Whatever happened to the BLAIR WITCH PROJECT folks? One of the biggest indie hits ever made in America, it was the ultimate low-budget/high-gross movie, and it paved the way for a million inferior POV horror cheapies. Everyone involved in BLAIR WITCH was supposed to go on to do great things but they ultimately all sort of went nowhere. But one of the co-directors, Eduardo Sanchez, has gone on to have a pretty good under-the-radar career. In 2006 he wrote and directed ALTERED which was released straight-to-video but is, in my humble opinion, the most satisfying horror flick to come out that year. It's sort of like a bare-knuckled, exploitation version of M. Night Shyamalan's SIGNS jacked up on crystal meth and moonshine and you can probably find it (unfairly) gathering dust on your local Blockbuster's shelves.

Now, he's got a new flick coming out and it's 100% Made in Hong Kong. With production services provided by October Pictures, who did production services on DARK KNIGHT and I COME WITH THE RAIN (and who employ Daniel Yu, Ning Hao's producing partner and the producer of the upcoming Chinese remake of Korea's monster flick, THE HOST) it's called SEVENTH MOON and is slated to premiere at Austin's Fantastic Fest. The movie tells the story of Amy Smart (FELICITY, CRANK) and Tim Chiou, a pair of newlyweds honeymooning in Hong Kong. They, of course, head out into the countryside and stumble across a bunch of unruly ghosts. There's a host of Hong Kong talent involved with the picture, including actor Dennis Chan (NAKED WEAPON, POLICE STORY 2, I LOVE MARIA) and cinematographer Lam Wah-chuen who directed the sweaty little gun flick, RUNAWAY PISTOL, and who was DP on movies like SHA PO LANG, JULIET IN LOVE and LITTLE CHEUNG.

The official site for SEVENTH MOON is up, and the trailer looks pretty good. Of more interest to HK film fans is the "Behind the Scenes" button which turns you over to a long documentary video where you can see stuntmen pretending to be zombies and getting thrown around, zombie men getting their mostly-naked bodies painted by scowling middle-aged women, a village headman trying to throw the crew out of town for bringing in props having to do with funerals, Amy Smart freaking out in a wet market and much, much more. I'm always surprised that more low budget American productions don't go over to China and Hong Kong where their dollar will probably go farther in terms of getting great behind-the-scenes talent and some sweet locations. But act now, before the dollar becomes worthless internationally.

(SEVENTH MOON site, with trailer and behind-the-scenes video)

(SEVENTH MOON at Austin Fantastic Fest)