Morituris is scheduled to have its international (i.e., outside-of-Italy) première at this year's
Fantasia International Film Festival in Montréal on July 30th.
Here's a description of
Morituris from Fantasia: "Part of a wave of new Italian horror led by Federico Zampaglione's popular shocker
SHADOW, director Raffaele Picchio's
MORITURIS burns slow at the start as the three laddish leads pick up two attractive girls, getting to know each other on their trip as their conversations touch on subjects both mundane and profound. Love seems to blossom between two of them and, though we expect something nasty will eventually befall all (this is a horror movie, after all), what actually does go down is designed to test audiences acceptance of both the absurd and the vile. As the gang proceeds on foot to their final destination, a series of shocking events inexplicably wake an army of bloodthirsty undead Roman gladiators intent on subjecting the interlopers to all manner of Sergio Stivaletti-generated bloody death. Fans of Stivaletti, certainly one of Italy's greatest special effects make-up artists, will no doubt thrill to see the maestro - he of so many a Dario Argento (
OPERA), Lamberto Bava (
DEMONS) and Michele Soavi (
DELLAMORTE DELLAMORE) film - return to tear flesh as only he can do, with rococo flair and grandiose bloodlust. ¶ Dark, cruel, strong, weird and violent,
MORITURIS harkens back to the hyper-stylized violent aesthetic of Italian shock maestro Lucio Fulci (think of a perverse blend of
NEW YORK RIPPER and
ZOMBIE and you have a vague concept of the picture's tone, and level of sleaze and grue) but also it mines meat-and-potatoes North American slasher potboilers and survivalist terror with equally ruthless aplomb. It's that blend of the familiar and the exotic that makes
MORITURIS such a potent and deeply strange viewing experience. Those who like their cheap, visceral thrills with a bit of Mediterranean eccentricity and operatic grandeur should dig the hell out of this blood-spattered nightmare. It's
BEN-HUR from beyond the grave. It's
SPARTACUS with rough sex and spooks. It's
GLADIATOR with graphic gore and ghouls. It's... you get the picture. See it."
YouTube: Morituris promo video
Morituris official website
Fantastic Forge: Morituris
Fantasia: Morituris