http://www.fangoria.com/news_article.php?id=3251
November 30: More future shock in SUBJECT 87
Indie filmmaker Brandon Slagle sent over info and a few photos (see more below) from his futuristic thriller SUBJECT 87, shot in and around New York City this past year. In addition to writing (with story input from co-stars Tony Lee and Matt Cockburn), directing and producing the movie, Slagle also stars in the title role as Jason Lords (pictured at bottom), one of the guinea pigs of experiments in a post-chemical warfare world. He and others who died before the devastation are resurrected and their minds implanted with false memories—supposedly for scientific research, but really for the sick amusement of self-appointed leader Keaton (Cockburn). Lords' unfortunate fate is to be programmed to recall himself as a serial-killing doctor, and he struggles to reconcile these memories with what may be his real identity of a murder victim.
"I pretty much came up with the basis of the storyline, about a serial killer brought back Frankenstein-style in the future, on a whim, while combining two other ideas I'd had," Slagle tells Fango. "One was about a psychiatrist who is a reincarnation of a serial murderer, and the other concerned a postapocalyptic society that is rebuilding itself from an apocalypse where children were the only survivors. The first draft of the script was pretty simple, and more standard—man is brought back to life for scientific study, discovers who he is, embraces it, kills people and ends up as ruler of society via some sort of Godlike martyrdom. But it gradually became something different, less bleak and more about the quest for identity.
"I figured that if people were brought back from the dead, minds more or less wiped, then anything could be implanted into their heads," Slagle continues. Would they believe this? How would they react given their real personalities and what lies in the deepest regions of their souls if given a set of memories that aren't their own? I suppose this is part DARK CITY and part FRANKENSTEIN, but as the story progressed and filming began and continued, it really became about more. It became more about coming to terms with one's past and letting things go, or delving too deep into the past and letting it destroy you. With this film, I aimed to present a haunting feel and genuine emotion, as well as something genuinly unnerving."
The movie also features Natalie (EAT YOUR HEART OUT) LaSpina, Frank Gerani, Rhiannon McMillen, Donna Deo, Rachael (SCREAMING DEAD) Robbins and Miss Horrorfest finalist Dark Spider. Check out the movie's MySpace page here for a trailer, more info and pics. —Michael Gingold