Movies
Making Popcorn With ‘Chernobyl Diaries’!
Last week we got a look at the trailer and poster for Chernobyl Diaries, the Oren Peli and Brian Witten-produced horror survival film directed by Brad Parker. Today the LA Times has a brief interview with Andrew Kosove of Alcon Entertainment, who owns the North American rights.
It’s an interesting read because it at least attempts to tackle the inherent issues of fashioning a piece of entertainment out of a real-world tragedy. Kosove asserts that offending survivors of the disaster (families of the victims) is not on his agenda. “It’s a popcorn film. I don’t think the movie takes itself so seriously as to tread on those real disasters.” I don’t really have an opinion about this. The film’s tagline is “experience the fallout” which I suppose could be read as kind of tacky, but then again I don’t think there’s much that should be off limits. Humor heals, I suppose.
As for why he thinks its a good setting for a film? “It’s not like going to Club Med in Barbados. It’s frozen in time, and it’s visually arresting.” The article also touches upon the extreme tourism industry that has cropped up around the site. Apparently you can purchase a day pass to check out the city of Prypiat. As someone who avoids the backscatter mating at the airport, I don’t think I’ll be signing up for that one.
In theaters May 28 from FilmNation, “A group of friends become stranded in an eerie and desolate city. Years before in the aftermath of a nuclear disaster, nature has begun to reclaim everything. As the sun sets on this radioactive ghost town, inhuman cries cut through the night air. It seems they are not alone.” It stars Jonathan Sadowski, Devin Kelley, Jesse McCartney, Olivia Taylor Dudley, Nathan Phillips, Ingrid Bolso Berdal and Dimitry Diatchenko.
Head inside for the film’s trailer. You can check out the article here.
The next V/H/S installment is on the way, this time from producer Roy Lee (Weapons, IT), and it’s landed on its new theme.
Spooky Pictures and Image Nation are teaming to produce V/H/S: SCP, Variety reports, and it’ll be the first feature-length addition to the online collective fiction project, the SCP (Special Containment Procedures) Foundation.
The SCP Foundation began in 2008 as a collaborative digital project and has since grown into one of the largest fan-driven horror and sci-fi universes online. You can get acquainted with the SCP Foundation via Bloody FM’s SCP Archives podcast.
V/H/S: SCP will be framed as “’recovered field documentation,’ or video evidence gathered, redacted, and archived by the secretive organization. Standalone segments in the anthology will focus on different objects, entities, or events under the containment-breach narrative.”
Spooky Pictures is headed by genre veterans Steven Schneider (Insidious, Paranormal Activity) and Roy Lee (Weapons, IT). They’ll be joined by Josh Goldbloom (V/H/S/94, V/H/S/99, V/H/S/Halloween) and Michael Schreiber (V/H/S/94, V/H/S/Beyond) as producers.
“The horror genre continues to be a remarkable launchpad for new talent to share original creations, and the vast SCP universe has provided a vital incubator for this creativity to thrive,” Spooky Pictures co-founder Steven Schneider said. “Along with INS, this next project reinforces our shared commitment to look in new and unexpected spaces for stories. We can’t wait to expand the V/H/S franchise with new, fresh, and terrifying stories that will keep viewers coming back for more.”
V/H/S launched in 2012, followed by 2013’s V/H/S/2, 2014’s V/H/S: Viral, 2021’s V/H/S/94, 2022’s V/H/S/99, 2023’s V/H/S/85, 2024’s V/H/S/Beyond, and 2025’s V/H/S/Halloween.
The upcoming installment marks the ninth film in this franchise.
The SCP Foundation is a worldwide force dedicated to securing, containing, and protecting anomalies from people – At least according to the lore of the website.
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