There's a funny moment about twenty minutes into Skinwalkers, when a balding protagonist, played by Elias Koteas, has to explain what's going on to a confused Rhona Mitra. "We're called Skinwalkers," he says. "You would call us werewolves." Oh, thanks. That clears it up. It turns out that Mitra's character is more or less the only non-wolf character in the entire film. She's caught in the middle of an idealogical war between opposing clans of werewolves, some of whom believe that being a werewolf is a bad thing and want an out, and those on the other side who believe being a wolf is fun and have formed themselves into a motorcycle gang of marauding lycanthropes. There's a nice little moment when a pistol-packing granny throws down against the gang when they ride into town looking for trouble, but I'm already stretching to be nice. The good moments are actually few and far between. Only Stan Winston completists or late-to-the-party casting agents wanting a good look at Mitra in action will find much on offer here.

The entire premise of a war between reluctant and self-righteous monsters has already been done (and better) by the X-Men series, which is the obvious inspiration here. There's even a blatant rip-off in the form of a 'boy cure,' which was the plot-engine in the third X-Men film. (To be totally fair, Skinwalkers could have been written long before that film, for all I know.) The boy in this film, played by Matthew Knight, has some kind of special, rare blood that can turn werewolves back into men, or something like that, so he was long ago spirited away to a small town to live with his in-the-dark mother, played by Mitra, all the while secretly protected by good wolves who never let anyone know they're even wolves at all. At night, these good wolves strap themselves into harnesses so that when the moon is full and they wolf-out (thanks to the drama coach in Teen Wolf for that phrase) they won't cause damage. Every night, from sundown to sunup, they howl and thrash, harmlessly.

There's always been a bit of an attraction to life-sized things. You can get full-scale cardboard cutouts of your favorite stars, and even almost-real mannequins. For a while a few years ago, I was trying to figure out if I could afford to buy a life-sized shaky, old man butler. I thought it would be a good jump-inducer for unknowing guests. But why scare them with a wrinkly old man who shakes, when you can scare them with a life-size Skinwalker?

What's that? It's one of those hairy beasts from the thriller Skinwalkers, which opens today. See, Stan Winston Studios designed the monsters for the movie, and After Dark Films is now giving away one of the creatures -- all snarling and arms out-stretched. According to the contest's official rules, the prize will be 7' to 9' tall, so you best have big ceilings, and, I'm assuming, some way to prop the thing up. To throw your hat in the ring, you have to mail your ticket stub to the address on the website with your contact info written on a 3x5 card. Now, before you go saying: "Awesome! A scary werewolf for free!" please note the contest rules over at the movie's website, which state that the winner picks up the tab for delivery and travel/lodging costs.

If you can afford them, it's a pretty small price to pay for a realistic creation from Stan Winston Studios, especially if you have a thing for werewolves. Me, I'd much rather have a full-sized Elias Koteas (who co-stars in the flick as Jonas) to guard my pad, instead of a dude who wears a jean jacket with no sleeves, but we can't all get what we want.

[via Rotten Tomatoes]

The Bourne Ultimatum pulled in some righteous bucks this past weekend, setting a record for an August release, and contributing to this being the highest grossing August weekend ever. I'll pass on using any lame jokes like "Bourne again" or "Bourne to be wild," not because I'm above that, mind you, but because I've already used them all. The Simpsons Movie dropped to number two, pulling in $25 million (mmmmm, box office). Incidentally, Hairspray missed being in the top five by, well, a hair, with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix taking in just a few hundred thousand more than the musical. The numbers look like this:

1. The Bourne Ultimatum: $69,283,690
2. The Simpsons Movie: $25,110,873
3. Underdog: $11,585,121
4. I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry: $10,626,345
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: $9,522,220

As we work our way into August, the flow of potential mega-blockbusters has ebbed. I wouldn't say any of this week's new releases have been hotly anticipated, though Rush Hour 3 seems to be the obvious big boy, and I'm personally looking forward to Stardust. Here's what's coming out this week:

Daddy Day Camp
What's It All About: In this sequel to Daddy Day Care, Cuba Gooding, Jr. takes over the roll originally played by Eddie Murphy, and now he's launching a day camp. Zany, huh?
Why It Might Do Well: I guess there's always a market for a good puke gag.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Who's Your Caddy didn't do so well with a plot reminiscent of Caddyshack, and this one has visions of Meatballs dancing in my head.
Number of Theaters: 2,200
Prediction: $6 million

Rush Hour 3
What's It All About: Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan mix it up for a third time, officially making this buddy cop franchise a trilogy, taking the action and (hopefully) laughs to the mean streets of Paris.
Why It Might Do Well: The original Rush Hour had a $33 million dollar opening weekend, with its first sequel opening with $67.4 million. Also, Jackie Chan can be pretty amazing to watch.
Why It Might Not Do Well: It's been six years since Rush Hour 2; does the public still care?
Number of Theaters: 3,000
Prediction: $51 million

Skinwalkers
What's It All About: Warring werewolf clans fight over a half human half werewolf boy who holds the key to their species' fate.
Why It Might Do Well: It's definitely a good thing when a film helps demonstrate that torture porn isn't the only kind of horror out there.
Why It Might Not Do Well: While I have a soft spot for the sub-genre, good werewolf films are hard to come by, and the trailer didn't wow me.
Number of Theaters: 650
Prediction: $4 million

Stardust
What's It All About: Based on a book by renowned fantasy writer Neil Gaiman, Stardust is the tale of a young man who sets out into a fantasy realm to retrieve a fallen star for his beloved, only to find that the star is in fact a beautiful young woman.
Why It Might Do Well: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is beginning to run out of box office steam, so this looks like a good choice for fantasy buffs, and a cast that includes Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Claire Danes can't hurt.
Why It Might Not Do Well: I honestly can't think of a reason for this movie flopping.
Number of Theaters: 2,300
Prediction: $22 million

The writing is on the wall for this coming weekend's box office returns, and that's where I'm getting this week's prediction. It was spray-painted on the back wall of a Denny's and I took it as a sign:
1. Rush Hour 3
2. The Bourne Ultimatum
3. Stardust
4. The Simpsons Movie
5. Underdog

Last Week's Prediction Rankings:
1. Tangoeco: 16
2. Bubba8193: 13
3. Josh: 11
3. Opp-Neg: 11
3. El Borracho: 11
3. Curt: 11
3. Ness 265: 11
3. Anna07: 11
3. Dustin: 11
4. SupDugs: 10
4. Gordy: 10
5. Joe: 9
5. Marc: 9
5. Evan: 9
5. Greg: 9
5. Ray: 9
6. jasonsmusicpage: 6

Please post your prediction for the top five films in the comments section below before 5:00 PM on Saturday. One point for every top five movie correctly named, two points for every correct placement, and one extra point for the top movie. Come on, it'll be fun.

Based on this trailer, it looks like the new Lionsgate horror film Skinwalkers is going to be sort of a Sam Peckinpah-style vampire movie, but Wikipedia, which knows more than I do, describes it as a "werewolf/horror/action/thriller," so there you go. Directed by the guy who brought us Jason X, the movie is most notable for having effects guru Stan Winston's company involved with the production. The plot involves two warring groups of werewolves who are waiting for the moon to reveal an ancient prophecy. Caught in the middle of the two groups is a young boy who is, unbeknownst to him, being protected by the good werewolves and being sought after by the bad wolves. Representing the good wolves is leader Elias Koteas, while the bad wolves are counting on Jason Behr. And there you have it.

The new trailer gets a lot of mileage out of talking, giving us a lot of build-up about how "there is a gene ... that separates ... man ... from animal ..." before some action shots are kicked in towards the end. I can't say I'm terribly impressed by what I see here -- it looks a lot like an 'original movie' cooked up by one of those cable channels, especially with the casting of Koteas, but I might check it out when it finally hits. I like the Mark Romanek-style poster, represented above. The film has played musical release dates, first opting for December 2007, then March 2007, and now set for July.

As I sat down to watch a recent low-budget horror chiller from Lionsgate Films, up popped a brand-new trailer for ... another low-budget horror chiller from Lionsgate FIlms. The first film was The Abandoned, which I didn't like very much, and the trailer was for something called Skinwalkers ... which somehow looks like it could actually be kinda fun. Check out the trailer for yourself to see precisely how insane I am for thinking this movie could be "kinda fun."

Skinwalkers comes from director Jim Isaac (Jason X), a pair of first-time screenwriters, and the guy who penned flicks like Jack, The Negotiator and Assault on Precinct 13. The cast list isn't all that shabby: Elias Koteas, Jason Behr, Rhona Mitra, Kim Coates, Natassia Malthe and Sarah Carter star in this tale of warring werewolves. After sitting on a shelf for quite a few months, Skinwalkers hits screens on March 30. And it's gotta be better than the last few werewolf flicks we got ... right?

As an insatiable horror freak, I maintain a strong affection for both Lionsgate and Bloody-Disgusting.com, so imagine my delight when the two combined for a tantalizing peek at next year's horror slate! Yep, it seems that BD.com does a "horror preview" for each studio every December -- and they logically chose Lionsgate as the first distributor to earn a few spotlights. Nobody snatches up grass-roots film-fest horror titles like Lionsgate does, and I can personally assure you that a good portion of the upcoming genre flicks are actually quite good! Well, a few of 'em, anyway...

Aside from the well-established and obvious titles (like Hostel: Part 2 and Saw 4), Lionsgate will unleash a virtual torrent of horror-style offerings next year. Not to steal any thunder from the BD.com boys (cuz they've done a fine job with their research!), but here's how I break down next year's LG offerings:

• Borderland -- Sean Astin and Rider Strong star in a tale of human sacrifice. I know next to nothing about this one.
• Boy Eats Girl -- Been waiting a while for this one. Love the title.
• Bug -- Saw it at Fantastic Fest -- and was really surprised by how much I liked it. This Shannon guy is a force of nature.
• Catacombs -- Wow, I almost forgot about this one! It's been sitting on a shelf for what, three years?
• The Eye -- Another Asian horror remake, this one allegedly starring Jessica Alba. Pass.
• Fido -- All the Cine-staffers who saw it agree: Fido is fun!
• Isolation -- Saw it at Toronto '05! And I definitely look forward to seeing it again. It's creepy.
• Right at Your Door -- Missed it at Sundance. Heard mixed things. Dig the concept.
• Skinwalkers -- Another one that's been "coming soon" for quite some time now. Still fairly psyched to see it...

(And this isn't including the deluge of After Dark Horrorfest titles that LG is releasing (to DVD) next March! Or their as-yet-undetermined parade of low-low-end DTV titles. Heh)

A few changes have been made to the release dates for some upcoming films. So, in case you're interested in that sort of thing (admit it, you're a release date nut!), stick around and check out the following:

• Those of you itching to catch Jessica Simpson ruin another movie with her horrible acting skills won't have to wait as long anymore seeing as the release date for Employee of the Month has been moved up from September 29 to September 15. The comedy (which currently sports some brand new posters) also stars Dane Cook and Dax Shepard.
• No one knows what's going on with the upcoming Pulse, except that the film has swapped more dates than Lindsay Lohan. Originally, pic was supposed to hit theaters on July 14, only to have its release pushed back to September 8. Now, it seems they've settled into August 8, though, with still a month to go, chances are this puppy will be heading somewhere else. We'll keep you posted.
• The supposed last martial arts-related film in Jet Li's career also has a new release date. Yeah, and Sean Connery is really retiring too. C'mon Jet, you'll be back kicking ass in no time -- just admit it already. Li's Fearless has been pushed back to September 22 after originally settling down to an early August bow.
• Man, and here I was really looking forward to a new werewolf flick. Seriously, I was. I like werewolves. They're cute. Anyway, something is up with the new flick Skinwalkers, as its release date has been pushed back from December to sometime in April 2007. Either production is running long or the filmmakers want to wait until the season's change and the sun stays out longer. Yeah, that joke failed. I'm out of here.

For some reason, news of the upcoming movie Skinwalkers has somehow entirely escaped my general notice. In fact, I'm not even sure I was aware the film was going to exist until very recently, when I read co-writer James Roday discussing it very excitedly. The film, releasing via Lionsgate this December, is now "in the can," and shooting for what Roday calls a "hard R," although an official MPAA rating has yet to be handed down from the great ivory tower. Here's what Roday had to say about his flick: "We're really pumped. We're really pumped about it. It's kind of a return to, like, basic human interaction storytelling in a genre package, which I feel like we haven't had in a really long time."

The story in brief (from what I understand) is that of a 12 year old child "in the middle" of a battle between warring werewolf factions. Roday describes the story as an "epic, be-all-and-end-all of werewolf movies." I'm sure he feels particularly strongly about the flick as he helped write it an all ... but it's taking quite a stand to call your film the be-all-end-all of werewolf movies. Really, you are just asking for people to deride you before your flick even hits the screen. That said, I always seem to enjoy werewolf flicks even if they're terrible, so I'm sure I'll see this one.