Guest Author - Andy Boxall

A group of eleven students head to Miami to relieve the stresses of their final exams, but along the way they are forced off the road by a speeding car. Fortunately they are close to the town of Chapman in the Smokey Mountains, where they take the car to carry out the necessary repairs. With only one motel, a sickening smell that seems to come from a mysterious mill and the entire town being run by a lone family, Chapman is already a little out of the ordinary, but as the friends start to disappear one by one, the town and its inhabitants become far more sinister.

This is the intriguing premise of Grinder, a new horror from director’s Kent Allen and Richard Clark Jr. According to these two, Grinder is a return to true-life horror, similar to that of Texas Chainsaw and the recent Wolf Creek, which aims to place the audience in the centre of the terrifying events that befall the protagonists.

The two trailers which are available for viewing on the official Grinder website don’t offer much in the way of spoilers, but do give an idea to the look, feel and style that Grinder will take on. The movie is to be shot in digital hi-def and the images in the trailer and grim, grainy and atmospheric. Although the movie is in pre-production and waiting to be picked up for distribution, New Line, a studio with some good experience in the horror genre, look set to have the first cut screened in 2007.

Horror as a genre is one that thrives on new blood (no pun intended) and these low budget, ambitious movies often contain stars of the future and horror fans should support them all they can. The director’s themselves state that the independent film is where new creative talent is found and there is nothing more satisfying than watching a career develop from the start.

Make sure you take a look at the Grinder website by using the link below. On the well designed website you can find the trailers, some production notes and a selection of atmospheric wallpapers, presumably taken from the movies planned locations, to download. I for one am looking forward to seeing the next stage of this horror movie!