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'Black Swan' Reviews Call Film "Weird, Sexy and Devastating"
Filed under: Horror, Thrillers, New Releases, Noir, Newsstand, Review Roundup
Darren Aronofsky's thriller, Black Swan, is set to make its debut tonight at the Venice Film Festival. Critics at the Fest have already had a chance to view the story of a psychologically fragile ballerina and the early reviews are in. Read on for some of the highlights and dissenting opinions.
Kirk Honeycutt at THR wasn't entirely impressed with Aronofsky's latest vision: "Trying to coax a horror-thriller out of the world of ballet doesn't begin to work for Darren Aronofsky." Honeycutt doesn't dislike the film -- in fact, he thinks it's so bad it's good: "An instant guilty pleasure, a gorgeously shot, visually complex film whose badness is what's so good about it. You might howl at the sheer audacity of mixing mental illness with the body-fatiguing, mind-numbing rigors of ballet, but its lurid imagery and a hellcat competition between two rival dancers is pretty irresistible. Certain to divide audiences, "Swan" won't lack for controversy." He does like the performances of the leading ladies, saying Portman does well in the dance numbers and "in her acting, too, you sense she has bravely ventured out of her comfort zone to play a character slowly losing sight of herself. It's a bravura performance." Meanwhile, "Kunis makes a perfect alternate to Portman, equally as lithe and dark but a smirk of self-assurance in place of Portman's wide-eyed fearfulness." The critic feels the black/white dynamic almost works, but the "horror-movie nonsense drags everything down the rabbit hole of preposterousness."
Hit the jump to see what Variety and several other venues had to say about the film.
'Shark Night 3D' Hoping to be Next 'Snakes on a Plane'
Filed under: Horror, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Casting, New Releases
With Piranha 3D taking a bite out college students at the box office, and the 35th anniversary of Jaws having just past in June, it suddenly seems like a good time for more movies with underwater menaces. Luckily for you, David Ellis has you covered.Ellis, the director behind the insanely hyped Snakes on a Plane, is set to bring us Shark Night 3-D. The film is centered on seven young adults who spend a weekend at a lake house in the Louisiana Gulf area. Their weekend trip takes a turn for the terrible when sharks start attacking -- which is even more troubling since these are freshwater lakes. Our heroes soon discover it's part of some sick plan inspired by greed on the part of the locals (of course it is ... ).
'Hellraiser' Remake Stuck in Development Hell
Filed under: Horror, Mystery & Suspense, RumorMonger, Home Entertainment, Remakes and Sequels
In order to hold on to their Hellraiser rights, Dimension is cranking out yet another direct-to-video sequel for the series, making this outing #9 (by my count) for good ol' Pinhead and the Cenobites.Whither the big-budget remake of the original, though? The last that we heard, Martyrs director Pascal Laugier was just leaving the project (a pity, considering his experience with gruesome make-up and generally f**ked-up situations). Now, THR is reporting that more recent talks with Christian E. Christiansen (next February's The Roommate) fell apart as well, essentially leaving the film in limbo.
I can only wonder what's keeping Dimension from settling on a helmer. Is it a matter of the budget? Consistent creative differences? Even Doug Bradley, who's played Pinhead for eight films in a row, won't be back for the DTV nine-quel, let alone a remake. Other than the prospect of some grislier modern effects, are any of you really aching for this series to continue or be rebooted? (If you own a share of Dimension, please put your hand back down.)
More 'Scream 4' Cameos: Lucy Hale and Shenae Grimes
Filed under: Horror, Casting, New Releases, RumorMonger, Remakes and Sequels, Twitter
I keep flip-flopping about Scream 4. On the one hand, if they're going to do another film in this franchise I'm glad to see Wes Craven back at the helm and familiar faces like Neve Campbell, David Arquette and Courtney Cox-Arquette back in the cast. I'm hit-and-miss on Kevin Williamson returning to write.
The film's been shooting for over a month already (and just got an extension to keep filming until the end of September), but in a weird twist we're still getting casting news. A few days ago, it was the announcement that Anna Paquin and Kristen Bell were involved, and now two more starlets have been added to the mix in what will almost assuredly be brief cameo roles.
'The Last Exorcism': What Did You Think (of the Ending)?
Filed under: Horror, New Releases, Lionsgate Films
A couple of weeks ago, I put forth The Last Exorcism as a likely candidate to become a late-summer sleeper hit. At the end of its first weekend in theaters, the box office returns look good, and the critical consensus does too -- with the exception of the ending, which took a drumming from everyone and their mother. MaryAnn Johanson writes that the movie is "absolutely worth seeing... if only for the intriguing debate to be had afterward, if it wouldn't be an even stronger film were the last five minutes or so to be chopped off." The A.V. Club's Keith Phipps laments that "the finale abandons the [movie's] carefully constructed ambiguity." Owen Gleiberman: "For a while, the movie shrewdly exploits our voyeurism, all built around the teasing question of whether there's actually anything supernatural going on. The payoff, however, simply isn't scary enough. The movie is like The Exorcist without a spine-tingling catharsis." And so forth.
I'm of two minds about the direction Daniel Stamm's film takes in the final minutes. On one hand, I appreciate the way the movie toys with us before full-tilt careening toward the supernatural, and my fondness for pseudo-biblical horror films ensured that I'd get at least a small kick from the final twist. I also thought that the ending, and specifically the sudden callback of a piece of information dispensed earlier, recalled -- in a positive way -- the bone-chilling final shots of The Blair Witch Project.
Trailer Park: Inside Job, The Love of the Hawthorn Tree, Legendary
Filed under: Documentary, Horror, Thrillers, Toronto International Film Festival, Cinematical Indie, Trailers and Clips
More than half the votes in last week's Trailer Park poll went to expected winner Black Swan (with 57%). There is definitely a lot of interest in Darren Aronofsky's latest, far more than any of the other nine films. I am a bit surprised to see the Joaquin Phoenix documentary I'm Still Here garnering so few votes and coming in seventh place (4.1%), though I am glad to see people were into second-place winner, Machete Maidens Unleashed! (10.8%).
This weekend saw the release of The Last Exorcism so it makes sense that we saw a lot of creepy trailers for horror films this week, many of them on Horror Squad rather than here at Cinematical. By coincidence only, I think, are the timely debuts of trailers for the non-horror film 127 Hours, which at least has a gruesome element to it, and the documentary Inside Job, which features a blurb calling it a scarier movie than anything Wes Craven and John Carpenter have ever made. Both of these films were my top two favorites of the week.
Another commonality among this crop of trailers is many of them are screening at the Toronto International Film Festival next month. These include those first two titles, as well as Adam Wingard's An Awful Way to Die, Guillem Morales' Julia's Eyes and Stephen Frears' Tamara Drewe. Meanwhile, this week's big star is Danny Glover, who appears in two new trailers -- Age of the Dragons and Legendary.
See this week's trailer rankings and vote for your favorite after the jump.
Neil Marshall Makes Underground Supper Clubs Horrific
Filed under: Horror, Thrillers, Deals, Scripts
If there's one thing I want to pluck off my to-do list and move to my have-done list in the very near future, it's underground supper clubs. Rather than going out to a fancy restaurant to gorge on any old meal, many are falling victim to the lure of secret, one-of-a-kind foodie adventures. Not advertised or set in one locale day after day, these clubs exist outside the law (no food inspections and stringent guidelines apply), moving from place to place and often offering up unique fare you'd rarely see on a regular old menu. Sign up, wait, and soon you're dining with a handful of strangers in an intimate locale. Sometimes it's just straight-forward chef creations, and sometimes it's something you might not be used to, like horse, or maybe crunchy l'il insects.Naturally, Hollywood wants in, and they see it as the perfect venue for horror.
Tony Todd Returns for 'Final Destination 5'
I was starting to think my devotion to the franchise was just compelling me to believe Final Destination 5 would be a huge step up from the last installment, but now it's really looking like it's got a shot at returning to the good old days, the pre-The Final Destination days, the days when Tony Todd had a part. Yes, it's true, Mr. Bludworth is finally coming back. Actually, according to Bloody Disgusting, the only information that we have right now is that Todd will be back; there's no mention of who he'll portray and considering his role was reduced to voicing the devil-themed rollercoaster in the third film and, if I'm correct, the train conductor at the end, Todd could really pop up anywhere.And this isn't it; there's more good news for Final Destination 5
Fantastic Fest to Play '30 Days of Night' Sequel, 'I Spit On Your Grave' and More
Filed under: Action, Animation, Classics, Comedy, Drama, Foreign Language, Horror, Independent, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Thrillers, Mystery & Suspense, Fantastic Fest, Remakes and Sequels
Cannibals, crooks, vampires, aliens and geeks galore are all lined up to invade Austin for Fantastic Fest next month, and if you think that we harp on this particular film festival a bit, A) you're right and B) it totally deserves every effusive word.We've got the whole list of newly announced titles after the jump, but right off the bat, I can tell you that we're looking at the U.S. premiere of crime drama Stone (starring Robert De Niro, Edward Norton and Milla Jovovich), the world premiere of 30 Days of Night: Dark Days, North American premieres of Hatchet 2 (which just received a warm reception at Frightfest over in the U.K.) and Ong-Bak 3 (just please have less dancing than 2), and a double bill of a restored print of 1960's The Housemaid and its recent remake.
All of this on top of Opening Night Film Let Me In and a slew of super-secret screenings in the mix? You bet your ass that we're gonna be there covering it from September 23-30.
Review: The Last Exorcism
Filed under: Horror, Independent, Lionsgate Films, Theatrical Reviews, Religious
If there's one thing that binds the best exorcism films, it's that the really good ones all offer some great acting. The major players in The Exorcist give amazing performances, The Exorcism of Emily Rose is believable through the work of its solid ensemble, and, now, The Last Exorcism delivers a potentially star-making performance from Patrick Fabian. What seems to be a "me too" attempt at creating another Paranormal Activity is actually a fascinating, uncomfortable, character-driven look at matters of faith and fear.
I expected the typical thrills of a demon possession flick, and while The Last Exorcism delivers, beat-for-beat, almost every creepy trope of the genre, its mature focus on characterization really sets the film apart. This is a welcome approach -- a horror film about people and not just kills and thrills -- but because the scares take a back seat to the characters, it also never quite reaches the fever pitch of terror that it also seems to be working toward. It's engaging, but is it scary? I can't quite say that it is, which is a peculiar criticism of a movie that still stands as one of the best horror films of 2010.
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