Hard to get much of a read on new French horror film The Shadow based on this short clip, but I thought it looked interesting enough to share anyway. Read on for the synopsis:
“So as to gather pieces of evidence for their doctorate thesis, three criminology students go with a camera to the place where a notorious serial killer performed his murderous deeds. But they are about to realize that entering such a sanctuary does not come without consequences.”
Is it just me, or does the music sound like it came right out The Blair Witch Project?
No official release date has been set yet, but sources say to expect it before the end of the year.
There have been many attempts made over the years to bring HP Lovecraft’s fiction to the big screen. Some of them have been more successful than others (oddly enough, what may be the most successful attempt—John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness—wasn’t actually based on a Lovecraft story at all…), but none has managed to perfectly capture the feelings of dread and terror inspired by the author’s work. That changed back in 2005—not with a big budget effects-laden Hollywood extravaganza, but instead thanks to a short film put together by the HP Lovecraft society. The Call of Cthulhu is not only the greatest HPL adaptation to date, it’s an amazing cinematic achievement regardless of subject matter.
While plot details regarding Brian Keene’s new foray into a world of the living dead remain hard to come by, the author has given us a small taste of what to expect when his new comic series debuts this summer. Above you’ll find the first issue cover art for Keene’s The Last Zombie. Looks pretty spiffy to me.
Keep up with all of Keene’s latest projects at his official website.
I really wish I was going to SXSW next week, because as usual, a ton of cool sounding movies are playing. Amer, A Serbian Film, and now Jimmy Tupper vs. The Goatman of Bowie.
That’s the cool new one sheet above (click it for the larger version). Sort of reminds me of an animated version of the poster for Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer. The first film in a planned trilogy, JTVTGoB (Christ, even the acronym is long…) was written, directed, and stars Andrew Bowser. If you’re in the Austin area, you can catch it several times during the SXSW film festival, starting on the 14th. Read on for the plot synopsis and then jump past the break for the trailer.
“Part modern horror documentary and part old school monster movie, JIMMY TUPPER VS. THE GOATMAN OF BOWIE is an innovative and quirky film that challenges the notion of found footage and what it means to be scared in the woods. Jimmy Tupper (Andrew Bowser) is a no one; he’s nothing. He spends his days working at a Starbucks in suburban Maryland and his nights drinking and playing Rock Band. His friends see him as the resident stoner and waste of space. One night they decide to pull a prank on poor Jimmy, and while he is passed-out drunk, they leave him in the middle of the woods of Bowie, Maryland.
The next day Jimmy is nowhere to be found. When he finally emerges from the woods, he is beaten and bloodied and making outlandish claims. He says he’s seen a monster, the famed “Goatman” of Bowie. His friends believe this to be the drunken ramblings of an overexcited nitwit, but Jimmy knows better. He heads to the woods determined to capture footage of the elusive creature and prove what he knows to be real.
Was Jimmy only dreaming? Did he really see a monster? Only time, and Jimmy’s video camera, will tell.”
There’s probably nothing I can really say to prepare you to view the trailer for Dennis Law’s Hong Kong horror film Womb Ghosts, so I’m not even going to try. Sure, it rips off the girl ghost thing Japan is so infamous for in a pretty hardcore way, but it also pushes the boundaries of good taste by featuring more aborted fetuses than I’ve seen in a long time. Add in some really awful English subs and you wind up with a trailer that has to be seen to be believed. Thanks to the guys at Twitch for spreading the love and aborted children…
Here’s the plot breakdown:
Life after death of a fetus inside a woman’s body exists as a Womb Ghost. Unnatural termination of such life will turn the baby into the evilest and most vicious kind of spirit.
A mental hospital is haunted by spirits, the mysterious miscarriage of a young and beautiful inmate causes the authority to investigate. Only one answer can be given to the existence of such an ungodly creature…Womb Ghost.
Womb Ghosts, a non-stop horror experience where haunting begins when life ends…
The marketing department for Platinum Dunes’ remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street is kicking things into high gear. We’ve had set reports, a new trailer, and assorted other goodies over the past few weeks–and today we get a new character banner featuring none other than Mr. Krueger himself.
I like this piece of advertising–but I will say that it confirms what I hadn’t realized until recently: Jackie Earle Haley is really fucking short. I’m not saying that because Rooney Mara looks huge (I understand the concept of foreground and perspective–thank you Intro to Humanities!) but because looking at Haley in this pic makes it pretty clear he’s a thin and tiny guy. I’ve got no problem with that–Englund wasn’t big either and he made it work–but I’m just finally noticing that this guy is a lot smaller than I realized.
Anyway, enough of my pointless digressions about Jackie Earle Haley being smaller than I thought. Check out the new banner above (click for a larger version) and expect lots more Elm Street news between now and April 30th.
I wasn’t sure what to expect going into Travis Betz’s Lo. All I really knew was that it was about a guy who summoned a demon. Having seen about a bazillion horror movies during my life and career, this vague plot synopsis could have gone one of a hundred ways. I was pretty cocky—figuring I could guess where it was headed. I was also completely wrong. Lo is a film about a guy who summons a demon, but it’s more than that—it’s a romantic drama with horror undertones, a comedy with gore, a musical, and a stage play captured on film. It’s not without flaws—some serious, others forgivable—but it’s difficult to look at what Betz has achieved on what was surely a miniscule budget and hold those negatives against him.
I still have no clue as to whether or not Shutter Island is a horror film. Every time I ask someone, I get conflicting answers. That being said, it still dominated the weekend box office for a second weekend in a row. It had company in the top 3, where Breck Eisner’s remake of George Romero’s The Crazies landed when everything was said and done.
Scorsese’s creepy film (starring Leo DiCaprio) closed out its second weekend in theaters with 22.2 million dollars according to Box Office Mojo, bringing its total haul to 75 million dollars. With a reported 80 million dollar budget, the film will certainly turn a profit.
Meanwhile, The Crazies opened with an impressive 16.5 million dollar take. That put it roughly 2 million dollars behind second place film Cop Out. The Crazies showed on roughly 700 fewer screens. The Timothy Olyphant vehicle had a 20 million dollar budget, so it looks like a given that it will move into profitability by the time of next week’s tally.
My pals over at Twitch posted a cool trailer for the British horror film Salvage this morning, and since the internet is all about sharing, I figured I’d pass it along for your perusal.
Here’s the plot synopsis:
“It’s Christmas Eve and a quiet cul-de-sac is suddenly plunged into a world of violence, terror and paranoia when a group of heavily armed military personnel storms the area, sealing off the close and ordering the residents at gunpoint to retreat inside their homes. Unsure if this is the first sign of a terrorist attack, or something worse, one local single mother, Beth (Neve Mcintosh), finds it in herself to fight to save her estranged daughter, Jodie (Linzey Cocker), who is visiting her for the holiday but is now stranded across the street in a neighbour’s house. However, with growing dread, the trapped residents soon discover that the imminent threat is far more monstrous than any of them could possibly imagine. Only one thing is certain… survival is no longer guaranteed.”
The film is set to make its British debut on March 19th, then turn up on DVD on March 22nd. I’m not sure if you’ll be able to view it via VOD through iTunes here in America, but I suspect we’ll see it turn up on our shores sooner or later.
Check out the trailer by pointing your browser here.
