latest news
Geoffrey Rush Joins Tropfest
The acclaimed actor and newly-crowned Australian of the Year, Geoffrey Rush, will be a key player in 2012’s Tropfest activities.
Naomi Watts To Play Princess Diana
The Aussie actress is set to play the people’s princess in an upcoming film that chronicles the final two years of Diana’s life.
Sullivan Stapleton Signs On To ‘300’ Prequel
The Aussie actor has beat out the competition to land a role in the upcoming blockbuster.
James Cameron Loses Long Time Australian Collaborators
Producer Andrew Wight and cinematographer Mike deGruy lose their lives in a helicopter crash.
search the site
newsletter
Enter your email address below to receive the weekly Filmink newsletter
Lurking Beneath
An Australian sci-fi/horror flick is set to hit local cinemas in the next few months, but not as you know it
The first feature film from Australian Production Company FILMWERX 77 is The Dark Lurking, an adrenaline fuelled action thriller in the tradition of such horror classics as Aliens and The Evil Dead. The sci-fi film, which was shot entirely in Queensland over two years, will tour Australia alongside the Supanova Pop Culture Expo and will also play at Sydney's A Night of Horror Film Festival.
Set in the not-too-distant future of 2017, The Dark Lurking sees something going terribly wrong at Outpost 30, a secret international research facility one mile beneath the earth's surface. All communications are gone, all means of escape destroyed and an extremely dangerous horde of creatures is on the loose. For eight survivors, their one possible escape route is through thirteen levels of terror that will lead them to the surface.
Written and directed by first time feature filmmaker, Greg Connors, The Dark Lurking employs characteristics that would be familiar to any self-respecting B-grade genre film fan. "B-grade doesn't mean that a movie is not of quality, it just means that it's focusing on something a little rawer than that of an A-list drama and is most probably not suited to the entire mainstream audience," says Connors.
The film is particularly close to Connors' heart, with the director saying he was inspired to create films after secretly watching Alien at a very young age. "The main players involved in the production are all fan boys who have reached their thirties," laughs Connors. "The influence of films like Aliens, Predator, The Thing, Starship Troopers and a lot of other creature sci-fis from the ‘80s and early ‘90s has had a massive influence on the style of the film."
Independently financed on a shoe-string budget of $100 000, Connors realised making this film was ambitious from the start. Financial restrictions forced the director to come up with low budget alternatives. "We were only able to shoot for two weeks at a time and we would build the sets ourselves over a three month period as we acquired more money for the next two week shoot," says Connors, "This process went on for two years to achieve a final eight week shoot."
The film also faced technical challenges in a quest to capture the look the first-time director was after. "The main thing we wanted to establish was a very raw look and feel to the film so we always had the camera moving and alternating light sources." Also difficult for Connors was his attempt to create a gritty, dark film while using digital technology.
Connors also pays tribute to home-grown trailblazers. "Some of the major influences for making this film were the exploits of other Aussie filmmakers around our age like The Spierig Brothers with Undead and Shane Abbes with Gabriel due to the fact that they are trying to push the boundaries of Australian genre cinema on the smell of an oily rag."
The Dark Lurking will be released in conjunction with the Supernova Pop Culture Expo at Brisbane and the Gold Coast 8 - 14 April 2010, Melbourne 15 - 23 April, Sydney 17 - 21 June and Perth 24 - 30 June. A Night of Horror Film Festival is on from April 15 at Dendy Newtown Cinemas. For more information on The Dark Lurking, visit the film's website.