Filmmaker Zack Parker, who’s been winning lots of praise for his thriller SCALENE this year, is embarking into even darker territory with his new film PROXY. He has cast members of the HALLOWEEN and V/H/S ensembles, among others, and shared a few words with Fango about them and the project.

PROXY, described as “a European-style suspense-thriller that promises to challenge the traditional cinematic form,” was scripted by Parker and Kevin Donner, and the makeup FX will be created by DEADGIRL’s Jim Ojala. The synopsis: “A very pregnant Esther Woodhouse [to be played by Alexia Rasmussen] is walking home after her latest OB appointment, when she is brutally attacked and disfigured by a hooded assailant. When Esther seeks consolation in a support group, she finds friendship and empathy in Melanie [Alexa Havins], another mother scarred with tragedy. Esther soon begins to believe that the horrific event might be a bittersweet act of fate. However, friendship and empathy can be very dangerous things when accepted by the wrong people.” The cast also includes Kristina Klebe (pictured above) from Rob Zombie’s HALLOWEEN and CHILLERAMA, and filmmaker Joe Swanberg, who appears before the camera in A HORRIBLE WAY TO DIE and the upcoming V/H/S and YOU’RE NEXT.

“Although I am incredibly proud of SCALENE, and where it’s been able to go, I truly feel like we’re taking it to the last level with PROXY,” Parker tells Fango. “We have a slightly bigger budget, but more so, I feel like this film is incredibly more ambitious in story, structure, scope, and execution. I’m thrilled with the cast we’ve been able to assemble; I sought out Alexia and Alexa through the Gersh Agency, who also represent [SCALENE star] Margo Martindale and were enthusiastic about being involved with what I was doing next. This is certainly the darkest script I’ve ever written, and both of their roles are very difficult. I knew I needed actresses with a lot of courage, and they seemed to fall in love with the script for all the right reasons.

“I met Kristina through [SCALENE’s] Hanna Hall at a convention in Gatlinberg and immediately fell in love with her passion of film, and I think we knew then and there we were going to work together. As for Joe, I’ve been familiar with and a fan of his films as a director for a while. But when I saw the work he was doing as an actor in the films of some other filmmakers I know, namely Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett, I ended up basically writing this part for him. All in all, I am pretty damn lucky to have essentially assembled my dream cast.”

PROXY is set to shoot in mid-July on locations in Eastern Indiana; find out more at its Facebook page and the official website of Parker’s Along the Tracks Productions. SCALENE (track back through our previous coverage starting here) will be available on DVD and Blu-ray July 31 from Breaking Glass Pictures; the hi-def disc exclusively contains a three-and-a-half-hour making-of documentary.

---

News - Latest