DarkFloors Tagged Articles at Cinematical

I'll admit it: Most of the indie / foreign horror films that I see at film festivals and then recommend like crazy ... are not exactly "mainstream" titles. My apologies if you watched Inside, Teeth, or Frontier(s) with your mom -- although she'd probably like The Signal. Heck, even my preferences in studio horror fare tend to run towards the bleak, and hats off to The Mist, The Ruins and The Strangers for keeping me on my toes.

So what's my point? There's one particular indie that is absolutely NOT a gorehounds-only affair. I actually expect quite a (relatively) mainstream groundswell of support once Gregg Bishop's Dance of the Dead hits DVD -- and according to good ol' Bloody-Dee, that DVD will arrive on October 14. Yes, the movie is about a prom that's been overrun by zombies, leaving only the dateless outcasts to save the day, and sure, it's got some gore, some salty language, and some playful sexiness -- but dang if the Dance of the Dead doesn't feel like something Spielberg might have done as a newcomer. (And actually liked horror movies.) It's quick and colorful and jaunty and amusing -- and I think that's the first time I've ever used the word "jaunty" in any capacity. Anyway, toss a red circle around this title. It's not just for the horror fans. (No less than eight Cinematical staffers saw and really enjoyed it.)

And hey, get this! Lionsgate is absolutely GUSHING horror flicks on October 14! Not only the Dance will hit DVD on that date, but seven more titles as well: Brotherhood of Blood, Dark Floors, The Last House in the Woods, No Man's Land: The Rise of the Reeker (cool!), Room 205, The Substitute, and something Russian called Trackman (that looks pretty wild). Now that sounds like a Halloween party!

Some indie nibbles for the new week:

• Before Totally F***ed Up or The Doom Generation, Gregg Araki filmed The Living End. The 1992 film followed a gay hustler and a movie critic, both with HIV, who head out on a dangerous journey with the motto: "F*** the world." Over 15 years later, indieWIRE reports that Strand Releasing and Fortissimo Films have teamed up to bring together The Living End: Remixed and Remastered. The film screened on Friday at Sundance, and will be screened again at Berlinale. Since the DVD has pretty much disappeared since its release in 2002, I imagine that this new remastered copy will soon hit those shiny little discs -- hopefully with some tasty special features to boot.
• Back in April, I told you about Finnish band Lordi's upcoming monster movie called Dark Floors. Set in a hospital, the masked band members play monsters who stalk the film's heroes. Now Variety reports that their English-language flick is getting its world premiere February 6, at the Energia Areena in Oulu, before hitting Finnish screens on February 8. On these shores -- well, you'll have to wait and see what happens at Berlin, where the movie will be shopped around. In the meantime, you can check out the trailer through last month's Trailer Park.
  
• Finally, Vertigo Films has been busy buying up a couple of features. First, Variety reports that they've signed on for writer/director Rupert Wyatt's film The Trail, which will shoot this spring in New Mexico. There's no word on what the film is about, but there's a ton of coverage on Polish sites that I (unfortunately) can't read, so I'm wondering if that's a sign. Beyond this mysterious, new, $10 million movie, there's also Wyatt's directorial debut, The Escapist, which Vertigo also picked up. (The world premiere was yesterday at Sundance.)

The holidays are inescapably upon us, so I find myself thinking of my weekly search for new trailers as a mad dash through the snowy New England countryside on a horse-drawn sleigh, searching for noteworthy previews, each providing a clue that leads me to the next. Granted, you won't actually find movie trailers in the New England countryside but bear with me people, it's a metaphor. Yes, perhaps I've had too much eggnog, and I've definitely watched too many Christmas specials, but this week I hope you'll join me as Trailer Park takes us Dashing Through the Snow.

Dark Floors
Lordi. No, I'm not expressing dismay, that's the name of the Finnish rock band this horror film is built around. Monika mentioned back in April that this was on the way and now we've got a teaser and a full trailer. A father pulls his autistic daughter out of her doctor's care, but on the way down in the hospital elevator, father and daughter along with several others find themselves exiting onto a floor of the hospital that shouldn't exist. The place is littered with bodies, and demons (presumably members of the Gwar-esque band) lurk in the shadows. It looks pretty cool, though a possible resemblance to Silent Hill has me a little worried. I'm always up for a good creep out, though, so I hope to get a chance to see this. For now, it's being released in Finland on February 8, but I imagine we'll be seeing it here in the states eventually. And speaking of "dark"...

The Dark Knight
The full length Dark Knight trailer has finally arrived and I have to say it's got me pretty stoked for the caped crusader's return. The voice over by Heath Ledger as The Joker refers to both hero and villain as freaks, recalling similar dialogue from the Tim Burton's 1989 Batman, but this Clown Prince of Crime takes things in a whole new direction. He's grimier and less goofy than Jack Nicholson's take on the character. Many of the familiar faces from Batman Begins are here, and though there's a quick glimpse of that film's batmobile, this Batman seems to prefer a suped up science fiction motorcycle. Looks awesome and it hits U.S. theaters on July 18. Here's Ryan's take on the trailer. And speaking of comic book adaptations...

Hallelujah! Or rather: Hard. Rock. Hallelujah! That happens to be a song by Finnish monster rock band, Lordi. If you haven't heard of them and wonder what they're all about, you can check out the song I referred to here. It's almost like they're straight out of the 80's, with the bad girl all sad in high school, the bitchy cheerleaders, the hard music and over-the-top costumes. But they're not. They're actually a band that's hitting the world by storm, gaining huge success in Europe and now moving out to tour Asia and North America. And that's not all, folks! They're also going to star in a monster movie.

From an advertising and promotional standpoint, how better to gain recognition then to hit your core audience by means of a blood-fest flick? Hell, they've already got the ghoulish costumes -- consisting of armor and skeleton/zombie masks. According to frontman Tomi Petteri Putaansuu: "It will be a full-blooded horror flick, where our characters bluntly butcher people." And, as if it needed to be said: "It will not be for kids." According to Variety, the picture will be called Dark Floors and will shoot this May with pre-sales to begin at Cannes. According to esctoday.com, the Lordi frontman co-wrote the script with Veli-Pekka Hänninen, which is said to be "an American-type slasher thriller with a sprinkle of Japanese style," and it will be set in a hospital. That last bit is really too bad. I think it would've been fun to have a musical horror movie where the band travels around, wreaking their monster-fury and songs on the innocent populace.