A Midsummer’s Eve Bonfire
Via a press release sent out today we learn of a film in pre-production called RAGE – MIDSUMMER’S EVE. Slightly clunky title aside, the project – what we know about it – has a neat setting to jump off from.
Though plot details are hazy, some info can be gleaned from the statement released by director Tii Ricks:
“I am proud to work with professionals of this level to bring this story alive. Rage – Midsummer’s Eve is a film honoring all the great horror features I have seen in my childhood: Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Friday the 13th are all films that I have grown up with and which I secretly watched way before I was supposed to see them. This film is a tribute to all of those films. Originally a pagan holiday Midsummer’s Eve is a huge thing especially in the Nordic countries. To add together a Midsummer’s Festive with its White Nights when the sun never sets, the spells people do at that time of the year and a group of American, English and Finnish people spending their Midsummer’s Eve in one of the most mystical places in the world, the Arctic Circle in Lapland, to me makes a perfect setting for a horror film.”
So the sun won’t set during the flick, an interesting twist.
If you’re interested in what Midsummer’s Eve actually is in Finland, here’s a bit of knowledge for ya, via Wikipedia: In folk magic, midsummer was a very potent night and the time for many small rituals, mostly for young maidens seeking suitors and fertility. Will o wisps were believed to be seen at midsummer night, particularly to finders of the mythical “fern in bloom” and possessors of the “fern seed”, marking a treasure. An important feature of the midsummer in Finland is the white night and the midnight sun. Because of Finland’s location spanning around the Arctic Circle the nights near the midsummer day are short or non-existent.
Sounds like some WICKER MAN style horror could be set there, eh..? The international cast, consisting of actors from the US, England and Finland, will be announced in June. Production will commence in Helsinki, Finland in July.