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1996's "The Craft" modernized the lore of witchcraft and brought it to the masses by telling a story of four high school girls who innocently start dabbling with mystical powers before things get out of control. Their new-found powers turn into a vehicle of payback for those who they feel have wronged them. Based on the trailer below, I've possibly just summarized the "not a reboot" "The Craft: Legacy." It sure looks like the same premise which begs the question, did we really need it? Time will tell. Watch the trailer and let us know what you think.
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 John Carpenter's 1988 cult classic "They Live" continues to live on. Though we're just shy of 3 months from the December 8th release date, you can now pre-order one of 4 special editions now on Shout Factory's website. DVD and Blu-Ray editions are currently available. The special editions range in cost from $34.98 - $94.99 with the most expensive including:
The Keith David figure can be purchased by itself for $39.99. Time to dig out your old Rowdy Roddy Piper WWF figure and re-create theylongest back-alley fight ever filmed! If you've watched "Mandy," the cocaine-fueled, WTF revenge horror movie from 2018, then you're likely among the consensus that it was some of the craziest we've ever seen Cage on film. I literally walked away from this movie saying, "That was FUCKING AWESOME!". Die-hard collectors will be able to purchase a VHS copy of Mandy complete with black clamshell case and custom artwork starting tomorrow, 9/14/20 at WitterEntertainment.com. The VHS edition will be truly old-school, offering a 4:3 aspect ratio, perfect for that old tube TV that's been sitting in the basement since 2001. So dust it off, grab some mac n' cheese and enjoy the ride!  Remember to eat your Cheddar Goblin!
More information on casting and direction can be found on Variety.com.
Horror fans are likely to appreciate A24 these days. The company had brought is a plethora of fantastic movies in the last decade: The Lighthouse, Midsommar, Hereditary, It Comes At Night, A Ghost Story, The Witch, In Fabric, Ex Machina, Green Room - even Tusk and Life After Beth. That's a hell of a resume. Their newest horror offering, Saint Maud, opens April 1st and to prepare audiences, special screenings of horror classics with female leads will be held each Friday before, starting this Friday the 13th at select AMC theaters.  There are your Friday night plans for the rest of the month. Easy! About the movie: Maud is a reclusive young nurse whose impressionable demeanor causes her to pursue a pious path of Christian devotion after an obscure trauma. Now charged with the hospice care of Amanda, a retired dancer ravaged by cancer, Maud's fervent faith quickly inspires an obsessive conviction that she must save her ward's soul from eternal damnation, whatever the cost. Saint Maud already has a 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Here are just a few reviews: "Saint Maud is a strange, gorgeous, and deeply disturbing chiller which mixes psychological, religious, and body horror to form something that feels utterly original." - Den of Geek "Saint Maud, like Ari Aster's Midsommar, is a law unto itself." - London Evening Standard "There was a moment where the theater collectively gasped - you"ll know it when you see it - and that kind of terror is all too rare." - Brightest Young Things If you've been fortunate enough to have seen it already, please tell us what you thought in the comments! Some buzz is in the air over a new movie from the director of The Void (which I brought up about a month ago) called Psycho Goreman. There seems to be a new subgenre of horror emerging consisting of retro-ludicrous plot lines produced with an ample budget. Many titles from recent years come to mind - Turbo Kid, Wolfcop or even Manborg - directed by Steven Kostanski, the very man who brings us this new movie. The trailer looks surprisingly intriguing. Perhaps it's the 80's kid in me trying to relate, but it looks like a mashup of a 1980's action figure commercial and a midnight movie staring GWAR....and I really want to watch it now. What's it about? Per IMDB - Siblings Mimi and Luke unwittingly resurrect an ancient alien overlord. Using a magical amulet, they force the monster to obey their childish whims, and accidentally attract a rogues' gallery of intergalactic assassins to small-town suburbia. The trailer showcases a number of crazy characters. Kostanski is also known for his talent in FX makeup, featured in more well known movies like It, Clown, Suicide Squad and Crimson Peak. With his experience, proven visionary styles and some solid directing on his resume, I think there's a good chance Psycho Goreman will be entertainingly bloody. It will premier next week at SXSW in Austin, Texas. UPDATE: SXSW has been canceled due to coronavirus concerns.  So what do we know so far? Well - nothing. Information seems to stop there. We don't know who is directing, whom of the original cast is returning or if this is even another sequel in the same story or of it's a reboot of sorts.
Neve Campbell and David Arquette have expressed some level of interest in returning in the past but with the passing of Wes Craven, who knows if that still holds true. Do we need another Scream movie? The first four movies grossed over $600 million dollars and the TV show has reached 3 seasons, so there's certainly an audience. Ghostface has become a horror icon...but how much can it be milked? Let us know your thoughts on this one in the comments.   Based on one of the lesser known short stories of H.P. Lovecraft, Color Out of Space, directed by Richard Stanley and starring Nicolas Cage, is a well produced, modern adaptation. The story follows the Gardner family who has recently moved to the country side of Arkham Massachusetts (a town infamous in many Lovecraft works), escaping the big city. Nathan, the father (Cage), has taken up alpaca and crop farming on their land while his wife, Theresa, continues to work from home in a fast-paced, demanding job. The family is rounded out with the oldest son Benny, the daughter Lavinia and younger son Jack. At the film's opening, the family appears to be living an ordinary life with perhaps the exception of Lavina who is a practicing Wiccan (or is that the "in thing" these days for teen girls?). It's hinted that some of her rituals are to ward of cancer that her mother is battling. Benny is presented as a typical teenager, dabbling in pot and clearly interested in outer space. The young boy Jack is a typical young boy, fascinated with dinosaurs and a bit of a "mommy's boy." In the opening scene we are also introduced to Ward Phillips, a hydrologist sporting a Miskatonic University t-shirt (nice touch!) who walks up on Lavinia performing one of her rituals. After a brief introduction, he explains he is in the area to survey the land's water tables for research. Later that evening we see Nathan serve a questionable french casserole to his family for dinner while Theresa works in her home office, stationed in the farmhouse's attic, working tirelessly with clients over the phone. That evening, a purple hue forms in the clear sky followed by a meteor that crashes into the Gardners' front yard. Each of the family members reacts differently upon its entry. Nathan and Theresa, having an intimate moment, do not notice the meteor's approach until impact. Benny, however, falls into a vegetative state, Jack becomes paralyzed in fear and Lavinia sleeps soundly.  Nicolas Cage - Nathan Strange events soon follow as the meteor has brought something to earth with it. As the story unfolds, each family member (as well as Ezra, an off-the-grid squatter on the Gardner property) becomes affected in their own way. Lavinia finds herself physically ill, Benny is losing time and memory and Jack claims to communicate with "friends" near the meteor impact sight that no one else can see. As each day passes, the land and its inhabitants become more and more severely incapacitated. Wild flowers of unnatural neon pink and purple grow all over the land; crops grow large and plump but are ultimately rotten. Ward, the hydrologist, discovers that the meteor has begun to affect the water, therefore anything that consumes the water is ultimately adversely affected. By the end, the family suffers an incredible onslaught of physical and metal effects brought on by forces from another realm, which of course is the heart of Lovecraftian mythos. I must say that the movie is quite unique. Although the "color" referenced in the story is to be somewhat indescribable, the movie utilizes bright and vivid pinks and purples that pop unnaturally in the rural setting. The ambiance wavers from beautiful to terrifying with surging intensity as the movie progresses from curious - to quite strange - to shockingly horrid (in a good way).  Madeleine Arthur - Lavinia Through the first half of the movie, I found myself asking why Nicolas Cage was cast in this movie. His character could seemingly be played by just about anyone as Nathan Gardner is a typical husband and father trying to live a low-key life while taking care of his family. However, as the madness grows within him, that familiar Nicolas Cage "freakout" feels right in place. I'd also commend the performance by Madeleine Arthur who plays Lavinia. Her performance resonated the most, in my opinion throughout the movie. The effects the meteor has on her family are best felt through Lavinia as if we would be witnessing these events most closely from her perspective.
I REALLY liked this movie. It was produced well, had some great acting and just about all the effects were sharp and visually appealing. There's a brief view of the "other world" which didn't have as good of a production quality as the rest of the film, but it's fine - it was a very quick glimpse. Another detail I appreciated was that the first paragraph of the story is narrated at the beginning of the film and the second-to-last paragraph is narrated at the end. I thought this was a great way to recognize the brilliant origin of this story. I hope Color Out of Space is well received by a larger audience with the streaming / bluray release. There are rumors this could spawn a few more new Lovecraft films so the long-term success of this movie would help make that a certainty. Highly recommended! And remember, Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.  We want to get to know you all...and what better way to start than telling us what your favorite movie is. Post in the comments below!
  No, this isn't a post about Scientology (though it might as well be). Movies about cults are a pretty creepy sub-genre of horror because of how close to reality they can be. We're all familiar with the Manson Family, David Koresh and the Branch Davidians or Jim Jones and the People's Temple. It's all in the history books for eternity. If you haven't seen them, here are some movies inspired by these real events.
Check out some other cult movie suggestions on ScreenRant. |
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