Cabin Fever's Strong Faces a Darkening Sky
Source: ShockTillYouDrop.com
August 10, 2009

Rider Strong (Cabin Fever) has signed on to play the lead in the upcoming film, Darkening Sky, and will also serve as a producer.

The film is described as a psychological thriller set against an intense science fiction and horror backdrop.


When a troubled UFO skeptic finds his girlfriend has vanished, he is forced to confront an impossible reality that includes shape-shifting extraterrestrials, implanted objects, organ harvesting and humans possessed by a malevolent alien presence unlike anything he has ever heard about... All while dealing with a growing suspicion that he is somehow the center of the aliens' diabolical plan.

Darkening Sky is based on an original screenplay by writer Victor Bornia who is also directing the feature film with Karly Young producing. Additional cast members include Charley Rossman and Ezra Buzzington.

Filming is scheduled to begin August 16, 2009. For more info visit http://www.darkeningsky.com/

http://www.shocktillyoudrop.com/news/topnews.php?id=11360

Rider Strong Dons Emo Hair, Fights Aliens in Darkening Sky
Source: Official Site
November 2, 2009

On the studio front this week, we've got The Fourth Kind, an alien abduction thriller, hitting theaters.

On the indie front, a trailer has premiered today for a film which tells of an average Joe stumbling on an alien conspiracy.

Nope, it's not another entry in The Arrival series; it's Darkening Sky, a film we alerted you to in August here, and we've got the trailer.



Here, Cabin Fever's Rider Strong plays Eric Rainer, a troubled grad student searching for his girlfriend who has mysteriously vanished.

Desperate for answers, he meets a beautiful stranger (Danielle Keaton) who lost her boyfriend under similar circumstances. Together, they unravel the mystery, going deeper and deeper into a bizarre world of alien shape-shifters, implanted objects, organ harvesting, and humans seemingly possessed by malevolent forces.

Eric's journey reaches a shocking conclusion with a revelation that will leave audiences reeling - revealing a truth more terrifying than anyone expected.


Ezra Buzzington, Charley Rossman, Danica Stewart, Suzanne Ford, Sally Berman, Time Winters, Bella Difiore and Maitland McConnell also star.

Scripted and directed by Victor Bornia and produced by Karly Young, Darkening Sky is scheduled for a 2010 release.

Trailer Here - http://www.shocktillyoudrop.com/news/topnews.php?id=12602

EXCL: Rider Strong Talks Darkening Sky
Source: Ryan Rotten, Managing Editor
November 10, 2009

In most films concerning extraterrestrial threats, the protagonists are always looking to the stars. The upcoming Darkening Sky, however, asks its hero to look inward.

As star Rider Strong explains, "These movies are usually about somebody investigating something because they want to prove aliens exist. With my character [Eric Rainer], he's literally writing his thesis on the fact that it's all myth. But he's forced into it and goes deeper and deeper against his will. It harks back to X-Files and I'm the ultimate skeptic. I feel most of these movies are about having to prove [UFOs exist], because this starts happening, he starts questioning his own sanity."




Darkening Sky rolled cameras at the end of the summer in and around Los Angeles with FX artist-cum-director Victor Bornia at the helm. Recently, Shock readers got a glimpse at the trailer which gave them a first look at Strong as Rainer, a role the Cabin Fever star admits is a welcome reprieve from some of the bloody horror fare he's been doing.

"I've been in this low budget horror world," he chuckles, "and I was saying no to every small horror film that came along. And then this came up and my manager was like, it's not a horror film, it's scary but it's not a straight slasher film or anything. I read it and thought it was clever and the character hit close to home in that he's a total skeptic and that's totally me."




In the film, Strong's Rainer find himself looking for his missing girlfriend; quickly, he's immersed in the world of shape-shifting extraterrestrials, implanted objects, organ harvesting and humans possessed by a malevolent alien presence, much to his disbelief.

"It's a very simple story, basically three days of this guy's life. It's about paranoia, conspiracies and not knowing who you can trust. I'm not running around shooting aliens. It's very low-key and it almost becomes a romance story between my character and this girl he meets."




He praises Bornia's script for its mystery angle. And when the actor and director first met to talk about the material, they found they were on the same page when it came to the film's tone.

"I love "Jacob's Ladder" and in one of the first meetings with Victor that was one of the first films out of his mouth. How much of it is happening inside this guy's head? How much is in reality? Who could you trust when you're going insane? That's what appealed to me, and the fact that it wasn't me running through the woods getting killed with an axe."




Ah, but Darkening Sky doesn't keep Strong totally blood-free.

"There was one night where I was holding chicken hearts in my hand - I don't want to give any more details away. That's about as gross as it has gotten for me on a film set. They didn't have makeup effect intestines, so they threw chicken hearts in my hand which was a little gross."




Bornia shot Darkening Sky on a 12-day schedule with co-stars Danielle Keaton, Danica Stewart, Charley Rossman and Daniel Kirschner. Rider says he was impressed with the director's use of not only the Red Camera but his ingenuity when it came to the effects-side of the production.

"Victor does visual effects and stuff so it was cool, like we shot in this abandoned barn and in the script it says it's a radio tower and he's like, ‘We're going to put the tower in later. Sh*t like that, he's just one of those guys who can do it all himself. In a way, even though this was a much lower budget than "Cabin Fever", it was a more gag-driven movie because there was so much he could do in post."



Darkening Sky is due sometime in 2010.
You can catch Rider in a brief role in Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever when it comes to DVD in February.

http://www.shocktillyoudrop.com/news/interviewsnews.php?id=12732

hey what happened?
posted by Vb
May 16, 2010


Yeah, what happened to that wicked-fast post-production pipeline that had us hitting benchmarks (First cut! Final cut! Color locked!) and expecting final delivery sometime a few months ago?

Nothing! We did it! Whew.






But what followed immediately after was a round of internal (re)evaluation and a critical round of “market testing” (limited screening/feedback gathering) that confirmed our suspicions about what needed work and clarified some other weak spots.

The result was some new material that needed to be shot (and cut, vfx’d, scored, etc.), plus some new creature effects (!).

Plus a second round of color grading, various dialog, sound and music tweaks, etc., etc. All important improvements…but also more time.







So instead of the expected “What? Already!?” surprise delivery, we’re wrapping up a more polished (and improved) finished piece that will have taken almost exactly 9 months to gestate. That’s right.

And like that other business, it’s been a bit of a roller coaster of highs and lows..but mostly highs, with an ever-increasing appreciation of all the people who participated and gave us such excellent work — without which, of course, this would have been a long, depressing turd polish.

As it is, we’ve been able to focus on making sure all that brilliance made it onto the screen, into the story, and all added up to something that is as engaging, fun and entertaining as it can possibly be.






More soon.

Sorry for the radio silence; it’s been quite frustrating to be in this phase of “very little to talk about” or worse, repeating essentially the same exact thing every time someone asks (“Yeah, well, we’re still working on finishing, you know, color, vfx…almost there!”)

— but now that we’re actually wrapping up we’ll have much more to say —
and the time to say it.

http://victorbornia.com/word/2010/05/hey-what-happened/

Thanks :D

Rider looks really good in that pic

hardy laurels
posted by Vb
September 14, 2010


This just in: Darkening Sky been selected to participate in the 2010 Hollywood Film Festival.

The festival runs Oct. 22-25 at the Hollywood Arclight. Yay! Our first festival, and it’s right here in town, at my favorite venue to see movies.

Specifics (date/time) coming soon. Hope to see you there!

http://victorbornia.com/word/2010/09/hardy-laurels/

Darkening Sky was released on November 1, 2011.

DVD is available at most retail stores and rental outlets.

http://www.amazon.com/Darkening-Sky-Rider-Strong/dp/B005HP6QI8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320392351&sr=8-1