V for Vucking Vantastic

Sherm sent me this encouraging, spoiler-free article about V for Vendetta. I've never heard of this reviewer, but he treats the Matrix sequels with respect and delivers a nice dig on M. Night Shyamalan.

I'm looking forward to this movie, although I'll admit the trailer put me off a bit. I think it's because there are such bold flashes of color in it while the comic book's palette was so muddy and muted. The posters are freakin' perfect. As you can see here.

Supposedly Alan Moore hasn't ever seen From Hell or League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Maybe he'll make it out for this one.

First pictures from Spider-man 3, prepare to be underwhelmed

Los Angeles, CA :: Enjoy these first pictures fresh off the set of Spider-Man 3! This picture set features 23-year-old actress Kirsten Dunst reprising her role as redhead Mary Jane Watson looking less stringy strawberry blonde weave and more girl-next-door-redhead- turned-prom-queen. We don't learn much from these photos (SPOILER :: Mary Jane fulfilling her dreams as an actress?) but we have learned recently that Theresa Russell, 48, was cast as Mrs. Marko, the wife of Flint Marko, aka the Sandman (Thomas Haden Church). Other confirmed cast members include Tobey Maguire (Peter Parker / Spider-Man), James Franco (Harry Osborn), Topher Grace (Eddie Brock / Venom) and Bryce Dallas Howard (Gwen Stacy). Watch out for Bryce Dallas Howard on tomorrow's taping of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (January 31, 2006 @ 11:35/10:35PM on NBC), her first television appearance since the casting announcment.

Red Eye is a suck-fest

Red Eye (2005) *1/2

Setting the perfect movie-viewing ambiance with my fireplace blazing and a tumbler-sized glass of wine in hand, I happily settled into my Saturday night with a bevy of movies to choose from. After flipping through pages and pages of recently copied DVDs, I ultimately settled upon Wes Craven’s latest. I’ve heard mixed things about this film ranging from, “It’s great” to “Don’t bother”. Never one to believe anyone’s horror opinion (Octopunk and Summerisle aside), I decided to take a chance and risk 90 more minutes of my uneventful life.

Lisa (Rachel McAdams) plays a hotel worker on route to her grandmother’s funeral. Lisa is not just any hotel worker mind you; she’s apparently the world’s greatest hotel worker. Although her title is never made clear, it is immediately established that others bow when her name is mentioned, red tape is removed, hurdles are cleared, and problems are rectified when she's involved. None of this makes any sense, of course, but whatever. Killing time in an airport lounge while waiting for her much-delayed flight to resume, Lisa meets Jackson (the creepy-looking Cillian Murphy), a charming, chivalrous businessman who is coincidentally on the same flight. The two hit it off right away and happily kill time conversing and boozing it up. When their plane finally boards Lisa is pleased to find that her seat is adjacent to, you guessed it, Jackson. However, soon after their plane takes off Jackson makes his evil intentions clear. I’ll give away a little bit more; Jackson presents Lisa with an ultimatum; either call her hotel and arrange to have the head of homeland security and his family moved to a different room or her father will be assassinated.

The majority of Red Eye takes place on the airplane as Lisa agonizes over how to rectify this situation without anyone getting hurt. Like every single Ron Howard movie, you never for one second believe that anyone is going to be harmed. Characters fall into two dichotomous categories either perfect, with hearts of gold or pure evil. This is standard paint-by-numbers suspense without any attempt at originality. Moreover, Jackson’s overarching “evil” plan is needlessly complicated and relies on a number of variables to line up perfectly in order to be realized (think of Luke’s unwieldy plan to escape Jabba the Hutt at the Great Pit of Carkoon). With very slight edits (I’m talking 1-2 seconds here), Red Eye could’ve easily been put on NBC’s schedule as a movie-of-the-week. Terrible.

Jason returns on Friday, October 13th!

From Bloodydisgusting, "Today Variety breaks the silence and reports that New Line is hoping to release its 12th film in the sturdy Friday the 13th franchise on -- surprise -- Friday, Oct. 13! The kicker is that the studio has launched development of a script about Jason Voorhees' origins. Is this news killer enough for ya? Cause you can expect even more big news soon!"

Also, "It was confirmed a few months back that a brand new Pumpkinhead movie was in the works, but what we found out today from our anonymous scooper is that both a third and a fourth sequel are shooting back to back, possibly later this year in England. Brad Krevoy (formerly of MPCA) is producing the pics. In the first 'Pumpkinhead' a man conjures up a gigantic vengeance demon called Pumpkinhead to destroy the teenagers who accidentally killed his son. Watch this spot for more news soon."
From Thesneeze, "I've always said, "Sure, Jason Voorhees is great at a-killin', but what was he like before he started hacking people apart?" New Line has finally responded with the news of a Friday the 13th prequel in the works, to be released on Friday, October 13th, the very day/date combination the film is based on! Though details are scant, I'm hoping this new film will finally uncover Jason's teenage, awkward stage, when the mask was just to cover acne and a bashful insecurity towards the fairer sex. I'm also hoping it reveals that Jason was beaten up by girls and refused to shower in gym, because then maybe they'll cast me."

In Other Crap-Tacular News, Wes Craven on Remakes, Scream 4, Feast and Red Eye 2

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Alien vs. Predator 2

I'm so psyched, there's finally going to be a sequel to Alien vs. Predator!!! In case you didn't know it, I was being sarcastic. From Bloodydisgusting, "My brain is fighting with itself right now, and it's a war. I love both the Alien and Predator franchises, but how bas was Alien vs Predator? What was even worse is how that movie took 12 years to get made, and now Fox is notorious for rushing movies out to make a buck or just to piss someone at another studio off (ahem Bryan Singer). So with the news that Alien vs Predator 2 being official I canot help but squirm, while the other half of my brain says "maybe it'll be good this time?" Either way, as long as Anderson stays away from it, I'll be pumped." And Aint it Cool News writes:

"At the premiere for Big Mommas House 2, Tom Rothman, Head of Fox spoke about X Men 3, but what is also of note is his comments below on the AVP 2 film. According to SKNR.Net who first reported reported months ago that a film was coming and that it would have a contemporary setting according to Rothman based on the planned script, well thanks to The Movie Reporter and their exclusive interview, the news below seems to confirm this.

Q: AvP 2 any development there?

TR: Yeah, uh, Hutch would know actually better but I think they just got the script, they just got the script in...we are making that movie, it's gonna be kick ass (smiles).

Q: How soon?

TR: We're hoping for August of 2007 release. That's what we hope."

The Tripper

From Bloodydisgusting, "Today it was announced that Scream star David Arquette will helm a new horror pic entitled The Tripper in Santa Cruz, California, from a script by Joe Harris (Darkness Falls). The best news is that the film includes lesser-known actors such as Balthazar Getty of the television show "Alias" and Paul Reubens, who has mostly been out of the limelight since his days as the character Pee Wee Herman in the 1980s! This Hollywood horror flick, which needs about 200 extras, is about a man with a penchant for Ronald Reagan and the free market who's on a crusade to oust a bunch of Santa Cruz-types from society."

Grudge 2

From horroview, "Looks like Joan of Arcadia is going from talking to God to talking to ghosts, at least according to The Hollywood Reporter. Amber Tamblyn, she of Joan fame, will play the lead in the sequel to The Grudge, playing the younger sister of Sarah Michelle Gellar's character. I guess older sis passes the titular grudge off to her younger sibling, thus catapaulting her into a world of spooky kids in white greasepaint and lots and lots of black hair.

Tamblyn has already done the remake/J-horror thing with her role in The Ring, in which she played that film's first victim (the hottie in the Catholic school uniform). As for Gellar, by all accounts, her role is to simply pass on the curse, so those excited about seeing Buffy battle Japanese vengeance demons or whatever will have to make other plans.

And is it me, or is Amber Tamblyn a ringer for a young Jeanne Tripplehorn?"

The first Texas Chainsaw Prequel Movie Photos

Moviesonline, "New Line provided us with the first 5 official images for "Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning", which hits theaters October 6th. The origins of the legendary horror character Leatherface will finally be revealed in this movie. The film, which is set years before the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie, stars Jordana Brewster and is being directed by Jonathan Liebesman."

Scary! Anne Hathaway is turning into a clown!

I don't know when it happened, but somewhere along the line Anne Hathaway went from being that cute girl from The Princess Diaries into the freak of nature we see today. We all have our bad days, but hot damn if this isn't the worst day of her life.

Superman is a jerk

"Brandon Routh, our world's next Superman, gave a few bits of choice information regarding the plot of Superman Returns:

'Superman leaves without saying a word to Lois Lane and that causes some bitterness on her part. He also confirms that there is only one villain, Lex Luthor.'

Hearing this news, I can't help but think of my father, who left my mother and I without saying a word. And how, with his heavy drinking, he too faced only one villain: alcoholism. But mostly, it reminds me of how sometimes he would dress up like Superman and talk for hours about Vietnamese women."

X-Men 3 gets a (dumb) title

From Iwatchstuff, "20th Century has confirmed that a title for X-men 3 has been chosen and is currently being cleared for usage: X-Men: The Last Stand. The title had already appeared in USA Today, making it the rumored front-runner up to the confirmation. The Last Stand narrowly beat out fan favorite title: The One That Will Probably Suck. I Mean, Brett Ratner Is Doing It. And Juggernaut Is Way Too Small. But Did You See Beast? He Looks Kind Of Good, Huh?

Also confirmed yesterday was 13-year-old Ira Schultz, whose bar mitzvah went splendidly. Congrats, Ira!"




Also, from Superherohype, "Just wanted to pass on these new X3 pics of Storm, Callisto, Psylocke and Stacy X, Brett Ratner & The X-cast, and Angel. These have leaked onto the internet recently. It appears that Storm (Halle Berry) is wearing a new navy X-Men uniform without a cape. I'm not sure if this means the old leather uniforms will go obsolete at some point in the film or not; time will tell. The other shot features our first glimpse at Stacy X and Psylocke in costume! The third still shows Brett and the gang for a posed group shot. The last one is of Angel and appeared in Entertainment Weekly.

Meanwhile, 'Ryan' says Vinnie Jones again confirmed he has signed for X4 and X5:

I have some exciting X-Men news. I was watching the entertainment today channels on ITV's GMTV and they were interviewing Vinnie Jones at his children's charity avent where he was auctioning off his movie chair.

Of course, they asked him about the upcoming X-Men movie and he replied by saying about the long make-up process and how his character has some good one liners.

Then, just as the interview was finishing, he said he is looking forward to work more as Juggernaut as he has signed for X-Men 4 and 5. I was pleased to hear this news and I hope that it is true that the X-Men phenomenon won't end with just three movies."

Planet of the Apes: The Ultimate DVD Collection

Every few years I get the urge to watch the Planet of the Apes movie series. Like The Yellow Submarine or The Monkees' Head, I want to love these movies yet time and time again I'm let down. I'm not really sure why I never learn my lesson. Perhaps the concept intrigues me and, like a fine wine, I believe that these films will become better with age. I've never seen the live action or animated POTA TV series and with Fox's recent announcement about the forthcoming "Ultimate DVD Collection", I'm experiencing those old stirrings again. I haven't watched the POTA films in about 8 years, they can't be that bad right?

"From the HOLY CRAP THIS IS COOL FILES comes this bit of news! Fox is unleashing a monstrous, 14-disc collection of the Planet of the Apes series on March 28th, 2006, that includes Planet of the Apes , Beneath The Planet Of The Apes , Escape From Planet Of The Apes , Conquest Of Planet Of The Apes and Battle For Planet Of The Apes, as well as the Apes TV series, the 2001 remake, the freakin' cartoon I grew up on, and so, so, so much more!

Here's the press bit:

Planet Of The Apes: The Ultimate DVD Collection- a 14-disc set in a Limited Edition collectable ape-head packaging based on the designs that earned make-up artist John Chambers an honorary Oscar®. The Ape –head is modeled after Roddy McDowall's character Caesar, the son of the late simians Cornelius and Zira who l eads the apes to revolution in Conquest of the Planet of the Apes . The Ultimate Collection includes all five Original movies (1968-1973), the complete series of the Planet of the Apes (1974) TV Show and the Never-Before-Released Saturday Morning Cartoon TV series: Return to the planet of the Apes (1975) as well as the 2001 re-imagining of the Planet Of The Apes mythology. The Planet Of The Apes franchise stars such silver-screen luminaries as Ricardo Montalban ( Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan ), Sal Mineo ( Rebel Without A Cause ), John Huston ( Chinatown ), Mark Wahlberg ( Boogie Nights ), Michael Clarke Duncan ( Daredevil ) and Tim Roth ( Reservoir Dogs ). Bonus features include audio commentaries, featurettes, image galleries, outtakes and much more.

The fantastic Planet Of The Apes: The Ultimate DVD Collection box set will be available for a suggested retail price of $179.98 U.S./$249.98 Canada ."

M. Night Shyamalan is still a hack

Aintitcoolnews has the first review of Shyamalan's next flick, Lady in the Water. I'm not a fan of Shyamalan's work and I've been disappointed in everyting he's done since Sixth Sense, which, in my opinion, doesn't hold up upon repeat viewings.

Watch the trailer here.

Forbidden Siren

From Thehorrorchannel, "The Japanese already have their own version, from what we've heard based on the sequel more than the original, but now Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures are working on their own version of the creepy game Siren.

The Japanese film, called Forbidden Siren as was the original game, was helmed by 2LDK director Yukihiko Tsutsumi. The U.S. version will not be a remake, according to the article in Variety, but rather it’s own version all together. Michael Gordon (300) has been tapped to write the screenplay, working closely with video game director Keiichiro Toyama.

The filmed version, which they’re hoping to start shooting this year, will focus on an American med school student who heads to Japan to find her missing sister. Her search begins in the isolated mountain village of Hanuda, roughly around the same time an unspeakable evil returns to the town.

Though the game left a lot to be desired, mainly due to it’s headache-inducing control scheme, the concept is still one that could work very well if in the right hands.

Negadon - The Monster From Mars

From Horrorview, "The CGI anime/kaiju flick Negadon has been picked up for North American distribution by anime giants Central Park Media!

Negadon is an homage to the classic 50's and 60's kaiju flicks (ya' know, the men in the rubber monster suits!), animated and then rendered in such a way as to make it look as though it were some "lost" film from that period.

This is actually some pretty cool looking stuff!" Trailers can be found here:
http://www.h2.dion.ne.jp/%7Emagara/negadon_yokoku_En.html

The 8th Plague

From Moviesonline, "The 8th Plague" is an experiment in fear, tapping into the primal emotions of the human psyche, emotions that have not been rattled since American audiences were first exposed to such films as "The Evil Dead", "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "The Exorcist".

"The 8th Plague" is the terrifying story of a woman named Luna, who is investigating the disappearance of her sister Nikki. The search leads her to an abandoned prison named Halcyon Ridge Correctional Facility. Upon entering the stone and steel walls, she discovers an ancient evil that had been lying dormant until its recent disturbance.

Subsequently, she learns the terrible truth about the impending plague of darkness that intends to spread and reclaim the world.

Basic Instinct 2: The Sequel Nobody Asked For

I think it's hilarious that Sharon Stone has decried her crotch shot from Basic Instinct for many years and now the poster for the new film strongly suggests that old scene. I've read interviews where she claims that she had no idea that her crotch could be seen and that she was angry at Paul V. because of it, blah, blah, blah.

First Slither review

From Aintitcoolnews, "Was able to get myself recruited into a screening of SLITHER last night in Burbank and am happy to report that R rated horror is back with a vengeance. This is the James Gunn movie (I was a big DAWN OF THE DEAD fan, but think this is his first directing assignment) that got buzz after Comicon last year and now seems to be fairly close to finished. I say fairly because the effects aren’t done and well, the existence of a test screening must mean someone feels there is work to be done. Either way, I am excited to say effects or not the movie delivers in a gory and twisted one two punch that shed a glimmer of hope on the 2006 horror docket.

The story doesn’t seem to have changed from previous screenings other “reporters” have seen so I will keep the summary short: Alien spore lands in a small town and takes over the body of Grant Grant (yes, Grant Grant – played ingeniously by Michael Rooker). Infected Grant then goes around spreading disease to part of the town and eating the other half. Those few left unharmed (Grant’s wife played by Elizabeth Banks, Serenity’s Nathan Fillion as a town cop, a teenage girl and the mayor played by show stealing Gregg Henry of DePalma fame) have to stop Grant before the infection gets beyond the town and starts to affect the world.

Based on the red band trailer you guys posted a few days back, I expected gore and blood abounds. I hoped for sick humor, and found myself smiling in the midst of squirming in my seat. I half thought gore and humor only ever came together in C movie cheese, but was happily proven very wrong. The gore stylings of the 80’s have obviously grown up a little bit. Mr. Gunn obviously knows his horror and you can feel him having fun with the genre. There are dark country songs instead of horror music, and detailed prosthetics (instead of just computer effects) that are cringe worthy in a complimentary sense.

The movie does take its time getting to the meat of it all (no pun intended for anyone else who saw the film). True, for the first time in a long time I actually cared about the characters by the time they died, but couldn’t there be some killing going on behind the “getting to know the town” moments? And with so much attention paid to the gore visuals, there is a car crash in the movie that looks surprisingly weak.

This will be a DVD for the collection and I’m excited to be with my friends in the theatres when its finally released to get to see their reactions."

Sigh

Dark Horizons: The original "Underworld" wasn't a well received movie with critics, especially by the horror genre fans who were pretty harsh on the film. Nevertheless the original opened to an impressive $21.8 million weekend haul, good enough to greenlight a sequel.

Now the second film is out - "Underworld: Evolution" which has done even worse with the critics (Rotten Tomatoes indicates "Underworld" scored a 4.7/10 average score, whereas "Underworld Evolution" managed a 3.8/10), so not surprisingly its done even better - raking in an strong $27.6 million debut - easily dominating the Top Ten this week.

Other newcomers this week didn't fare so well - Christian pic "End of the Spear" and limited Albert Brooks comedy release "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World" didn't really score with audiences in their respective arenas. Whilst Terrence Malick's shortened cut of "The New World" didn't exactly break out in its wide expansion, both "Match Point" and "Transamerica" did decent business in their move into more theatres.

Yet again though "Brokeback Mountain" was the talk of the day on the limited release front, the film finally cracking the 1000 theatre mark (1,196 theatres) to score a $7.8 million taking in its seventh week. Focus is set to add another 250 theatres to the run next week, an ever bigger count is expected after the Oscar nominations January 31st.

Finally, last week's openers held better than expected, most notably CG comedy "Hoodwinked" which fell a mere 11% from its opening weekend haul. Both Jim Carrey comedy "Fun With Dick and Jane" and Johnny Cash biopic "Walk the Line" broke the $100 million mark.

Really not horror news

More X3

Phoenix pics


From ainitcoolnews, "a couple new pics from X3 courtesy of our humble and kind spy "Ur A Loser." I haven't seen these pop up anywhere else, yet, so this may be super special story! Anyway, you get a full look at Juggernaut's front... which is a little worrying. I'm hoping they'll touch up those muscle suit wrinkles with CG before the film hits theaters. I could see something like that ending up really distracting. I must say I like the arms, though, so it's not a total botch-job in my eyes. The second pic is of Colossus and Rogue taking a breather during a battle. I sure hope we get more steel Colossus than we did in X2. I'm expecting to see the big shiny lug smashing some heads. Anyway, here are the pics! Enjoy!"

X-Men 3: Not horror but notable

"CountingDown has a spiffy new photo posted for X-men 3 of the Beast chatting it up with Xavier, Wolverine ( THE MAN ) and Storm. Third installment of the X-Men films. No story has been confirmed, BUT, I think its safe to say that the third part will revolve around the Phoenix saga.

Reports indicate the producers want to skip ahead and go straight into the Dark Phoenix story. New characters rumored to be in X3 include Gambit, Beast, Angel, Psylocke, Emma Frost, Dazzler, Juggernaut and possibly the Sentinels. Click the image for the fullsize one."

I'm not sure how I feel about this Beast. Does he really beleive that he looks more acceptable if he's wearing a suit?

Enough Already

I do love horror movies, that is true. But with each check of the blog, the continual viewing of that image of the blood-drenched face in the middle of that supernatural sea of fat was getting to me. So here's a nice pic of Christina Ricci I came across while looking for pix for Cursed. Ahh.

Uwe Boll Can't Be Stopped!

Man, this guy just keeps pumping them out! Go here to see the new 90 second trailer for "In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale":

http://www.boll-kg.de/trailer/download/inthenameoftheking/trailer.mov

"And so begins another video game franchise that Uwe Boll will drive directly into the landfill. What really pisses me off about this one is that he actually got Jason Statham signed on. I couldn't care less about the other movies he's made, but now he's actually risking the reputation of an actor I care about. Statham isn't exactly Tom Hanks, but if you've seen any of The Transporter movies or Snatch, you know why he's stolen my heart. And why I want to make sweet, furious love to his ass-kicking abilities. Wait, did I just say I want to make sweet, furious love to his ass? That can't be good."

Death Tunnel

Built around the turn of the century during a mysterious plague, Waverly Hills Sanatorium housed the dying and disposed of the dead by sending corpses down a 500-foot chute; ultimately burying 63,000+ bodies beneath the sanatorium’s foundation. In "Death Tunnel", five beautiful girls find themselves trapped in the terror of a sorority initiation prank gone-awry when they spend the night in the infamous sanatorium and uncover the structure’s gruesome history and five unrelenting ghosts. As the girls struggle to survive the night, they are haunted with the realization that their only way out is through the Death Tunnel.

Slither

The sleepy town of Wheelsy could be any small town in America – somewhat quaint and gentle, peopled with friendly folks who mind their own business. But just beneath the surface charm, something unnamed and evil has arrived…and is growing. No one seems to notice as telephone poles become clogged with missing pet flyers, or when one of the town’s richest citizens, Grant Grant ( Michael Rooker), begins to act strangely. But when farmers’ livestock turn up horribly mutilated and a young women goes missing, Sheriff Bill Pardy (Nathan Fillion) and his team, aided by Grant’s wife Starla (Elizabeth Banks), uncover the dark force laying siege to their town… and come face-to-face with an older-than-time organism intent on absorbing and devouring all life on Earth.

First screen shot from the Pulse remake

Bloody Disgusting posted this picture and comment today. I agree that this is not looking good. "Inside we've found a new pic from Dimension Films' Pulse remake, which stars Kristen Bell, Steve Talley, Ian Somerhalder, Christina Milian, Corryn Cummins, Joseph Gatt, Rick Gonzalez, Samm Levine, Riki Lindhome, Christina Milian, Amanda Tepe and Jonathan Tucker. In the pic from the film that hits theaters March 3rd, we get to see one of the demon ghosts from the film, and I'm not impressed. After one of their friends commits suicide, strange things begin happening to a group of young Tokyo residents. One of them sees visions of his dead friend in the shadows on the wall, while another's computer keeps showing strange, ghostly images. Is their friend trying to contact them from beyond the grave, or is there something much more sinister going on?"

Kong, A Box Office Cautionary Tale?

A $500 million film ain't what it used to be
By Scott Bowles, USA TODAY
Can a film that's going to rake in more than $500 million be a disappointment?

Naomi Watts and Adrien Brody in King Kong, which has been called a box office disappointment by some.
Universal Studios

Depends on whom you ask.

King Kong, the three-hour Peter Jackson opus that swung into theaters last month amid a publicity campaign that would make a monkey blush, is already the eighth-biggest film of 2005 with $195 million in North American ticket sales. Worldwide, it has taken in $465 million and will likely break the half-billion mark by this weekend.

But "compared to expectations, it was a disappointment," says Brandon Gray of Box Office Mojo. "But that's what's going to happen when you spend $200 million on a movie that stars an ape."

Indeed, Kong became the latest in a string of Hollywood action films that couldn't live up to the hype — or budget. Kong cost a reported $207 million, which doesn't include Universal Studios' ubiquitous ad campaign.

Before the movie opened, Entertainment Weekly hailed it as the "blockbuster of the year." Pundits projected the film's special effects and computer-generated ape would propel it to at least $300 million and could give Titanic a run as box-office king. That film took in $600 million in North America alone, $1.2 billion worldwide.

Now, Kong has become a cautionary tale about overselling big-budget fare.

"We saw King Kong as a panacea that was going to solve the box-office problems for the year," says Russell Schwartz, marketing chief for New Line Cinema. "But we're putting too much pressure on a movie to perform. And we're going to have to ask ourselves if we're trying too hard to turn movies into 'events.' "

Universal Studios executives would not comment beyond saying that the film will be profitable. Peter Jackson did not respond to requests for an interview.

Some analysts and executives say Kong's struggles — along with high-priced action flops like Stealth and The Island— could change the landscape for selling costly films.

Where did Kong go wrong? Analysts see several missteps:

•Too loud. The Chronicles of Narnia, which has taken in $250 million, likely will outperform Kong with a quieter ad strategy that included showing the film to churches and schools. "Word of mouth is your best tool," says Chuck Viane, head of distribution for Disney. "Studios can't just tell people to like a movie."

•Too long. At 3 hours and 7 minutes, Kong "is a major time investment," says David Poland of moviecitynews .com. "That's asking a lot."

•Too special-effects driven. "You're not going to make a smash live-action movie when your lead character is a special effect," says Gray. "Especially one that doesn't even speak

See No Evil Trailer Goes Online

More horror for 2006! "The Trailer for See No Evil is now online. Seven feet tall. Four hundred pounds. With a rusty steel plate screwed into his skull and razor-sharp fingernails that pluck out his victims’ eyes. Reclusive psychopath Jacob Goodnight is holed up in the long-abandoned Blackwell Hotel, alone with his nightmares until eight petty criminals show up for community service duty…along with the cop who put a bullet in Jacob’s head four years ago. Click the image to watch the trailer."

See the trailer here: http://seenoevilthemovie.com/

The new anti-Christ has been spotted. Take a look at the little bugger here!

Here's a little blurb on the new Omen remake from Aintitcoolnews.com. Personally, I find a remake of this masterpiece completely unnecessary. "Quint here with a little look at the brand new Damien from the big OMEN remake that's coming out on 6-6-06. Fox has put his devilish little mug out there for all of us to enjoy... Personally, my first impression is that the kid is a little too obviously dark. I love that evil yet cherubic vision of the son of the devil in Richard Donner's original. However, I'm willing to give this flick a fair shake... I love the cast... Liev Schreiber and Julia Stiles as the parents, Mia Farrow as Mrs. Baylock is inspired as is David Thewlis in the role that David Warner originally lost his head over... I want to see this movie work, but as a huge fan of the original I'm still a tad unconvinced. What about you?"

HARD CANDY poster & trailer! Both are Great!

It looks like a lot of horror is coming out this year. The trailer for this one looks promising.

"A suave photographer spends his spare time trawling teen internet chat rooms and picks up innocent young girls to torture and molest. When he meets up with Hayley, he can't believe his luck as she willingly goes back to his apartment, no ruse necessary. But the tables are turned and the creep gets a taste of his own medicine. Teen vigilanteism rocks!" Watch the trailer here: http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2456381

Hostel Massacres the Box Office

HOSTEL is a terrifying and disturbing place, except at the North American box office. Lionsgate's and Screen Gems' riveting horror thriller opened to an estimated $20.1 million this weekend, ranking #1 at the domestic box office, it was announced today by Lionsgate Films Releasing President Tom Ortenberg. The shockingly intense film, directed by Eli Roth (Lionsgate's CABIN FEVER) and presented by Quentin Tarantino, galvanized audiences on 2,195 screens across America for a $9,157per screen average.

HOSTEL is Lionsgate's second #1 horror film at the North American box office in the past three months. SAW II opened to $31.2 million on Halloween weekend 2005 on its way to a domestic box office gross of approximately $87million. It will debut on DVD on February 14. Lionsgate noted that HOSTEL outperformed the $18 million opening weekend of the original SAW, which went on to gross $55 million at the North American box office in fall 2004.

"Eli Roth has once again delivered a horror film that is gory enough to delight hardcore horror fans and intelligent enough to attract wider audiences," said Ortenberg. "HOSTEL plays to one of Lionsgate's sweet spots -- releasing some of the most provocative and disturbing genre pictures in the marketplace. Based on moviegoer reaction, we are delighted to have the first theatrical box office phenomenon of 2006."

Added Roth, "I feel so incredibly lucky that the public responded to a film this intense. It's an honor to be listed in the same box office column with my idols Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson. I'm so grateful to my fantastic producing team, and to the incredible marketing and theatrical team at Lionsgate and Clint Culpepper at Screen Gems for working with me to make this possible."

Pang Brothers' The Messengers

I'm looking forward to this film. The Pang brothers directed The Eye.
"Oxide Pang Chun and Danny Pang strike again. There is something wicked coming this way as the Pang Brothers and Ghost House Pictures join forces for a chilling new thriller. "The Messengers" is scheduled to be in theaters August 18th. The Messengers stars Kristen Stewart, Dylan McDermott and Penelope Ann Miller.

The story of the film centers on the Salomon family (Stewart, McDermott, Miller) that moves into a run-down sunflower farm in North Dakota. After the farm begins to revive, the family slowly is torn apart by suspicion, mayhem and murder."

BloodRayne Movie Review

"Ok, I can honestly say that Bloodrayne is Uwe Boll's best film. At the very least, it's his best video game adaptation. Again, like Alone in the Dark was a vast improvement over House of the Dead, it says a lot, but still doesn't mean all that much. Maybe I should say this, it's his most competent film to date. It looks like an actual movie. Not a direct to video movie, a real movie. It has some fairly decent production values, and doesn't look like it was shot or edited by a 10 year old. Mostly. In fact, I'm a little disappointed, because I was looking forward to trashing this thing worse than anything Steven Seagal has produced in the past five years, but this let me down.

Read the rest here.

Interview with Uwe Boll

Thanks to Bloody-Disgusting.com for this interview.