Archstone Distribution (Machete, The Human Centipede) has partnered with Alliance Entertainment (The Criterion Collection) to release the horror-fantasy film Mermaid Down in Redbox starting October 29th, followed by a Blu-ray and DVD release in January 2020.
In the film, a mermaid is ripped from the Pacific, her tail is hacked off with an axe, and she’s thrown into a mental institution where no one believes she’s a mermaid. This is only the beginning of this mermaid’s plight as she bonds with a group of other women in peril and fights for her life in this brutal, dark fairy-tale coming out just in time for Halloween.
Written and directed by Jeffrey Grellman, Mermaid Down is based on an award-winning script by Grellman. The film stars Alexandra Bokova, Drew Moore, Eryn Rea, Megan Therese Rippey, and Phillip Andre Botello.
The press release lets us know that the film was made for a mere $85K, yet manages to provide big budget spectacle. A swimming pool was turned into a flooded basement, and a miniature scale model was shot inside a cheap studio apartment to create the illusion of a sinking boat. All the effects were practical — using on-set tricks to create gunfire because they couldn’t afford pyrotechnics — and the mermaid tail was built out of silicone and internal animatronics.
"The strikingly original independent film takes mermaids past Splash and The Little Mermaid to their more violent origins, like The Odyssey, delivering an imaginative, wild ride within the low-budget horror genre."
The film was sold internationally at Cannes and premiered at the Grove in Los Angeles.
Mermaid Down is packed with powerful visuals, emotional resonance, and a sweeping score enhanced by the percussion of legendary drummer, Danny Carrey (Tool).
Check out the trailer below!
