Motion City Soundtrack frontman Justin Pierre has made the leap to acting with his starring voice role in the dark animated film Godkiller by award-winning filmmaker Matt Pizzolo (Threat). Pierre voices the protagonist, a teenage boy on a quest to save his dying sister, alongside an ensemble cast featuring fellow rocker Davey Havok (singer AFI), sci-fi legend Lance Henriksen (Aliens), genre-stars Danielle Harris (Halloween 4, 5, I, II), Bill Moseley (The Devil's Rejects), Nicki Clyne (Battlestar Galactica), Tiffany Shepis (Night of the Demons), and punk icon Lydia Lunch. Godkiller is currently on a nationwide theatrical tour, available via cable On Demand in 75 million homes, and comes to DVD/Blu-ray July 20th.
"Justin is a phenomenal actor, his performance blew away my greatest expectations," said Pizzolo. "I contacted him out of the blue for the project, it just popped into my head that he could play this role. He warned me from the get-go that he has no acting training but he loves anime. I think his performance stunned both of us, and you'll definitely see him acting more in the future."
The twisted, sci-fi/horror adventure about a teenage boy's odyssey to find a new heart for his dying sister in a post-nuke wasteland of fallen gods, organ-stealing hookers, and sex-addicted technowizards, Godkiller was directed by award-winning filmmaker Matt Pizzolo (Threat) with music by Alec Empire, Nic Endo and Atari Teenage Riot, starring voice performances by genre-heroes Lance Henriksen (Aliens), Danielle Harris (Halloween 4 & 5, Rob Zombie's Halloween 1 & 2), Bill Moseley (The Devil's Rejects), Nicki Clyne (Battlestar Galactica), Tiffany Shepis (Night of the Demons), punk icon Lydia Lunch (Hardcore), and rockstars Justin Pierre (singer of Motion City Soundtrack) and Davey Havok (singer of AFI).
The dark, unrated film pioneers a new style of animation called 'illustrated-films,' developed by Pizzolo with his producing partner, Emmy-winner Brian Giberson. Utilizing sequential art by illustrator Anna Muckcracker, the illustrated-film adds 3D CGI, motion graphics, elaborate sound design, and dramatic voice performances for an edgy, sophisticated, intricately detailed new form of animation. Danielle Harris told iF Magazine "it's more like moving art than animation, with very good writing." Upcoming illustrated-films from Halo-8 include Tim Seeley's Loaded Bible, Ben Templesmith's Black Sky, and Pizzolo's giallo-style The Long Knives.
Pizzolo explained, "people assume the voice performances and music are a secondary component to this, but the audio soundscape is the backbone of the entire illustrated-film format... the pace of the whole movie is driven by the audio. The first rough cut is totally black--no picture at all, it's built solely as audio like a radio play. Only then do we add picture... cutting and animating it against the voice performances. That's why this format works feature length, the pace is driven by the actors and musicians... and this project has really been blessed by some incredible talents in those departments."
Godkiller features voice performances by:
Justin Pierre (singer Motion City Soundtrack)
Lance Henriksen (Aliens, Alien vs Predator)
Davey Havok (singer AFI)
Bill Moseley (The Devil's Rejects)
Danielle Harris (Halloween 4 & 5, Rob Zombie's Halloween 1 & 2)
Tiffany Shepis (Nightmare Man)
Lydia Lunch (punk icon)
Nicki Clyne (Battlestar Galactica)
