Hide Article Text (OCR)
Norman Moses stars as Peter Null in ‘The Unearthing,’ a new film by rural Genoa City native Barry Poltermann.By Scott MilfredGazette Staff **Just when you thought it was safe to have a baby, along comes Barry Poltermann and his new horror film, “The Unearthing.”If you’re pregnant or have a weak stomach, read no further.If you’re a horror fan or otherwise curious, read on.Poltermann, 30, is a native of rural Genoa City. Since graduating from UW-Madison in 1987, he’s worked as a director of mostly television commercials and a few music videos in Milwaukee “The Unearthing” is Poltermann’s first feature film as aPoltermann director1 The movie was released last week on videotape to video stores around the country and abroad. A couple of hundred video stores in the state are expected to stock the film, blit a list of local stores was not available, Poltermann said.Almost half of The Unearthing” was shot in Walworth County at an abandoned farmhouse in Bloomfield Township during October 1992. The film is based loosely on a Filipino folk tale about vampires called Aswang, which feed on unborn babies. The blue-eyed Aswang have slimy, blood-red tongues the size of garden hoses that slither after-and into-young, pregnant women.That sounds gross, and Poltermann’s movie most definitely is. But “The Unearthing” also is outrageously absurd and campy, making the disgusting parts and violence hard to take seriously“We were laughing like crazy when we were shooting it,” Poltermann said recently, sitting in his Milwaukee office next to a full-size Ping-Pong table. “It’s creepy, gross, hilarious fUn.”The main protagonist of the movie, a young woman named Katrina, agrees to stay with the wealthy Null family at its Midwestern estate Katrina is to deliver her unwanted baby there in exchange for a chunk of money. Before long, the Nulls turn out to be wacky vampires and end up chasing Katrina with a chainsaw, ax and gardening hoe. Blood spills and splashes. Victims - including a Bloomfield Township police officer-are webbed in sticky cocoons.Don’t even ask what happens to the baby.The movie, appropriately, is rated R. But much of its action seems tamer than that because of Poltermann’s humorous approach and delightfully dry dialogue. Many scenes from the movie refer to classic horror films, making “The Unearthing” both a send-up and a celebration of the horror genre. Horror fans who watch it probably will laugh more than scream.Poltermann and his co-writer, co-producer and co-director Wrye Martin, made the film for about $150,000 over the last two years. A Las Vegas gambler Invested about $10,000 of that amount.“It was sources like that that we got money from, Poltermann said. Pretty much everybody else said they didn’t want to be involved in something this sick.”Poltermann, who heads his own film company in Milwaukee called Purple Onion Productions, launched hismotion picture career with a horror film because it’s easier to market and sell than serious drama, he said.And besides, Poltermann always hashad a soft spot for gore. As a farm boy growing up outside Genoa City in the early ’70s, he bought a Super-8 movie camera and filmed, among otherthings, scary scenes.“I remember doing little horror films with my brother and sister whereTurn to MOVIE/2C
Newspaper Details
Janesville Gazette
Janesville, Wisconsin, US
Sun, Jul 17, 1994
Page 17
Full Page
Clipped by
Uw -.
WI, USA 15 Oct 2024
Other Publications Near Janesville, Wisconsin
Janesville Badger State
Janesville Alliance Messenger
Janesville Morning Gazette
Janesville Daily Gazette
Weekly Gazette and Free Press
