Well, I got back from Toronto about an hour ago. The trip was a blast. I think the city's probably the second coolest place I've ever travelled to (and I've travelled lots of places). I did some sight-seeing but the majority of my trip was spent doing Abattoir-related things. Figured I'd offer some updates for those interested.

I spent the majority of my time with the director, Kal. Before meeting him, I only knew a little bit about him from email and phone conversations but after meeting him, I'm positive he's the guy for the project. For the director of a micro-budget horror movie, he's very confident, ambitious, gutsy, and knows it. I say gutsy because apparently there's no other horror movies being filmed in Toronto and Toronto's got a lot going for it as far as film production is concerned. Taking on a relatively complicated horror movie on such a small scale is considered pretty gutsy by most indie filmmakers.

It's too cold in Toronto for half-naked girls to be running around in the forest covered in fake blood and make-up to make them look dirty so needless to say, the film's not in production as of now. However it's being edited and I was fortunate enough to see roughly two thirds of the shot footage and I have to say it looks great (despite the fact that some of the footage didn't have sound). It was filmed on 16mm so needless to say, it looks really throwback but the production values are still really good. All the gore looks real although I only saw a bit of it. Some of the effects were scrapped due to various complications but I was still happy to see some of the red stuff. Most of what I saw, however, was dialogue. The acting was very good for a low-budget horror movie. Apparently the guy playing the lead villain is kinda big in Canada. He's a guy named John Fraiser, who's apparently done a lot of insurance commercials in the country. I think Canadians are likely to be shocked if they ever see this. I wish I'd seen some of the commercials myself so I could appreciate the weirdness of the situation. It's still pretty funny though, I think.

Strangly for a trip out of the country, the highlight of the whole thing actually took place this morning about two hours before I left. Kal and I had breakfest with Chris Alexander, a writer for Fangoria who's taken some interest in the project. Needless to say... awesome! I figured if my name ever wound up in Fango, I'd be set for life. But if that wasn't cool enough, turns out this guy is one of the movie critics who got in the ring with Uwe Boll a couple years back. I couldn't believe it.

Anyway, overall, it's a very exciting time. Thanks again to Don for posting the script way back and anyone who read and commented on Abattoir when it was posted. You guys definitely made all this possible. SS rules!

Sounds like you had a great time in my Country James   I can't wait to see your film.  Congratulations again, I am very happy for you.  Next time one of your scripts gets produced have them film it in Vancouver   Great job.

Congrats, James. I'm glad to see Abbatoir progressing... and in Canada too.

I remember reading way back when and I'll definitely be one of the fans that pick it up on DVD or go see it in the theatre.

Well done again,
Stew

James,

This is brilliant! Please keep the updates coming.  Pictures, please if you have them.  I've moved this to Movie Rumor.

For some background, Four young filmmakers on a road trip decide to stop at the wrong gas station and find themselves in the clutches of some sick individuals running a cannibalistic meat business.

The script, obviously, is no longer online since the film is in production, but you can get some feel for the script in the (now locked) discussion thread from a few years ago.  

Don  

Thanks for moving this, Don. I wasn't exactly sure where to put this thread. I'll be sure to post updates as they pop up. Other than what I've mentioned, it's sort of quiet time for Abattoir right now, other than editing the footage shot so far. Shooting is set to pick up again around May when the juiciest stuff is expected to be filmed.

Thanks for the kind words, guys, and I definitely agree it's cool that Abattoir's being produced in Canada. I've been told other than Ginger Snaps and Skinwalkers, there's not much of a horror movie scene in the country. I'd love to be part of building one, that is, hoping Abattoir does well. Canada's a great country plus I'm pretty sure you guys have better beer than us .

Sweet! Abattorir is awsome. I hope I get to see the final product! Congrats!

~Zack~

Awesome news, James!

Congrats!


Matt.

Congratulations James. Great news.

Just got word from the director. Filming wrapped this past weekend!

Awesome.

Sweet! When do we get a trailer?

~Zack~

James,

Good to hear.  Can't wait to check it out.

Grouse! <-that's local for Great!

Looking forward to seeing the results.

Very cool. Now I wish I had read it when I had the opportunity. It sounds like it's right up my alley. I'll definitely make the effort to see it when/if available.

Man, I remember reading that script -- I *loved* it. I'm buying the DVD if it gets a release.

--Julio

Any updates? I'd love to see this.

~Zack~

The film's currently in post-production. How close it is to complete, I don't know. Shooting wrapped about two months ago but when I went to Canada in March, Kal (the director) had more than half of the film ready to edit and was in the process of syncing up the audio with the visual and as far as I know, he's been busy working on it since. Still, I'd imagine it would be a while even after the film is completed before anyone gets to see it. I have no idea how big a scale he's shooting for as far as distribution is concerned, although it seems to have turned into a bigger project than we both initially thought.

I'll continue to post relevant details as I receive them.

Sweet! I can't wait to see the trailer.

~Zack~

Quoted from James McClung I've been told other than Ginger Snaps and Skinwalkers, there's not much of a horror movie scene in the country.

Well, they have David Cronenberg, which is definitely something to rave about.  Though only his earlier stuff was really horror, and he kinda departed from that in the 80's.  The original Black Christmas is also a Canadian production.  Though it's also from a while back, it's arguably the first movie in the slasher subgenre.

Maybe you can bring about the Canadian horror renaissance.  

So I finally actually have something to show you guys.

With the help of Kal (the director), I've created a small website for Abattoir for an exhibition/distribution class I'm taking this semester. It's extremely minimalistic and is by no means the official film site but it's still got a couple of goodies. Figured I'd share it with you guys.

Sweet!

So how much has changed since the original draft you posted here?

--Julio

That looks pretty damn good, James. Has the film gone through post-prod. yet?

Congrats! The film looks very pro, well done for one of your scripts getting it this far. How is it going to be distributed?

Quoted from ReaperCreeper Sweet! So how much has changed since the original draft you posted here? --Julio

The very first ever draft I ever posted here has changed a lot and definitely for the better. Looking back, it actually seems kinda shitty, although there was some stuff that happens in a hospital that I still kinda dig. Those changes were made long before I sold the script though. As for the changes since the last script I posted here and the actual film, I'd say about 95% is the same. Most of the changes I made were for budgetary reasons or issues with special effects. There were some cool kills that unfortunately had to be reworked. I'm kinda bummed about that but at least now I can recycle them into other scripts that have potential to be bought. Even the dialogue seems to be in tact for the most part. I almost wanted the actors to change it since I wrote the script over three years ago and it sounds weird now but I'm pretty happy about how true the film's stuck to the script.

Quoted from sniper That looks pretty damn good, James. Has the film gone through post-prod. yet?

It's being edited right now.

Quoted from Tommyp Congrats! The film looks very pro, well done for one of your scripts getting it this far. How is it going to be distributed?

Still have to wait and see.

Looks great, James.   Congrats.

And the reason no horror films come from Canada is simple:  Horror must be taken seriously, and no one can take them seriously with those kooky accents.

Keep us posted, its really cool to know how all this works.

James,

Finally got the posting up at:

http://www.simplyscripts.com/2009/03/19/abattoir-sneak-peek-at-the-film-how-the-sausage-is-made/

Let me know if I got anything wrong.  

Also, the original Abattoir thread is at:

http://www.simplyscripts.net/cgi-bin/Blah/Blah.pl?m=1133838888

This is just to give you some insight into the comments James got way back four years ago.  Might be insightful.

Don

Hey James,

I can’t keep up with things around here as well as I’d like to so I just found out about Abattoir. Congratulations and I hope everything goes well with the distribution.


Breanne

looks great James, I'm excited to see it.  congrats