Sales rights to Blackout, the latest entry into Larry Fessenden‘s ‘monsterverse’ (alongside 1997’s Habit and 2019’s Depraved) have been acquired by genre specialists Yellow Veil Pictures, Variety revealed today.
The film, which is currently in post-production, follows a painter ‘who, convinced he is a werewolf, creates chaos in a small town at each full moon.’ The full synopsis, with added comments from Fessenden as part of FANGORIA’s exclusive, reads as follows;
Set in the community of Talbot Falls (a shout-out to Lon Chaney Jr.’s Larry Talbot in the classic The Wolf Man), plagued by a series of mysterious murders. At the center of the story is Charley Barrett (Hurt), an artist suffering the titular episodes. “He usually paints landscapes, but his artwork has become very dark,” Fessenden says. “They’re sort of self-portraits, and they’re blurred like Francis Bacon [paintings]. He goes through one day and seems to be in a real hurry, like he’s trying to put his affairs in order. That night, he is heading to his friend Earl’s, but on his way, he has an episode and drives off an incline, so he doesn’t get there. Then the next day, he goes through another series of encounters, and the premise is, what would you do if you only had one more day? So he keeps trying to do the right thing, and say goodbye to people, and then the next night, he gets to Earl’s…and that doesn’t go well for anyone.”
Blackout stars Alex Hurt (She Said), Marshall Bell (A Nightmare on Elm Street 2), Marc Senter (The Lost, Old Man), Joe Swanberg (You’re Next) and horror legend Barbara Crampton (Jakob’s Wife, We Are Still Here).
The film marks the second partnership between Fessenden and Yellow Veil Pictures, after the two previously joined forces on world sales for Depraved. In a statement to Variety, Fessenden said of the film’s content and subsequent reunion;
“I am interested in finding new truths in the classic monster tropes of my youth. The essence of each creature dictates the milieu of the film, and of course, the werewolf is both out of control and regretful so that duality shaped my story…I am excited to work with Yellow Veil again, they understand my filmmaking and have been fierce advocates.”
Blackout will begin the festival circuit later in 2023, so expect to hear further details on the werewolf drama once we know more. In the meantime, take a look at the teaser poster below;
