The Weekly Wrap-Up: April 19-25, 2009

Debi Moore |

Apr 25, 2009

Without a doubt the biggest story of the week of April 19-25, 2009, was the debut of the trailer for Rob Zombie’s H2 — just take a look at the number of comments it’s gotten. Passions run high when a filmmaker tampers with a much beloved horror icon and the formula that made him so popular in the first place.
Therefore, in an effort to help give people something else to think about, this week’s Wrap-Up will focus on slightly less volatile productions, or at least those which show all the signs of being true to and respectful of their source material.

Once in a while instead of simply another ill-conceived knock-off, a genuine tribute to a deserving classic shows up, and this past week we were fortunate to get details on two such projects — both homages to George A. Romero’s landmark Night of the Living Dead.

First is Tonight of the Living Dead, a CD collage of restructured audio plus a 12-page booklet of photo treatments that focuses on the more understated and haunting moments of the movie, drawing out the sense of bewildering relentlessness and hypnotic inevitability as the characters wait in an old farm-house for the world to end. As George would say, “That’s heavy, man.”
Second is Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated. Artists are encouraged to contribute their own original black and white animation to match the film’s soundtrack. If the trailer and photo published with the article are any indication, this is definitely one to watch out for.

The Warner Brothers/Dark Castle dynamic duo is at it again with a live action adaptation of the Devil’s Due graphic novel The Nye Incidents, which was written by Whitley Strieber. Its premise of a medical examiner on the trail of a killer that murders alien abductees is nothing if not original. The comic to film scenario is getting a workout these days, but I say keep ’em coming. Anything to counter the relentless, seemingly unstoppable inferior remake machine.

Director Brad Anderson has been rather hit or miss with this Woman. I adored Session Nine, found The Machinist disappointing, and thought Transsiberian was only slightly above average. But that doesn’t stop me from looking forward to all his future projects, one of which is Vanishing on 7th Street, a post-apocalyptic tale in which most of the population vanishes into thin air following a mysterious blackout. With a cast that includes John Leguizamo and Thandie Newton for sure and maybe Timothy Olyphant and Forest Whitaker, 7th Street could be the ticket to re-establish Anderson’s genre cred.

Tribeca 2009 got under way this week, and we should have reviews from Nomad shortly. In the meantime, check out the various stills and trailers we got in advance of the fest for such diverse fare as the Poe-inspired Tell-Tale starring Josh Lucas and Lena Headey, slasher Paintball, and Ti West’s supernatural slow-burner The House of the Devil, to name just a couple.

One story I was surprised to see not one comment about is the casting of Rooney Mara as Nancy in the new version of A Nightmare on Elm Street. It seems to be shaping up fairly nicely in the acting department, but maybe after Friday the 13th ’09 people can’t bring themselves to care about the outcome of the latest Platinum Dunes redux. Only time will tell I guess as we inch closer and closer to its (penciled in) premiere close to a year from now on April 16, 2010.

Waiting on a film’s release is something director Eric Red must be extremely familiar with given the excruciatingly long timetable for his ghostly revenge flick 100 Feet. But, at long last, the wait is over as The Woman’s Story of the Week attests: We finally have the full Scoop on the 100 Feet DVD. Though the exact date is still yet to be announced, we at least know the DVD will be “unrated, uncut … and fully director approved” and should be available within a few months. Praise Jesus, Allah, Yahweh, and every other deity that comes to mind. If, however, you can’t wait even one second longer, it’ll be broadcast as a “Sci Fi Original” this coming Sunday, April 26, with the standard cut DVD and Blu-ray available exclusively at Hollywood Video the following Tuesday, April 28. Me? I’m taking my chances and holding out for the real deal deluxe edition. But did they have to remind us that Red was one of the writers of the abysmal Hitcher remake right on the cover of the DVD? Good thing we horror fans are such a forgiving audience!

Until next time …

– The Woman In Black

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