Peepers Peeled for “THE NIGHT SLAYER”

Michael McQuown (the one-man film studio who shocked the bejeezers out of film goers with his anthology flick The Dark Tapes) is back at it again!

30 years in the making, McQuown proudly presents his latest exploit in the name of experimental entertainment with a murder mystery like no other . . . The Nigh Slayer.

The plot follows a recent grad school graduate name Michael whose first job is on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. where old friends of his want him to meet a woman they know. When he finally calls her, however, she’s nowhere to be found and finds out she’s presumed dead with large amounts of blood found in her apartment. Suspected of her sudden disappearance by the police, Michael sets out to prove his innocence.

Not only is The Night Slayer the first fictional narrative film ever shot over 30 years using the same talent, it’s an exciting mish-mash of multi-media formats from 8-16mm to Hi-8 and VHS, and is supposedly the first feature length film to use both Style Replacement and Generative Artificial Intelligence in parts.

“I’m pretty sure The Night Slayer is the first completed narrative feature to make significant use of A.I. shots. There have been plenty of shorts made in 2023, but nothing that I have seen implemented into a feature film. We used mostly Gen-1 from Runway.ml which completely changes something you shot. For example, one of the characters in mid-motion changes from the actor into a demon and the interior of what shot changes into something most would think is hell. Gen-2, on the other hand, creates a shot out of nothing except a text prompt like one can do with A.I. generated stills. Both types added to the surreal nature of the film and go along with the plotline utilizing the 1990’s footage as a computer algorithmic interpretation (Neural Generation) of what someone is thinking. This means anything goes in Generative Artificial Intelligence videos, and that’s never truer than with The Night Slayer.”

Resurrecting a decades old film project to reimagine from script to finish while enhancing it with more advanced movie making tools is no easy undertaking, but McQuown’s films have shown he’s no stranger to solid storytelling. Having seen his previous work, we believe he’ll have no problem weaving all these cinematic puzzle pieces into one cohesively gripping plot.

“It’s ironic that the footage in 1990’s wasn’t distribution worthy, but 30 years later we have the tools to make it so. I bet other people in the next few years will be able to resurrect projects like this,” says McQuown.

Keep your peepers peeled for The Night Slayer at upcoming film festivals!