A malevolent demon and a nefarious cult raise big trouble in THE ASCENSION, a new chiller from producer/writer/director Robert Stock. The Massachusetts-based filmmaker shared some exclusive pics, info and the trailer from THE ASCENSION, which stars THE DENTIST’s Corbin Bernsen (pictured left) and features a cameo by Fango editor emeritus Anthony Timpone, and you can see them below the jump.

In THE ASCENSION, intrepid reporter Carl Kolchinski (Bernsen) investigates a rash of suicides. Are they related? Many threads seem to be connecting—is there some kind of conspiracy? And is the rumor of a twisted cult trying to raise up an evil force true? If so, can Carl stop them before it’s too late?

According to Stock, THE ASCENSION pays homage to ’70s TV fave THE NIGHT STALKER. “Corbin Bernsen plays a character similar to the original Carl Kolchak [Darren McGavin] from THE NIGHT STALKER, a show I always loved,” he says. “And he has a boss named Tony, just like Kolchak’s boss, Tony Vincenzo [Simon Oakland]. In our movie, Fango’s own Tony Timpone plays Tony! And as a crazy coincidence, our production team included Darren McGavin’s daughter, Graemm McGavin, as line producer. Just like on the old TV show, our Carl enjoys investigating bizarre happenings.”

Well-versed in the FX business thanks to his background as a video-game creator, Stock and his company have assembled an ambitious group to bring the visual magic and mischief to life for his independent horror/fantasy flick. “We worked with a very small, in-house team for the CGI,” Stock says. “They were led by longtime Stock’s Eye effects supervisor Kris McKenzie. The props were created by the talented Dave Ernst. The makeup effects team at Carl Paolino Studios was responsible for creating the prosthetics—Carl also directed THE SICKNESS, among his other credits—and the on-set silicone prosthetics crew was supervised by Paul Mason. For effects and gore fun, we have head shots via pistol, people impaled on a mystical staff, a person being eaten by spiders, eyeballs popping, a house implosion and explosion, a beheading in a tree and even more.”

Besides Bernsen, THE ASCENSION boasts a few other familiar faces in the cast. “We have a wonderful ensemble group, led by Don Jeanes, who was recently seen as Neil Armstrong in TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON,” Stock says. “Don just finished a role on a horror film shot in the Amazon, with the working title of AMAZON SPIRIT. We also have Raw Leiba as a bad guy. The imposing Raw has a role in the CONAN remake.”

With THE ASCENSION days away from postproduction completion, Stock will next begin sending his film to potential buyers, with a likely stop at this fall’s American Film Market. “We will be looking for distribution and hope to garner a worldwide audience soon,” he says. Stay tuned for more updates and exclusives from THE ASCENSION right here!

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