Horror Report

Category: horror

  • SMILE!! You did well at the box office this weekend

    SMILE!! You did well at the box office this weekend

    SMILE did great this weekend .. in the United States Box office: $22 mil.. Friday alone fetched in $8.2 mil..

    We have this dispatch late Sunday from DEADLINE, explaining that SMILE did pretty well globally, too, at the box office:

    Landing the top offshore debut for the studios was Paramount’s Smile with $14.5M from 58 markets, and $36.5M globally. The horror audience grinned in all areas with good word of mouth for the Parker Finn-directed movie that was also tops domestically. 

    Reinforcing that audiences want to go back to the cinema for something fresh, on a like-for-like basis, the offshore start on Smile is 18% above Truth or Dare, 55% ahead of Hereditary and on par with The Black Phone. Smile, whose first footage intrigued exhibition at CineEurope earlier this year, was led by the UK with $2M from 520 locations at No. 2. France was also a No. 2 debut with $1.4M from 303 sites. In horror-leaning Mexico, the movie scored a No. 1 start of $1.1M from 855 locations. Rounding out the Top 5 were Germany ($1M from 316) and Australia ($800K from 206)

    We saw the movie this weekend as well. Amazing cinematic effects–the upside down camera angles.. the dreadful music.. the dark hallways that did NOT have something jump out, and the scenes where something did..

    It was all effective.

    However there were some less than great things. It felt like a horror movie that turned into a thriller and then back into a horror again, with a twist ending that went right back to the ending that no one seemed to want..

    We ended up liking the thriller angle of the film more than the horror. But boy. those jump scares. We thought someone walking down the aisle to go to the bathroom in the theater was going to fall backwards–they chose the scene that featured the jumpiest of the jump scares to walk down the dark steps..

    The marketing for the movie was brilliant, with smiling people gracing baseball games and public locations for the past two weeks. Nice move!

    But what few are talking about with this is the ‘smile’ concept. It is based on a short horror film.. but it also seems to borrow a lot of the concept of IT FOLLOWS. In that movie, what followed was a sexually transmitted disease and bad reputation. In this film, it is mental illness. We cloud it and hide it with a smile.

    I am not sure if the film makers went for a deeper meaning than what we got, but it sure felt like something much more meaningful was hiding under the surface.

    THE WOKE CHOKE

    But what did NOT do well this weekend was BROS:

    Despite glowing reviews for the Judd Apatow-produced film, Bros has not been a hit at the box office and is estimated to only make $4.8M during its opening weekend, half of what Universal was estimating. Eichner acknowledged that the romantic comedy he stars in isn’t tracking within a certain segment of the population in the country.

    Homophobia is the excuse for the film doing poorly..

    More from the DEADLINE article:

    “Even with glowing reviews, great Rotten Tomatoes scores, an A CinemaScore, etc, straight people, especially in certain parts of the country, just didn’t show up for Bros. And that’s disappointing but it is what it is,” he continued.

    The comedian stands by the movie and encouraged “everyone who ISN’T a homophobic weirdo” to go watch Bros.

  • Welcome in October with the most Octoberist movie scene of all

    Welcome in October with the most Octoberist movie scene of all

    And it is from HALLOWEEN 3 no less!

    Welcome to October…

    And just to think.. this Halloweeniest of all scenes comes to us courtesy of the most discredited Halloween movie of all time, Halloween 3!

    It’s time to re-kindle that appreciation of that movie.

    Especially the scene like this.. it just has a melancholy nostalgic feel that brings back the rush of childhood emotions, doesn’t it?

    That backdrop.. that city in the distance.. that silhouette of horror.

    That chill is in the air, at least if you’re in areas prone to such chill. And with it comes those surreal and deep sunsets, quite like one we saw just the other day in Horror Report home base:

    This month, with any sunset that penetrates the land, you can add in a silhouette of a witch and you’ll have this magical scene from Halloween 3!

  • Must be the season of ‘WITCH’

    Must be the season of ‘WITCH’

    Skylark Vision is presenting WITCH, a production by Marc Zammit, Craig Hindle, Tony Zammit, and David Baboulene..

    WITCH stars Fabrizio Santino, Sarah Alexandra Marks, Russell Shaw, Ryan Spong, Daniel Jordan, Mims Burton, Jane Hamlet, Anto Sharp, Ritchi Edwards, Nick Tuck, Nell Bailey, Danny Howard, Ella Starbuck, Livvy Nicolae..

    The film, written and directed by Craig Hindle and Marc Zammit, can be described a horror, thriller, and medieval fantasy.. It was filmed in Europe, primary Hungary.

    Marc Zammit is an Award-winning director after only three years. He recently completed his Feature Film “Homeless Ashes”, which was his directorial debut. In addition to directing the film, he also served as its executive producer & acted in the leading role. Prior to the filming of Homeless Ashes, he very rigorously and successfully raised the total funds via crowdfunding.

    Marc has directed over 50 projects in 2 years, which include a Feature Film, multiple Short Films, Commercials, Corporate Films, Showreels, and Live Events.

    Here is the trailer for the film that was released a few days ago:

    Set in Dawnbrook, England in 1575, William must prove the innocence of his wife Twyla, who stands accused of being a witch.

    William must hunt down the real witch if Twyla is to be spared, but unearthly events make them both look doomed.

    The film also inspired a really cool final poster..

    We will follow this one..


  • Winnie the Pooh’s blood and honey really exists

    Winnie the Pooh’s blood and honey really exists

    Many out there doubted it was real! It is.

    Just when many of you thought it was just a joke, here is the proof that Winnie the Pooh has gone horror..

    BLOOD AND HONEY..

    Now that the character is in the public domain, it is fair game. First snatched for a horror flick, and most likely a Oscar worthy performance but all involved! Sarcasm, there, sarcasm..

    The IMDb synopsis reads:

    ‘It follows Pooh and Piglet as they go on a rampage after Christopher Robin abandons them.’

    While horror imitates life and sometimes the opposite, we have fallen into the camp of ‘prude’ on Pooh as a slasher..

    There was a comment on Slasher Trash’s Facebook page about this movie that we wholeheartedly agree with:

    I love winnie the pooh as in the mind of a child in childhood i loved him ,why have they got to spoil it by bloody gore and take the memory of something beautiful, and turn it into evil that will only childs minds into even more .bloody aggression and violence to influence them in worse things that. lets keep are children in the world of kindness loving and morals,lets keep children precious mind in loving light world and not drag them into the darkness of horror

  • You should really see the BLACK PHONE in a movie theater

    You should really see the BLACK PHONE in a movie theater

    This weekend’s box office number 1 is expected to be ELVIS.. the biopic audience is skewing mostly female, and mostly over the age of 55.. But BLACK PHONE is surging beyond expectations..

    Box office numbers developing.

    But we have a message about BLACK PHONE: We highly encourage anyone who has not seen this film to experience it in a theater, with an audience. This movie should be taken seriously.

    It’s not filled with cliched horror jump scares.. It doesn’t have messy dialogue but intensely realistic and gritty ‘how it really was’ style acting about this period of time in American history.

    Nostalgia lies .. sometimes things were not so pretty to be a kid in the 1970’s or 80’s when a big threat that adults didn’t seem to care much about was kidnapping.

    And finally, the ‘horror’ of Black Phone is more akin to the horror of a crime flick–though in this case the police are neither bumbling but ultimately make importantly bad mistakes.

    See it with an audience because, without revealing spoilers, it is sure fun to experience the final dramatic and traumatic scene of the movie with others who have sat through each other minute of tension with you in the same room.

    (from left) The Grabber (Ethan Hawke) and Finney Shaw (Mason Thames) in The Black Phone, directed by Scott Derrickson.

    The release is amazing–the ability that this film had to deeply disturb your soul but also calm it at the end is amazing.

    Ethan Hawke was plain out horrifying in this movie. Exceptionally creepy.. Mason Thames and Madeleine McGraw carried the entire movie so well.

    The acting is amazing.. the story line was incredible.. and that mask? That awful creepy mask?

    A new Halloween costume has been born..

    This movie is great. . There is just about nothing to criticize with Black Phone..

  • ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK

    ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK

    This is pretty exciting!

    Nickelodeon’s “Are You Afraid of the Dark? Ghost Island” is premiering on Saturday, July 30!

    The new season will be the third as part of the reboot series with “Are You Afraid of the Dark: Curse of the Shadows.”

    Produced by ACE Entertainment, the limited series “Are You Afraid of the Dark? Ghost Island” will debut with a two-hour episode on Saturday, July 30, at 7 p.m. (ET/PT) on Nickelodeon, with the remaining episodes airing Saturday, Aug. 6, and Aug. 13, at 7 p.m. (ET/PT).

    The season “follows an all-new Midnight Society as they go on what they thought would be a fun summer vacation on a resort island, until they learn about something sinister haunting the guests. In the just-released teaser, viewers are introduced to the new members of the Midnight Society and get a glimpse at the horrors that await them on their vacation.”

  • HOPPER GETS FANS GEARED UP FOR STRANGER THINGS 4 FINALE

    HOPPER GETS FANS GEARED UP FOR STRANGER THINGS 4 FINALE

    “If you’ve enjoyed season four up until this point, get ready because the (last two episodes) are the best thing that makes what you’ve seen look like chump change compared to it,” David Harbour, who plays fan favourite character Hopper, told Reuters.

    “It’s a masterpiece, it’s beautiful, it’s epic… but it’s also on a scale and a scope that almost gets silly and it’s like wondrous, almost manga-esque… You’re going to be blown away.”

    Harbour confirmed to the news agency that filming for season 5 will begin in 2023..

  • The story of “IT” coming in July to Screambox

    The story of “IT” coming in July to Screambox

    In a new documentary Pennywise: The Story of IT, filmmakers Christopher Griffiths and John Campopiano profile the famed 1990s made for television hit mini-series..

    There are exclusive interviews with the cast included in the documentary.

    Pennywise: The Story of IT will premiere exclusively on horror streaming service Screambox on July 26. The movie will also be available On Demand.

    That mini series was extremely important for horror and pop culture. Without its success, horror itself may have been demoted into the refuse bin of society..

    The series was bold and beyond some expectations–advertisers were also worried about a prime time child-killing clown.

    For my own part, I recall this event being life-changing for my childhood. It either scared me to hell or it caused a sudden love of horror, the kind of which that not even Freddy or Jason did.

    And yes.. while the new movies are quite fine, let’s face it: Tim Curry was the best Pennywise and defined all future portrayals..

  • Winnie the Cruel

    Winnie the Cruel

    First let’s report what Variety has splashed across the Internet yesterday:

    A.A. Milne’s original “Winnie the Pooh” stories only lapsed into the public domain five months ago, but the tubby little cubby has already made his foray into slasher films.
    “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” wrapped earlier this month, and the first stills showing a demonic Pooh and Piglet about to pounce on a scantily-clad young woman relaxing in a hot tub have already set the internet on fire.
    In an interview with Variety, director Rhys Waterfield, who is in post-production on four other films including “Firenado” and “Demonic Christmas Tree,” said the response to the stills has been “absolutely crazy.”
    “Because of all the press and stuff, we’re just going to start expediting the edit and getting it through post production as fast as we can,” said Waterfield. “But also, making sure it’s still good. It’s gonna be a high priority”

    We get it.. due to licensing changes anyone can use Winnie the Pooh now in whatever way they want… But does something seems a little bit creepy about this at this time, doesn’t it?


    Maybe it’s the notion that we just got through another mass shooting, with this crime spree injuring and killing children.

    And now one of the last vestiges of innocence, Winnie the Pooh himself, is being turned into a blood curdling, murderous rampaging monster.

    Nothing is sacred in Hollywood anyway. But it’s just that something seems to be a little off kilter with announcing this news this week.

    Perhaps we are just getting old, gray, and a little more melancholy.. But .. let Winnie just be the Pooh.. (PS, we know the movie will suck anyway)

  • Looking back into the Black Mirror

    Looking back into the Black Mirror

    Some exciting news popping up today courtesy of an exclusive report at VARIETY..

    After a long hiatus, and rumors that the Netflix show Black Mirror was gone for good, it appears that more is in store with a third season..

    Variety did receive a few details about the new season:

    “A source close to the production tells Variety that the latest season is even more cinematic in scope, with each installment being treated as an individual film. This is, of course, in line with recent seasons of “Black Mirror,” for which episodes usually exceeded 60 minutes and had incredibly high production values.”

    Exciting news… and hope delays are not abundant in bringing a new season..