Friday, April 18, 2014

Eli Roth's THE GREEN INFERNO Finally Gets A Trailer!


Eli Roth seems to get a lot of hate in the horror circles, which is something I've never fully understood. I was extremely bummed when he took a hiatus from the genre after the debacle that followed Hostel 2; the guy genuinely loves horror and does everything in his power to deliver solid flicks. So you think that his explicit use of gore makes him less of a film maker? Well, I hate to break it to ya, that's his style, and he does a damn fine job of creating relatable characters to boot. Regardless, I'm not here to start a debate about the merits of Roth's work, I'm here to get all excited in your faces about his next flick: The Green Inferno!

When news first started trickling down the grapevine about this one, I about lost it. One thing that I've loved about Roth is his interesting take on subject matter; the basis of Cabin Fever was really cool (he based it off of a skin infection he got while working on a farm) and Hostel has a pretty interesting back story too, but I don't think I've ever heard of a director doing something like this for a movie. He packed up his equipment, put his cast and crew on a boat and set sails for Peru where he filmed with an actual, native tribe. Take that in for moment, this tribe is not a bunch of actors in make-up, this is a real tribe that has never been filmed before. Awesome.

Directed by Eli Roth and starring Lorenza Izzo, Ariel Levy, Daryl Sabara and Kirby Bliss Blanton, “The Green Inferno follows a group of student activists who from New York City travel to the Amazon to protect a dying tribe, but crash in the jungle and are taken hostage by the very natives they saved.

Tear into the trailer below and prepare yourself for the sacrifice on September 5th!


Friday, April 11, 2014

HORROR ON TV - ROSEMARY Gets Her Due Date


I know I've been gone for a while (please don't hate me), in addition to moving offices I am knee deep in moving homes, so the past two weeks have been chaos. I felt like I had to post something though, and luckily enough NBC decided to share something totally news worthy!

Their miniseries based on Ira Levin's novel, Rosemary's Baby, has received it's release date so mark your calendars for mid May as the 2 part, 4 hour miniseries will air on Sunday, May 11th (and according to Bloody-Disgusting, again on May 15th). This gives us exactly one month from today to begin our build of excitement. I suppose that this is as good a time as ever to cross the novel off my To-Read list. I think I'll also give the film another viewing, I think it'd be fun to compare all three when the miniseries debuts. I loved doing that with Stephen King's The Shining, which I'm actually a fan of compared to the backlash that most fans gave the miniseries.


The miniseries stars Zoe Saldana in the titular role, along with Carole Bouquet, Jason Isaacs and Christina Cole.

It centers on Rosemary Woodhouse (Zoe Saldana), a young wife and would-be mother who, with her husband Guy (Patrick J. Adams), moves into a Paris apartment that has a dark past. After finally getting pregnant, she becomes increasingly suspicious that both her husband and their mysterious neighbors have ulterior motives about the future of her child.” 


Thursday, April 3, 2014

The Conjuring (2013) - A Review




“Based on the true case files of the Warrens”

James Wan is someone that I have struggled with (pretty much) since day one. Aside from Saw, I have seen very little warrant in his work as, in my opinion, it has been on a steady decline from quality to mindless factory-line horror drivel. It was due to these opinions that when word of The Conjuring began circulating one thought crossed my mind: “Great, another franchise opportunity for Wan.”

I have a general rule for horror films however. I will watch any film once, with an open mind, always in hopes that I will walk out of the experience with a smile on my face. There is nothing better to me than being proven wrong by a director or film. Eli Roth did it with Hostel (I hated the first viewing) as did Rob Zombie with The Devil’s Rejects. I was not looking forward to watching The Conjuring, but here I sit, typing this review and I have to say, it may have done exactly what I was hoping it would.

Allie MacDonald and Meatloaf Break More Than A Leg in New Horror Musical STAGE FRIGHT


If there's one thing that Rocky Horror Picture Show proved it's that horror, comedy and musical numbers are all rad on their own but can pack one hell of a punch if you slap them all together.I had never heard of this one, but after seeing it posted over on Reddit and B-D, I figured I'd do a little more digging and I must say, this looks like it could be pretty damn sweet.

Stage Fright, tells the story of “Starry-eyed teenager Camilla Swanson, who wants to follow in her mother’s footsteps and become a Broadway diva, but she’s stuck working in the kitchen of a snobby performing arts camp. Determined to change her destiny, she sneaks in to audition for the summer showcase and lands a lead role in the play, but just as rehearsals begin, blood starts to spill, and Camilla soon finds herself terrified by the horror of musical theatre.

 The flick is being described as Scream meets Glee, and is supposedly hilarious. I could take or leave the Glee aspect, but I'm all about a good old fashioned slasher. Especially a humorous one. Stage Fright will be the feature film debut of Jerome Sable and stars Allie MacDonald, Douglas Smith, Minnie Drive and (hot patootie bless his soul) Meatloaf. 


HORROR ON TV - ROSEMARY'S BABY Rolls Out Another Promo


A couple weeks ago, NBC rolled out the first promo for their 4 hour miniseries based on Ira Levin's novel, Rosemary's Baby, if you can even calling that. It was a 3 second shot of a baby carriage with the grating sounds of a baby screaming in the background. More annoying than entertaining.

Well today we get an actual promo with real footage! It's not much, but it's something and to be completely honest I felt a bit ripped off with that first promo, especially if that's what NBC decided to deliver for their "miniseries event". You can watch it here, but save your energy for the new one below as it's miles above and beyond the first.






I do love the idea of the miniseries though. Obviously the horror-on-television well is beginning to dry up, as we're moving on to pre-existing properties to fill the small screen (i.e. Scream, Teen Wolf), but I'm all about it if it's going to be approached in the terms of a miniseries. It worked beautifully (in my humble, and not widely accepted, opinion) for Stephen King's The Shining, as it gave the audience an opportunity to see more of the rich and multi-layered backstory presented in the book that was never shown in Kubrick's telling of the Torrance family story. Plus, it helps maintain the integrity of the original story as opposed to updating, changing and chopping in hopes of securing another season. 

Anyway, in getting back to Rosemary's Baby, the new take on the classic horror story “centers on Rosemary Woodhouse (Zoe Saldana), a young wife and would-be mother who, with her husband Guy (Patrick J. Adams), moves into a Paris apartment that has a dark past. After finally getting pregnant, she becomes increasingly suspicious that both her husband and their mysterious neighbors have ulterior motives about the future of her child.



Wednesday, April 2, 2014

It's Official - MTV Moves Forward With SCREAM Series


Sigh. It's official. 

MTV has made an announcement that they are officially moving forward with the Scream series. BD released the plot details this morning, as well as the news that Wes Craven will be directing the pilot this summer. The script was written by Jill Blotevogel. 

The pilot explores a YouTube video that has gone viral and causes problems for the protagonist, Audrey, who is caught in the middle of murder and the town’s troubled past.

I've been fearing that this news would rear it's ugly head at some time or another, and I can't help but feel incredibly disappointed by it. After the fans have been clamoring for months in hopes of getting a Scream 5 as opposed to a series (on MTV, of all stations), it appears that our pleas have fallen on deaf (Weinstein) ears. Thanks for that. 

If you're a fan of Scream and you've watched an episode of Teen Wolf, or even seen a commercial, then you can understand my disappointment with this news. To place such an important horror property into the hands of a network that excels at tearing anything resembling credibility to shreds is very scary. Not to mention that a Scream production is hardly a Scream production without Sydney Prescott, Wes Craven or not. 

We'll just have to wait and see, but I'm scared guys. I'm scared.