feast Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Dear Alamo Drafthouse or any other movie theater that serves food with movies,

I just saw Fantastic Mr. Fox and afterwards I realized something that no one seems to have mentioned so far: This is totally a foodie movie. It's not foodie like Julie & Julia, where the characters are baking desserts and decapitating ducks and invoking the spirit of Julia Child ... but food is a central part of the story . The three main bad guys each are rumored to only consume a single type of food or drink, and Mr. Fox is obsessed with getting his paws on some of these delicacies. There are feasts, there are large plates of French toast and desserts, there is a significant cider incident -- in short, this movie is awash in food and drink.

Therefore, I strongly suggest that you offer a feast to accompany some screenings of Fantastic Mr. Fox. It took me days to recuperate from Alamo's feast for The Simpsons Movie, but boy was it worthwhile. Alamo does feasts for all kinds of fancy foodie movies, and any other movie it likes ... this is one I hope is not forgotten, even though it is opening in Austin around Thanksgiving, when people have turkey feasts on the brain.

Once the Weinsteins (finally) got around to releasing Project Greenlight Movie #3 (aka Feast), it found a rather warm reception on the horror circuit. And while screenwriters Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan were invited to join the Saw series and the Hellraiser remake, that doesn't mean the team doesn't have time for a sequel or two. (And that includes director John Gulager, who's also big for two more swings.)

We've been hearing little rumblings about Feast 2: Sloppy Seconds and Feast 3: The Happy Finish (?) for a little while now, but Fango brings us new word on a release date: Looks like Part 2 will be hitting video shelves on October 21. And since I've actually seen a few moments of Feast 2's unfinished gore-geyers, I can tell you one thing: They got the "sloppy" part right. Plot-wise, the sequel picks up right where we left off, with the crazy monsters now set to invade a nearby town. Expect a few familiar faces, several new victims, a lot of monsters, and tons of splattery mayhem. (It's like the Tremors series all over again, only in glorious "R"!)

One of the most ferociously entertaining horror flicks of the past several years is Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury's Inside (aka A l'interieur), which will be hitting DVD a little later this year. We already knew that the Frenchmen had been tapped to direct the Hellraiser remake for Dimension, but the project recently got bumped back to 2009.

Now that the strike is over, the producers can take some steps towards getting the flick moving. To that end, horror-lovin' screenwriters Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton have been hired to help get the new (Barker-approved) Hellraiser ... raised. Genre fans will remember Marc and Pat from their debut flick Feast, plus they also joined the Twisted team last year when they provided the screenplay for Saw 4. (And yes, they also worked on Feast 2. And Saw 5. Oh, and Feast 3.)

According to Shock, the duo also have The Midnight Man in production with Dimension, so obviously the studio likes these guys. More word on Hellraiser, Inside, Saw 5, The Midnight Man, and the new Feasts as it becomes available.

I covered the very cool Texas Fearfest for Comcast's FEARnet last March, and one of the very entertaining filmmakers I got to chat with was Feast director John Gulager. (Goofy video interview here.) The guy all but promised a sequel, but since things were still in the very early stages, nothing was even remotely locked in or "news-worthy." (Actors and filmmakers talk sequels all the time, especially in the horror division, and lots of 'em just never materialize.) But here's some pretty excellent news for you Feast-hungry fans: We're probably looking at a pair of sequels!

While talking to Fangoria, Feast and Saw 4 co-writer Marcus Dunston (who was also at Fearfest!) let it be known that on top of the two new Feasts, we can also expect a veritable salad bar of sloppy gore goodness: "Feast 2 and 3 are coming together, with [director John] Gulager back ... with the vulgarities we've currently scripted, and if we don't get deported, we just may have the NC-17-rated monsterfest that was only hinted at in the first film." Dang, sounds good to me!

For those who haven't Feasted yet, I'll remind you that the Project Greenlight flick, while certainly not a flawless piece of genre gristle, is a fast-paced, well-cast, admirably gooey and perfectly enjoyable concoction. Despite the Weinsteins' uncertainty on how to handle the flick, I'd say it's definitely found a place in the gorehounds' collective heart since it hit video last year. Good to know that Dunston, Gulager and co-writer Patrick Melton will be back on board, at the very least. The retention of the original creative team gives one a little more hope than usual.

When the fine folks at Dimension Films aren't pulling four-year-old horror flicks out of their vault, remaking the latest Asian horror movies or trimming their terrors down to earn a PG-13 rating ... they do direct-to-video sequels like nobody's business. This is the distributor that kept oozing Hellraiser, Dracula, Crow and Prophecy sequels from every available pore -- not that the horror fans were actually clamoring for those cheap knock-off follow-ups. But with those franchises pretty much exhausted (in more ways than one), it seems that Los Weinsteins are poking around for some newer ones.

According to Moviehole.net, the American remake Pulse is a candidate for the "churn out two" treatment. Unlikely that Kristen Bell will be returning, but word is that two new sequels to Pulse will hit the shelves eventually. The original Americanized Pulse grossed only $20 million domestically (and another $7 million overseas), but why let facts and figures get in the way of your low-end, low-quality DTV slate? Can Cursed 2 and Mindhunters 3 be far behind? (Frankly I find it kind of irritating that these sequels will go into production well before solid flicks like Black Sheep, Teeth and All the Boys Love Mandy Lane hit the screens. C'mon Weinsteins, hook us up!)

In related news, Bloody-Disgusting.com is reporting that the Weinsteins also want to mount a pair of Feast sequels, which I find somewhat hilarious when you consider the ridiculous way in which they handled the original Feast's theatrical release. (Midnight showings for two nights only! Bring your friends!) Feast writers Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunston (who may end up writing Saw 4, don't forget) recently dropped some vague little hints about the pair of sequels, but I'll believe it when I see it. (And considering the Dimension track record, we'll be seeing 'em in about four years.) Still, it's pretty rare to hear multiple-sequel news for a movie that made less than $57,000 at the box office, but Feast is quite the fun little flick. Pulse, on the other hand, is not. Like, at all.

When you're compelled (by money and ravenous fans) to churn out another Saw movie every single year, you don't have much time to a) write a script, b) hire actors and c) keep everything a big fat secret. Case in point: It's been widely mumbled that David Hackl (production designer on Saw 2 and Saw 3) would be the one settling into the director's chair for Saw 4, and that seems a pretty good move: Get some fresh blood in there, but have it come from someone already inside the Saw family. (Plus it's probably pretty difficult to get an established director who can take a gig and start shooting "like, next month?")

And now comes additional news. IGN Movies is reporting that Ja Rule will appear in Saw 4, but only in the first scene. (And we all know what that means!) Additionally, some guy who allegedly read the Saw 4 script (which we believe was written by Feast scribes Marcus Dunston and Tom Fenton) claims that Angus MacFadyen's character plays an important role -- but Angus Mac hasn't technically signed on for the sequel at this time.

Looks like production is scheduled to begin next month in Toronto, so we should have a lot more information within the next few weeks. In the meantime we can all sit down and enjoy our Saw 3 Unrated Version DVDs, a platter that's presently poised atop the DVD sales AND rental charts. (Interesting note: Not only was Saw 3 the top-selling DVD last week, but its arrival gave Saw and Saw 2 fresh life; they're both back on the Top 20 sales chart this week!)

Old-school schlock-slinger William Castle was known for a whole lot of things ... but, for the most part, quality filmmaking was not one of 'em. He was, however, one helluva showman, constantly coming up with new in-theater gimmicks to keep his Saturday afternoon chiller flicks well-populated by thrill-seeking kids. One of Castle's best-known flicks is 1959's The Tingler, which was about a creature that lives within the human spinal cord, and starts, like, vibrating when its host gets extra scared. And to help sell the flick, Castle had these little doo-hickeys installed into the theater seats ... and they'd vibrate every time a scary part showed up! Neat-o!

So now that every horror movie from the past 33 years has officially been remade, it looks like the folks at Sony have tapped Feast writers Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan to pen a remake of The Tingler. That's all the info we have so far, but the Feast boys seem to be pretty busy these days: Apparently they're also working on a draft of Saw 4 and have something called The Midnight Man on the way.

This is far from the first time a William Castle flick has been remade: 1959's House on Haunted Hill was remade in1999 and 1960's 13 Ghosts was remade two years later. Combine the best components of all four of those movies into one package, and you might have a really good horror flick.

Anyone who's seen Saw 3 knows that it'll be pretty tough to come up with a viable screenplay for Saw 4. Not saying it's impossible, but let's just say the incoming Sawmakers will have to pull a few fancy tricks ... and fast, since Saw 4 has already been scheduled for an October release date.

It's been widely reported that James Wan, Leigh Whannell and Darren Lynn Bousman participated in Saw 3 only out of respect for their deceased producer/friend Gregg Hoffman -- and while I'm sure the trio didn't exactly complain about their Part 3 paychecks, the guys probably have other things they want to do with their careers besides Saw 17, right? Right. Which is why Lionsgate is presently fielding ideas from a wide array of screenwriters, two of whom (according to Bloody-Disgusting.com) just released their very first horror flick.

Yeah, the two Project Greenlight knuckleheads who wrote Feast are (allegedly) among the running for the Saw 4 gig. Also known as Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton, the pair have a variety of projects on numerous back-burners, but a Saw sequel has to seem sort of like a lottery ticket to guys like this.

Also, Feast is a whole lot of wet, splattery, gore-soaked fun. So there's that.

The official Cinematical presence at the 2006 Fantastic Fest was the wonderful Jette Kernion, and I think she managed to bang out about eight reviews ... while the fest was still running! I saw JK everywhere, from the queues to the parties to the local barbecue pits. Frankly I think her coverage rocked the house, and I'm not just saying that because she let me butt in line with her for The Beach Party at the Threshold of Hell.

But since the FF guys were cool enough to welcome Cinematical with such eerily open arms, I figure it's only right to share my favorite movies, moments and memories of mayhem from the 2006 FantFest. And so I shall.

The Best Flicks

Simon Rumley's seriously disturbing The Living and the Dead, the Swedish vampire flick Frostbite, Adam Green's fun-time slasher throwback Hatchet, William Friedkin's compellingly intense Bug and the quietly cool haunted Brit flick Lie Still. I also had an unexpectedly good time with Mel Gibson's Apocalypto -- and although I'd already seen Abominable, The Host, The Fountain, Pan's Labyrinth and Severance, they're all films I have no problem recommending. Oh, and William H. Macy's performance in Edmond ... wow.

I also trekked away from the festival to enjoy a good portion of Feast -- which was negated by my plane ride home. Lindsay Lohan's Just My Luck was the in-flight movie, and that flick packs perhaps the worst screenplay I've dealt with in three years. Stunningly bad.

Oh, and right before I nodded off every night, I watched just a little bit more of The Office: Season 2. If you don't watch this show, you're plain old robbing yourself of multiple peals of bulky laughter. And why would you want to do that?

OK, I know I promised that the last one was the final Feast update, but when a gory horror movie that was the subject of a reality show plans a midnight-only limited release three weeks before its DVD date ... all bets are off, I guess. And it's a pretty good thing for us that Fangoria has taken such a virulent interest in Feast, becase that's where I've been getting all my info. (And lately there's been a whole bunch.)

First off, the all-new official Feast website has a list of theaters in which the flick will be playing on September 22nd. We're assured that more theaters will be announced soon, which is good because as far as I know, there is not presently (nor has there ever been) a movie theater in Philadelphia called "Creative Garden." (C'mon, we're the fifth largest city in the country; give us an AMC screening!) If your city isn't on the midnight screening list, fear not. You'll be able to get a copy of the DVD on October 17th. And those who are still unsure if Feast is their kind of flick will undoubtedly want to take a peek at this brand-new trailer, which is hosted at (you guessed it) Fangoria.com.

And I hate to sound like a grump, but I'd like to address a statement made by Feast director John Gulager. He's quoted as saying that "I feel that fans must support R-rated horror films. If people don't turn out, well, every picture will be rated PG-13." John, I couldn't agree more, but before an audience can support an R-rated horror film, the flick's own distributor has to do it first. And a fistful of midnight screenings scheduled for three weeks prior to a DVD release isn't helping matters a whole heck of a lot. Plus, go ask Lionsgate if R-rated horror is becoming extinct. I predict they'd chuckle.

The trailer's pretty darn cool though!