Editorials
Halloween VOD Titles You Should (and Should Not) Rent
About a week ago I told you guys that The Strangers director Bryan Bertino’s Mockingbird was a must-see Halloween film. A lot of you guys didn’t like that, but I stand behind my love for (most) of the movie, which I consider to be frightening and suspenseful until the lackluster and trite finale. Still, it’s a great ride that I thought would be fun to watch on Halloween.
I got ahead of myself and some readers assumed I didn’t have any other suggestions. Well, I do, and I’m going to share them with you now. Thankfully, since Halloween 2014 lands on a Friday, it comes with two bonus days to fill with genre goodies.
First, per request of a few readers, I want to point you to Gerard Johnstone’s People Under the Stairs-esqe Housebound, a hilarious indie film we’ve been supporting since the beginning of time. Patrick Cooper called the film a comical and creepy house of horrors. In the New Zealand-based film, “Kylie Bucknell is forced to return to the house she grew up in when the court places her on home detention. Her punishment is made all the more unbearable by the fact she has to live there with her mother Miriam – a well-intentioned blabbermouth who’s convinced that the house is haunted. Kylie dismisses Miriam’s superstitions as nothing more than a distraction from a life occupied by boiled vegetables & small town gossip. However, when she too becomes privy to unsettling whispers & strange bumps in the night, she begins to wonder whether she’s inherited her overactive imagination, or if the house is in fact possessed by a hostile spirit who’s not particularly thrilled about her return.“
Much like Mockingbird, The Houses That October Built is a pretty great experimental horror film that falls apart in the final moments. Still, the unique nature of the way it was filmed – at real haunted mazes – makes this a must-see. Bobby Roe directs this new spin on found-footage that stars Brandy Schaefer, Zack Andrews, Mikey Roe and Jeff Larson.
Also available now is TWC-Dimension’s Horns, the adaptation of Joe Hill’s graphic novel that was directed by Alex Aja (High Tensions, Mirrors, Piranha 3D) and stars The Woman In Black‘s Daniel Radcliffe. It’s not a perfect movie – although Mike Pereira loved it – but it’s a really colorful adaptation that’s got some really cool stuff in it. “Blamed for the murder of his girlfriend and ostracized by everyone he knows, a small-town guy (Daniel Radcliffe) awakens one morning to find he’s grown a pair of horns. Armed with the supernatural powers they possess, he sets out to find the true killer.“
And how could I not use this opportunity fore a shameless plug? If (and only if) you like the first two V/H/S films, check out our V/H/S: Viral, featuring the works of Marcel Sarmiento (Deadgirl, the incredible The ABCs of Death segment D Is for Dogfight), Nacho Vigalondo (Timecrimes, Extraterrestrial), Gregg Bishop (The Other Side, Dance of the Dead), as well as Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (Resolution, Spring). It’s also glossier as we took the franchise into the “real world”, so to speak, so those who hate the found-footage look may actually enjoy this one.
Let’s see, what else is out there, oh, yeah SAW. Yesterday marked the 10th anniversary of James Wan and Leigh Whannell’s indie classic that Lionsgate acquired and put into theaters everywhere, thus changing the course of horror last decade. While it is opening in theaters for a one-weekend engagement, it’s feature all over VOD platforms and should be revisited in celebration of the indie horror film. If anything, catch it before Lionsgate announces a remake…
I also really enjoyed the Town That Dreaded Sundown remake/sequel (here’s our review), which reminded me of the early Halloween films with a hint of David Fincher’s Zodiac. The pic takes place “65 years after a masked serial killer terrorized the small town of Texarkana, the so-called ‘moonlight murders’ begin again. Is it a copycat or something even more sinister? A lonely high school girl, with dark secrets of her own, may be the key to catching him.” Director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon is also getting behind the camera for “American Horror Story: Freak Show” episodes.
Another film that’s a mixed bag is Eduardo Sanchez’s Exists. I really enjoyed the film, but Rodriguez also helmed a V/H/S/2 segment, which sorts of voids out my opinion. The reviews seem to be mixed and our readers also seem to enjoy the film enough that I think it may be worth a Halloween weekend viewing. It’s a found-footage Bigfoot film in which “a bloodcurdling force of nature is unleashed” after an accident. It’s from the director of The Blair Witch Project, too.
An older film I really, really, really loved is Under the Skin, a super creepy alien horror pic that I’ve been raving about here on the site. Scarlett Johansson stars as an alien seductress who “combs the highways in search of isolated or forsaken men, luring a succession of lost souls into an otherworldly lair.” A quick note: From what I’m told, the book is way better.
And while there are tons of great genre films floating on VOD, there are a handful that you SHOULD AVOID AT ALL COSTS.
First and foremost is the terrible Stephen King adaptation (of which he wrote the screenplay) A Good Marriage, which Patrick Cooper called the worst Stephen King adaptation yet. Peter Askin directed the film, starring Joan Allen, Anthony LaPaglia, Kristen Connolly and Stephen Lang. “When her husband (LaPaglia) of more than twenty years is away on one of his business trips, Darcy Anderson (Allen) looks for batteries in the garage. Instead she discovers the stranger inside her husband. It’s a horrifying discovery, rendered with bristling intensity, and it definitively ends a good marriage.“
And while we like Blumhouse’s Mockingbird and Town That Dreaded Sundown, you should definitely avoid Mercy, a try and bland haunter from Peter Cornwell, the director of the awful Haunting In Connecticut. In the other bad Stephen King adaptation, “Two mischievous young brothers accompany their single mother to take care of their grandma in her remote and lonely house. What begins as an innocent gesture, leads to the discovery of terrifying secrets about Gramma’s true nature.”
Easily the worst movie of the year, and a must avoid VOD rental is WER, an atrocious found-footage werewolf pic from the directors of The Devil Inside. Featuring the worst finale in recent memory, it tells the story of a defense attorney named Kate Moore (A.J. Cook) who has set out to clear the name of a suspect in a brutal murder case. The lead, Talan, is accused of murdering an American family. While Talan appears to be gentle on the surface, his attorney soon learns that Talan is actually a werewolf.
Two more weak films being pushed heavily on VOD platforms (don’t be fooled!) is both the comedy Life After Beth and the generic thriller Stonehearst Asylum. Patrick Cooper called the Abrey Plaza starrer Life After Beth a muddled zombedy. In regards to the Kate Beckinsale starrer Stonehearst Asylum, Patrick says it’s a so-so period thriller.
There’s literally hundreds of VOD titles released throughout the year, and while we focused on the new(er) stuff, we’d love to know what you guys would suggest to the rest of Bloody Disgusting. Tell everyone below, what should they rent and/or avoid this Halloween weekend?
Editorials
‘The Vampire Lestat’ Concert Event Launches New Season With The Ultimate Expression Of Fandom
There are thousands of passionate fans decked out in gothic chic and champing at the bit like feral creatures. They’re screaming for Lestat, a legendary vampire-turned-rock star, as if the entire crowd has been glamored into submission.
The entire experience is magic, but not because some supernatural thrall has been activated. What’s going on is even more special. It’s the power of the effusive fandom that’s been authentically assembled by AMC’s sublime Immortal Universe, namely Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, now, The Vampire Lestat.
The Vampire Lestat is far from the first Anne Rice adaptation, and it’s not as if there’s been a lack of erotic vampire material for audiences to sink their teeth into. On June 2nd, during a one-night-only spectacle, New York City’s prestigious Beacon Theatre shook from Sam Reid’s bravado performance and an audience full of adoring fans who had already memorized Lestat’s songs.
It’s clear that The Vampire Lestat just hits differently than its predecessors. It’s become more than just a TV series at this point, and this opulent display of ego, swagger, and pure sex is the perfect way to premiere the new season and give back to the fans who helped make Interview with the Vampire/The Vampire Lestat such a breakout success. It’s exactly the sort of hyperbolized hedonism that would make Lestat cackle.
For all intents and purposes, AMC has successfully created the illusion that this concert/premiere is just one of the many destinations on Lestat and his band’s 54-stop tour that is simultaneously playing out on this season of television. It’s such a sophisticated and thorough level of interactive fan engagement that the audience doesn’t just understand, but also manages to accentuate through its involvement.
It’s a level of seamless synergy that’s not unlike the give-and-take relationship of vampire and victim.
Before the concert started, “LeStans” were sitting in the Beacon and flipping through a fake Rolling Stone issue with Lestat emblazoned on the cover, complete with interviews with the undead frontman inside. Other fans were admiring the vinyl pressing of Lestat’s EP as they walked past a section of undead band merch. Fandom and fantasy blur together, and it all becomes this elaborate, immersive experience. Fan celebration, erotic gothic fantasy, and a lavish rock concert transform into one beautiful thing.
To this point, AMC Global Media’s Chief Content Officer and President of AMC Studios, Dan McDermott, introduced the event by reiterating to fans, “You are the heartbeat of the series.” That’s abundantly clear on nights like this as that heartbeat collectively pulses to this performance. In terms of how AMC engages with The Vampire Lestat’s fans, it’s as bold a reinvention as the season itself.
This intuitive gamble speaks to AMC’s creativity in this department and a fandom that is eager to seize such opportunities. It’s the same innovation that led to zombie walks for The Walking Dead and real-life Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant pop-ups from Breaking Bad. It’s a great way to pump up the audience for The Vampire Lestat and then maintain that enthusiasm for the whole season.
For most series, a rock ‘n’ roll concert just doesn’t make any sense as a promotional tool. The Vampire Lestat finds itself in a very unique position where it can deliver an excellent concert at an iconic theater, but also use it to showcase The Vampire Lestat’s music by Daniel Hart (who was shredding on stage alongside Reid and the rest of their band) and, more than anything, Sam Reid’s endless charisma.
The way in which Reid feeds off of the crowd’s energy, modulating his performance and giving different sections of the Beacon life, is a perfect distillation of the series’ thoughtful relationship with its audience and how it’s become such a breakout success for AMC. AMC Studios President Dan McDermott emphasized that the fans are the reason that the show is still here and why an event like this is even possible. It’s rare to see a series in which every single cog in the machine is so perfectly attuned to its fans. Reid’s fans already cheer whenever they see him, so why not translate that to a concert setting?
It’s clear in this season of television that Reid was born to be a rock star, but it’s surreal to see him effortlessly command the stage — and the audience — at every step of the concert. He recites Shakespeare monologues and bitches out Armand between songs, all while the audience screams in support. For the duration of this concert, Reid is Lestat, and he’s given thousands of fans a memory that’s as immortal as any vampire.
Now bring on the encore and get this show on the road!
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