Trick R Treat Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Fan Rant: Why You're Part of What's Wrong with Horror
Filed under: Horror », Thrillers », Fan Rant »
During the European Film Market event in Berlin where Michael Winterbottom's The Killer Inside Me was being screened at the Berlinale, the US/UK co-production was apparently so violent that dozens of people walked out of the press screening in disgust. The film is based on Jim Thompson's noir tale of the same name and is told from the point of view of a sociopathic, small-town sheriff, played by Casey Affleck. When the film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival it also caused a huge stir regarding its depiction of graphic violence against women, particularly a scene where Lou Ford (Affleck) brutally beats Joyce Lakeland (Jessica Alba) repeatedly in the head until she falls into a coma. Reports stated that Alba herself walked out during the screening at Sundance and one woman during an audience Q&A gave Winterbottom the business about the explicit scenes.
Winterbottom spoke out on the matter during the Berlin press conference, defending his use of shocking violence as a way to be true to the original source material, among other things. "For me that was the point of the violence in the film in a way -- it is something very repulsive. In terms of how we depicted it, we were just trying to make it as close to the book as possible. The book is very shocking," the director told reporters.
Eminem to Tackle Horror Anthologies with 'Shady Talez'
Filed under: Horror »
There are a lot of conspiracy theories swirling around as to why Warner Brothers intentionally let Michael Dougherty's excellent Trick 'r Treat collect metaphorical dust for two years before giving it an unjust, albeit successful, straight-to-DVD release. No matter what your own theory is, at Fantastic Fest Dougherty cited the film's anthology format as the reason for its shelving. Specifically, no one has made a popular, commercially successful anthology film since Creepshow, and today's audiences might not understand the concept.Now we all know that's a load of two-week-old Jack-o-Lantern guts; that even the most cynical among us realize that the anthology film is not some kind of ancient cipher that kids today are too busy Twittering and MySpacing to figure out, but that was one of his bigger points of contention with The Suits at WB. Well, that and apparently large corporations with a vested interest in younger demographics don't like it when children are killed in movies, but that's beside the point. And that point is: Dougherty's labor of love has finally made the anthology film relevant again in America.
And as with all things that aren't failures, there are bound to be imitators. Enter Eminem, yes, that Eminem, who is now in talks to lend his considerable popularity to a film called Shady Talez; and yes, it is spelled with a Z.
More news at HorrorSquad!
Five Horror Movies You Can Show Your Kids
Filed under: Horror », Fandom », Family Films », Lists »
As 'secular' holidays go, Halloween is easily my favorite. You can keep your Valentine's Day hearts and your St. Patrick Day benders, and give me a jack o' lantern any day of the week. It's a holiday that I never fail to celebrate with too much candy and as many horror movies as I can get my hands on, and even though I may not trick or treat anymore, I am highly observant when it comes to All Hallows' Eve. Maybe my love for the season is that it really is the perfect holiday for the movie lover, and I always remember gearing up for the big day as a kid by watching scary movies. I still keep that tradition alive as an adult, but like they say; it's all about the kids -- unfortunately for parents, most horror movies aren't.
There is plenty of horror for the grown-ups of the world, and we've got our choice from everything to high concept ghost stories to so-called torture porn, but it's a lot trickier when you start to look for something for something that is a little more family-friendly. So there has to be some middle-ground between G-rated fare like The Great Pumpkin and a Dario Argento splatter fest, right? Well, of course there is, so I thought I'd share five movies that you could show kids without worrying about dooming them to a lifetime on a therapist's couch:
After the jump; my recommendations for kid-friendly scares...
What's Up at the Squads
Filed under: Action », Comedy », Horror », Independent », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Thrillers », Mystery & Suspense », Fantastic Fest », Comic/Superhero/Geek »
Well, it's October now, and just as all sites set their... well, sights on all things horror, Horror Squad's been ahead of the curve by covering it all year round! A-ha!
Seriously, though, as Weinberg told you, we've kicked off our Fates Worse Than Death series -- today's entry from yours truly regards that ever grisly Event Horizon. (Your suggestions are also welcome.) Peter's got the latest on the best in this week's genre discs (Trick 'r Treat, ho!), and newbie Brad McHargue keeps up the Fantastic Fest coverage with his look at Jake West's horror-comedy, Doghouse.
Mind you, the Sci-Fi Squad crew ain't slouching either, whether it's concerning their new genre DVDs of the week, their Fantastic Fest interview with Stingray Sam director Cory McAbee, their wonderfully gonzo glimpse at next month's disaster-tastic 2012, and a gallery of the downright geekiest tattoos I have ever seen.
So get crackin'! After all, this October only comes one time a year... or something.
'Trick 'r Treat' Fantastic Fest Review
Filed under: Horror », Theatrical Reviews »
Trick 'r Treat is the holy grail of Halloween themed horror films. Not because of the notoriously long path writer-director Michael Dougherty's film has had to take to finally get released (a refresher: TrT was finished and first shown back in 2007 and, despite an overwhelming reaction to its first public exhibition, proceeded to be locked away in a vault at Warner Brothers for unspecified reasons), though that did turn it into a rare find to be coveted. No, Dougherty's film is such a treasure because it is Halloween. It just had the misfortune of being born a decade too late, of being born into a time when studios only care about remakes or sequels and certainly not about anthology films. Dougherty had, as far as a studio is concerned, the audacity to finely craft, gasp, an original, American horror film.Wrong-decade misfortune that may be, however, it's great to be able to say that Trick 'r Treat will still be watched on Halloween for decades to come. Those who love it, like I, will still be watching it with great devotion. Those who merely liked it will not be able to help themselves from putting it on as background to their Halloween parties. And those who hated it, well, those who hated it don't exist. They can't exist. To hate Trick 'r Treat would be to hate the entire spirit of Halloween, a spirit Dougherty apparently has complete domain over.
Read the rest over at Horror Squad
Northern Exposures: FanTasia Report #1
Filed under: Comedy », Documentary », Horror », Independent », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Thrillers », SXSW », Mystery & Suspense », IFC », Festival Reports », Shorts », Fantastic Fest », Other Festivals »
After a long flight on my part and a far longer drive for both of us, Scott Weinberg and I have finally arrived in Montréal for the FanTasia International Film Festival (their thirteenth, our first). The genre-heavy festival lasts for nearly three weeks; alas, we've but one to spare, so without much further ado, here's a look at what I've seen already and what I hope to see before Scott tips his own hand with a title or two to recommend.
Of the features playing, I can highly recommend Michael Paul Stephenson's Troll 2 doc, Best Worst Movie; the Aussie revenge thriller, The Horseman (not to be confused with the barely-seen Dennis Quaid vehicle, Horsemen); and Paul Solet's beautifully bloody baby horror, Grace. Those looking for something a bit stranger might end up being a bit more fond of Black and The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle than I was, though I also seemed more easily pleased by the Nazi zombies of Dead Snow than most, so I guess it all balances out. My enthusiasm for the ultra-kitschy likes of Alien Trespass and Lesbian Vampire Killers, not to mention the admittedly boundary-pushing Deadgirl, is all a bit less than what's already been mentioned, so let's just leave those at that.
Read the rest at HorrorSquad!
'Trick 'r Treat' Won't Wait 'Til Halloween
Filed under: Horror », Warner Brothers », RumorMonger », Distribution », Fantastic Fest »
Mike Dougherty's horror anthology film Trick 'r Treat has been bumped back by Warner Bros. for going on two years now, since its premiere at Austin's Butt-Numb-a-Thon back in December of 2007. We wrote up a piece last December wondering where it was, and we shant need to write one up this December, because not only is TrT scheduled for a home video release in October, but it's working up to a roadshow run starting in July.According to Bloody Disgusting, the film will hit several genre festivals -- from FanTasia to Fantastic Fest (squee!) -- and hopes to be booked in other theaters along the way. Those who know of any ideal venues to show the film have been encouraged to contact Dougherty himself through either his Twitter account or his MySpace page.
Now, I know several colleagues who loved or at least liked it, though one cautions not to get our hopes up too high. I'm all for keeping expectations in check, but if anything, I'm slightly more for supporting apparently good and genuinely original horror offerings. It's like my equivalent of asking you to prevent forest fires, only instead of forest fires, we're talking Prom Night sequels. Ya dig?
(Trailer's after the jump...)
Discuss: O Movie, Where Art Thou?
Filed under: Action », Comedy », Horror », Independent », Romance », Thrillers », Noir », Mystery & Suspense », Paramount », Sony », Sony Classics », Warner Brothers », RumorMonger », Fandom », Distribution », Exhibition », The Weinstein Co. », Comic/Superhero/Geek »
Coming up on the new year, it's interesting to see which films we had thought would've been released by this point. In the summer of 2007, I recall myself and several colleagues showing up for a press screening of Jonathan Levine's lauded slasher, All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, only to discover it was canceled just that morning and the film had been sold from the Weinstein Company to Senator that afternoon. (The film has since landed at Sony, whose indie arm, Sony Classics, already saw Levine's follow-up, The Wackness, to a proper theatrical reception.)
At least the Weinsteins gave something up for a change. The oft-shuffled Killshot and Fanboys are tentative January and February releases at the moment, respectively, and I just want to see for myself if The Poughkeepsie Tapes has been worthy of its modest reputation following a BNAT '07 screening -- the same BNAT that featured the reportedly sweet Trick 'r Treat that WB continues to hoard.
A perhaps more morbid curiosity has me keeping an eye on Paramount's Case 39, just to see if it's really that bad, and who knows what similar straits Assassination of a High School President, The Accidental Husband (originally last March), and Possession (originally last February) are in following Yari Film Group's bankruptcy -- not that I have much invested in the last two, but Assassination is a perfectly release-worthy noir take-off that deserves a home.
So what do you guys and girls think? Which of these are you most dying to see? What was the longest you ever waited to catch something, and were you ultimately disappointed or satisfied by the time it came your way?
The Scary Bits: Cold Prey, Laid to Rest, and Meat Train (for free!)
Filed under: Horror », The Scary Bits »
Last year I spent a few weeks in London (Croydon, actually) at the home of a hardcore horror freak named Paul McEvoy. And since Paul is a co-founder and programmer for UK FrightFest, well, let's just say I had a whole bunch of horror flick festival screeners to pick through. It was awesome. One of those discs had the words FRITT VILT scrawled across it, and I didn't even know what language that was. Turns out it was Norwegian and the flick's English title is Cold Prey. Despite the fact that, plot-wise, it's a pretty conventional slasher flick, I quite liked Fritt Vilt, and I was pleased to learn that the sequel is on the way. Anchor Bay will be releasing the original, and you can check out the trailer and website right here.
Looks like After Dark Horrorfest decided to share their newest posters with a few different horror sites. Check out some of 'em at Bloody-D, two more at Shock, and another at Dread Central.
They had a swanky little booth at San Diego Comic Con, and now they've given Dread a new (nasty) clip for your approval. The flick is called Laid to Rest, and I'm certainly looking forward to it. Here's the official site, and yes, you should expect more gore: Director Rob Hall runs a make-up / FX house called Almost Human, and it looks like his team worked overtime on this flick.
Ti West has a new one called The House of the Devil. Early info and promo poster right here. Also at BD, a set report from the Friday the 13th remake.
Wanna watch The Midnight Meat Train right now? Online? For free? Cool. Click here. Curious about when the hell you can see Trick 'r Treat already? Nobody has an answer, but Ryan Rotten delivers a good rant anyway. Anyone out there still interested in the Creepshow franchise after the monumental crap-heap that was Creepshow 3? If so, check out the details on Creepshow: Raw right here and here.
Toronto After Dark has announced their winners, and of course top prize goes to Let the Right One In. Full details over at Twitchfilm. And then check out a free clip from the film right here.
Trailer Park: Tricks, Treats and Trailers
Filed under: Action », Comedy », Horror », Romance », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Trailer Trash »
We've got a pack of new trailers this week, and this being the Halloween season it's not surprising that quite a few are for horror flicks. We've also got super heroes, introspective middle aged men and angsty teens (as pictured above). Let's dive in, shall we?
Friday the 13th
The first trailer for the new Friday the 13th remake arrived online during the week before Halloween. Kids. Screaming. You get it. Just as modern audiences seem to prefer the fast zombies of Zach Snyder's Dawn of the Dead, Jason is much more nimble here than I remember him being.
Notorious
The first trailer for the much-hyped Notorious B.I.G. biopic introduced itself to to us the other day. The film tells the life (and eventual death) story of the famous rapper from Brooklyn. Jamal Woolard stars as B.I.G. and Derek Luke does his best P. Diddy. This one is set for January 19.
Trick r Treat
Scott first posted about a trailer for this cool looking horror anthology back in July of 2007. This looks great and word from a recent press screening is extremely positive, but unfortunately Warner Bros. doesn't know what the hell to do with it. Hopefully the new hype will convince them to chuck it out in a few theaters and give it to us on DVD sooner rather than later.
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