Horror icon Tony Todd and genre mainstay Bai Ling have joined the cast of the long-awaited anthology film THE PROFANE EXHIBIT, to be featured in the cast of “22 Rue des Martyrs,” written by Ray Garton, which serves as the film’s wrap-around segment. To go along with that bit of casting news we also have a recent press release that includes more details on each segment as well as some quotes from some of the directors onboard to bring us this little slice of depravity. Read on.
Deep within the underbelly of Paris, there is a club which is the home of a secret, wicked society. At first it resembles an ordinary fetish or Goth nightclub, but within the cavernous building are many hidden rooms, one of which is known as “The Room of Souls,” a private gathering place of the world’s richest and most evil people. Their host is the elegant yet frightening Madame Sabatier. For their amusement each member takes a turn and spins a true tale of depravity.
From the Press Release:
The producers of “The Profane Exhibit” are excited to announce that both Tony Todd (pictured) and Bai Ling have join the long-awaited horror anthology. They will be featured in the cast of “22 Rue des Martyrs,” written by Ray Garton, which serves as the film’s wrap-around segment.
David Bond and Manda Manuel are the architects of what is likely the most daring independent horror film project to date, both in concept and scope. Assembling an almost surreal collection of over 100 horror icons (directors, writers, actors, musicians, etc.), Bond’s vision is to present the audience with a mirror that is a reflection of mankind–a reflection of greed, lust, and revenge that embodies corruption at its core. Each segment, though an integral part of Profane, was individually directed and scored by titans within horror and music. The entire project was scripted by Scott Swan of Masters of Horror fame and is being edited by Jeremy Kasten (The Wizard of Gore, The Thirst, HBO’s First Look documentary series). The Profane Exhibit is going to be unlike anything that horror fans have ever seen. It is horror with a message… terror with something to say.
PROFANE: THE STORIES AND DIRECTORS
22 Rue des Martyrs (wrap-around) – Paris, France
Corruption of influence: What is left to attain when money and power have been conquered? Meet a group of societal elite whose only derive pleasure from two things; forcing humans into acts of unspeakable depravity and then gloating their conquests to their peers. A secret room deep in the underbelly of Paris, “The Room of Souls”, will serve as axis mundi … the center of the world … for those who feed on the corruption of human nature.
Bridge – Umbria, Italy
Director – Ruggero Deodato; Music – Killjoy [Necrophagia]
“I wanted to explore the evilness of children and used, I guess, Kubick’s “The Shining” as reference. I got into this project thanks to David Bond and in this way I could play with the curiosity of the kids and with the psychosis in general. From the meeting of these two things, came out an open ending. I think that people need to face the reality and get used to the precariousness of the human mind.” – R. Deodato
Manna – Edmonton, Canada
Director – Michael Todd Schneider; Music – Sebastian Komor [Icon of Coil, Zombie Girl]
Corruption of dominance: Consuming your mate makes you stronger. Ridiculous? Ask the praying mantis … ask the scorpion … ask the black widow. A cult of women, under the banner of the Latrodectus black widow, practice the ultimate form of Vorarephilia in an attempt to claim the highest form of female dominance.
Tochka – Khabarovsk, Russia
Director: Andrey Iskanov; Music: Scott Mitchell [Marilyn Manson]
Corruption of drugs: The young Anna was sold in an underground brothel for sadists, addicts and sexual perverts by her own father, but she vainly tries to run away. Her attempts to escape resulted in her punishment making her a heroin addict. Her third escape attempt results in a spectacle of torture and violence.
GoodWife – Vancouver, Canada
Director – Ryan Nicholson; Music – cEvin Key [Skinny Puppy]
Corruption of family: John has the perfect life, the perfect marriage, but there’s something he isn’t telling his lovely wife. When she finds out exactly what her husband is up to most nights, the tables turn and things get extremely bloody. Stars Playboy favorite Monique Parent and B-movie star Tina Krause.
“The project is so dark in nature that it makes most extreme horror cinema look tame. It was the challenge to bring up the levels of depravity and craft something that I hadn’t done before. Most of my stuff has humour in it. This was a chance at doing something very unfunny and unsettling.Humans are animalistic in nature. Technology has actually made us worse than animals in the wild. The means to kill on a greater scale is something that the human race works towards.”– R. Nicholson
Mors in Tabula – Berlin, Germany
Director – Marian Dora; Music – Rune Eriksen [Mayhem]
Corruption of trust: A woman places her life in hands of doctor who offers her a chance for life. But, in the hands of a monster, this level of trust presents an opportunity for gratification reserved only for God.
“Whenever there is the situation that one person has the power over someone you can find abuse of this power. And a surgeon has the maximum power over the patient; you will find no constellation with more mismatch of power than this one.“ – M. Dora
Tophet Quorom – Rome, Italy
Director: Sergio Stivaletti
Corruption of the pure: A pious nun is abducted off the streets of Rome. Her purity eroded through weeks of torture and depravity. Her existence is rendered down to a primal, feral creature whose essence is blood and violence.
Viral – Sao Paulo, Brazil
Director: José Mojica Marins (a.k.a. Coffin Joe); Music: Chris Vrenna [Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson]
Corruption of fame: Character, integrity, self-esteem, honor…while these are honorable traits, they become expendable in the face of the enticement of fame. For one young woman, the journey to fame will lead her down a path of degradation, ruination, defilement, and debasement. Is the pay-off worth the price?
Coltan- Cape Town, South Africa
Director: Richard Stanley; Music: Simon Boswell [scoring credits: Lord of Illusion, Hardware, The Crying Game, etc.)
Corruption of wealth: The value of a rare metal causes unspeakable atrocities against men, women, and even children. A documentarian goes deep into Africa to give us a glimpse into the mining of coltan, the most common metal in all portable electronic devices. How many cell phones, mp3 players, tablets, etc. are in your home? How many innocent lives are you directly responsible for? (Based on U.N. Reports of alleged crimes at African coltan mines.)
Jigoku No Chorishi (The Hell-Chef) – Toyko, Japan
Director – Yoshihiro Nishimura ; Music – Sven and Vivian Fuzz-Kristiansen [Mayhem, Gallhammer]
Corruption of curiosity: A mysterious parasol-carrying woman witnesses a young girl seducing a man back to her apartment … to murder him. But, when young girl is unable to complete her task, the parasol-carrying woman instructs the girl on the finer points of killing and the arts of culinary cannibalism. And yet, even that does not go as planned in this tale of fetish and food.
Sins of the Father – Getxo, Spain
Director: Nacho Vigalondo
Corruption of revenge: When a son forces his father to answer for his sexual deviancy, cameras are rolling … and an audience awaits. However, which is more entertaining, justice or defilement? Will a son’s hunger for revenge lead him back to hell?
Basement – Los Angeles, California, USA
Director: Uwe Boll
Corruption of home: A man’s life in the upstairs of his house is very different from his life in the basement. Stars the amazing Clint Howard, Caroline Williams and Tara Cardinal.
“It is dark, but why not. I did a lot of very hard and dark subject matters…like Stoic and Seed and Rampage…and I liked the concept of having so many directors.” – U. Boll
Mother May I – Los Angeles, California, USA
Director – Anthony Diblasi; Music – Steven Severin [Siouxsie and the Banshees]
Corruption of religion: In a Catholic half-way house for wayward girls, Mabel is doing her best to please the Head Mother. Repeated acts of violent discipline against the other girls have Mabel terrified and willing to do whatever to avoid such pain. But, when a seemingly minor indiscretion brings the Head Mother’s attention to Mabel, will she be willing to do what it takes to appease the nun’s aggression?
Epilogue – Paris, France
Corruption of hope: Tomorrow is worse than today.
If you made it all the way through those descriptions you deserve a little Bai Ling hotness for a reward.