Stage Fright
‘Stage Fright’ tells the story of a snobby musical theater camp terrorized by a blood-thirsty masked killer who despises musical theatre.
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[BD Review] Brad Digs ‘Antiviral’ And Two Lucky Winners Can Watch It For Free!!!
SundanceNOW and IFC Midnight’s Antiviral, directed by Brandon Cronenberg, opens on VOD and in limited theaters this Today, April 12th. So we figured we’d do two things, the first of which is to remind you to read Mr. Disgusting’s review (excerpted here),”The expectations may have been unfairly high (being the son of a legend demands some sort of competence), yet he surpasses them by delivering a deep, engaging, and beautifully shot art house horror film.”
The second thing is a quick mini-contest. We’re giving TWO lucky readers the chance to watch the film on SundanceNOW for free! Just email [email protected] with your favorite David Cronenberg movie. I’ll hit the winners back on Monday with their passes so they can watch the movie.
Caleb Landry Jones, Sarah Gadon, Malcolm McDowell, Douglas Smith, Matt Watts and James Cade all star in the film. Click here to read the review in its entirety, then write your own.
Antiviral
Story revolves around a salesman (Jones) for a clinic that replicates celebrity diseases for public consumption. He becomes obsessed with a celebrity and injects himself with her disease, then must figure out how to cure it before time runs out.
Long: ‘Antiviral’ follows Syd March, an employee at a clinic that sells injections of live viruses harvested from sick celebrities to obsessed fans. Biological communion – for a price. Syd also supplies illegal samples of these viruses to piracy groups, smuggling them from the clinic in his own body. When he becomes infected with the disease that kills super sensation Hannah Geist, Syd becomes a target for collectors and rabid fans. He must unravel the mystery surrounding her death before he suffers the same fate.
Worship Celebs With The U.S. Trailer For ‘Antiviral’
We’ve landed the official U.S. trailer for IFC’s awesome Antiviral, Brandon Cronenberg’s directorial debut that we loved out of the TIFF last September (read our review).
The film will be opening on VOD and in limited theaters April 12, so mark your calendars as to not miss out on Cronenberg’s gross social commentary on celeb obsession.
In the film, “Syd March (Landry Jones) is an employee at The Lucas Clinic – a company that sells injections of live viruses harvested from sick celebrities to fans who wish to fulfil their obsessive desire for real intimacy with their idols. As well as working for them, Syd also supplements his income by smuggling viruses out of the clinic in his own body in order to sell them on the black market. Constantly ill and losing his edge, Syd becomes careless and infects himself with an unusual virus carried by superstar Hannah Geist (Gadon).” READ MORE
IFC Films Finally Set To Release Creepy ‘Antiviral,’ Comedic ‘Sightseers’
We’re told IFC Films is taking a step back from acquiring genre films, but until then, they have quite a few to unload.
First, Brandon Cronenberg’s social commentary horror Antiviral, pictured above, gets released on April 12. Starring Caleb Landy Jones, Malcolm McDowell and Sarah Gadon, the son of David Cronenberg’s film “Revolves around a salesman (Jones) for a clinic that replicates celebrity diseases for public consumption. He becomes obsessed with a celebrity and injects himself with her disease, then must figure out how to cure it before time runs out.” I was a pretty big fan of the flick, read my review here.
Getting released on May 10 is Kill List director Ben Wheatley’s serial killer comedy Sightseers, pictured below, which I thought was pretty OK. The film is “The story is about a couple on a countryside caravan trip that goes wrong.”
Both films played strong through the festival scene and are worthy of a VOD rental. READ MORE
Celeb Body Horror ‘Antiviral’ Gets UK Release
One of my favorite films of the past year was Brandon Cronenberg’s Antiviral, a celebrity body mod horror film that certainly left a mark with me.
While IFC owns domestic rights, the flick set for a limited cinema release in the UK on February 8, before a DVD release on February 11. Caleb Landry Jones, Sarah Gadon, Malcolm McDowell, Douglas Smith, Matt Watts and James Cade all star.
“Syd March (Landry Jones) is an employee at The Lucas Clinic – a company that sells injections of live viruses harvested from sick celebrities to fans who wish to fulfil their obsessive desire for real intimacy with their idols. As well as working for them, Syd also supplements his income by smuggling viruses out of the clinic in his own body in order to sell them on the black market. Constantly ill and losing his edge, Syd becomes careless and infects himself with an unusual virus carried by superstar Hannah Geist (Gadon).
When the news breaks that Hannah has died, Syd realises that the virus running rampant in his system will soon kill him too. Hallucinating and struggling to remain in control, Syd must race to solve the mystery surrounding Hannah’s death if he has any hopes to avoid suffering the same fate.” READ MORE
[BD Review] Brandon Cronenberg Leaves His Mark With ‘Antiviral’
Brandon Cronenberg, son of infamous Canadian filmmaker David, has quietly snuck onto the scene with his horror drama Antiviral, a social commentary on our culture’s obsession with celebrities. The expectations may have been unfairly high (being the son of a legend demands some sort of competence), yet he surpasses them by delivering a deep, engaging, and beautifully shot art house horror film.
Antiviral, acquired by IFC Midnight earlier this year, takes place in the unknown future where celebrity worship has reached epic levels. Besides being able to eat harvested meat from the cells of celebs, bioengineering has evolved into developing a way to infect fans with an infection carried by their favorite icon (yes, you could carry Paris Hilton’s herpes!). Caleb Landry Jones is black marketing the infections he sells, and ends up in the middle of a conspiracy to kill THE superstar of the times by injecting himself with her virus.
While the commentary is something most of us can immediately connect with, the story does lose some steam, and ultimately wears out is welcome. Once the film has clarity, instead of pacing forward, it slows to a dead stop. Jones’ outstanding performance, Karim Hussain’s stunning cinematography, and Cronenberg’s artful eye are what keep the film interesting. Antiviral is simply a stunning piece if Canadian filmmaking that puts all the local talent on display.
While I feel some viewers may find the experience tedious or exhausting, it does carry quite a few twists and turns, not to mention the much-desired “Cronenberg” imagery that will delight the hardcore horror nuts. Antiviral is quite an entrance by the young filmmaker who has one hell of a bright future.
[TIFF '12] Brandon Cronenberg’s ‘Antiviral’ Joins Canadian Line-Up
The Toronto International Film Festival today announced the Canadian features lineup including first-time feature filmmakers Jason Buxton, Brandon Cronenberg, Igor Drljaca and Kate Melville, as well as filmmakers returning to the Festival —including Bruce Sweeney, Sarah Polley, Xavier Dolan, Michael McGowan and Bernard Émond.
Included in the line-up is Brandon Cronenberg’s Antiviral, which will be making its North American Premiere at the fest, which takes place this coming September.
“‘Antiviral’ follows Syd March, an employee at a clinic that sells injections of live viruses harvested from sick celebrities to obsessed fans. Biological communion – for a price. Syd also supplies illegal samples of these viruses to piracy groups, smuggling them from the clinic in his own body. When he becomes infected with the disease that kills super sensation Hannah Geist, Syd becomes a target for collectors and rabid fans. He must unravel the mystery surrounding her death before he suffers the same fate.”
Caleb Landry Jones, Sarah Gadon, Malcolm McDowell, Douglas Smith, Matt Watts and James Cade all star. Check out a new image below. READ MORE
What Grows in Brandon Cronenberg’s ‘Antiviral’ Jars?
The boys over at Twitch landed the first ever image from Brandon Cronenberg’s Antiviral, a bizarre celebrity thriller that stars Caleb Landry Jones (Byzantium, X-Men: First Class, The Last Exorcism). The below image features Jones staring at something interesting growing in jars. Brandon is the son of legendary director David Cronenberg.
“‘Antiviral’ follows Syd March, an employee at a clinic that sells injections of live viruses harvested from sick celebrities to obsessed fans. Biological communion – for a price. Syd also supplies illegal samples of these viruses to piracy groups, smuggling them from the clinic in his own body. When he becomes infected with the disease that kills super sensation Hannah Geist, Syd becomes a target for collectors and rabid fans. He must unravel the mystery surrounding her death before he suffers the same fate.”
Now filming in Toronto, Sarah Gadon, Malcolm McDowell, Douglas Smith, Matt Watts and James Cade also star. READ MORE
More Celebrities Need Celebrity Blood in ‘Antiviral’
It was announced the other say that David Cronenberg’s son would be taking the helm on Antiviral, a bizarre celebrity thriller that would star Caleb Landry Jones (Byzantium, X-Men: First Class, The Last Exorcism).
THR reports that Brandon Cronenberg will be shooting in Toronto and Hamilton from November 7 to December 11, and also stars Sarah Gadon, Malcolm McDowell, Douglas Smith, Matt Watts and James Cade.
The Canadian indie, written by Cronenberg, echoes his father’s more outrageous earlier sci-fi flicks by portraying an employee at a clinic that sells injections of live viruses harvested from sick celebrities to obsessed fans.
“The story revolves around a salesman (Jones) for a clinic that replicates celebrity diseases for public consumption. He becomes obsessed with a celebrity and injects himself with her disease, then must figure out how to cure it before time runs out.” READ MORE
Santa’s Slay (V)
In Santa’s Slay, Santa Claus (Goldberg) turns out to actually be the son of Satan, and not the harmless old fellow we know and love. Santa’s bad side has only been kept in check because of an ancient pact with an angel. Now, on Christmas Eve, the truce expires, and Santa is suddenly free to wreak mayhem. Teenager Nicholas Yuleson (Smith) discovers the terrifying truth about Santa from his grandfather (Culp), and it’s up to him to stop Santa’s deadly rampage in their small town of Hell. With the help of his spunky girlfriend Mac (de Ravin), Nicholas must take on Santa and his Viking Hell Deer, in order to try to restore peace on Earth for another thousand years.
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