Exclusives
Top 10 Possession/Haunting Films By WVM
2. The Shining (1980)
Kubrick is perhaps my all-time favorite director, and this movie is mind numbingly perfect. It’s done in a very old fashioned story telling way. There are many moments in this film that make me think there is another movie entirely going on, sort of a subtext of another topic entirely. But I’ll stick to the general plot, which is Stephen King’s classic story. The hotel in this movie is every bit as much a character as the actors. The building is haunted with a history that engulfs its longtime companion Jack Torrance upon his return. A place Jack can never really escape from, not even in death. I have never seen an actor as possessed by a role as Jack Nicholson was in this movie. It’s a transformation you rarely see in film and the stories of Kubrick’s perfectionism overshadow everything else behind the scenes. There is a tremendous amount of detail in this movie, details that are meant to unsettle the mind subconsciously, from the typewriter changing color – white to black the more Jack became enraged with thoughts of massacring his family – to the continuity mistakes of chairs missing and reappearing frame to frame, which I think Kubrick did intentionally to create tension subconsciously in the mind of the viewer. The ending is bone chillingly perfect. “The Shining” is one of the greatest films ever made in any genre.
Exclusives
New Documentaries Explore the Cult Legacies of ‘The Keep’ and ‘Wolfen’; Watch the Trailers Now [Exclusive]
Undersung werewolf gem Wolfen and Michael Mann’s The Keep get the spotlight in a pair of feature documentaries acquired by Antenna Releasing.
A World War II Fairy Tale, which covers the infamous production of and reception to The Keep, will receive a limited theatrical release in October, followed by a TVOD release on Apple/Amazon. The Keep will also screen as a double feature for some showings.
For Uncovering Wolfen, Antenna eyes a limited theatrical release for 2027. Both films are currently available for booking via Antenna prior to their theatrical and digital releases.
Both documentaries are directed by Stewart Buck, who co-helms with Stéphane Piter on A World War II Fairy Tale.
“We at Antenna are obsessed with film history,” said Chief Acquisitions Officer Billy Ray Brewton. “Stewart has done such a remarkable job of really diving into the deepest recesses of how these films were made and, in doing so, has created the definitive histories of both projects.”
“We’re delighted to be partnering with Antenna Releasing!” said director Buck. “It’s refreshing to see a filmmaker-friendly approach to distribution with people who know what it’s like to be in the trenches with independent projects that struggle to find a home in the crowded marketplace.”
Check out our exclusive trailer and poster reveal of both documentaries below.
Released in 1983, Michael Mann’s The Keep was a notorious box office bomb, critically lambasted and all but forgotten for years, save for the fascination with Tangerine Dream’s iconic score. In recent years, the film has enjoyed a bit of a resurgence and is widely considered a cult classic, though director Michael Mann and many cast members refuse to acknowledge it.
Wolfen, on the other hand, was critical success but was overshadowed heavily by its flashier 1981 siblings An American Werewolf in London and The Howling. It’s also a trailblazer for socio-political horror, and the doc will explore that via the craftspeople who made it.
Look for them both in theaters soon. Stay tuned for more as it arrives.
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