Shyamalan ‘s THE VISIT tells a story of a brother and sister (Ed Oxenbould and Olivia De Jonge) who are sent to their grandparents’ remote Pennsylvania farm for a weeklong trip by Mom, Kathryn Hahn. The trailer for the film shows things going quite fine.. then tension builds when the two children discover that their grandparents are involved in something deeply disturbing.
Hence the warning: Don’t leave your room after 9:30 pm.
A number of people online have noted the similarities in appearance between the VISIT poster and THE VILLAGE ..
Nelson Greaves is getting some positive press about this week’s horror release: UNFRIENDED.. the movie is a twist on the safety net of the internet–a net that isn’t safe at all, as we know.
“It was so emotionally troubling for me,” says Greaves. “It’s such a simple thing but it made me stop and say, ‘This is like something out of a scary movie.’”
After that, Greaves started thinking about how the Internet is in many ways a secondhand cemetery, housing millions of social media profiles created by people who have passed off this mortal coil but left their Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr accounts active. That dovetailed with discomfiting memories of being a kid in the early ’90s and seeing his older sister spend hours in AOL chat rooms without ever knowing what what her chatmates looked like—for all she knew, she could have been chatting with, as Greaves puts it, “dirty 40-year-old men.” The inherent creepiness of anonymity, its potential for malevolence, always stuck with him.
The idea of monsters and FREDDY KREUGER type characters in horror movies is so cliche at this point.. the generation who is budding today with youthful vigor doesn’t get freaked by Michael Myers or Jason. They are simply laughing stocks of the 20 century, relics of a time when movies were just slashing and dashing their way to cheap quick cash at box offices..
But the internet? Now that can be scary.
I think TUMBLR can often be scary.. I recall vividly the moment on my personal TUMBLR page–one I don’t update much anymore because I just quite frankly thought about it too much–when I posted a family photo of me with my wife and son.. And then the photo got reblogged on another page.. But then it got reblogged on a really not so good page. I asked for the photo to be removed, the person complied, but I was sort of amazed and yet appalled with how easy it was for my personal items to be taken from me. Until it dawned on me, or hit me like a freight train: I put it out there. I was the problem. Me. I didn’t realize the power of a clunky social network. How can I possibly blame someone else.
This is off the path of the movie UNFRIENDED. The actual film looks, well.. a little clunky itself. The reviews are mixed. I don’t doubt it will have a successful quick fortune at the box office, even if it’s not in the number 1 or even 2 place. It will also have a longer lifespan when it eventually gets to NETFLIX and others.
However the idea of the movie is what fascinates me more than the movie itself.
I remember when HALLOWEEN 8 tried an online angle way back in 2002. The movie, HALLOWEEN RESURRECTION, followed the cast of characters as they live-broadcasted a show from the Michael Myers house. Of course we know how that ends. The movie wasn’t received very well. It was a disaster. It failed miserably. I don’t think the concept was a failure, but perhaps the use of the internet in horror was too soon. Or maybe it is because the premise was just wrong. Instead of showcasing the internet as horror, Akkad (RIP) thought Michael would be more frightening. He wasn’t.
What UNFRIENDED may be getting right: The chills and spills of the NET and how often it can give you a little bit of hair raising moments. UNFRIENDED is speaking to bigger issues … social issues.. pop culture issues. Real issues. The fact that the monster isn’t some supernatural being, but instead the vast information superhighway, now that’s scary. Because we are so connected, and we are so often at the mercy of the anonymous creature or villain on the other end of the road.
When I read Greaves anecdote about getting an email from a dead friend, it reminded me iof something I wrote on February 2014, I wrote an article on the HORROR REPORT about how, if ghosts and EVPs are real, they should be starting to appear on Facebook and the internet any time now. Then, I wondered what it would be like to suddenly get a live message on Facebook from a friend you know is dead. I spoke personally about a friend I knew who did in fact die and leave a beautiful family behind. And I was as much struck then as I am now about how Facebook pages become milestone memorial sites, with profile pictures frozen in time of the person who passes, and constant updates are thrown on the wall by friend who wish happy birthdays or Christmases, or just pop in to say they miss the person. Maybe eventually, so as long as EVPs and contact from the dead is real, they will also learn how to use Facebook and update their page from beyond the grave.
In UNFRIENDED, the bullied soul, someone who committed suicide, enacts revenge on the cyber bullies who caused it.
Now that is scary for this generation.
After so many plans to go to the theater, and then REDBOX the movie Interstellar, I finally had the opportunity do watch it last night. My verdict isn’t so kind.. I actually didn’t like it nearly as much as I 1) expected to and 2) wanted to. There are some amazing parts, don’t get me wrong. The idea of time travel and inter dimensional communication fascinates me and, quite honestly, may be possible.. CERN could tell us that soon. But as a movie, it missed a few marks I wanted it to hit. I cheered for it.. I supported it.. But in the end, I felt let down by a somewhat empty string of dialogue and some forced emotions that didn’t seem natural with the actors involved.
I won’t spoil anything .. There’s a slight chance that at least one or two people have yet to view the film..
I give the movie a 4 out of 10. Sorry.
But I do give Anne Hathaway’s haircut a 9 out of 10, though she looked a little like a young Leonard Nimoy, and I’ll kindly rate Matthew McConaughey’s new face a 10. Except his eyebrows, which at times looked glued on.
Maybe that’s what inter dimensional space travel does to a face and a hairstyle.
The family took a voyage to the movie theater today.. the HORROR REPORT family didn’t see anything filled with fright–no IT FOLLOWS for me, it’s not in a theater nearby.. Instead it was SPONGEBOB.. A sponge out of water. Funny parts, good laughs–though the ‘out of water’ business only took up the last 20 minutes or so of the movie, which was a disappointment. The real story here is that Ayden Morris, now 4, was at his first movie theater experience.
This was a big day for me–huge as a matter of fact.. It’s not the movie choice that mattered, but just that he wanted to attend a theater showing. And he loved it.. he was stunned a bit at how loud certain parts were, he cringed during the return to JURASSIC PARK trailer, and he heartily laughed at the humor of Spongebob. So did I, and my wife..
There was one more proud pappa moment for me, too.. After the film, we perused a much emptier mall than it ever was before. My local shopping sensation of yesteryear is suffering through the same downtown as many other brick and mortar shopping plazas.. But there’s a thrift shop–a place where old antiques and relics of yesterday are still bought and paid for by collectors and modern internet people. My son came across a bulk batch of HE-MAN action figures. He knew them since he plays with the few older broken ones I still possess. After today, we are adding three new (old) HE-MAN characters to the family, including HORDAK, who hasn’t been in my presence since 1990.
A full circle kind of day.. Beginning with drenching rain, dour as could be. But the light of family brightening the mood.. a modern movie in a cool theater with my 4-year-old eating up every moment.. and then a dad, at the age of 34, buying toys that I bought at the age of 4 in the same mall that I bought them in 20 years ago. So different in ways, but so similar in others.
Full circle.
Another moment of parenting..
The fleeting moments of today are gone tomorrow.. So forgive me for writing about it. But it’s my way of making amazing little things last just a little bit longer than the short span of time they inhabit..
Interesting article.. Worth the read. Anghus may be very familiar to those who have been long-time HORROR REPORT fans, he used to pen a little bit of a column way back when we were nothing and now he is a profoundly important writer and director, plus a genius columnist at FLICKERING MYTH (not being paid to write any of that, but I sincerely believe it) ..
And his point is taken ..
The money quote:
Up to this announcement, any of the characters could have been gay. Admiral Akbar. Boba Fett. Hell, even, Lando Calrissian. Would it matter if Lando Calrissian was gay? Not at all. His role in the story wasn’t impacted by his sexual orientation. If I had read the headline ‘Lando Calrissian revealed as gay’, all I would have thought was ‘that makes sense: those overtures to Leia were overcompensation.’ Lando ran Cloud City, betrayed Han and friends, and redeemed himself by blowing up Death Star 2.0. Gay… straight… it didn’t matter.
And:
We live in a time where everyone is desperate to label everything. To define what something is or isn’t because saying nothing somehow implies intolerance. To me, the Star WarsUniverse feels far more intolerant because they’ve flat out told me there’s been no gay characters in canon until now. I liked it better when there was ambiguity to it, because it had no impact on the story I was watching or comics I was reading.
He does make a good point near the end of his article: There really is no need for STAR WARS, a movie that will already have lots of attention, to get more attention.. And really, the sexualization of STAR WAR never really occurred.. though by THE RETURN OF THE JEDI I was coming of age, so I figured Princess Leia may have been Jabba’s sex slave. But, since it was gross, I never tried to determine how that would have even worked..
And Anghus is right: We are seemingly desperate to label everyone in our current time. Every single person deserves a label, an acronym, or a bandwagon to jump on. What happened to just being an individual? Daring to be different? Just having a light saber and destroying the Empire?
This is a trap..
And people will fall for it.
George Lucas gave us a number of political commentaries in STAR WARS when you study it.. Seems like DISNEY would rather give us pop culture than generationally important messages..
The IT FOLLOWS heat is on..
The upcoming horror movie, much anticipated, is being heralded by some reviews as not only the best of 2015 but also the best in a long while..
How they converge is, brilliantly, in this aforementioned post-coital curse, one which carries the everlasting anxieties over where your lover’s been before, but pushes farther into all of life’s stresses. Where am I? Where will I go? Who will I become? There’s a deliberate dread in “It’s” rules. Once you’ve got “it,” there it is, walking slowly, assuredly your way. This is where Mitchell has fun composing wide, confident frames— your eyes engaged, always under attack, searching for “It.” At more reprieving moments, he acknowledges the absurdity of the accursed characters and elicits huge laughs. When more explicitly a threat, the director and cinematographer Mike Gioulakis still employ symmetrical, centered stunning visuals. This time, they’re less paranoid and more confrontational, immediately assaulting. Sometimes, “It” is in your face. Others, it’s throwing electrical appliances at it.
As the review goes on–in my humble opinion–it shares too much of the premise and gives a little too much away of the ending, you may want to shield yourself from the final paragraph that spoils without warning. But the essence of the Zimmerman story yields the result that this film is going to be a bit different. There is a message here.. one that may need to be explored with a deep mental journey.
The plot would be laughable in a movie that doesn’t script it very well, but it seems that IT FOLLOWS makes it work. A entity, paranormal and foreboding in nature, is spread through teenage lust and sex. There is something similar when compared to 80s slasher flicks–such as JASON and FREDDY ruining the lives of the sinning children who act out teenage passion in pre-marital sex. But IT FOLLOWS brings a new darker presence to it: The shadow is cast on the woman by this sexual entity, this curse which is handed down through the false love that happens when you’re a tender teen tot not yet experienced with what love really means..
This strange affliction can only be picked up and passed on through sex, which throws up some fascinating dilemmas. Digital Spy caught up with the movie’s writer-director David Robert Mitchell to find out what inspired the tale, whether a franchise is on the cards and how tricky some of the key plot twists were to pull off…
DIGITAL SPY goes on to interview Mitchell, who says some interesting things about his horror flick that could, including the fact he had a nightmare since youth of entity following him .. the sexual allegory was added to IT FOLLOWS. Mitchell also downplays the idea of a sequel, joking that “IT’S STILL FOLLOWING” just doesn’t sound right..
Monroe is already being called the 21st century scream queen–a champion role that many stars of the 20th century still hold dear to their hearts, even after their careers moved on from horror..
The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive for Mitchell and Murphy..
The ideas presented in the film seem to force questions over sexual morality and the often false safety of suburbia–and even, some say, a certain GATSY like vision of the collapse of the American dream.
This movie has a lot to offer.. a deep meaning, jumps and scares, and perhaps, just perhaps, a brand new scream queen for a new generation that needs horror movies to make a difference again.
Dirty Harry’s days of box office glory aren’t gone, Eastwood is now able to brag about a global take of $500 million for his film AMERICAN SNIPER. He can also say it was the best of 2014..
More:
SNIPER has now surpassed The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part I to become the highest-grossing domestic film of 2014 with an estimated $337.2M take.. And with his weekends cash being counted the movie has surpassed the half a billion dollar make–a success given the controversy and concept behind the film..
Warner Bros has bragging right too, touting the fact that that SNIPER is now the number one war film ever..
This weekend’s box office was the lowest of the year so far..
Last weeks not so stellar horror film THE LAZARUS EFFECT sunk even more by 50%.. The Lazarus Effect has earned $17.4 million. However considering the lackluster reviews the movie got and the typical second weekend slump horror flocks endure, this movie is performing better than some others..
Studio execs are blaming weather for some less than stellar numbers.
WILL SMITH’S ‘FOCUS’ NOT IN CLEAR FOCUS.. Less people went to see this film than expected.. Luckily the film was cheap to make. With only $19 mil so far racked up, though, more sales will need to be generated to pay off Warner Bros..
KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE was still second in week three..
Number three was the SPONGE still soaking up family friendly movie goers.. The film came in with $11.2 mil for the weekend and has thus far made $140 mil in four weeks..
The LAZARUS EFFECT had little effect on the box office, it was expected by many to come in 4th place for its first week .. Instead, another set of women –maybe for the second time–went to see FIFTY SHADES OF GREY.. Mr. Grey ended the third week in the box office with almost $11 mil and a grand total of $147 mil since its release in early Valentine’s Day weekend..
And finally, in fifth, a weak LAZARUS EFFECT with a little over $10 mil total. Respectable perhaps.. but the numbers tell a bigger story. The movie had a 13% increase in sales on Saturday when compared to its opening Friday.. but by today it crashed 45%.
Even more: All movies crashed Sunday with uncertain weather conditions nationwide.. a snow and ice storm stretched from the Midwest to the Northeast.. and it with an average of 38% decreases in ticket sales took place across the board..
This is a movie poster blast from the past.. it was called THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN, and a was loosely based on the ‘Phanton Killer’ or the ‘Texarkana Moonlight Murders‘ that took place ni 1946..
The other evening, I got the chance to watch the 2014 remake of this 1976 classic.. The redo was interesting. It was like DICK TRACY meets SCREAM, a movie with cartoonish appeal that also featured a ‘we know this is a horror movie’ attitude like Wes Craven’s late 20th century horror series..
However, any time I watch a remake, I typically go back and watch the original. Either for posterity or just because I want to check off the similarities and differences between each incarnation..
The original SUNDOWN film wasn’t exceptional by any stretch of imagination.. But it created a new genre–it may be one of the least known movies that started the slasher flicks of the late 70s and all of the 1980s. The TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN was brutal at times and most likely difficult to view during some moments in theaters during the Carter years..
But there was one thing that THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN got right in 1976: One of the most memorable posters I have ever seen for a movie, especially a horror flick.. There’s something freakish about that sunset image and the town, that lonely town, tucked safely but dangerously between the trees and mountains.. And that foreboding image of the Phantom with his freakish mask that only displays two eye holes..
This poster has stuck in my mind for years.. Since I was younger and first stayed up late without my parents knowing to watch this on Rhonda Shear’s UP ALL NIGHT, I remembered that poster. . and that quaint image of Americana destroyed by a masked villain to stole innocence..
I was born in 1980, years after this original film.. But as a child of the 1980s, a certain spirit of the 70s was bred into my in my early life..
This image presented on the poster haunted me for two distinct reasons: 1) It reminded me of the scene from ET where Halloweeners begin to the roam the streets at sundown, and 2) the image looks amazingly like the town I grew up in the 80s, Centralia PA–a town with an underground mine fire that met its demise because of that crisis..
This post is not a movie review .. I quite frankly disliked the new remake and the original was lackluster. But it was important in the history of horror movies. It gave us the slasher flick.
And it gave me chills each time I thought about that hauntingly beautiful movie poster..
One fun concept is to look at what will never happen again, thanks to modern technology.. It was a movie for its time and of its time, but yet somehow stands the test of time. Yes, outfits are different.. the technology is limited..
But there’s one common thing shared by that of all generations: Our attempt to fit in, find our niche, and create a ‘character’ out of our reality. In the BREAKFAST CLUB, the most amazing part is that all of the characters, by the end of their Saturday detention, actually discover who they really are because they are faced with the clear vacancy of others judging them. I bet, though, by Monday their egos were back and they ‘role’ resumed. But it’s all fiction, right?
