PopHorror Let's Get Scared
“From the window of the bedroom where I grew up, I was able to see a gloomy isle that always fascinated me. It was Poveglia, I was attracted by its dark silhouette in the fog and I started to learn about its story: a story of suffering, plague, madness and death. An interest was born in me, then turning into the need, to tell a story dedicated to this isle, and to the entire Venetian culture.” — Italian director Emanuele Mengotti.
With the setting for the ultimate horror movie right in his own backyard, Mengotti got to work, ruminating, researching, and writing for over five years before he finally found all of the pieces he needed to create The Plague Doctor, a movie that combines the past and the present in a dark, twisted psychological thriller reminiscent of Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak (2015). The fact that the horror of this island’s history is all true only intensifies the terror caused by The Plague Doctor. Check out the teaser below:
The official synopsis:
Upon being called to care for an elder, a young doctor finds himself trapped in deranged visions. The echoes of a timeless love cause him to mix reality with the obscure legend of a haunted Venetian island and the ancient Italian mask of the plague doctor.The Plague Doctor is a visionary psycho thriller based on history and legends surrounding the mysterious island of Poveglia in Venice, Italy. The main character, a young doctor named Mattia, will find his story interlaced with the legend of the island, where in the seventeenth century thousands of people suffering from the Bubonic plague were abandoned by plague doctors to die.
The Campaign
Director Emanuele has been working tirelessly on The Plague Doctor since 2012. He began with a dark, esoteric script filled with mysterious and sometimes deadly characters and told the people around him about his ingenious idea. It wasn’t long before word spread, calling artists, including producer Sybilla Odenheimer, out of the woodwork to help. Although his passion has ignited a fire in those around him, Emanuele has a specific idea in his head about how he wants his movie to turn out. Unfortunately, his ideas require the right artists and the right budget. That’s why he has turned The Plague Doctor’s fate over to the public. The current Indiegogo campaign is in full effect and only has a month left.
Your donation not only will help this idea become a reality, but even a donation as low as $10 will get you some swag. Check out the Indiegogo campaign page to see what goodies you can get, including downloadable paper models of The Plague Doctor and his mask or having your name written on a plague doctor mask to be buried on the island of Poveglia, where your name will become part of the isle’s history. You could also get one of the ten masks used in the movie that were created by the same artisan who created the masks in Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut or even a private trip to the island itself!
So check out the campaign and movie pages, like the Facebook page, follow The Plague Doctor on Twitter (@Plague_Doctor) and show your support for this fantastic, beautiful, haunting film!
