Steve Merlo is breaking ground on new psychological horror film
Steve Merlo, the filmmaker behind the critically acclaimed Texas Chainsaw Massacre fan film The Sawyer Massacre, is ready to frighten audiences again with a new psychological horror movie titled Unseen.
Sequanda Films launched a pre-production Indiegogo campaign on May 16th. The campaign, which ends July 15th, is approaching 20 percent of its $41,000 flexible goal.
“We will likely not hit our goal, but we are doing flexible crowdfunding so that we still can put that money towards our film,” Merlo told MalevolentDark.com. “We will start our second Indiegogo campaign on July 28th with a smaller goal so that we can get that campaign InDemand.”
The new film is Merlo’s follow-up to The Sawyer Massacre, which premiered in October. Billed as an unofficial prequel and the first feature-length Texas Chainsaw Massacre fan film, The Sawyer Massacre boasts nearly 130,000 views on YouTube. Click here to watch the movie.
“The biggest thing I learned from making The Sawyer Massacre is that I have to keep learning and keep driving myself to be better,” Merlo said. “I am incredibly happy with how well that movie came out and has been received, but deep down I know that it has a lot of room for improvement. I expect to learn much more making Unseen as well.”
The planned film features a talented cast attached to the project, including horror icon Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp) and Brett Wagner (Leatherface for the first kill of the 2003 remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre). It also introduces Trinity Chase in the lead role.
Merlo is teaming up with indie film production companies Twitch Twitch Productions and AKA Productions for Unseen. Special FX artist Thomas Smith of Sick & Twisted FX (Valentine Bluffs) and cinematographer William D. Amendola are also working on the project.
Merlo’s new film promises to completely immerse the viewer into the mind of a mentally unstable killer. It’s equally inspired by a horror movie classic and some of the Canadian filmmaker’s own experiences.
“The original Black Christmas is the biggest inspiration,” Merlo said. “I drew a lot of inspiration from past nightmares I had, too. I originally wrote down the idea after a nightmare I had where everything started out great, but then it all turned bad! It was this idea that your entire world can change with one action in the heat of the moment. I also drew inspiration from some past experiences and relationships that were not exactly the most pleasant.”
Click here to support the Indiegogo campaign.