Directed by Daniel Grou, 2010
Written by Patrick Senécal

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Maybe I’ve just spent too much time in the horror genre. Maybe I’ve become desensitized to violence and torture. Maybe I’m just incapable of ignoring the part of my brain that says “It’s all just a movie.” Whatever the case, it’s rare that I find a film difficult to watch. But every now and then a film arrives that reminds me, no, I’m not desensitized to violence and torture, that my ‘just a movie’ switch can be short circuited, and that the horror genre can still get under my calloused skin. Such is Daniel Grou’s 7 Days.

The French Canadian film had its world premiere last week at the Sundance Film Festival and starting today it will be available via the Sundance Selects program across a number of cable provider’s OnDemand platforms. And while saying 7 Days got under the skin of a hardened horror movie fan sounds like the highest of compliments, I hesitate to consider that grounds for recommendation. Yes, it is difficult to watch. Yes, it is disturbing. Yes, it is made with the utmost craft. Yet I feel it prudent to point out that, while those are qualities we all can agree define a good horror movie, this is absolutely a film not for everyone.

On the surface, it’s the story of a doctor who uses a cabin in the woods to methodically exact revenge on the man the police have accused of raping and murdering his eight-year old daughter. But beyond the torture is a harrowing journey into what happens to otherwise healthy relationships when they’re sundered by the unimaginable. This isn’t a tale of revenge in the Death Sentence tradition. This is an unflinching magnifying glass on what it means to lose everything. It spends as much time lingering on the physical torture as it does the mental; a combination that often times becomes almost unbearable to watch.

Read the rest of my review at HorrorSquad.

Theatrical Trailers and Clips

• ZOMBIES OF MASS DESTRUCTION – After Dark rolls out a new trailer for their Horrorfest titles.
• HIDDEN – One of the ADF Horrorfest titles I’ve seen.  Not bad, kinda slow.
• THE REEDS – Chalk up another ADF title.
• THE FINAL – One more ADF Horrorfest trailer.
• BURIED – I believe I read earlier today that Lionsgate just bought the Ryan Reynolds trapped-in-a-coffin flick.

Studio News and Attachments

• PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2 – Kevin Greutert, who made the surprisingly solid SAW 6, is directing PA2.
• SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL – Sam Jackson and Josh Duhamel may be stuck battling heaven and hell in Boaz Yankin’s Louisiana-set supernatural thriller.
• Spielberg’s new Alien TV show – No title yet, but Spielberg will be throwing down for another Taken-esque miniseries; this time for TNT.
• DREAM HOUSE – Naomi Watts joins Jim Sheridan’s “city folk shouldn’t move to creepy houses in the country” flick alongside Daniel Craig.
• BURKE AND HARE – Casting for John Landis’ graverobbing comedy gets more awesome.  Joining Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis are Tom Wilkinson and Isla Fisher.
• THE FURTHER – James Wan’s next film to be produced by Oren Peli.
• THE WALKING DEAD – Frank Darabont’s TV-series adaptation of Kirkman’s comic got the greenlight at AMC.
• DRACULA: YEAR ZERO – Alex Proyas is budgeting and scheduling his take on the origin of Dracula.

Remakes

• THE WOLFMAN – Danny Elfman’s score has been re-instated for Joe Johnston’s WOLFMAN.
• PLANET OF THE APES – Despite recent news to the contrary, Fox does indeed still plan on rebooting PLANET OF THE APES.  Again.
• CONAN – Marcus Nispel’s CONAN THE BARBARIAN remake gets its hunk.  It’s that guy from that STARGATE show you never watched.
• FRANKENSTEIN – Not so much a remake as another adaptation, but Danny Boyle will be directing a stage play of the classic tale in London.

Indie, Foreign and Random News

• BLACK SUNSET – The Butcher Brothers, AKA the guys who made THE HAMILTONS and THE VIOLENT KIND, have pegged their next project about a “betrayal-filled nightmare” that plays out during a surfing trip to Mexico.
• BLACK DEATH – Christopher Smith’s movie about the bubonic plague slips a little on its UK release.
• MY NAME IS BRUCE 2 – Bruce will be fighting Frankenstein.  I’d be interested if MY NAME IS BRUCE was anything less than a clunking piece of shit.
• ENTER THE VOID – IFC picks up Gasper Noe’s latest film for US distribution.

Non-Theatrical Trailers and Clips

• EATERS – Italian zombie flick produced by Uwe Boll.

Directed by Scott Stewart, 2010
Written by Peter Schink, Scott Stewart

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Joining the ranks of Night of the Living Dead, Assault on Precinct 13, Demon Knight, From Dusk Till Dawn, Feast, Maximum Overdrive, and a host of other “siege” horror films, comes Legion, an unrepentantly dopey fantasy-action-horror hybrid built upon the idea that God hates us all.  Personally, I don’t believe that God hates us all, but He’s got to be a little peeved at director Scott Stewart for casting Him as the villain in such a stupid genre exercise.

The nicest thing I can say about Legion is that it’s conventional.  All of the elements and characters you’d expect from a siege movie are here — a remote location (deserts work best), a stranger with a past, a single mom, a bickering married couple, a wise black guy, a local bohunk who can’t live up to his full potential as long as he stays in this dead-end town, and a dude that shows up out of nowhere and starts barking orders because he’s the only one that knows exactly what’s going on.  You even get the “don’t open that door or we’re all dead” scene several times, which, in all honesty, kind of loses its impact after the first time when they don’t end up “all dead”.

What sets Legion apart is its faithful devotion to spiritual hooey.  The gist is that God is fed up with “all the bullshit” (as explained to us in Adrienne Palicki’s voiceover at the start of the film and repeated verbatim at the end, for those of us who can’t remember things that happened ninety minutes ago).  He sends the archangel Michael (Paul Bettany) down to a greasy-spoon diner to kill the unborn baby of Palicki’s character, Charlie, for no specific reason (Some lip service is paid to Charlie’s baby being the thing that will save mankind, whatever that means.  This movie doesn’t like dealing in specifics).  Michael changes his mind, decides to save the baby, and basically screws things up for the whole world — causing an unstoppable horde of angel-possessed human monsters and rival archangel Gabriel (Kevin Durand, most famous for playing lunkheads) to try and finish the job.

Directed by Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes, 2010
Written by Gary Whitta

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I’m an easy sell on a lot of things and I have a lot of soft spots.  Horror movies shot entirely in daylight…movies set in a single location…movies starring Lance Henriksen…Syfy Original Movies… all of these start off with a halo in my book.  That said, I think the softest niche spot I have is for the post-apocalypse.  However, unlike the other qualities I just listed, I am not an easy sell on post-apocalyptic movies.  Sure, I’ll see a PA film solely because of its end of the world nature, but that gives it no edge in critical favor.

The trailers for THE BOOK OF ELI did nothing for me.  It looked like an over-stylized yet still monotone vision of the future banking on Denzel Washington’s inherently badass attitude and a number of quickly cut together action scenes.  Plus, it’s been 8 years since the Hughes Brothers made a movie, so buzzing the production as the latest film from the Hughes Brothers is meaningless to me.  It is with great relief, then, that I’m happy to report, to my own surprise, I liked THE BOOK OF ELI.  Truth is, I almost even loved it.

Don’t let the marketing fool you.  The Hughes Brothers have delivered a unique meditation on life after the end of times that does its best to be the polar opposite of everything the trailer looked like.  Denzel Washington plays the titular character (Eli, not the book), a man who has dedicated his life to walking west on a mission, a mission I will be touching upon below.  I’m not going to be spoiling anything huge (or non-obvious), but if you know next to nothing about THE BOOK OF ELI and want to keep it that way, I leave you here with a simple verdict: Yes, it’s worth a trip to the theater.

Everyone likes free stuff and everyone wants free stuff and I happen to have some free stuff that I can give away, but not to everyone.   Unlike the JU-ON: THE GRUDGE giveaway, however, two people will end up finding their mailbox stuffed with free stuff this time around.  And if you couldn’t deduce it from the cryptic headline, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has given me two copies of Rob Zombie’s HALLOWEEN 2 to giveaway in honor of the film’s release on DVD and Blu-ray tomorrow, January 12th.

Having not actually seen the film, I’m not one to smite it just yet, but I think it’s safe to say you already know whether or not this is something you’d like to have in your collection.  So head on up to the contact button in the top right of this page and make use of your keyboard.  Send me an email with the subject line “H2 For Free Please” and you’re good to go.  Let’s say you have until Thursday at noon CST to accomplish this burdensome task.

Everyone likes free stuff and everyone wants free stuff and I happen to have some free stuff that I can give away, but not to everyone.  If you’d like the sole copy of JU-ON: THE GRUDGE I have to offer, navigate your little clickercontraption up to the top right corner of this screen and click the contact button.  Send me an email with the subject line “I’m man enough to play a Haunted House Simulator” with your name and address and I’ll mail it on out. Let’s peg the deadline for submissions Tuesday, January 12th.

If you need a reminder of what JU-ON: THE GRUDGE is, I point you towards this HND post titled “I Will Shit My Pants Playing This Game“.  Or you can read my full review at HorrorSquad, that will probably do a better job explaining whether it is actually any good.  Spoiler alert: it will drive you crazy.

Oh, and a big thanks to XSEED and friends for letting me give away a copy!

I’m such a sucker for movies set entirely in one location.

What can I add to roughly twenty-five years worth of unfettered praise and critical analysis of Alan Moore’s brilliant run on DC Comics’ Swamp Thing? This question has been haunting me for the past few weeks, as I’ve explored DC’s new hardcover reprint of the material previously collected in the Swamp Thing: Love and Death trade paperback. For many, Watchmen and Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns were the comics that changed the way folks looked at comics as a storytelling medium. Love and Death was that book for me.

I had an interest in the Swamp Thing television show when I was in high school, based on my enjoyment of the 1982 Wes Craven film which used to be a cable mainstay in the early-80’s when I was a kid. My high school friend, Craig, wasn’t really that much into comics, but it was the early-90’s — everyone was buying them. Somehow Craig ended up with a Swamp Thing: Love and Death trade paperback and, probably finding it way too weird, gave it to me. He knew I watched the TV show, and he knew I was open to DC books (A lot of kids, and I’m sure this continues today, were strictly Marvel only. Then, Marvel and Image only.)

My mind was blown. Within these pages were nightmare visions of hell, leering demons, supernatural heroes, funky aliens, and psychedelic vegetable sex. The language was more poetic than anything I’d read in a comic book before; the images more grotesque than my imagination allowed. This comic book scared me.

[Because I wish even the most skeptical of skeptics would experience this on the big screen, I'm plugging my SFS review of Avatar here.  And also because this is my site and I do what I wants.]

The buzz and buzzkill leading up to Avatar, it turns out, found inadequate purchase now that the world has finally glimpsed the fabled film. The echo chamber of hype that believed it would drastically alter the landscape of filmmaking forever, the virulent, vitriolic cries of Dances with Smurfs, the total indifference…all misplaced.

You are not prepared for Avatar. Roll your eyes at that; laugh it off, you’ve heard that pitch before. It’s not hyperbole, though, it’s bald truth. Whether it’s your most anticipated movie of the year or your least, it is not precisely what you think it is. How could it be? Avatar is a motion picture precedent, after all. It’s fair to say that the core conflict is less than revolutionary and that parts of the narrative are broad, but those ills are scarcely symptomatic of James Cameron’s ultimate goal. It’s not about challenging the formula of Group X oppresses Group Y, who then fight back. Nor is it about only showcasing the bleeding edge technology that Cameron and company have invented and licensed over the last decade. Avatar is about transporting a viewer to the awe-inspiring alien world of Pandora and integrating them into its fantastic way of life for 150 minutes. That’s the bullseye Cameron is aiming for, and that is the bullseye he obliterates.

Read the rest of my Avatar review at SciFi Squad!

Theatrical Trailers and Clips

• THE CRAZIES – Second trailer.
• SOLOMON KANE – A cool clip from the movie, which still lacks distribution in the States but since it is a sold, dark fantasy flick, I’m putting it here out of hope.

Studio News and Attachments

• MIRRORS 2 – The Nick Stahl starring sequel to Alexandre Aja’s dull remake of a dull movie gets a longer plot description and a full cast.
• SEASON OF THE WITCH – If you like fire and Nicholas Cage’s forehead, then have I got a poster for you!
• GHOSTBUSTERS 3 – Sigourney Weaver hints that Bill Murray might be playing a ghost this time around…
• PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES – Natalie Portman will produce and star in a big screen adaptation of no one’s favorite alternate universe literary classic.
• VLAD – Summit’s Vlad the Impaler film, written by “SONS OF ANARCHY” and GREEN STREET HOOLIGANS star Charlie Hunnam, will have no hits of vampires in it.
• HALLOWEEN 3D – The Weinstein Company is scrambling for new ideas to make a movie no one wants into a movie at least one person wants.
• RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE – Slides from fall 2010 to the second week of 2011.

Remakes

• THE WOLFMAN – Emily Blunt says the reason for the shifting WOLFMAN release date has always been driven by special effects deadlines; not because Joe Johnston made a crappy movie.  Speaking of, the flick got an R rating this week.
• FANTASTIC VOYAGE – The ’60s classic sci-fi flick about shrinking down and going inside the human body joins the growing list of movies James Cameron might tackle next.
• THE GATE – H.R. Giger will be designing some of the creatures for Alex Winter’s THE GATE 3D.
• FRIDAY THE 13TH 2 – Unsurprisingly, Platinum Dunes’ proposed sequel to Marcus Nispel’s reboot of F13 has slid from its extremely tentative August 13th, 2010 date to the ambiguous To Be Determined.
• DON’T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT – Josh Vargas wants to remake S.F. Brownrigg’s film, but with some violent updates.
• NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET – Samuel Bayer’s remake of NOES is currently undergoing some reshoots, presumably after first test screenings weren’t so hot.

Indie, Foreign, and Random News

• Zombie STAR WARS – Some guy zombiefied Drew Struzan’s original STAR WARS posters.
• 2010 Slamdance Lineup – The Sundance offshoot that essentially discovered PARANORMAL ACTIVITY has announced its competition slate for next year.
• Paramount Goes Low-Budget – The massive studio has set up a fund to produce micro-budget films in at attempt to recapture the profit margins of PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, which they released earlier this year.
• PARANORMAL ACTIVITY: THE SEARCH FOR KATE – Speaking of, PA now has a follow-up comic series.

Non-theatrical Trailers and Clips

• [REC] 2 – The first 5 minutes of the film are online, and though they are badass, they’re not nearly as awesome as what happens later on in the movie.
• HALLOWEEN 2 – The alternate ending.
• RARE EXPORTS – This is what happens when you dig up Santa Claus.
• CABIN FEVER 2 – There is no reason you should be looking forward to this movie.
• 13 HRS. – The producers of DOG SOLDIERS would like to show you their new werewolf movie.

Theatrical Trailers and Clips

• CASE 39 – Two new clips for the long-shelved Renee Zellweger, Bradley Cooper and Ian McShane thriller.
• DAYBREAKERS – A new teaser spot for the damned fine flick out in January.  Review here.

Studio News and Attachments

• ZOMBIELAND 2 – Is official and will be shot in 3D.  Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg are assumed to be returning, but no word on Emma Stone or Abigail Breslin.
• BAD MONKEYS – Matt Battaglia (who produced the cool, but languishing in release flick KILL THEORY) is producing BAD MONKEYS, a script about a girl who, when arrested for murder, claims to be part of a secret society dedicated to fighting evil.
• ENDANGERED SPECIES – Eli Roth’s next project as a director is still undergoing some script tweaking, after Roth showed a draft to Quentin Tarantino, of course, as well as some f/x tests to determine how it will be shot.
• “HOWL” – In an attempt to get some of them Twilight monies, Fox and DreamWorks are teaming together to make a show about rival werewolf families in Alaska.  Should have just called it “TEAM JACOB CASH-GRAB”.
• HATCHET 2 – The sequel to Adam Green’s swamp-killer “throwback” HATCHET is moving along at Anchor Bay and the first official new cast member is none other than Daniel Harris.

Remakes

• PHONE - The rather unimpressive K-horror flick PHONE (review) about a…killer phone… has been optioned for a US remake by Imprint Entertainment.
• THE AMITYVILLE HORROR – Dimension Films is planning on remaking AMITYVILLE yet again.  Because it turned out so well for all involved with Platinum Dunes did it 4 years ago…

Indie, Foreign and Random News

• RIP Paul Naschy – The Spanish Lon Chaney passed away this past week at the age of 75.
• Universal Classic Monsters – Universal’s new site for THE WOLF MAN remake features a loving tribute to its stable of classic monsters equipped with playable soundtracks and more.
• Sundance 2010 – A look at the intriguing lineup for next year’s midnight movie slate at Sundance.
• FROST ROAD – Keith Arem is making the jump from the video game world (he directed the cutscenes in MODERN WARFARE 2) to the big screen with FROST ROAD, a story about “the survivors and victims of an invisible contagion in a small coastal Eastern town.”
• NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD: ORIGINS – The cast for the animated prequel film to NOTLD voice cast includes Danielle Harris, Mos Def and Bill Moseley.
• LEFT FOR DEAD – Albert Pyun is making a western-set horror movie called LEFT FOR DEAD, which will be told in “almost real time”, not unlike Pyun’s INVASION (review), which was laboriously told in real time from the dash-cam of a cop car.
• ALONE IN THE DARK II – Will be out on DVD January 26.  Just an FYI since I know everyone was eager to mark their calendars.  Note: this one has almost nothing to do with Uwe Boll’s film.
• PIPER – Zenescope Entertainment’s comic PIPER about a bullied kid in high school who channels the malevolent spirit of the Pied Piper is heading for the land of film.
• SOME GUY WHO KILLS PEOPLE – John Landis is producing a film called SOME GUY WHO KILLS PEOPLE.  Awkward.

Non-Theatrical Trailers and Clips

• PHOBOS – Co-eds locked in an underground bunker in Russia does not at all look like THE HOLE on steroids…
• THE DESCENT 2 – Clip.
• FRITT VILT 3 – Norway’s first slasher (known as COLD PREY in the States) gets another sequel.