Horror movies stake their claim
25 Oct 2007
Move over Transylvania - New Zealand is firmly staking its claim as the home of the vampire - even if it is just on celluloid. Two feature movies are making their presence felt in theatres around the world.
Perfect Creature is set in 1960s Nuovo Zealandia. It is a fresh and original take on a classic vampire tale.
Director Glenn Standring made much of the movie in the historic South Island town of Oamaru as well as Dunedin and Auckland. Already, extensive overseas sales have meant the movie has all but recovered its NZ$17 million costs. Standring is now working on a much bigger horror movie being filmed in Central Otago and a NZ$150 million co-production with Korea.
Meanwhile New Zealand stands in for Alaska in the movie "30 Days of Night" which has just opened in theatres across North America. The movie is based on a novel which charts the mayhem that ensues when vampires invade an isolated town during the annual month of darkness.
Tons of Epsom salts, shredded paper, white blankets and other elements convincingly stand in for a snowy, subzero environment.
Actor Josh Hartnett takes the lead role in the movie and is said to have 'fallen in love' with New Zealand while filming and even attempted to buy a plot of land.
"It was on the west coast of the North Island, which is kind of a surfer's paradise with volcanic black rocks, black sand beaches, and tumultuous winds. You could drive along the South Island, deserts, mountains, lake regions, going along the coast where it's kind of tropical."
In other New Zealand movie news, actor Mark Wahlberg has stepped in to replace Ryan Gosling in Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones.
Just days before filming began, Gosling left the production. Sources claim it was because of creative differences. Wahlberg will play the part of Jack Salmon, the grieving father of a young girl.
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