By MICHAEL GINGOLD
Jim Ojala, the makeup and effects wizard whose credits range from DEADGIRL to major Marvel movies, makes his feature directorial debut with the sci-fi shocker STRANGE NATURE. Read on for the release info, trailer and poster.
STRANGE NATURE has a theatrical run September 22-27 at Los Angeles’ Laemmle Glendale Theatre, with other cities to follow; it’ll play the Great Western Catskills International Film Festival, which takes place October 19-21 in Andes, NY, and the Twin Cities Film Festival, running October 17-27 in St. Louis Park, MN. VOD release will take place later this fall. Ojala also scripted the film and oversaw the effects, and it stars Lisa Sheridan, Bruce Bohne, Jonah Beres, WWE wrestler John Hennigan, Carlos Alazraqui, Stephen Tobolowsky and Tiffany Shepis (pictured above). The synopsis: “A children’s hiking group in rural Minnesota discover several live, mutated frogs along a pond. In the same area, a single mother, Kim [Sheridan], and her 11-year-old son, Brody [Beres], have just moved in with her estranged father, Chuck [Bohne]. It’s not long before they too start witnessing strange occurrences including a disemboweled deer and the family dog’s deformed puppies. As the fear rises, the rumors begin to fly. Some blame the intimidating disfigured hermit father and daughter who live on a surrounding lake. Environmental science points to the water sources. Possibly causes are pesticides, parasites or both. As the chaos spreads it becomes clear that Chuck’s cabin is a hotspot ground zero for these mutations.”
