Tontine Massacre Sneak Peak and Phasma Ex Machina Update

I can’t wait until Movie Monday to talk about some movie news I have today.

TONTINE MASSACRE

First off, I made of point of watching the exclusive sneak peak of Tontine Massacre today. I loved the audition tapes it started out with. (Oh, and before I say more, it was only a seven minute snippet. They weren’t kidding when they said “peak”!)

Anyway, the audition tape with the girl saying, “I’ve given it up for dinner and drinks so why not 10 million?” cracked me up! (She said something before that about how her brother said she should say “sex.” And then she made the dinner and drinks comment. Classic.)

But then they showed “Recovered Tape” footage. They show two guys trekking through a jungle. One of the contestants (I think, not sure he’s really a contestant but I think he was one of the people in the audition tapes) had a camera. That struck me as odd. Especially because of how he was using it.

He heard a sound and swung it in the direction. Would average people remember to do that? Or would they look first, then swing the camera? (Which made me wonder: “Are there cameramen on location with the contestants? Or did they just give them cameras to shoot themselves?”)

Anyway, the guy with the camera loses track of the first guy he was with and meets up with some other guy who’s talking on a phone saying, “I’m the only one left. They’re all dead.”

Camera guy asks him where he got the phone and what the hell is he talking about. Then phone dude goes all schizo and kills him.

Wicked. And are all the other people really dead? Did the sneak peak show who the killer was? Or does the Tontine game make more than one of the contestants homicidal? I don’t know and it’s driving me crazy!

So, well done, Tontine Massacre makers. You’ve intrigued me.

PHASMA EX MACHINA

I’ve been patiently waiting for word on when, where and how I can see this movie. Now I’ve got some answers!

They sent out a newsletter this week announcing three festivals Phasma will be screened at. They are:

1. World premiere at Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal Canada on July 16
2. U.S. premiere at the Another Hole in the Head Film Festival in San Francisco, CA on July 24th
3. Midwestern and Local premiere at the Twin Cities Film Festival (No screening date set yet, but the film fest is September 28 through October 2)

I have to see about planning myself a little movie viewing jaunt it looks like. Really hoping it screens well and gets some more buzz going. I’ll be curious to hear how it’s received.

Courtney Mroch

Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.

Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.