Evil Breed: The Legend of Samhain (2003)

Director:

Christian Viel

Writers:

William R. Mariani (story)
Christian Viel (story)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror

Tagline:

Evil roams the woods of Ireland...

Plot:

Two American tourists on a romantic camping trip are brutally murdered. A few days later, during the ancient festival of Samhain...

Plot Keywords:

Tourist | Mutant | Druid | Disembowelment | Slasher

Cast

Bobbie Phillips	...	Karen Douglas
Howard Rosenstein	...	Paul
Ginger Lynn	...	Pandora (as Ginger Lynn Allen)
Chasey Lain	...	Amy
Taylor Hayes	...	The Breeder
Jenna Jameson	...	Jenny
Richard Grieco	...	Mark
Brandi-Ann Milbradt	...	Shae
Lael Stellick	...	The Shape
Phil Price	...	Steve
Neil Napier	...	Jim
Heidi Hawkins	...	Tara
Gillian Leigh	...	Barbara
Simon Peacock	...	Gary
Alex Chisholm	...	Shape #2 (scenes deleted)
Robert Higden	...	Sawney Bean
Alana Dash	...	Jamie
Dan Noseworthy	...	Jean-Luc Myers
J.J. Carle	...	Sawney's Son
Eric Cooke	...	Rich Traveller
Natalia Ctchekotikhina	...	Rich Traveller's Wife
Victoria Reuter	...	Ma Bean
Fanny Labbe	...	Sawney's Daughter

Directed by
Christian Viel

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
William R. Mariani		story
Christian Viel		story and screenplay

Produced by
Domenic Ambrosio	....	executive producer
Carmelo Caruana	....	producer
Peter Emerson	....	executive producer
Dawne Everett	....	executive producer
Dawne Everett	....	producer
Prentiss Holman	....	associate producer
Nick Marciano	....	associate producer
William R. Mariani	....	executive producer
William R. Mariani	....	producer
Hugo Trottier	....	line producer

Original Music by
Alex Khaskin

Cinematography by
Dan Goyens		(as Daniel Goyens)

Film Editing by
Jason PJ Deschamps		(as J Deschamps)
Christian Viel

Casting by
Melanie Sara

Art Direction by
Kevin Grant

Costume Design by
Olga Studlik

Makeup Department
C.J. Goldman	....	special makeup effects artist
Jessica Heeren	....	assistant hair stylist (as Jessica Hereen)
Jessica Heeren	....	assistant makeup artist (as Jessica Hereen)
Laurie Jackson	....	key hair stylist
Laurie Jackson	....	key makeup artist
Adrien Morot	....	special makeup effects supervisor
George Tucci	....	special makeup effects artist

Production Management
William R. Mariani	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Benoît Hamel	....	first assistant director
Jean-Pierre Menard	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Jean-François Dasylva-LaRue	....	carpenter (as Jean-Francois DaSylva)
Yves Fontigny	....	property master
Yves Fontigny	....	set dresser
Bruno Gagliardi	....	carpenter
Kevin Grant	....	set dresser
Eric Mealing	....	construction foreman
Yohan Salvail	....	carpenter

Sound Department
Jean-Marin Basley	....	boom operator
John Bolanaks	....	dialogue editor (as John Bolanakis)
John Bolanaks	....	foley artist (as John Bolanakis)
Marco Fania	....	boom operator
Michel Grzelak	....	sound effects editor
Michel Grzelak	....	sound re-recordist
Ismael	....	sound mixer
Pierre Michaud	....	sound supervisor
Dimitri Médard	....	sound mixer
Christopher Piggins	....	foley editor (as Chris Piggins)
Karym Ronda	....	boom operator
Ron Woo	....	foley recordist

Special Effects by
Marc Reichel	....	special effects technician
Ryan Storm	....	special effects artist

Stunts
Allan Yuk-lun Chou	....	stunt coordinator (as Alan Chou)
Ben Gauthier	....	stunt coordinator (as Benoit Gauthier)

Camera and Electrical Department
Patrick Bernier	....	camera operator
Mario Bissonnette	....	dolly grip (as Mario Bissonette)
Mario Bissonnette	....	key grip (as Mario Bissonette)
Yvan Bourdages	....	Steadicam operator
Stéphane Caron	....	first assistant camera
Andre Chabot	....	best boy grip
Maurizio Ciacciarelli	....	still photographer
Simon Corneau	....	grip
Daniel Dallaire	....	gaffer (as Dan Dallaire)
Jean-François Dasylva-LaRue	....	electrician (as Jean-Francois DaSylva)
Audrey David	....	second assistant camera trainee
Alexis De Plater	....	best boy
David Dollé	....	key grip
Jean-François Fontaine	....	camera operator
Jean-François Fontaine	....	focus puller
Maryse Frigon	....	first assistant camera
Bruno Gagiardi	....	electrician
Dan Goyens	....	camera operator (as Daniel Goyens)
Brent Marrale	....	gaffer
Frederic Pesant	....	grip
Christian Viel	....	camera operator (as Cristian Viel)

Animation Department
Dave Desjardins	....	animator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Natalia Ctchekotikhina	....	assistant to costume designer

Editorial Department
Jason PJ Deschamps	....	editing consultant (as J. Deschamps)
Tom Strnad	....	additional editor
Motassem Younes	....	online editor (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Renan Moguel	....	office driver (as Renan 'Rayster' Moguel)
Poncho	....	driver: cast
Dany Zarifeh	....	driver: cast

Other crew
Jeff Boisvert	....	production assistant
Vincent Brabant	....	production assistant
Patrick Casavant	....	production assistant
Maxime Dufort	....	production assistant
Daniel DuSablon	....	production assistant
Rene Forbes	....	production assistant
Caroline Isabelle	....	script supervisor (as Caroline Isabelle Bedard)
Caroline Joyner	....	unit publicist
Elana Klein	....	production assistant
Lina Poirier	....	craft service
Steven Tamas	....	production accountant
Nicholas Taylor	....	production assistant
Ian Vanderwall	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Oasis International
• Samhain Productions
• Warehouse Films

Distributors

• Film 2000 (2005) (UK) (DVD)
• Lions Gate Films Home Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Splendid Film (2007) (Germany) (DVD)
• Velocity Home Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Maestro FX

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence and gore, sexuality and language

Runtime:

78 min | 91 min (uncut)

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

UK:18 (cut) | USA:R | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Germany:18

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Company:

Oasis International

Trivia:

The maggot-covered head found by Gary the caretaker is actually the head of the director, Christian Viel.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): In addition to the "soft c" in "Celtic," they pronounce the word "Samhain" as "sam-HAYN..." when the actual pronunciation is not even the once widely-held (but incorrect) "SOW-ehn," but actually "SHAV-nah."

Quotes:

Barbara:You guys are really starting to give me the creeps. You sound like some Ted Raimi flick or something.

Movie Connections:

References The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976)

Make sure you watch the gory version!

A bunch of American students and their tutor decide to visit the ugliest part of Ireland in order to study ancient religious practices. Despite being repeatedly warned about the dangers of straying off the beaten path (by the local creepy Irish guy, natch), they do just that, and wind up with their insides on the outside courtesy of a family of inbred cannibals (the descendants of the infamous Sawney Bean clan, who according to the film's silly plot, upped sticks from Scotland and settled on the Emerald Isle).

If you think that porn stars plus low budget horror automatically equals tons of nudity and terrible acting, then think again: Evil Breed is bristling with adult stars, but in fact, there's not nearly as much nudity as one might expect given the 'talent' involved, and the acting, although far from Oscar worthy, ain't all that bad (with the exception of Ginger Lynn Allen, who we know can do marvellous 'French', but whose Irish is lousy).

Evil Breed opens in superb style with the brutal slaughter of a couple of amorous campers: after some brief under-canvas sex, the silicone enhanced hottie is dragged from the tent and torn in half; the guy has his arms and legs cut off and is roasted on a spit. It's a very gory start, and bodes well for the rest of the film.

Unfortunately, after this promising beginning, things start to go seriously downhill: we are introduced to the main characters, an annoying bunch of twenty-somethings just begging to become cannibal chow, and are subjected to a fair amount of time wasting in the form of some terrible false scares, a lot of blarney about murderous druids from local Irish weirdo Gary (Simon Peacock), and worst of all, some sub-Scream, post-modernistic conversation about the conventions of horror films (how clever!).

Then, just as it looks as though the film is never going to get any better, director Christian Viel decides to get serious: a guy gets a knife rammed through his head and there's a gratuitous sex-in-the-shower scene featuring lovely blonde Gillian Leigh (NOT a porn star, but I'm sure there's a career there waiting if she wants it). After that, things improve rapidly as the cannibals kick into top flesh-eating gear, and the film is transformed into a veritable bloodbath: Gary has a machete rammed up his ass (about time!), and is strangled with his intestines; Ginger Lynn kick-boxes a mutant; Jenna Jameson is torn open, eviscerated and has her silicone breast implant gnawed on by confused cannibal; a guy gets decapitated by cheese wire; and Taylor Hayes is seen bloody, bruised and naked with a dead foetus between her legs (apparantly, she's been captured and used as breeding stock).

All of this is so outrageously gory that it makes sitting through the less interesting stuff worthwhile, and earns Evil Breed a final rating of 7/10.

NB. A very troubled production and studio meddling resulted in Christian Viel eventually abandoning the project. Re-shoots were done and the gore was heavily trimmed for a US release. The good news is that although the film doesn't flow as well as it might have, and is cursed with a terrible ending, the UK DVD (the version I watched) seems to have been left relatively intact as far as the splatter is concerned (only 13s were cut from the film in total).