the gist."
While most of the film is complete, additional shots need to be done, and Nothelfer will be filming in the area later this week. So how does a film about a Cajun werewolf come to be shot in Michigan? Nothelfer, who spends his time between San Diego and Los Angeles now, is originally from Hemlock. And while most of the film was done in Mississippi, they recorded some flashback scenes that needed a huge snowfield in the winter of 2009 in Michigan. Though the original version of the film was completed in June 2009 and the film premiered, he knew it wasn't quite done yet. "As it goes with most low-budget films, there was a lot of stuff left undone. For instance, important exposition scenes and a good handful of special effect shots." Filming locations here include an abandoned house somewhere north of Bay City in Tuscola County and forests in the Hemlock area.
Nothelfer is looking forward to having a complete film and he's looking forward to including more people from Michigan in it. If you're interested in acting in the movie, send an e-mail to filmproduction@studioreddot.com or call Nothelfer at 310.592.4867. Filming will begin on July 24th and run through August 4th. For more information on the movie, check out the
website here and the
IMDB page here.
© Gina Myers, 2010