Vampire news to sink your teeth into...

... (sorry.) No I am not talking about the god awful Twilight franchise which seems to have hypnotised teenage girls and the quality impaired, that will NEVER be covered by me. However what I did come across were a couple of other interesting tidbits about undoubtedly better upcoming movies starring the fang-baring blood suckers:

First up I noticed that there is a 30 Days of Night sequel headed our way, along with yet more future releases planned, and thought this worth mentioning. I liked the first flick, which I bought and watched around the same time as Mr B, but I think he got more out of it. Still a very enjoyable movie, ripe for a rewatch, and this still definitely interests me.

Secondly whilst sifting for gems through the news on this especially bored Saturday I came across a synopsis and trailer for an interesting sounding film called Daybreakers. Upon viewing the promo piece it looks a little tame and perhaps too geek-based and less horrific than could be good for it, but the premise still seems really enticing, and don't get me started on the cast. BD (of course) says of the film:

With all of the remakes shrouding the box office, it's nice to see some unique and thought-provoking horror films hitting theaters. Lionsgate is gearing up for their January 8, 2010 release of the long-delayed Daybreakers, Peter and Michael Spierig's sophomore genre effort that follows a race of vampires who have all but wiped out the world's blood supply. Interesting premise, no? Check out the second full trailer by reading on.

BD Horror News - A Second Trailer for Lionsgate's 'Daybreakers'

MM

Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever!?

As if any further evidence of the differing fandoms of Mr B and myself were needed I'd guess that today we both saw news which interested us respectively on the same site, during down time and random surfing. Yes Mr B, I too occasionally visit bloodydisgusting.com, where I found out for the first time about an upcoming (but worryingly DTV) sequel to a film I love, Cabin Fever. Without the original director and only the surviving cast member signs didn't look good. The synopsis provided intrigues a little but with potential for it all to be so very hokey... let's just hope its in a good way (like the original or i.e Drag Me To Hell) and not as terrible and Prom Night-ish as it sounds. The official press release reads:

"Cabin Fever delivered terror in the flesh but your flesh will crawl with Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever, the bloodcurdling sequel to hit horror film. Days after a killer virus consumed his friends, Paul emerges from a ditch by a river. Though his body has been ravaged by the virus, he is determined to survive and to warn others of the danger. However, a water bottling plant has already distributed contaminated water to the local high school. The school’s students are excitedly preparing for the prom, unaware they’re about to have a grisly date with death. The DVD contains thrilling bonus materials including audio commentary, a “Making of” feature and gag reel. An Official Selection of Screamfest L.A., Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever will be available in rated and unrated versions on February 16, 2009, coinciding with the Blu-ray debut of the original."

Also debuting is the cover art for the piece, which does little to dissuade my fears as it tows the line between genius visual imagery and unnecessarily cheesy, and loses. Sigh, hope sometimes pans out right?



MM

Hierro Trailer

If you like your horror a little more cerebral, Hierro is definitely going to be for you. A Spanish thriller with a difference, I'm looking forward to it.

3,4, better lock your door...

Hi again gang. I'm getting pretty hyped about the Nightmare on Elm Street reimagining heading our way next year, enjoying the pre-release excitement before the often inevitable disappointment. To that end forgive the fact that this is barely news but the first clear picture of Jackie Earle Haley's new interpretation of Freddy Kreuger was released today. Unfortunately it's only the action figure but it does show you clearer than we've yet seen how they're going with this and, yes, it's remarkably similar to what we've already seen. Good or bad thing? I don't know, looks good to me. The image originated at figures.com but is gradually being removed from the net by a sweeping and presumably panicked marketing department. Doesn't stop this fearless reporter though. Thanks to AICN for the heads up on this. See what you think below, oh and clicking on the image should give you a larger and clearer picture:



MM

Scream Queens

Hey loyal few! Apologies for the reduction in rate of posts here, it'll probably dwindle to a bit less than we got used to as we head into this busy time of year, and it's eventual end. I did want to mention something I saw last night though and which I figured would be appropriate to bring up here.
As I was doing my usual channel surfing I hit upon an obscure digital channel named "Viva". Recently launched and kind of a weird music and shows mix showing everything from reality shows to sitcoms. In this particular case it was screening a show named Scream Queens. Has anyone seen this? I had, truthfully, in passing and disregarded it. For anyone unaware who gives a damn it is a cheesy, fairly typical american reality show in the whole Bachelorette/Beauty and the Geek etc mould, but related to horror. Basically a bunch of wannabe horror actresses (get the title yet?) are competing for a role in Saw 6 (obviously the show is not live or in the least bit up to date). Along the way they are mentored by an acting coach I haven't heard of, film director James Gunn (Slither), and Saw actress Shawnee Smith. The girls must complete various challenges to impress these judges and win the day.
Now I get that the show isn't great, as I say it took me this long to even bother properly watching it and half the contestants are gone. It's also the worst genre of t.v spawned by the depths of Hell. Add to that the blatant attempts at titilation and exploitation of these girls and yes it looks bad.
But something last night drew me in. The craziness and sheer wtf moments of the tasks I saw perhaps? Everything from being dumped in a swamp of blood and told to act, to being locked in a morgue just to achieve an acting effect that a good imagination could utilise (or a better actor). Finally this culminated in our director dropping live cockroaches on each girl. The first thing that sucked me in was this sheer lunacy. Then something happened, I started buying into the melodrama, recognising the Hollywood nature of how this is probably what the "biz" is like. Along the way it was interesting to see the trade being plyed in the form of watching Mr Gunn at work, or seeing a glimpse into acting coaching. There are some truly terrible actresses, some greatly fitting B-movie ones, and a couple of potentially great new stars, though they have no visible or interesting personalities as such. The real meat here is perhaps the glimpse into the industry itself, imagining being there in front of and behind the camera and just the voyeurism typical of the genre, but in this case showing me something that interests me in the putting together of horror and utilisation/manipulation of it's tropes. We'll forget the pointless attempts at poignancy from the contestants' sob stories and say that this might just become a permanent guilty pleasure, I'd be interested to know what others' thoughts are on this and what they make of it.

MM

Friday The 13th Part 3 IN 3-D!!! - Quick Thoughts.

This movie aired twice over the weekend as part of the whole season described below. I didn't watch the whole thing (partly due to the hazy, coloured effects which were just headache inducing without the glasses on, but also because of what I saw). I thought I would chime in with opinions on what I did see though.
The first scene was an attack in a barn with a rake, which wanted so badly to be shocking and did feature a corpse hanging in an almost affecting way in the 3-d but after realising that implements of imapling could point almost from the screen this death was milked to, well death, and robbed of already ropy impact.
The next thing I happened across whilst channel hopping was the entire last half hour. Up to now Texas Chain Saw Massacre had the most annoying final act in horror but no more. The worst synth score of the 80's, climaxing in electronic and irritating shrieks with every jump shot as if the 3-d effect itself demanded it and happening every 3 seconds, a lame chase, effects rendered impotent and overkilled, a completely lacklustre and non-threatening Jason, a criminally boring scene and even a rehashed first film shock at the end which robs both of any impact. If anyone has seen the full thing let me know if the effect works and what it's like. It is not one I will be going out of my way to catch properly.

MM

Greatest 3-d horror moments.

To those who didn't catch this, Channel 4 here in the U.K last night aired an hour long special of the greatest moments of 3-d on tv and film to date. A lot of the scenes and clips shown were from horror so if you get a chance do catch the repeat tonight, ideally with 3-d glasses if you have them and the technology works for you. Unfortunately it doesn't for me due to my lack of decent eyesight but I still watched the piece and got the intent. What's featured were everything from the terrible to the, well frankly worse, but with a couple of good moments and a wow factor. Spoilers lie ahead but viewers saw,or can expect to see, scenes from:

Flesh For Frankenstein: sample dialogue "You cannot truly know death until you have f@*ked life,... in the gall bladder", no seriously I was already in stitches at this hilariously crazy level of terrible but the scene shown itself, with the comedy "spleen on a stick" lunging at the audience member confirmed this as just excellent comedy. That was the intent, right?

Creature From The Black Lagoon: No, not Brooke Shields, the classic monster creature feature star, extremely well designed with, as Kim Newman states in the show, great dimensionality anyway in a seminal film.

Jaws 3: Truly abysmally filmed effects, already poor, slowed down and bearing at you but still a slow, rubber shark doing so even in three dimensions.

...and another piece which eagle eyed viewers will note has been left out, because it is, of course, above this little box...

MM