Master of HORROR: Stephen King praises Green Inferno

The master of horror Stephen King has spoken… and he loved the Green Inferno!

Master of Horror: Stephen King (credits: http://www.biography.com/people/stephen-king-9365136)

The famed author gave his endorsement of the film when he posted this tweet after watching the movie; "THE GREEN INFERNO is like a glorious throwback to the drive-in movies of my youth: bloody, gripping, hard to watch, but you can’t look away.”

Stephen King's tweet about The Green Inferno

Director Eli Roth replied saying he was speechless after reading King’s comment; “Genuinely speechless. Stephen King is my hero. I cannot even begin to express what this means to me. Wow.

After almost seven years, horror mastermind Eli Roth, returns to the big screen with a new, more twisted and blood-soaked film-- The Green Inferno.

In the horror genre, says Roth, “the scare is the star.” Rather than A-list names, a horror film requires “good actors, a good script and a director who understands how to shoot and edit it.”

This time he is not out to scare backpackers looking for some “Hostel” fun in Europe, instead shifting his lens to another popular held nightmare—that the jungles are still full of voracious man-eaters—to whom white (and ideally virginal) flesh is a delicacy.

The Green Inferno tells the story of what happens when “slacktivism”—the well-meaning social-media response to global catastrophes turns deadly deep in a South American rainforest.

Charismatic young activist Alejandro inspires his fellow students with a rousing story about an untouched Peruvian jungle about to be destroyed by a greedy energy company looking to exploit its natural resources. Soon eight young protestors, including Justine, the daughter of a U.N. official, and her roommate Kaycee, are headed to this remote Amazon village to ward off the bulldozers. But when their small plane crashes in the jungle, they are horrified to discover that the tribe they came to save still practices the ancient rite of cannibalism.

For the main character of Justine, Roth cast Chilean-born model-turned-actress Lorenza Izzo, whose previous credits include Aftershock, Sex Ed and Hemlock Grove. “Lorenza has an amazing combination of riveting on-screen presence, incredible natural beauty and a sweetness that makes her sympathetic and likeable,” says the director.  Playing Justine’s roommate Kaycee is singer-songwriter Sky Ferreira. “Sky and Lorenza are close friends so the onscreen chemistry really worked,” Roth observes.

Other members of the ensemble include Daryl Sabara (Spy Kids), Kirby Bliss Blanton (Project X), Magda Apanowicz (“Caprica”) and newcomer Aaron Burns. Sabara, who plays another student, Lars, was impressed with Roth’s lean, fast- moving shooting style. Rounding out the cast are Ariel Levy, Nicolás Martínez and Ignacia Allamand.

To make the film work Roth cast a real Peruvian tribe called the Callanayacu tribe he discovered deep in the Amazon while scouting for a location. The Callanayacu tribe lived a life that has not changed for for hundreds of years, did not know about electricity and have never seen or heard about movies or TV.

So to give them an idea of what they would be doing and imitating, Roth and crew brought a generator, a TV and perhaps the craziest choice to introduce the tribe to “the magical world of movies”---he made them watch the 1980 grindhouse film, Cannibal Holocaust.

“We had to explain to them conceptually what a movie was, and showed them Cannibal Holocaust—and they thought it was the funniest thing that they had ever seen---but we had to know whether they were down with it to let us in their village,” Roth said in an interview.

The perils of the river, the jungle’s unpredictable weather conditions, the heat, stinging insects and other unfamiliar creatures, made The Green Inferno shoot a rite of passage for many of the young cast and crew members. 

“Thank God no one got killed, but there were tarantulas, spider bites, there were snakes. It was INSANE, everybody had to get de-parasited afer we got back,” Roth said.

“No one made it out unscathed, “All the actors were cut, bruised and bitten. They all signed up for an adventure, but were thrilled when we made it back to the city.”

Released locally by Solar Pictures, The Green Inferno, is now showing in cinemas.

NOW SHOWING: THE GREEN INFERNO

Check out its trailer:

UPCOMING: The Green Inferno finally opens in PHL

GREEN INFERNO FINALLY GETS THE GREEN LIGHT

After more than a year of waiting, horror movie fans will finally get to see perhaps the most disturbing, and controversial films of the year—THE GREEN INFERNO.

The Green Inferno Movie Poster

Ahead of its US release, Solar Pictures unleashes the Green Inferno in local cinemas nationwide beginning September 23, 2015.

Directed by Eli Roth, the horror mastermind behind such groundbreaking films as Cabin Fever and the blockbuster Hostel franchise, Green Inferno is a terrifying, twisted and blood-soaked take on the a digital-age phenomenon known as “slacktivism.”

The Green Inferno tells the story of what happens when “slacktivism”—the well-meaning social-media response to global catastrophes—turns deadly deep in a South American rainforest. 

When a group of college students take their humanitarian protest to the Amazon jungle, they are taken prisoner by the indigenous tribe they came to save. Trapped in a remote tribal village, these naïve, technology- dependent students suffer unspeakable acts as the victims of chilling and soul- destroying rituals reserved for only the most threatening intruders.

In early 2012 Eli Roth was working on a script about a group of college students who try to solve the world’s problems by using online videos to publicly embarrass anyone they see as doing wrong. Before he finished writing it, an organization called Invisible Children made the video “KONY 2012,” which urged viewers to help take down Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony.

Fueled by a worldwide social-media frenzy, the video was viewed more than 100 million times. Soon, however, the campaign came under intense criticism for oversimplifying—and in some cases misrepresenting—a complex situation, and the organization’s founder, Jason Russell, suffered a very public breakdown.

Roth was amazed that these real-life events so closely mirrored the central premise of The Green Inferno. 

“Everyone in the world was tweeting about something they had learned from a YouTube video, and almost shaming other people into re-tweeting it, as if you were uncaring about Ugandan child soldiers if you didn’t,” he recalls. In the end, the KONY 2012 campaign did almost nothing to solve the problems it highlighted. Yes, it raised awareness, but just re-tweeting links to YouTube videos isn’t actually going to stop warlords.”

For Roth, the controversy surrounding KONY 2012 validated The Green Inferno’s core conceit—the idea that “slacktivism” is often just a way for social media users to feel like they are doing something about horrific events that are completely beyond their control. “It came from a good place, wanting to help others in a far corner of the world,” says Roth. “But ultimately it was more about people feeling better about themselves.”

Although the film offers a pointed commentary on this uniquely 21st-century trend, Roth’s primary goal is more visceral: to share with audiences his love for blood- curdling movie mayhem. “Horror movies were my passion growing up, and my favorite thing was being scared and watching scary, gory movies with my friends,” he says. “I love to terrify people. As things get worse in this world, and people feel a loss of control over things, they need an outlet, a place they are allowed to be really scared. Where better than in a horror movie?”

THE GREEN INFERNO OPENS IN THEATERS NATIONWIDE BEGINNING SEPTEMBER 23, 2015, FROM SOLAR PICTURES.

                         Here's the trailer: