Let’s take a little trip. Two trips, actually. One will take about 15 minutes, the other less than 8. The first takes you careening along a shifty desert highway where no one is to be trusted and nothing is what it seems. The second is a descent into the hysterical world of self-help psychology and sexual stereotypes. One makes you laugh so hard with cathartic release, you’ll feel like you just had a deep-tissue massage. The other bundles it’s chuckles with skin-crawling tension. These are the kinds of sensations you’ll experience when Writer/Director, Joseph D’Angora is your tour guide, and the rugged terrain you travel are the dark landscapes of his films.

Strangers in the Night” and “Wild Highway” are the latest releases from D’Angora’s Morningwood Productions. D’Angora and Co-Producer, Matt Corey pooled together the little money they had in 1996 to buy some video and lighting equipment. Since then the two have completed nine film and video shorts. Trading off duties as writer, producer, director and actor, and working with a troupe of exceptional talent including Kevin C. Carr, Crystal D’Angora and Heather Fields, their work is finding a following in a variety of venues across the nation including SlamDance, the Premiere Film Festival in Los Angeles, IFilm.com, WhatsOnFilm.com and more. “We came to L.A. to make movies, no matter what.” And that’s exactly what they did. Shooting from the hip with no budget, no permits, and virtually no equipment, (most of “Wild Highway” was lit with flashlights!) their production value rivals others costing much more. We invest in our own creativity.” D’Angora comments, “Writing, directing and acting is what gives a Morningwood film its distinct quality.”

“Strangers in the Night” is an acutely witty piece, portraying D’Angora’s angle on common misunderstandings of male sexuality and relationships. His hilarious performance as Doug, the dim-witted romantic lead, glues viewers to the screen as he searches for his perfect woman. “Everybody knows people get stupid when they fall in love.” D’Angora explains, “My character is just a lot stupider than most others.” This film makes adults of any sex stop and laugh at themselves. In March, 2002 “Strangers in the Night” took the “Best Romantic Comedy” award at ZombieDance, the longest-running alternative co-festival to the SXSW Festival in Autin, TX.

“Wild Highway” shows a much blacker side to D’Angora’s comedy. Taking a B-Movie twist on the well-known urban legend of the lone driver picking up an enchanted hitchhiker, the film defies all of the viewer’s expectations. Who are the saints and who are the demons? What is the face of Evil? Who can you trust? The fast-paced action takes viewers on a hell-ride around Dead Man’s Curve. As a contemporary social comedy, the film is chilling.
In a recent showing at Ohio’s esteemed “Left of Center” festival, the two films received a special screening and reviewers compared them to the works of Warhol. Panel members at Florida’s “American Digital Arts Festival” described D’Angora’s work as “Hilarious!” Both new films are currently seeking distribution and new screening venues.

D’Angora hails from Cape Cod, an area steeped in folklore and ancient magic. He teamed-up with Corey, a fellow Massachusetts native in the 90’s in Los Angeles. He also has several new projects in the works, including “The Legend of Bright Eyes,“ D’Angora’s feature-length project based on northeastern Native American myths and legends. D’Angora is a graduate of Emerson College Film School, Boston, MA.

--M. Lee Bradshaw