Movies
‘Rings’ Opens with Samara Appearing on a Plane; Watch the Opening Scene!
Samara returns to (limited) theaters this Thursday in Rings, the third film in the franchise that began with the 2002 The Ring remake.
With modern technology, it appears that Samara’s curse can easily go viral; in fact, many of the films trailers and TV spots elude to the fact that there’s a YouTube element. Paramount Pictures supplied us with the opening scene from the movie, which has two big reveals: There’s apparently a cult of people who share Samara’s video; they call themselves “the Sevens”. Also, apparently Samara can now reveal herself to a full flight of passengers. The clip opens with a kid bragging about watching the cursed video to the girl sitting next to him, then revealing that it’s been seven days since. Samara then arrives, turning all televisions to her video, and eventually shows herself as she climbs out of the pilot’s monitors. Frankly, it’s pretty ridiculous and so off-note that it’s not at all scary.
In Rings:
A young woman becomes worried about her boyfriend when he explores a dark subculture surrounding a mysterious videotape said to kill the watcher seven days after he has viewed it. She sacrifices herself to save her boyfriend and in doing so makes a horrifying discovery: there is a “movie within the movie” that no one has ever seen before…
Samara is a vengeful spirit (played by Bonnie Morgan) who comes after anyone that watches the franchise’s cursed video, which is now going viral.
F. Javier Gutierrez directs Rings, the third film in The Ring franchise, which began with the 2002 J-horror remake that was directed by Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean). A sequel was released in 2005.
Movies
‘Werewolf By Night 2’? Michael Giacchino Says It’s Being Talked About But “Everything Takes Forever”
It was Oscar-winning composer Michael Giacchino who sat in the director’s chair for Marvel’s Disney+ Halloween special Werewolf by Night back in 2022, which was released in both throwback black & white as well as full color. But are we ever getting a sequel?
Giacchino tells Screen Rant in a new chat this week that he remains hopeful.
“We’re talking about it,” Giacchino explains. “Everything takes forever to do. There’s a lot of planning that has to happen. Everything has to fit in a particular place at a particular time.”
He adds, “So, nothing moves as fast as we’d like it to. But I hope one day that you will be sitting there watching another Werewolf by Night. That’s my hope.”
Inspired by horror films of the ’30s and ’40s, Marvel Studios’ Werewolf by Night takes place on a dark and somber night as a secret cabal of monster hunters emerge from the shadows and gather at the foreboding Bloodstone Temple following the death of their leader.
In a strange memorial to the leader’s life, the attendees are thrust into a mysterious and deadly competition for a powerful relic—a hunt that will ultimately bring them face to face with a dangerous monster.
Meagan Navarro wrote in her review for BD, “The MCU kicked the horror into overdrive with Werewolf by Night. The nearly hour-long feature presents as a classic horror movie, dropping viewers into the middle of a secret world of monster hunters. Film composer Michael Giacchino directs the special, penned by Heather Quinn and Peter Cameron. Giacchino focuses on evoking the classic horror vibe to assist in the initial worldbuilding. The events play out in monochrome, save for the vibrant red glow of the Bloodstone. Cigarette burns and film grain get added for that retro look. The rules of the hunt get relayed to the cutthroat candidates by way of reanimated dead, albeit in a much campier and family-friendly way via animatronics.”
“Aside from the aesthetics, Werewolf leans heavily into the mysterious,” Meagan continued. “The black and white cinematography more than sets the retro vibe; it allows the feature to remain accessible to a wider audience even as it lets its monsters and monster hunters spill plenty of blood. Toss in a Jack Pierce-inspired beast with practical application, and you’ve got a modern superhero story with a classic Universal Monsters makeover.”
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