resurrection

Cinema Lexzikon: The resurrection of an indie film group

The Cinema Lexzikon story was vigorously moved forward
through the production of two seminal films: ROOM 13: THE
TERRORIST PROJECT, and SOULRIPPERZ. In early 2000, the
cost of making films and William Lee's recovery from a major
illness, had placed major production into a hiatus.

Finally, in 2003, William Lee again stepped into the lead role
of producer, writer, director and actor.

Room 13 was William Lee's first foray into digital video film
production. "I wanted nothing to do with digital. I was
educated and trained as a "real" filmmaker. The idea of
shooting a feature on video was totally against anything I had
ever done. So for me ROOM 13 was an incredible leap of
faith. In retrospect, had I not done ROOM 13, I would not be
doing this interview, having this success, or planning to
shoot another film on digital video. Technology has made this
dyed in the wool celluloid traditionalist a convert. In fact, I'd
venture to say, I may never shoot another reel of celluloid
again. Not because celluloid is vanishing from mass
production, but because the ease and cost effectiveness of
24p digital video makes it a no-brainer. A few years ago, i
would have heavily criticized any filmmaker shooting on
video. Now it's the exact opposite: any indie filmmaker
shooting film may need serious psychological evaluation."

SOULRIPPERZ

Another Scary Movie? Not Quite Horror is making a comeback!

That isn’t a film director talking but a direct quote from a recent article in Wall Street Journal. This doesn’t surprise
seasoned directors. “Horror has always been a staple,” says William Lee, president of Cinema Lexzikon. “Audiences
like a thrill and a chill going down their spine. That’s not just me talking. Look at the track record of horror films.
Whether it was The Exorcist or Aliens, people packed the theater just to be scared silly.”

IN 2004, after completing Soulripperz, Mr. Lee said this about bringing screams to his motion pictures. “Making a
good horror movie is a delicate balancing act. It’s much more than yelling ‘Boo’ every five minutes. Lighting, angle
shots and dialogue all have to be just right. Be careful about special effects,” this veteran film director warns, “too
much and it all looks corny; too little and you bore the audience.”

Soulripperz is a horror tale that employs easily recognizable modern techniques. The plot is largely a mix of standard
teen horror techniques and the martial arts movies that Lee enjoys. He does not, however, hesitate to draw on the old
masters of shriek for ideas. The melody of a particular piece of classical music is used to build suspense. “I’m not
telling you the song, but opera buffs will recognize it immediately. I’m using it whenever I want to raise the hair on
your head. It’s a classic device used by Alfred Hitchcock.”

Soulripperz was filmed on a small budget and the actors were asked to go the extra mile for little compensation.
Fortunately, most have worked together on earlier projects and there is a heightened sense of camaraderie among the
performers. “Cinema Lexzikon has a tight group of professionals,” says Lee. “Everyone knows each other and they all
react naturally to cues. It’s a real comfortable assortment of people; more like a theatre troupe than just a collection
of freelance actors. That’s good for us, because a dedicated team is what Cinema Lexzikon needs to achieve some fairly
important short term goals.”

The future calls for Cinema Lexzikon to produce a steady stream of horror/martial arts films. “Scary movies lend
themselves well to the series formula,” Lee explains. “ The Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street movies of the ‘80s
were all profitable and basically used the same cast for each film. Given the potential for profitable success, the
usually cautious William Lee is excited about the direction his company is taking. “Depending on the success of this
first movie, I see several Soulripperz sequels. It will mean steady work for the actors and a steady stream of profit for
the investor. Everybody wins. Including, most important of all, the moviegoers who will watch this thrill and a chill
movie.

SOULRIPPERZ WINS BY BEING “SPECIAL”

It has been generally accepted since Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon that marital arts movies need lots of wires and
unbelievable gymnastics in order to be successful. That law was broken with the surprise success of Ong-Bak:The Thai
Warrior.

This movie was noted for its use of good martial arts to attract audiences, and the box office receipts made this action
movie a sizable hit. Its success surprised many film directors, but William Lee was not one of them.

“The adage, ‘good Hollywood, bad martial arts,’ is going the way of the Pinto,” says the Cinema Lexzikon executive
producer and director. “American audiences have been exposed to good martial arts, thanks to the Buffy the Vampire
Slayer series, or actually being students in dojos all over the country. This challenges the director to keep it real.”

Keeping it real is the type of skills test that William Lee enthusiastically attempts. Drawing on years of experience,
he has employed several distinct film styles in Soulripperz: Born in Hell. A fan of the old Bruce Lee movies, the
director concentrated on martial techniques that were sharp and precise. While this did require extended takes, no
movement was wasted. The viewer was kept constantly engaged by the action and near miss choreography. The visual
effects were improved by speed enhanced angled shots that brought images close to the point of claustrophobic. Risk
taking was the norm and not the exception in the filming

Lessons from the old masters of the cinema were also generously used. Introspective shots made popular by Kurosawa
are interspersed with brief, hard hitting action to surprise the audience and break the tension; something that Lee
heightens by using an old Alfred Hitchcock devise. “I’m not telling you what that is; you will have to see for yourself,
says Lee chuckling. “But any student of film will immediately recognize it whenever it surfaces in the film.”

Lack of special effects places means that the movie’s primary selling point is top quality fight scenes. Fortunately,
William Lee had just the man for the assignment. Dan Buckley, Jr. was designated as the fight choreographer for
Soulripperz and given the task of creating fighting styles which any experienced martial artist in the audience would
recognize as genuine. A fourth degree black belt in Ninjutsu and a second degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, Dan had
competed in dozens of tournaments, and had won gold medals in self-defense choreography at both the Battle of
Columbus and Battle of Indianapolis. The particular challenge he faced in Soulripperz was the range of skill possessed
by the actors. Any given fight scene pitted an actor with some martial arts background, against one with no
experience or against one with considerable knowledge in technique. The variations in combination went from scene
to scene. “No two fights were exactly the same, says Buckley. ‘If I had two actors with identical skill levels at the same
time, it was a lucky coincidence. His more than fifteen years of experience in the martial arts served him well in
Soulripperz.

The action was designed to be spontaneous and not formally staged. This included a night scene, filmed at midnight
between the characters played by John Woodruff and Harlow Keith. The drama of this particular part of the movie is
more, however, than just the angle shots executed by the director or the music background. It was a staged showdown
between the two extremes of the martial arts: a novice white belt vs. an experienced master. The lighting was almost
non-existent and, to make things even more challenging, both actors were required to wear sunglasses. Dan developed
the final choreography with safety in mind, but knowing all along that the two actors would be executing the kicks at
full force. There was no room for error or miscalculation.

“I had experience with night training,” says Keith; who is a fifth degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. “But this was a
notch higher. John was coming at me with out of total darkness. I could just barely make out his shape and it was as if I
was being attacked by a large rain cloud. I had to use my instincts to react to any movement. I was lucky that Dan had
staged things the way he did, and had us rehearse time and time again until things were perfect. There were a few
close calls, but nothing serious.”

The combination of using the old and taking risks when needed are just two of the reasons why Soulripperz: Born in
Hell is more than just a horror flick. Indeed, it is a sophisticated martial arts drama that high level action along with
the scary parts. It serves notice that Cinema Lexzikon will be a stronger presence in both film genres in the years to
come: using technique and cinematic skill to create that “special” motion picture that viewers will want to see.

*SOULRIPPERZ spent three weeks as the top selling DVD at indieflix.com

ROOM 13: THE TERRORIST PROJECT

It started out as an independent film on post 9/11 terrorism and not much more than that. The actors thought of it as a chance to work on
a feature film, and were happy to accept low pay for the chance at career exposure. No one quit their day job to work on “ROOM 13: THE
TERRORIST PROJECT.” The filming was done either at night or on the weekends in late winter. No frills were added. The actors provided
their own make-up, transportation, meals, etc. In spite of these less than fancy working conditions, there was a genuine desire to be a
part of the project.

“I more than pleased with the level of commitment this group of people showed,” says William Lee, the producer and director. “The one
that really impressed me was the guy from Atlanta. He works for one of the airlines and terrorism has hurt business. His participation
was his means of pay back to Al-Qaeda, and he drove all the way from Atlanta to Columbus, Ohio to do it.”

Filming in all kinds of weather, the cast and crew wrapped things up in April, and post-production is just about finished. It was when the
cameras stopped rolling that events made “ROOM 13: THE TERRORIST PROJECT” more interesting. Prison interrogation scenes,
intended to be fictional, were filmed several weeks before the Abu Gharib scandal went public. In June, the Federal Bureau of
Investigations announced they had apprehended a man who was plotting to bomb a shopping mall in Columbus, Ohio. “ROOM 13: THE
TERRORIST PROJECT” was shot entirely in Columbus and within a few miles of retail centers that were probably on the list of targets.
Increasingly, “ROOM 13: THE TERRORIST PROJECT” has gone from being a futuristic work of cinematic fiction to a predictor of what is
to come. This twist of fate is not lost on the film’s actors.

Kate Secor, who plays Annaka Milakosh, was amazed at how close to home the threat of terrorist violence was. “It really startled me
when I found out about the Columbus arrest. You can feel safe when terrorist attacks happen overseas, but when you know a target
might be just a few miles away, you lose that false sense of security.”

“The filming was all pretty surreal,” says Brian Campbell, who plays the main character, Vincent Kamiglia. “We knew that some of the
situations in the movie could happen. We had no idea they actually would. It just shows that the horrors you imagine can become reality,
given the right circumstances.”

Kamiglia has been assigned the task of directly dealing with terrorist agents. Things go out of control as Kamiglia becomes increasingly
obsessed and starts to eliminate anyone he considers being evil, or just in his way. Commenting on his character, Campbell pointed to
some disturbing similarities.

“It was great to show the common denominator between a terrorist and someone else. A terrorist uses extreme measures, but so does
Kamiglia. Both justify what they are doing because they believe in the righteousness of their causes. However, both have lost sight of the
original intent of what they wish to achieve and have gone to extremes.”

Harlow Keith plays the role of Monroe, the government official who directly oversees Kamiglia’s activity. While not actively involved in the
Kamiglia’s abusive activities, Monroe is, in his own way, as sinister.

“My character is a career bureaucrat; the kind of ‘yes’ man that roams the halls of a lot of government agencies. You may think he’s
harmless but he isn’t.” When asked to elaborate, Keith draws an analogy from the most frightening period of modern history: the Third
Reich. “Many of the SS were little more than pointy-headed bureaucrats in uniform. They had goals set for them and objectives to meet
like any other civil servant, but the difference was that the SS were tasked to murder millions of people in as short a time as possible. If
the war on terrorism ever gets out of control, you can bet the mortgage that invisible nobodies like Monroe will keep the killing machine
humming.”

The 9/11 commission has made a series of recommendations to better combat terrorism. One of these is a specialized national security
work force at the FBI to “ensure the development of an institutional culture imbued with a deep expert intelligence and national
security.” Campbell’s thoughts on this reflect the caution he developed in bringing his character to life.

“Be careful when you talk about specialized groups and institutional cultures. It can go wrong awfully quick. Kamiglia was the product of
such an environment. These groups need to have serious checks placed on them to allow for some restraint.” His character is obviously
a bit extreme, but Campbell dismisses any notion that Kamiglia’s excesses could never happen in the real world.

“When you try to effectively combat terrorism, you may have to let loose the dogs; those people who work just inside of the law and
might possibly go over the edge. If you can control them, there’s no problem. But, if you have no leash to restrain the dog, it can easily
turn on you. These people need to be monitored constantly.”

It is when the movie reaches its most macabre moment that Annaka surfaces. “She’s like a black widow spider,” says Secor. “No
emotion, but full of poison. Knowing that a cold-blooded person like her may be part of a response to terrorism should make all of us
stop and think before any recommendation is approved”

Keith agrees completely. “This ‘culture’ may be the breeding ground for a social virus you don’t want. Because of my character in the
movie, I have become more concerned about the people who will give technical support to this proposed group. They might be just as
criminal as the one pulling the trigger. Remember that behind every thing that Kamiglia did, there was somebody like Monroe keeping
data on victims, scheduling an interrogation, filing a requisition for torture devices, and taking a coffee break afterwards.”

“ROOM 13: THE TERRORIST PROJECT” is now headed for general distribution, so the public can judge for itself the contribution made to
current events. “It’s hard to tell what will come of all this,” observes Keith. “No one can say for certain what impact it will have on our
careers. I hope that what we have done will help the audience go beyond slogans and develop informed opinions. It would be great if
“ROOM 13: THE TERRORIST PROJECT” were able to do that.”

“ROOM 13: THE TERRORIST PROJECT” may be the big break or just another paycheck for those who worked on it. The audience and its
response will ultimately determine how the performers will benefit financially. Regardless of any material gain, there is a reward for
every person in the cast and crew: the opportunity to have contributed to an instance when art imitated reality to the point of being
almost interchangeable. That is something all actors wish for, and are proud to have on their list of film credits.

*ROOM 13: THE TERRORIST PROJECT will have its WORLD PREMIERE RE-RELEASE
on January 19th, 2008!

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