What did you do for your 40th birthday? Chris LaMartina, director of WNUF Halloween Special, celebrated turning 40 by making a horror-comedy called Spirit Tasting. The movie deals with mid-life anxieties, but the real story is how it was made.
Most movies take months to shoot. LaMartina filmed this one in four days on a $40,000 budget. He was inspired by low-budget legend Roger Corman, who famously shot classics like The Little Shop of Horrors in less than a week. LaMartina wanted to prove he could still pull off that kind of fast, DIY filmmaking.
Filming a movie in 96 hours took a dedicated crew. LaMartina directed, edited, and co-wrote the script with Michael Varrati. The production team also included Melissa LaMartina, Ted Geoghegan, and Executive Producer Ryan Graveface.
The cast features Sean Doherty, Melissa LaMartina, Trevor Wilhelms, Matt Baughman, Cate Paris, Tatiana Nya Ford, and Matt Lake as a strange sommelier. Horror fans will also spot cameos from authors Grady Hendrix and Clay McLeod Chapman, cult icon Peaches Christ, and comedian Henry Zebrowski. SPIRIT TASTING shows you can make a movie with just a sharp idea, a deadline, and a group of friends.
You can catch the film on an upcoming US roadshow tour from November through January, featuring cast and crew Q&As. Check the full list of dates and theater locations at the bottom of the announcement.
Whiskey Grants Wishes in SPIRIT TASTING, from Terror Vision Original Productions and Chris LaMartina (creator of WNUF Halloween Special)It’s almost midnight on New Year’s Eve...and everything you want is on the table.A post-punk riff on The Monkey’s Paw, Chris LaMartina's SPIRIT TASTING follows three former punks (Sean Doherty, Melissa LaMartina, and Trevor Wilhelms) as they toast their late bandmate at a distillery on New Year’s Eve. When a strange sommelier (Matt Lake) invites them to a top-shelf tasting, they discover there’s only one catch: Every bottle requires a “wish.”But as each of their desires twist into doom, these old friends discover that every pour at the Red Bat Distillery comes at a deadly price.Director Chris LaMartina appeared last Friday, October 23rd, on The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs to screen his modern seasonal classic WNUF Halloween Special, and first noted there that his new film would be out before the end of the year. SPIRIT TASTING was formally announced this morning at Variety.Shot in just four days for $40K to celebrate his 40th birthday, LaMartina uses this sobering horror/comedy about life at its midpoint to wrestle with the “what ifs” of the past and the aspirations of the future...You know, the stuff every middle-aged adult has pondered at some point.And why four days, you ask? Inspired by romantic tales of B-movie maverick Roger Corman shooting features like The Little Shop of Horrors and The Terror in less than a week, LaMartina had always wanted to attempt the same feat. With the big 4-0 approaching, and the days of throwing blood around the backyard rapidly disappearing into the rearview, he decided it was time to “get the band back together” for one helluva bloody birthday.Celebrating its seasonal setting, SPIRIT TASTING will screen as a roadshow across America from November through early January with the filmmaker and select cast appearing at all screenings for introductions and Q&A’s. Coinciding with the tour, the film pours onto Blu-Ray with top-shelf bonus features, including a feature-length making-of documentary.Directed and edited by Chris LaMartina with a script by LaMartina and Michael Varrati, SPIRIT TASTING stars Sean Doherty, Matt Lake, Melissa LaMartina, Trevor Wilhelms, Matt Baughman, Cate Paris, and Tatiana Nya Ford with cameos from Grady Hendrix, Clay McLeod Chapman, Peaches Christ, and Henry Zebrowski. It is produced by Melissa LaMartina, Chris LaMartina, Michael Varrati, and Ted Geoghegan, and Executive Produced by Ryan Graveface.SPIRIT TASTING's roadshow dates and locations are as follows:Thursday, November 12th - BALTIMORE, MD (The Senator Theatre)Friday, November 20th - CHICAGO, IL (The Music Box)Saturday, November 21st - MINNEAPOLIS, MN (The Heights)Saturday, December 5th - LOS ANGELES, CA (Los Feliz 3)Saturday, December 26th - PHILADELPHIA, PA (PhilaMOCA)Sunday, December 27th - RED BANK, NJ (Base Center Cinema)Monday, December 28th - BROOKLYN, NY (The Twisted Spine)Tuesday, December 29th - SEYMOUR, CT (Strand Theater)Wednesday, December30th - PROVIDENCE, RI (AS220)Thursday, December 31st - SALEM, MA (Cinema Salem)Friday, January 1st - CATSKILL, NY (Community Theater)Saturday, January 2nd - WIND GAP, PA (The Gap Theatre)Saturday, January 6th - ASHBURN, VA (Alamo Drafthouse One Loudoun)