MTV is pretty well-known for its TV shows. That is, they are either eye-gougingly bad (Teen Cribs, The Hills and Brooke Knows Best) or they become a cult phenomenon (Jackass, Catfish and Punk'd). With the news just breaking that they have ordered a pilot for a TV version of Scream, I know which category I'm betting on it falling into...
Arrow Video has been doing a wonderful job recently of bringing out the movies of the great Mario Bava in sumptuous new editions. The latest to benefit from this Rolls Royce treatment is this lively Alpine stalk-'n'-slash flick from 1972, a favourite of the director's many fans. Handsome young American Peter Kleist (Antonio Cantafora) has come to Austria for rest and relaxation and to rediscover his roots – in particular, he's fascinated by his colourful ancestor of three centuries before, Otto von Kleist, aka Baron Blood, a prolific torturer and impaler who is said to have been the subject of a witch's curse. Before long, Peter and his new best friend Eva (Elke Sommer) – an architect who is supervising renovations of the Baron's castle, which, as it happens, is being turned into an hotel – are trying out some ancient incantations in a foolhardy effort to raise the Baron from the dead.
Come Out And Play, directed by Makinov, tells the startling story of a couple who embark on a romantic getaway to Mexico and travel to an island that is surprisingly quiet. Quiet, except for the menacing sounds of laughing children and a difficult to decipher distress call from a radio.
Hatchet 3 is coming out. The trailer is fantastic, (if a little too gruesome for anyone who doesn't like exploding heads), and it proves that the series continues to raise the bar when it comes to shock and gore. This time around, Adam Green isn't going to direct, handing over shooting duties to one of the camera operators from the previous two, BJ McDonnell.
The makers of Carrie certainly don't want us forgetting about its ever-closer release, we are treated to yet more bloody images from the film. Now that Evil Dead is out the way, Carrie is next in Hollywood's line of horror films that are receiving a retelling.
Remake culture continues to thrive, and it comes as no surprise to find that our treasured favourites, cult hits and everything bar Casablanca and Citizen Kane seem to be up for grabs. Often cunningly disguised as ‘reboots’, ‘re-imaginings’ and other such marketing brainwaves, it has become evident that, while the films often suffer from the weight of expectation, there is money to be made in recycling movies.
They say hate is a strong word. This is true for the occasions when talking about a fellow human, or a flavour of ice-cream, or some other innocuous irritant. However, the word hate isn't even close to being strong enough when concerning Rob Zombie's latest cinematic raspberry, The Lords of Salem.
The trailer for You're Next depicts an idyllic family reunion descending into violent terror. Lionsgate are apparently confident they have the next big thing in horror on their hands and have turned their brilliant marketing hand to put You're Next in the most unlikely of places. Namely, idyllic Lionsgate-produced rom-coms and Tyler Perry movies.
Take 26 directors with variable degrees of notoriety, give them each $5,000, a letter of the alphabet, and one method of death and give them the creative independence to draw from their background in horror to make a short that perfectly encapsulates their wildly different ideas. What you get as a result is a film with so many diverse motifs, and with such distinct lack of restraint, that you are left feeling as though you have just been subjected to the foulest spelling lesson you will ever experience. The ambition is set to dizzying heights before the letter A has even begun.
Dudley Moore once wrote a piece of music consisting entirely of endings. That's sort of what we've got here – 26 bloody goodbyes, with only the briefest of preliminary hellos.
