Amy Smart wouldn’t have traded the experience for anything.

“We had the opportunity to be a bit more wild,” the 33-year-old actress said following an Aug. 30 screening in Hollywood, Calif. of her experience filming Seventh Moon, one of the latest Lionsgate Ghosthouse Underground titles to see a DVD and Blu-ray Disc release, coming out Oct. 6 (prebook Sept. 9). “I’ve done night shoots, but not for seven weeks in a row.”

Smart got dirty and soaked filming the gritty horror flick, which follows a honeymooning couple in rural China, who become the sacrificial offerings of local residents. They believe the dead return on the seventh full moon of the lunar year and can only be appeased with blood. Directed by Eduardo Sánchez, Seventh Moon has the same bumpy, chaotic visual feel (that was both praised and scorned) as his work on The Blair Witch Project.

“I liked that it was a realistic look,” Smart said, following a screening of the film. “It’s a strong female hero trying to save her husband. It’s this growing emotional journey that gets more weird and more scary.”

Smart was joined by producers Robin Cowie and Matt Compton, and editor John Rice, who all described an almost surreal experience shooting outside of Hong Kong.

“The subject matter for [Sánchez] matched a documentary style,” Cowie said. “It’s a throwback to Blair.”

The crew described how the production was repeatedly blessed to ward off real-life spirits and the challenges of dealing with a crew that almost exclusive non-English speaking crew.

“People in China very much believe and celebrate seventh moon. It’s a true myth,” Cowie said. “They take their ghosts pretty seriously.”

The DVD and Blu-ray come with a commentary with Sánchez and Smart, a making-of featurette, a featurette focusing on the dead spirits stalking the couple in the film, and a “Mysteries of the Seventh Lunar Month” featurette. The title streets the same day as three other Lionsgate Ghosthouse Underground titles: Offspring, The Thaw and The Children.

“With Ghost House Underground, we have the opportunity to present these distinctive horror films to a discerning and enthusiastic audience,” said director Sam Raimi, who along with director Rob Tapert helped hand-pick the titles for home video release.

From Home Media Magazine

While on their honeymoon in China, Melissa (Amy Smart) and Yul (Tim Chiou) discover the exotic “Hungry Ghost” festival, which honors spirits in the market of a small town.

But as night falls, they find themselves abandoned by their driver in a remote village—and soon realize the legends are all too real. Plunged into an ancient custom they cannot comprehend, the couple must find a way to survive the night of the Seventh Moon.

Director Eduardo Sanchez (“The Blair Witch Project”) helms his latest unnerving chiller.

Screening Details:
The Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood
Sunday, August 30th
7:30 PM

Lionsgate Home Entertainment and Ghost House Underground have given Fango the on-line premiere of their trailer for SEVENTH MOON, the supernatural thriller they’re releasing on DVD later this year. You can see the preview, which we debuted at our West Coast convention this past weekend, below.
SEVENTH MOON, directed and co-written by THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT’s Eduardo Sanchez, stars Amy Smart (currently on screen in Lionsgate’s highly recommended CRANK: HIGH VOLTAGE) and Tim Chiou as a honeymooning couple who run afoul of ancient spirits in China. Other movies coming later this year from Lionsgate and Ghost House Underground include Tom Shankland’s much-praised THE CHILDREN and Andrew van den Houten’s Jack Ketchum adaptation OFFSPRING.

Writer/director Ed (The Blair Witch Project, Altered) Sanchez’s latest follows a honeymooning couple (Amy Smart, Tim Chiou) as they attend the “Hungry Ghost” festival in China – an event which honors the carnivorous walking dead who supposedly roam free during the seventh full moon. When the newlyweds find themselves lost in an ancient backwoods village, they discover that the legend is true and must fight to survive the night.