Melancholia...

Here's the trailer for Lars von Trier's latest movie, a so called beautiful film about the end of the world.

From what I can tell, the path of this newly emerging planet seems to be deranging the people on Earth. Perhaps causing them to descend into a certain melancholia as they fear it will not just pass us by, but collide with us.

Obviously, this film will be largely psychological. The Shakespearian imagery here too of Kirsten Dunst floating down the river speaks to the tragic madness of Hamlet's Ophelia. For those of us who have seen von Trier's previous outing, Antichrist, it's clear that he does have some fascination with women that is perhaps similar to my own warrior women fetish, if not a bit more refined.

Anyways, this is the frame I am talking about:

Apparently, this is von Trier's first film that doesn't have a happy ending. So take that however you will, especially if you think about Antichrist. But hey, he's artsy and high brow, so I'm sure he knows what he is talking about.

This film also features Alexander Skarsgard. That is more or less enough for me. I love Eric... err... Alexander so much.

Not sure this is really going to be a genre film, perhaps more in the vein of Black Swan. But we shall see. 

Happy end of the world!

xoxo

D-bag

Insidious...

Insidious is an apt title for a film such as this, in that it somehow managed to make me like it even though really it isn’t all that great. 

Which isn’t to say that it’s a bad film. But it isn’t really good either. It just weave it’s way back so seamlessly as it proceeds that it really did kind of beguile me into enjoying it.

In many ways it is an interesting and contemporary take on the good old haunted/possession genre. And it actually is pretty scary, especially towards the beginning. 

Even though the scares do come pretty much only from jump scenes reinforced by a really loud score, the effect--though heavy handed--never really seems wrong or misused. 

The imagery is unsettling and what turns out to be the film’s primary antagonist is actually quite an interesting and novel take on something that can and has been done wrong so many times. 

The other antagonists are pretty hit and miss and I felt took away from the weight of the aforementioned primary one. This is a story issue, of which there were a few. But again nothing to make me really dislike the movie,. 

The performances are passable and there are actually some fresh ideas here. 

“Your house is haunted, ehh? So why don’t you move then?”

“Oh, it’s the middle of the day. Nothing bad can happen now, can it?”

I will admit I am a bit of a sucker for the pseudo science surrounding the spiritual / demonic world. And the medium /  paranormal investigator here is played quite well by Lin Shaye. She definitely was the best part of the movie for me. 

The concept developed in the film’s second half relating to astral projection is interesting and even if its execution bordered on corny most of the time, the idea is really quite intriguing. 

Overall, the film is kind of corny and a little low brow, but still somehow likable. I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it. I guess that is the nature of insidiousness though, isn’t it?

I give this film three out of 5 fire faced, astral projected stuck thumbs for being a novel take in the genre that didn’t fail completely. 

xoxo

D-bag

Big screen adaptation of novel Horns in the works...

So, Mandalay Pictures is set to adapt Joe Hill's genre novel Horns--the darkly humorous and unsettling tale of hometown pariah Ig Perrish, who after a drunken night awakes to find he has spontaneously grown a pair of horns out of his forehead.

These horns compel those around Ig to confess their deepest, most awful truths and desires to him and at the same time, allow Ig to coax and manipulate those he encounters into realizing these sordid ideas.

Interesting concept and quite the enjoyable novel.

Shia LaBeouf is set to play Ig and is apparently going to be closely involved in the film's production.

I must say I am actually quite pleased with the casting here, LaBeouf fits my mental schema of Ig quite well. And though I've yet to see him really act to any extent that makes me believe he is capable of realizing the dramatic weight required for this role, as seen in the delightful LAPD mugshot above, he is quite attractive. Not exactly the same thing but hey, what can you expect from me?

The novel itself is full of black humour and some interesting plot points. And though it's not nearly as frightening as Hill's debut novel Heart Shaped Box, it is still quite a good read and a very well written addition to the world of literary pseudo-horror.

The book is as much a love story as it is anything else, so a lot rests on the casting of Ig's love, Merrin Williams. As I was reading it, I always kind of pictured Merrin as a Bryce Dallas Howard type, but Howard is a little old now, so I'm going to go ahead and say we can expect someone like Emma Roberts, or even Emma Stone to get cast here. Check back for more details on this as they emerge.

And I suppose I can't complete this post without briefly talking about Joe Hill. For those who don't know, as I didn't until I had finished reading both Horns and Heart Shaped Box, Hill is the son of horror master Stephen King.

As petty as this sounds, I had been so excited to have discovered a new and exciting horror author in Hill that I was disappointed to find out about the father-son connection. I don't know, I suppose I felt cheated in a way just because Hill had been marinating in blood and writing since he was a child.

And I suppose too that the struggling horror writer in myself resented him a little bit for undoubtedly having such a privileged upbringing so as to allow him to realize his dreams of following in his father's footsteps perhaps more easily and with fewer obstacles than people like myself encounter.

I think this is probably why Hill adopted a pen name rather than just putting the whole King factor out there, because he wanted to make things happen on his own and didn't want people to think these very kinds of things about him.

Anyways, this has no bearing on his work. Hill is an excellent writer. And I hope that this will be an excellent film. 

I am excited. Hornsy, even.

xoxo

D-bag

Quarantine 2...

So, as all of you know, Quarantine is one of my all time favourite horror films. Say what you will about it in comparison to REC, it's Spanish counterpart, but I maintain after multiple viewings that Quarantine is a well made, frightening and fun movie that measures up to it's foreign source material.

I am a huge fan of the handicam style of filmmaking, especially when used in horror. When used correctly, I think it's the ultimate way to bring the viewer along for the ride: think The Last Exorcism, Cloverfield and the aforementioned Quarantine.

Which is why I was so upset when I heard a direct to video sequel was in the works, set in an airport, that was not going to be shot in the first person perspective.

The REC films went off in a rather interesting direction, leaving many disappointed, and I fear that a similar fate awaits the Quarantine franchise. Regardless, here's the trailer:



If they manage to capture even a little bit of the pure carnage that was the last twenty minutes of the first film, I suppose I will not be entirely unhappy.

The trailer does not look altogether bad, and I must admit, I am actually a little excited. Sorry for the bootlegged trailer, but it's the only one available.

We shall have to wait and see I suppose. 

xoxo

D-bag

Dead Island...

I am at a loss for words. Well, almost. This is moving, heartbreaking, beautiful. And it has zombies. This video game trailer is the best piece of zombie media I've seen in I'm not even sure how long. 

Dead Island doesn't have a solid release date, and there haven't been many details revealed about it yet, aside from that it's an open concept/sandbox style survival horror game.

I think I may have to find some way to play this. Needless to say I will be following this project closely.

Lesson of the day here is that family and zombies are a dangerous combination. It's the people that you love most that are most capable of making you make the most mistakes. What I mean in that alliterative little gem of a run on sentence back there, is that emotions like that, though useful, can also prove blinding. And as seen above, they may ultimately bring infection and havoc down upon you.

The cold, dead part of my heart wants to write that in the face of the Zombie Apocalypse, your best chance lies in finding the strongest, meanest small group of bastard mother fuckers you can, ignore everybody else and start making your own way. Sounds harsh, but everybody else will ultimately prove to be emotional liabilities, people who will one day make you do something you shouldn't because you love them.

And that love, though beautiful, is not pragmatic.

But that part of me deep, deep down that is still somewhat alive, can't ignore the fact that life isn't really life without those very relationships which can put you at such risk. And what would worth would your own survival have if not shared with those you value most?

I know I have people for whom I would leap out into the zombie horde to try to save, friends and loved ones for whom I could be dragged bleeding and screaming away somewhat satisfied just as long as I caught a glimpse of their own escape before I went.

So, protect your family, your friends and fight for them as hard as you can until your own throat is torn out or you yourself or thrown out of a window.

It's what I hope I would do. It's what I've been training for.

Anyways, I also must say that I admire the axe work here. An axe and a crowbar, two essentials for surviving the coming days. They're in my closet, are they in yours?

xoxo

D-bag

11-11-11...

11-11-11 is a genre film being released on November 11, 2011. How surprising. Here's the trailer: 

So, I'm going to go ahead and call it and say this movie is going to be awful. It looks like they've taken the somewhat interesting gimmick of releasing a film about a certain day on that day and made some kind of awful mess around it. Demon children? Creepy old men who whisper at you? Is there anything not tired about any of that? 

Releasing the Friday the 13th remake on the film's namesake didn't really help that not be garbage a few years ago and I can't help but think that this day in history may be forever tainted by the fail that will be this movie.

Perhaps I'm being too harsh, but the presence of Darren Lynn Bousman at the helm doesn't exactly instil confidence in me. Granted, he didn't direct the absolute worst films in the Saw series, but they aren't exactly horror masterpieces either. To his credit, he did do the amazing Repo! The Genetic Opera but I feel like that film is such an anomaly in and of itself that it has to considered by itself.

I'll still probably still go see it just because of that neat little title/release date gimmick. Or maybe I'm just a masochist. I don't really know.

xoxo

D-bag

Big Bloody Valentine promo...

Not that I have a television, but I wish this channel were available in Canada.

xoxo
D-bag