DIRECTOR/WRITER/SCORE COMPOSER.Currently in preproduction on THE OCEAN (2008).Desecration (1999) Image EntertainmentHorror (2002) Elite EntertainmentSatan's Playground (2005) Anchor Bay EntertainmentSatan's Playground review excerpts:"Visually striking throwback to 1970s horror classics...Tomaselli draws strong performances from genre heroines Felissa Rose and Ellen Sandweiss as potential victims and Texas Chainsaw Massacre hitchhiker Ed Neal as one of the crazies, which only adds to the retro feel. Even though Tomaselli clearly loves The Evil Dead and frequently tips his hat, his portrait of a dysfunctional family under pressure feels personal and sometimes scathing. It's never artsy for its own sake, though, and can just as easily be enjoyed as a spooky funhouse ride -- a character's paranoid walk down a hallway toward a secret room is a nailbiter that builds to a brutally abrupt jolt. 3 1/2 stars." --Fangoria Magazine"There's been a dismaying recent trend in horror movies away from imaginative terror and into literal torture. I prefer the creepy atmospherics, perversities, and fantasticism of horror films that suggest the mind is the scariest place of all. They're getting harder to find. Fortunately, surreal horror has a major US champion in Dante Tomaselli. Mario Bava and Dario Argento would doubtless approve." --San Francisco Bay Guardian"Relentlessly hallucinogenic...succeeds thanks to highly stylized camerawork, eerie atmosphere and a driving pace." --Steve Puchalski, Sci-Fi Magazine"Richly atmospheric exercise in surreal horror...like a Grimm Bros. fairy tale filtered through the dreaming subconscious...This fatal family outing in the New Jersey Pine Barrens forest suggests familiar "Texas Chainsaw Massacre"-type terrain...Tomaselli creates a hyper-real atmosphere of striking primal-fear images, cackling lunacy, impending doom and grotesque humor...Belying very modest means, Tomaselli has delivered a design and tech package that's first-rate. Complex music/ambient audio design he composed with Kenneth Lampl is a worthy match to Tim Naylor's beautifully menacing photography..." --Variety Magazine"Tomaselli builds up wonderful atmosphere in this film, effectively creating a dream world in which we are constantly pulled back just as we think we are at the brink of reaching reality. Based on urban myths of the Jersey Devil, a demonic spirit said to haunt the forests of New Jersey, the film oozes the raw verisimilitude of old slasher flicks but still retains a touch of surrealism that is unmistakably the work of Tomaselli. A cast of cult horror film icons adds flavor to this entertaining feature from Anchor Bay Entertainment that stirs up a few shivers. So make some popcorn and enter into "Satan's Playground" for some ghoulish fun." --DVDREVIEW.COM"Satan’s Playground starts to subvert your expectations early on...This is an ambitious and surprisingly disturbing tale that’s heavier on the thematic ideas than on the gore. Dante Tomaselli has made three films so far. The first, 1999’s Desecration cost $150,000. Horror, released in 2002, cost $250,000. Satan’s Playground represents the director’s biggest budget at $500,000. Normally, I don’t mention budgets in a review. I make an exception this time because Tomaselli is a filmmaker with ideas, and each time his budget increases, you can feel his imagination being liberated. As one who uses sets, lighting, and camera angles to create a sense of fear and dread, he gets the most out of his budgets. Satan’s Playground benefits enormously from the production values that a horror film needs. The old house is, indeed, creepy. The photography conveys an eerie feeling, particularly in the scenes where the camera looms over the spooky forest. These things add to the ideas Tomaselli injects into his scripts, once again marking him as a genuine original in the realm of horror filmmakers. So few really interesting horror movies are made these days that we need to foster those filmmakers who are actually trying to find the artistry within the genre. Satan’s Playground shows its maker is on the right trajectory, looking for new things to say and new ways to rattle us to the core." --THE AISLE SEAT"Effectively eerie homage to 70s backwoods horror cinema...Tomaselli has crafted an atmospheric ode to rural chillers such as RACE WITH THE DEVIL and THE EVIL DEAD complete with the latter's roaming subjective camera...The presence of the flapping creature outside does result in a spectacular arterial-spraying throat slash...This New Jersey-shot flick benefits enormously from the unnerving sound design and score crafted by Tomaselli and Kenneth Lampl, and at a trim 81 minutes, it's never dull. Adding to the warped mood and producing nervous laughs are the crazed St. Paule and scary woman child Sanford, whose performance as the grinning Judy recalls the overgrown 'children' of underrated 80s slasher AMERICAN GOTHIC." --UNCUT Magazine"Satan's Playground is a fun, entertaining horror movie...The smoky lighting and colored tones are reminiscent of a lot of sixties and seventies Italian horror films...If you've got the hardware to make it happen, do yourself a favor and watch the film with the 5.1 track turned way up as this is a really nice, aggressive, atmospheric mix. Satan's Playground is one of the better and more creative low budget features to come out in some time." --Dvdtalk.com "With heavy influences from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Evil Dead, Satan’s Playground is filled to the brim with gothic imagery and sadistic style, all of which make it a fun, yet bizarre, nightmarish ride....This 81-minute fright fest is a nice little horror treat... Watch this film with the lights down and the volume up, and prepare for a jolting experience that would be a great addition to your Halloween night movie lineup. Satan's Playground is Dante Tomaselli’s best film to date." --IGN.com "Writer/director Dante Tomaselli's horror picture Satan's Playground (2005) -- the filmmaker's third feature outing -- subverts horror expectations and genre clich?s by deliberately suspending point-by-point logical threads, carefully steering around gore, and enlisting an acting ensemble not of teenagers, but of actors who are predominantly well into middle age. The picture involves the Bruno family -- siblings Donna (Felissa Rose) and Paula (Ellen Sandweiss), Donna's hubby, Frank (Salvatore Paul Piro), and autistic son, Sean (Danny Lopes), and newly single Paula's baby, Anthony -- who are en route to a vacation in the New Jersey Pine Barrens when their car gets stuck in the middle of nowhere. In an effort to solicit help, they inadvertently fall prey to a clan of white-trash, backwoods psychotics, while several are picked off, one at a time, by a strange, unknown predator from out of the night sky. Cast with veterans of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Evil Dead movies, Tomaselli pays loving tribute to slasher movies of cinema past." --Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide "Tomaselli isn't concerned with a clear narrative, but rather with nightmare imagery, and he leaves some terrifying impressions. The director, who also crafted an effectively creepy score for the film, is horns-down a talented filmmaker." --Rue Morgue Magazine "A desolate world full of childhood ghost stories brought to life...Wonderfully grotesque, lush...An amazing exercise in the uncanny, Satan’s Playground is a must for adventurous viewers." --About.com "Tomaselli knows how to exploit the eeriness of the New Jersey woods for maximum effect, giving the film some Blair Witch/Evil Dead-style moments. Best yet, the total lack of CGI makes you think you're watching a movie from the 1980s. What I like about Satan's Playground is that it is unpredictable, and evokes an eerie sense of hopelessness absent in so many horror films today. The cinematography, music and some of the gore effects are brilliant. They don't make 'em like this anymore, folks. At least nobody but Tomaselli does." --Esplatter.com "Come frolic in this freaky forest." --Horror.com "A very well made film...Tomaselli is a talented director...Unlike SCREAM, SATAN’S PLAYGROUND is not an attempt to parody horror films, nor is it a post-modern take on the genre. It is a faithful recreation of a particular style of horror film, which to his credit Tomaselli pulls off masterfully..." --Film Fanaddict Magazine "Tomaselli gave me a ninety minute heart attack by putting an infant into the hands of a bunch of sadistic people...Satan's Playground is a great mind-blowing psychological horror film." ---Horrorreview.com "Dante Tomaselli's latest movie, Satan's Playground, presents the classic slasher plot device of a carload of people breaking down in the woods, and one by one encountering the evil that dwells there. But within this traditional framework, fans of Horror or Desecration will still recognize trademarks of the director's offbeat internal dialogue, of telling a story that begins and ends within itself, taking little for outside reference. Satan's Playground, like the two movies before it, feels like it takes place on its own little planet, where people say and do strange things with stranger consequences. It’s horror that plays with your mind, Tomaselli-style." --Visions of Terror "Outstanding visual flair...breathtaking. Tomaselli uses his camera like an artist uses his brush and the results are spectacular. I can’t stress enough that you should seek out this film and see a talented director doing his thing before he makes it big. We are going to be talking about Dante Tomaselli for many years to come." --Houseofhorrors.com "SATAN'S PLAYGROUND is a fast journey into a world of hysteria that I absolutely loved..." --Terrorhook.com "Great ride and astounding audio/visual experience...A relentless and uber-entertaining circus of horror...." -- Arrow in the Head "This harrowing account of a bickering family's unexpected descent into demonic madness is a cut above most of the genre fare hitting the multiplexes today. Satan's Playground is a remarkable tale of terror which will stay with you long after viewing." --Pitofhorror.com "Very dreamlike and surreal...I fully enjoyed this film...Turn the lights off, grab some popcorn and check it out." --Horror-movies.ca "Old-school and loving it, with nods to the 70's-80's classic scare films..." --Einsiders.com "Made for a minuscule $500,000 budget with a running time of 81 minutes, the film looks and sounds incredible. The score, soundtrack and sound design are superb with Tomaselli and Kenneth Lampl contributing everything from an eerie music box theme to Tomaselli?s trademark layered sound design from hell." --Bloody-Disgusting.com "Dante Tomaselli is a unique, visionary filmmaker....more of a painter..." --Icons of Fright "A throwback to twisted '70s and '80s survivalist horror, Satan's Playground gathers an impressive crop of actors who've appeared in mega-popular horror films. Writer/director Dante Tomaselli has some serious moves, and was able to squeeze every dollar's worth out of the production. The lighting is consistently excellent, the camerawork top-notch and the production design is tight. This is a top-shelf production." --Dvdverdict.com "A storybook fairy tale on acid...strange sounds and spooky atmosphere...There's a psychic lash of pain in the way Tomaselli shows violence. His movies are taut and fast, careening along with the camera as stand-in for supernatural force and oppressive dread. Satan's Playground announces filmmaker Dante Tomaselli as a horror talent to watch out for." --Slant Magazine "Dante Tomaselli has gained quite a following...There are some nice shivery touches, like some unexpectedly effective makeup effects during some attack scenes. The vibe brings to mind many of Tobe Hooper..s films, especially with the doom-laden feeling that has you wondering if any of the characters, lead or otherwise, will make it out of their predicament in one piece. There..s also some pretty cool sound design to enhance the atmosphere, plus a brooding original score by Tomaselli and Kenneth Lampl...For a low-budget feature, PLAYGROUND looks like it cost a helluva lot more, and everyone turns in solid performances..." --KillerReviews.com "Satan’s Playground is a homage to the horror films that many of us grew up with, but it’s much more than this. With a full throated scream-queen performance from Felissa Rose and an approach to violence that is shocking rather than explicit Tomaselli clearly knows and loves his chosen genre. And this is a taut, superbly paced shocker that really does keep you on the edge of your seat throughout." --Pulpmovies.com "Satan's Playground is gripping and hugely atmospheric, and again confirms the director as one of the most interesting and original filmmakers working in the genre." --BeyondHollywood.com Official Dante Tomaselli Site: WWW.HORRORTHEMOVIE.COM..DVDreview.com - Dante Tomaselli's HorrorFlipsideMovies.com reviews HorrorDVDinmypants.com interviews Dante TomaselliCinescape Magazine reviews HORRORCreature Corner articleTower Records - HorrorTHE CINEMA LASER DVD REVIEW -- HORRORThe San Francisco Independent Film Festival - HorrorMovieHole.net Dante Tomaselli & The Evil Dead remakeFangoria article: Dante Tomaselli Talks Evil Dead AmbitionsSF Indie Film Fest - Satan's PlaygroundAmazon.com - HorrorAnchor Bay Press Release Satan's PlaygroundEinsiders reviews Satan's Playground
