December, 2008
Below are links to articles posted in December, 2008
Huge Amicus Horror Fest
UK readers — here’s a rare chance to catch the classic anthology and non-anthology horror films from Amicus studio on the big screen, including “Asylum,” “And Now the Screaming Starts,” “House That Dripped Blood” and the ultra-rare “Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors.”
The Barbican Theatre London is presenting a festival entitled “Amicus: The Studio That Dripped Blood.” The Barbican Centre is the largest multi-arts centre in Europe, featuring art, film, music, theatre, dance and education all under one roof and under one creative direction.
Here’s a roundup of what’s playing:
The House That Dripped Blood (PG)
19:00 / Amicus? horror uncovering the dark deeds inside the gothic mansion
20 Feb 09 / 19:00 / Cinema 1
Dr. Terror?s House of Horrors (PG)
21:15 / Werewolves, vampires, creeping vines and voodoo
20 Feb 09 / 21:15 / Cinema 1
The Land That Time Forgot (U)
14:00 / Amicus’ most ambitious, expensive and ultimately successful feature
21 Feb 09 / 14:00 / Cinema 2
Scream and Scream Again (18)
16:00 / The first feature to unite the unholy trinity of Price, Cushing and Lee ? quite a coup for Amicus
21 Feb 09 / 16:00 / Cinema 2
Tales From The Crypt (18)
18:30 / In the best known of the Amicus anthologies, a group of people trapped in a crypt are shown their futures
21 Feb 09 / 18:30 / Cinema 2
?and Now the Screaming Starts (15)
20:30 / Supernatural period tale of a young aristocrat couple plagued by a malevolent ancestor
21 Feb 09 / 20:30 / Cinema 2
The Birthday Party (15)
14:00 / Screen adaptation of Harold Pinter?s enigmatic play with array of tricks and torments
22 Feb 09 / 14:00 / Cinema 2
Madhouse (18)
16:30 / Resurrections, murders and Vincent Price starring as Dr. Death
22 Feb 09 / 16:30 / Cinema 2
The Psychopath (15)
18:30 / Murder thriller with excellent music
22 Feb 09 / 18:30 / Cinema 2
Asylum (15)
18:30 / Grotesque portmanteau set in an institution where ?you have nothing to lose but your mind?…
23 Feb 09 / 18:30 / Cinema 2
I, Monster (12A)
18:30 / The film boasts a curiously experimental look
24 Feb 09 / 18:30 / Cinema 2
The Beast Must Die (15)
18:30 / This darkly funny, superbly bloody, country estate set became the very definition of ?cult film?
25 Feb 09 / 18:30 / Cinema 2
Click here for more.
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Rockin’ Promo Video for Horror Movie ‘Text’
Here’s a rock-video style promo video for horror film “Text,” with music by Beau Osland and For the Love of Ivy. Eh, OK.
But what is this movie? Directed by Brian McCulley from a screenplay by Brian McCulley, the film finds four friends searching the answers to a series of deadly text messages killing students at their high school. It stars Hanna Hall, Reggie Bannister, and Jonathon Trent.
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Viral Video to Promote ‘The Unborn’
David S. Goyer’s new horror movie “The Unborn” is hitting theaters January 9, and the promo folks have already cooked up a nifty viral video to go along with it.
Pretty hilarious.
The official Web site can be found here. And here’s the synopsis:
Sometimes the soul of a dead person has been so tainted with evil that it is denied entrance to heaven. It must endlessly wander the borderlands between worlds, desperately searching for a new body to inhabit.
And sometimes it actually succeeds.
Writer/director David Goyer (Blade: Trinity, The Invisible, Batman Begins) gives a terrifying glimpse into the life of the undead in The Unborn, a supernatural thriller that follows a young woman pulled into a world of nightmares when a demonic spirit haunts her and threatens everyone she loves.
Casey Beldon (Odette Yustman) hated her mother for leaving her as a child.
Teaser Trailer for ‘Subhysteria’
Sixteen people get stuck in a subway car in NYC for 36 hours, without communication, food, way to escape, and a fatal sensation that they are going to die. A raw display of human behavior when one confronts the possibility of death.
Directed by Venezuela’s Leonard Zelig, “Subhysteria” is a drama-thriller that looks like it may qualify as a horror movie. Watch for it at a film festival near you.
Check out the “Subhysteria” site here.
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Vote for the Best Horror Movies of 2008
2008 was a pretty interesting year for horror films. There were a lot of good horror movies made in ‘08. But I’d argue the best films didn’t come from the U.S., but rather France and Sweden. I think easily the best film of the year was “Let the Right One In,” which only saw a limited release stateside.
The best U.S. production may have been the barely released “Baby Blues”, a film that blows away anyone with the guts to watch it and is guaranteed to become a cult classic.
Tiffany Shepis – Night of the Demons, Abominable, Tromeo/Juliet
One of the hardest working women in horror, Tiffany Shepis is due to star in the remake of the horror classic Night of the Demons. It’s going to be a tough movie to top, but with Tiffany’s brains, body, boobs, and bloodlust, (seriously, the girl loves being covered in blood), they just might do [...]
2 Gifts to I will ask Zombie Santa
1- Money.
Ok, not freaky, but increasingly desirable as this financial crisis unfolds, groteste, spewing, as the cloverfield monster. Honestly, is there any reason to ask for anything else this Christmas than a bit more stability and money for all of us? And that is what I am wishing the most. No more of this 1929-look alike
2- Horror DVDs.
A classic gift idea, but I am not greedy. I do not require limited or special editions nor pristine autographed covers. Just good horror movies that allow one to stray from his everyday paradigms. In other words : entertainment, the bloody kind. And what should I get? Well, to tell you the truth, because I was a translator for the Beijing Olympics from February to August, I didn’t get to watch that many horror flicks this year, so… all of them…
Ok… Not quite realistic… Between the annoyance that was the insipid Saw 5 (seriously, Saw franchise, Saw 1 to 4 went from good to mildly interesting, that was just awful – is anyone seriously calling that a twist) and the lot of horror movies that were really just breasts pictorials (a.k.a Zombie Strippers, Blood and Sex Nightmare), what was there?
Some scary movies came through for us shameless bloodhounds : The Signal (original, funny, great), Feast 2 : Sloppy Seconds (funny, better than the first), Let the Right One In (intelligent, slow-paced, great vampire movie, but not for everyone), Funny Games U.S. (not as memorable as the original one, but still stays with you), The Strangers (leaves a temporary sense of discomfort if someone happens to knock on your door when the credits start, and one of the rare horror films I saw that made people scream in the theatre), Eden Lake (nothing new, but damn efficient, and I have liked Kelly Reilly since L’Auberge Espagnole), Dead Set (you want zombies and blood, here are some zombies and blood).
So the question is : what should I get? All these are great, and are on my list. And so is Pulse 3…
Yes.
You read correctly.
Pulse 3.
While I will never waiver in my disapointment Pulse 1, the flafla American remake of the great Japanese horror Kairo, Pulse 2 redeemed the trilogy in my eyes. With characters that didn’t make me want to barf, a protagonist that wasn’t on PMS, actors that did not get on my nerves generally speaking, and an ending that wasn’t too sloppy, I enjoyed this second instalment. Maybe it was the absence of Kristen Bell. Or maybe it was the change in the directing chair. Let’s see. Some guy named Jim Sorenzo directed Pulse 1. Joel Soisson, not some guy, wrote and directed Pulse 2 : The Afterlife and Pulse 3. Soisson may not be the greatest director around, but I like some of his movies, including the first three Prophecy movies, and his work on Pulse 2 made me want to see more, ie see Pulse 3. Call me curious. I think there is hope.
And if there is hope for Pulse, there might be some hope for that economy thing too. Just ask Zombie Santa
New 30-Second Spot for ‘My Bloody Valentine’
Well, here’s at least one remake that promises to be better than the original.
In “My Bloody Valentine 3-D,” being directed by Patrick Lussier, Jaime King stars as Sarah Palmer, a woman who has married her teenage sweetheart’s nemesis, and the pair have a child together. “When she and her first love are reunited, it becomes clear that she still carries a torch for the man.” Watch for it in 3D on Jan. 16 — right around the corner.. . .
Good News — The ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ Remake Is Stillborn
There are simply some movies that must not be remade. Roman Polanski’s “Rosemary’s Baby” was slated for a redo from Platinum Dunes. Collider interviewed Dunes producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form who said the project has been aborted.
“We went down that road and we even talked to the best writers in town and it feels like it might not be do-able. We couldn?t? come up with something where it felt like it was relevant and we could add something to it other than what it was so we?re now not going to be doing that film.”
Meanwhile, they are still making remakes to “Nightmare on Elm Street” and “The Birds.” . .
‘My Bloody Valentine’ to Be 2D on Most Screens
This is bummer news for anyone not in a big city with an awesome cineplex. Unfortunately, “My Bloody Valentine 3D” will be playing in 2D on most screens.
The New York Times reports today:
Like all studios experimenting with 3-D, Lionsgate is struggling with a shortage of theaters equipped to project the work. By the release date for ?My Bloody Valentine 3D,? Lionsgate will have only 900 3-D screens available, so it will show a 2-D version of the movie on about 1,600 screens.
A neat story about the 3D trend which is gaining steam in horror, though.. . .
‘Final Destination’ Goes High Def
Just in time for the 3-D release of “Final Destination 4,” the 2001 original will hit the high-def Blu-Ray format on April 7.
New Line Cinema will unleash the now almost classic teen horror film as one of the few horror titles from the studio in the new format. No word on special features. You probably can expect to see the same stuff that’s on the low-def release.
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‘Chemical Wedding’ Is Now ‘Crowley’
Bruce Dickinson’s “The Chemical Wedding” is one of the best heavy metal albums of all time. The film he wrote that was somewhat based upon it, however, is changing its name from “The Chemical Wedding” to the more commercial “Crowley” for its U.S. release.
Hitting DVD March 10 courtesy of Anchor Bay, the newly titled “Crowley” is going to marketed as a film about the legendary occult figure at the center of the film’s storyline, Aleister Crowley. In the movie, written by Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson and directed by Julian Doyle, Simon Callow plays a professor who becomes the reincarnation of occultist Aleister Crowley.
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Black Sunday
On Blu-Ray Today – ‘Planet Terror’ and ‘Death Proof’
It’s a pretty light week for DVD horror releases but a few major Blu-Ray titles are being unleashed. “A Nightmare on Elm Street” silently crept its way into the format today too, althought the title is already sold out at Amazon.
All three releases are identical to their DVD releases — with little in the way of special features — but boast the impressive high-def picture quality you’re paying extra for.. . .
Variety Confirms Rob Zombie to Write and Direct ‘Halloween 2′
Variety has apparently confirmed that Rob Zombie is helming the sequel to his own “Halloween” remake.
I say apparently because I actually can’t find the Variety piece confirming. But it’s being widely reported as having been reported. The most credible source may be Empire:
There’s good news and there’s bad news for horror fans today, folks. The bad news is that Rob Zombie has signed to write and direct H2, the sequel to his godawful remake of Halloween.
The good news is… erm.
New Trailer for ‘Eden Log’
Heading to U.S. screens courtesy of the Six Shooters series (which brought us “Timecrimes”), “Eden Log” stacks up as a solid French sci-fi horror film.
A man wakes up deep inside a cave. Suffering amnesia, he has no recollection of how he came to be here or of what happened to the man whose body he finds beside him. Tailed by a mysterious creature, he must continue through this strange and fantastic world. Enclosed, Tolbiac has no other option to reach the surface than to use REZO ZERO, secret observing cells in this cemetery-like abandoned mine.
Birth of an ‘Unborn’ Web Site — Plus New Stills
David S. Goyer’s new horror movie “The Unborn” is hitting theaters January 9. Now “Blade Trinity” was pretty weak, but Goyer has more than proven himself as writer and story creator of the Batman films. He deserves a second chance as a horror director.
The official Web site can be found here. Meanwhile, we have a ton of new stills from the movie which can be seen below.
More ‘Timecrimes’ Screening Locations
“Timecrimes” is the best time travel horror movie ever. (Read our review here). It’s in limited release right now, so if you’re lucky you can check it out at a theater near you. Here are the latest screening locations.
12/19/2008
Berkeley, CA: Shattuck Cinemas 10
San Jose, CA: Camera 3
Washington, DC: E Street Cinema
Minneapolis, MN: Lagoon Cinema
Portland, OR: Cinema 21 Theatre
Seattle, WA: Varsity Theatre
1/2/2009
San Diego, CA: Ken Cinema
Chicago, IL: Music Box
Nashville, TN: Belcourt Theatre
1/9/2009
San Antonio, TX: Santikos Bijou @ Crossroads 6
1/24/2009
Rochester, NY: Dryden Theatre
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Poster for Mockumentary Horror ‘Lake Mungo’
Here’s the new poster for Australian mockumentary horror movie “Lake Mungo.”
In it, a family mourns the loss of their daughter. Supernatural events ensue. A mystery unfolds. Paramount Vantage is already making a remake — and this “foreign film” is in English already!
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Trailer for Direct-to-DVD Horror ‘The Tribe’
The movie tells the story about a group of friends who find themselves fighting for their lives against a group of humanoid creatures, after their boat crashes onto a deserted island. Stars Jewel Staite (Firefly), Nikki Griffin (The OC), Kellan Lutz (Twilight), Justin Baldoni (Everwood) and more. The movie was remade as “The Lost Tribe” due to production problems, and is also due for release in 2009. It has an entirely different cast, director, script etc.
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