From Creature from the Black Lagoon to House of Wax, 3D cinema and horror movies have always gone hand-in-claw. While the current resurgence in the technique has been dominated by big budget outings like Meet the Robinsons and the upcoming U2 3D, the new movie starring Austin’s own Angela Bettis (of May and Roman fame) proves the tech is getting affordable.
Scar (which had a five-minute sneak preview at the Fangoria Weekend of Horror) is a small-budget slasher flick which looks to hit the twisted psychology that attracts self-declared “spazz” Bettis. But the big news is that the film-makers went for the new Real D technology. “I went to a demonstration of the technology,” said producer Norman Twain, “and I said, ‘we’re going to do this picture, which was called Freckle Face back then, in 3D.” So Twain hired cinematographer Toshiaki Ozawa, got hold of a Hi-Def 3D camera rig from NHK in Japan (“They’re the most stable,” said Twain), hired translators, and set about adding that third dimension. For anyone expecting it to just be axes coming out of the screen, the opening shot is Bettis jogging, and it’s still creepy.
With three Real D systems in and near Austin, and with this being Bettis’ home town, Twain was positive that there’ll be some scarification here when the film opens later this year.
This article appears in January 18 • 2008.
