Movies
Morituris
“With an FX master working his magic, I was sure that there would be something redeemable in an otherwise putrid film. Boy was I wrong. Morituris has landed firmly in my mental list of the ‘worst films of all time.’ “
The filmmakers have responded to this review in this spoiler-filled interview.
Reviewer’s Note: Major spoilers, although I’m just saving you time…
Featuring special effects work by Sergio Stivaletti (Opera, Demons, Dellamorte Dallamore), Raffaele Picchio’s Morituris was my sole focus of this year’s Fantasia Film Festival, currently ongoing in Montreal, Canada. With an FX master working his magic, I was sure that there would be something redeemable in an otherwise putrid film. Boy was I wrong. Morituris has landed firmly in my mental list of the “worst films of all time.”
Why such hatred you ask? The plot pretty much speaks for itself. The movie opens with a trio of douche bags driving two foreign women to a rave in the middle of the woods. The dudes are super cool ‘cause they do drugs. The ladies are super dumb because they trust these guys (and verbally proclaim so.) After driving for a painful 25 minutes, the group finally takes a break and leaves the car to play some soccer. Good times, good times. After a brief game, the audience is subjected to another pitiful 10 minutes of driving before they arrive at the rave. But wait, there’s no rave because “it’s deep in the woods” and “illegal”. Ok, so these guys “trick” these moronic girls into going into the woods where they proceed to viciously rape and beat them for what feels like hours. It’s an absolutely malicious and chauvinistic viewpoint of a narrow-minded, piece of sh*t writer/director.
Ok, so, you want to just write it off and say, “no way the director hates women, he just wanted to make a brutal movie!” Maybe at the 40 minute point you can make that argument, but what proceeds is such tasteless garbage that the director of Chaos (The Demon!!!) would be jealous.
Taking a break from raping and kicking the women, one of the dudes calls his brother to check in. What’s the brother up to? Oh, he’s dripping acid on a girl’s stomach but of course! She’s tied up and being tortured by the brother, who then proceeds to stick a tube in her vagina and drop a mouse down it. For real. No joke. There’s zero point or social relevance to ANY of this.
Continuing on, we cut back to the girls attempting to escape the wrath of the trio of rapists. They come across a sacred ground that, when crossed, unleashes a slew of demonic knights of sorts. Now, you’d think this would be the point where the female protags turn the tides and regain control, only you’d be wrong. The creatures attack and torture the girls as well! It gets even more bizarre when one of the guys oversteps his evil bounds and works with one of the victims to try and survive. He fails, she fails and the creatures literally CRUCIFY the girl on a cross! Why? Well, because it’s the ultimate shocker (that’s the mind of an incompetent, disgusting, horrid filmmaker).
Morituris might just be the most vile movie since, maybe ever? I’m not a sensitive guy (at all), I don’t get offended, and frankly I wasn’t offended – but Morituris does show viewers what a disgusting piece of trash the filmmaker is. Every single thing that happens comes with such a complete lack in taste. So to the director and the movie: f*ck off.
Negative 100 million out of 5 Skulls.
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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