deadgirl Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Cinematical Seven: High School Horror We Love
Filed under: Horror », Cinematical Seven »
Jennifer's Body is getting panned in some circles for the alleged tragic flaw of a horror movie not being particularly scary. They're mostly right -- Diablo Cody's genre follow-up to Juno doesn't really elevate the heart rate very often. But I think that's because it tips to the "high school" side of the "high school horror" balance; it's more of a teen drama with a bloody metaphorical twist than a full-on horror flick.
That may disappoint some fans, but it sort of gets at why high school horror movies work so well, so often. It's a cliche that "high school is scary," but movies that make a connection between the reasons high school is scary in real life and whatever monstrosity happens to be stalking or haunting the characters are the ones that tend to leave the biggest impression.
In honor of Jennifer's Body, which I think will be unjustly maligned in the weeks to come, here's a list of some high school horror movies that figured this out -- and a few that were just plain fun.
1. Ginger Snaps - The movie's IMDb plot summary helpfully begins: "This film uses werewolfism as a metaphor for puberty." Well, yeah -- though it is generally considered polite not to lead with something like that. (Sorry.) But it's not all allegorical navel-gazing. Ginger Snaps is an elegant, harsh piece of teen horror that brutally plays on teenage insecurities, and is a pretty good werewolf flick too. It's a shame that director John Fawcett largely disappeared into the (better-paying, I hear) abyss of television.
Indie Spotlight: New Releases for July 24
Filed under: New Releases », Indie Spotlight »
Here's a quick look at what's opening in limited release this weekend. If they're not playing where you live, keep an eye out as they make the rounds. And if all else fails, there's always DVD.In the Loop (pictured), a smart, snarky, and hilarious British political comedy, is now playing in New York, L.A., San Francisco, Chicago, Washington D.C., and Cambridge, Mass. It's one of the best-reviewed comedies of the year so far, with a 93% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Cinematical's James Rocchi, reviewing it at Sundance, called it "achingly, wrenchingly, dizzyingly funny, with a bleak, bitter sense of humor."
The Answer Man premiered at Sundance under the title Arlen Faber and is now hitting theaters in New York, L.A., and Philadelphia. It stars Jeff Daniels as a reclusive author of self-help books who -- get this -- is actually really screwed up! The mom from Gilmore Girls comes along and disrupts his life. The reviews at Rotten Tomatoes are mostly negative, citing the film's over-reliance on coincidences, easy solutions, sentimentality, and clichés.
Shrink, another Sundance premiere, has a strikingly similar premise, with Kevin Spacey playing a psychiatrist whose personal life is, you guessed it, really screwed up. It opens today in New York and L.A. Once again, the Rotten Tomatoes consensus is mostly negative.
Finally, there's Deadgirl, a splattery zombie horror that's been making the rounds in the midnight section of various film festivals. The Rotten Tomatoes news is not good here either, with three in favor and eight against. You can find it in New York, L.A., Chicago, Seattle, Houston, Austin, Dallas, and St. Louis.
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!
Fun Out of the Sun: A Look at the 2009 Florida Film Festival
Filed under: Action », Animation », Comedy », Documentary », Drama », Horror », Independent », Romance », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Thrillers », Mystery & Suspense », Lionsgate Films », Magnolia », Festival Reports », Family Films », Samuel Goldwyn Films »
The 18th annual Florida Film Festival ended a week ago last night, and do you want to know why our coverage of the fest is going up just now? Because I'm selfish and wanted to catch up with as many of the forty or so features as possible, even after the awards had been announced and everyone had gone home (for the record, I managed to miss each and every winning film -- Prince of Broadway, The Garden, Prodigal Sons, Neil Young: Don't Be Denied, and the exceedingly popular Poundcake -- and am kicking myself still).
However, between the appearances by Ken Russell, Glenn Close, and Jon Voight (oh, my!), I did manage to catch my fair share of world, regional, and local premieres at this celebration of Original Cinema, and you can see what we saw after the jump.
Toronto '08 Announces the 'Midnight Madness' Slate!
Filed under: Action », Animation », Comedy », Foreign Language », Horror », Independent », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Thrillers », Mystery & Suspense », Toronto International Film Festival »
OK, so I missed my flight to San Diego this morning and I've had a really rotten day, but there's always a small silver lining, right? In the movie world there is: JUST announced (like, within the last few minutes!) is the Toronto Film Festival's Midnight Madness '08 line-up. And, as usual, it looks pretty damn awesome.I've heard some really good things about Pascal Laugier's Martyrs, Franck Vestiel's Eden Log, and Jon Hewitt's Acolytes -- plus I've been itchin' to see JT Petty's horror-western The Burrowers for over a year now! Other selections include Pracha Pinkaew's Chocolate, Toshio Lee's Detroit Metal City, and Mark Hartley's Not Quite Hollywood. Click right here for all ten of TIFF's Midnight picks --and of course you can expect all sorts of expansive festival coverage once TIFF rolls out in early September. Woo!
(Note: Rocchi got all excited about JCVD being chosen as one of the Midnight selections, which is a title I neglected to mention the first time around. Ditto Sexykiller and Deadgirl.)
( Also announced today: Toronto's Wavelengths and Sprockets Family Zone selections. )
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