January 24, 2008 Whenever I think of Brazilian horror I think of the great "Coffin Joe." But the country's horror industry is apparently in full swing with other projects.

Lockheart Filmes is set to begin principal photography of the Brazilian horror-fantasy feature 'Beyond the Grave' on February 14. Writer/director Davi de Oliveira Pinheiro (who’s also producing with Isidoro B. Guggiana) and crew are ready to shoot in the city of Porto Alegre.

"Beyond the Grave" (aka "Porto Dos Mortos") stars Rafael Tombini as the vengeful cop Lockheart who pursues Adam, a possessed serial killer in the wastelands of a dystopic Brazil. Among the highways of a violent world populated by the living dead, the unstoppable policeman will face his demoniac nemesis.

“'Beyond the Grave' is very close to an art-house horror film. There is a very personal and mythological universe behind this”, says director Davi de Oliveira Pinheiro. “This is not only a Brazilian take on the zombie genre, this is shaping into something really unexpected, even to us”. The Brazilian filmmaker claims influence from the works of Sergio Leone, François Truffaut, William Friedkin, George A. Romero, Richard Stanley, Stephen King and H.P. Lovecraft, among others. “The script is a mix of everything I love about cinema and fantasy”, explains Davi. “It's a movie made with passion, heart and, a la Alejandro Jodorowsky, balls”.

The genesis of the project came from early 2005 when Davi started its development. “Since then the film has grown in scale and ambition in order to create a much more challenging experience into the horror genre”, says producer Isidoro B. Guggiana. On June 2007, the first teaser trailer was released on the Internet and the crew started the pre-production. “We assembled an enthusiastic and very talented crew in a place where genre cinema almost does not exist, says Isidoro. “The best of both worlds is at hand: a strong screenplay and creative artists that can bring those sights, sounds and words to life”. Among the talents behind the production is the artist/technician André Kapel (“Embodiment of Evil”), head of the makeup and FX department.

Check out storyboards from the film below:











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