Nothing like the forest and animal kingdom to be both adversary and friend in a catch, escape and pursuit horror tale. This Shudder original has a fitting title.
Eve meets what she thinks is a charming guy in a bar. Yet things go terribly wrong once she realizes she has come across a psychopath and his accomplice. They engage in a death chase until she decides to fight back with the forest as her only ally.
It’s not often that I write these FIRST LOOK previews after watching some or all of the movie, but that’s the case here. Recently, we resubbed for Shudder’s whole 11 weeks of new horror movie + the Joe Bob Briggs Valentine’s special. This was their first movie, kicking off in mid January and it runs through until the end of March 2021. No idea how many more Shudder originals remain in 2021, but one a week is a good pace to start.
Hunted is available to stream on Shudder as of January 14, 2021.
While we wait for Season 2 of Creepshow on Shudder — delayed by the pandemic — we have received a couple related items to tide us over. The animated special around Halloween and now a Christmas special featuring a live action story.
Robert Weston has noticed some odd changes lately that his doctors can’t explain. The only explanation for his symptoms is that he might be… a werewolf? In search of an answer, he discovers an unusual support group where others can help him learn the truth, but what he discovers is far more sinister than he could have ever imagined. The rag-tag group of misfits must band together to fight the assassin who has been hunting them for centuries.
A Quiet Place is venturing further down the sequel path.
Fairly common practice for horror films. Halloween the reboot by Blumhouse already has the next two films in the new trilogy planned for release, so why not follow a similar path?
A Quiet Place 3 — a stand-in for the actual title, which has not been announced — is currently scheduled for a 2022 release date. Luckily, Nichols has a lot of options when it comes to riffing on John Krasinski’s original idea, considering the first movie introduced a desolate, frightening, post-apocalyptic version of the modern world but offered no explanations as to how it got that way. Plus, we never learned how the hearing-sensitive monsters came to be either.
It’s a fascinating world, so who knows, but it’s kind of curious to see a release date for the third film when we won’t be able to see the first one until next year. An exception I’m reminded of Back To The Future 2 and 3 filmed at the same time, but released a year apart.
Am very much looking forward to seeing the sequel because the first was so good, but not sure how long the world will hold interest. Guess it depends on if they continue to leave the mystery. If too much is known about the creatures they’ll lose some of their scariness. The unknown is scary. Don’t tell us everything.
Are you looking forward to more sequels, beyond part 2?
While we might not enjoy and recommend every movie by Blumhouse, we continue to admire and appreciate their efforts in the area of horror. It’s a genre, outside of power players like Stephen King, that doesn’t get as much mainstream attention and love (although we could argule the last decade it’s been better).
There are plenty of horror fans out here like me and it’s good to know there are studios like Blumhouse that are championing the genre.
But after a decade of hits — Paranormal Activity, The Purge, Get Out — Jason Blum’s company Blumhouse Productions finds itself no longer chasing theatrical releases, especially as AMC and Regal struggle during the pandemic. Instead, streamers are coming to him, and the best part: they believe horror is a year-round affair.
In many ways, Blum has often been ahead of the curve—and the scary, spooky, and violent movies he’s released on shoestring budgets might be the best signal of where streaming is going next.
Yes, Blumhouse keep carrying the horror torch. Any good horror stories you’d like to see them make into films? I can think of a few horror stories that probably aren’t in consideration, but will mention here (in no particular order):
Swan Song by Robert McCammon
The Wolf’s Hour by Robert McCammon
Dweller by Jeff Strand
Dead Sea by Tim Curran
If you’re a reader, then the books above are all recommended.
Come Play – R – 1 hr 36 min NO SPOILERS Movie Review Watched in theater Thursday October 29, 2020 AMC Lakewood 12 – Lakewood, Washington #41new movie seen in theater in 2020
Oliver is a young autistic boy that has trouble making friends. He uses a phone app to select words to be read aloud by the app, since he doesn’t speak. An app on his phone keeps recurring showing a story about an unusual monster named Larry. The creature wants to use his phone or other screens as a portal to Oliver’s world.
This story somewhat reminded me of Dweller by Jeff Strand. That’s a much better story and covers the whole pet monster idea from a position of truly scary horror. The main difference here is Oliver doesn’t want this pet monster to be his friend, so Larry is setup as an antagonist early on in the story.
Let’s talk about the name. As far as monster names go, Larry doesn’t cut it — at all. I mean, what’s scary about “Larry”? A monster name needs to sound scary. The Unusual Monster book that tells Larry’s story is kind of intriguing. It explains that Larry just wants to find a friend, but its idea of friendship is take his hand and he will pull you into his world.
Larry’s method of moving around between Oliver’s world and wherever it comes from is through screens and something to do with electricity. The film spends way too much time on the whole electrical disturbance part every time Larry is near. I mean, how many lightbulbs smashing and going dark do we need to see to have that point drilled home? It’s not like Larry is a poltergeist. The effect could have been a lot more effective if barely used instead of overused. That’s the signature of amateurish horror filmmaking: overdoing jumpscares, too many sudden, loud noises, the antagonist hiding too many times in the dark and so on. A little of this can set a good atmosphere.
Another knock: the trailer spoiled most of Larry’s appearance. One of the most gripping part of the movie is Larry moving around the house and we’ve already seen it. Don’t you hate it when trailers take the best parts of movies? That’s definitely the case here.
This movie is missing a good scary soundtrack. It needs something like John Carpenter would do to take this out of the amazing world of Steven Spielberg. I’m a Spielberg fan, but his movies — some (very) notable exceptions like Jaws aside — tend to be more fanciful, adventurous and fun than scary.
Bottom line: this movie is plagued with a genre identity problem. If it was trying to be scary, it mostly isn’t. It is better telling a dramatic story about a boy with autism and how he interacts with other children, his parents and the evolution of his social skills with the introduction of an ugly otherworldly character.
This isn’t a terrible movie, just mediocre. Kara couldn’t stand it, but she’s not very into horror, so her commentary above should keep that in mind. I’m a lifelong horror fan, but this missed the mark. It tried, and I could see where it was focusing — on the spookiness of Larry being able to come in and out of our world, but while the framework has potential, the execution is off.
Instead of recommending to see this, again, if you are a horror fan, and enjoy reading go check out Jeff Strand’s book mentioned above. It’s a fast, furious read. Sorry Larry, not recommending anybody play with you — and it’s not for the reasons the filmmakers intended.
I “applied” and so can you — Halloween is a Saturday and watching 24 hours of horror movies is right up my alley, I should pay them just to be able to participate!
I’ve done blogathons in the past. Can honestly say I’ve never done a 24 hour straight watchathon.
Was looking at the Star Wars movie marathon in the theaters when Rise of Skywalker came out and was intrigued and interested. This particular challenge doesn’t require leaving my house, not sure if that’s a pro or con.
In a blogathon for 24 hours you write and posts blog posts. Seemed easier to me than it actually was, particularly toward the final six hours when the tank gets beyond empty and your brain goes into mush mode.
The dream teams at CableTV.com and HighSpeedInternet.com are partnering up to pay one lucky horror flick aficionado $1,000 to watch a nonstop, 24-hour movie marathon on a streaming service of their choice.
If a night of #nosleep, coffee, and gallons of fake blood sounds like more of a dream than a nightmare, this job is right up your (dark, abandoned) alley.
This horror watching on Halloween movie challenge, however, is a bloody sharp opportunity to choose 13+ horror movies on various streaming channels and tweet and blog the fun. I mean, think about the run times, about 1.5 hours per movie .. it’s just about perfect for 13+ movies. With the right pre-planning exactly 13 movies could be chosen for a perfectly superstitious movie count.
24 hours x 60 minutes = 1440 minutes divided by 90 minutes (average estimated movie) = 16 movies!
What 13 movies would I choose? That I have to think more about for certain, but I just surfed around Shudder’s Newly Added List and quickly picked out 13 horror movies I’d like to watch or rewatch (in no particular order):
This would leave like 40+ minutes for bathroom pause and breaks throughout the day. Again, these aren’t necessarily the movies I’d watch if chosen, but maybe they would be, who knows?
Want to apply?
Yes, you can apply, too. It’s not about the money to me, but if they pick me and want to pay, I’m not going to turn down a thousand bones for doing something I love doing anyway. It’s about watching and enjoying horror movies.
You get 100 words for them to decide why you should be the one they choose. I made sure my precisely 100 words were exactly 666 characters.
Creepshow Season 1 is available on Shudder, Creepshow Season 2 is now filming
Some exciting horror-related news dropped 9/24 concerning the anthology Creepshow series at Shudder. The announcement came originally via a Shudder tweet which was promptly picked up by various news sources, including Bloody-disgusting further below.
Surprise! A @CreepshowTv animated special will premiere on Shudder on October 26.
Starring Kiefer Sutherland & Joey King, the special will feature two segments based on short stories by Stephen King & Joe Hill & is directed by Greg Nicotero. Part of our #61DaysofHalloween 🎃 pic.twitter.com/W9akryF55t
While we knew that Creepshow Season 2 filming was delayed due to the pandemic (it has since started filming in Atlanta), we didn’t know they were secretly working on a fully animated Creepshow TV special that will contain two stories from the Stephen King family in time for Halloween 2020!
Shudder details. “Though Greg Nicotero and his team are hard at work shooting season 2 (coming in 2021), they’ve crafted a fully animated Creepshow special for us just in time for Halloween, featuring two tales to die for: “Survivor Type,” based on the short story by Stephen King and adapted by Nicotero, stars Kiefer Sutherland (24, Designated Survivor) as a man determined to stay alive alone on a deserted island no matter what the cost. “Twittering from the Circus of the Dead,” based on the short story by Joe Hill and adapted by Melanie Dale, stars Joey King (The Kissing Booth, The Act) as a teen whose family road trip includes a visit to the gravest show on earth. (Also available on Shudder Canada, Shudder UK and Shudder ANZ).”
Am not familiar with Joe Hill’s story, but am very familiar with “Survivor Type” from King’s collection, Skeleton Crew (an awesome name for a horror short story collection, btw).
Creeepshow showrunner Greg Nicotero has been trying to figure out how to adapt King’s “Survivor Type” on a budget for quite some time. This was the very first story King and Nicotero discussed being adapted. As it turns out King’s story “Gray Matter” was used instead for season one.
Nicotero says he realized very quickly that they couldn’t shoot the script in a way that would do it justice. “We couldn’t go to the beach to shoot, because we didn’t have the cash to do it,” he reveals. “So after a little bit of struggling back and forth, I went to my production team and just said, ‘Guys, we’re not going to be able to make this script right. I don’t want to shoot it on a lake and then digitally erase all of the trees, or shoot it in a parking lot with a blue screen behind it.’”
Apparently the animated route was the way to get this project completed. No idea what the quality of the animation will be like (the first season animation segments received mixed reviews), but I remember reading the original graphic novel of the first movie. Great stuff. You can still find that out there on Amazon in both print and Kindle versions (recommended!).
If you’re looking for great horror graphic novels to read, Creepshow is recommended
Speaking of books, there is a new young adult paperback just released this month called Creepshow: The Taker. It’s not aimed at adults, so keep that in mind. Not sure if it a graphic novel either, so adult buyers beware. You can search Amazon and other booksellers to find if interested.
Back to the animated special we’re spotlighting in this post.
Also announced, Kiefer Sutherland, who’s last role in anything by Stephen King was playing Ace in Stand By Me, is the voice actor for the shipwrecked doctor in “Survivor Type.” Jack Bauer meets Stephen King, oh yeah. Joey King (no relation to Stephen King), the actress will be the voice actor for Joe Hill’s story.
If this special episode goes over well, maybe we’ll get a full season order of a Creepshow animated series from Shudder? I’d be interested in a full series. They can make animated episodes on a lower budget than live action, so why not? I remember reading that each episode of Star Trek The Animated Series (1973) were created on a budget of $75,000 per episode — and that included the voice actor fees. They can’t do it that inexpensively in 2020, but it shows the budgetary requirements, not to mention pandemic restrictions, favor animated productions.
Creepshow: The Animated TV Special will stream exclusively on Shudder on October 26, 2020.
Vince Vaughn has been showing his acting versatility. He does more than the sarcastic comedy role. I was a bit surprised — in a good way — by the brutal nature of his participation in Brawl In Cell Block 99, and now he’s starring in a horror-comedy vehicle from Blumhouse called, Freaky.
…can’t say director Christopher Landon doesn’t have a vision. With Happy Death Day and its sequel, the filmmaker mined a comedic concept for horror (without excising the comedic component). Now, he’s doing it again. Freaky takes the body-swap gimmick popularized by Freaky Friday and asks what might happen if a bullied teen girl switched bodies with a hulking serial killer.
Character running from slasher says, “You’re black, I’m gay, we are soooo dead!”
This looks pretty entertaining and the release date, although happening after Halloween, seems well-placed.
Blumhouse, at least from attempts (not always execution) is just knocking it out of the park with horror subgenres, remakes, anthologies, they’re all over the horror map making the studio a name to reckon with in the space. Looking very forward to seeing this one, you?
Freaky is opening wide in theaters on Friday the 13th, November 2020
Hey, it’s a horror movie coming in August, maybe, to theaters. At least it hasn’t been delayed as of this writing, so I’m bravely previewing it. The film was announced first in 2016 and has taken a leisurely path to release. It hasn’t had a bunch of delays and moves, however, so maybe — assuming theaters are back open next month — will release as currently planned.
What’s it about?
A terrifying entity may be responsible for a string of mysterious disappearances in a small Midwestern town.
I couldn’t locate an official trailer for this film from 20th Century (now owned by Disney), but it is based upon the Boom Studios comic by Cullen Bunn. Haven’t read the comic, but do like the story description:
…a dystopic version of the world we know, where a terrifying disease has taken on almost deific connotations. The cause is unknown, and the symptoms include fits of rage, hideous hallucinations, suicidal dementia, followed by death, or a near lifeless, “empty” state of catatonia. As cults rise nationwide, the FBI and CDC enter a joint investigation of the Empty Man, hoping to piece together clues to stop the cults and uncover a cure … THE EMPTY MAN comic book series delivers terrifying new horrors, perfect for new readers and longtime fans alike,
As of this writing the comic series first 6 issues are available for $9.99 at Google Play (regularly price buying each issue separately costs $18, so better deal to buy the volume 1 series). I haven’t read the series, just reporting one place you can find the series at. I didn’t check any other sources than Google Play, so maybe Comixology has as part of their unlimited deal. Subscribers should always check there first.
I’m interested in reading this comic series and seeing the movie. I don’t know if I’ll have time to do it before the movie comes out, though. More and more movies these days are being adapted from comics and graphic novels.
The Empty Man as of this writing is scheduled to open wide in theaters on August 7, 2020.
Those who have been reading this blog and/or following our reviews know that I’m a huge horror fan.
Anthology horror is a niche within that really hits close to home. Just love horror shorts. Movies like Stephen King and George Romero’s Creepshow and John Carpenter’s Body Bags are a bullseye for my viewing interest.
In Scare Package, we’re treated to seven horror shorts that take a jab at horror tropes. I’m not as big a fan of humor in horror, preferring to be scared over being made to laugh, but still I’m liking the teaser and movie info here.
The movie starts with Chad Buckley, the lonely owner of Rad Chad’s Horror Emporium, who whiles away the hours bickering with his only customer. When a job applicant shows up unexpectedly, Chad takes it upon himself to teach the newbie the rules of horror movies. As Chad narrates, he spins a series of grisly, gory tales that spring to life as mini movies, each directed by a different filmmaker. The cast includes Noah Segan (Knives Out), wrestling legend Dustin Rhodes, Toni Trucks (SEAL Team) and Hawn Tran (Watchmen), among others.
7 directors, 7 stories with runtime of 107 minutes. Simple math tells me that an average of 15 minutes per short. Depending on the complexity of the shorts, this could present a quick, nasty bite in the dark. Again, I’m concerned about how much it leans on humor. It’s easier to create humor-horror than scary horror. Definitely going to check this out. Good news? It’s available as of this writing for Shudder subscribers.
Scare Package is available to stream here on Shudder as of June 18, 2020.
Movies, Movies, Movies 