This week you can win a copy of BACTERIUM on DVD!
All you have to do is email me your name and full address. Best of luck to everyone!
----- July 24, 2008 -----
** Grindhouse Releasing recently announced the details for the DVD of PIECES, plus a new disc of Lucio Fulci’s THE BEYOND, both coming October 28. PIECES, the outlandish chainsaw gorefest by director Juan Piquer Simon, will be presented in a two-disc set highlighted by a new hi-def anamorphic widescreen transfer of the uncensored theatrical cut, in the original English with an optional Spanish soundtrack that contains a Librado Pastor score. Extras include:
• Alternate audio track: The Vine Theater Hollywood Experience
• In-depth interviews with Simon and actor Paul L. Smith
• Still and poster-art gallery
• Filmographies
• Liner notes by Chas. Balun
Plus more surprises. Retail price is $24.95, and PIECES will receive select big-screen bookings in advance of the disc debut. The BEYOND DVD features a new hi-def anamorphic widescreen transfer of the uncut movie with a fresh Dolby Digital 5.1 sound remix, plus these supplements (some of which appeared on the previous Anchor Bay disc):
• Audio commentary by stars Catriona MacColl and David Warbeck
• On-set interview with Fulci
• Cast and crew interviews
• Optional Italian-language soundtrack and original mono audio
• Lost German pre-credit sequence in color
• Necrophagia music video by Jim VanBebber
• Still and poster-art gallery
• Original theatrical trailers
• Filmographies
• Liner notes by Balun
Retail price on this one is also $24.95. (thanks to Fangoria.com)
** A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET remake: Scribe Wesley Strick (CAPE FEAR remake, WOLF, THE SAINT) will write the script for New Line's remake of A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET says The Hollywood Reporter. The original 1984 film was penned and directed by Wes Craven. The new version is said to be delving deeper in the psychology of nightmares and Freddy Krueger himself. The studio is planning for a release next year to co-incide with the 25th anniversary of the original. (thanks to DarkHorizons.com)
** FRIDAY THE 13TH remake: Currently on display at the Mezco Toys booth at the San Diego Comic-Con is this take on the new Jason Voorhees seen in Platinum Dunes' upcoming remake. A Mezco rep said that this is just a prototype and is pending approval from the powers-that-be. Also here's the teaser artwork for the upcoming remake. (thanks to ShockTillYouDrop.com)
** REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA will be coming out on DVD next January! (thanks to DreadCentral.com)
** DEXTER: Here's a cool promo art for Entertainment Earth, who makes the DEXTER BobbleHead figures I've shown you last week.
** JENNIFER'S BODY: Here's the poster for the upcoming film with the ever delicious and my future wife Megan Fox. (thanks to DreadCentral.com)
** Fantasia Film Festival: As the 12th edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival draws to a close, the festival team is very proud to highlight the success of this year's cinematic celebration. The enthusiasm of Fantasia's audience translated into a record number of sold-out screenings and an electrified atmosphere that permeated the event throughout its run.
The many high points of the festival included the red-carpet premiere of TRUFFE as the festival's opening film; the extremely popular premieres of HOME MOVIE, IDIOTS AND ANGELS, MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN, 4BIA, REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA, TOKYO GORE POLICE, LE TUEUR and WHO IS KK DOWNEY?, hosted by many members of their casts and crews; the 8 World Premieres and numerous North-American Premieres; the 70 directors, producers, actors and other film industry members who came from the four corners of the globe to present their films to the legendary Fantasia audience; the first edition of the Fantastique Week-end du court-métrage québécois, which included a selection of conferences and staged events; the Fantasia à la belle étoile evenings at the Parc de la paix near the Société des Arts Technologiques (SAT); as well as the Kung Fu, Gangster, etc. exhibition at the Cinémathèque québécoise. This combination of events contributed to making Fantasia once again one of Canada's most popular cinematic events.
We are also happy to announce that two films concluded distribution deals right after their screenings at Fantasia. After the two sold-out World Premiere screenings of HOME MOVIE, several bids were made on the film: IFC Entertainment acquired US rights for IFC's Festival Direct Video On Demand and DVD rights, and Anchor Bay picked the film up for Canadian DVD distribution. Also benefiting from two sold-out screenings for its Canadian Premiere, ADRIFT IN TOKYO was acquired for Canadian distribution by the new distribution company Evokative Films.
THE OFFICIAL JURY PRIZES OF THE 12TH EDITION OF THE FANTASIA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
FEATURE FILM COMPETITION
The jury of the official Feature Films competition was presided by Pierre-François Legendre (Actor) and composed of John Anderson (Film Critic, Variety), Martin Bilodeau (Editor-in-Chief, Mediafilm.ca), Frédéric Ouellette (Scriptwriter), Podz (Director) and Jérôme Rougier (Acquisitions Executive and Theatrical Marketing Manager, Wild Bunch Distribution).
BEST FILM
LET THE RIGHT ONE IN - Tomas Alfredson (Sweden)
BEST DIRECTOR
Tomas Alfredson – LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (Sweden)
BEST SCRIPT
Satoshi Miki – ADRIFT IN TOKYO (Japn)
BEST PHOTOGRAPHY
Hoyte Van Hoytema – LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (Sweden)
BEST ACTOR
Ben Siegler - RULE OF THREE (United-States)
SPECIAL MENTION OF THE JURY
The duo of actors composed of Jô Odagiri and Tomokazu Miura - ADRIFT IN TOKYO (Japan)
BEST ACTRESS
Jin-hie Park – SHADOWS IN THE PALACE (South Korea)
FIRST FILM COMPETITION
The jury of the official First Films competition was presided by Douglas Buck (Director) and composed of Maurice Devereaux (Director), Marianne Farley (Actress), Tim League (Director, Austin Fantastic Fest and Founder, Alamo Drafthouse Theatres) and Rafaël Ouellet (Director, Editor and Photography Director).
GOLD AWARD
EX-DRUMMER - Koen Mortier (Belgium)
SILVER AWARD
TIMECRIMES - Nacho Vigalondo (Spain)
BRONZE AWARD
FROM INSIDE - John Bergin (United-States)
INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM COMPETITION
The jury of the official International Short Films competition was presided by Gerald Potterton (Director, Producer and Animator) and composed of Anna Feder (Director, Boston Underground Film Festival), Frédérick Durand (Autor, Journalist and Musician), Don May Jr. (President, Synapse Films) and Helen Faradji (Film Critic and Editor-in-Chief, 24IMAG).
BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT- Ex-Aequo
WITH A LITTLE PATIENCE - Laszlo Nemes (Hungary)
I LOVE SARAH JANE - Spencer Susser (Australia / United-States)
BEST ANIMATED SHORT
THE FACTS IN THE CASE OF MISTER HOLLOW - Rodrigo Gudiño et Vincent Marcone (Canada)
SPECIAL MENTION FOR AN ANIMATED SHORT
YELLOW STICKY NOTES - Jeff Chiba Stearns (Canada)
QUEBEC SHORT FILM COMPETITION
The jury of the official Quebec Short Films competition was presided by Rémi-Pierre Paquin (Actor) and composed of Simon Beaudry (Artistic Director, BOS Agency), Louis-Philippe Hénault (Advertising and Music Video Director), Charlotte Laurier (Actor and Director), Kim Nguyen (Director) and We Are Wolves (Musicians).
BEST SHORT FILM
À MÈRE ET MARÉES – Alain Fournier
BEST DIRECTION
Mathieu Denis – CODE 13
BEST ACTING
Claude Despins – PAPILLONS NOIRS
SPECIAL PRIZE OF THE JURY
L’ASTRONAUTE – Christian Laurence
DIY QUEBEC COMPETITION
The jury of the official DIY Quebec competition was presided by Yan England (Actor and Director) and composed of Eric Lavoie (Editor) and Claudine Sauvé (Photography Director).
BEST DIY FILM
1888 – Simon Bérubé
BEST DIRECTION
Simon Lehembre – CHEVEUX BLANC
SPECIAL PRIZE OF THE JURY
SUPERHUMAN – Dagan Taylor
PUBLIC’S PRIZES
As it has now become tradition, Fantasia’s audience had the chance to vote for its favourites of the fest.
BEST ASIAN FEATURE
Gold – TOKYO GORE POLICE - Yoshihiro Nishimura - Japan
Silver - SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO - Takashi Miike - Japan
Bronze - 4BIA - Youngyooth Thongkonthun, Banjong Pisanthanakun, Parkpoom Wongpoom, Paween Purikitpanya – Thailand
BEST EUROPEAN / NORTH-SOUTH AMERICAN FEATURE
Gold - LET THE RIGHT ONE IN - Tomas Alfredson – Sweden
Silver – [REC] - Jaume Balagueró et Paco Plaza – Spain
Bronze – Ex-equo
PIG HUNT - James Isaac – United-States
MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN - Ryuhei Kitamura – United-States
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Gold – IDIOTS AND ANGELS – Bill Plympton – United-States
MOST INNOVATIVE FEATURE
Gold – REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA – Darren Lynn Bousman – United-States
Silver – [REC] - Jaume Balagueró et Paco Plaza – Spain
Bronze – LA ANTENA - Esteban Sapir – Argentina
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Gold – I THINK WE’RE ALONE NOW - Sean Donnelly – États-Unis
BEST SHORT FILM
Gold – TREEVENGE - Jason Eisener – Canada
Silver – SUPERHUMAN - Dagan Taylor – Quebec
Bronze – ROJO RED - Juan Manuel Betancourt - Colombia
SÉQUENCE AWARD
The Séquences Award jury, composed of Dominique Bouchard, Pascal Grenier and Ismaël Houdassine, unaimously decided to award the prize to THE SPARROW by Johnnie To.
L’ÉCRAN FANTASTIQUE AWARD
The L’Écran Fantastique Award was attributed to the film VIKAREN (THE SUBSTITUTE) by Ole Bornedal.
----- July 23, 2008 -----
** FRIDAY THE 13TH remake: Here's more pix of the new Jason in the upcoming remake. (thanks to YouTube.com)
** THE STRANGERS: Universal has set the film for release on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on 10/21. (thanks to TheDigitalBits.com)
** QUARANTINE: A cool game is now available online!
** Alan Ball, who wrote AMERICAN BEAUTY and SIX FEET UNDER, has a new HBO series called TRUE BLOOD about vampires in the American South. (thanks to AICN.com)
----- July 22, 2008 ------
** Director Darren Bousman talked about SCANNERS remake to the NY Post.
- NY Post: Since becoming a go-to-director for horror movies with SAW 2, your name has been attached to a lot of projects, like a remake of SCANNERS. Is that still on the cards?
- Darren: No. Lemme dispel that right now - it's not true. SCANNERS was brought to me and I'm a huge Cronenberg fan, which is exactly what killed the project for me. There's something kinda sacreligious about attacking that.
- NY Post: So are you for or against classic horror remakes?
- Darren: Only if I think I can do something better with the property and I couldn't do that with SCANNERS. But I am still working with Dimension and am going to do a remake. (thanks to blogs.nypost.com)
** SCREAM 4: Jamie Kennedy was on hand at the TCA's CBS afterparty to promote his new role on CBS's THE GHOST WHISPERER. iF Magazine caught up with the funnyman to get an exclusive on the rumored fourth SCREAM movie. The Weinstein Company has been notoriously hush-hush so far on the project except to announce that they're planning to reboot the franchise. Despite having having been killed off in the franchise, it seems as if Kennedy could still be involved.
"I actually had a conversation with somebody very big in the organization, and there’s a way," he tells iF. "I don’t know what’s going to happen, but they have plans for a lot of things. You can see new faces that you wouldn’t expect and you can see old faces that you wouldn’t believe. There’s a way to bring a lot of things around." When asked if director Wes Craven would be involved, Kennedy confirmed that it's "the only way they're going to do it." And what are the chances the project will actually go through? According to Kennedy, "Why wouldn’t they" he says. "Great franchise. There hasn’t been one in eight years, so it’s due. It seems like it was just yesterday. (thanks to IFmagazine.com)
** RETURN TO SLEEPAWAY CAMP: Magnolia Pictures has picked up the long-gestating sequel, and has scheduled a current DVD release date of October 14. Originally lensed four years ago under original SLEEPAWAY writer/director Robert Hiltzik, the revival of the slasher series went back for gore FX reshoots in 2006. Original actors Felissa Rose, Jonathan Tierston and Paul DeAngelo return for another round of grisly slayings, joined by THE SOPRANOS’ Vincent Pastore and Isaac Hayes. (thanks to Fangoria.com)
** THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: If you thought Dark Sky’s two-DVD release of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE a couple years back truly was the Ultimate Edition… well, David Gregory, a producer/filmmaker who contributed the documentary The Shocking Truth and more to that collection, told Fangoria that one last unturned stone will make its way onto a new British disc. “Severin Films [for which Gregory has worked extensively in recent months] was approached by Second Sight Films, TEXAS CHAINSAW’s distributor in the UK, to find out if there was absolutely anyone else left who did not appear on the Ultimate Edition,” Gregory told Fangoria. “The one guy who played a substantial role in the making of the film who did not feature in either The Shocking Truth or Mike Felsher’s Flesh Wounds was Ron Bozman. He was the production manager on the film, as well as taking a few other uncredited odd jobs like occasional assistant director, van driver and dead-animal gravedigger. Bozman went on to a distinguished filmmaking career, which included picking up a Best Picture Oscar as producer of THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS.”
Gregory’s interview with Bozman, along with all the other Ultimate Edition extras, will appear on Second Sight’s new CHAINSAW DVD, which comes out November 3. He also updates us that Severin’s discs of CANNIBAL TERROR and Jess Franco’s DEVIL HUNTER and BLOODY MOON are now set to street on August 26. (thanks to Fangoria.com)
** Alexandre Aja's MIRRORS: Here's a cool new pix from the upcoming remake starring Keifer Sutherland and Amy Smart which will be out in theaters August 15th. (thanks to ShockTillYouDrop.com)
----- July 21, 2008 -----
** FRIDAY THE 13TH remake: Here's a better look at the new Jason Voorhees in the upcoming remake. (thanks to ShockTillYouDrop.com)
** DRAG ME TO HELL: Here's the very first official pix from the return to horror from director Sam Raimi. Alison Lohman (White Oleander) plays a loan officer who won't give one to an old lady (Lorna Raver) and gets hexed for her heartlessness. ''She makes one bad choice, then she spends the next 80 minutes overpaying for it,'' Raimi says. (thanks to EW.com)
** VERSUS remake: While attending the Fantasia Film Festival, director Ryuhei Kitamura announced that he's working on an American version of VERSUS. He just finished a draft of the script and will do one more to poloish it up. It's going to be a few years before it's made, as he's doing an action film first but he stated; "The US Versus will be insane!" (thanks to DreadCentral.com)
** DIARY OF THE DEAD 2: News rumbling began after George A, Romero, who was scheduled to appear at last weekend's Motor City Nightmares show in Novi, Michigan, had to cancel his appearance, citing "work related issues" as the reason for his absence. Now the Dread Central web site learned that George has to attend several meetings about DIARY OF THE DEAD 2 which have the project significantly hitting the fast track. (thanks to DreadCentral.com)
** WRONG TURN 3: Here's the synopsis for the upcoming sequel. "Fonda and her friends go to the woods for a couple of days. Her friends are killed by the wild, now staple mutant killer, Three Finger, who of course cannibalizes them. She is left to fend for herself, but not for long. Meanwhile some dangerous prisoners are being transferred by Nate Wilson, a prison warden, on his last day before leaving to become a lawyer. During transport their truck is attacked by Three Finger and the prisoners escape. While being chased through the woods, the prisoners come across an abandoned truck filled with bags of money. One-by-one Three Finger kills all the prisoners and everyone who searches for them". (thanks to DreadCentral.com)
** PUMPKINHEAD: MGM Home Entertainment passed the final specs for its 20th-anniversary DVD of PUMPKINHEAD, which it releases September 9 through Fox Home Entertainment.
- Commentary by co-screenwriter Gary Gerani and creature and FX creators Tom Woodruff, Jr. and Alec Gillis; moderated by filmmaker Scott Spiegel
- All-new featurettes
- Pumpkinhead Unearthed
- Evolution of a Demon
- The Cursed and the Damned
- The Tortured Soul of Ed Harley
- Constructing Vengeance
- Razorback Holler
- Demonic Toys
- Behind-The-Scenes Footage
- Still Gallery
(thanks to Fangoria.com)
** FEAST 2 SLOPPY SECONDS: Here's some pix from the upcoming sequel. (thanks to ShockTillYouDrop.com)
** MANEATER: Actor-producer Michael Emanuel (ER) co-wrote and will direct the thriller MANEATER for Canal Street Films says The Hollywood Reporter. MANEATER tells the story of an FBI profiler-turned-small-town sheriff who begins investigating a series of mysterious murders only to discover that the monster he's profiling might be himself. The story is based on the American Indian legend of the Wendigo. Shooting begins July 30th around Los Angeles, though they're still casting the leads. (thanks to DarkHorizons.com)
** PULSE 2 AFTERLIFE: Here's some pix from the upcoming sequel. (thanks to ShockTillYouDrop.com)
** CARNIVAL OF THE DAMNED: This action horror homage to the Grindhouse cult classics of the 70's and 80's is now available on DVD! For all the details check out the film's MySpace page!
