January, 2008
Below are links to articles posted in January, 2008
More on the ‘Giallo’ Release
More details have emerged on The Weinstein Company’s forthcoming release of the yet-to-be-filmed “Giallo” from director Dario Argento.
‘Paranormal Activity’ Gets Distributor, Remake
The L.A. Times reports that Dreamworks is now remaking Slamdance “Blair witch”-style title “Paranormal Activity” and acquired rights to the original release as well.
Englund May Be Back as Krueger
Actor could return for the remake
‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ Remake
The Hollywood Reporter confirms a Platinum Dunes remake is on the way.
Meet George Romero at ‘Diary of the Dead’ Advance
Museum of the Moving Image in New York City is sponsoring a special screening with Romero himself
The Orphanage Review
Asian filmmakers are indubitably the masters of ghost movies, but Spanish filmmakers are a close second. Movies like The Devil’s Backbone (Guillermo Del Toro), The Others (Alejandro Alejandro Amenábar), The Abandoned (Nacho Cerdà) and The Orphanage (Juan Antonio Bayona) are both powerful and terrifying, yet very artistic. There is no need for blood, razors or any other killer apparatus. The Spaniards have a way with horror, and The Orphanage is the latest hispanophone movie to demonstrate that.
In this movie produced by Guillermo del Toro, Laura returns to the orphanage where she grew up, with the intent to reopening it with her husband and adopted son Simon. When Simon disappears mysteriously Laura will become convinced that the orphanage is haunted and that ghosts know what happened to Simon. Following her instinct, she will discover the secret tragedies that unfolded in the Orphanage.
New filmmaker Juan Antonio Bayona’s horror movie leaves you guessing as to what is reality and what is fiction. Are there really ghosts? In the end, whether or not ghosts really haunt the Orphanage is superfluous: this is one of the intense movies to hit the screen lately.
With its measured doses or horror and suspense, it’s psycologically unstable main character and it’s use of the Orphanage, it is, in fact, one of the greatest ghost movies I have seen.
I am Legend Review - DVD date
I am Legend is coming out on DVD April 28, and it is one of the movies I am getting for my Easter sock. Here what I think: Richard Matheson’s novel was unique, a survival epic which is hard to dissociate from, but I am Legend dissociates from it in a way that is at least entertaining. In this version of the cinematographic adaptation of I am Legend (previous adaptations: The Last Man on Earth and Omega Man, both of which I liked), Robert Neville is a scientist searching for a cure for the virus that decimated the world’s population. Immuned to the plague, Neville is the sole survivor of a new world, strangled by man’s own science and the beasts that it created. During the day, Neville plays golf, shops and hunts deer in the middle of Time Square, but at night he barricades himself, hides from a vampire race created by the Virus. When he meets two other survivors, his house is overrun by the vampires, and he must choose between following the other survivors to a colony in Vermont or sacrifice himself for the cure that he just found. Of course, he chooses the sacrifice. And that’s when the movie makes a wrong turn. IMO, I am Legend was a pretty good movie… you could feel the emptiness and the loneliness… you could imagine what New York would look like without man’s trangressions, nature taking back the human spaces (so kudoz to director Francis Lawrence)… but that ending… Reminded me of the ending to Pulse. I hated that ending as much as I loved the ending to Kairo…
But I am digressing.
I am Legend was a good watch. People I know all found it at the very least entertaining… but hated the ending. So here’s the good news: there is going to be an alternate ending. That’s right. Reading on different blogs and such, there is reason to believe there will be an I am Legend alternate ending, which is believed to be less "happy Hollywood".
So there you go, thats the reason I am getting this one for my Easter sock.
Population 436
The residents of Rockwell Falls are dying for you to visit.
Steve Kady is a census taker and has been sent on special assignment to the small rural town of Rockwell Falls. For well over a hundred years this quaint little farm town has seen very little change, especially in the town’s population. It seems the population of Rockwell Falls has always been 436, always has been and always will if the locals have anything to say about it. As Kady gets welcomed in with open arms, he soon learns that once those arms get around you, they never let go. But the question is, is it for your own good, or for something much worse?
Population 436 is a straight to video release that runs in the same vein as The Village and Children of the Corn to some degree. It’s also a pretty entertaining little film that can be easily overlooked.
Trailer for UK Horror ‘The Cottage’
Film features Doug Bradley of ‘Hellraiser’ fame.
Big Day for DVD
‘Tragic Ceremony, ‘Invasion’, ‘Val Lewton Collection’
More Theaters for ‘Diary of the Dead’
Is it playing near you?
Trapped - Saw IV Online Game
Start biting your nails… Saw IV is coming out on DVD this January 22 and will be available in rated or unrated editions. Saw IV, which stars Tobin Bell, Scott Patterson, and Betsy Russell grossed 65 millions at the box office. Yup. The successful franchise 5th instalment should be hitting theatres next year.
And now there’s an online game (follow the link), where you can measure your skills at surviving a "Jigsaw moment". The game is challenging, couldn’t finish it. The only combination I figured out was the "flames" in Jeffrey’s cell and the "lightning bolt" in Michael’s cell. That’s the only kind of walkthrough I can provide.
Trailer for ‘Babysitter Wanted’
Looks decent. No release day set for this horror movie though.
First 10 Minutes of ‘All the Boys Love Mandy Lane’
The film is hitting UK screens in a couple weeks but doesn’t have a U.S. release date set
Del Toro to Direct ‘The Hobbit’
The horror filmmaker hits it big, really big.
Confirmed Theaters for ‘Diary of the Dead’
Find out if George Romero’s next is playing at a theater near you
Catch a ‘Storm Warning’ on February 5
We covered this film a bit during Screamfest LA. This horror movie, which won an award or two at the fest, is heading to DVD in less than two weeks.
Doomed
One island, five teams, let the hunt begin.
The year is 2020. Ten Convicts, derelicts, and other social miscreants have been put on an island in place of a jail term. They have been placed into five teams and their only task is to survive and get off the island in three days. The winner will get a pardon for their crimes as well as a cash prize of $50 million. The catch is that the island is swarming with zombies.
That's the only good thing about the movie. The synopsis itself is at least interesting, but everything else is terrible. To start, the island in the movie is called “Isla de Romero” so the director is obviously familiar with the Dead Movie Saga. This may seem like a good sign, but the zombies are fast and look like people running around with bad makeup on. They can also be killed by means outside of a head shot. There's one zombie who gets killed from getting its throat slashed.
Free ‘Signal’ Song Available for Download
It’s a free download of a Joy Division cover
Gigantic ‘Possession’ Poster
Sarah Michelle Gellar fans take note
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