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New Zealand’s Black Mandala has acquired worldwide sales rights to three horror films from Anatomica Films: “Within Madness,” “Vessel” and “The Thirteenth Gate.”
J. M. Stelly wrote and directed all three, producing alongside Johnny Stassi through the Anatomica Films label.
Stelly and Black Mandala co-founder Michael Kraetzer negotiated the agreement on Anatomica Films’ behalf.
“Within Madness” draws on true events, tracing the fallout after filmmaker Mark Chapel and collaborator Donovan Summers are arrested. Investigators searching the case turn up human remains, execution tapes, Polaroids and film canisters cataloging years of violence. The evidence centers on “The Sacrament of Bondage,” a film capturing Summers’ spiral into brutality and his earliest killings. Prison interviews and recovered footage slowly reveal how deeply entangled the two men had become in their shared madness. Jared Bankens, Matt Story, Keegan Macy and Jamie Nipe star.
“Vessel” follows Joseph, a pastor whose faith crumbles after his wife, Mary, goes missing and their unborn child is lost. Retracing the days leading up to her disappearance, Joseph experiences past and present blurring together, while escalating disturbances in their home point to something far more sinister than grief. What starts as a portrait of grief ultimately reveals an entity trying to cross into the world through human suffering. Keegan Macy, Jamie Nipe and Dane Rhodes are featured.
“The Thirteenth Gate” centers on investigator Nathan Hale, who regains consciousness inside a derelict industrial complex without knowing how he got there. While hunting for his missing wife, Marissa, Hale is dragged through an escalating nightmare of environments that loop, warp and rebuild themselves from his own memories and trauma. Behind the ordeal is an enigmatic figure called M, orchestrating an occult ritual designed to unlock thirteen gates into the ethereal plane. The deeper Hale goes into the labyrinth, the harder it becomes to separate physical reality from memory and constructed experience. The film moves like an immersive, POV-driven psychological horror trip that blends body horror, occult mythology and science-fiction touches. Jeff Pearson, Jamie Nipe and Keegan Macy round out the cast.
“We’re incredibly happy to be working with such an outstanding and unique filmmaking talent and look forward to building the international success of these very special titles together,” Kraetzer said. He added that each film carries its own distinctive atmosphere, vision and identity, calling the collaboration a chance to work with bold, original filmmaking that he believes can connect with genre audiences, festivals, platforms and buyers around the world.
“We’re proud to welcome ‘Vessel,’ ‘Within Madness’ and ‘The Thirteenth Gate’ to the Black Mandala lineup,” he said, “and are very much looking forward to presenting these films internationally, building their worldwide audience, and developing a successful long-term collaboration with the filmmaker.”
Stelly said he was pleased to have Black Mandala representing the films, noting that “these intensely personal projects each explore horror from a very different perspective.” He pointed to Black Mandala’s track record building an international presence around bold genre filmmaking and said he is looking forward to working with the company’s team to bring the films to audiences around the world.
“Within Madness” will be the first of the three to go before buyers, launching sales at the Toronto Film Festival market before all three titles are pitched to buyers at AFM.
Stelly is represented by Zero Gravity Management.
English (US) ·