Welcome to Bay of the Living Dead, a monthly column about the horror genre of the past, present and future.
Last summer,
in the first installment of this column, we met the young, maverick filmmaker Ansel Faraj. Only 22 years old, Faraj's feet are firmly planted in the cinema traditions of long ago. His no budget chillers are largely inspired by the tales of terror and the film noirs that his mom —who serves as his producer — might have watched on TV during her own youth.
Produced for peanuts, with whatever resources he has at hand, he has repeatedly managed to recreate the aura of the cinema of yesteryear. Faraj often takes his audience on a journey through dark netherworlds, where things often aren't what they appear to be. He creates his own noirish/Gothic effects on his home computer with impressive results. So far, Faraj's films have been released primarily online, though there have been a few theatrical screenings in Los Angeles, San Diego, and film festivals.
The young auteur attracted a great deal of attention within the horror fandom sphere when he talked several cast members from the classic, horror themed soap opera
Dark Shadows to join his rep company of actors.
Dark Shadows veteran Christopher Pennock is fondly remembered by DS fans for his intense performances in storylines inspired by H.P. Lovecraft and Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale of good versus evil. The actor, who is still going strong forty years later, collaborated with Faraj on a delightfully creepy web anthology series titled
Theatre Fantastique. The entire first season can now be viewed at YouTube.
