The Eddie Alcazar-directed, Steven Soderbergh-produced sci-fi thriller Divinity gets a red band trailer and nationwide release

The sci-fi thriller Divinity, written and directed by Eddie Alcazar (Perfect) and produced by Steven Soderbergh (Ocean’s Eleven), is set to receive a nationwide theatrical release in the United States this Friday, November 3rd – and in anticipation of this release, a red band trailer for the film has arrived online. Check it out in the embed above and see if this looks like a movie you’d like to see on the big screen.

Divinity is described as an “experimental film” that is set in an otherworldly human existence, where the creation of a groundbreaking immortality serum named Divinity is wreaking havoc. Jaxxon Pierce, the creator’s son, now controls and manufactures his father’s once-benevolent dream, and society on the barren planet has been entirely perverted by the supremacy of the drug. However, when two mysterious brothers arrive with a plan to abduct the mogul with the help of a seductive woman named Nikita, everyone will be set on a path hurtling toward true immortality.

The film stars Scott Bakula, Stephen Dorff, Moises Arias, Jason Genao, Karrueche Tran, and Bella Thorne.

Divinity is being released by Utopia and Sumerian. The company provided the following statement: “Our worlds collided when falling in love with Eddie’s film and vision for Divinity. The film represents a cultural crossroads of film, music, fashion and art. We believe that this partnership represents the beginning of a new era where stories can live on screen and off the screen by blurring the lines between a film itself and the integral components that compose a film’s DNA.“

Alcazar added: “I’m grateful to work with such forward thinking distributors like Utopia and Sumerian. I believe more audiences are looking to re-appreciate the art of film these days and having a company like Utopia/Sumerian support unique cinematic visions and take them to the big screen is a dream come true.“

Soderbergh had this to say: “This is the best possible outcome imaginable and I’m very impressed and excited by how Utopia/Sumerian approached this deal. It all happened quickly and they have a bold, clear vision of how to get Divinity in front of a worldwide audience. The future starts now!“

And Sumerian founder Ash Avildsen said, “Divinity is a potent and timely avant-garde film that explores the human psyche around immortality, desire and fertility. The dystopian world Eddie Alcazar brings us into feels all too familiar with life today and I believe Divinity is a must see for the current generation.“

Are you interested in Divinity? What did you think of the red band trailer? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

While Tyler Durden is obviously a negative influence, some audiences really take to the anarchist writing and charisma of Brad Pitt in Fight Club.

It can sound pretentious, but art really can truly be interpreted in any way by the viewer. In some cases, there are villains in movies that can win over audiences if they’re written well enough or performed well enough. Michael Douglas once expressed his frustration over some people taking to his Wall Street character, Gordon Gecko, even though it was intended that he was the antagonist. Al Pacino’s Scarface is seen by some as sort of a folk, anti-hero as Tony Montana came from the gutter and became a powerful figure with an unbreakable spirit. And now, David Fincher is being asked by The Guardian about his feelings of disenfranchised extremists holding his Fight Club film to high regard with its anti-establishment theme.

According to Variety, the director of the upcoming Michael Fassbender film, The Killer (check out our review), doesn’t feel it’s his duty to tell people how to interpret his film, “I’m not responsible for how people interpret things…Language evolves. Symbols evolve.” He expounded, “We didn’t make it for them, but people will see what they’re going to see in a Norman Rockwell painting, or [Picasso’s] Guernica.” Fincher added, “It’s impossible for me to imagine that people don’t understand that Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) is a negative influence. People who can’t understand that, I don’t know how to respond and I don’t know how to help them.”

Fight Club and Taxi Driver are movies that come under fire for its portrayal of isolated individuals who indulge in their anger at pointed at a sector of society, whereas Taxi Driver especially can seem muddled in its treatment of its protagonist’s perceived heroism in the end. Fight Club features Norton’s character being swayed by his disgust thanks to the charisma and confidence of Tyler Durden. However, he ultimately confronts Durden when he sees things spiraling out of control.

The anarchist ending of Fight Club was also hilariously censored in China when the country’s government did not want to permit an conclusion where the establishment did not prevail. In a very Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie ending, after Tyler had been killed and before the banks were destroyed, the movie cuts to black with a title card that says authorities stopped the terrorist plot before they could succeed and Norton’s character would receive psychological treatment. Fincher responded to the ending in Empire, saying, “It’s funny to me that the people who wrote the Band-Aid [ending] in China must have read the book, because it adheres pretty closely [to the final pages of Chuck Palahniuk’s novel].”

Hocus Pocus 3 writer hints that the Sanderson Sisters may still be out for revenge against Salem in the new sequel

Writer Jen D’Angelo got her start working on episodes of shows Workaholics, Cougar Town, and Young Rock, and now she’s on a streak of successfully getting her feature scripts brought to the screen. She wrote the long-awaited sequel Hocus Pocus 2, the time travel slasher Totally Killer, and the newly released comedy Quiz Lady – and next on her to-do list is Hocus Pocus 3. D’Angelo has previously teased that the new sequel could bring Hannah Waddingham back as her Hocus Pocus 2 character The Witch Mother, and during an interview with Collider she also gave a hint as to what could bring the Sanderson Sisters back into action, seeking revenge against Salem.

D’Angelo said, “I have my theories about what we could see (in Hocus Pocus 3), and what things mean and where we could take these characters. It’s interesting to be like, ‘Now we have even more possibility’ and it’ll be a challenge to sort of pick the avenue and really make the movie stand on its own. With the Sanderson sisters, the thing that makes them so fun is that they really are like herding cats. So I’m like ‘Yes, Winifred learned a very valuable lesson, she loves her sisters more than anything in the world,’ but she will also just immediately get distracted by whatever’s put in front of her. So if you dangle the carrot of a potential revenge against Salem, which she has always wanted, she might have a backslide where she gets singularly focused on the wrong goal again.“

The original cult favorite Hocus Pocus was released in 1993. Directed by Kenny Ortega from a screenplay credited to Mick Garris and Neil Cuthbert (and based on story Garris crafted with David Kirschner), that film was about a trio of witch sisters who have been cursed since 1963. The fearsome threesome is inadvertently resurrected 300 years later by a boy whose family has moved from Los Angeles to Salem. As they attempt to acclimate to the 20th century, they are horrified to discover that Halloween has become a holiday.

Fans had to wait 29 years for Hocus Pocus 2. Released during the Halloween season last year, that sequel saw Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy reprising the roles of the Sanderson Sisters. The film has the following synopsis: Picking up 29 years after a teen named Max lit the Black Flame Candle and resurrected the three 17th-century child-essence-stealing sorceresses, Winifred (Midler), Sarah (Parker), and Mary (Najimy) are now looking for revenge. With the Sanderson Sisters back to terrorize Salem, it’s up to three high school students to stop them. How do you do that? By summoning the wrath of an enchantress, of course.

In the build-up to the release of Hocus Pocus 2, Entertainment Weekly asked the Sanderson stars if they saw a Hocus Pocus 3 in their future. Najimy responded “never say never“, but that she felt like they were done with the Sandersons because “We’ve pulled every story you could pull out of this.” Parker liked the idea of the next sequel being animated, but left a reunion up to her co-stars: “It just depends on what Kathy and Bette want!” Midler said, “I don’t know. I’m envious of other actors who have franchises, and I was hoping for a sequel to First Wives Club, but we never got that. After 30 years with no sequel to Hocus Pocus, I’ve always been envious of people who get to do their favorite character more than once. The fact that we got to do this finally, after 30 years of promoting the idea, I’m glad we got to do it. I’d love to have a franchise — especially a character I love playing. If there was a third one, of course I’d sign on, but I don’t know how. I can’t imagine what the story would be, but I love Winifred, Sarah, Mary, and our relationship. It’s good for women. We stick together through hell and high water, but we do cause mayhem, and not many women cause that much mayhem!“

Hocus Pocus 2 director Anne Fletcher will be returning to the helm for Hocus Pocus 3.

Are you a fan of the Hocus Pocus movies? What would you like to see in Hocus Pocus 3? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Saoirse Ronan will play a teacher who holds a child captive in director Jonatan Etzler’s satirical thriller Bad Apples

Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird) has signed on to star in Bad Apples, a project that’s described as “a biting satirical comedy with thriller elements”. The film will mark the English language debut of Swedish filmmaker Jonatan Etzler (One More Time) and is set to start filming in the UK in the spring of 2024. Bad Apples is being made under an Equity contract, so it will still be able to go into production even if the Screen Actors Guild isn’t over by then… although we hope it will be.

Scripted by Jess O’Kane, Bad Apples is based on the Rasmus Lindgren novel De Oönskade. It will tell the story of Maria (Ronan), a primary school teacher doing her best to inspire a class of 10-year-olds but unable to because of one unruly and chaotic student. With her career in question and the child’s behavior spiraling, she makes a series of bad decisions that lead to her accidentally taking and locking this “bad apple” in her home. Maria tries desperately to backtrack, but when the class starts flourishing and the staff and parents are thrilled with the improvement, she finds herself in a very complicated predicament.

Oskar Pimlott is producing for Pulse Films, the company that has been behind films like Pig, American Honey, and Mogul Mowgli. Judy Counihan and Jamie Hall of Pulse Films serve as executive producers alongside Philip Knatchbull, Marc Smit, Paul Wiegard, and Kristian Brodie of CCM, as well as Paul Grindey and Charles Moore of Viewfinder Film.

Pimlott provided Deadline with the following statement: “Jonatan has an unparalleled ability to create hilarious and horrifying cinema from the uncomfortable truths of human nature. We couldn’t be more excited that his unique perspective is going to collide with the extraordinary depth and talent of Saoirse Ronan in this special film.“

HanWay Films is launching worldwide sales at the American Film Market. The company’s CEO Gabrielle Stewart said, “We have been following with much excitement the development of this brilliant screenplay with one of the most interesting directors to be emerging from Scandinavia. This is such a juicy part for Saoirse Ronan who will bring to life all the drama, the comedy and the brutal tension of this unique role. Pulse are producers making cutting edge cinema and we are thrilled to be working with them.“

How does Bad Apples sound to you? Are you interested in seeing Saoirse Ronan play a child abductor in a satirical thriller? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.

While Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Bloodsport is considered an eighties classic now, it sat on the shelf for over a year and was almost dumped.

While Bloodsport, the 1988 martial arts tournament movie, is widely considered by fans to be Jean-Claude Van Damme’s best film, it almost never saw the light of day. Indeed, according to Nick De Semlyen’s book, “Last Action Heroes” (buy it here), the film was deemed unreleasable by Cannon Pictures head Menachem Golan. The film sat on the shelf for fourteen months and was considered so bad that Golan intended to release the movie direct-to-video.

According to the book, Van Damme, who had returned to his old job as a limo driver when the movie wrapped, convinced the studio to allow him to re-edit the film with Towering Inferno editor Carl Press. The two reworked the fight scenes and trimmed down some of the drama, resulting in a faster-paced cut that the studio allowed them to release.

However, in 1988, the studio was on the verge of going under, thanks to their attempt to hit the big time with a trio of would-be blockbusters in 1987. The films Over the Top, Masters of the Universe and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace all tanked at the box office, and in 1988, the studio could barely afford to promote Bloodsport. Thus, JCVD and the film rolled out in Asia and Europe before hitting North America, and by then, the film’s international success meant that the film was already profitable. It only grossed $11.7 million domestically, but overseas, it made over $50 million, all on a budget of only $2.3 million. On VHS, it became one of the biggest-selling titles in the Warner Bros library.

It’s incredible that Menachem Golan didn’t think the film was worth releasing, given how bad some of the product Cannon put out in their heyday was. Most studios would have never released Superman IV in the shape it was in theatres. Of all the films Cannon produced, Bloodsport is arguably the one with the most staying power. It is considered by many (myself included) to be one of the best American Martial Arts movies ever made.

Of course, after Bloodsport was a hit, JCVD was immediately put into two more Cannon films, Cyborg and Death Warrant. But the time the latter film came out, Golan had left the company. If JCVD had been stuck in a long term contract with Cannon, many believe his career would have never taken off. Take for example what happened to Michael Dudikoff. He should have been cast in bigger movies post American Ninja and Avenging Force, rather than smaller films. In many ways, their spendthrift ways doomed him to a career dominated by DTV movies.

Do you think Bloodsport is JCVD’s best movie? Let us know in the comments.

Michael C. Hall and Grace Caroline Currey have joined Tim Blake Nelson, Vera Farmiga, and Simon Rex in The Leader

Earlier this year, we heard that Tim Blake Nelson (O Brother, Where Art Thou?) and Vera Farmiga (The Conjuring) would be starring in The Leader, a true crime biopic about a story that shocked the world back in 1997, the mass suicide of the members of the Heaven’s Gate cult. Now Deadline reports that Michael C. Hall (Dexter) and Grace Caroline Currey (Shazam! Fury of the Gods) have joined the cast, which also includes Simon Rex (Red Rocket).

Farmiga will be playing cult leader Bonnie Nettles, a.k.a. Ti. Nelson’s character is the cult’s infamous frontman, Marshall Applewhite, a.k.a. Do. According to Deadline, “Hall will play a key devotee: a wealthy addict who attempts to win favor with Applewhite by financially supporting the cult with his trust fund. Currey will play an Oregon-based boutique owner who drops out of society in the late 1970s to join the cult – leaving her family and fiancé behind.” Rex’s character is “a key devotee of the religion who faces devastating consequences when he falls in love with a fellow cult member.”

According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Leader tells the true story of the 39 members of Heaven’s Gate — an American UFO cult that believed its followers could transform into immortal extraterrestrials and would ascend to heaven — and how they would commit the largest mass suicide to ever take place on American soil. The film tracks Nettles and Applewhite as they develop the religion, build a devout following and face unforeseen conflict when the spaceship they believed would transport their resurrected selves fails to arrive.

Michael Gallagher (Funny Story) has written the screenplay and will be directing the film. He provided the following statement about the project: “Vera Farmiga and Tim Blake Nelson are two of the finest actors working today. We are honored to partner with them to tell this incredible story. The Leader will depict the Heaven’s Gate tragedy through the lens of hope and heartbreak. It is a film about the dangers of self-deception, the thirst for human connection and the mystery of faith.“

Cinemand and Balcony 9 Productions are producing the film, and The Exchange will be presenting the project to potential buyers at the European Film Market. The producers are Jana Winternitz, Michael Wormser, and Gallagher of Cinemand, plus Joel David Moore and Max Osswald of Balcony 9 Productions. Rishi Bajaj and Daniel Taborga of Balcony 9 Productions serve as executive producers alongside Cassian Elwes, Evan Silverberg, and Entertainment 360. The Exchange’s Nat McCormick had this to say: “The Heaven’s Gate mass suicide is one of the most fascinating and unprecedented true crime events in American History. It’s hard to comprehend how it all coalesced. And that’s exactly what this movie is about. Tim and Vera portraying the messiahs of Heaven’s Gate is going to be something to behold.“

How does The Leader sound to you, and what do you think of Michael C. Hall and Grace Caroline Currey joining Tim Blake Nelson, Vera Farmiga, and Simon Rex in the cast? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

The deck was stacked against Expendables 4 and it ended up losing a big chunk of change in the end. So, where to go from here?

The Expendables 4 or Expend4bles is an interesting monster. It’s a huge money loser, with the film’s overall gross only $1 million more than the third film, which was a flop, made on it’s opening weekend. Despite producer Les Weldon teasing an Expendables 5 when we interviewed him, this seems to be the end of the road for the franchise. The previous entry, The Expendables III, faced backlash from fans when the movie made two faux pas that went against the series’ intention — it became a watered-down PG-13 entry, and it introduced younger cast members with no ties to the glory days of action films. The inclusion of stars like Mel Gibson and a welcomed return of Wesley Snipes became overshadowed by a large chunk of a “recruiting new team members” subplot. Recruiting younger members even contradicted a plot point in Expendables 2 when Barney felt guilty for getting a character played by Liam Hemsworth killed and felt the Expendable lifestyle wasn’t for soldiers with a lot more life ahead of them. Then, he recruits younger soldiers with a lot more life ahead of them in the next film.

Enter Expend4bles. Fans have all but given up on the series by now. The stars have moved on as well. Stallone got to reignite his performance as Rocky Balboa in the Creed movies and is now finding a new niche with Tulsa King. Statham joined the Fast & Furious series and fought baddies alongside Dwayne Johnson. However, when they both returned to the Expendables franchise for another hurrah, it would end in an unspectacular way. According to ScreenRant, Expend4bles was projected to open with an estimated $15-$17 million but would only make $8 million at its opening. That opening weekend pretty much killed any chance of an Expendables 5 ever happening.

On paper, there seemed to be some promising elements for this film. Although action fans were skeptical of an American production attempting to capture the amazing skills of the movie’s overseas stars, there was still a gleaming sliver of hope that The Raid‘s Iko Uwais and Tony Jaa could at least get a couple of sequences to shine. After all, they have been able to accomplish so much without a large budget. Unfortunately, this would not be the case. Additionally, Stallone’s role was greatly reduced, citing an attempt to pass the torch to Statham. The movie’s questionable casting of Megan Fox, 50 Cent and Andy Garcia was also a head-scratcher since none of them have been associated with the action genre of the 80s or 90s or even the 2000s.

So, what’s next for the series? The obvious thing going forward would be to let the franchise lie in its grave. However, if the production company, Millennium Films, was somehow keen to Expendables 5, they would have to really pull out an amazing deck of cards for enough interest to rise and see some success. Although, some sort of rebranding on the straight-to-streaming market with some proven action talents could give the franchise an extended life. Indie action movies have the benefit of getting creative when they don’t have big studio budgets, and they smartly highlight their stars’ skills at action and stunts. A good action design can outshine the biggest explosion in any action film.

Scott Mann’s survival thriller Fall is getting not just one but two sequels, which will be made back-to-back

Earlier this year, we heard that director/co-writer Scott Mann and the producers at Tea Shop Productions were developing a sequel to the survival thriller Fall (watch it HERE), which became an international success when it reached the Netflix streaming service. While doing the press rounds for Shazam!: Fury of the Gods, Fall star Grace Caroline Currey said she thought it would be “really cool” if she got the chance to come back for the sequel. Now it sounds like Currey is going to have a couple opportunities to return to the world of Fall, as The Hollywood Reporter has broken the news that Capstone Studios has green lit not just one but two sequels!

Mann will be producing both sequels and also intends to co-write and direct the third film of the trilogy. There’s no word on who’s writing or directing Fall 2, which is scheduled to begin filming in June of 2024.

Scripted by Scott Mann and Jonathan Frank, Fall had the following synopsis: For best friends Becky and Hunter, life is all about conquering fears and pushing limits. But after they climb 2,000 feet to the top of a remote, abandoned radio tower, they find themselves stranded with no way down. Now Becky and Hunter’s expert climbing skills will be put to the ultimate test as they desperately fight to survive the elements, a lack of supplies, and vertigo-inducing heights.

Currey was joined in the cast by Virginia Gardner (Halloween 2018), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (The Walking Dead), and Mason Gooding (Scream 2022).

There’s no word on what sort of thrilling situations Fall 2 and Fall 3 will be bringing to the screen, but The Hollywood Reporter says we can expect to see characters from the first film return in the sequels, which will, of course, also be introducing new characters.

Mann is producing the Fall sequels with Mark Lane and James Harris of Tea Shop Productions, Capstone’s Christian Mercuri, and David Haring. Dan Asma, John Long, and Roman Viaris serve as executive producers. Capstone CEO Mercuri is financing both of the sequels.

Mercuri provided the following statement: “These two new sequels are wonderful opportunities to expand on the original. We want to now take the franchise even further as we assemble the very best team and ideas to ensure the next hair-raising, death defying and pulse pounding film to global audiences.“

Mann added: “I am thrilled to be continuing the Fall journey and taking it to the next level. We’ve got a really special cinematic experience planned and I’m immensely grateful to my fellow producers for backing the vision. I’m also excited to be working with new collaborators as well as reuniting with the original gang, and obviously can’t wait to be back filming thousands of feet up.“

Are you a fan of Fall, and are you glad to hear that it’s getting two sequels back-to-back? Share your thoughts on this news by leaving a comment below.

Over a year has gone by since Warner Bros. removed Salem’s Lot from their release schedule. Why has the film been shelved?

In September of 2021, writer/director Gary Dauberman went into production on a new adaptation of Stephen King‘s novel Salem’s Lot (buy a copy of the novel HERE), which has previously been brought to the screen as two separate three hour mini-series; once in 1979, and again in 2004. Dauberman’s Salem’s Lot was originally set to reach theatres on September 9, 2022, but then Warner Bros. decided to push it back seven months due to “COVID-related delays in the post-production realm” soon after it underwent some reshoots in the spring of 2022. Then, on August 24, 2022, Warner Bros. announced that Salem’s Lot was losing its April 21, 2023 release date to Evil Dead Rise. That was over one year ago – and yet Warner Bros. has never announced another release date for the film. For an entire year, Salem’s Lot, a hugely anticipated 2023 horror title, has been effectively shelved, and there’s no sign of it making its way out into the world.

Why is Warner Bros. sitting on Salem’s Lot? It’s not exactly clear. Sure, they have been busy releasing plenty of other movies in 2023 – in addition to Evil Dead Rise, their releases have included Creed III, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash, Barbie, and Meg 2: The Trench. But that still doesn’t give any excuse for why Salem’s Lot doesn’t have a release date somewhere on their slate. In general, horror has been performing well at the box office, with Saw X earning rave reviews and making more money than the last several films in the franchise. The Exorcist: Believer, despite poor reviews, also did fairly well, even when faced with Taylor Swift’s box office juggernaut Eras Tour movie. Five Nights at Freddy’s got terrible reviews, but was still a record-breaking smash. What’s even more puzzling about the delay is that the Dauberman-penned The Nun II was a box office juggernaut. So why isn’t WB releasing Salem’s Lot? With no big stars in the cast, it seems like the perfect film to release during a SAG strike.

The delay doesn’t seem to be an indication of Salem’s Lot’s quality, because there have been at least two test screenings of the movie that have gone over quite well. (You can get information from this YouTube report of a test screening reaction.) The biggest complaint I’ve seen is that the movie favors jump scares over character development – which I can’t say is surprising. Dauberman’s Salem’s Lot reportedly has a running time of 113 minutes, and it would have been a difficult task to condense King’s story into that much time and still include a ton of character work. Plus, if you know Dauberman’s previous works (he was written the Annabelle movies and The Nun, worked on the recent It films, and directed Annabelle Comes Home), you know he loves jump scares. So it was a given that Salem’s Lot would be filled with the jumps.

Stephen King himself has shared his (mostly positive) opinion on the film, writing on his X account that “The Warner Bros remake of SALEM’S LOT, currently shelved, is muscular and involving. It has the feel of “Old Hollywood,” when a film was given a chance to draw a breath before getting to business. When attention spans were longer, in other words. It feels like a horror movie version of slow-burn movies like THE GREAT ESCAPE. It builds very well. There are diversions from the book I don’t agree with, but on the whole, faithful. Best scene: Danny Glick in the hospital, trying to claw down a blood bag. The Glick scene could have been directed by John Carpenter in his prime.“

Making Warner Bros’ apparent lack of interest in releasing Salem’s Lot even stranger is the fact that they were excited enough about it to early footage to CinemaCon attendees back in April of 2022. But that excitement seems to have faded, and they never bothered to share that trailer online. The only bit of promotion we’ve seen, the only image that has been released from the film, graces the cover of a movie tie-in edition of King’s novel.

A rumor recently surfaced that Warner Bros. is considering releasing the film on the Max streaming service. As per a recent Variety report, “A source with knowledge of the back-and-forth says the move is not a reflection of the film’s quality but is due to the fact that the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike has created a growing need for Max content. Salem’s Lot is one of a few Warner Bros. films deemed to make the jump. But a Warner Bros. spokesperson said, “No decision has been made about the film’s future distribution plans.”

With over a year having gone by since Salem’s Lot lost its last release date, here’s hoping that Warner Bros. will be making a solid decision about the film’s distribution very soon.

Dauberman’s take on Salem’s Lot is said to be set in 1975, the same year King’s novel was first published. Here’s the synopsis: Haunted by an incident from his childhood, author Ben Mears returns to his hometown of Jerusalem’s Lot in search of inspiration for his next book, only to discover the town is being preyed upon by a bloodthirsty vampire and his loyal servant.

The film stars Lewis Pullman (Top Gun: Maverick) as Ben Mears; Makenzie Leigh (Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk) as Ben’s love interest Susan Norton; Spencer Treat Clark (The Town That Dreaded Sundown 2014) as Mike Ryerson, “one of the town’s simple folk”; Bill Camp (12 Years a Slave) as Matthew Burke, “a former high school English teacher who knows about the Marsten House’s evil past and helps out Ben”; Alfre Woodard (Star Trek: First Contact) as Dr. Cody; Pilou Asbæk (Game of Thrones) as the vampire’s familiar Richard Straker; and John Benjamin Hickey (Hostiles) as Father Callahan. William Sadler (Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey) is also in the cast, but it was never officially revealed who he’s playing. Alexander Ward (American Horror Story) might show up as the vampire Kurt Barlow.

Are you looking forward to Dauberman’s Salem’s Lot? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Have an Awfully Good Halloween with one of the worst sequels ever made to a horror classic (that isn’t BELIEVER)… EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC!

Now that David Gordon Green has sent another horror franchise to hell with The Exorcist: Believer, the time is right this Halloween for Awfully Good Movies to tackle one of the most awfully good sequels ever made… Exorcist II: The Heretic!

While the late William Friedkin and William Peter Blatty were hellbent against any follow-ups to their seminal horror classic, the suits at Warner Bros. felt otherwise and rolled camera on a follow-up four years later from another prestige filmmaker, John Boorman, despite Boorman passing on the first film and calling it a “repulsive” tale about “child abuse”. So instead, Linda Blair returns as Regan MacNeil one last time (until Repossessed and Exorcist: Believer, that is) to fight the satanic demon nipping at her heels once more, thanks to a mind synchronization device that is just the tip of this sequel’s deeply insane iceberg.

Whether it’s a visibly drunk Richard Burton as the new priest sent to save Regan’s soul and clear Father Merrin’s name, Louise Fletcher slumming it after her Oscar for Nurse Ratched playing Regan’s harried psychologist in place of the absent Ellen Burstyn, or James Earl Jones wearing a locust costume atop his head, they’re all complicit in John Boorman’s craziest concoction since Zardoz, with the now-debunked pseudoscience of ESP (“the sixth sense”) proving central to the plot in overlong hallucination sequences and flashbacks with a begrudgingly returning Max von Sydow as the young Father Merrin. And did I forget to mention the demon’s name is Pazuzu? (Yes, I know it’s his name in the book, but still!)

It all combines to create one of the most spectacular failures in the history of sequels, with all the scares now replaced by unintentional laughs or long stretches of boredom… you know, much like Exorcist: Believer! But at least The Heretic has some pretty photography, a great Morricone score, and an unlikely fan in none other than Martin Scorsese. Yes, folks, Scorsese thinks that Exorcist II is cinema, which is more than anybody can say for Exorcist: Believer.

Happy Halloween from AWFULLY GOOD MOVIES!

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