Prank

James

Today may be April Fool's Day, but the anthology film PRANK, currently shooting at various Los Angeles locations on a projected 23-day schedule, is very real'”and really exciting for horror fans. The film marks the directorial debuts of genre actresses Danielle Harris, Heather Langenkamp and Ellie Cornell'”a lineup that gives it irresistable appeal to fright buffs, and nobody is more aware of that than producers Anthony Masi and Thommy Hutson.
'Sure, it's a hell of a gimmick,' Masi tells Fango, 'and that's one of PRANK's big selling points. We've got the women from the HALLOWEEN and NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET movies directing their first films, and everybody loves these gals.'
The genesis of PRANK occurred earlier this year, when Masi and Hutson were brainstorming and agreed that the time is right for a good new anthology film. 'We came up with the idea of stories revolving around pranks that go terribly wrong,' Masi explains. 'In one story, a group of friends are playing a game where they dial seven-letter names. One girl dials her own name and reaches a guy who decides to turn the tables on her. In the second, a woman is waiting for her boyfriend to come home. Things start happening, paranoia sets in and then the phone rings'¦ The third is set at a '60s-themed murder-mystery party, where people really start dying and the killer turns out to be somebody from one of the partygoers' past. The wraparound concerns an editor and cub reporter doing research late at night who come upon these stories. Of course, something will happen to them as well.'
Hutson acknowledges that PRANK carries a fairly low gore score, and notes that this is by design. 'There's some murder and mayhem,' he says, 'but we're really pushing the suspense and thrills. The don't-go-down-the-hall kind of stuff.'
The idea of putting horror icons at the segments' helms came about when Masi and Harris were discussing the possibility of the latter taking the helm of a different feature. 'We felt she needed training wheels as a director, and that we should try her out on one of PRANK's segments. That led to the idea of putting scream queens in the director's chair on all three. Thommy is friends with Heather Langenkamp, and she had spoken to me several times about wanting to direct. Then we thought of Elle Cornell.'
Harris, who has a couple of theater directing gigs on her rÃ©sumÃ©, feels she is more than up to guiding a short chiller on a seven-day schedule. 'Film directing is foreign to me,' she admits. 'I don't know about shot lists, camera angles and lens changes. But I do know actors, and I'm pretty clear on what I want and what I don't want.'
And the two producers are confident that their rookie filmmakers are more than up to the task. 'They've never done this before, but we have a lot of faith in them,' Masi says. 'One thing I can tell you is that there will definitely be a lot of estrogen in this film.' We'll be bringing you lots more on PRANK as it progresses! '”Marc Shapiro

This could be very interesting.:mosh:

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