Brazilian Zombie Film BEYOND THE GRAVE Launches Production

Posted by Todd Brown at 7:23pm.

Posted in Trailer Alerts , Horror, Mexico & South America.

We first wrote about Davi de Oliveira Pinheiro’s Brazilian zombie film Beyond the Grave back in June, pointing the way to a test teaser that Pinheiro had shot for the film. Well, it’s taken a little bit longer than hoped for the film to get rolling but principal photography will begin February 14th - yup, Valentine’s Day - and Pinheiro has passed along some storyboards and a behind the scenes shot to whet the appetite. Make up for this is being handled by the same guy who did Coffin Joe’s new film so you know they won’t be shy with the blood and Pinheiro cites a fascinating blend of film makers as influences on this - everyone from Leone to Jodorowsky to Truffaut and, of course, Romero.

You’ll find the initial teaser lurks and the images linked below while the full press release lurks below the break.

*Lockheart Filmes*, in association with *V2 Cinema*, is set to begin principal
photography of the Brazilian horror-fantasy feature* BEYOND THE GRAVE* this *February
14*. Writer/director *Davi de Oliveira Pinheiro* (who’s also producing with *Isidoro B.
Guggiana*) and crew are ready to shoot in the city of *Porto Alegre*. *BEYOND THE GRAVE
(aka PORTO DOS MORTOS)* stars *Rafael Tombini* as the vengeful cop *Lockheart* who
pursues *Adam*,* *a possessed serial killer in the wastelands of a dystopic *Brazil*.
Among the highways of a violent world populated by the living dead, the unstoppable
policeman will face his demoniac nemesis.

*"BEYOND THE GRAVE is very close to an art-house
horror film. There is a very personal and mythological universe behind this"*, says
director *Davi de Oliveira Pinheiro . “This is not
only a Brazilian take on the zombie genre, this is shaping into something really
unexpected, even to us”.* The Brazilian filmmaker claims influence from the works of
*Sergio Leone,* *François Truffaut*, *William Friedkin*, *George A. Romero*, *Richard
Stanley*, *Stephen King *and* H.P. Lovecraft*, among others. *"The script is a mix of
everything I love about cinema and fantasy”, *explains *Davi. “It’s a movie made with
passion, heart and, a la Alejandro Jodorowsky, balls”.*

The genesis of the project came from early 2005 when *Davi* started its development.
*"Since then the film has grown in scale and ambition in order to create a much more
challenging experience into the horror genre”, *says producer *Isidoro B. Guggiana
. *On June 2007, the first teaser trailer
was released on the
Internet and the crew started the pre-production. *"We assembled an enthusiastic and very
talented crew in a place where genre cinema almost does not exist, *says *Isidoro. “The
best of both worlds is at hand: a strong screenplay and creative artists that can bring
those sights, sounds and words to life”.* Among the talents behind the production is the
artist/technician *André Kapel * (*"Embodiment of
Evil"*), head of the makeup and FX department.