Coming this fall to theaters in New York City and Los Angeles -- and soon after, we're promised, to cities all across the country -- is Jim, a science fiction/horror film dealing with genetic engineering. It's unclear at this point what the exact message of the film will be but then the producers may well be stirring up a special intrigue about the film by purposefully keeping things mysterious.Their creativity in designing a multi-tiered website touting Lorigen, the company that will "star" in the movie, certainly shows they're talented (and mischievous) enough to play that game pretty well. Goodness knows, they've got my interest. Check out that website, complete with Lorigen's company history, diverse services (with trademarks to enhance their commercial value), gift cards, and much more and you'll see what I mean.
To make sure you don't miss the video sales pitch Lorigen has there I've embedded it below. To describe it, the words troubling, creepy, and bizarre come to mind -- all because this fictional pitch is not at all different from what some scientists hope to offer the world in the future.
So, if you want to build interest in a ghoulish sci-fi film and don't have a big advertising budget, you'd do well to call the guys behind Jim and it's ominous Lorigen corporation.
However, with the release date coming up soon, there are a few other things slipping out. For instance, there will be three parallel time-lines within the movie, each presenting a view on the perils and promises of genetic engineering. And the director of the film, Jeremy Morris-Burke, replied to an e-mail question about the message in Jim -- “This is a movie about the issues involved in manipulating the genes of future generations," he wrote. "The wealthy have their own hidden system for maintaining their position. In that sense, the playing field is only level as far as you can see it...”
How much attention will Jim get? Will it ever make it beyond the two theaters it's booked for in October? We'll see. But again, if only to see if the inventiveness behind the Lorigen website and video can make the leap to a full big screen production, I'm very curious.
And whether it does or not, we'll always have this trailer from the movie to alarm our speculations about the future of genetic engineering.
Lorigen Engineering from JimTheFilm on Vimeo.
(Hat tip: BioEdge)