Ghost House Pictures will launch a new film acquisitions company this fall to extend the Ghost House brand to home entertainment, per THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.
Ghost House Underground will release 12 to 20 films a year, mostly through Lionsgate -- owner of the SAW franchise and AFTER DARK series on DVD.
Ghost House Pictures is a horror genre company led by Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert and Mandate Pictures president Nathan Kahane. The new venture will team with Grindstone, a major distributor of direct-to-DVD films.
They will focus on new, young talent in their official launch this October, initially releasing a slate of eight films. One will be DARK FLOORS, from Eurovision Award-winning rock band Lordi. Directed by Pete Riski, the film premiered in February at the European Film Market in Berlin and is about a father and daughter trapped in a hospital who fight evil.
"We believe the next great horror film is going to come from fresh, bold voices working outside the system," Tapert told the REPORTER. "We aim to find these films and share them with genre fans everywhere."
Also coming up will be Martin Barnewitz's ROOM 205, Ole Bornedal's THE SUBSTITUTE, Igor Shavlak's TRACKMAN, writer-director Gabriele Albanesi's LAST HOUSE IN THE WOODS and writer-directors Michael Roesch and Peter Scheerer's BROTHERHOOD OF BLOOD.
Ghost House Pictures produced THE GRUDGE, a hit in 2004 with at $110 million gross, as well as 30 DAYS OF NIGHT, THE GRUDGE 2, THE MESSENGERS and BOOGEYMAN.
Grindstone has also worked with Lionsgate on projects for a number of years, according to Ron Schwartz, executive VP and GM of Lionsgate's home entertainment division.
Releases from Underground will have an online presence at www.ghosthousepictures.com with interaction with filmmakers and cast members, video blogs and Webisodes.
