By MICHAEL GINGOLD
He’s coming to yuck it up on disc, tape and other home formats.
Cineverse, its horror division Bloody Disgusting’s Screambox streaming platform and Scream Team Releasing have picked up North American rights to the horror/comedy CANNIBAL COMEDIAN. Written and directed by Sean Haitz, it stars Aaron Prager, Austin Judd, Robert Dunne and the original TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE’s Allen Danziger and Edwin Neal. The synopsis: “CANNIBAL COMEDIAN tells the story of a psychopathic cannibal who is fed up with his lack of ambition and takes a stab at stand-up comedy in an attempt to chase both his dreams and his victims.”
A favorite at festivals that has won awards at CineWorld, Days of the Dead, Silicon Beach, Culver City, Horrorhound, Marina del Rey, the Joe Bob Briggs World Drive-in Movie Festival, the Houston Horror Film Festival and the Orlando Film Festival, CANNIBAL COMEDIAN will first be released on Collector’s Edition Blu-ray and VHS by Scream Team March 1. It will then stream exclusively on Screambox and become available on digital platforms including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Microsoft Xbox, Google Play and Fandango at Home March 4. The six hours of bonus content on the Blu-ray, which can now be pre-ordered at Scream Team’s website, include:
- Feature introduction by Sean Haitz
- Cast and crew commentary track by director/writer/producer Sean Haitz, producer/editor Ryan James (“Bruce”), Aaron Prager (“Charlie”), Austin Judd (“Chrystal”), Robert Dunne (“Carrey”), Mis Sadistic (“Eleanor”), David Vega (“Sheriff Weaver”) and Tania Estrada (“Desert Woman”)
- Filmmaker technical commentary track with director/writer/producer Sean Haitz and producer/editor Ryan James
- Blood, Sweat, Tears…and More Blood: The Making of CANNIBAL COMEDIAN: Feature-length behind-the-scenes documentary
- Comedy + Horror: Featurette with Aaron Prager and Robert Dunne
- Alternate ending
- Deleted & extended scenes
- Extended stand-up comedy
- Short films:
-CANNIBAHOLICS
-THUMPER’S REVENGE with special introduction by Sean Haitz
- Trailers
- First look teaser
- Original proof of concept
“We are thrilled to partner with Cineverse and Scream Team Releasing to bring CANNIBAL COMEDIAN to the horror and stand-up comedy fans,” says Haitz. “I think people are really going to eat it up! It’s a love letter to my favorite horror classics like TEXAS CHAIN SAW and comedies such as ACE VENTURA. When I first moved out to Los Angeles, I had the opportunity to try my hand at stand-up and quickly realized how brutal it was, but for the main character of ‘Charlie,’ he kills both on stage and off stage.”
“I honestly can’t think of a better duo of distributors for this particular project,” says James. “When we initially brainstormed about our pie-in-the-sky home for CANNIBAL COMEDIAN, Cineverse and Scream Team Releasing were the top two names on that list, because they both continue to be at the top of their game with an eye for everything that is fun, innovative, and daring in the horror genre right now. So it really is an honor for both of them to see what we believed in as a group of passionate indie filmmakers who did whatever it took to pursue those aspirations, just like ‘Charlie,’ to tell a brand new tale that would speak to aspiring artists and fans of both the horror and comedy genres. It truly is a dream come true.”
