So here's how it goes, according to Slash Film.  Uruguay's own 30 year old Federico Alvarez makes a short called Panic Attack and plugs it up on Youtube.  Sam Raimi is impressed by what Alvarez was able to do with a computer and a low budget (and probably a shaky-cam).  Through his company Ghost House Raimi, according to reports, puts up a budget of $30-40 million for Alvarez to make a full-scale feature film.  Alvarez and his girlfriend/co-writer are now living in L.A. rent-free, and have nice, shiny new cars.  And $1 million dollars funding just to write the script.

 Sounds great, right?  Raimi, a former low budget filmmmaker who's gone on to be a Hollywood hotshot with the SPIDER-MAN franchise, giving back to another low budget filmmaker who will hopefully follow the same path.  Hollywood normally doesn't work like this, so this is refreshing.

If only Alvarez' Youtube special were anything special.  It boils down to 3 minutes or so of low rent 2012, with robots that are nicely rendered, but don't look like they're organically set against the background at all, as they smash through the city of Uruguay (probably the only city left that Roland Emmerich hasn't yet destroyed).  And what's with the use of the 28 DAYS LATER music?  Don't get me wrong;  this is impressive for something likely done on a home PC.  But to make an investment of $30-40 million seems a massive leap of faith.

I fear that if PANIC ATTACK gets turned into a feature-length program, we'll be looking at something closer to the next TRANSFORMERS than the next EVIL DEAD.  Hopefully, I'm wrong.

Here's the Youtube version of Panic Attack:

--Phil Fasso