Movies
Altitude (V)
“Even when the creature finally makes its appearance, the third act “twist” is so goddamn preposterous that it’s hard to even finish. I wouldn’t quite say Altitude is as bad as it is an abomination. EPIC FAIL.”
Easily one of my most anticipated direct-to-disc releases of the year was Kaare Andrews’ H.P. Lovecraftian Altitude, which not only promised high-flying creatures, but also the likes of two up-and-coming horror knockouts: Jessica Lowndes (“Masters of Horror”, The Haunting of Molly Hartley, Autopsy) and Julianna Guill (Friday the 13th, “My Super Psycho Sweet 16”). How can you lose? Easily…
Altitude is an obnoxious film suffocated by a horrendous screenplay by Paul Birkett. Starring 30-year-olds as teens, and riddled with unrealistic immature adolescent dialogue (a few examples, “What are you going to do, trash him like a leaky rubber?” “Try not to yak on me, OK sweet cheeks?” and “She’s playing hide the sausage with her tutor?”), not to mention the incredibly racist Arab jokes thrown around on two separate occasions – “OK Bin Laden?” – I hated most of the character with all of my might. For nearly 50 minutes I verbally wished, then was forced to pray for their immediate demise, to no avail.
The trailer, cover art and images tease a creature; only the audience is left wondering why it’s even in the movie. Most of the teens die because they’re morons, while this creature is only alluded to by one of the jocks whom “thinks” he saw “something”. Even more insulting is the ending that basically steals from classic “Tales from the Crypt” stories and thus eludes that it might as well have been “all a dream.”
While the CGI was obviously done on a budget, there is a certain charm to it, although director Andrews often forgets that they’re in a moving plane and leaves the camera on a steady position, thus hindering the actual impact and believability (although this is preferable over motion sickness). The creature, when actually in the movie, is goddamn epic.
Both Lowndes and Guill do the best they can to keep the movie afloat (they literally hold the film on their sexy shoulders), but it’s like watch an onstage train wreck where only two of the actors are actually taking it seriously. Even when the creature finally makes its appearance, the third act “twist” is so goddamn preposterous that it’s hard to even finish. I wouldn’t quite say Altitude is as bad as it is an abomination. EPIC FAIL.
Movies
’28 Years Later’ – Ralph Fiennes, Jodie Comer, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson Join Long Awaited Sequel
Danny Boyle and Alex Garland (Annihilation, Men), the director and writer behind 2002’s hit horror film 28 Days Later, are reteaming for the long-awaited sequel, 28 Years Later. THR reports that the sequel has cast Jodie Comer (Alone in the Dark, “Killing Eve”), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kraven the Hunter), and Ralph Fiennes (The Menu).
The plan is for Garland to write 28 Years Later and Boyle to direct, with Garland also planning on writing at least one more sequel to the franchise – director Nia DaCosta is currently in talks to helm the second installment.
No word on plot details as of this time, or who Comer, Taylor-Johnson, and Fiennes may play.
28 Days Later received a follow up in 2007 with 28 Weeks Later, which was executive produced by Boyle and Garland but directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. Now, the pair hope to launch a new trilogy with 28 Years Later. The plan is for Garland to write all three entries, with Boyle helming the first installment.
Boyle and Garland will also produce alongside original producer Andrew Macdonald and Peter Rice, the former head of Fox Searchlight Pictures, the division of one-time studio Twentieth Century Fox that originally backed the British-made movie and its sequel.
The original film starred Cillian Murphy “as a man who wakes up from a coma after a bicycle accident to find England now a desolate, post-apocalyptic collapse, thanks to a virus that turned its victims into raging killers. The man then navigates the landscape, meeting a survivor played by Naomie Harris and a maniacal army major, played by Christopher Eccleston.”
Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer) is on board as executive producer, though the actor isn’t set to appear in the film…yet.
Talks of a third installment in the franchise have been coming and going for the last several years now – at one point, it was going to be titled 28 Months Later – but it looks like this one is finally getting off the ground here in 2024 thanks to this casting news. Stay tuned for more updates soon!
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