Hi All!
I just wanted to drop you guys a line and tell a little bit about my film WAR OF THE DEAD.
War of the Dead is a hybrid of Action, War and Horror in the spirit of the action films of the 80's and 90's with one-liners and non-stop UNDEAD action! The film is a survival story about a group of soldiers fighting against an unknown enemy in one hellish night during the continuation war between Finland and Russia in WWII. The story structure is very simple, kind of like playing Call of Duty!
WOTD has a serious tone... but not tooooo serious
I didn't want to make this film in tongue-in-cheek and in telling a survival story about a group of soldiers set in WWII, I needed to make the world feel real and that can only happen by taking the subject matter seriously. Like I mentioned earlier this film is a genre mix with gothic horror elements smashed together with non-stop action, cliche action hero dialogue and one-liners ala Arnold Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Norris & Van Damme!
I wrote the script back in 2005 after seeing Zach Snyder's DAWN OF THE DEAD remake, which I think is a really cool film!
Like in Snyder's film I wanted the undead in WOTD to be fast and furious + being able to fight back thus being the failed creations of the Nazi scientists attempts to build a perfect soldier.
Bringing WAR OF THE DEAD out there was a WAR of its own...
I actually shot this version of the film in Lithuania back in 2007. (In 2006 I shot for a week with almost different cast and the story was set in winter war) While editing the film at Paramount Studios in 2008 with Film editor Michael J. Duthie the history unfortunately repeated itself and the main financier ran out of money. It took us three years to convince that a new financier is needed to complete the film. So Finally late 2010 I finished the sound in Los Angeles at Monkeyland Audio as well as the CGI by Glowgun and music by Neal Acree and late Joel Goldsmith. WOTD had its first screening at Toronto After Dark Film Festival 2011. After that the film was screened at Glasgow FrightFest until recent theatrical release in Finland.
Now WOTD is coming to DVD in UK May 28th, thanks to Momentum Pictures! **** yeah!!!
Thank you for taking time and reading my story. I truly hope you guys enjoy the film!
With respect,
Marko Mäkilaakso
Director of War of the Dead