Asylum Press Teams With Pretend for Real Studios for Rough House

Asylum Press trades in horror and the macabre, which makes their partnership with Pretend For Real Studios for a new property called Rough House very sensible. The partnership will lead to both a film and comic series, the latter of which is getting the preview treatment. To be fair, there's also a trailer for the film as well. Rough House is based on a story idea by Mike L. Taylor of Pretend For Real Studios and a feature length screenplay written by Elizabeth J. Musgrave. The project will be released as a digital first 4-issue comic book mini-series through Asylum Press and later in print as a graphic novel.

“I have a long history as a comic book artist and I am thrilled to see my movie concept brought to life on the comic book page,” says Taylor. “We put together a great teaser trailer, we have a killer script and we’re in the process of doing storyboards and concept art for the film.”

The story begins with an athletic young woman known only as “The Girl” who is kidnapped and thrown into a bizarre world of masked serial killers who torment their victims in brutal underground fights, backyard wrestling matches and deadly mixed martial arts bouts. She soon proves herself able to hold her own in death matches against colorful masked killers with names like “Bone Job,” “Baby Fat," and “Skeeter the Devil Boy.” Once inside the Rough House, “The Girl” uncovers dark secrets that possibly link her to a secret government program and to the fighters themselves. As “The Girl’s” psyche is worn down by brainwashing and psychotropic drugs, she becomes more and more of a stone cold killer herself. She must decide whether she will escape the Rough House or stay focused on her true target, the ringleader called “Big Daddy.”

“Mike gave me an outline and together we were able to create an interestingly warped world,” reveals Musgrave. “Each member of “Big Daddy’s” crew is a trained killer, but I tried to inject a tormented soul to each one.”

“We are excited to release this first glimpse into Rough House,” explains publisher Frank Forte. “It’s a dark, twisted tale that delves into what would happen if the victims in a slasher film were bad ass fighters themselves that could give the killers a run for their money…and show the viewer some brutal fight scenes in the process. We also delve into MK-Ultra, The CIA, Black Ops and government conspiracies, it's very twisted.”

Full press release and (rather mature) preview images below.

Asylum Press and Pretend For Real Studios Team Up To Develop Gritty Horror Franchise Rough House Trailer for upcoming film and comic book series Rough House now on YouTube September 26, 2013 (Los Angeles) Asylum Press and Pretend For Real Studios have released a trailer for their upcoming film and several comic book preview pages for their latest horror franchise entitled Rough House. Rough House is a gritty, action-packed horror movie and comic book series that examines innocent victims thrown into a caged fighting match with deranged serial killers where they fight to the death. Rough House combines the brutal ruckus of Fight Club, the twisted horror of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and drapes it under a cloak of a government black ops conspiracy. The story begins with an athletic young woman known only as “The Girl” who is kidnapped and thrown into a bizarre world of masked serial killers who torment their victims in brutal underground fights, backyard wrestling matches and deadly mixed martial arts bouts.  She soon proves herself able to hold her own in death matches against colorful masked killers with names like “Bone Job”, “Baby Fat, and “Skeeter the Devil Boy”. Once inside the Rough House ,“The Girl” uncovers dark secrets that possibly link her to a secret government program and to the fighters themselves. As “The Girl’s” psyche is worn down by brainwashing and psychotropic drugs, she becomes more and more of a stone cold killer herself. She must decide whether she will escape the Rough House or stay focused on her true target, the ringleader called “Big Daddy.” Rough House is based on a story idea and trailer created by Mike L. Taylor of Pretend For Real Studios and a feature length screenplay written by Elizabeth J. Musgrave (Farmhouse, Darwin’s Pâté). The project will be released as a digital first 4-issue comic book mini-series through Asylum Press and later in print as a graphic novel. “I have a long history as a comic book artist and I am thrilled to see my movie concept brought to life on the comic book page,” says creator Mike L. Taylor. “We put together a great teaser trailer, we have a killer script and we’re in the process of doing storyboards and concept art for the film.” “Mike gave me an outline and together we were able to create an interestingly warped world,” reveals writer Elizabeth J. Musgrave. “Each member of “Big Daddy’s” crew is a trained killer, but I tried to inject a tormented soul to each one.” “We are excited to release this first glimpse into Rough House,” explains publisher Frank Forte. “It’s a dark, twisted tale that delves into what would happen if the victims in a slasher film were bad ass fighters themselves that could give the killers a run for their money…and show the viewer some brutal fight scenes in the process.  We also delve into MK-Ultra, The CIA, Black Ops and government conspiracies, it's very twisted.” The Rough House trailer was directed by Mike L. Taylor based on a script by Elizabeth Fine and a story by Mike L. Taylor.  It features Ramona Cast (Rad Girls) as “The Girl”, David Yow (Scratch Acid, The Jesus Lizard) as “Big Daddy”, Devyn Ashley as “Baby Fat”, Noshir Dalal as “Bone Job”, Maria Kanellis (WWE DIVA, Playboy) as “Trixxi”, Mike Bray as “Skeeter” and Carlos Cespedes as “Trixxi’s victim”, Rob Czar and Ganesh Hennings as “Dead Heads”,  Nick Seone  as “ear donor” and Brandon Riley, Matt Fry, Joel Peterson, Brian Testa, Mike L. Taylor, Ganesh Hennings  as “Baby Fat’s fans”, Brandon Riley was co-producer, Mike Spatola was make-up FX Supervisor, Anton David was stylist, music by Fantasizer, sound design by Micah Johnson, Matte Paintings by Brandon Riley. Rough House the comic book will be available digitally on iPad, iPhone, Android, Kindle, Mac and PC via the following apps: Comixology, ComicsPlus, Graphicly, My Digital Comics, iBooks, DriveThruComics, and AVE Comics. Rough House Trailer Link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZjxBOngSEs&feature=youtu.be Rough House Comic Preview Link http://www.asylumpress.com/titles/rough-house/ ABOUT ASYLUM PRESS: Asylum Press is a publishing company that produces premium comic books and graphic novels within the horror, science fiction, and action genres. Some of Asylum Press’ titles include Fearless Dawn, Warlash, Zombie Terrors, Undead Evil, EEEK!,Chopper and Asylum of Horrors. The books feature original, character-driven stories and cinematic artwork by top creators and newly discovered talent that will appeal to not only comic book fans, but also mainstream fiction readers who don't normally buy comics. Asylum Press delivers its books via a bold new business model that focuses on digital publishing and new distribution outlets in both the American and international markets. Asylum Press is distributed by Diamond Comics Distributors, SCB Distributors, Ingram, and Baker & Taylor.  Distribution in the United Kingdom is handled by Turnaround Distribution. ABOUT PRETEND FOR REAL STUDIOS: Pretend For Real Studios is a digital effects and animation studio located in Burbank, CA. The studio is owned by Mike L. Taylor, a television director and DP whose credits include The Bachelor and Rock Of Love. Pretend For Real Studios have created music videos for Twiztid, Girls And Corpses magazine, and the Moonshine Bandits with over a million views combined.