Horror Report

Tag: 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.

  • 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.”

  • ‘Just Plain Creepy’ dead

    ‘Just Plain Creepy’ dead

    His daughter posted a message under the popular horror account on May 12..

    She reports that her father passed away in his sleep..

  • New BLACK PHONE trailer released

    New BLACK PHONE trailer released

    The movie just looks amazing..

    From popular decriptions:

    Finney Shaw, a shy but clever 13-year-old boy, is abducted by a sadistic killer and trapped in a soundproof basement where screaming is of little use. When a disconnected phone on the wall begins to ring, Finney discovers that he can hear the voices of the killer’s previous victims. And they are dead set on making sure that what happened to them doesn’t happen to Finney.

    Directed by Scott Derrickson, who is no stranger to horror having helmed 2005’s  The Exorcism of Emily Rose and 2012’s Sinister, the film is co-written by Derrickson alongside C. Robert Cargill (who worked with Derrickson on Doctor Strange, and the Sinister franchise), and is based on the award-winning short story by Joe Hill from his New York Times bestseller 20th Century Ghosts.

  • HUGGY WUGGY becomes the new Satanic Panic

    HUGGY WUGGY becomes the new Satanic Panic

    THE NEWET SATANIC PANIC.

    Every few years we have a new modern meme to make parents cringe and kids want more..

    This time it’s Huggy Wuggy..

    It is the newest incarnation of fear.. the newest violent character that will cause harm to your child.. (Of course we say this carefully as some kids are a little too willing to be freaked and believe what they see on YouTube… Parental guidance folks!! be involved!!)

    Only days ago, Dorset.live published the following headline about “very distressing” videos that were said to have been circulating on TikTok, YouTube, and YouTube Kids: “Dorset Police warning about Huggy Wuggy bear that is singing songs about killing.” 

    It referred to Huggy Wuggy, a furry, blue, tall, and sharp-toothed character in a 2021 survival horror video game titled, “Poppy Playtime.” 

    It was developed by MOB Games and is rated “12+” on iOS and “Teen” on Android, meaning that it was deemed to be suitable for teenagers.

    And now police and officials are warning parents about the dangers of HUGGY WUGGY.. The article showcases at least one mom who banned the Wugs from her household:

    Beth Buxton, 31, told Sky News her two daughters, who are 10 and 12, both played Roblox and watched the videos online with her three-year-old son.

    She thought it was similar to Minecraft – but her son became obsessed with Huggy Wuggy.

    She said: “He got to the stage where he didn’t know the difference between reality and gaming. He tried to climb up my bedroom window, saying he would die and come back to life telling me that’s what Huggy Wuggy does.

    “We have banned Roblox and put locks on YouTube. I have window locks being installed next week because he is still thinking about it. There are numerous terrifying characters in these games.

    Tonight on a personal Facebook profile, a number of friends who happen be parents are getting caught up in the Huggy Wuggy pandemonium! 

    This is being showcased on a number of pages:

    Parents and Grandparents please be aware of your children and what they’re watching on Youtube! We cannot just give them a device unattended! I mentioned this to my sons (and daughter) about their children about 3-4 months ago, telling them to not allow their children to watch this. His happy upbeat child like nursery rhyme melody/theme song mentions death and equates hugging with death (no lie)! Yes it is YouTubes right to put on their platform whatever they want. It’s not YouTubes job to keep our children safe. That’s our job. Hence the reason I’m writing this!

    A new cautionary tale.. a new fear for kids..

    SAME AS IT EVER WAS..

    And after all, let’s be honest.. MOMO was a lot freakier than Huggy Wuggy, right?

  • 3 hour tour BATMAN film ‘almost a horror’

    3 hour tour BATMAN film ‘almost a horror’

    Robert Pattison’s THE BATMAN’s run time is just shy of 3 hours–DC going full on Marvel in its onslaught for the film..

    Meanwhile, director Matt Reeves defined it as “almost a horror movie.”

    MORE.. the description seems to underline the movie’s version of the Riddler. The role was apparently inspired by the real Zodiac Killer.

    In an interview for MovieMaker Magazine, Reeves discussed the tone of his take on the Dark Knight, revealing how he wanted to explore the detective side of Batman.

    “This idea of a place that is corrupt, and you try to swim against the tide in order to fight against it and make a difference, is quintessential Batman. And at the center of those noir stories is almost always the detective, right? And that’s why he is the world’s greatest detective. And so this story is, in addition to being almost a horror movie, and a thriller, and an action movie, at its core, it’s also very much a detective story.”

    And more..

    “The premise of the movie is that the Riddler is kind of molded in an almost Zodiac Killer sort of mode, and is killing very prominent figures in Gotham, and they are the pillars of society. These are supposedly legitimate figures. It begins with the mayor, and then it escalates from there. And in the wake of the murders, he reveals the ways in which these people were not everything they said they were, and you start to realize there’s some kind of association. And so just like Woodward and Bernstein, you’ve got Gordon and Batman trying to follow the clues to try and make sense of this thing in a classic kind-of-detective story way.”

  • Ethan Hawke freak out

    Ethan Hawke freak out

    Universal Pictures unveiled a packed trailer for its upcoming Blumhouse horror thriller “The Black Phone” this past week, during a presentation to the annual convention of movie theater owners in Las Vegas.

    Reuniting Ethan Hawke with his “Sinister” writer-director Scott Derrickson, the project is adapted from a short story by Joe Hill. Hawke delivers a bone-chilling performance as an unnamed villain, a character he said breaks with his “no bad guys” rule while introducing the clip.

    “The Black Phone” follows an abducted boy “locked in a basement that’s stained with the blood of half a dozen other murdered children. In the cellar with him is an antique telephone, long since disconnected, but which rings at night with calls from the dead,” according to a synopsis of the short. So we’re already having fun.

  • Is the return of the slasher film going to last? But should it ?

    Is the return of the slasher film going to last? But should it ?

    It seems worthwhile to say slasher is back..

    Fear Street did great on Netflix.. Scream and Chucky are being heralded..

    Halloween Kills will slash into October box offices unless a Covid variant does first.

    But are these slashers worth the hype and hope?

    Is it really even needed.

    There is a ton of nostalgia for the 1980s and 1990s when slasher was king—but some amazing horror films developed since then that didn’t include bloodbaths ..

    Sure slashers had a place and a moral lesson in each flick.

    But were they really worth the effort of redoing them again and reintroducing them to a new generation of horror fans ??

    And if they are going to bring them will they improve it just quickly try capitalizing on a genre that should be cemented into history???

  • CLICKBAIT looks like the perfect series for our time

    CLICKBAIT looks like the perfect series for our time

    The limited thriller series “Clickbait” is coming to Netflix globally on August 25.. The official press release has it billed as “a compelling, high stakes thriller that explores the ways in which our most dangerous and uncontrolled impulses are fueled in the age of social media.”

    That sounds pretty good, it compares nicely with modern life, right?

    One of the best shows series on Netflix has been BACK MIRROR.

    Hopefully this series has the same feel and works on that same high level..

    Netflix details, “An eight-episode limited series told from revolving points of view, Clickbait is a compelling, high stakes thriller that explores the ways in which our most dangerous and uncontrolled impulses are fueled in the age of social media, revealing the ever-widening fractures we find between our virtual and real-life personas.”

    This is the synopsis:

    “Nick Brewer (Adrian Grenier) is a loving father, husband, and brother, who one day suddenly and mysteriously disappears. A video appears on the internet of the badly beaten Nick holding a card that says “I abuse women. At 5 million views, I die”. Is this a threat or confession? Or both? As his sister (Zoe Kazan) and wife (Betty Gabriel) rush to find and save him, they uncover a side of Nick they didn’t know existed.”

    Here is the very interesting trailer:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwVLObz0MGs
  • Think of the children!! FACES OF DEATH getting a remake

    Think of the children!! FACES OF DEATH getting a remake

    The original claimed it was banned in 48 countries! But that didn’t stop your friend but somehow getting a hold of the VHS and sneaking your classmates into his living room to get grossed out for 113 minutes. The childhood rite of passage of the 1980s, though disjointed and horrid, is making a strange comeback.

    This is how Borys Kit from the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER pens it,

    Legendary Entertainment, currently basking in the box office glow of hit Godzilla vs. Kong,  has picked up the rights to the title with the goal of launching a new horror franchise. Isa Mazzei and Daniel Goldhaber, the team behind the 2018 psychological thriller Cam, will write and direct, respectively. Producing will be Susan Montford and Don Murphy of Angry Films, who are behind Legendary’s fast-tracked multiplatform Buck Rogers reboot, are producing. Cory Kaplan will co-produce while Rick Benattar of BT Productions will exec produce. John Burrud, the producer of the original movies, will also work on the new iteration.

    The original version filmed in 1978 had the premise of traveling the world to see the most gruesome and detestable ways to perish. Death abounded in the film. .While many of the scenes of the movie were staged, it did not matter for the mostly young audience of kids in the Reagan era. And with each parental or adult warning to stay away from Faces of Death..

    Much has changed since the 80s. While the revulsion of this film shocked parents who found out their kids saw it, the internet has opened the door to countless chances to see even worse. And real .. So how will the filmmakers create a new plotline that relates to our modern age of the 21st century? This is the possible plotline outlined by the Hollywood Reporter:

    The new plot revolves around a female moderator of a YouTube-like website whose job is to weed out offensive and violent content and who herself is recovering from a serious trauma, who stumbles across a group that is re-creating the murders from the original film. But in the story primed for the digital age of online misinformation, the question is: Are the murders real or fake?

    x x x

    Those who did not live through the last two decades of the 21st century may not realize how both magical and stunningly limited it was. Few who watched the Faces of Death actually knew the movie wasn’t real.. we all squirmed and closed our eyes thinking what we were seeing was some elicit footage of actual murder and death from the planet. Little did we know how amazing the marketing was even then.

    At the time, the movie got awful reviews. Really, really bad reviews. But then the film made more than $35 mil in the box office and become a 30-year cult classic that most kids watched in groups secretly as they became a teenager.

    The ‘banned in 40 countries’ claim probably was not true. Plus the idea that everything in the movie was real footage also was not true. But In their book Killing for Culture, authors David Kerekes and David Slater note that the movie had the inclusion of an extreme fatal accident; “the shattered remains of a cyclist are seen under a semi-tractor trailer. The camera pans long enough to capture paramedics scooping up blood clots, brain matter, and clumps of hair from the tarmac – this incident is authentic and culled from newsreels.”

    The film was banned in the UK. It was banned in New Zealand. Australia refused to classify it.

    One of the events that created a firestorm of controversy happened in November 1986, when a fourteen-year-old Rod Matthews bludgeoned his classmate Shaun Ouilette to death with a baseball bat. The idea to kill Ouilette was supposedly conceived after Matthews viewed Faces of Death, curious what it would be like if he were to actually kill someone..

    And the rest.. was history..

    The 1980s were a run time, mostly filled with antsy feelings from adults over the Satanic Panic and movies like this.

    This newspaper article from 1986 shows how people were worried about teenagers being infatuated with some of the more horrendous sides of life.. An ‘expert’ quoted in the article summarized it by saying that since we live in a violent time, this is just another example of symptom of that.

    Compared to our time now, some may consider this film to be tame.

    But it sure wasn’t then…
    And to this date, debate about the film and its legacy live on….