A clip from the indie slasher can be viewed below, along with the trailer and poster art.

In the film, a Long Island punk band meets a mysterious director through social media who generously offers to shoot their first music video for free. Desperate for fame, they drive deep into the Pennsylvania woods in hopes of making a killer music video.

But after a long night of drinking with the gregarious director, the band wakes up to find a very different version of him on set. Egos and opinions clash, with the director unveiling a terrible anger and uncompromising need for total control.

As his professionalism breaks down, so does his sanity – with the unhinged director and his assistant turning the band members into the unwitting stars of his very own snuff film.

Louis Lombardi (“24,” “The Sopranos”) stars as the murderous psychopath known as Mister Director.

“I wrote Director’s Cut as a band drama and drove the characters into a deadly situation. This person they meet, Mister Director, represents the evil in the music business,” said writer-director Don Capria, who makes his feature debut on the project.

“Director’s Cut is cautionary tale to the youth of today to mind your surroundings and tread carefully when you are seeking fame and fortune – there are some dangerous people out there waiting for you, especially in the entertainment industry.”

Tyler Ivey, Danielle Kotch, Greg Poppa, Louis Rocky Bacigalupo, Brandy Ochoa, Haley Cassidy, Darrin Hickok, and Lucy Hart co-star.

The post Mister Director Strikes in Punk Rock Slasher ‘Director’s Cut’ This Month appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

And while we’re all aware of famously superior director’s cuts of movies like Blade Runner and Little Shop of Horrors, not all filmmakers have been fortunate enough to revisit their forlorn projects. With that in mind, we’ve decided to compile a list highlighting six director’s cuts that horror fans are still waiting for. After all, it’s never too late for studios to give fans what they want while also profiting off of existing material.

As usual, don’t forget to comment below with your own most-desired director’s cuts if you think we missed a particularly promising one.

With that out of the way, onto the list…

6. Sylvain White’s Slender Man (2018)

Frequently cited as one of the worst movies of the 2010s, Sylvain White’s Slender Man actually had a lot going for it before studio-mandated reshoots and a botched re-edit turned a thrilling retelling of the internet’s favorite legend into an incomprehensible mess of predictable scares and nonsensical mythology. If you need proof that the movie wasn’t always destined for failure, just compare the incredible trailer with the disappointing final product, as the finished film features almost none of the haunting imagery present in the marketing.

However, now that enough time has passed for Slenderverse fans to look back fondly on the good old days of creepypasta-inspired ARGs, I think Sony has plenty of motivation to allow White a chance at her very own director’s cut.

5. Wes Craven’s Cursed (2005)

You’d think that Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson teaming up for a monster movie would mean another guaranteed hit for Miramax, but much like what happened during the production of Scream 3, the duo soon found themselves being pushed around by the Weinsteins. This time, however, the forced reshoots and re-edits completely reimagined the original story as a PG-13 cash-grab that borrowed way too many elements from Scream.

And while the existing version of Cursed still has its fans (especially the marginally better unrated cut), we’re still waiting for a chance to witness the 78 minutes of footage that were discarded in favor of rushed reshoots.

4. Stephen King’s Maximum Overdrive (1986)

Stephen King’s only foray into filmmaking may be remembered as an infamous flop, but I’ve always felt that the movie makes for a remarkably funny horror-comedy when viewed through the right lens. Of course, King has explained that his original cut of the film was much darker, featuring copious amounts of gore that the MPAA demanded be removed in order to settle on an R rating.

In fact, King even claims that the original version of the film was so bloody that it made his fellow Master of Horror George Romero physically sick. And while I don’t believe the added violence would fix the film’s two-dimensional characters and nonsensical story, I know I’d love to see a version of the flick with over-the-top violence matching the absurd premise.

3. Kevin Yagher’s Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996)

In theory, the third Hellraiser sequel should have been one of the best entries in the franchise. Inspired by a pitch from Clive Barker himself, the film was envisioned as a three-part epic following the creation of the Lament Configuration in the 18^th century all the way up to the Cenobite’s eventual defeat in the distant future. Unfortunately, budgetary concerns and conflicting studio opinions soon sabotaged the project and turned it into an ambitious mess, with director Kevin Yagher infamously requesting that the feature be credited as an ‘Alan Smithee’ feature.

A bootleg workprint of the film has been available online for a while now (and an improved version was later released on Blu-ray by Arrow Video), but this workprint was sourced from low-quality VHS tapes and would still need to be edited down further by the filmmaker in order to provide us with a proper cinematic experience. And while a complete director’s cut of Bloodline is impossible due to the fact that Miramax never even allowed Yagher to film the entirety of the original script, we’re still holding out hope that someone at the studio will unearth the flick’s original negatives.

2. Michael Mann’s The Keep (1983)

Inspiring everything from Wolfenstein to Hellboy, Michael Mann’s The Keep is an incredibly influential thriller despite having been butchered in post-production. Based on F. Paul Wilson’s seminal novel, it’s rumored that the original cut of the film was over three hours long before the studio stepped in and reshaped the story into a more conventional -not to mention much shorter- action-horror flick.

While a complete restoration of Mann’s original vision is impossible due to budgetary issues that prevented the team from shooting the entire script, there is a two-hour version of the movie out there that features more coherent editing, sound and story than the hastily re-edited theatrical cut. Now it’s just a matter of convincing Paramount to let us see it.

1. Joe Berlinger’s Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000)

An award-winning documentarian that never shied away from horrific true stories, Joe Berlinger seemed like the perfect choice to helm a sequel to The Blair Witch Project. What Artisan didn’t expect was that Berlinger was more interested in dissecting the mass hysteria caused by fiction masquerading as reality than in creating another Found Footage spook-fest. While the studio initially accepted the filmmaker’s unconventional pitch for a follow-up, they later changed their mind and rejected his cut of the finished film, re-editing it into a more “consumer-friendly” experience complete with added gore, jump scares and a hip soundtrack.

While a revised fan-edit of the movie is widely circulated online as a makeshift director’s cut, that copy is still missing plenty of footage, while also having to incorporate reshoots due to continuity issues. That’s why horror fans are still waiting for Artisan to release Berlinger’s anti-found-footage experiment a quarter of a century later.

The post 6 Horror Movie Director’s Cuts We’d Still Love to See appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Director’s Cut, from filmmaker Don Capria, stars celebrated character actor Louis Lombardi (“The Sopranos”, “Suicide Kings”) as a mysterious, murderous sociopath preying on a punk band’s desperate desire for fame.

In the film, a Long Island punk band meets a mysterious director through social media who generously offers to shoot their first music video for free. Desperate for fame, they drive deep into the Pennsylvania woods in hopes of making a killer music video. But after a long night of drinking with the gregarious director, the band wakes up to find a very different version of him on set.

Egos and opinions clash, with the director unveiling a terrible anger and uncompromising need for total control. As his professionalism breaks down, so does his sanity – with the unhinged director and his assistant turning the band members into the unwitting stars of his very own snuff film.

Written and directed by Don Capria, the film stars Louis Lombardi, Lucy Hart, Danielle Kotch, Tyler Ivey, Haley Cassidy, Louis Rocky Bacigalupo, Brandy Ochoa, Greg Poppa, and Darin Hickok.

Check out an exclusive look at the brand-new theatrical trailer below…

The post ‘Director’s Cut’ Theatrical Trailer – Crazed Filmmaker Turns a Video Shoot Into a Nightmare [Exclusive] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

First up is the 2024 Chicago Horror Film Festival, which takes place this weekend from September 27th through the 29th at Chicago’s Logan Theater. The genre fest, which celebrates its 25th anniversary, will screen the film on the evening of Sunday the 29th as part of its “Feature Overload” programming block. It’s also being nominated for Best Feature.

Alongside hundreds of additional features and shorts, the Chicago festival will also host filmmaker Jennifer Reeder on Saturday night, who will screen her new Shudder Original Perpetrator. Tickets, film listings, and additional details can be found at www.chicagohorrorfilmfest.com

For those in the New York area, good news: Director’s Cut screens again on Friday, October 18th as part of the 17th annual Bushwick Film Festival at Brooklyn’s Williamsburg Cinemas. In addition to the screening, the cast and filmmakers will be attending the festival’s Opening Night Pink Carpet Reception on October 16th. Tickets can be purchased here.

Following its festival run, Director’s Cut will open exclusively in select cinemas on October 31st, with a VOD release to follow. Written and directed by Capria, the picture stars Louis Lombardi, Lucy Hart, Danielle Kotch, Tyler Ivey, Haley Cassidy, Louis Rocky Bacigalupo, Brandy Ochoa, Greg Poppa, and Darin Hickok.

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Director’s Cut, from filmmaker Don Capria, stars celebrated character actor Louis Lombardi (“The Sopranos”, “Suicide Kings”) as a mysterious, murderous sociopath preying on a punk band’s desperate desire for fame.

In the film, a Long Island punk band meets a mysterious director through social media who generously offers to shoot their first music video for free. Desperate for fame, they drive deep into the Pennsylvania woods in hopes of making a killer music video. But after a long night of drinking with the gregarious director, the band wakes up to find a very different version of him on set.

Egos and opinions clash, with the director unveiling a terrible anger and uncompromising need for total control. As his professionalism breaks down, so does his sanity – with the unhinged director and his assistant turning the band members into the unwitting stars of his very own snuff film.

Written and directed by Don Capria, the film stars Louis Lombardi, Lucy Hart, Danielle Kotch, Tyler Ivey, Haley Cassidy, Louis Rocky Bacigalupo, Brandy Ochoa, Greg Poppa, and Darin Hickok.

Trailer below…

The post ‘Director’s Cut’ – A Punk Band’s Music Video Shoot Turns Deadly [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

“Friends…Old friends…”

 Sequels are always a hard prospect in general, but they’re even more of a daunting task when the original film that they follow is a masterpiece and has a legendary reputation. William Friedkin’s The Exorcist isn’t just considered to be one of the scariest and greatest horror movies, but it’s also seen as one of the best films of all time, period. Sometimes the prospect of financial and commercial success can weigh out artistic integrity and even though The Exorcist requires no follow-up, of course, The Exorcist II: The Heretic happened. The Exorcist II lost a lot of the goodwill and burnt out audiences with its melancholy rematch between Reagan and Pazuzu and Exorcist III largely has a bad reputation simply because Exorcist II is such a bust (one can also debate that Blatty’s The Ninth Configuration is actually the true stealth Exorcist II, but that’s a debate for another time).

William Peter Blatty, the screenwriter of the original film and the novel of which it’s based upon, returns for Exorcist III and is able to course correct from The Heretic’s mistakes due to how it’s such an atypical horror film. It mixes a Fincher-esque serial killer narrative that has noir sensibilities with a stark spiritual story about faith and turning one’s back on religion. This results in a very powerful, frightening film, albeit not a conventional movie that many people were expecting (although it resonated strongly for some, like Jeffrey Dahmer, who considers it to be his favorite movie). It’s taken several decades for The Exorcist III to be properly appreciated and it’s been even longer for Blatty’s original version of the film to be properly realized. Fortunately, Exorcist III has since gone on to earn an admirable cult reputation and scrub away any stink from its initial release. While Friedkin’s original film is obviously a classic, there are many that argue that Blatty’s sequel is in some ways even better. With how effective and powerful this film is, it’s easy to see why it’s held to such a high regard; and with it now nearly thirty years old it holds up even better than ever.

William Peter Blatty originally wrote the screenplay for a film that was called Legion right after the release of The Exorcist. Friedkin passed on directing the film and the unfortunate Exorcist II: Heretic would eventually later go into production instead. Blatty instead turned Legion into a novel from his screenplay, but then, when Exorcist II was a massive misfire, Morgan Creek Productions turned back to Blatty with the hopes that he’d be interested in turning his Legion novel back into a screenplay and directing it for them (although at one point John Carpenter was in consideration to direct, which would have been extremely interesting).

The basic plot of Legion/Exorcist III revolves around Lieutenant Kinderman (George C. Scott) who’s in the middle of a murder investigation that bears an eerie resemblance to a serial killer case of his from fifteen years back. All of this begins to tie back to the demonic activity that happened nearly two decades ago during the first film. As Kinderman hopes to connect these dots and figure out where the truth lies, it appears that Pazuzu’s demonic spirit leaves the Gemini Killer each night to possess new patients and enact more murders through them, only to return back to the Gemini Killer. The film deals with serial killers and demon possession, but at its core The Exorcist III is really a movie that’s about catholic guilt in many ways (epitomized by a priest getting murdered in his own confession booth) as well as two elderly individuals who must come to terms with how they’re past their prime. Even one of the film’s early shots, helicopters that buzz above a church, is a sublime visual representation of the conflict and war against religion that goes on within the film.

Exorcist III deserves respect for the many ways in which it goes against the grain, but one would think that it’s particularly hard to market a film with two leads who are elderly men that have a yearly tradition to go see It’s A Wonderful Life together and unburden themselves to each other. This movie looks at two individuals who have experienced severe trauma and doubt from the first Exorcist and explores how they’ve been coping with it, which isn’t territory that’s always visited in sequels. It’s endearing as all hell, but I don’t think there’s a central character that’s under forty years old in this movie, which is pretty remarkable. It’s a story where an old man takes on an eternal evil when he’s nearly out of the game. It’s beautiful. George C Scott is also written so well in this. He’s the perfect sarcastic, ornery curmudgeon of a character. It cannot be emphasized how good he is here and it’s not some sad example of an actor coming into a late-in-the-game sequel like Jaws: The Revenge or anything. It’s also clear that Blatty is a novel writer first, as the screenplay is packed with elegant dialogue that seems more at home in a piece of theater than a horror film.

Kinderman’s exchanges with the Gemini Killer are also so damn good and they don’t get enough credit in horror pop culture. These are two masters of the craft working with flowing dialogue. I daresay it’s better material and cultivates a stronger dynamic than what Clarice and Hannibal have in Silence of the Lambs. Both Brad Dourif’s explicit “Was I raving?” monologue and Scott’s “carp in a bathtub” speech are exquisite. You don’t expect a movie like this to be full of smooth monologues and passages of dialogue. The way that different personalities filter in and out of Dourif’s Gemini Killer is so well handled.

Sometimes sequels can get lost in the nostalgia of their predecessors, but it’s actually extremely satisfying to see how much reverence The Exorcist III gives to the iconic stairwell from the first film and how it so often returns to them as a foreboding omen and symbol for defeat. Furthermore, the opening shot of Blatty’s director’s cut is the iconic death scene from the original, but then it continues on from that point, which shows how this is directly a continuation of that first movie. This deleted prologue from the director’s cut even shows Kinderman visit a deceased Father Karras after his incident, which ostensibly takes place during or directly after the events of The Exorcist, almost like how the introduction of Psycho II operates.

Another reason that The Exorcist III is such an impressive horror film is because it really doesn’t show much gore at all, which means even more since it came out in the ‘90s, when excessive slashers were prevalent and on the rise. If anything, this functions with practically the opposite impulses of a slasher. Instead, Exorcist III terrifies through your imagination, whether it’s cleverly cutting to appropriate images before a death takes place, graphic sound design, or even intense, thorough descriptions that recount the Gemini Killer’s brutal serial murders in Georgetown rather than actually showing them (his monologue on how the human head can still see for twenty seconds after decapitation and how he uses this time to show them their severed, mangled bodies is seriously awful).

Tactics like this shouldn’t be so effective, but Blatty knows how to get in the audience’s head and plant seeds of fear. It also doesn’t hurt that the Gemini Killer makes the Zodiac Killer, look like a pacifist. This monster’s murders are especially disturbing and involve Hannibal levels of twisted pageantry. The blood that is seen is used in morbidly creative ways, like a very upsetting callback to Kinderman and Dyer’s Frank Capra tradition. The film also effectively taps into that unnerving feeling of being stuck in a hospital or police station late at night, short on sleep, and then creepy things just start to happen. The first hour of the film is debatably stronger, but there’s such an anxious, nervous energy that fuels the second half.

Impressively, The Exorcist III is a movie that also looks incredible on top of everything else. There’s some very stunning cinematography and plenty of long Steadicam shots that move through the cramped space of the hospital that simultaneously make it feel huge and restricting, depending on what’s necessary. Blatty’s lack of experience as a director is actually an asset here as he makes decisions that often feel contrary to the instincts of seasoned filmmakers. There’s also a bizarre list of cameos that range from Fabio, to Larry King, to a New York Knick, to a dubbed over Samuel L Jackson. There’s even a truly unbelievable appearance from Batman’s Joker in a brief act of sacrilegious blasphemy. It’s unclear if these are the result of Blatty just having fun or his attempts to conjure some lucid dream effect where you think that you yourself might be possessed and hallucinating. It kind of works and it’s a surreal tactic that he also turns to in his previous and only other picture, The Ninth Configuration.

Studio tampering and reshoots is still highly prevalent in the film industry, but Blatty’s Exorcist III is a major victim to such a process. There was rampant studio interference by Morgan Creek Productions, but the theatrical cut of the film still works. These concessions are now even more tolerable since Shout! Factory recently released a very presentable director’s cut of Blatty’s “original vision” of Legion, so both versions can be enjoyed and compared. This director’s cut is also even shorter than the theatrical version, which lends itself to a much leaner experience that doesn’t drag itself out.

As frustrating as these changes are for some, the theatrical version does manage to improve the film in some ways, even if it may feel overly explained and spoonfed by others. Structurally it works a whole lot better to move up the climax from the director’s cut and have more happen. The director’s cut goes out on an extremely sudden note that’s meant to rattle around in your brain and make you contemplate about the haunted future that’s ahead. While there’s a certain ominous energy to that, it’s actually helpful to get more to the story afterwards. The ending where Kinderman just executes the Gemini Killer, to desperately end all of this, is a very bleak conclusion and it’s easy to see why the studio was nervous about it, but it’s really the perfect finale to Kinderman’s story. He’s at the end of his rope and willing to break the rules.

Unsurprisingly, Dourif was especially disappointed in these changes. He told Fangoria, “We all felt really bad about…The original version was a hell of a lot purer and I liked it much more. As it stands now, it’s a mediocre film. There are parts that have no right to be there.” George C. Scott also joked to Dourif that the studio was so fickle on what they were after that the only thing that would have made them satisfied is if “Madonna came out and sang a song at the end.”

In spite of the stink of Exorcist II and the fact that the Linda Blair-led Exorcist parody vehicle, Repossessed, was out the following month, Exorcist III made over three times its $11 million budget with a box office total of nearly $40 million. In spite of this technical commercial success, critics were not kind to it and due to the behind the scenes turmoil, this largely wasn’t viewed as a triumph, even if there’s still so much greatness in it. Exorcist II’s failure and this film’s name recognition connection to it, which Blatty repeatedly objected to, was still seen as the movie’s biggest deterrent.

The biggest change that the studio forced is the inclusion of an exorcism scene during the film’s final act. Blatty fought hard against this note and the lack of an exorcism may not have seemed like a huge deal when the project was still called Legion, but the studio was also set on renaming it to The Exorcist III (and at one point, The Exorcist 1990), which they then claimed would have seemed like a tease without an exorcism scene. It’s a twisted “chicken and the egg” scenario that Morgan Creek concocted, but it all stems from them not being confident in the smarter, more psychological nature of Blatty’s horror and an understanding of its deeper connection to the original film. This exorcism edit involves Blatty basically changing his whole finale and the addition of Nicol Williamson’s Father Morning. For The Exorcist: Out of the Shadows text, Blatty describes the added sequence as, “It’s all right, but it’s utterly unnecessary and it changes the character of the piece.” He’s completely correct, as the director’s cut proves, but he at least makes the most out of an unfortunate situation and conjures some seriously upsetting imagery, gets his priest up on the ceiling like it’s a Nightmare on Elm Street picture, and directs the hell out of it. 20^th Century Fox also ponied up $4 million for the sequence and the money is definitely on the screen. It may feel like it’s often pandering, but it’s not the worst change that’s ever been made to a movie and it’s worthwhile to see Blatty’s take on an exorcism.

The other major change here is the entire incorporation of Jason Miller as “Patient X” and plays with the idea that Father Karras may somehow be inside of him. Karras/Patient X essentially shares the spotlight with Dourif’s Gemini Killer and splits his material in half. This is frustrating considering Dourif, as usual, gives a bonkers, amazing performance, but in some ways, it’s still satisfying to see Father Karras from the original film get incorporated back into the story and put into Kinderman’s orbit. It’s hard to deny how fun the connections to the first Exorcist are and that this is essentially a continuation of the same story, albeit much later. And “This time you’re going to lose,” is seriously such a bad-ass, horrifying addition to the script. It’s kind of shocking how well these changes make sense, considering how much of the core story is altered. There’s a certain charm to switching between Dourif and Miller throughout the film, but it presents a very different story and one that’s less uniformly about the power of faith and the corruption of religion.

The Exorcist III/Legion has a strong thematic foundation in place and great performances to help it stand out, but much of the film’s legacy lies within its limited, but extremely powerful scares. This includes what’s largely considered the best jump scare in horror film history with the nurse at her station (it’s seriously so great to just have that lazy shot linger and wonder, “Why are we watching this? What’s important here?” before things finally snap and the trap’s set loose). Additionally, the patient that crawls on the ceiling and the dream sequences that both kick off the film and the one set at a train station make for eerie, gorgeous moments. It’s an amazing psychological horror film that features a powerful story that manages to add to the bleakness of the original movie. The decision to focus on Kinderman’s (and to a lesser extent Dyer and Karras’) fight with the afterlife and demons, rather than making this Reagan’s story, is also just such a smart, unexpected angle to take for the sequel. This is basically the approach that The Conjuring films have employed, but done decades earlier; only The Conjuring movies are the ones that found huge success in realizing that what’s interesting is a fight of eternal values and archetypal good versus evil, not just a story of a scared girl in trouble.

The Exorcist III—both the theatrical and director’s cut—are now seen as true horror classics. So many modern exorcism films crowd their stories with too many elements or get hung up on the lore, but The Exorcist III is a good example of a strong, cynical film that’s more about the nature of evil than permanently exorcising it from the world. There are still few horror films in the exorcism sub-genre that have the courage to go out with as raw of an ending as Blatty’s film. It’s truly fearless and on the anniversary of Blatty’s film, it’s never been a better time to revisit what he tries to do with this unconventional horror sequel.

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It’s also set in the 1980s, apparently. I don’t remember that at all.

When Deadlight returns, it’ll come with improved controls, new animations, added support for 1080p, and a new wave survival mode called, uh, Survival Mode. You can have a look at that in the trailer below.

The Deadlight: Director’s Cut releases June 21 for PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

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It was written by and stars Penn Jillette and also stars Missi Pyle, Harry Hamlin and Hayes Macarthur, and was directed by Adam Rifkin.

Check out these first clips featuring (a talking) Teller and Gilbert Gottfried.

The ultimate ‘meta movie’, DIRECTOR’S CUT is an insane, cinematic sleight of hand trick that reflects on itself, much like the stage persona of its co-star and creator, world famous illusionist Penn Jillette. Here, teamed with acclaimed Director Adam Rifkin, Jillette conjures a mind bending, genre-defying movie-within-a-movie mash-up that’s part narrative thriller, part docu-mental-case. Starring Missi Pyle, DIRECTOR’S CUT is about a cineaste stalker who kidnaps his favorite actress and forces her to star in his amateur movie. The madness that unspools behind the scenes will leave you reeling.

Here’s the film’s official festival one-sheet and trailer.

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It was written by and stars Penn Jillette and also stars Missi Pyle, Harry Hamlin and Hayes Macarthur, and was directed by Adam Rifkin.

The film will be making its world premiere on Friday, January 22, 2016 in Park City, UT as a Slamdance Film Festival Special Screening at this year’s Opening Night Film. In fact, the screening sold out so quickly Slamdance opted to add a second opening night screening.

The ultimate ‘meta movie’, DIRECTOR’S CUT is an insane, cinematic sleight of hand trick that reflects on itself, much like the stage persona of its co-star and creator, world famous illusionist Penn Jillette. Here, teamed with acclaimed Director Adam Rifkin, Jillette conjures a mind bending, genre-defying movie-within-a-movie mash-up that’s part narrative thriller, part docu-mental-case. Starring Missi Pyle, DIRECTOR’S CUT is about a cineaste stalker who kidnaps his favorite actress and forces her to star in his amateur movie. The madness that unspools behind the scenes will leave you reeling.

Here’s the film’s official festival one-sheet and trailer.

The post ‘Director’s Cut’ Trailer Abducts a Horror Film! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The Classified Edition comes with a 30+ page hardcover art book, its original soundtrack, a custom 54-card Bicycle brand card deck, and a DLC voucher. The bundle is available for pre-order now on the NISA shop. It releases on November 24.

The post ‘Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut’ Classified Edition Coming This November appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Boone (Craig Sheffer) is a man haunted by dreams of a place called Midian. His girlfriend Lori (Anne Bobby) stands by him, but despite her support and seeing Dr. Decker (David Cronenberg) for psychological help, Boone’s visions keep getting worse. Unbeknownst to Boone, Decker is actually a serial killer, who pins the murders on Boone by convincing him that the visions are a symptom of a psychosis, and that Boone committed the murders while in these psychotic episodes. Boone tries to run away to Midian, only to be bitten by one of the denizens and shot dead by police. Thing is, Boone isn’t dead. And his discovery of Midian threatens to expose the secrets of Midian to a human world that doesn’t take kindly to monsters.

It’s been a long while since I last saw Nightbreed. Back when I did see it, I thought that the film had some awesome ingredients for a great film, but instead were never really capitalized on and the whole film felt like a speeding car with it’s pacing. What a difference the Director’s Cut makes. The obvious highlight for the new cut is fleshing out characters and their relationships. Hugh Ross still delivers a memorable performance as the mischievous Narcisse, and the Director’s Cut certainly makes you love the character all the more. Boone and Lori are given more attention as well, including a much-needed expansion of their relationship. Decker is still here, but he’s been pushed into the background to take the focus off of him. He’s still menacing, especially with that awesome mask. The most important thing about the Director’s Cut is the establishment of the citizens of Midian as being the good guys, something the studio just didn’t get. You sort of get the sense in the theatrical version, but this new cut fully establishes humans as being the real monsters.

The big highlight in either version of the film are the monster designs. The effects team did a fantastic job with the design of the monsters, especially given the low budget. From the fantastic design of Narcisse’s exposed facial muscles, to Peloquin’s fearsome dreadlock-tentacled head, to Shuna Sassi’s seductive, quill-covered body, all of the designs are amazing as they are otherworldly. To go along with the monsters, the sets, specifically Midian, are equally amazing in their design. Granted, much of Midian is lit only by candles, but it creates such an intimate and mysterious atmosphere.

Despite the much-needed and welcomed additions to the film, there are still some problems that have been carried over. Plot holes, such as Boone’s insistence on hanging around Midian even after he’s been kicked out and how Narcisse escaped the hospital to make it to Midian himself, still remain. It leaves the film still feeling like the studio’s interference still lingered in spots. Also, Cronenberg’s performance is still kind of suspect. On one hand, his flat delivery can be seen as an aspect of the character, or it’s just a sign that Cronenberg should’ve stuck to being behind the camera.

While it took 25 years, Nightbreed has been resurrected into a film that’s far more in line with what Barker envisioned. The new additions undo the studio’s interference and cuts, giving us more development and restoring the plot to what was originally intended. Fans of the film will no doubt be delighted in seeing the film in Barker’s original intentions, and those who didn’t get to see the film the first time around will have a much more coherent film to watch. While it doesn’t fix all of the problems that the original cut contained, the Director’s Cut certainly smooths things out and makes Nightbreed much more interesting, as well as elevating it in terms of one of the better horror films of the time.

Video/Audio:

Scream Factory does it again. The AVC-encoded 1080p 1.78:1 transfer sports fantastic consistency (given the various sources of material), with wonderful detail. The colours are subdued overall, with the film being mainly shot in low-lit conditions. There are some scenes that are brighter, and do sport much more vivid colour, so it’s not a problem with the transfer itself. Some might be turned off by the heavier film grain in certain scenes (the scene where Decker visits the gas station in particular), as at times it’s very noticeable. However, it doesn’t interfere with the details and isn’t distracting. As for the differences in image quality between the Theatrical and Director’s Cuts? Not a heck of a lot. There’s some minute differences, but nothing you’d feel detracts from the overall experience.

The Director’s Cut sports both a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and a DTS- HD Master Audio 5.1 mix, while the Theatrical Cut only has the 2.0 mix. Danny Elfman’s score is given the boost it needed here, and for purists, the Director’s Cut has restored Doug Bradley’s voice to Lylesberg after it was dubbed over in the Theatrical Cut. Speaking of dialogue, it’s clean and comes through without any problems. Although there’s a slight variance in quality due to the sources used, the tracks overall are excellent. The surrounds serve to immerse the viewer in the action, and pack a punch when needed.

Extras:

As is usual in the Scream Factory line, they’ve loaded this set up with goodies (and then some for the Limited Edition). However, there’s a rather glaring issue that needs to be addressed.

First off, we get an Introduction to the Director’s Cut by Clive Barker and Mark Alan Miller, VP at Barker’s Seraphim Films, essentially stating why and how this version of the film exists. Following that is an Audio Commentary with director Cliver Barker and Mark Alan Miller. The duo cover a ton of info in this easy listening track, with Miller acting as the moderator with 100 questions. Topics include working with Cronenberg and the rest of the cast and crew, how the ideas for the various characters came about, the film’s effects, changes in the director’s cut of the film and the decisions that led to these changes, and much more. Extremely informative and entertaining. It’s also strange to hear Barker’s voice without the gravelly, raspy sound that we’re used to.

“Tribes of the Moon: Making Nightbreed” is a massive 72-minute documentary starting right from the beginning of the film’s origins and covering everything through pre-production all the way to the film’s eventual release. Mixing interviews with cast members (Craig Sheffer, Anne Bobby, Christine McCorkindale, Doug Bradley, Hugh Ross and Simon Bamford) are tons of behind-the-scenes footage and photos. The cast talk about their roles, their costumes and makeup, relationships with the other cast members, and come across as genuinely having had a blast working on the picture. This is the perfect compliment to the audio commentary.

Following that is “Making Monsters”, another massive documentary clocking in at 42 minutes. Featuring interviews with makeup effects artists Bob Keen, Martin Mercer, and Paul Jones, as well as Barker’s original sketches and make-up test footage. The trio talk about working with Barker, the challenges facing the artists in bringing Clive’s visions of the monsters to life, and their reactions to the changes made to the film in the theatrical cut. As an effects junkie, this was another great treat.

“Fire! Fights! Stunts!: 2nd Unit Shooting” is a 20-minute interview with assistant director Andy Armstrong. Armstrong goes over his group’s work on the film, particularly the battle in Midian, and how he had to deliver a rather intense action scene on such a limited budget. Also shared are some stories working with Barker on certain parts, as well as the technical aspects involved with the shoot.

The film’s theatrical trailer rounds out the extras for the first disc.

On the second disc, things start off with a collection of Deleted Scenes. Spliced from various sources (including the Cabal Cut), the scenes are a mix of alternate takes and extended scenes that were trimmed for time. Do note that for scenes involving the Cabal Cut footage, the audio is pretty rough and is hard to understand what’s said.

“Monster Prosthetics Masterclass” has Bob Keen going into detail covering how the prosthetics were created, how they were applied and removed, as well as showing off some more shots of the makeup from production photos.

“Cutting Compromise” is a 14-minute conversation with co-editor Mark Goldblatt, who offers up a frank discussion of a film that he felt “could’ve used a little extra work” in the editing room, though not as much as what eventually happened. Goldblatt talks about his work leading up to Nightbreed, his admiration for Barker’s work, and the trouble between kowtowing to Morgan Creek while attempting to honour Barker’s vision. A very honest and an interesting interview.

“The Painted Landscape: The Concept Art of Ralph McQuarrie” is a 5-minute look at Ralph McQuarrie’s concept art, including the giant 60-foot mural that decorates Midian, and the matte paintings used in the film. Really cool seeing the progression from concept to final footage.

Also included is footage of Matte Painting and Makeup tests, a segment discussing the famous lost stop motion footage, an extended look at the torture scene sequence seen in the film, rehearsal tests and a plethora of still galleries with sketches, deleted scenes, poster art, cast and crew, and on-set photos.

The third disc is the Theatrical Cut of Nightbreed, which also has the theatrical trailer. As mentioned before, unlike the Director’s Cut, this cut only sports a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 audio track (which is incorrectly stated as being 5.1 on the box).

Rounding everything up is a sturdy chipboard box sporting a sticker with the unit number of your Limited Edition, as well as a nice illustrated booklet featuring an essay by Mark Alan Miller, more production and character photos and poster art.

Now, while this is honestly one of the best releases of the year for a film and by Scream Factory, I do have some problems. The first is the omission of the Cabal Cut. Yes, the quality would be terrible, and it doesn’t make much sense when that cut basically has all of the footage that Barker had shot put into one giant film. Plus, the focus should be on the Director’s Cut. And even though some of the pieces of footage from the Cabal Cut are found on the bonus disc, it would’ve been nice to have had the cut as another comparison. Also, there’s a lack of discussion on Danny Elfman’s contribution to the film’s score, which definitely deserves praise.

The second issue I have is the Limited Edition itself. Specifically, the practice of having supplements exclusive to the set. It’s always a pain when companies do this, as those who want more info about the film are forced to pay for a set that should really be geared towards the hardcore fans in the form of a keepsake box or posters or whatnot, especially when you have only 10,000 units being produced. Now I know that Shout! Factory had to pay for licensing the Theatrical Cut from Warner Bros, but some of us couldn’t care less about that cut, and really could’ve done without it in this set. If the Cabal Cut was put in it’s place, then I could understand. But don’t put extras on a 2nd disc as a way to force people to buy the Limited Edition. Hardcore fans would gladly buy the set for the booklet, collector box, theatrical cut and poster. Everyone else would just want to hear the complete story of the film.

Now that I’m off of my soapbox, I can say that this set, Limited Edition or not, is definitely right up there with Scream Factory’s Halloween box set. With hours of content by people with an obvious love for the film and it’s fanbase, this is easily recommended. Unfortunately, with the Limited Edition being sold out, those fans desiring the complete package will have to do some scrounging and searching on eBay for the set. Everyone else will be pleasantly impressed with the regular edition.

The post [BD Review] Scream Factory Gives ‘Nightbreed’ Director’s Cut Life and Love! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

But it sure doesn’t seem like it. The paper claims he preferred Lee’s three hour “director’s cut,” which was “quieter” and more “character-centric” than the version that will appear this Thanksgiving. The fact that the film seems to have undergone a content and even tonal shift while paring down the running time suggest that Lee may have had an original vision that was simply not going to work in wide release. The Times asked Brolin what he thought about the finished film and he replied, “I do have opinions, but it’s better to bite my tongue.”

Only time (lots of it – we won’t get a straight answer on this for months or years) will tell. But for now it might be worth noting that Oldboy is being referred to as a “Spike Lee Film” rather than his more personal label of “Spike Lee Joint.”

The post Does Josh Brolin Prefer Spike Lee’s Three Hour Director’s Cut Of ‘Oldboy’? appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Now they’re coming together to give you Director’s Cut, which looks like it’s primed to be one of the more interesting horror/comedy/thrillers in a long time. In order to retain control over their singular vision, they’re going the crowdfunding route with this (it goes live on Fund Anything tomorrow).

I know some people have different opinions regarding this approach to financing. I urge you to put all of that aside for a moment and watch this clip (a BD exclusive for the day) – it’s easily one of the best pitch videos for a crowdfunding project that I’ve seen! You’ll get an idea of the tonal shift about 2 minutes in…

“Director’s Cut” by Penn Jillette and Adam Rifkin from Andrew Oleck on Vimeo.

Pretty good stuff, right? I like how it literally shows you the tone of the piece rather than just telling you about it. You can find the campaign HERE (you can also follow the film on Facebook and Twitter).

Perhaps you have questions? No prob! That’s where our exclusive interview with the duo comes in! You can check it out right below the film’s official synopsis! If you’re a Romero fan you’ll definitely enjoy the conversation.

“Director’s commentaries on movies have been popular as DVD and Blu-Ray “extras” long enough that all movie-goers are familiar with the conceit. In fact, movie fans have come to expect them from all of their favorite films and filmmakers. “Director’s Cut” utilizes this collective audience knowledge for a new kind of meta, multileveled plot. As “Director’s Cut” begins, we find ourselves watching a taut cop thriller called “Knock Off”. It’s a creepy murder mystery in the vein of “Se7en” and “Silence of the Lambs”, about an older FBI agent and his gorgeous new partner working on a serial killer case where the murderer is mimicking well known killings of famous serial killers of the past. The movie has a great cast and as it plays out we hear the director’s constant commentary as VO over the scenes. He shares tidbits about the making of the movie and stories about working with the actors. Especially the leading lady. In fact, the director seems strangely focused on his starlet. Fixated beyond what one might expect from a professional film director. It’s creepy. As the film continues to unfold we slowly start to realize that this voice is not the film’s actual director at all, but that of an obsessed fan who thinks he’s the director. He’s actually a psycho who is stalking and terrorizing the lead actress…”

This is one of the best crowdfunding pitch videos I’ve seen. It illustrates what the execution of the piece will be like, rather than just telling you.

Jillette: It’s the same people making it. The same DP, mostly the same crew.

Rifkin: It’s true. We really wanted the pitch video to be as cinematic as possible and reflect a little tidbit of what we hope the movie will look like.

How’d you guys get hooked up?

Jillette: It’s pretty simple, actually. I had written the script and I had shopped it around and talked with a few different people about directing it. I was talking to a friend of mine, Rich Nathanson, and he told me about [Rifkin’s film] Look. And I had heard about Look because Ron Jeremy told me that it was opening in Vegas. And because Ron Jeremy told me about it I didn’t consider seeing it [laughs]. We all love Ron, but he’s not a tastemaker. So I went and got a copy of it from my friend Rich and watched it that night.

10 minutes into the movie I realized Adam was perfect for Director’s Cut. Look is my favorite movie of this century and it had a lot of the same thoughts and feelings I wanted to convey with this movie. This was on a Friday night and at 1AM I went to my computer and fired off emails to my managers and agents saying I needed to talk to Adam Rifkin. Then I went to Facebook and did a search and found we had mutual friends on Facebook and wrote him. And because we are two peas in a pod, he was also doing nothing on a Friday night. He answered instantly and I told him I wanted him to see the script.

I was so excited, I can’t remember a time where I saw a movie and got more jacked up than when I saw Look. We talked for an hour or so and I sent him the script and had an email by Saturday morning saying he wanted to do it. So I sent another email to my managers and agents and said, “too late. You are now introducing me to my partner.”

Adam, what was it like getting this call in the middle of the night?

Rifkin: It was spectacular. I’d always been big fan. I got a call that Friday evening from my assistant saying, “you’re never going to believe this, but Penn Jillette just tweeted about Look.” And then as soon as I got home I had a message from him on Facebook. He gave one of the most compelling pitches I had ever heard, and when I read the script I wasn’t disappointed.

Penn, by nature you seem like an intelligent, probing personality. Is there something about the horror genre that your found yourself questioning and addressing with this?

Jillette: As a child I wasn’t drawn to it. But in the 70’s there was a time when if you wanted to make an intellectual movie and couldn’t get the movie from Hollywood, all you had to do was call it “horror” put in some blood and some tits and you could make an art film.

I didn’t crave it until I realized that. When I saw Night Of The Living Dead it was life changing. All of a sudden, the real intellectual stuff I wanted out of movies was being done in this form that no one cared about. “Give us tits and blood and you can make your movie as smart as you want.” And then Dawn Of The Dead came out, I love James Gunn’s version too but the original one is still my favorite movie of all time. It is a completely intellectual, smart movie that just happens to have zombies.

Some of the beauty of Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Evil Dead is that those things have such pure power. The combination of the intellectual and the visceral became an obsession to me. All we want in art is for the intellectual and the visceral to collide going as fast as they can. You get into a roller coaster and you want your visceral side to say, “I’m going to die. This is the end of my life.” And you want your intellectual side to say, “if they actually killed people on this ride they would have been closed down long ago. Their insurance rates would be too high.” You want those two things to hit really hard. And in horror, especially Romero, you can do the smartest things possible and still cut people’s heads off with helicopter blades.

Why the crowdfunding route?

Jillette: To cut out the gatekeepers at the studios. We could get this movie made at a studio, and they would say “we need to put a bigger star in Penn’s role and get a director who’s made a blockbuster before.” We don’t intend for this to be a blockbuster, we just want enough people to watch it to make it worthwhile. What we’re saying to the world is, “be the studio.”

Having seen Adam’s segment of Chillerama you know he can get a great production value out of a small budget.

Rifkin: It was pretty low. I have a lot of experience making a lot of independent films of varying genres and, if there’s one thing I’ve gotten pretty good at, is that it’s I know how to milk a lot of bang out of very little buck. It’ll look like a studio movie, but for independent movie dollars.

Jillette: It’s for 1 million dollars. One of the things that critics of crowd funding say is, “why don’t these people make movies with their own money.” Well, I have. I put my money into The Aristocrats and Tim’s Vermeer. But this movie is a little bit beyond what I can afford and I am very willing to out my time and effort in and not get paid what I would get paid if I were doing a studio movie. It’ll look like a $3 million movie. If we get more than that we can get a bigger star for the female lead, we can put a car chase in [laughs].

Rifkin: And I financed half of Look with the money I made from writing Underdog for Disney. The reason I love being able to write movies like that is that they have afforded me, in the past, the ability to write a check to green light my own movies. But this is a slightly bigger movie.

Jillette: It’s going to be really, really good. I play a wicked *sshole!

The post [Exclusive] Penn Jillette And Adam Rifkin’s Awesome Pitch Video And Interview For ‘Director’s Cut!’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

I can guarantee it’s not for everyone, but should you find this to be your cup of tea, thanks to Steam Greenlight, Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut will be making its way to Steam this Halloween.

If you’re craving a big dose of weird horror, you can grab the game on Steam when it becomes available on October 31st.

Have a question? Feel free to ever-so-gently toss Adam an email, or follow him on Twitter and Bloody Disgusting.

The post ‘Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut’ Hits Steam This Halloween appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

After being a PS3 exclusive for some time the Deadly Premonition Director’s Cut would like to make its way to PC, through Steam Greenlight. Before it can do this, it needs your support.

If listening to an FBI agent talk to himself about classic horror movies sounds like your kind of thing, I highly recommend supporting the game on Steam Greenlight.

Have a question? Feel free to ever-so-gently toss Adam an email, or follow him on Twitter and Bloody Disgusting.

The post ‘Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut’ Arrives On Steam Greenlight appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

But Movie-Censorship.com has gone out of their way to provide you with the most detailed account of the differences between the cuts that I’ve ever seen. For example, “97 cuts in the theatrical version = 15 minutes and 12 seconds. 2 cuts in the Director’s Cut: = +10 seconds. 14 alternative cuts = theatrical version: +105.5 sec. / DC: 93.5 Sek = +12 sec. 3 recuts = +13 seconds. alternative ending = theatrical version: +155 sec / DC: 197 sec = 42 seconds.”

Head inside for an examples of their side-by-side visualization!

For much more on the whole rundown head to Movie-Censorship.com

The post [Random Cool] Differences Between The Theatrical And Director’s Cuts Of ‘Army Of Darkness’ Detailed! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The post ‘Deadly Premoniton’s Directors Cut’ Is Enhancing Your Coffee Drinking Experience appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut includes the following new features:

* New scenario from the game’s director, Hidetaka “Swery” Suehiro
* HD graphics
* Reworked control system allowing for an even better combat experience
* Downloadable content to expand the mystery beyond the original game

The post The Playstation 3 Will Be The Only Console Seeing The ‘Deadly Premonition’ Directors Cut appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

One thing I hadn’t really given much thought to was what David said to the Engineer near the end of the film. I just sort of took for granted that it was something in their native language that the audience wasn’t intended to understand. But it turns out they developed a small portion of that language to use in the film.

Dr. Anil Biltoo of the SOAS Language Centre in London served as the linguistics consultant on the film and taught Michael Fassbender how to speak the line. He told The Bioscopist that tt translates to, “This man is here because he does not want to die. He believes you can give him more life.” This is of course a request on the behalf of the aging Peter Weyland. What’s more interesting is that Biltoo constructed an entire conversation – including a reply from the Engineer – that Ridley Scott filmed but ultimately cut from the film.

Per Biltoo, “We’re all going to have to wait for the Director’s cut to see if the conversation between the Engineer and David – and there was indeed originally a conversation, not merely an utterance from David.”

There are whispers that there will be a subtitled version of the scene on the upcoming DVD/Blu-ray of the film. I have a pretty good theory on why the Engineers want to wipe out humanity, but for those who want a definitive answer – this scene may just provide it.

The post What David Said To The Engineer In Theatrical Cut Of ‘Prometheus’ Only Part Of The Story appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The “director’s cut” of Clive Barker’s Nightbreed has been a highly sought-after and highly intangible experience for horror fans ever since the film’s release over two decades ago. And while those seeking it out may not have crossed the finish line quite yet, there’s now a “Cabal Cut” which may be the closest we ever get to Barker’s original vision. And it’s playing LA’s New Beverly Cinema on June 10th, hosted by Days of the Dead.

“In 2009 Seraphim’s Mark Miller contacted Morgan Creek and found out that there may well be more to the Myth than anyone had thought. Two European encoded VHS tapes were discovered and sent to Phil and Sarah Stokes, who run Clive Barker’s website, Revelations. They viewed the tapes and saw what nobody had seen in almost 2 decades; additional Nightbreed footage. Phil and Sarah transferred the footage to DVD and, with Clive’s approval, announced to the world that missing footage for Clive’s film had been found. Inspired to see Clive’s original vision come to light, filmmaker Russell Cherrington, longtime friend of Clive Barker and Seraphim, took the DVD back to England and, working with editor Jimmi Johnson and Clive Barker’s original Script, created the new cut ofNightbreed composited from two the VHS sources and the original Warner Brothers DVD. The original cinema release of Nightbreed was fused with the workprint to create The Cabal Cut.”

Head to Occupy Midian for more details. Head inside for the trailer.

The post The “Cabal Cut” Of ‘Nightbreed’ To Screen In Los Angeles June 10th! Check Out The Trailer! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.