Movies
‘Insidious: The Last Key’ Testing New Immersion Technology That Sounds Deeply Unsettling
You’ve watched countless horror movies. But soon you may be able to FEEL one.
Making the late William Castle proud, Sony is testing a groundbreaking new technology at this week’s CineAsia, using Insidious: The Last Key as its guinea pig.
As reported by Variety, Adam Robitel’s horror sequel is Sony’s first feature film to get equipped with “haptic technology” for its full duration – last year, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter tested out the tech for a short experience. What is that, you ask?
“The haptic technology was developed by Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE), Sony Corporation, and Sony PCL. A specially-designed vest provides tactile sensations on the body that are concurrent with the narrative of the film. Visitors to CineAsia can choose to experience a 15-minute segment, or the entire movie, which is being played at the AMC Pacific Place multiplex.”
“The haptic immersive experience takes the filmgoer to the next level in literally feeling the visceral sensations of the frights and thrills of the film,” said Sal Ladestro, EVP, marketing for Sony Pictures Releasing International.
Sony is currently working with major exhibitors to bring the technology to theatrical showings of Insidious: The Last Key in other territories next month.
Insidious: The Last Key arrives in U.S. theaters on January 5, 2018.
“In the supernatural thriller, which welcomes back franchise standout Lin Shaye as Dr. Elise Rainier, the brilliant parapsychologist faces her most fearsome and personal haunting yet: in her own family home.”
Josh Stewart, Leigh Whannell, Angus Sampson, Kirk Acevedo, Bruce Davison, Spencer Locke and Caitlin Gerard also star.
The film is written by co-creator Leigh Whannell (Saw), who wrote the trilogy and directed Chapter 3. Insidious regulars Jason Blum (The Purge series, Get Out), Oren Peli (Paranormal Activity) and co-creator James Wan (The Conjuring, Furious 7) produced.
A contemporary reimagining of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story Herbert West: Reanimator is on the way, and Deadline has unveiled the first look at the new Herbert West and the pathologist drawn to his orbit.
Adam Simon (The Haunting in Connecticut, “Salem”) and Tim Metcalfe (The Haunting in Connecticut, Kalifornia) penned the script. The original screenplay and storyline come from Jade Sandberg Wallace.
Michael Grossman (“The Originals”, “Pretty Little Liars”) directs.
The new images introduce star Joseph Morgan (“Vampire Diaries“), who plays “brilliant surgeon and scientist Herbert West, who is obsessed with creating a serum to reanimate the dead.” Katie Cassidy (Speed Demon) stars opposite as the pathologist with a troubled past who joins his efforts.
Together, they prove that conquering death may be the ultimate sin against life itself.
The film’s official synopsis: “As a child, Herbert West watches his father Peter reanimate his dead mother Judith in a secret basement lab — only for Judith to mortally wound Peter and nearly kill Herbert before Peter shoots her. The trauma leaves its mark on Herbert, but so does one final image: his mother’s finger, twitching after death. Thirty years later, Herbert West is a brilliant, secretive surgeon still chasing his father’s obsession.
“Pathologist Kate Locke arrives in town and is drawn into his orbit — first through a spark at a hospital fundraiser, then through his secret lab, where he reveals a serum capable of reanimating severed tissue. Kate, hiding a dark past of her own, is thrilled rather than horrified, and moves into West’s mansion to work alongside him. Their early experiments on a cadaver succeed only briefly. West concludes that dead tissue is the problem — they need something fresher.”
Supporting cast includes Scott Aiello, Ira J Amyx, Randall Newsome, Emma Reinagal, James D. Bryce, Kathryn A Bentley, Jack Lancaster, Amy Holland Pennell, John Pierson, Mindy Shaw, Eric Dean White, Tristan Wilder Hallet, Adrienne Lamping, Aaron Crippen, and Drew Patterson.
Makeup artist Jeff Lewis (“Star Trek: Voyager,” “Star Trek: Enterprise”) and cousin Roger Lewis are heading the production via their newly established Woodlake Entertainment.
Lovecraft’s short story, first serialized in Home Brew magazine in 1922, is the first among his works to mention the fictional Miskatonic University. It was most famously adapted into a 1985 horror movie from Stuart Gordon, starring Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West.
Herbert West: Reanimator is set in Alton, Illinois, where production is now underway.
Herbert West: Reanimator. Photo credit: Matt Lief Anderson
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