Movies
AFM ’11: Sara Paxton Reteams With ‘Shark Night’ Director to Solve ‘The Briar Lake Murders’
Back in January we broke the news that David R. Ellis (Shark Night 3D, Cellular, Snakes on a Plane, The Final Destination, Final Destination 2) would be heading back to the water with The Briar Lake Murders, working with cinematographer Daniel Pearl, who is known for his DP work on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2003, Friday the 13th and Warners forthcoming The Apparition.
With the American Film Market kicking off tomorrow, the film’s temp website has the first official casting. Ellis is to reteam with Shark Night 3D starlette Sara Paxton, who can also be seen in Ti West’s supernatural The Innkeepers and The Last House on the Left remake.
Penned by Walter Jakubowski, Neal Fischer and David Nevarez, the film follows a group of reckless and self-involved “twenty somethings” who quickly discover that disrespecting the locals can have disastrous circumstances… “A group of rude and insensitive city kids take a weekend vacation to Briar Lake, a picturesque town overlooking a beautiful lake, which to most outsiders would appear to be a peaceful small town. Having zero respect for anyone outside of their group, they are confronted by the hostile and eccentric residents. Following a bizarre experience in the town’s diner, they quickly retreat to the protection of their borrowed vacation lake house, where they plan to let loose and celebrate their weekend out of the city.
After an unexpected visit from the local police, the long weekend is cut short. Two of the locals have been brutally murdered, and this group of “outsiders” become the prime suspects. When the string of murders spins out of control, the group must come together to unravel Briar Lake’s sordid past and uncover the hidden secrets.
A vacation is always fun until you die!”
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.”