JohnathonSchaech Tagged Articles at Cinematical

As far as Hollywood's reliably tepid horror output is concerned, Quarantine works as every bit the disposable jolt dispenser it's assembled to be. It's got a nifty enough concept in its favor and a mildly recognizable cast that needs not fear any characterization coming between them and certain death by the time the credits roll, and it's hard to believe that there's not at least one sequence in here that might get even the most cynical horror fan's heart rate to rise a beat or two -- and I say this as a documented fan of the (still superior) source material.

Young news reporter Angela Vidal (Jennifer Carpenter) and her cameraman (Steve Harris) are covering a Los Angeles fire station during their nightly routines when the two tag along on an emergency call to an apartment building. Not terribly long after their arrival, all hell breaks loose and the building's occupants -- Angela included -- find themselves contained within against their will and left to fend off a dangerous virus that causes the infected to become a rabid zombie variant, one aggressively determined to spread the love around.

You always have to beware of the rabies. It brought down Old Yeller, and it can bring down hot, fresh, Hollywood talent. The Hollywood Reporter has posted that Hostel star Jay Hernandez, Dexter's wacky sister Jennifer Carpenter, and Columbus Short (Stomp the Yard), along with Splendor's Johnathon Schaech and Steve Harris (Diary of a Mad Black Woman), will be rabidly Quarantined. The flick is an adaptation of the Spanish horror movie Rec, and the kicker: the flipping original film hasn't even come out yet! That's right -- the English-language version has already been cast and goes into production today, while the original doesn't hit European screens until November 23.

The adaptation was written by director John Erick Dowdle with his brother Drew Dowdle, whose previous collaboration was this year's horror/thriller, The Poughkeepsie Tapes. This version of Quarantined is about an apartment building in downtown Los Angeles "where a deadly strain of rabies breaks out. A reporter and her cameraman are among those trapped inside when the edifice and its residents are quarantined." That's got to suck. However, maybe it's better than being quarantined with some skin-rotting virus or something. At least you have a fighting chance against rabid people. I have a feeling that some of the footage will be from the wobbly, running hand of the cameraman, but we'll have to wait and see, since we can't even watch the original yet.

Is Hollywood speeding up adaptations too much?

You might have heard of an upcoming indie film called Little Chenier -- it's screenwriter and producer Bethany Ashton Wolf's directorial debut about two brothers, Beauxregard (Johnathon Schaech) and Pemon (Frederick Koehler), who try to make ends meet in the Louisiana bayou. It's been touring the festival circuit and picking up awards in Park City and Phoenix. According to Film Stew, the feature is going into limited release in December, and there's a website you can check out before it hits cities like New Orleans and New York.

The release will be an eerie event, beyond the somber tone of the film (which you can see in the two trailers available on their site). The town that inspired the name of the movie, Little Chenier, was completely obliterated by Hurricane Rita, the storm that followed Katrina's devastation in 2005. It no longer exists, and this film is what remains. On the website, you can see before and after pictures of some of the destroyed filming locations, as well as information about the organization she founded with her brother Jace (who wrote the story that the film is based on), to help (Rita Remembered).

While we're sometimes faced with the notion that we could lose our home, do we ever fathom the idea that we could lose our entire town? It sounds like this film is worth it -- from the awards and positive reviews to its transformation from indie drama to a movie with historical significance. And, to boot, there's a great cast -- co-stars include Clifton Collins Jr. and Chris Mulkey.