PAINKILLER

This short film combines body horror and psychological terror, delivering a dark, disturbing tale of addiction, abuse, and codependency.

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PAINKILLER Is Now Available to View for Free

Posted by PainkillerFilm on March 21, 2017
Posted in: Postproduction, Release. Tagged: film, free, video, Vimeo. Leave a comment

PAINKILLER is available to view for free at https://vimeo.com/user33023546/painkillerfilm.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who gave to our crowd-funding campaign, who helped us with screenings (by showing the film or showing up to watch), who reviewed our film, who gave us awards, and who generally supported us over the last 3 years.

If you enjoyed the film, please share with the horror fans in your life.

You have our undying appreciation for everything that you’ve done. When it comes to expressing our gratitude…we can never do enough.

 

 

“Painkiller” and the “Black Museum” Episode of Black Mirror

Posted by PainkillerFilm on January 13, 2018
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: Black Mirror, Black Museum, Pain Addict, Penn Jillette. Leave a comment

Written by Jerry Janda, author, producer, and co-star of “Painkiller”

People have been telling me that the “Black Museum” episode of Black Mirror reminds them of “Painkiller,” a 15 minute film that I wrote and produced.

As a writer, I wince at news like that. On one hand, you wonder if someone ripped you off — a possibility that, at my level of writing, triggers mixed feelings. (Sure, nobody wants to have their stuff stolen, but on the other hand, it’s cool to think that someone has experienced your work and liked it enough to copy it.) On the other hand, you also wonder if you ripped someone else off (even if only inadvertently).

I talked about this fear during a “Painkiller” screening in February 2015. I don’t like to do anything derivative, and even when I think I’ve come up with something original, I doubt myself in the end. It’s tough. As Robert Englund once said (at a Q&A at a horror convention I attended years ago): There are only so many stories to tell around the campfire. In other words, even when we try our hardest to be creative, there remains the risk that we are churning out variations of the same tales.

Of course, there is a difference between similarities and outright plagiarism, inspiration and blatant theft, and that’s why I’ve been dreading the “Black Museum” episode. I knew I had to watch it, but I was also afraid of what conclusions I might draw after seeing it. (I should also confess that I’ve never seen any episodes of Black Mirror. So “Black Museum” — the last episode of the latest season — is my sole experience with the show. I say this because I may be lacking context for what follows, and some of my opinions may change after binging the series. Still, I think you can understand why I jumped straight into Black Mirror with “Black Museum.”)

Yes, there are similarities between “Painkiller” and “Black Museum” — specifically in the very first segment of the episode. The segment itself is based on “Pain Addict,” an unpublished short story from Penn Jillette. He came up with the story in 1981, and assuming he’s telling the truth (and I can’t imagine why he wouldn’t be), then he obviously didn’t steal anything from “Painkiller” (a script I wrote in 2014). And since no one ever published the story, then I obviously didn’t steal anything from “Pain Addict” either. (An interesting aside: Aspects of “Pain Addict” came up in a conversation with Karl Pilkington years ago during The Ricky Gervais Show. Here’s a short Heavy article that ties all of it together.)

It’s important to note that “Painkiller” and “Pain Addict” (as filmed for “Black Museum” and described by Penn in the Heavy article above) are far from identical. “Painkiller” is about an organism that absorbs pain and rewards its host with pleasure. “Pain Addict” is about a device that allows a doctor to feel the pain of his patients. In both stories, the characters end up hurting themselves to feed their fixes, but that’s the only overlap. The general premises themselves don’t really cross over. (One thing worth noting though: In trying to find the right pleasurable dose of pain, the protagonist of the “Pain Addict” segment of “Black Museum” moans that the damage he inflicts isn’t enough. Anyone who has seen “Painkiller” knows that “It’s not enough” is a common refrain, uttered under the same circumstances — a numbing admission that the character can never experience enough hurt to feel satisfied. Jump ahead to the 1m mark of the “Painkiller” trailer and you’ll see/hear what I mean.)

After watching “Black Museum,” I was relieved to realize that the plots for “Pain Addict” and “Painkiller” aren’t the same. I was relieved to learn that the inspiration for both stories also differs — so I assume the intent does as well. According to the Heavy article, Penn got his idea while in a Spanish hospital, where the device from “Pain Addict” could have broken through the language barrier and made diagnosis faster and more accurate. “Painkiller” was born from my own experiences with opioids and my observations of toxic relationships — all meshing in a tale about the self-destructive nature of chronic pain, self-loathing, and sociopathic dissatisfaction. So clearly our creativity was coming from far different places.

Again, Penn never published “Pain Addict,” so I’m basing my conclusion on what I’ve read about it and on the “Black Museum” segment itself. And my conclusion is this: “Pain Addict” and “Painkiller” cover some of the same ground, but their differences outweigh their similarities.

See for yourself. “Black Museum” is episode 6 of season 4 of Black Mirror, available on Netflix. You can watch “Painkiller” for free online.

PAINKILLER Screening at MystiCon

Posted by PainkillerFilm on February 24, 2017
Posted in: Festivals, Screenings. Tagged: mysticon, Wreak Havoc Horror Film Festival. Leave a comment

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PAINKILLER screens this Sunday at MystiCon, a sold-out convention in Roanake, VA.

Thanks to the guys at the Wreak Havok Horror Film Festival for including us. They had to put together a program of the best films shown over the last two years at their festival, and PAINKILLER was one of the five they selected. That’s quite an honor.

PAINKILLER Picks Up Two Nominations!

Posted by PainkillerFilm on October 20, 2016
Posted in: Awards, Festivals, Screenings. Tagged: Daniel Mazikowski, HorrorHaus, Kelly Rae LeGault. Leave a comment

PAINKILLER has received two nominations from the HorrorHaus Film Festival: best supporting actress (Kelly Rae LeGault) and best practical effects (Daniel J. Mazikowski).

Here’s an example of how their work came together…

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PAINKILLER to Screen at HorrorHaus Film Festival

Posted by PainkillerFilm on September 21, 2016
Posted in: Preproduction. Tagged: Hollywood, HorrorHaus, Los Angeles, screening. Leave a comment

hhff_laurel2We are honored to announce that PAINKILLER will be part of the HorrorHaus Film Festival, November 5 and 6, in Los Angeles!

Tickets go on sale October 1. If you’re in the L.A. area, you won’t want to miss this weekend of horror.

The screening schedule will be available in a week. We’ll share more details as they become available.

PAINKILLER Screening on August 30 in Philadelphia

Posted by PainkillerFilm on August 27, 2016
Posted in: Screenings. Tagged: Dollface, Jerry Janda, L'Etage, philadelphia. Leave a comment

Painkiller Movie-1PAINKILLER is one of ten shorts screening at Dollface Presents: Indie Horror Film Marathon on Tuesday, August 30, at the L’Etage in downtown Philadelphia (6th and Bainbridge).

Writer/co-star Jerry Janda will be in attendance, along with several filmmakers showing off their horror creations.

The marathon starts at 8:00 p.m. and tickets are only ten bucks. The money raised will go toward funding “Dollface: Road to the Apocalypse.”

New Interviews with Horror Feast Q&A’s

Posted by PainkillerFilm on August 22, 2016
Posted in: Interview. Leave a comment

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Many thanks to Horror Feast Q&As for interviewing Jeremiah Kipp (our film’s director) and Jerry Janda (its writer, producer, co-star).

Empty Your Cup

Posted by PainkillerFilm on July 11, 2016
Posted in: Postproduction. Tagged: director, Jerry Janda, kaishakunin. Leave a comment

clapper

Jerry Janda (PAINKILLER’s writer/producer/co-star) shares some thoughts about his directorial debut in this latest blog post about KAISHAKUNIN (a short film that he also wrote and is co-producing).

KAISHAKUNIN: The Latest from PAINKILLER’s Writer/Producer

Posted by PainkillerFilm on June 10, 2016
Posted in: New Projects. Tagged: indiegogo, Jerry Janda, kaishakunin. Leave a comment

topKAISHAKUNIN, a samurai ghost story, is the latest short film from Jerry Janda, author, producer, and co-star of PAINKILLER.

Jerry wrote the script for KAISHAKUNIN, and this film will be his directorial debut. He is producing the short with the award-winning filmmakers from Small Basket Studios.

KAISHAKUNIN has been enjoying a very successful crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo — surpassing goals and even trending as one of the top films on the site. (There is still time to donate, so if you’d like to support KAISHAKUNIN — and earn some of the campaign’s great perks — pay a visit to the film’s Indiegogo page.)

Principal photography for KAISHAKUNIN begins on June 11.

To get updates about KAISHAKUNIN, please check out the Small Basket Studios website.

RAPT: The Latest from Our Writer/Producer/Co-Star

Posted by PainkillerFilm on April 8, 2016
Posted in: New Projects. Tagged: Faces, Jerry Janda, Mark Boutros, RAPT, Russell Hackett, Thomas Ryan. Leave a comment

rapt2

Principal photography for PAINKILLER began exactly two years ago. Since then, most of the cast and crew have kept busy with several projects.

If you liked PAINKILLER, you may be interested in the films they have coming.

Most recently, postproduction began on RAPT, a short featuring Jerry Janda (PAINKILLER’s writer/producer/co-star). Jerry co-stars in RAPT, and he co-wrote the short with Russell Hackett, who appears in DITCH (a micro-short that Jerry wrote and co-directed with Jeff Gould, PAINKILLER’s executive producer, editor, and cinematographer).

Talented cinematographer Mark Boutros shot RAPT, and the award-winning Tom Ryan directed it.

We’ll post updates about RAPT — and about other projects from the PAINKILLER cast and crew. And, of course, we’ll continue to share news about PAINKILLER.

As always, thank you for supporting PAINKILLER — and supporting the work of our cast and crew.

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    • “Painkiller” and the “Black Museum” Episode of Black Mirror
    • PAINKILLER Is Now Available to View for Free
    • PAINKILLER Screening at MystiCon
    • PAINKILLER Picks Up Two Nominations!
    • PAINKILLER to Screen at HorrorHaus Film Festival
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