First bit o' casting news for Canadian vampire film 'The Eternal'.

It has only been a few days since we announced local boy Justin McConnell and the folks at Unstable Ground were preparing the follow up to their short film Ending the Eternal which would be aptly titled The Eternal. A quick recap of the film in question.

Samuel Gradius has lived too long. In his 500 years on earth he has seen empires rise and fall, changed the course of history with his bare hands and experienced countless revolutions first hand. Samuel Gradius is a vampire, perhaps the only vampire, and he’s had enough. He wants to die.

No longer content with the idea of simple suicide, he makes the decision to go out in the ways of old. He wants a warrior’s death. THE ETERNAL follows Samuel on the pursuit of his own personal oblivion, he hopes, at the hands of someone worthy.

So now we can add a couple names to the cast list. Adam Wilson will play the lead role of Samuel and joining him will be James Lorinz of Frankenhooker and Street Trash fame. Ah, Frankenhooker. That one DVD that was always kicking around but I never managed to grab and watch for fear it would turn me on to dead hookers. I grew up in Port Coquitlam, B.C. We've got a bad history with dead hookers. Google it.

Full press release after the jump.

Canadian producers Unstable Ground are hard at work packaging and developing THE ETERNAL, and have some new exciting news. The first cast member has agreed to join lead Adam Wilson in this foray into madness and bloodletting. Highly-talented character actor JAMES LORINZ (from the cult-hits FRANKENHOOKER and STREET TRASH) will play a major role in the film. This film will mark Lorinz’s return to the genre, his first horror-related film since the early 90s. “Lorinz was my first choice for the character, it was tailored for him”, stated director Justin McConnell, “his performance in Frankenhooker is so acclaimed for a reason.”

Additionally, the FX crews have been lined up for the film. Joining art director/co-producer Kevin Hutchinson (Dawn of the Dead remake, Bottom Feeder) will be Toronto FX-veteran Matthew Dewilde (Pontypool, Stir of Echoes 2, Heartstopper). Geoff Hill (Land of the Dead, Diary of the Dead) will be spearheading the pyro and practical FX. World-renowned stunt coordinator Plato Fountidakis (Chronicles of Riddick, Splice, Silent Hill) has also joined the team. Rounding everything out nicely will be an original score by Rob Kleiner (of the well-loved underground band Tub Ring) and Jasan Stepp (Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist, and the band Dog Fashion Disco). More cast and crew details will arrive as they become available.

The short film prequel, ENDING THE ETERNAL, has just been made the official selection of two more film festivals: TORONTO AFTER DARK FILM FESTIVAL and DEAD CHANNELS (San Francisco). More details to follow later.