Month: October 2015

Did Guillermo del Toro’s own words create bad word of mouth for CRIMSON PEAK?

deltoroCRIMSON PEAK was one of the highly anticipated horror flicks of 2015–people clamored for months in anticipation for the movie. And now that it entered the box office scene this weekend: Flop. Flip. No go..

The movie is going to finish a weak fourth place. After all that hype and hope.

What did it?
Perhaps you can look to no other source of information than Guillermo del Toro himself..

Last week in the media run up to the film’s grand opening Friday, del Toro did an interview with the popular film site IGN. Asked about whether CRIMSON PEAK was a horror movie, he responded in kind,

Crimson Peak is not a horror movie but it has more to the tone of a fairytale or a gothic romance, sort of a female-centric tale, than Haunted Mansion which is a ride and has to be fun and scary in a Disney way.

He went on,

It’s like if you recoil when you hear “fairytale” but you watch Pan’s Labyrinth. You’re not going to be watching Sleepless in Seattle if I’m directing it. It’s a blood soaked romance, but there is romance. It’s a strangely… It’s a psychological tale. I think if you go in expecting non-stop scares or for it to function as a horror movie, you will not engage the movie into what it’s trying to be which is a square out, lavish, gothic romance. A little more female-centric, a little more violent and a little more sexy than normal, but other than that, it’s a very classical production.

Commentary was immediate and unkind.

Some choice words from readers reacting:

wow i was excited to see this this weekend after reading this tho I will not be seeing it I thought this was gonna be a good haunted house type movie

x x

As beautiful as it was, it bored me to tears.

x x

He’s 100% right unfortunately.. Have just left the cinema and wish I’d have seen this article first.

x x

Is he trying to make people like me not wanting to go see it?

I am not looking for a romance movie, but a horror.

O well, there is 2 ticket sales gone for you Del Toro. 

A few reviews did not help, like this one from FORBES saying the movie was so bad it was scary.

This is very different from the May media blitz where we were being inundated with articles asking if CRIMSON PEAK was the scariest movie of 2015.

All of the word of mouth, bad social media presence, and potentially just a bad movie (that’s always in the eye of the beholder) has led to the downfall of CRIMSON PEAK, a film I figured months ago would have dominated the October box office.

According to estimates, the film had at least a 10-12% drop off in box office sales from Friday night to Saturday night, a clear indication that word of mouth spread fast and people realized the kid friendly GOOSEBUMPS held more delight and scares than del Toro’s romance..

 

 

WEEKEND BOX ESTIMATES: GOOSEBUMPS SCARES WHILE CRIMSON PEAK PEAKS AT THIRD

4ca10215108a51ad9341fb760642d633The annual turn towards the strange and paranormal takes place in October at movie theaters.. this year a kid-themed scare and a ghost story held high spots in the box, while a spy story gained a second place finish to the weekend..

MORE..

While some envisioned THE MARTIAN keeping its number one slot, GOOSEBUMPS ruined that, having a strong weekend starting with Friday and having amazing social media presence of people who saw it..  the red planet drama will end at second place..

BRIDGE OF SPIES was geared towards older audiences, but still managed to haul in enough to be the third film this week..

Guillermo del Toro’s flick CRIMSON PEAK started strong Friday but had a major percentage drop each night after, ending the weekend a weak fourth place.

Meanwhile.. GOOSEBUMPS at first with a potential $24 mil+ weekend..

 

ZOMBIE BLOODBATH IN FLORIDA

ZOMBIE BLOODBATH IN FLORIDA

A deadly Saturday night shooting at a ZombieCon event in Florida is making major news today.. According to reports, chaos broke out in Fort Myers Florida Saturday night after a shooting left one man dead and four others injured. Crowds of people in zombie attire went screaming through the streets after the deadly incident. This year’s theme: 1980s post-apocalyptic.…

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ZOMBIE BLOODBATH IN FLORIDA

9038778_GA deadly Saturday night shooting at a ZombieCon event in Florida is making major news today..

According to reports, chaos broke out in Fort Myers Florida Saturday night after a shooting left one man dead and four others injured. Crowds of people in zombie attire went screaming through the streets after the deadly incident. This year’s theme: 1980s post-apocalyptic.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-tEs2mp3wY]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqYzGzCbz1o]

CNN reports:

“It cleared out fast and cop cars and ambulances came,” said Savannah Holden, who watched the panic unfold from a hotel balcony.

One man died of a gunshot wound at the scene, police said, and four other people who suffered non-life-threatening injuries were taken to Lee Memorial Hospital for treatment.

The ZombieCon event attracted 20,000 people and has been one of the most popular in the country. The event had its own security but also a police presence.

More from CNN on the sadness expressed by the event organizers after the shooting chaos:

The deadly shooting took place at ZombiCon, a festival that features bands and DJs performing on stage in the downtown area to people dressed in zombie costumes. It draws upward of 20,000 attendees, police said.

Festivalgoers could enter the event through six different points in exchange for a $5 donation to Pushing Daizies, the local artists’ charity that organizes it.

The organizers said they were “deeply saddened by the news of what happened within the footprint of our event.”

“We take the safety of our patrons very seriously and take precautions in hiring security and police officers for our annual event,” they said in a post on the event’s Facebook page. “Our prayers go out to the family members and individuals involved in the incident.”

Some other news accounts with offering similar information at this time, with little factual context being reported on the shooter, the victims, or the reason..

The FACEBOOK page for ZombieCon has lit up with commentary about the shooting..  One Facebook user wrote this,

Last year I was charged $5 dollars to get in and never checked for weapons. I expected this year to be at least checked for weapons, I was prepared to pay… But authorities wait until done shit happen to do something about it. Piss me off when I see innocent people die because sone freak decide to go out and shoot everyone. I blame the security Yeahhhh!!! You need to do something about our community, I’m her for 18 years in this county and I never had to worry about this shit, we were safe. What’s going on? Where’s the sherif department to put some rules in this county? FM Police Department cant deal with this big event and whenever shit happen they have to call sheriffs, what a bull shit. I really fell bad for all the people that was there to have fun and had to go thought all this crap, I’m glad my family wasn’t around, but I was and presence everything. My prayers to the families victims. God bless you

Saturday night’s alright for parallel universes

Saturday night’s alright for parallel universes

This has been making the rounds across the ‘socials’ over the past several days.. I figured why not give some air time to the strange photo on the HORROR REPORT as well.. What are you are seeing here is, to some at least, am image of a parallel universe in China: It appears to be a photo of a floating city in the sky above the nation.. It was a screen capture from a now very widely viewed YOUTUBE…

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Saturday night’s alright for parallel universes

This has been making the rounds across the ‘socials’ over the past several days.. I figured why not give some air time to the strange photo on the HORROR REPORT as well..

What are you are seeing here is, to some at least, am image of a parallel universe in China:

China-2-367963

It appears to be a photo of a floating city in the sky above the nation.. It was a screen capture from a now very widely viewed YOUTUBE video featuring a series of the images–ones we are told have been witnessed in person by hundreds of people ..

FROM THE UK EXPRESS (taking things with a grain of salt is an immediate requirement, but nonetheless, we’ll repeat their reporting):

Onlookers, some who are said to have videoed the bizarre event, were said to be mesmerised  as a towering city of sky scrapers appeared from the clouds.

First thousands reportedly saw a ghostly alien city floating over Foshan in the Guangdong province of China.

A few days later people in the province of Jiangxi, China, also reported seeing a similar cloud city.

Fair and fine.
But besides the other worldly nature of this whole thing, what ELSE could it logically be?

Maybe .. Fata Morgana

Yes the cloud formation is surely baffling, but it could also be very natural.. It could be project Blue Beam.. or again, Fata Morgana.

A Fata Morgana is a type of mirage that distort distance objects, and can be can be seen on land or sea.

It’s caused when the sun heats up the atmosphere above the land or oceans, which creates a gradient of temperatures.

And that is exactly what this ‘cloud city’ may be.

Or .. it’s none of the above. And instead some vision of the past, present.. or future in the clouds.

Have fun with it. But keep a bit of logic about yourself.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/embed/video/1222038.html

CENTRALIA THE DRAMA

Before proceeding.

I AM FROM CENTRALIA, PA. I was one of ‘those’ folks.. my parents moved away as we were in one of the hardest hit part of town due to the mine fire.. But the water is clean. The smoke has cleared.. there are lots of tourists desperate for a view of fire that they will never see.. and graffiti highway is amazing. Now on to the news..

For better or worse, CENRTALIA is going to get some major TEE VEE time coming up very soon.

According to DEADLINE, NBC just won the rights to produce ‘CENTRALIA,’ a project being called a ‘dark’ drama..

MORE FROM THE DEADLINE REPORT that broke today:

In a competitive situation with multiple bidders, Centralia, a genre drama from Star-Crossed creator/executive producerMeredith Averill and Amblin TV, has landed at NBC with a major penalty and has been laid off at Universal TV.

MORE//

Written by Averill, Centralia is a dark character-driven genre soap based on a real town in central Pennsylvania where an underground mine fire has been burning for over 50 years. The remaining few residents of this ghost town are determined to preserve their homes but remain unaware of the evil that is slowly making its way to the surface. Averill is executive producing with Amblin TV’s Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey

And finally..

Averill has first-hand knowledge of the Centralia story as she grew up in the nearby town of Pottsville, PA. She is coming off an overall deal at CBS TV Studios where, in addition to creating and executive producing alien-themed love story Star-Crossed for the CW, she also worked as co-executive producer on the studio’s CW dramedy Jane The Virgin and producer on CBS’ The Good Wife. She is repped by WME.

I have very, very mixed feelings about this project.. I applaud the idea. It is natural–a ghost town, especially one with the history that Centralia has, is an amazing story. But it is also complex.. I would expect Averill to create a story with respect and beauty–something Centralia had and still does.. But it’s also a situation ripe for attention, entertainment, and profit.

This upcoming project is both exciting and frightening.

After all.. this is my hometown, by default. I know the real story of it. It’s not filled with ‘ghosts’ but instead wonderful memories of times long ago. And I hope that is brought forward in the setting of the series.

Centralia is worth attention.
In the best ways possible.

CENTRALIA the drama

tumblr_mvozyqNk6M1qfjo2go1_1280Before proceeding.

I AM FROM CENTRALIA, PA. I was one of ‘those’ folks.. my parents moved away as we were in one of the hardest hit part of town due to the mine fire.. But the water is clean. The smoke has cleared.. there are lots of tourists desperate for a view of fire that they will never see.. and graffiti highway is amazing. Now on to the news..

For better or worse, CENRTALIA is going to get some major TEE VEE time coming up very soon.

According to DEADLINE, NBC just won the rights to produce ‘CENTRALIA,’ a project being called a ‘dark’ drama..

MORE FROM THE DEADLINE REPORT that broke today:

In a competitive situation with multiple bidders, Centralia, a genre drama from Star-Crossed creator/executive producer Meredith Averill and Amblin TV, has landed at NBC with a major penalty and has been laid off at Universal TV.

MORE//

Written by Averill, Centralia is a dark character-driven genre soap based on a real town in central Pennsylvania where an underground mine fire has been burning for over 50 years. The remaining few residents of this ghost town are determined to preserve their homes but remain unaware of the evil that is slowly making its way to the surface. Averill is executive producing with Amblin TV’s Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey

 

And finally..

Averill has first-hand knowledge of the Centralia story as she grew up in the nearby town of Pottsville, PA. She is coming off an overall deal at CBS TV Studios where, in addition to creating and executive producing alien-themed love story Star-Crossed for the CW, she also worked as co-executive producer on the studio’s CW dramedy Jane The Virgin and producer on CBS’ The Good Wife. She is repped by WME.

I have very, very mixed feelings about this project.. I applaud the idea. It is natural–a ghost town, especially one with the history that Centralia has, is an amazing story. But it is also complex.. I would expect Averill to create a story with respect and beauty–something Centralia had and still does.. But it’s also a situation ripe for attention, entertainment, and profit.

This upcoming project is both exciting and frightening.

After all.. this is my hometown, by default. I know the real story of it. It’s not filled with ‘ghosts’ but instead wonderful memories of times long ago. And I hope that is brought forward in the setting of the series.

Centralia is worth attention.
In the best ways possible.

An interesting sunrise today in a cemetery in Centralia PA

THE NIGHTMARE worth a watch .. maybe not before bed

In April of this year the HORROR REPORT profiled the NIGHTMARE, a documentary film from Rodney Ascher (from ROOM 237).. It’s a series of stories told by people who Ascher collected to tell their tales of sleep paralysis. Along with the verbiage, horrific images of what they saw–documentary style.. The creation is amazing. It’s a documentary but can easily as one of the best horror movies of the…

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THE NIGHTMARE worth a watch .. maybe not before bed

NIGHTMAREASCHERREVFEATIn April of this year the HORROR REPORT profiled the NIGHTMARE, a documentary film from Rodney Ascher (from ROOM 237).. It’s a series of stories told by people who Ascher collected to tell their tales of sleep paralysis. Along with the verbiage, horrific images of what they saw–documentary style..

The creation is amazing. It’s a documentary but can easily as one of the best horror movies of the year..The hat man. The shadow people.. the beds shaking and the constant state of fear that someone is in when they are sleeping but yet awake, terrified and not able to move.

This documentary can be viewed on NETFLIX right now, and it’s worth your time.. I recommend it, along with a dark room and a cup of your favorite beverage..

I have a story for your as well.. a personal one and one from a friend.

A friend of mine had a night issue of paralysis a few months ago.. He told me about it twice now, most recently just now as I write this post.  He was unable to move, but he did not see the shadow man or the hat man. Instead he was awake but could not open his eyes.. or move at all. Just was still, stuck in a night mare.

And me..

Yes .. me

I had my own strange occurence about seven months ago.

I fell asleep early the night I had my issue.. but then woke up only an hour or so afterwards.. when I did, my eyes opened and I was awake. I think. But what I remember more than anything else was the movement of the bed–I felt like there was an earthquake, like the bed was rapidly shaking and violently moving me up and down. But all the while I was unable to move.

Luckily for me the hat man and shadow man and creatures of the closet did not appear. And I hope they never do.

THE NIGHTMARE on Netflix is important. Not only does it offer up entertainment and horror, but it also gives right to an important question: Just what are these night issues when they happen? Why do they happen? And what are they conjuring up? Imagination.. or reality.. One that no one, yet at least, understands.

THE NIGHTMARE gives no answers. But leads to a number of questions that may haunt you before you lay yourself down to sleep and pray the lord your soul to keep..