The Dead Matter

In the beginning...
Before forming Midnight Syndicate, Edward Douglas directed, scored, and produced a feature-length horror film entitled, The Dead Matter (1996). Driven by a strong belief in the story, the film was shot for under $2000 and released with the intention of remaking the film later on a larger scale. Many of the tracks and song ideas from Douglas' score to the film would become early signature Midnight Syndicate tracks (Nightstalker, Forbidden Crypts, Eye of the Storm, Born of the Night, Vampire's Kiss). Midnight Syndicate graphic designer Mark Rakocy shot and helped produce the film and Midnight Syndicate voiceover artist and contributor Christopher Robichaud co-starred in the film.

In 2004, Douglas reunited with co-writer Tony Demci to begin what would be a two year-long process of re-writing The Dead Matter script and then preparing it for production, with the help of Ethan Dettenmaier of Snap Kick Productions. "It's a great story that we've been waiting over ten years to be able to share once again," said Edward Douglas, in 2006, "we're very excited to be on the road to making it a reality." Douglas guaranteed that fans of Midnight Syndicate would not be disappointed. "Not only will we be scoring the film, but producing The Dead Matter puts us in the position we need to be in to begin to work on the Midnight Syndicate DVD and live shows that we've been talking about doing again for so many years."

The newly created Midnight Syndicate Films, in partnership with Hollywood FX producer Robert Kurtzman and his company, Precinct 13 Entertainment, wrapped production on The Dead Matter in September, 2007.

Headlining the cast is Andrew Divoff of ABC's Lost, television star Jason Carter, and horror film veteran, Tom Savini. Divoff (Vellich), most recently known as the eye-patch-wearing rogue Mikhail Bakunin on ABC's Lost, has acted in Wishmaster, Air Force One, and Precinct 13's The Rage (2007). In addition to films, Carter (McCallister) has appeared in television shows including Babylon 5, Beverly Hills 90210 and Charmed. Savini (Sebed) is a 30-year veteran in the horror film genre with roles in Dusk Till Dawn, Dawn of the Dead, and most recently, Quentin Tarantino's and Robert Rodriguez's Grindhouse.

Additional lead actors include Sean Serino (Gretchen), Tom Nagel (Mike), CB Spencer (Jill) and Brian Van Camp (Mark). Midnight Syndicate's voiceover artist Christopher Robichaud from Chardon, Ohio, will reprise his role of Frank for the 1996 version of The Dead Matter.

In addition to the main cast, two horror host legends will contribute to the lineup: Dick Dyszel, better known to fans as Count Gore De Vol and Cleveland's Big Chuck Schodowski, a 47-year television veteran and personality.

The Dead Matter tells the story of a vampire relic with occult powers that falls into the hands of a grief-stricken young woman who will do anything to contact her dead brother. Midnight Syndicate will score the film and plans to release multiple soundtrack CDs in conjunction with the tentative film release date in 2008.

"This is an incredibly exciting opportunity for us, having worked 10 years toward the goal of positioning ourselves to remake The Dead Matter in a large-budget, full-scale production," said Douglas. "we've taken our time to fully develop the story, and attract top talent, to deliver the best film possible for both our current fans and all fans of the horror genre."

Gavin Goszka, The Dead Matter music supervisor, added, "The soundtrack CD will be in the style of Midnight Syndicate releases, and integrate new material and atmospherics to allow listeners to explore the dark and supernatural world created in the film."