Steve Rudzinski, Director of “CarousHELL,” and “Super Task Force One”

rudzinski-1Steve Rudzinski is an independent filmmaker out of Pennsylvania who is a very passionate fanboy intent on telling his own stories and making his own kind of movies. Though making movies is easier than ever before, the glut of films have made it tougher to find an audience, but Rudzinski has pressed on with very original and entertaining indies that tap in to his favorite corners of pop culture, and inject his own twisted sense of humor. I first learned about him after he released his ode to “Power Rangers” entitled “Super Task Force One.”

Ever since, Steve has unleashed a steady stream of horror comedies and fantasy, the most memorable is the recent “CarousHELL.” It’s a slasher film, sure, but it’s a guarantee you’ve never seen this type of slasher film before. Steve fills us in on the upcoming “CarousHELL” and his past with filmmaking.

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CarousHELL (2016)

caroushell-posterI never would have believed it if I didn’t see it for myself. Director Steve Rudzinski is a man who is not satisfied with creating your typical indie fare, and while his films may be a bit rough around the edges, you’re almost always assured an original film that has a keen sense of what kind of entertainment it wants to be. “CarousHELL” is a movie I, for some reason, assumed was some kind of horror anthology, and boy was I way off. Not prone to just delivering a slasher movie you’ve seen a thousand times, Steve Rudzinski offers up a slasher movie you’ve never seen before. Duke is a sentient carousel unicorn who has spent years and years being ridden on by nasty, smelly, and ungrateful children.

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Knucklebones (2016) [FrightFest 2016]

knucklebonesYears after a group of people is murdered in a clothing factory, a group of students goes to the warehouse to hunt for ghosts, finding only a box full of knucklebones with which they summon the titular character who proceeds to dispatch them and other visitors to the factory in violently gruesome ways. Writer/director Mitch Wilson creates an interesting, low-budget supernatural slasher with Knucklebones.

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The Unraveling (2015) [FrightFest 2016]

UnravelingAs his fiancée is expecting his child, Michael struggles with his heroin addiction.  As his habit threatens his growing family, he is kidnapped and taken to the woods. Written by Thomas Jakobsen and Justin S. Moore and directed by Jakobsen, the film takes the addiction head on then moves in surprising directions.  The characters built are believable within the film’s established boundaries but also as humans.  What happens to them is not something everyone will go through but their reactions make sense, their actions as well.  One twist was a nit off feeling but once it’s passed, the film resumes being believable.

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Abattoir (2016) [FrightFest 2016]

AbattoirJulia, an investigative reporter, starts looking into the disappearance of complete rooms from houses where violent deaths have occurred.  As she gets closer to the truth, things and people get weirder.  Her investigation puts her life in danger as she gets too close and discovers more about the rooms and herself.

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Francesca (2015) [FrightFest 2016]

FrancescaIn Italy, a detective and an inspector investigate a string of murders happening in their city.  They are soon led to a 15 year old kidnapping case which may shed some light on their current investigation. Director Luciano Onetti with his co-writer Nicolas Onetti builds an almost perfect old school giallo, however it was shot in 2015.  Their film builds a story and characters straight out of the subgenre and these create an entertaining film about two police detectives looking for a serial killer.

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Através de Sombra (Through the Shadow) (2015) [FirghtFest 2016]

throughtheshadowBrazil, 1932, during the coffee crisis, Laura takes a job for a rich man to go to his coffee plantation and be in charge of his niece and nephew and to take care of their education.  While attempting to take full control of the situation at the plantation, Laura starts hearing and seeing things no one else is, things she may be imagining or simply the only one who can hear and see them.

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