John Fallon Official Blog

Amy Wickenheiser as Natasha in The Red Hours.

Updated! The screening will take place on Sunday May 20th at the Roxy in London! I was sure I was done giving yall DEADEN and THE RED HOURS Festival news but like the great Sean Connery said “never say never again”. Both flicks will be screening at a small Fest in the UK (one that celebrates Canadian genre films no less) called SHIVERS, Check out their site here. The site is still in its infancy BTW, but expect more meat as days go by. THE RED HOURS (which I wrote, produced and directed) is about a dude (named Mark, played by Deke Richards) with women issues and DEADEN (which I wrote, produced and starred in) is about a dude named Rane (played by this jerk) who gets fucked over and then gets a lot of guns, snorts a lot of cocaine and does his own brand of fucking. THE RED HOURS was co produced and shot by Donny Broussard. DEADEN was produced edited and directed by Christian Viel.

Rane (me) feeling blue in Deaden.

Looking back at 2011, it was a pretty good year for me. First and foremost, I got my health back and returned to form physically and psychologically. Took the whole of 2010 to wing that for 2011, so last year was like a whole new world for me. I was back from hell. I saw the light again. It was a long road.  I also spent a fuckload of time at the Bell Center with friends and mostly my brother Pat to see Habs hockey games. Win or lose, it’s always a blast! I can’t get enough! It’s like a second home for me. And I love sharing that with my bro. I also simplified things, in terms of my social life, by rule of thumb I attract drama but life’s too short for bullshit, so I got real good at shutting doors and walking away. Fuck that. The site I run (Arrow in the Head) is doing fine and is being discovered by the new generation; so my hard work is paying off. Love the fans positive energy too and at this point, the haters are good for a laugh.

Moreover, I got my mojo back creatively. Be it acting, writing etc. I have the spark again, which I had lost in 2010. Any negatives? Not really. I got a back injury playing hockey at the end of the year, Doctors telling me the worse when it wasn’t, it took me two weeks to recuperate, it was a pain in the ass, but whatever. There was some other shit, but don’t want to share. Nothing I couldn’t handle. Sometimes you have to look at what you have and not what you don’t have, and I try to that more. I have great friends, many passions, I have the opportunity to live many lives in my life, to see the world, have many new experiences and although painstaking slow at times, my efforts bring results…sooner or later.  For better and for worse, I am doing it all “my way”, personally and professionally. Not always the easiest path to chose but I like it better that way. At least I succeed or fail on my own terms. I also have trouble with authority, organizations, people telling me what I can or cannot do, so by being THE authority: problem fucking solved. So really man, I got nothing to complain about! So here are the top 10 things I cherished the most in 2011. And here’s to an even better 2012! Am feeling confidant and positive. Charge!

Meeting and having lunch with Arnold Schwarzenegger in New Mexico! I have no pics with the guy, so here's New Mexico!

FINALLY meeting one of my idols: Guy Lafleur!

A drama free Comic Con (rare for me)! Got to hang with some of my best buds: Berge, Donny and Eric Red. And we even had our own JoBlo.com party which Jon Favreau DJed! Was a great moment for Berge and I.

Having my Australian homie Bryant come down to MTL twice to live Habs hockey life with me! Always great to have him around!

Spending time in France with my bud David Cholewa and doing Dead Shadows with the dude!

Seeing Lucian Bute fight live!

Camping and doing lots of nature inclined type of shit.

Doing lots of winter and water sports! (No, not that kind)

Hanging with my bud Gonzalo in Paris!

Remember that script TRANCE that I wrote a bazillion years ago and that got made into a movie starring Dominique Swain and Jeremy London? Well am still waiting for the movie to come out and more importantly… am still waiting TO SEE THE DAMN THING! Now I heard (via online surfing)  that the flick was released in 2010 on VOD through Times Warner; but by the time I got there it was not available anymore. Anyways I found a review of it on the IMDb (aka haven for the bottom of the barrel of the Net world) from some dude.

Hard for me to take his review seriously when all he does is nitpick on trivial shit (Complaining about short skirts…really? Wish I had this guy’s problems), specially when you take into account the type of movie it is. All I wanna know is if it’s a fun, clipped paced, gory and sex filled ride (which is what I wrote… this wasn’t meant to be Remains of the Day). But hey, its something new and I’ll take it. Read his so called review below. PS: I have no idea who owns the movie now but if you’re reading this and have the rights to it, send a screener my way! I WROTE IT! I think I deserve to see the thing! And if you don’t own it and have a copy, send it my way! It would be much appreciated. I see TRANCE as unfinished business… a monkey on my back,  I just wanna see it and put a cork in it and move on! I Like my biz to be FINITO! It really SUCKS that this had to be my first 2012 blog post…sigh….

IMDb User review:

Save your money for something far better such as Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Band or anything by Ulli Lommel.  It’s no spoiler at all to say that the entire story boils down to women taking gory sanguinous revenge against all males because there is a dearth of feminist-inspired Halloween costumes for sale.

Dominique Swain, whom I like very much, is completely wasted in this as the mysterious promoter who drives around town enticing boys & girls to attend her Halloween party & to whom she passes out the drug that will turn some into killing machines. Swain must have had nothing to do on the afternoon this was filmed, or maybe she owed the screenwriter a favor because he helped her move or something like that. Otherwise there was no reason to cast her in a role that could have been more than adequately filled by a plastic blow-up doll & a voice-over.

Same for the rest–with the possible exception of Brea Grant, who plays a character that’s already psycho at the best of times, but really gets cooking when under the influence (centering the movie around her character might have redeemed it a teensy tiny bit).

Why does any of this happen? No clue.
Why do the zombified girls, given super-strength & resistance to injury, never attack one-another, not even girls who aren’t high? No idea.
How does one character’s brother, a cop, find out where the party/rave is actually located … you’re kidding, right?

Because the guy who lent the filmmakers the camera needed it back that evening they had to shoot on an overcast afternoon (actually the entire film looks as though it was shot on someone’s lunch-break), so the film’s very, very dark, & flat looking. It’s hard to follow the action–but that’s ultimately okay ’cause there turns out to be no action to follow.

Oh, the feminist Halloween costumes…?
Early on the the three sort of main characters (the inept screenplay doesn’t bother to create an authentic protagonist) are shopping for Halloween costumes. One, played by Madeline Zima, complains that the sexy costumes demean women. But then her very, very blonde friend replies that she’s glad they have skimpy costumes ’cause the guys’ costumes would leave her sweating like a pig under all that plastic.

They leave the store & it’s apparent that Zima’s character is wearing short shorts. She’s also selected one of the skimpier costumes. A point in favor of blondie? A modicum of subtlety?

Naw … Zima’s Jessica wore shorts because that’s what she was wearing when she showed up to make the film. All three got skimpy costumes because they’re less expensive than one that would have been truer to character & the credit card the producer got from his dad was already maxed.

,eant to be Remains of the Day)  but hey, its something new and I’ll take it. Read his so called review below.  PS: I have no idea who owns the film now but if you’re reading this and have the rights to it, send a screener my way brother! I WROTE IT! I think I deserve to see the fucking thing! Gracias! And if you don’t own the film but have a copy of it, send my way!

IMDb User review:

Save your money for something far better such as Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Band or anything by Ulli Lommel. It’s no spoiler at all to say that the entire story boils down to women taking gory sanguinous revenge against all males because there is a dearth of feminist-inspired Halloween costumes for sale.Dominique Swain, whom I like very much, is completely wasted in this as the mysterious promoter who drives around town enticing boys & girls to attend her Halloween party & to whom she passes out the drug that will turn some into killing machines. Swain must have had nothing to do on the afternoon this was filmed, or maybe she owed the screenwriter a favor because he helped her move or something like that. Otherwise there was no reason to cast her in a role that could have been more than adequately filled by a plastic blow-up doll & a voice-over.

Same for the rest–with the possible exception of Brea Grant, who plays a character that’s already psycho at the best of times, but really gets cooking when under the influence (centering the movie around her character might have redeemed it a teensy tiny bit).

Why does any of this happen? No clue.
Why do the zombified girls, given super-strength & resistance to injury, never attack one-another, not even girls who aren’t high? No idea.
How does one character’s brother, a cop, find out where the party/rave is actually located … you’re kidding, right?

Because the guy who lent the filmmakers the camera needed it back that evening they had to shoot on an overcast afternoon (actually the entire film looks as though it was shot on someone’s lunch-break), so the film’s very, very dark, & flat looking. It’s hard to follow the action–but that’s ultimately okay ’cause there turns out to be no action to follow.

Oh, the feminist Halloween costumes…?
Early on the the three sort of main characters (the inept screenplay doesn’t bother to create an authentic protagonist) are shopping for Halloween costumes. One, played by Madeline Zima, complains that the sexy costumes demean women. But then her very, very blonde friend replies that she’s glad they have skimpy costumes ’cause the guys’ costumes would leave her sweating like a pig under all that plastic.

They leave the store & it’s apparent that Zima’s character is wearing short shorts. She’s also selected one of the skimpier costumes. A point in favor of blondie? A modicum of subtlety?

Naw … Zima’s Jessica wore shorts because that’s what she was wearing when she showed up to make the film. All three got skimpy costumes because they’re less expensive than one that would have been truer to character & the credit card the producer got from his dad was already maxed.

I was recently interviewed at cinema-crazed.com, where I talk about Dead Shadows, the action genre and my future projects. Read an excerpt below and read the whole thing HERE.

Besides “Dead Shadows,” do you have any new projects in the horizon?

Yes. Am finishing up an action script that I’m also slated to act in for a US production company. We should be shooting in February in LA. Am also slated to act in a Spanish slasher next year, contract hasn’t be signed yet, but it looks good. Donny Broussard (who shot and co produced The Red Hours)and I are teaming up to get my action script Trigger off the ground. I will star in it and direct it. Finally, am working that hockey script and a sci-fi/action flick that I will also direct in time.

Where can fans of yours look for you next?

Well Dead Shadows will be the first one out the hatch, its due to hit the Festival circuit sometime next year. So that will be the next time you’ll see my sorry ass  on-screen.

Hey yall! I decided to give you an account of my experience acting in the French Indie horror/sci fi flick DEAD SHADOWS. Why? Why the *ck not! So, when I was first given the script; I was told that my character was pretty much the Riddick of the piece, cool and collected and all badass. I saw the badass but the more I read the script, the more his lines and his actions didn’t scream cool and collected to me. I saw on edge and mucho volatile. Somebody much more psychologically unstable than good old Riddick. Moreover when I did try to do it Riddick style, I found the character boring. I talked about it with producer/director David Cholewa and he gave me the green light to do my thing. So I made my choices; the director was happy with them, all good.  Looking back at my work on the film, I am content with most of what I did.

Physically, I was initially supposed to be jacked up; so I trained hard for a month and a half before the shoot; focusing on gaining mass. But once in Paris, getting access to a Gym for the duration of the shoot proved to be a problem (they wanted us to get a year membership…EASY MAN!); so that got scrapped. Knowing my body type (I lose weight fast but gain it faster); I was very concerned of getting fat by the time it was time to shoot. So I figured; if I’m not gonna be huge for the movie, I’ll be lean, knowing that the camera adds 10 pounds to a frame, so I should get the right look anyways. So I starved myself, living off bread and dry sausages for like a month. I’d rarely have a real meal; I’d just nibble throughout the day to keep the metabolism going. As for training, I’d just do push ups, sit ups and would walk a lot. My weight went down to 180 pounds, the thinnest I’ve been since my teens. I’m usually 190 pounds, and 200 pounds when fully jacked (I’m 6 Feet tall BTW). I personally think the starving paid off, am happy with my look in the flick. You bet your ass I went buck nuts on pizza and beers when I got home though…lol!

Night shoot (aka early morning shoot): breaking down the scene in my melon as the crew sets up...

Performance wise; I was very comfortable with the action stuff i.e. my element, so that wasn’t a problem. To be honest, it’s such a blast! It always makes me feel like a kid. In this case; walking down a cloud smoked hallway, a shotgun in hand, blowing away beasties… how can you top that?! It’s f*cking fun! Moreover, I had a really good “acting driven” scene with the lead kid, which to me felt organic. I improvised a lot during that bit, I always like to improvise, go where the moment takes me in a scene (much to the dismay of editors), hence doing different things in every take. I was thrilled with that bit and can’t wait to see how it comes out. On the flip side, one scene that left me “hesitant” was a verbal confrontation I had with a group of peeps. As I rehearsed the scene solo in my apartment, I was making my own choices. But once I got on set, the blocking of the scene totally went against with what I had set out to do in my head; basically, I couldn’t get close enough to the people I was having a confrontation with.

So I felt off during that scene, my body wanted to move forward, but due to the blocking, I couldn’t and that kind of messed with my head. Acting, much like any other art form is an ever learning process. I have been on many shoots before, and every time I do a project, I learn something new. What did I learn here? SPEAK UP! As much as the DOP has to be comfortable in his job, the makeup girl in hers, the director in his, so does the actor. In this case I should have spoken up about how the blocking was f*cking with me, putting a wall up that I couldn’t get around within such a limited time frame. But I didn’t. I thought hey, we don’t have much time, this is what they want to do, I’ll manage, but take after take, I felt wrong about that one scene. With that, I saw some of the footage recently; and it came out great! Just goes to show that sometimes it feels off in your mind, but the camera loves it anyways. Just how it is. Any frustrations? Some. 1- My damn shotgun kept randomly jamming on me. Hard to look cool in an action scene when you’re struggling to cock your piece like an asshole in between gun fire.

Waiting for the camera to roll...

And 2- Most of my scenes were shot last, i.e at the end of the night. So we’d go in overtime and of course, with a tired crew who just wants to go home, some of my shit got shaved down or snipped out so we could wrap up ASAP. Was bummed about that, some cool stuff I couldn’t wait to do was adios bitches! But hey, it’s the nature of the beast, especially with Independent flicks. You have to do what you have to do to get your coverage and make your day. If you have to take shortcuts to do so, you do it. Just sucks that it kept happening to my sorry ass! C’est la vie!

In closing, DEAD SHADOWS was a positive experience for me. Got to tackle a fun role, was surrounded by good people (for the most part), got to know Paris, made some new friends and enjoyed my time there. Another thing that Dead Shadows did for me was re-ignite me, flare up my passion for what I do again. As some of you may know, I got sick at the end of 2009 and it basically took the bulk of 2010 to recuperate physically and mentally. 2011 was kind of my “return” on a psychological level that is. Am happy that Dead Shadows was part of it. PEACE!

I guess it’s DEAD SHADOWS day today! I showed ya some new pics HERE and now I just got interviewed by fellow Canucks at the “Film Reviews From the Basement!” site. They grilled me about DEAD SHADOWS. See an excerpt below and read the whole thing HERE!

Describe your character in this film?

What part does he play in the story?  My character’s name is John (yeah am stretching with this part…lol), he’s a loner type, a guy that’s seen a lot of messed up stuff in his life, and he is pretty much a misanthrope when we meet him in the movie. He’s very good at one thing though; kicking ass. So once hell on earth goes down; he finds himself in his element and is almost happy about it; he finally has a positive purpose. That’s the way I played it anyways. So he winds up taking the young hero of the story (Chris, played by Fabian Wolfrom) under his wing and becomes a big brother/father figure to him.

Am back from Paris, France (although I’m kind of still there… am in an odd place these days…oh well…), having wrapped David Cholewa’s DEAD SHADOWS. How was the experience? Well that’s another, longer story that will be put out in a lengthy Diary Entry that I wrote down while I was down there. But on the whole, I had a blast! For now, some new pics from the just surfaced on its FACEBOOK PAGE.  See two of them within this blog entry, see more HERE!

Dead Shadows is about: A young man, named Chris (Wolfrom), whose parents were brutally killed 11 years ago, on the same day that Halley’s comet could be seen from earth. Tonight, a new comet is appearing and everyone in his building are getting ready for a party to celebrate the event. There’s even an apocalypse theory going around. As the night falls, Chris discovers that peop…le are starting to act strange – and it seems to somehow be connected to the comet. They are becoming disoriented and violent and it doesn’t take long before they begin to mutate into something far beyond this world. In a fight for survival, Chris tries to escape from his building with the help of a gun taunting tenant named John (Fallon) – but will they make it out alive?

The film enters Post Production soon!

David Cholewa’s Dead Shadows, a film I am presently acting in Paris, France, just got some love in the prestigious French genre mag, check it out above.

Dead Shadows is about: A young man, named Chris (Wolfrom), whose parents were brutally killed 11 years ago, on the same day that Halley’s comet could be seen from earth. Tonight, a new comet is appearing and everyone in his building are getting ready for a party to celebrate the event. There’s even an apocalypse theory going around. As the night falls, Chris discovers that peop…le are starting to act strange – and it seems to somehow be connected to the comet. They are becoming disoriented and violent and it doesn’t take long before they begin to mutate into something far beyond this world. In a fight for survival, Chris tries to escape from his building with the help of a gun taunting tenant named John (Fallon) – but will they make it out alive?

On Dead Shadow set.

With Producer/Director David Cholewa and Producer Julien Dunand on the Dead Shadows set. Great men!

Today is the last day of pre-prod on DEAD SHADOWS (French film I’m acting in and pitching in as to the action scenes) so I figured I’d punch in and write some shit down. Monday the battle begins as we enter production. How do I feel? Confident. There’s a solid team behind this flick, both in front of the camera and behind the scenes and it has all the ingredients to be a stand out film, starting with a sturdy screenplay as its base, sweet practical effects, a great visual effect house backing it up and a production/creative team who are willing and able to fight.

How has Paris been to me? Pretty good. Although I’ve been to Cannes countless times in the past; I had never been to Paris; so far the bad rap I heard from some peeps is undeserved from my point of view. People have been nice, haven’t gotten in a fight and bar employees are also pretty money (they were dicks in Cannes though, should be spat). Am feeling very comfortable here, somewhat at home. Am used to it now. Haven’t had time to play tourist much (did see The Louvre and drive by the Eiffel Tower like everyday). NOTE: They drive like New Yorkers down here…yowzer!

Some of the Dead Shadow crew clocking a location.

My days have been long, in the sense that since I got here, I’ve been hustling all day and then coming back to my pad (in Bastille) to work the site and work a script I have been commissioned to write. Haven’t been sleeping much. Physically, the training kind of slowed down here for obvious reasons – no time. I lost some weight which I am not happy about (wanted to be bigger for the role), and if I go by past productions, I will lose some more as we run on adrenaline throughout the shoot. What can you do. I have lots of night shoots too… makeup girls don’t fail me now!

In terms of my role, I am prepared, I know my lines, got my beard in place (itchy), am handling the French dialogue well (got a couple of tongue twisting bits though), I know my key fight choreography (which I designed and am handling on set), so I am ready. Am also bringing boxing gloves and focus pads on set to loosen in between takes and got the Conan score (Crom!) and some Metallica on my IPod to keep me in the “proper” mood. Yeah my character is no Florist. All good. Jumping into a movie is always exciting, nerve wracking to some, but not for me. It’s just exciting. Yes, obstacles will be tossed our way, left, right and center, but I think that the Dead Shadows team is ready for them.  So yup, Monday is Judgment day, lets make a fucking movie! A L’ATTAQUE!

Fight rehearsal

PS: I know the Habs are starting their Season soon. Tried to watch the pre season games online…no dice! Grrr.

PPS: They have ice rinks here. Although ice skating is not considered masculine here, just like In Spain… cracks me up! Lets toss ya on the ice with a hockey stick, I’ll check ya, tell me its not masculine as you kiss the boards. Must get on skates and keep my skills up. Once back home, it’s back on the ice I go!

PPPS: Am almost out of Conan comic books to read… must find more, am addicted…

PPPPS: I can think of worse ways to spend my days than slicing and gunning down mutants. Sometimes I love my life; this is one of them times. Will try to keep yall in the loop as we clock forward. Peace out!

Me and the beard!

One last thing…

GO HABS GO!

I was recently interviewed by the Movie Haven blogwhere I talked about the site, past projects, films, and future projects (like Dead Shadows). Read an excerpt from the interview below and dive into the whole she-bang HERE

Looking back to your start in Film and Acting School, does it ever surprise you that you made a name for yourself running a horror website?

Not sure surprise would be the term; but yeah that wasn’t part of the master plan. You have to understand that since I was a kid; I knew what I wanted to do; act in and make films. I never changed my tune; that was IT! So I went to film school, I then went to acting school and after that I was working as a script doctor for local production companies while doing the audition rounds in my home town of Montreal, Canada.  Then the site came at me out of left field; I started it as a goof and next thing you know, it got popular and I got known for it.

On that, to this day I don’t consider myself to be a journalist or a critic; just some asshole that knows how to write and that shares his opinion on his website with whoever reads it… that’s it!  Over the course of 10 years I’ve had a love/hate relationship with Arrow in the Head; grateful that it brought so much to my life, but yet resentful that it took me off course as to my “game plan”. I’ve had a lot of “What if AITH didn’t happen, where would I be today?” moments in the past; but now, after a long tug of war with it, I’ve finally made peace with it. This is where I am, this is what I got, nobody but myself is stopping me from what I want next, onward and forward!