Aside from the obvious stuff like Halloween 2, Stephen King adaptations, Sam Raimi’s celebrated return to the genre, and questionable award nominations, you just never know what’s going to attract attention around these parts. There’s been a helluva lot of news lately, and after scanning over the headlines from the week of March 8-14, 2009, the five stories that caught my eye and seem worthy of further mention are:
Due to the talent involved with A Perfect Getaway, one would think it should garner at least a 3 out of 5 rating. Steve Zahn, Milla Jovovich, Timothy Olyphant, and Kiele Sanchez star — and the director is David Twohy. If it’s anywhere near the quality of Twohy’s previous efforts Pitch Black and Below — and yes, even the somewhat misguided Riddick — Getaway has “winner” written all over it.
Another project I — and lots of others — am really hoping is an artistic success is The Cabin in the Woods. If you’re a little fuzzy on the details, it’ll be directed by Drew Goddard from a screenplay by Goddard (who’s written for “Lost”, “Buffy”, and “Angel” along with penning Cloverfield) and Joss Whedon once casting is complete, which should be fairly soon given that five more actors have been attached to the production: Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz, and Jesse Williams. None rings any major bells with me, but no matter. I’m much more interested in what Joss said he has in store for their characters: “I can’t wait to harm them.”
Even though I’m not what you’d call a slasher connoisseur, some of the most fun Creepy and I have had so far this year was watching Rob Hall’s Laid to Rest. The film’s final trailer and a list of its extremely limited theatrical dates hit the Net recently. I don’t go out on a limb often, but mark my words; this is one DVD you should have pre-ordered yesterday.
Christopher Garetano is a very busy dude. He first came to our attention via Horror Business, a documentary about indie horror filmmaking . Then he launched Cottonmouth.tv, a horror site dedicated to celebrating all the wonderful things about our genre. (Click on Chris’ name for more details on both.) Now he’s put together a graphic novel about the making of the 1974 classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre called South Texas Blues. Garetano has spent the last two years researching and writing the story, which is told through the mind of “Tobe”, an obsessed filmmaker, and is currently developing it as a feature film. It’s just offbeat yet commercial enough to get noticed — hopefully we’ll be hearing lots more about South Texas Blues in the coming months.
As long as we’re talking about offbeat projects, I’d be remiss in acknowledging my 3D-loving roots if I didn’t mention The Bloody Rage of Bigfoot. The poster says “Presented in 3D in Selected Theaters”. Really? This movie is going to play in theaters? Be still my heart. Right now details are pretty scarce, but I’m sure we can count on Foy to do some digging and keep us up-to-date on this one.
Speaking of up-to-date, there’s not much that’s more “in demand” than “on demand”. DVD’s, which only just recently made VHS tapes obsolete, are already being phased out in favor of streaming video … over the computer, Xbox 360, and smartphones or other hand-held devices. Premieres are occurring online simultaneous with, or instead of, inhouse at theaters. We are increasingly insisting on the ability to watch what we want, when we want, with no middle man. Netflix has certainly been leading the charge, but now comes upstart Amazon, which brings us to the Woman’s Story of the Week: Watch the Cell 2 Online June 23rd.
Honestly, I couldn’t care less about there being a Cell 2 (although I did really enjoy its predecessor), but the underlying message of the story seems too significant to pass over. We are seeing a major shift in how movies are delivered to the consumer. Yes, box office receipts are up, but this online method is gaining momentum. Is it the beginning of the end of the multi-plex, or are we simply splitting into two main groups: those who choose to view films in the privacy of their own homes and those who opt for a more communal experience, even if it does mean dealing with bawling babies, talkative teenagers, and Twittering techies? I’m pretty sure it’s the latter. People like variety, horror fans especially. But the implications cannot be denied — the times, they are a-changing.
