Elza Kephart

Last updated
Elza Kephart
Born
Occupation(s) film director, film producer, and screenwriter
Website Fantastical Filmmaker

Elza Kephart, is a Canadian filmmaker, from Montreal, Quebec. She owns her own production company, Midnight Kingdom Films.

Contents

Career

Kephart's first feature film was Graveyard Alive: A Zombie Nurse in Love , which she wrote, directed, and produced. The film was well received by critics, [1] [2] [3] who appreciated its camp horror and modern feminist motifs, while at the same time evoking the traditional days of black and white, Techniscope wide-screen. Since its premiere in 2003 the film has screened in over 20 international film festivals and garnered numerous awards,[ citation needed ] as well as being picked up for distribution and international sales.

In 2005, Kephart provided computer support for The Greatest Game Ever Played . In 2006 she was assistant to Tony Goldwyn while he directed The Last Kiss . She also appeared in a 2009 documentary Pretty Bloody: The Women of Horror .

In 2013, Kephart released Go Into the Wilderness, shot in Quebec's remote North Shore.

In 2020, Kephart completed work on her horror-comedy film Slaxx, released as a Shudder Original title in March 2021.

Awards

Kephart was nominated at the 2005 Cinevagas B-Movie film festival for: [4]

Filmography

Director
YearFilmGenreOther notes
2002 Naughty SoxxxTV series
2003 Graveyard Alive: A Zombie Nurse in Love Feature filmSlamdance Film Festival- Best Cinematography
2006 Beyond the Pearly Gates of Ill-ReputeShort film Fantasia Festival-Premier co-directed with Elizabeth Lawrence
2013 Go in the Wilderness Feature film Festival du nouveau cinéma-Montréal-Official Selection
2020 SlaxxFeature film
Writer
YearTitleGenreNotes
2002 Naughty SoxxxTV series
2003 Graveyard Alive: A Zombie Nurse in Love Feature film
2006 Beyond the Pearly Gates of Ill-ReputeShort film
2013 Go in the WildernessFeature film

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Troma Entertainment</span> American film production and distribution company

Troma Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974. The company produces low-budget independent films, or "B movies", primarily of the horror comedy genre, all geared exclusively to mature audiences. Many of them play on 1950s horror with elements of farce, parody, gore, and splatter.

<i>Braindead</i> (film) 1992 film by Peter Jackson

Braindead is a 1992 New Zealand zombie comedy splatter film directed by Peter Jackson, produced by Jim Booth, and written by Stephen Sinclair, Fran Walsh, and Jackson based on an original story idea by Sinclair. It stars Timothy Balme, Diana Peñalver, Elizabeth Moody and Ian Watkin. The plot follows Lionel, a young man living in South Wellington with his strict mother Vera. After Lionel becomes romantically entangled with a girl named Paquita, Vera is bitten by a hybrid rat-monkey creature and begins to transform into a zombie, while also infecting swathes of the city's populace.

<i>Dawn of the Dead</i> (2004 film) 2004 film by Zack Snyder

Dawn of the Dead is a 2004 action horror film directed by Zack Snyder in his feature directorial debut, with a screenplay by James Gunn. A remake of George A. Romero's 1978 film of the same name, it stars an ensemble cast that includes Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, and Mekhi Phifer, with Scott Reiniger, Tom Savini, and Ken Foree from the original film appearing in cameos. Set in Milwaukee, the film follows a group of survivors who try to survive a zombie apocalypse holed up in a suburban shopping mall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cassandra Peterson</span> American actress

Cassandra Gay Peterson is an American actress best known for her portrayal of the horror hostess character Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. Peterson gained fame on Los Angeles television station KHJ-TV in her stage persona as Elvira, hosting Elvira's Movie Macabre, a weekly B movie presentation. A member of the Los Angeles-based improvisational and sketch comedy troupe The Groundlings, Peterson based her Elvira persona in part on a "Valley girl"-type character she created while a member of the troupe.

<i>Zombi 2</i> 1979 film directed by Lucio Fulci

Zombi 2 is a 1979 English-language Italian zombie film directed by Lucio Fulci. It was adapted from an original screenplay by Dardano Sacchetti to serve as a sequel to George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead (1978), which was released in Italy under the title Zombi. It stars Tisa Farrow, Ian McCulloch, and Richard Johnson, and features a score by frequent Fulci collaborator Fabio Frizzi. Frizzi's score has been released independently of the film, and he has performed it live on tour.

The Night of the Dead is a whole night of horror films shown as part of the annual Leeds International Film Festival. Beginning in 2001, it has become a firm fan favourite, selling out well before the event. Since Night of the Dead V, this event has taken place at the Hyde Park Picture House in Leeds, England.

<i>City of the Living Dead</i> 1980 supernatural horror film by Lucio Fulci

City of the Living Dead is a 1980 Italian supernatural horror film co-written and directed by Lucio Fulci. It stars Christopher George, Catriona MacColl, Carlo de Mejo, Antonella Interlenghi, Giovanni Lombardo Radice, and Janet Agren. The film follows a priest whose suicide opens a gateway to hell that releases the undead. A psychic and a reporter team up to close it before All Saints' Day.

<i>Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead</i> 2006 parody film by Lloyd Kaufman

Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead is a 2006 black comedy musical horror film directed by Lloyd Kaufman and co-directed by Gabriel Friedman from a screenplay by Friedman and Daniel Bova. The film centers around the takeover of a New Jersey fried chicken fast food restaurant by possessed zombie chickens after it is built on top of a sacred Native American burial ground. The film was distributed and released on December 29, 2006, and in 2008 on DVD by Troma Entertainment.

Korean horror films have been around since the early years of Korean cinema, however, it was not until the late 1990s that the genre began to experience a renewal. Many of the Korean horror films tend to focus on the suffering and the anguish of characters rather than focus on the explicit "blood and guts" aspect of horror. Korean horror features many of the same motifs, themes, and imagery as Japanese horror.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston Underground Film Festival</span>

The Boston Underground Film Festival (BUFF) is an annual event held in the Boston area that specializes in alternative film and video. BUFF is the largest underground film festival in New England, spotlighting short films and feature-length films that would not otherwise find an audience. It was the only film festival in the world to give an award for "Most Effectively Offensive" films, an accolade it awarded from its inception until 2017; on the festival's twentieth anniversary, the award was retired and replaced with "Best First Feature Film," marking a shifting focus towards celebrating new voices in filmmaking.

The Scare-A-Con Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Syracuse, United States.

Lisa Morton is an American horror author and screenwriter.

<i>Graveyard Alive</i> 2003 film by Elza Kephart

Graveyard Alive: A Zombie Nurse in Love, is an independent zombie horror comedy directed by Elza Kephart. The film is in black and white and it is dubbed. The film, had its world premiere at the 2003 Fantasia festival in Montreal, Canada, and its U.S. premier at the 2004 Slamdance festival in Park City, Utah where it won best Cinematography. The film was produced by Bastard Amber Productions, and it was filmed in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The film was featured in Nightmare in Canada: Canadian Horror on Film (2004) (Doc)

<i>The Living Ghost</i> 1942 film by William Beaudine

The Living Ghost is a 1942 American mystery-drama film directed by William Beaudine and produced by Monogram Pictures. Starring James Dunn and Joan Woodbury, the film incorporates elements of the horror genre as it follows an ex-private detective who is called in to investigate why a banker has turned into a zombie. As the detective shares wisecracks with the banker's cheeky secretary, the two fall in love. The film was distributed in the United Kingdom under the title Lend Me Your Ear, and later released on home video as A Walking Nightmare.

<i>Cooties</i> (film) 2014 American horror comedy zombie film by Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion

Cooties is a 2014 American zombie comedy film directed by Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion from a screenplay that was written by Ian Brennan and Leigh Whannell. It stars Elijah Wood, Alison Pill, Rainn Wilson, Jack McBrayer, Whannell, Nasim Pedrad, Brennan, and Jorge Garcia as a group of elementary school employees who fight to survive an outbreak among students that turn them into aggressive zombies when someone eats chicken nuggets that contain a virus.

The Rhode Island International Horror Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Providence, Rhode Island, which features a wide variety of horror, sci-fi, and thriller films, as well as documentaries, from the United States and around the world. Founded in 2000, as one of several "festival sidebars" of the Rhode Island International Film Festival, it is the largest and longest-running horror film festival in New England.

<i>Ravenous</i> (2017 film) 2017 Canadian film

Ravenous is a 2017 French-language Canadian horror film written and directed by Robin Aubert and starring Marc-André Grondin, Monia Chokri, Brigitte Poupart, Luc Proulx, Charlotte St-Martin and Micheline Lanctôt. The film depicts the residents of a small town in rural Quebec as they deal with an outbreak leading to an attack by zombie-like persons.

<i>Blood Quantum</i> (film) 2019 Canadian horror film

Blood Quantum is a 2019 Canadian horror film written, directed, and edited by Jeff Barnaby and starring Michael Greyeyes, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Forrest Goodluck, Kiowa Gordon, Brandon Oakes, Olivia Scriven, Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs, and Gary Farmer. The film depicts the effects of a zombie uprising on a First Nations reserve whose residents are immune to contracting the plague because of their indigenous heritage, but must still cope with the consequences of its effects on the world around them, including white refugees seeking shelter on the reserve.

<i>Saint Maud</i> 2019 film by Rose Glass

Saint Maud is a 2019 British psychological horror film written and directed by Rose Glass in her feature directorial debut. The film stars Morfydd Clark as a religious private carer who becomes dangerously fixated with saving the soul of her patient. Jennifer Ehle, Lily Frazer, Lily Knight, Marcus Hutton, Turlough Convery and Rosie Sansom appear in supporting roles.

References

  1. "Graveyard Alive: A Zombie Nurse in Love". 10 March 2004.
  2. "Graveyard Alive: A Zombie Nurse in Love | Horror.com". www.horror.com. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  3. Graveyard Alive: A Zombie Nurse in Love Archived 16 May 2004 at the Wayback Machine
  4. "Film Threat | Your Independent Movie Guide - Part 13" . Retrieved 6 April 2023.