Although we’re still in the middle of Winter, let’s take in an old-fashioned bone-chiller, one that may have your teeth chattering before exiting into those gusts of frigid air. This is what the new spook-show THE WOMAN IN BLACK promises to deliver. Appropriately enough, this gothic creeper is the second theatrical feature to be released here in the states from the revived British fright film factory Hammer. Now while the studio might be best remembered in their late fifties to mid seventies heyday for full-blooded monsters ( vampires, zombies, and even a gorgon among many others ) this tale of ghosts seeking revenge on the living  would’ve fit the bill ( perhaps as part of one of their many double bills! ) But will today’s cinema audiences be able to immerse themselves in a haunted, desolate estate full of creaking floors, quickly melting candles, and sinister secrets after a steady diet of graphic,bloody torture and shaky, found video, inspired by ” true events “scares?

After an opening sequence of a horrific multiple-victim demise ( in broad daylight! ) we meet young barrister Arthur Kipps ( Daniel Radcliffe ) in the early years of the twentieth century. Even before he encounters the title character Arthur is haunted-by the memories of his late wife. Left with a young son, he’s floundering at a London law firm. His supervisor will give him one last chance. Travel to a remote country village and organize the papers and estate of a wealthy, recently deceased matron or be sacked. After leaving his boy with his nursemaid ( they’ll journey to the village in a few days ), Arthur boards the train and meets fellow passenger, and village elder, Sam Daily ( Ciaran Hinds ). Noticing Arthur’s newspaper turned to a notice about a spiritualist endorsed by Arthur Conan Doyle ( nice historical touch! ) Sam voices his disgust over ” superstitious nonsense “. At the village train station Sam gives Arthur a lift in his fancy new motor car ( only one in town ) and invites him to dinner on another night. This is the only friendly gesture from any of the townspeople. Arthur’s arrival at the hotel pub is reminiscent of the chilly reception Peter Cushing’s Dr.Van Helsing recieved from the locals in THE HORROR OF DRACULA ( you almost expect to see the welcome mat roll itself up ). Arthur is told that no room has been booked, but luckily the hotelier’s wife steps in to find him a spot. The next day the local barrister who had been working with the estate (  he had not impressed the home office ) tells him that all is fine and puts him a coach returning to the train station. But Arthur is not so easily brushed off, and after a bribe, the coachman takes him to the desolate estate perched on a small island in the middle of a treacherous marsh. There the determined young man unearths the tragic secrets of the house and town, and later finds himself in the path of the ebony-attired spectre of vengeance.

Like those old creep-fests on the TV late shows ( more often seen on TCM nowadays ), THE WOMAN IN BLACK oozes gothic horror atmosphere. Several scenes outside the estate engulf our hero in a pea-soup fog. Things aren’t much more pleasant inside as he must make his way through a maze of creaking corridors, endless hallways, and rooms filled with all many of odd toys and nicknacs ( lots of stuffed monkeys! ). The dark costumes help enhance the black mood of the village and its residents. It’s no wonder the shiny, new automobile is looked down upon by the locals ( an intruding reminder of the new century perhaps? ).

The film boasts a better than average cast for a ” things that go bump in the night ” film outing. Hinds ( THE DEBT ) makes for a fine, resourceful helpmate as Arthur’s only local pal, but his friendly demeanor attempts to mask his sadness. Part of that comes from the tragic past he shares with his wife played by recent Oscar nominee for ALBERT NOBBS Janet McTeer. It’s a fairly small role, but she makes quite an impact with sparse screen time. The main draw for the film ( at least according to the posters ) is the former boy wizard himself in his premiere post-Potter feature film. This may be heralded as his first real ” adult” role, but Radcliffe, even with a constant five-o’clock-shadow ( like Indiana Jones, did he forget to pack his razor? ) and guzzling cordials, has a tough time making his single, widowed father of a five year old believable. The heroic qualities he honed in his former film series do serve him well, though, in his exploration of the musty home turned crypt. Kudos to him for enduring the film’s grossest moments as he explores the tar-like depths of the marsh. Eyew!

As I stated earlier this is an old-fashioned shiver-show. The film makers aren’t re-inventing the wheel ( or the spook-fest ) here. Besides those old British shock film chestnuts, it harkens back to classics like THE UNINVITED, THE INNOCENTS, and THE HAUNTING. When Arthur spends his first night alone in the gloomy estate, I actually thought back to the Don Knotts sleepover in THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN ( Attaboy, Luthor! Sorry, couldn’t resist ). The effects here are mostly old-school, no bouncy CGI banshees roaming the halls. Some of it may be a bit a bit trite or telegraphed ( pesky animals popping out of the shadows ) or just too familiar, but it’s kind of nice to experience a couple of goosebumps instead of the exhaustion caused by the barrages of gore and cruelty in many current ” screamers “.  I hope the Hammer team drags us back into the fog very soon.

Overall Rating : Three and a Half Out of Five Stars

FAMILIAR (2011) is the newest short film from Fatal Pictures, produced by Zach Green, written and directed by Richard Powell, and starring Robert Nolan as John Dodd. This trio of morbidly creative filmmakers are churning out some very intriguing work on what I will simply call a truly indie budget, with a truly indie mindset and determination.

John is an average, uncharismatic husband and father in FAMILIAR, a man who is far from enthusiastic about his relationship with his wife Charlotte, played by Astrida Auza. Charlotte is anything but on the same wavelength as John, who considers her a prison sentence, one from which he secretly wishes an escape by whatever means necessary. There’s an underlying source of John’s disdain for Charlotte, but to give that away would in some part ruin the story.

FAMILIAR is an unconventional narrative, as nearly the entire film is told through voice over, conveying John’s troubled and demented thought process as he goes through his daily visage of being an otherwise typical family man. This technique of storytelling works well enough, but I couldn’t help but find myself wanting more direct dialogue between the characters, perhaps to further detail the state of the family relationship.

Robert Nolan once again nails the eerie, skin-crawling character traits he’s becoming known for to fans of Powell’s films. The key to FAMILIAR, however, is the twist which develops unbeknownst to John Dodd, revealing itself in the end. This is the really tough part about writing a review of FAMILIAR, in that I so so so want to talk about the afore-mentioned twist, but to do so without treading carefully would defeat the effort of seeing the film for yourself. So, what I will say is that the film reminded me – in a complimentary way – of a cross between the style of David Cronenberg’s films such as eXistenZ and a certain cult film from director Jack Sholder.

FAMILIAR features some really cool, considerably shocking special effects, all of which are packed into the final moments of the 24-minute short film. This, along with Nolan’s performance and the film’s dark, creepy atmosphere – aided greatly by the cinematography of Michael Jari Davidson – creates an all-too uncomfortably familiar caricature of a dysfunctional family.

While the premise of the film may seem as familiar as the title itself, Powell takes an idea once explored and ventures off into another parallel concept that works equally well. FAMILIAR takes the audience one step closer to the inevitable feature film debut of the exciting indie filmmaking collaborative, a project I am told is potentially in the works very soon. This makes me smile, deviously.

Check out a behind-the-scenes featurette with director Darren Lynn Bousman and then the new theatrical trailer for the supernatural horror film 11-11-11.

Synopsis:

A horror-thriller set on 11:11 on the 11th day of the 11th month and concerning a entity from another world that enters the earthly realm through Heaven’s 11th gate. Written and directed by SAW II, III, IV director Darren Lynn Bousman, the film stars Timothy Gibbs, Michael Landes, Denis Rafter, and Wendy Glenn.

From Big Air Studios, 11-11-11 – mark the date. You can’t stop what’s coming!

Visit the film’s official site: http://www.11-11-11themovie.com/

“Like” it on Facebook: www.facebook.com/111111themovie

Follow it on Twitter: @111111TheMovie

Experience the Italian horror maestro’s gore classic
as you’ve never seen or heard it before,
digitally restored and remastered!

Blue Underground is bringing its digitally restored and remastered version of Lucio Fulci’s ZOMBIE to theaters across the U.S. and Canada this month. The exclusive midnight screenings give fans the chance to experience Fulci’s horror classic as it’s never been seen or heard before in advance of Blue Underground’s release of ZOMBIE on Blu-ray disc.

A listing of theaters and dates is attached; all screenings will take place on October 21 & 22, 2011, except where noted. Theaters and showtimes are online now at: http://www.blue-underground.com/zombie

“Like” it on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Blue-Underground-Presents-Lucio-Fulcis-Zombie/163552143731516

The late, great Lucio Fulci is known to horror fans for such wildly imaginative and outrageously gory films as THE BEYOND, HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY, and CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD; his influence continues to be felt in the work of contemporary genre directors including Eli Roth (HOSTEL, CABIN FEVER) and Guillermo del Toro (HELLBOY, PAN’S LABYRINTH).

Originally released in Italy as an unofficial sequel to DAWN OF THE DEAD, Fulci’s ZOMBIE is arguably the director’s most popular movie and remains one of the most eye-skewering, skin-ripping, gore-gushingly graphic horror hits of all time! ZOMBIE stars Tisa Farrow (THE GRIM REAPER), Ian McCulloch (CONTAMINATION), Al Cliver (CANNIBALS), and Richard Johnson (THE HAUNTING).

Blue Underground is proud to present ZOMBIE in a new 2K High Definition transfer from the original uncut and uncensored camera negative. Each frame has been lovingly restored to perfection under the supervision of cinematographer Sergio Salvati (THE BEYOND), and the soundtrack has been remastered in 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound to create the most pristine, mind-blowing version of the movie ever seen.

“We are very excited about this theatrical release of ZOMBIE,” says Blue Underground founder and president William Lustig. “We spent hundreds of hours working by hand to restore every frame of the movie. When we premiered our restoration of the film at Fantastic Fest in Austin, fans told us that ZOMBIE looks like it was made yesterday!”

Take a look at how Blue Underground meticulously restored Lucio Fulci’s ZOMBIE

Blue Underground’s Ultimate Edition of ZOMBIE will be released as a 2-Disc Blu-ray and 2-Disc DVD on October 25, 2011.

“When I first saw ZOMBIE, my mind exploded! After the movie ended, I didn’t know if I had dreamed it, because surely such movies didn’t exist! You are about to see a movie that is created by one of the most brilliant minds in the genre, that is full of ‘Oh, my God!’ moments that you will not believe….visceral satisfaction fully guaranteed! Fulci was a ferocious mind, and ZOMBIE is his most savage movie.”

– Guillermo del Toro, director of Hellboy and Pan’s Labyrinth

“One of the all-time great horror classics, Fulci’s ZOMBIE contains the greatest scene ever committed to celluloid, and that is a zombie fighting a shark. Fulci put a stuntman dressed as a zombie in a tank with a live shark and made them fight – it’s one of the craziest, most insane and irresponsible scenes ever put on film. This was 1980, years before CG. And the zombie wins! To this day, nobody knows how in the hell he did it, it’s simply jaw-dropping. There’s nothing you will see in any modern zombie movie that comes close to what Fulci did in 1980. Viva Fulci!”

– Eli Roth, director of Hostel and Cabin Fever

For more information about Blue Underground, visit www.blue-underground.com.
Follow Blue Underground on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/BLUnderground. 

About Blue Underground:

BLUE UNDERGROUND’S goal is to bring cool movies to fans all over the world in beautiful, Criterion-level special editions. They are definitive discs of some remarkable films, all fully restored, remastered and packed with the most mind-blowing extras in the business. We look for fun movies to release, undiscovered films, and films that are really for people that are into movies. We’re committed to bringing these movies out of the dark and back into your life where they belong!

DREAM HOUSE is a mystery story that has very little actual mystery, a thriller with few thrills. This stretched-thin, often deeply labored ghost story makes its 85 minutes feel like 12 days as it weaves around situations of suspense and straight up horror. The stellar cast makes the film fun at times, but by the time the obligatory twist rolls around, you won’t care whodunit or why. Successful publisher Will Atenton (Daniel Craig) leaves his career in New York City to relocate his wife, Libby (Rachel Weisz), and two girls to a quaint Connecticut town to write a novel. But as they settle into their new life, they discover their perfect home was the murder scene of a mother and her children, and the entire town believes it was at the hands of the husband, Peter Ward, who survived. When Will investigates the tragedy, his only lead comes from Ann Paterson (Naomi Watts), a neighbor who was close to the family that died. As Will and Ann piece together the disturbing puzzle, they discover that the story of the last man to leave Will’s dream house will be just as horrifying to the one who came next. Of course, there is a big twist to all this intense labor. Pay attention to DREAM HOUSE and you can guess the twist pretty easily. Sleep through the front half of DREAM HOUSE and you’re likely to figure it out just as easily, or better yet, save your money and just watch the trailer as that shamelessly drops the film’s big reveal.

The not-so-big surprise in DREAM HOUSE happens around the halfway point and the film is actually pretty sturdy when it deals with the early portion of its plot, but it goes off track once the twist is affirmed. At that point it seems to lose interest in attempting to be scary and becomes rushed as it focuses on ways to exonerate its protagonist. Regardless, DREAM HOUSE doesn’t work as a thriller because it has no real element of surprise. Director Jim Sheridan (an Oscar nominee for MY LEFT FOOT slumming badly) has some fun finding ways to cover the tepid insanity, but even that wears out its welcome fairly quickly with an overabundance of “Boo” scares and PG-13 neutered mayhem. Any curiosity about Will’s dilemma is short-lived, but Sheridan keeps dragging the dull story along regardless. One of the problems with DREAM HOUSE is that if you’ve ever seen a horror movie where the protagonist’s own worst enemy is himself — it’s all too easy to figure out what’s going on.

While DREAM HOUSE’s plot hinges upon recycled twists from far better movies, its distinctive trump card is Daniel Craig, whose wonderfully frazzled portrait of madness and confusion almost makes this minor thriller seem fresh at times. Fans of Craig and the rest of the cast may find something to chew on, but they’ll mostly find themselves wondering why these actors chose to participate in such routine swill. Craig met Weisz on this movie and they married last winter and while I’m glad to know that DREAM HOUSE was a positive experience for someone, I just wish it had been the viewer.

Overall Rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars

When I first saw writer and director Ti West’s HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it at first, but after a second viewing, not only did I love it, I also learned something about the films of Ti West… there’s more than meets the eye upon your first viewing. The same can be said about Ti West’s new film THE INNKEEPERS, a smart, funny film with plenty of old school scares and a subtle twist to the haunted house genre.

Ti West has come to be known as one of the most important new filmmakers of the indie horror scene and THE INNKEEPERS is a great example of why that statement is as true as it bold. Unlike many contemporary horror filmmakers today, Ti West moves beyond the standard shock and awe strategy of gore and violence. In its place, West fills his films with a genuine atmosphere of reality-based creepiness, flavored with nostalgia and quality storytelling with tangible characters.

THE INNKEEPER is a tale about two employees, Claire and Luke, who are the lone employees during a historic hotel’s final weekend of business. Luke (Pat Healy) is an amateur “ghost hunter” determined to record proof that the hotel is haunted before it closes, while Claire (Sara Paxton) is there to help as they take turns taking shifts. Fortunately, the hotel has only two guests; a mother in a bad mood with her little girl, followed shortly after by a famous actress (played by Kelly McGillis) with whom Claire is infatuated.

In short, the story revolves as much around the awkwardly familiar relationship between Claire and Luke as it does the haunted mystery of the hotel’s ghostly past. THE INNKEEPERS weaves a charming story that unfolds with the precision of a Swiss army knife, revealing only what’s necessary for the audience to piece together on their own and nothing more, but it’s the perfect portioning for a scary tale that will appeal to a much wider audience than some of its more graphically intense counterparts.

Pat Healy seems to be channeling a little bit of Simon Pegg in his performance as the sarcastic slacker who’s too cool for his own geekiness. Sara Paxton, on the other hand, is unbearably cute as the slightly oblivious and nerdy Claire, fully absorbed within her own curiosity and very easily scared. The chemistry between these two characters give THE INNKEEPERS a lot of its most enjoyably playful moments, while Ti West builds the more frightening elements of the story one brick at a time until the surprisingly simple but brilliantly jaw dropping climax, which will have audiences talking on a level not experienced since opening weekend of THE SIXTH SENSE. On that note, I’ll watch THE INNKEEPERS over and over again before doing the same with Shyamalan’s blockbuster… THE INNKEEPERS has more staying power.

I hesitate in calling THE INNKEEPERS a family-friendly movie, as that tends to convey a level of disrespect for many seasoned fans of the horror genre, but the truth is… Ti West has masterfully crafted an intensely creepy, scary horror-thriller that can be seen and appreciated by audiences of virtually all ages, but does not bend at the knee to dumb down the story, delivering well crafted dialogue with humor and likable, real characters. One of my top 5 favorite films of Fantastic Fest 2011, I’d have to call this my #1 film to recommend from the fest. THE INNKEEPERS currently does not have a theatrical release date, but will become available through Video On Demand on December 30th, 2011. Its really a shame, because THE INNKEEPERS plays marvelously in a crowded theater.

UPDATE: Aside from the film being picked up by Lionsgate just before it’s first (and only) screening at Fantastic Fest, YOU’RE NEXT garnered the following awards… Audience Award (Runner Up), Horror Feature – Best Picture; Best Director for Adam Wingard; Best Screenplay for Simon Barrett; and Best Actress for Sharni Vinson.

YOU’RE NEXT comes from writer Simon Barrett and director Adam Wingard. This partnership created 2010′s A HORRIBLE WAY TO DIE, which introduced genre fans to a new force in genre filmmaking. Proving to be one of the most anticipated films of Fantastic Fest 2011, YOU’RE NEXT has already been acquired by Lionsgate, which is good news in that it will get a wide theatrical release, but bad news in that anyone reading this review who has not already seen the film will likely have to wait until 2012.

A young, foreign exchange student named Erin (Sharni Vinson) accompanies her college professor boyfriend Crispin (AJ Bowen) for his family reunion at their large house in the woods. Right away its apparent that this family doesn’t get along. When the family sits down for their first dinner together in years, the ensuing dialogue is as darkly comical as it is thick with tension, brimming with anger and rage brewing in a very shallow cup. The dinner scene sets up the family dynamic perfectly, where “dysfunctional” is an understatement.

Wingard and Barrett waste no time moving into the beef of the film, developing just enough back story to put the audience into place, allowing the viewer to fill in the blanks and piece together the mystery that unfolds during the ensuing carnage. YOU’RE NEXT features three unknown killers who crash the family dinner, all of whom wear animal Halloween masks: a fox, a sheep, and a tiger. The mask designs are simplistic but more real than cartoon, allowing the actors body language an increased level of creepiness, such as when a head is cocked, or even a long stare become far more frightening.

YOU’RE NEXT is primarily a home invasion horror flick, but also a black comedy. As the body count rises, the mystery slowly begins to unfold. Forced to take action where the family hesitates, Erin assumed the lead in the family’s struggle to survive, revealing at one point a simple unexpected explanation that perfectly sets her up as the strong female heroin we rarely see in cinema these days. Sharni Vinson proves herself as a starlet in the making for action and genre films, a goal she herself admits aspiring to in the Q&A that followed the screening. Vinson has all of the feminine bravado of ALIENS-era Sigourney Weaver combined with the capable damsel in distress quality of the HALLOWEEN-era Jamie Lee Curtis.

AJ Bowen’s and Joe Swanson‘s portrayal as rival brothers Crispin and Drake is sharp and biting, constantly at each others throats. Every line of dialogue Swanson utters is a gem, typically sarcastic, always judgmental and confrontational. Their mother Aubrey also stands out with a tremendous, emotionally charged supporting performance from Barbara Crampton. Rounding out the recognizable cast is a short, but noteworthy cameo role from filmmaker Ti West as Tariq, a role that serves as a genre wink, leading the dinner scene into the abrupt change of pace that holds for the remainder of the film.

YOU’RE NEXT is a great homage to slasher flicks and slapstick comedy (in the writer’s words, but I found the slapstick less apparent) but I also found connection to ’70s and ’80s era action cinema, from the strong heroin to the music for the film. In a similar sort of nostalgia, the creativity of the kills and style of violent choreography stood out as a major character in its own right, defining the fun-filled return of R-rated, in your face action/horror/comedy.

Can I just say I really, really wanted to like LIVID. I mean, I truly looked forward to eating this movie up, but instead, I found myself staring at my plate wondering what I had just been served. This is the second feature film from the writing/directing team of Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury, whose first outing was 2007′s INSIDE. Bustillo and Maury appeared to have started with an interesting idea, but somewhere along the path of production lost their focus, perhaps distracted by their own visions, which make numerous cameos that feel more like party crashers than official invitees.

LIVID begins as a story about a teenager named Lucy (Chloe Coulloud) who is training as an in-house caregiver. She travels from house to house with her trainer Mrs. Wilson (Catherine Jacob). The last house of the day is a large mansion owned by Miss Jessel (Maria-Claude Pietragalla), a successful former dance instructor infamous for for strict methods. Miss Jessel is bed-ridden and in a coma, the soul resident of the massive, ornate estate in disrepair. Mrs. Wilson casually reveals stories to Lucie as they tend to Miss Jessel, such as her only child Anna having been born mute and passed on many years ago, and the mysterious “treasure” which is said to be hidden somewhere in the house.

This treasure is the driving factor for the first half of LIVID, which has Lucie reluctantly leading her two male friends, Ben and William (Jeremy Kapone and Felix Moati), into the Jessel estate in search of the alleged treasure. For what it’s worth, this first half of LIVID is the half that works reasonably well, an atmospherically Gothic but straight-forward haunted house tale. LIVID invites the audience in to share the adventure of three nosy teens, snooping around a creepy old house, certain to unleash something dreadful. Unfortunately, this is what they unleash… something visually stunning, but dreadful to watch.

LIVID’s opening sequence sets an alluring tone for something out of Dark Shadows, with gray skies and massive waves crashing against a treacherous rocky shore. Rolling green hills in the distance with an ominously slow orchestral score (Raphael Gesqua) drawing the viewer in like a Pied Piper written with the pending doom of Poe’s pen. Once Lucie and the boys enter the house, the focus appears to shift rapidly to something more akin to a cinematic roadside attraction of visual oddities. As they explore the various rooms of the Jessel house, they stumble upon everything from strange things preserved in jars, mounted animal heads, creepy dolls and a number of other typical genre props used in countless horror films.

To be fair, and to repeat my earlier point, this is all visually stunning stuff, if not a tad generic and certainly not crucial to the story in many cases. LIVID looks amazing, as does the score deem itself worthy of attention on it’s own merit. The issue I have with all this is that it serves little purpose to the story and, in some unclear fashion, becomes the story. Once the reality of the situation makes itself known to Lucie and the boys, the gore comes out to play and Miss Jessel exposes her true self. The nature of her “true self” and the twists involving her daughter are grounds for spoilers, but I can say the potential is there, but the execution is terribly flawed.

The first half of LIVID is a based in the real world, with the realm of fantasy taking a bold and often intrusive spotlight in the second half. I could not help but notice the second half of LIVID is heavily influenced by the works of Guillermo del Toro, from the visual style, creature and prop design and even the movement and performance of the non-human characters. Many of these scenes stand alone as really cool, artistically impressive achievements, but when they’re all spliced together into a narrative as they are, the film that began as a fresh ode to Halloween-inspired films (the holiday, not the franchise) unravels into a broken, disconnected mess of ideas that fails to come together as a fully comprehensible story.

Perhaps LIVID will make more sense with a second, third or multiple viewings. Maybe this is a film that needs a decade or two for fans to digest before it’s appreciated as a once misunderstood genre classic. It’s impossible to say for sure, but for the time being, LIVID struck me as a film with massive potential but paid out primarily in disappointment. See the film, even buy the score, then make your own decision… I’ll be the first to tell you my opinion appears to be amongst the minority of those attending Fantastic Fest 2011.

WARNING: This review may contain “spoilers.”

Tom Six is definitely good at one thing; he can get a massive amount of attention — good and bad — for his films, and in show business, all publicity is good publicity, right? Written and directed by Tom Six, who first revealed himself to mass audiences in 2008 with THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE (First Sequence), is clearly taking the path of William Castle, although his films more resemble the work of Uwe Boll. Castle’s films were fun and had redeeming qualities. I wish I could say that about THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2 (Full Sequence) but, it’s not in me to tell such a bald-faced lie.

Let’s talk about THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE (First Sequence) just for a moment… In the original film, Tom Six had actually created a fun, weird little story — the key here being the presence of a story — with some character development. He was able to pull a creepy, cool performance from Dieter Lasser as Dr. Heiter. Where the first film succeeded at producing a memorable lead character with cult classic potential, the sequel fails on almost every level to follow up with an equally unique character.

THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2 (Full Sequence) takes place in London and follows a short, tubby man-child named Martin (Laurence R. Harvey) that still lives at home with his depressed mother and works as a parking garage attendant. Martin never speaks a word throughout the entire film, only making occasional awkward noises and giggles, repeatedly sticking his fingers in his mouth like a toddler that needs constantly be told “don’t put that in your mouth.” Admittedly, there are moments in the first half of the film where this shtick produces some laughs, but the gimmick eventually gets old, especially in the second half when it’s overshadowed by the graphic carnival of pointless carnage.

Tom Six chose to film HC2 entirely in black and white, and with that the cinematography is accomplished, not spectacular, but gives the film a different look. Part of me feels like the choice to film in black and white was to reduce the cost of post-production, but that’s nothing more than speculation. If Tom Six was shooting for creating an over-the-top, gut-emptying shockfest of a film, sticking to color would have made more sense. What the black and white does is to quell (ever-so-slightly) the magnitude of the imagery he captures on film.

What is so “bad” about THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2 (Full Sequence) you ask? I have to bring up John Waters. Sorry, John. I love you. Waters folded the shock value into his films, while still making them fun and giving them purpose. Where THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE came close to accomplishing this, its as though Tom Six through the rule book out the window for HC2. Finding any way to empathize with Martin is an exercise in futility. His character serves more as a slasher character than anything, wielding a crowbar to repeatedly take out his victims, but only to render them unconscious, whereas Dr. Heiter used anesthesia to subdue his victims.

The general story of HC2 is as follows: Martin is haunted by his father’s voice, who psychologically and sexually abused him as a child. He lives with his verbally abusive, mentally disconnected mother who forces him to have sessions with an older, bearded shrink who actually wants to molest Martin himself. Martin watches THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE repeatedly and pieces together a scrapbook of the film. Martin is obsessed with recreating Dr. Heiter’s work, but longs to take the project to its full sequence of twelve human beings. The primary catch is, Martin is not a surgeon and has no clue what he’s doing. He gradually builds his inventory of human specimens, stashing them in an old, filthy warehouse space. This activity occupies a good chunk of the middle of the film, which gets to be a bit tedious a bit quick.

THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2 (Full Sequence) is at least inclusive and mindful of diversity, as Martin’s collection of human “segments” span a wide array of characters, including a pregnant woman and the female star of THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE Ashlynn Yennie, who plays herself. Randomly selecting most of his victims from the garage in which he works, Martin employs his crowbar and occasionally a handgun. His tools include duct tape and a plethora of knives and other kitchen utensils… oh yeah, and the all-important staple gun. I need not describe this image further. I am sure you can put the pieces together.

By the time Martin gets around to constructing his “centipede” the film has not lived up to it’s hype as being unbearably brutal. Tom Six clearly attempts to change that in the later half of the film, doing exactly what everyone would expect, going to extremes with the gore (although subdued in black and white and not nearly as graphic as it could have been) but, more significantly, exceeds expectations int he realm of shocking acts portrayed on film. HC2 was banned in the UK for scenes of forced ingestion of diarrhea, spontaneous child birth in a car followed by the baby’s head being crushed by its frantic mother, and even a scene in which Martin rapes one of his victims with barbed wire wrapped around his unit… no, believe it or not, none of this compels me to go out and protest. However, all of this serves absolutely no purpose when you factor in the complete lack of any actual story. All of this occurs on screen simply for its own, sensational satisfaction.

THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2 (Full Sequence) has nothing to spoil, so before some of you decide to chastise me for giving away some of the more shocking bits, let me just say this… those who planned to see the film will still go see it, while those who had not, will not. It’s as simple as that. On the contrary, I will not reveal the ending, as I felt the final scene was a completely pointless, slightly confusing choice. Consider this my public service message. I will never outright tell anyone not to see a movie, but the closest I have come is with HC2.

Writer & director Tom Six with the cast of THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2 (Full Sequence) in a Q&A session following the screening on Thursday, September 22nd, 2011.

Hey horror hounds! Courtesy of our friends at Entertainment Weekly here’s our first look at the cast of Tim Burton’s big screen version of the small screen classic, DARK SHADOWS. Now this is not the first time the Collins clan have made it to the movies. In 1970 MGM released HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS based on the daytime drama and starring most of the TV cast. NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS followed.

Here’s a bit of background on the cult favorite. Dan Curtis (BURNT OFFERINGS) created the “soap opera ” which debuted on ABC-TV in 1966. The main focus of the first episodes was the arrival of Victoria Winters in Collinsport, ME and her interactions with the secretive Collins family. The program languished at the bottom of the ratings until Curtis, in order to save the show from cancellation,decided to take a gamble and introduce a vampire into the Gothic series. Barnabas Collins as played by veteran stage actor Jonathan Frid caused a sensation on the daytime TV landscape. Youngsters flocked to the show, turning the mature Frid into a teen idol (featured many times on the cover of Tiger Beat and other magazines) and giving the producer a merchandising bonanza. Board games, model kits, comic books, paperback novels, and posters flooded the stores. There was even a comic strip in daily newspapers! A record album of the show’s eerie score by Robert Colbert was a huge hit and spawned a top 40 single, “Quentin’s Theme”. Unfortunately not even the additon of witches, werewolves, and other ghoulies could keep the mania going and the final episode aired in 1971.

Ah, but like any good vampire Barnabas did return. The show was soon syndicated to local stations. Devoted fans staged conventions featuring reunions of the cast members. Innovation produced new comic books in 1991. NBC revived the show as a prime time hour long drama in early 1991 while Warner Brothers TV produced a new two hour pilot film that never aired.

And now,long time fan Tim Burton is taking this Gothic epic to the big screen. Lets’ take a look at the residents of Collinwood. Starting from the far left is Helena Bonham Carter (THE KING”S SPEECH) as Dr. Julia Hoffman, psychiatrist, friend of the Collins family and (in the TV show) an aide of Barnabas. Next is Chloe Maretz (LET ME IN) as Carolyn Stoddard followed by Eva Green (CASINO ROYALE) as Angelique Bouchard, the witch who cursed Barnabas. The young lad is the disturbed David Collins played by Gulliver McGrath with his governess Victoria Winters played by Bella Heathcote (she’s also the spitting image of Barnabas’s long lost love Josette). Speaking of Barnabas, in the center is Johnny Depp (THE TOURIST) as the centuries old vampire. Seated is the family housekeeper Mrs. Johnson played by Ray Shirley. Next is Collinwood groundskeeper Willie (yup, Groundskeeper Willie!) Loomis played by Jackie Earle Haley (WATCHMEN) who releases Barnabas and soon becomes his ‘ familiar’. He’s followed by Roger Collins played by Jonny Lee Miller (TRAINSPOTTING) and family matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard played by Michelle Pfieffer (BATMAN RETURNS).

Synopsis:

In the year 1752, Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas, set sail from Liverpool, England to start a new life in America. But even an ocean was not enough to escape the mysterious curse that has plagued their family. Two decades pass and Barnabas (Johnny Depp) has the world at his feet—or at least the town of Collinsport, Maine. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful and an inveterate playboy…until he makes the grave mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green). A witch, in every sense of the word, Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than death: turning him into a vampire, and then burying him alive.

Two centuries later, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb and emerges into the very changed world of 1972. He returns to Collinwood Manor to find that his once-grand estate has fallen into ruin. The dysfunctional remnants of the Collins family have fared little better, each harboring their own dark secrets. Matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer) has called upon live-in psychiatrist, Dr. Julia Hoffman (Helena Bonham Carter), to help with her family troubles.

Also residing in the manor is Elizabeth’s ne’er-do-well brother, Roger Collins, (Jonny Lee Miller); her rebellious teenage daughter Carolyn Stoddard (Chloe Moretz); and Roger’s precocious 10-year-old son, David Collins (Gulliver McGrath). The mystery extends beyond the family, to caretaker Willie Loomis, played by Jackie Earle Haley, and David’s new nanny, Victoria Winters, played by Bella Heathcote.

This group (along with horror film icon Christopher Lee and several original TV cast members) will welcome moviegoers back to Collinwood (cue the cascading waves and Colbert theme) when Warner Brothers releases the film on May 11, 2012

We all know what happens when aliens show up in the rural backwoods of the Midwest, but why have aliens only been interested in probing Americans? Writer and director Joe Cornish decided that needs to change. ATTACK THE BLOCK presents one idea of what it would be like if aliens arrived in an urban, inner city setting in London, but it’s not the typical fare you might expect.

Cornish, who has recently made his mark as a screenwriter of upcoming films THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN and ANT-MAN, now makes a substantial mark on the science-fiction genre with this little alien film that could… could possibly make you laugh and cheer, that is. ATTACK THE BLOCK has the makings of a cult sensation, a nostalgic good time film to be revisited year after year, like that of THE MONSTER SQUAD or GOONIES.

The story follows a small gang of teenagers in South London as they discover an alien. Quick to react with youthful curiosity and recklessness, the teens beat the floppy-limbed, big-headed alien creature – oddly resembling a disproportionately skewed Muppet – to its inevitable death, dragging it back to their building to show it off. This ultimately proves to be a big mistake.

ATTACK THE BLOCK is a film with multiple layers. The obvious layer, we’ll call this the frosting, is the alien invasion layer, whereas extraterrestrial creatures on Earth terrorize the inhabitants of one apartment building in South London. From this, we get the beginnings of a science-fiction story and the underpinnings of a fun-filled scary movie with plenty of jumps and startles, chases and man versus creature violence. But, just beneath the frosting is the cake, a richly flavored social commentary that is light and palatable.

While the premise of a film tackling the plight of inner city teens, gang culture and race relations may sound too dense to swallow, Cornish manages to construct this in a way that keeps ATTACK THE BLOCK fluffy and refreshing, while still satisfyingly spicy with a combination of terror and humor. The moral message remains hidden in the shadows, lurking around the corners, overshadowed by the intensely black, shadowy alien beasts that are hunting down anyone who came in contact with the less intimidating alien the teens pummeled to death.

The biggest name in the cast of ATTACK THE BLOCK is Nick Frost (SHAUN OF THE DEAD, PAUL) who has a relatively small but enjoyable supporting role as Ron, a somewhat out of place co-inhabitant of the local drug dealer Hi-Hatz’ crib, whom the main character of the film are friendly with. Hi-Hatz, on the other hand, serves primarily as another obstacle in the road for Moses (John Boyega) and his teen gang as they struggle to survive and find a way to defeat the alien creatures. Having two antagonists in the film gives the story more depth.

ATTACK THE BLOCK is unique, but draws on familiarity. For me, the film takes all that made THE MONSTER SQUAD and GOONIES fun and exciting, then combined it with the dark, frightening charm of Jim Henson, a la LABYRINTH. The alien beasts hunting the teens are pitch black, covered in long spiky quill-like hairs and intimidate the viewer with luminescent eyes and massive sharp teeth that glow in the dark. Sounds creepy, right? Add to this the fascination I had with the fact that these creatures were not computer generated, but rather old school guys in monster suits, and you have one very happy genre fan!

Cornish enlists the well-respected movement coach Terry Notary (PLANET OF THE APES, AVATAR) as the creature, making the effects come to life on screen. Its refreshing to see a well-made creature feature, notably influenced by John Carpenter’s THE THING and the ALIEN films, that intentionally avoids CGI. The effect is an entirely more intimate and spine-chilling atmosphere, a better sense of actually being there, in the moment, and a textural void that is filled that the excessive detail of most CGI creature design rarely manages to properly fill.

The language of ATTACK THE BLOCK may seem intimidating on the surface, not from an overuse of profanity, but from the incorporation of actual dialect and slang used in South London, giving the film a bit of authenticity and added cultural relevance. If you find yourself experiencing this difficulty early in the film, stick with it and allow yourself to be fully immersed in the story. Surprisingly, this will pass. Much like watching A CLOCKWORK ORANGE for the first time, while in English, the foreign dialect and slang can be confusing if you try and read too much into it, but ultimately all makes sense. Remember that movies are primarily a visual medium, so when a film is well-made, the dialogue is supported by what we see on screen. Cornish proves that he is clearly aware of this.

ATTACK THE BLOCK has thrills, great old school creature effects and humor, but the character development is possibly the most accomplished aspect of the film. Cornish allows his cast of teen characters to evolve from immature, typical teenagers into responsible, heroic figures. This is not just a genre film for fans of science-fiction and horror, but also a reasonably accessible family film, in the sense that the entire span of the teenage spectrum can relate to and appreciate the story while having a good time in the process.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Something is amiss as kids and adults from a Vegas suburbia slowly begin to disappear. Many homes in the neighborhood are empty due to foreclosure which makes it ripe for anyone to take up residence in a town that comes alive at night. Enter senior high school student Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin), former geek and now the cool guy who’s dating the girl of his dreams Amy (Imogen Poots). His big head has led him to abandon his former best friend Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) who’s been trying to warn Charley and anyone who will listen that people are missing. Ed suspects the new guy, Jerry (Colin Farrell), who’s just moved in next door to Charley and his mom (Toni Collette). No one but Ed seems to notice Jerry’s unusual comings and goings and goes as far as to film the guy so he can prove the myth that vampires will come across as invisible if recorded. It’s not until Charley rescues a woman from Jerry’s house that he realizes the hunky construction worker is the evil one who’s been preying on his neighborhood.

In the same vein as the original, lonely Ed is turned into a vampire and Charley finds himself alone and unable to convince anyone that there’s a vampire among them. After being spied on enough, Jerry goes on the attack by blowing up the Brewster’s house and chases after Charley, Amy and Mrs. Brewster into the night. In a confrontation on the dark highway, along with being rear-ended by an unsuspecting driver, Charley’s mom is severely injured and hospitalized. There’s only once place to turn now. Charley goes for help with his vampire problem to Las Vegas illusionist Peter Vincent, deliciously played by David Tennant. He’s more than a little bonkers on stage during his show, all clad in leather and long haired, but with the wig off the magician is a disenchanted, shell of a man.

Once the realization sets in that he and Jerry have some back history, and sufficiently scared enough, Vincent decides he may have more expertise on this Nosferatu than he first thought. With only thoughts of surviving, Charley and Vincent venture deep into the vampire’s sanctuary for a final confrontation with Jerry and his multiple rows of shark-like teeth.

FRIGHT NIGHT plays out like a coming of age story wrapped within a vampire tale. Everyone can identify with that stage in life when you journey from adolescence to grownup, and in Charley’s case, hero. The audience can empathize and connect with Noxon’s script that’s a finely balanced tale of gore and humor. Ironically it’s Jerry who forces him into deciding what’s really important in life. There’s no denial that the once-geek Charley is desperately attempting to shy away from the fact that he really was a geek. He’s abandoned his old friends for the new, in-crowd cohorts. He’s making choices on how he views his Mom and friends and before he realizes he’s confronted by a vampire who he has to defeat.

Colin Farrell is terrifyingly sexy as Jerry. He’s very convincing as the 400 year old, charismatic killer who’s main purpose in life is to exist and feed, feed, feed. FRIGHT NIGHT’s CGI vampire metamorphosis is actually quite good alongside all the 3D crosses, blood and body parts flying at you, but ultimately it’s David Tennant’s turn as vampire slayer, Peter Vincent, that’s the red icing on the cake. Immortalized in the original by Roddy McDowall, Tennant really has the most fun as the self-proclaimed vampire expert who loves two things in life – sex and booze. Behind the facade of itchy leather and Vegas penthouse, Tennant is very believable as a guy who’s more comfortable in a t-shirt, jeans and sneakers.

FRIGHT NIGHT is that refreshingly, fanged remake that surpasses the original as a “staked through the heart” horror film. TWILIGHT fans need not apply

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Visit the film’s official site: http://www.welcometofrightnight.com/. “Like” FRIGHT NIGHT on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/frightnightmovie and follow the film on Twitter: http://twitter.com/FrightNight2011

Shorts Program 8: Horror Shorts includes 8 individual short films of various styles, for a total running time of 95 minutes. Played consecutively, these films offer a broad and entertaining showcase for independent horror filmmakers in the St. Louis area.

THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO (13 minutes)

Directed by Hugo Fleming, THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO is a tale of revenge, based on the story by Edgar Allen Poe. Two men (Mark Bunch and Billy Benner), with their minds altered by the effects of Budweiser 40s, wander deep into a subterranean realm, whereas only would may ultimately return. The film is more of a operatic ode to Poe, that a traditional narrative film. THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO contains no dialogue, instead told entirely by the very words of Poe himself. Illustrated by a haunting piano and vocal score (Somewhere Under the Rainbow, written and performed by Heather Rice) that draws on the dark heart of Poe’s literary horror. The cinematography (Matthew Pitzer) is eerie, capturing the cavernous early industrial setting, both ancient and chiseled by dead men’s hands. The narration, provided by Anne Williams, recalls a feminine twin of Vincent Price in his Poe era.

THE CONFINED (26 minutes)

Erin Marie Hogan plays Jackie, a young woman who witnesses her boyfriend’s murder. Traumatized by the event, Jackie slips shuts her self in, crippled by an overwhelming state of agoraphobia. Spending the majority of her time alone in her quiet house, Jackie is haunted by her memories. As with any effective horror story, the sound of the film is key. Jackie begins to notice sounds in the walls, and strange evidence of an unknown presence. With so much of horror focused on gore and violence, its nice to see new filmmakers still interested in the psychological realm of horror, infinitely more difficult to pull of, but equally rewarding, as is the case with THE CONFINED. Hogan provides a quality performance, dwelling in a descriptive silence for much of the film. Writer, director and editor Nicholas Acosta made a fine choice of utilizing a meticulously steady camera, much like what Kubrick did in THE SHINING, but juxtaposes ti with the jarring, handheld footage of old home videos. THE CONFINED should sufficiently creep you out as a haunted ghost story should.

THE DOOR (12 minutes)

Written and directed by Brent Madison, THE DOOR begins in complete blackness, challenging the audience by layering multiple pulsating, echoing sounds into a frightening, techno-atmospheric landscape through the titles, cutting immediately into Allison’s (Allison Ochmanek) nightmare. She wakes, only to find her boyfriend Chris (Christopher Howell) taken over by an evil entity shortly after. Stylistically a cross between Carpenter and Candyman, THE DOOR offers a visual intensity and possibly the highest production value of all the horror shorts, complete with special effects and the style of dialogue we’ve come to expect from enjoyable mainstream fright flicks. The woman’s “possessed” boyfriend lures her into a large, old house where she comes face to face with the creature behind THE DOOR. The film’s score (Doug Pearson) penetrates the viewer’s senses, making the biggest impact in film’s visceral assault on the viewer’s fears.

IN THE CARDS (10 minutes)

Jack and Claire (played by Burke Mohan and Brigitte Crumpton) are newly engaged, but already experiencing turbulence in their relationship. When they decide to see a fortuneteller (Terry Hampton) on a whim, they get more than they bargained for. IN THE CARDS begins as a sort of anti-romantic comedy, with heavily cliche’s flowing from the fortuneteller’s mouth. Then the cards begin to fall into fated order on the teller’s table, sending the couple into a dream-like trance, allowing them an enigmatic glimpse into their own future. At first a fairly straight-forward approach, writer and director Zach Smith uses the couple’s initial foray into their fortune as a ledge from which to leap into a much darker, visually captivating story.

OUTPOST 13 (4 minutes)

OUTPOST 13 is more science-fiction than horror, depicting the planet after we’ve already destroyed all it’s life-giving beauty. A scientist (Guy Stephens) works to save the dying planet, tucked away in a tiny laboratory where he spends his down time reliving his once beautiful planet through virtual reality. OUTPOST 13 is fully narrated, with it’s single characters uttering no dialogue on screen. The cinematography (Wyatt Weed) is highly effective and the images of Earth as it was are on a National Geographic scale, but the special effects from Pirate Pictures are what stand out in this film, providing a brutal, desolate landscape and impressive science-fiction touches to the interior and exterior of the outpost laboratory. OUTPOST 13 was written by William Hartzel and directed by Corey Logsdon.

STAIRS (6 minutes)

Further she climbs, spiraling up a seemingly endless flight of stairs, a young woman (Stephanie Sanditz) faces her deepest fears. The staircase, like something from an M.C. Escher drawing, appears to have no beginning and no end, instead pulling her repeating to a door. What lies on the other side of the door? STAIRS, written and directed by Doveed Linder, draws visually on primal human fear, much like Hitchcock’s VERTIGO drew on the fear of heights. Sanditz conveys her fear with great conviction, relying solely on her facial expressions and body language, uttering not a single word. STAIRS is not a literal film, but a cinematic interpretation of a very uncomfortable human emotional experience.

STRUMPET (14 minutes)

This is the story of a lonely traveler (Stephen J. Hefferman) who takes shelter from a ravaging storm within an old hotel, welcomed by a curiously strange innkeeper (Brian McDowell), but haunted by a deadly supernatural seductress (Emily Brown) in his sleep. What I love most abut STRUMPET is how writer and director Wolfgang Lehmkuhl perfectly captures the essence of the early silent era of German expressionist horror. The gorgeous Gothic cinematography (Michael Lowhorn) comes as close as one can reasonably expect to mimicking the visual appeal of the old film cameras of that cinematic age. The score (Kevin MaCleod and Jon Feraro) is splendidly dreadful, representing the looming horror that surely awaits. The look of the film, and even the performances, also remind me of the subtly offbeat undercurrent present in so many of Guy Maddin’s films. Personally, STRUMPET is my favorite pick of the Shorts Program 8, immersing me fully into the abyss of exquisitely frightful sensory rapture.

THE OUTSIDER: 911 – The Pilot (10 minutes)

Unfortunately, this offering from peter Carlos was the only film of this shorts program I missed.

Synopsis: In the middle of the night, something not of this Earth has come for teenager Alex Jackson.

Shorts Program 8, Horror Shorts will screen during the 2011 Stella Artois St. Louis Filmmaker’s Showcase at 9:30PM on Wednesday, August 17th at the Tivoli Theatre.

FAMILIAR is the newest horror short film from writer/director Richard Powell and producer Zach Green. Michael Jari Davidson serves as cinematographer and co-producer. Presented by Fatal Pictures, FAMILIAR stars Robert Nolan, Astrida Auza and Cathryn Hostick as the seemingly idyllic yet ultimately doomed Dodd Family. FAMILIAR is currently in post-production and I’m looking forward to seeing the finished film, from the same team that brought us WORM. It’s difficult to predict what we’ll get from Fatal Pictures, but one thing’s for sure… it’s bound to be dark, disturbing and enjoyable.

Plot Synopsis: Through a series of tragic events a middle aged man grows to suspect the negative impulses plaguing his mind may not be his own.

“Like” FAMILIAR on Facebook.

Get ready for more “bumps in the night” in the new trailer for Paramount Pictures’ PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3

Is it safe to look now? Better yet, is it okay to look in the mirror? Are you excited for more scares??

Directed by Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost, written by Christopher B. Landon, produced by Jason Blum and Oren Peli & executive produced by Steven Schneider and Akiva Goldsman, PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3 will be in theaters October 21, 2011.

Visit the official film’s site: http://www.paranormalmovie.com.

“Like the movie on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/paranormalactivity

Follow them on Twitter: @TweetYourScream

Friday The 13^th U.S. Release Set For April 2012

LIONSGATE has acquired worldwide distribution rights to the horror film THE CABIN IN THE WOODS from MGM and scheduled the film to be released on April 13, 2012. The company will be distributing the film in North America and the UK, with Lionsgate’s international sales team handling overseas sales.

The film was co-written by Joss Whedon (BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, FIREFLY, the upcoming Marvel film THE AVENGERS) and writer Drew Goddard (CLOVERFIELD, LOST, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER), and marks Goddard’s directorial debut. Whedon also produced the film, which he has described as “the horror movie to end all horror movies.” The film is wildly imaginative and intensely horrific, toying with every convention of its genre while at the same time raising their stakes exponentially.

THOR’s Chris Hemsworth stars as a young professional who visits a quaint cabin in the woods with a group of friends and ends up scratching the surface of something so massive and horrific that they can only begin to fathom it as time quickly runs out.

Richard Jenkins (LET ME IN), Bradley Whitford (THE WEST WING), Kristen Connolly (THE HAPPENING), Brian J. White (STOMP THE YARD), Amy Acker (ANGEL), Fran Kranz (DONNIE DARKO), and Jesse Williams (BROOKLYN’S FINEST) also star in the film.

“This is a movie that operates on many levels, and it works gloriously on every one of them,” said Joe Drake. “There is intense fan anticipation for this film, and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to deliver what we’re sure will be a major zeitgeist movie and an instant horror classic- and on a Friday the 13th no less.”

Added Constantine, “Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard are two filmmakers who I have long admired, and it’s an honor and a delight to be in business with them. They’ve made an incredibly terrifying, mind-blowing movie that simultaneously celebrates and innovates the genre that they both know and love so well.”

Said Goddard, “Lionsgate’s passion and enthusiasm for our movie has been so overwhelming, I had to go back and make sure we didn’t accidentally screen The Godfather for them. Fortunately, we did not. We couldn’t be happier at our new home.”

Added Whedon, “I’m thrilled that Cabin has landed at Lionsgate because they get and love the film and I’m excited to be working with them on the release.”

Negotiations on behalf of Lionsgate were overseen by Constantine along with Lionsgate’s SVP of Acquisitions Eda Kowan and EVP of Business & Legal Affairs Wendy Jaffe.

Production on Latest Installment Set to Begin in June

Santa Monica, CA, May 09, 2011– LIONSGATE, a leading global entertainment company, today announced that THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 3D, the next installment in the long standing franchise, is set to commence production. The film is a collaboration between Lionsgate and frequent production partner Nu Image, with Lionsgate assuming U.S. distribution rights and Nu Image handling international sales beginning at the Cannes Film Festival in May. The announcement was made jointly by Joe Drake, President of Lionsgate’s Motion Picture Group, Mike Paseornek, President of Motion Picture Development and Production, and Jason Constantine, Lionsgate’s President of Acquisitions and Co-Productions.

John Luessenhop (TAKERS) is in discussions to direct the film, which is to be produced by Carl Mazzocone.  Production is slated to begin in June, 2011. Mazzocone, who served as President of Production at Twisted Pictures for four years before returning to independent producing, pursued the underlying rights to the property and ultimately secured an overall deal to make up to six future sequels. Nu Image’s Avi Lerner and Mark Burg will be executive producing.

Said Paseornek of the project, “This is a franchise with such enduring opportunity, and Nu Image is the perfect partner with which to realize that opportunity.” Adds Constantine, “We have had much success in working with Nu Image to revitalize existing genres or characters – from The Expendables, which was our highest grossing film ever, to this Summer’s Conan The Barbarian 3D. We’re thrilled that Carl Mazzocone has chosen us to help him carry out his vision for this great property. It feels very much like home to be again collaborating with Mark Burg after all of our shared successes with the Saw films.”

“I’m excited to re-conceive this iconic horror classic in a contemporary setting for a new generation of horror fans to enjoy,” said producer Mazzocone. “Our story picks up where the original left off. Both John Luessenhop and I intend to deliver a new chapter derived from Tobe Hooper’s 1973 masterpiece with the goal of making it as horrifying as the original — in 3D!”

About Lionsgate 

Lionsgate is a leading global entertainment company with a strong and diversified presence in motion picture production and distribution, television programming and syndication, home entertainment, family entertainment, digital distribution and new channel platforms. The Company has built a strong television presence in production of prime time cable and broadcast network series, distribution and syndication of programming through Debmar-Mercury and an array of channel assets. Lionsgate currently has 15 shows on more than 10 networks spanning its prime time production, distribution and syndication businesses, including such critically-acclaimed hits as “Mad Men”, “Weeds” and “Nurse Jackie” along with  the comedy “Blue Mountain State,” the upcoming drama “Boss” and the syndication successes “Tyler Perry’s House Of Payne”, its spinoff “Meet The Browns”,  the upcoming “For Better or Worse,” ”The Wendy Williams Show” and “Are We There Yet?”.

Its feature film business has generated more than half a billion dollars at the North American box office in the past year, fueled by such recent successes as THE LINCOLN LAWYER,  TYLER PERRY’S MADEA’S BIG HAPPY FAMILY, THE EXPENDABLES, which was #1 at the North American box office for two weeks, THE LAST EXORCISM, TYLER PERRY’S WHY DID I GET MARRIED TOO?, KICK ASS and the critically-acclaimed PRECIOUS, which won two Academy Awards®. The Company’s home entertainment business has grown to more than 8% market share and is an industry leader in box office-to-DVD and box office-to-VOD revenue conversion rate. Lionsgate handles a prestigious and prolific library of approximately 13,000 motion picture and television titles that is an important source of recurring revenue and serves as the foundation for the growth of the Company’s core businesses. The Lionsgate brand remains synonymous with original, daring, quality entertainment in markets around the world.

Before I start my review of this killer Santa movie, I’d like to clarify one thing. This is not the Santa most of us know and love. There are no reindeer. There is no sleigh. There are no elves. This is not jolly old St. Nick. The film doesn’t even take place on Christmas. Instead it is about the Dutch tradition of Sinterklaas. While I probably would have enjoyed this movie more if I knew about the Dutch tradition beforehand, the flick is still a fun ride.

Here’s the official description listed in the Tribeca guide:

The film’s titular saint was in fact a murderous medieval marauder, ultimately slain by the villagers he tormented, only to swear a ghostly revenge on their descendents every December 5—the anniversary of his death. Centuries later, the story has settled comfortably into innocuous folklore, until a bloody encounter with the ghoul himself forces local teen Frank to believe in Santa all over again. Teaming up with a fellow believer, discharged conspiracy-theorist cop Goert, it will be up to Frank to save the city of Amsterdam in an all-out bloody battle against the wrathful “Sinterklaas” and his minions.

This Dutch horror comedy blends elements of THE FOG & A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET with other well-known genre conventions. All of the characters are typical horror fodder. Even the idea of a killer Santa isn’t wholly original. But it all works for the most part. My biggest complaint with the film is that parts of it are so incredibly well done that the rest of the film pales in comparison. This contrast causes it to feel like two films cut together; one an insanely fun Raimi-esque horror-action-comedy and the other a horror film that takes itself far too seriously.

It could be that some of the Dutch humor was lost on me or some of the jokes just fall flat but there are times where the momentum slows down far too much. The reason this is such a problem is that the action set pieces are immensely fun. The special effects for the most part are fantastic although some of the CGI could use a bit of work. The opening scenes revealing St. Niklas’ origins and Goert’s backstory are set up perfectly. Other scenes such as the Black Peters (evil elves in black face) attacking Frank’s friends and the rooftop horse chase are equally incredible.

If writer/director Dick Maas chose to cut out a few of the slower scenes and amped up the insanity, he would have a true cult classic in his hands. But as it stands now, this film is still destined to be a holiday favorite. It is already a major success in the Netherlands and I have a feeling IFC Midnight will do quite well with it stateside.

Jerry Cavallaro  – www.StuckLikeChuck.com

There is a fundamental flaw with RABIES that will unfortunately hold it back from the major success it could have been. I am of course talking about the fact the film is in Hebrew. Because people hate to read at the movies, it will not get a wide theatrical release (unless it gets the HIGH TENSION treatment) and some people will skip it when it hits video & VOD. It’s a real shame because RABIES is one of the best and most inventive horror films I have seen in a while.

A quick summary makes the film seem like an overly clichéd backwoods slasher but its brilliant execution reveals that it is so much more. The film opens with a girl caught in a trap while her brother attempts to rescue her, a group of young tennis players lost in the woods and a kindhearted park ranger doing a routine inspection with his trusty dog. A little later we meet two cops; one is quite crooked while the other is dealing with personal issues. We are even introduced to a psychotic killer that doesn’t wear a mask or have any supernatural abilities; he’s just a man with a large knife. This all sounds pretty standard, right?

What if I told you the psycho killer doesn’t actually kill anyone yet the body count at the end of the film still meets the typical slasher quota? Shortly after we are introduced to the killer, he gets knocked out. Confusion, jealousy, mistrust, poor judgment, and several accidents put the potential victims at odds with each other. Their secluded surroundings full of bear traps, land mines, and other dangerous obstacles only add to the mayhem.

RABIES plays with genre conventions and does it well. The acting is surprisingly strong across the board and really brings you into the story. Unfortunately, there were a few times where I was unable to read the subtitles because this is by far one of the brightest horror movie you will ever see. The entire film takes place over the course of a sunny afternoon and many of the characters are dressed entirely in white. The fact they were able to make such a suspenseful horror film in broad daylight shows you how talented the writer/director duo of Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado really are. Unfortunately it made the pale yellow subtitles hard to read at times but I never lost my place in the film nor lost any interest in the characters. In fact, I believe you can watch the entire film sans subtitles and still enjoy it but then you’d miss out on some of the brutally clever dialogue. There are some hilarious jokes and lines that elevate the film to a very darkly humorous level. The pacing and cinematography are equally great.

I really loved how the film plays out in seemingly real time and that the filmmakers are not afraid to have key moments occur off screen. The scenes not shown are largely unnecessary and keeping them out keeps the film fast-paced. It even adds to the suspense at times. This approach to the story really works well throughout but I was surprised to see that it ends in the same style. While each storyline is interconnected, there was no grand finale where everything comes together. Instead each story has it’s own ending. This is where my one real big problem with the film lies. I actually liked each individual ending and wouldn’t change anything about them. However, I feel they made a huge mistake in the order of the endings. There is one very short scene that I believe should have come a little later in the film.  (To keep this review spoiler free, I will not describe the scene but will gladly tell you if you message me after you see it.) It would have worked far better as the final resolution. They could keep everything else exactly the same, including the tag within the credits, but just change the order of the finale. I know it is a very minor complaint but it is really the only thing that bothered me about the film.

I highly recommend you check out RABIES for yourself. And from now until May 1^st, you can watch it online for free. Just go to the Tribeca Film Festival online streaming room at http://www.tribecafilm.com/tribecaonline/streaming-room/ and reserve a seat for the next free online screening. If you don’t get a chance to watch it now, be sure to keep an eye out for it. The film has the distinction of being Israel’s first ever horror film and it has set the bar absurdly high.

Jerry Cavallaro  – www.StuckLikeChuck.com

In the thriller genre one subset popular with film makers ( and often audiences ) has been the psychological thriller. A theme seen in these films has been an infatuation that turns to  ( usually deadly ) obsession. It’s been explored in older films like Hitchcock’s REBECCA and VERTIGO through the sixties with THE COLLECTOR and had a big resurgence with FATAL ATTRACTION and SINGLE WHITE FEMALE. Many times the plot will involve a young woman striking out on her own in a new city. This is at the heart of the new film THE RESIDENT which bypassed American theatres and is premiering on home video.

Juliet ( Hilary Swank ) is an emergency room surgeon living at a hotel after a nasty break up with her boyfriend Jack ( Lee Pace ). She finally decides to get a place of her own. After several dissapointing  tours with real estate agents, she posts an apartment wanted notice on the bulletin board at the hospital. She responds to a call and arrives at the building managed by Max ( Jeffrey Dean Morgan ). He’s in the middle of rehabbing the place and informs her that cell phone reception is lousy and the subway trains rattle the foundation. But Juliet is smitten with the view ( you can see the bridge right outside the window ), the opulent space, and the very affordable price. Max rents her the place without a reference check and soon she’s hauling her stuff up the elevator. Max introduces her to his ailing eccentric grandfather August ( Christopher Lee ) who lives down the hall from her. It takes a bit for Juliet to grow accustomed to the creaks and groans of the building, but soon she’s settled in. Later Juliet is invited to a local gallery party by a hospital co-worker and there runs into Max. As they walk and talk she wonders if Max will help her get over Jack. At her door she leans in to kiss Max who backs away. Perhaps she’s crossed a line. The next day she finally takes a call from Jack after he’s left countless messages and texts. She also gets a call from Max. He wishes to make up for the awkward previous evening with dinner. At the end of the meal she invites him into her bedroom. Just as things are heating up, Juliet rebuffs Max by stating that her feelings for Jack are still too strong. He understands and then reluctantly leaves. A few days later Juliet re-connects with Jack. It looks as if they will repair their relationship. All seems to be going well except that she’s constantly sleeping through her alarm and is always exhausted. And it seems that Max is not so sweet and understanding  anymore. Is there something sinister going on here?

Well, of course there is. Director Antii Jokinen telegraphs the creeps during her first night alone at the new place. He also lingers on a very graphic emergency room heart repair, perhaps to show us Juliet’s proficiency with tools. The gore there seems more than a bit gratuitous. Swank doesn’t have much to do here besides looking tired, worried, and confused. Morgan has the more complex role. He shows some of what charmed the many fans of his work on the TV show ” Grey’s Anatomy “. He also goes to a much darker place like his role in WATCHMEN. Pace, also from TV ( “Pushing Daisies” ) has little to do as Swanks’s rekindled romance. The real wasted opportunity here is the small , inconsequential role given to the great Christopher Lee. He’s there as a plot red herring who leers at Juliet through his front door. I was intrigued when I’d heard of his casting in this film. THE RESIDENT is a co-production with th newly re-formed Hammer studios. From the late 50′s through the early 70′s  they were famous for there Gothic horror films especially the Frankenstein film series with Peter Cushing and the Dracula  film series starring Mr. Lee. This film was to be their first big new theatrical release along with the English language remake of LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, LET ME IN. That film was critically lauded,but sank like a stone at the box office. Perhaps that had a factor in THE RESIDENT going right to video. More likely that despite the presence of the two time Oscar winning Swank ( who executive produced this along with Renny Harlin ) the film plays like a slightly sexed-up, gored-up, version of a story you’d see as a Lifetime-type TV movie. Certain character behaviors seem very implausible, and the cat and mouse chase through the building’s walls and crawlspaces at the film’s finale  ends flatly. I’m rooting for Hammer’s comeback. I hope they’ll bring us something more exciting and original next time. THE RESIDENT ( with only a trailer as an extra ) is available on DVD and Blu-ray from Image Entertainment.

Overall Rating: Two and a Half Out of Five Stars