The Weekly Wrap-Up: April 5-11, 2009

Debi Moore |

Apr 11, 2009

During the week of April 5-11, 2009, we made our first official mention of Twitter and Dread Central’s presence on the rapidly booming social networking/micro-blogging site. Our man in the field Nomad reported in real time from the sets of both The Crazies and Rob Zombie’s Halloween 2. For that feeling of immediacy, nothing we’ve seen yet works better than Twitter. It’s a phenomenon. And don’t even get me started on Blip! (Yes, we have a DC channel there — give us your suggestions for what you’d like to hear.) I could have finished this Wrap-Up in half the time if I wasn’t bouncing back and forth between here and there. Talk about addicting!

Anyway, the two films mentioned earlier are among the “bigger” projects currently under way. What’s slightly smaller and hopefully edgier that we can look forward to as well?

Director Richard Kelly has called The Box his “most personal film to date” and explains the extended time frame for its release has been due to the more than 300 visual effects shots incorporated into the production. I’m a huge fan of Kelly’s Southland Tales and have been looking forward to The Box for months. Our first really good look at the official poster has only increased that anticipation. Opening in theatres on October 30th, 2009, The Box should be one sweet pre-Halloween treat.

Not exactly sugary, but tasty nonetheless (we hope) is Destined to be Ingested. It’s the story of a young couple and their friends, who take a South Pacific cruise after striking it rich in the lottery and become stranded on an uncharted island inhabited by a tribe of man-eaters. See what you think after checking out the trailer and a few stills by clicking on the link above.

It’s hard to get excited about projects that hint at a Lovecraftian influence and/or tone. We’ve been let down too many times. But there’s something about Altitude, which stars the very talented Jessica Lowndes, that keeps my optimism intact. Take a peek at the teaser poster and tell me you don’t feel the same way.

One movie feelings are widely split on is Park Chan-Wook’s Oldboy. But no matter what you think of it, you can’t deny its powerful and gut-punching rawness. The imagery and visual starkness of the finally(!) officially released full trailer for Chan-Wook’s new film, Thirst, seem to promise an even richer experience. A priest turned vampire … I’d say that’s about equal to the anguish experienced by Oldboy‘s protagonist Dae-su. No doubt we can expect a similarly twisted ending in Thirst. Which will be a perfect antidote to all those ridiculous sanitized vamps we’ve been surrounded by lately.

The final flick on my watch list is Moon, which has the potential to be this decade’s best horror/sci-fi hybrid. It’s themes of isolation and paranoia are timely … and utterly chilling. Watch the trailer and think about how you’d fare alone and away from Earth for three years with nothing but Kevin Spacey’s voice to keep you company. I’m pretty sure I’d be a raving lunatic by about month 25.

Speaking of lunacy, how crazed does the idea of documenting the zombie apocalypse via a role-playing social network sound? Not too nuts at all if you’re hip to what the folks at LostZombies.com are up to, which is the subject of the Woman’s Story of the Week:

Lost Zombies Wants Your Last Words. The goal of the group is to create the world’s first community generated zombie documentary. If it sounds like an interesting proposition, sign up on the site, where you can construct profile pages, view photos and videos, take part in discussions, chat, and, most importantly, submit content to be used in the documentary.

It’s definitely ambitious, but considering how many imaginative people there are who already have their own versions of the end of the world via a zombie infestation, the guys behind Lost Zombies should wind up with some extremely rich and inventive — not to mention highly entertaining — material. If you’re even the least bit a zombie aficionado, you owe it to yourself to see what they’re up to. And, just because I’m a stickler for things coming full circle, get off your asses and follow Lost Zombies on Twitter!

The Wrap-Up will be on hiatus next week due to the Dread Central crew’s coverage of the Los Angeles Fangoria Weekend of Horrors (click here to win tickets if you’re in the area). See you back here in two weeks …

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