TRAPPED ASHES, 2006, Elephant Studios/Five Windows Prod., 105 min. In the
twisted tradition of classic anthology horror films such as TALES FROM THE CRYPT
and CREEPSHOW, TRAPPED ASHES features stories of the surreal, macabre and
bizarre, helmed by five of Hollywood’s most unique directors: Joe Dante (GREMLINS,
THE HOWLING), Ken Russell (ALTERED STATES, THE DEVILS), Monte
Hellman (TWO-LANE BLACKTOP), Sean Cunningham (FRIDAY the 13th
), and John
Gaeta (Academy Award winner, Visual Effects on THE MATRIX) – and produced &
written by Deaf Crocodile’s own Dennis Bartok! Seven strangers (including legendary
character actors John Saxon and Henry Gibson) are trapped inside an infamous
Roger Corman/AIP-style House of Horrors during a Hollywood movie studio tour and
forced to confess their most disturbing personal memories. In Ken Russell’s “The Girl
with Golden Breasts,” a struggling actress (Rachel Veltri) decides to get gel implants
made from reprocessed human cadavers – with monstrous results for her and her
boyfriend (Jayce Bartok). In Sean Cunningham’s “Jibaku,” an unhappily married
woman (Lara Harris) and her architect husband (Scott Lowell) have a nightmarish
encounter with a dead monk on a visit to Japan. In Monte Hellman’s “Stanley’s
Girlfriend” (Official Selection, 2006 Cannes Film Festival), two ambitious young
filmmakers become unlikely friends in 1950s Hollywood: Leo (Tahmoh Penikett), writer
of sadistic B-pictures like “The Strangler,” and a soon-to-be-famous director named
Stanley Kubrick (Tygh Runyan). When they both fall in love with the same enigmatic
woman (Amelia Cooke), it unleashes a decades-long mystery involving desire and
celluloid. And in John Gaeta’s “My Twin, The Worm,” a young Goth woman
(Michele-Barbara Pelletier) reveals the horrific, Cronenberg-like tale of the inhuman
“twin” that grew alongside her in her mother’s womb. With marvelous visual F/X by
Academy Award winner Robert Skotak (TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY, ALIENS)
and production design by Robb Wilson King (“Breaking Bad”), and a superb, haunting
soundtrack by acclaimed Japanese composer Kenji Kawai (THE RING, GHOST IN THE
SHELL). Newly scanned and restored in 4K for its first-ever official Blu-ray release by
Deaf Crocodile.
Special Features:
● New 4K restoration with Dolby Vision HDR
● New video essay by journalist and physical media expert Ryan Verrill (The Disc
Connected) and film professor Dr. Will Dodson.
● Three new video interviews:
o Director John Gaeta, cast members Jayce Bartok, Scott Lowell and Lisi
Tribble, producers Yuko Yoshikawa & Yoshifumi Hosoya, and
cinematographer Zoran Popovic, moderated by producer/writer Dennis
Bartok for Deaf Crocodile.
o Cast members Tahmoh Penikett & Tygh Runyan and production designer
Robb Wilson King.
o Producer Mike Frislev of Nomadic Pictures.
● Director’s Cut of Monte Hellman’s “Stanley’s Girlfriend” episode
● Original full-length cut of Ken Russell’s “The Girl with Golden Breasts” episode
● Original 5-part Making Of video with cast and crew interviews
LIMITED Deluxe Edition Extras:
● Hard slipcase featuring new painting by Hans Woody
● 80-page illustrated book with:
○ New essay by Walter Chaw
○ New essay by Dennis Bartok
○ Reprint of original Fangoria article by Sean Decker on the film from
September 2007
○ Q&A with producers Yuko Yoshikawa, Yoshifumi Hosoya and Dennis
Bartok from 2006
○ Behind-the-scenes photos
