Fearsmag's own Christopher Mygrant recently got a chance to sit down and chat with Martin Van Drunen from metal band HAIL OF BULLETS on death metal, staying real and the plight of the record industry.

Fears Magazine: Martin, first of foremost, thanks for taking time out of your schedule to speak with us; we greatly appreciate it. Okay lets get started shall we?

Martin van Drunen: Sure man.

Fears: Let me just say when the name Martin van Drunen is synonymous with the heavy metal genre You have quite a resume and have experienced many successes. With that said, how does a musician that has been around for some time, been in several bands gear him or herself up to once again promote a new band? By that I mean it is hard enough keep an existing band on the radar, but even though names may be known, the process of starting over, or at least that is how I view it, must be grueling. Why go through it all over again?

Tuesday, June 10th, 2008, the Hollywood stars were out for the gala premier of M. Night Shyamalan’s THE HAPPENING - heart-pounding paranoid thriller about a family on the run from an inexplicable and unstoppable event that threatens not only humankind . . . but the most basic human instinct of them all: survival.

No one ever expected a special-effects laden epic conceived and crafted by producer/director Roland Emmerich to be concerned about gaps in logic or story structure. So it goes with the German-born impresario’s latest faux-legend, the prehistoric "10,000 BC." From his civilization-destroying tent pole pictures like "The Day After Tomorrow" and "Independence Day" to myth-reworking sci-fi flicks like
"Godzilla" and "Stargate," the 52 year-old has made films that go for dramatic effects not meaningful subtext.

Following in the grand tradition of the 1940's "One Million BC" (and continued in high camp fashion with the 1967's re-make "One Million Years B.C." starring a fur-clad Raquel Welch), "10,000 B.C." follows a young mammoth hunter's journey to secure the future of his tribe and save the Cro-Magnon girl of his dreams from enslavement.

In this a historical tale, 21 year-old Steve Strait plays D'Leh (German for hero spelled backwards) a near-outcast from his tribe whose father had left to search for food to save them. In contrast, Strait’s previous roles included playing a rock star wannabe in "Undiscovered" and a supernatural cultist in "The Covenant."

Sometimes there are interview opportunities and there are interview opportunities. Consider the circumstances that came up with covering this sort-of horror/suspense film, "THE STRANGERS." A great trailer suggests a film that ratchets up the personal anxiety through the assault of three strangers who threaten and eventually attack a couple—in this case played Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman—late at night in an isolated suburban home. Supposedly "Inspired by A True Story" (so the film is tagged), it stimulates another round of fear for unknown vacation towns that was stirred by "Funny Games." Great fare to start off the summer season.

After being a crucial member of the "Lord of The Rings" trilogy and the star-girlfriend in "Armageddon," Tyler established her presence among the genre-geeks. But marriage, child-bearing and a pending divorce took her out of the spotlight until the release of this film and the upcoming "The Incredible Hulk." Speedman had garnered fan credos as the werewolf/vampire hybrid in the "Underworld" series as well as parts in various genre flicks as "Anamorph," "Weirdsville" and a sequel to "xXx."

Regardless of the fact that “THE STRANGERS” is made by an unknown, first-time director (Bryan Bertino), interviewing the stars together can be complicated at best. In between a little fooling around and the actors provided us with some some insightful comments and thoughts about the film.

What pulled actor Samuel L. Jackson into doing "Jumper," director Doug Liman's excursion into science fiction? It was Jackson’s fascination with the theory of teleporting. Although his character Roland, the Paladin, does not have the power to "jump," he has the power to stop and kill the "Jumpers." As to why, well that's what intrigued Jackson and the plot of the film.

Jackson is a man who loves films and fantasy. He's the first to admit he's a hardcore comic book fan and that he enjoys playing roles that allow him to push the envelope. When director Liman explored the spy genre in the first installment of the Bourne saga—"The Bourne Identity" —his hyper-kinetic style set in motion a whole series. Jackson figured Liman would do the same with "Jumper,” which is based on a series of novels by author Stephen Gould.

With his easy manner and disaffected attitude towards his good looks it comes as no surprise that 26 year-old actor English actor Ben Barnes was tapped to star as the lead of "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian." Having had a small part in Neil Gaiman's "Stardust," his career path didn't immediately suggest he was a likely candidate to play this heroic yet flawed character in the mythic Narnia saga (written by the late British author C. S. Lewis).

At the time of his auditioned for this film, Barnes was set to tour with the National Theatre's production of "The History Boys." Narnia director Andrew Adamson did not expect to cast a British actor as Caspian, but he noted that the young Londoner fit well into the surrogate family of Adamson and the four actors who played the Pevensies in the 2005's “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." In the series debut, set in 1940, the four Pevensie siblings - eldest brother Peter (William Moseley), Susan (Anna Popplewell), Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and the youngest Lucy (Georgie Henley) – are evacuated to the country home of Professor Kirke (Jim Broadbent) avoid the devastating Nazi blitz of London. In the house they come upon an old wardrobe.

- Saturday, April 26, 2008, the stars were up from down under for the gala screening of the new horror film DYING BREED that was held at the Village East Cinemas. Director Jody Dwyer’s feature debut utilizes the legendary true story of Alexander Pearce, an escaped convict known as "The Pieman," who claimed to have survived by eating his fellow escapees. Also driving the plot is another legend, the Tasmanian tiger, thought to be extinct but there continues to be report sightings of this elusive creature. The film stars Nathan Phillips (Wolf Creek) and Leigh Whannell (SAW) walked the red carpet in support of the premier.

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO VIEW THE SLIDE SHOW:

Producer and Writer of DYING BREED Rod Morris Producer and Writer of DYING BREED Rod Morris

Producer and Writer of DYING BREED Michael Boughan Producer and Writer of DYING BREED Michael Boughan

Director Jody Dwyer Director Jody Dwyer

Director Jody Dwyer (left) and DYING BREED star Leigh Whannell (right) Director Jody Dwyer (left) and DYING BREED star Leigh Whannell (right)

DYING BREED star Nathan Phillips DYING BREED star Nathan Phillips

DYING BREED star Leigh Whannell DYING BREED star Leigh Whannell

DYING BREED (left to right) writer/prod Rod Morris, writer/prod Michael Boughan, director Jody Dwyer, actor Nathan Phillips, and actor Leigh Whannell DYING BREED (left to right) writer/prod Rod Morris, writer/prod Michael Boughan, director Jody Dwyer, actor Nathan Phillips, and actor Leigh Whannell

Producer and Writer of DYING BREED Michael Boughan introduces the premier. Producer and Writer of DYING BREED Michael Boughan introduces the premier.