Thanks to the great people who put on Rock and Shock each year in beautiful downtown Worcester, Mass., I had last week off from Wrap-Up duties; but now, despite this nasty cold I brought home with me, it’s back to work. But first let me point you in the direction of our 2008 Rock and Shock Photo Gallery, where you can see a sample of the fun and frivolity to be found there. Start making your plans now to attend next year’s event — it’s always a good time!
One of everyone’s favorite parts of Rock and Shock is its focus on authors, and this year was no exception. Making a return appearance was the multi-award-winning Jack Ketchum, and his ears must have been burning because while he was wowing the R&S crowd, director Eric (100 Feet) Red was on the opposite coast at Screamfest LA spilling the beans about their collaboration on an upcoming adaptation of Ketchum’s seminal novel The Off Season.
If we’re going to talk about foreign influences on horror, the French just keep getting deeper and deeper into the genre, and it looks like the next big thing from them could very well be La Horde, which portrays an end of the world battle between gangsters, cops, and zombies. We’ve seen several fairly decent crime/horror hybrids lately; hopefully this will be a successful continuation of the trend.
Another trend we at Dread Central are huge advocates of is short films. Done right, they can provide a large return for a tiny investment of time and money. One short we’re keeping a close eye on is Travis Betz’s “Lo”. Click here to check out the trailer of this demon-populated romantic horror/comedy.
Our most hotly contested article this week concerns one man’s pick of the Top 50 Horror Hotties. A lot of them I can certainly go along with, but how about a bit more recognition for those who strutted their stuff before many of these chicks were even born? Let’s not forget our roots!
Trembles resurfaced a few days ago with a Motion Picture Purgatory for Quarantine. It had been a couple of months since Rick’s last installment, and I have to say it’s good to have him back. Luckily for us, I expect we’ll be seeing another soon once Saw V hits theatres.
Finally all the speculation of exactly how small Repo! The Genetic Opera‘s official theatrical release will be was put to rest with the publication by Lionsgate of a list of theatres that will be showing the film come November 7. Yes, it’s embarrassingly skimpy, but it’s at least somewhat more extensive than we’d originally heard. If you’re not in or near one of these eight cities, then maybe your home town will be included on the Repo! Road Tour. No? As a last resort keep it here for news on when the DVD will be available. I promise you do not want to miss it!
In the category of “does anybody really care?” we got a report that Hasbro has either delayed or totally cancelled its Cloverfield action figure. Don’t get me wrong; I loved the film, but something about the design of this figure always seemed slightly “off” to me. Guess we’ll have to wait and see how it all plays out.
Another high profile flick that went from “sounds like a pretty sure thing” to “kaput for now” is Tim Burton and Johnny Depp’s reimagining of Dark Shadows as a feature film. The tortured, yet suave, Barnabas Collins was a childhood favorite of mine so I’m holding out hope that this one comes back around once Burton/Depp have wrapped on Alice in Wonderland.
Meanwhile, if we can’t have Barnabas, we can tide ourselves over with some Swedish vamps. The universally acclaimed Let the Right One In is being given a pretty nice roll-out across the country starting October 24th through December 12th. Cities range from the usual New York, LA, San Francisco, and Chicago to more off-the-beaten-path locales like Iowa City, Baltimore, Nashville, and Santa Fe.
Sonny Fernandez is a name known to those of you who frequent our forums, and because we’re always happy to help promote our own, make sure you take a few minutes to check out the latest on Sonny’s indie project called The Last Battleground. I’m a sucker for films that deal with themes like heaven and hell having a showdown for ultimate power over the earth, and while his budget may be miniscule, Sonny’s ambition appears to be anything but!
While we’re on the subject of the underworld, it’s time for the Woman’s Story of the Week: Dante Goes 3D With The Hole, No Hell. The description of The Hole — a pair of brothers stumble upon a mysterious hole in their basement that leads to the darkest corridors of their fears and nightmares — doesn’t exactly spell out that our protagonists are about to embark on a journey to hell, but who cares? It’s in 3-fucking-D!!! I know there are people who pooh-pooh the use of 3D technology and call it gimmicky, but I’m not one of them. I’ve been on board the upcoming My Bloody Valentine remake since it was first announced and am now jumping on the bandwagon for The Hole as well. Besides, we’re talking about Joe Dante here. His resume is full of horror, comedy, action, and fantasy. If anyone can pull off making 3D fun again, it’s him! And, Joe, if by chance you’re reading this, how about finding a part for Jon Tenney? He killed it in “Homecoming” and is so deserving of a higher profile career.
