Salem’s Lot (2024) Review: Was this long-delayed Stephen King adaptation worth the wait?
Originally published at https://www.joblo.com/salems-lot-2024-review/
We’re making our way through the spooky season now, so this week’s JoBlo TV roundup leans into horror and thriller territory
Last month, JoBlo Media and Octane Multimedia teamed up to launch a new YouTube channel named JoBlo TV, which hosts multiple feature films to watch for free throughout the week. The genres we’ll be focusing on at JoBlo TV are Action, Horror, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Thrillers, and since we have now in spooky season of October, with some of us celebrating Halloween all month long, we’ve been leaning into the horror and thriller genres this week.
The movies that have been released on JoBlo TV over the last week are the home invasion thriller Safe House 1618, the human prey horror film American Hunt, the bizarre supernatural horror film It Hatched, the sci-fi movie No Tomorrow, the supernatural slasher Curse of the Scarecrow, and the supernatural horror film Ouija Craft.
Calvin T. Shepherd wrote and directed Safe House 1618, which shows what happens when a revenge plot traps three sisters and their getaway driver in a safe house until they can escape the country, but they may be running from so much more than just the police. Jasmine Day, Matison Card, Brittney Carpenter, Jesse Davis, Ryan Fredericks, Cody Alban, Andrew Hook, Michael Puchino, Wyatt Jordan, Randy Rochford, Maddie Steele, Emma Gollob, and Byron Thompson star.
Written and directed by Aaron Mirtes, American Hunt has the following synopsis: A group of friends is torn apart when they become part of two human hunter’s sick game. The men give them ten minutes to hide, and then the real hunt begins. The film stars Brad Belemjian, David Ditmore, Lacy Hartselle, Taylor Novak, Cris Ruiz, and Allison Shrum.
It Hatched was directed by Elvar Gunnarsson, who crafted the screenplay with Ingimar Sveinsson and Magnús Ómarsson… and there’s really no way a synopsis can do this one justice. It’s so wild, weird, and unique, you really have to see it to believe it. This won’t be for everyone, but it’s sure to get people talking because it’s so strange, switching back and forth between funny and disturbing. The IMDb synopsis goes like this: A young couple set out to open a guesthouse in a remote place in Iceland. They come for peace but soon find out that something evil is lurking beneath their basement and hunting them in their dreams while they sleep. Here’s another attempt to explain it: Pétur and Mira move from Nashville, Tennessee to a remote fjord in Iceland in search of peace and serenity. Their plans are horrifically altered when an ancient demon escapes from under their basement floor and Mira gives birth to an egg. Gunnar Kristinsson and Vivian Ólafsdóttir took on the lead roles.
No Tomorrow was written and directed by Ben Tedesco, who also stars in the film alongside Joseph H. Tedesco, Jeremy Cohen, Sarah Schachte, and Billie Tedesco. Here’s the synopsis: Ben is attempting to prove that he has found himself stuck in a time-loop amid the global pandemic. He begins by documenting the banality of this recurring day on his iPhone until one morning he steps into the kitchen and finds his dad, still living the same day, but is in a different colored shirt – and realizes his hypothesis isn’t asking the right question. With the unwitting help of his friend, Jeremy, Ben discovers that he is in fact shifting through the multiverse and sets out to discover if a return to his previous existence is possible before his alternate realities run out and existence as we know it comes to an end.
Kacey Moore and Louisa Warren directed Curse of the Scarecrow, working from a script by Shannon Holiday. The synopsis: After witnessing their parents murder as infants, June and Carl have held a deadly secret throughout their entire lives, a secret that none will believe. Years later, June is back to investigate the family home after her estranged brother Carl’s mysterious suicide. As she walks the grounds, and inhabits the house, June learns that the Scarecrow who came to take her family is walking once again and is seeking revenge on the town. Kate Lister, Cassandra French, Tommy Vilés, Tiffany-Ellen Robinson, Darrell Griggs, and Tim West star, and Louisa Warren also has an acting role.
American Hunt writer/director Aaron Mirtes also wrote and directed Ouija Craft, which tells the following story: After a member of their coven dies in a tragic accident, two witches use an ancient Ouija board to cast a spell that resurrects their friend from the grave, only to find that she is extremely powerful and not herself. Ivy Rhodes, Allison Shrum, Lacy Hartselle, Brad Belemjian, Alice Raver, David Ditmore, and Bella Martin star.
To follow our JoBlo TV releases, click over to the YouTube channel and subscribe! We also recently launched a new page at JoBloYouTubeNetwork.com, where you can access all of our YouTube channels from one place.
Originally published at https://www.joblo.com/joblo-tv-round-up-horror/
Todd Phillips’ long-awaited sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux, is tap dancing in theaters, and we want to know what you think about the film!
When the Todd Phillips-directed crime drama Joker opened in theaters in 2019, the War Dogs and The Hangover helmer surprised cinephiles with something different from the DC Universe. Joker’s dark and exploratory take on the classic Batman villain immediately became a cinematic sensation, with scores of moviegoers divided about the film’s unique vision of the Jester of Genocide and the beginnings of his hold over Gotham’s less fortunate and frustrated. Fans demanded a sequel after the gripping film banked over a billion dollars at the box office, becoming the highest-grossing R-rated film before Deadpool & Wolverine ate Arthur’s lunch. Well, Todd Phillips answered the call, but Joker: Folie à Deux is one of 2024’s most divisive features, with fans and critics feeling confused about its bizarre direction.
Fans entered Panic Mode when Todd Phillips revealed the sequel’s musical roots. How many songs are we talking about here? How do they fit into the overall narrative? Does Phoenix’s tap dancing and Lady Gaga’s crooning get in the way of a satisfying story? Only you can decide how you feel about these elements. While some critics and fans praise Joker: Folie à Deux for taking a wild swing in an era of paint-by-numbers superhero sequels, others feel it’s a toothless courtroom drama lacking the original’s appeal and love affair with anarchy.
For context, PostTrak published a 1/2 star score with a 40% positive rating, similar to Francis Ford Coppola’s self-funded disasterpiece Megalopolis (45%). Meanwhile, 24% of viewers say they’ll recommend Joker: Folie à Deux to their friends. The movie performs poorly on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 37% Critic Score, nose-diving from an initial 62% Fresh posting.
While these numbers paint a grim picture, the only way to know if Joker: Folie à Deux is any good is to see the movie yourself. I’ve lost count of how many times someone (even my co-workers) suggested I wouldn’t like something, and then I came back to them with a list of reasons why the movie hit hard for me. Take this with a grain of salt from a guy whose favorite movie (not the best movie, mind you) is Death to Smoochy, an all-but-forgotten dark comedy panned by critics.
So, what did you think about Joker: Folie à Deux? Please leave your thoughts in the comments section below, and please give folks a heads-up if you’re going to post spoilers. Conversations around Joker: Folie à Deux will surely be hot, so don’t hold back.
Originally published at https://www.joblo.com/joker-folie-a-deux-what-did-you-think/
There will be two special presentations of The Last Drive-in with Joe Bob Briggs this month, including a Friday the 13th double feature
Season 6 of the Shudder series The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs wrapped up with a six film marathon called the Nightmareathon at the end of August – but before that marathon even aired, Joe Bob had already announced that Shudder had renewed The Last Drive-In for season 7! That season will likely premiere sometime next spring, but one of the many great things about The Last Drive-In is that we always get a good number of specials between the seasons. In fact, we’re going to get two specials just this month, including a Friday the 13th double feature with special guest Adrienne King!
The first special will be airing not on Shudder but on AMC (Shudder is owned and operated by AMC Networks). Here’s the information:
Wednesday, October 9th – Joe Bob brings Friday the 13th and Friday the 13th Part 2 to AMC’s Fearfest. Part 1 airs at 8pm ET and Part 2 begins at 10:40pm ET on AMC. The Just Joe Bob segments of the special will go on demand on Shudder/AMC+ on 10/13. As mentioned, Adrienne King – who played heroine Alice in the original Friday the 13th and returned to be killed off in the opening sequence of Friday the 13th Part 2, will be a special guest during this double feature.
Coming along on Friday, October 25th is a special called Joe Bob’s Beezlebub Bash, which will air at 9pm ET on Shudder and AMC+ in the US & Canada. We don’t have any information on this one beyond the title, but we can probably count on Joe Bob to at least show a double feature (the title of the movies will likely be kept secret until the special airs).
On The Last Drive-In, the world’s foremost drive-in movie critic hosts eclectic horror movies, talking about their merits, histories and significance to genre cinema.
The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs is produced by Matt Manjourides and Justin Martell and directed by Austin Jennings. Joe Bob is joined on every episode by Diana Prince as Darcy the Mail Girl.
Are you a fan of Joe Bob Briggs, and will you be tuning in for these specials? Let us know by leaving a comment below. I watch every episode of The Last Drive-In and every special, so of course I’ll be watching these specials. As a huge Friday the 13th fan, I’m especially excited to watch that double feature with Adrienne King, even though I’ve already seen Joe Bob host both movies more than once. Joe Bob Briggs and the Friday the 13th franchise are two things I can never get tired of.
Originally published at https://www.joblo.com/joe-bob-specials-f13/
Chances look good for Amazon to grant The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power a Season 3 renewal after a spectacular second season!
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power just aired its Season 2 finale, and fans are already clamoring for a third breakfast of Amazon‘s epic series based on the timeless fantasy franchise. According to reports, JD Payne and Patrick McKay have spent months plotting the hit show’s next storyline, but they’re still waiting for Amazon to light the pyres to signal a Season 3 renewal. While the studio will likely greenlight another season, Amazon ordered the second batch of episodes years ahead of the first season’s debut. For those concerned about the show’s status, many expect Amazon to announce The Rings of Power Season 3 before the end of October.
It’s worth noting that Amazon brought Rings of Power cast members Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Charlie Vickers, and Sophia Nomvete to this week’s Prime Video’s UK Upfront event. Typically, studios arrange presentations for shows they intend to continue, seeing as investors attend the event to gauge a project’s health, like a judge at a Westminster dog competition.
According to Amazon Studios chief Jennifer Salke, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power garnered 55 million viewers during the show’s sophomore season. There are a lot of Tom Bombadil fans out there, folks. Rotten Tomatoes scores for Season 2 also bode well for the show’s future, with reviews being more favorable than those of the first season.
Here’s the synopsis for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2:
“Sauron has returned. Cast out by Galadriel, without army or ally, the rising Dark Lord must now rely on his own cunning to rebuild his strength and oversee the creation of the Rings of Power, which will allow him to bind all the peoples of Middle-earth to his sinister will. Building on Season 1’s epic scope and ambition, Season 2 of Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power plunges even its most beloved and vulnerable characters into a rising tide of darkness, challenging each to find their place in a world that is increasingly on the brink of calamity. Elves and dwarves, orcs and men, wizards and Harfoots… as friendships are strained and kingdoms begin to fracture, the forces of good will struggle ever more valiantly to hold on to what matters to them most of all… each other.”
Do you hope Amazon grants The Rings of Power a Season 3 renewal? What’s your favorite aspect of the show so far? Let us know in the comments section below.
Originally published at https://www.joblo.com/the-rings-of-power-season-3/
Paramount has set a 2025 release date for Edgar Wright’s upcoming remake of The Running Man starring Glen Powell.
Paramount Pictures has announced a handful of new release dates for its upcoming films, including Edgar Wright’s remake of The Running Man starring Glen Powell. The much-anticipated flick will be released on November 21, 2025.
The studio has also pushed back the release of the Naked Gun reboot starring Liam Neeson. The film was previously set for a July 18, 2025 release, but the film will now hit theaters on August 1, 2025. The new Smurfs animated musical movie directed by Chris Miller, which was previously scheduled for February 14, 2025, will take the date vacated by The Naked Gun. Additionally, Bryan Bertino’s Vicious, starring Dakota Fanning, has been bumped up, moving from August 8, 2025, to February 28, 2025.
Powell is pumped to work with Edgar Wright, whom he has wanted to work with since he started in the business. “I had a wish list of directors that I wanted to work with in 2008 when I moved out to LA that I sent my agent at the time — and Edgar Wright is literally number one,” Powell said. “I’m such an Edgar Wright man. And so, the fact that I get to work with him right now is just so damn cool.“
Wright has previously said that The Running Man remake will be closer to the original Stephen King novel than the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. “I like the film but I like the book more, and they didn’t really adapt the book,” Wright said. “Even as a teenager when I saw the Schwarzenegger film I was like, ‘Oh, this isn’t like the book at all!’ And I think, ‘Nobody’s [done] that book.’ So when that came up, I was thinking, and Simon Kinberg says, ‘Do you have any interest in The Running Man?’ I said, ‘You know what? I’ve often thought that that book is something crying out to be adapted.’ Now, that doesn’t mean that it’s easy!“
As for The Naked Gun, the film stars Liam Neeson as Detective Frank Drebin, alongside Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, Kevin Durand, Danny Huston and more. Although Neeson has experience in the realm of comedy, he’s never led one himself. He explained why he wanted to take on The Naked Gun earlier this year. “It’s funny because right before Christmas, my sons and I were looking through the Academy screeners and trying to find something silly, some silly, stupid movie that we could giggle at,” Neeson explained. “There was none, of course, as they were all very heavy and international. I mean, brilliant movies but all very heavy. When Seth MacFarlane approached me about it — this was about two years ago, now — I thought, yeah, I guess I could do that as long as I play it dead seriously and not try and imitate Mr. Leslie Nielsen. He was wonderful. Akiva Schaffer is directing it and he’s from the [Saturday Night Live] world. I’m looking forward to it. It’s a good script, and there’s a few laugh out loud moments in it.“
Originally published at https://www.joblo.com/the-running-man-remake-release-date/
Five Nights at Freddy’s star Josh Hutcherson says Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 will be bigger and scarier than the first movie
The video game adaptation Five Nights at Freddy’s (read our review HERE) quickly became Blumhouse Productions’ highest-grossing movie when it reached theatres and the Peacock streaming service back in October, surpassing the likes of Split, The Invisible Man, The Black Phone, M3GAN, the recent Halloween sequel trilogy, and the Paranormal Activity, Insidious, and The Purge franchises with its haul of $295 million. So, of course, there’s a sequel coming our way, aiming for a December 5, 2025 theatrical release. And returning star Josh Hutcherson (The Hunger Games) has said that Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is going to be bigger and scarier than its predecessor!
Five Nights at Freddy’s stars Hutcherson alongside Matthew Lillard (Scream), Mary Stuart Masterson (Benny & Joon), Elizabeth Lail (You), Piper Rubio (Holly & Ivy), and Kat Conner Sterling (A Week Away). The film follows a troubled security guard as he begins working at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. While spending his first night on the job, he realizes the night shift at Freddy’s won’t be so easy to make it through.
Stunt performers Kevin Foster (WandaVision), Jade Kindar-Martin (Interview with the Vampire), and Jess Weiss (Mayfair Witches) play the animatronics Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie, and Chica. Fans are speculating that characters called Toy Chica and Mangle might be in the sequel, but their involvement has not been confirmed.
The video game takes place in Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, a darker version of Chuck-E-Cheese, where an animatronic animal band performs kiddy songs by day, and goes on murderous rampages by night. The goal of the game is survive a night locked inside, knowing that a furry death machine might jump out of the dark at any moment.
Speaking with Esquire, Hutcherson said Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is “much bigger; the stakes are higher. There’s more animatronics being brought in, different animatronics being brought in, and the world just opens up in a big way. We’re finding the balance right now of building this world and expanding it in a really cool way but also making sure the characters stay really grounded. That’s something that I really think that we all fought for in the first film, because this world that was created in Five Nights at Freddy’s, it’s so out there. It’s so over-the-top and wacky, in a way, that to find the emotional truth of the characters was gonna be what was gonna work. I think the fans are gonna flip for it. It’s gonna be a lot of fun with the source. It’s gonna be scarier, too, actually.“
Asked if he might stick with the franchise beyond this sequel, Hutcherson answered, “You never know. I mean, I love working in this world. Emma Tammi, our director, is phenomenal, and with my character, Mike, I think the possibilities are endless. This could have a very potentially long run and it could be a lot of fun, but at this point, we’re focusing on the second movie. We’ll see what comes after that.“
We’ve previously heard that Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is expected to film in Louisiana from October 28, 2024 through January 31, 2025.
The first adaptation was originally set up at Warner Bros., where Gil Kenan (Monster House) was going to direct the film from a screenplay he was writing with Tyler Burton Smith (the Child’s Play remake). Then the project moved over to Blumhouse, where Chris Columbus (Home Alone) was attached to direct it for several years. It finally went into production with Emma Tammi – director of The Wind, Into the Dark: Delivered, and Into the Dark: Blood Moon – at the helm, working from a screenplay she wrote with Seth Cuddeback (Mateo) and video game creator Scott Cawthon. Tragedy Girls writers Tyler MacIntyre and Chris Lee Hill share story credit with Cawthon.
Five Nights at Freddy’s was produced by Blumhouse, in association with Striker Entertainment. Cawthon is a producer alongside Blumhouse founder Jason Blum. Russell Binder is executive producing. Jim Henson’s Creature Shop handled the special effects that bring the homicidal animatronic animals to life on the screen.
Are you looking forward to the bigger, scarier Five Nights at Freddy’s 2? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.
Originally published at https://www.joblo.com/fnaf2-bigger-scarier/
The Best Saw Traps! As we look forward to Saw XI, Arrow in the Head picks the best trap from each Saw movie.
Saw X appears to have reinvigorated the Saw franchise, so while we wait for Saw XI to come along (it has a theatrical release date of September 26, 2025), we here at Arrow in the Head have decided to take a look back at the previous films in the series to compile a list of the Best Saw Traps. There were many traps to choose from, but the idea here was to narrow it down to the best trap (or trap scene) from each individual movie. Check out our picks below, and let us know what your favorite traps were in the comments section.
SAW – REVERSE BEAR TRAP
Of course this one had to make the list, since it’s the most popular trap in the entire franchise and the one most strongly remembered by the general audience. The reverse bear trap caught so much attention when it showed up in the first film, they brought it back in a couple of the sequels. The first time around, the trap was on the head of Shawnee Smith‘s character Amanda Young, hooked into her upper and lower jaws, a timer counting down to the moment when the trap would snap open and tear her head apart. It’s no wonder this concept got stuck in people’s minds, despite the fact that Amanda gets out of it. It took three tries on three separate victims in three different movies, but eventually the filmmakers showed what this trap would do to somebody when it goes off in Saw 3D.
SAW II – NEEDLE PIT
There are a lot of cringe-inducing traps in the Saw movies, but this is one that manipulates a common phobia in an effort to get under the skin of as many viewers as possible: Jigsaw tasks one of his victims with climbing into a pit of glass syringes to search for a key. Making this sequence even more difficult to endure, the character doesn’t climb into the pit themselves to try to do this as carefully as possible, they forcefully toss another character (a barefoot one, of course) into the pit in their place, so the person is instantly stuck with multiple needles and cut with broken glass. The pain they feel is a pain the viewer can clearly imagine.
SAW III – PIG VAT
This wins the prize of being the Most Disgusting Trap in the entire franchise. Plenty of traps in the Saw movies have gross results when they go off, but the repulsive thing about this one doesn’t have anything to do with damage being inflicted on the body of the person strapped into it. This trap finds a man stuck at the bottom of a vat as the corpses of rotting, maggoty pigs are dropped into a large grinder, their decaying flesh and putrid guts spewing all over him. There’s also a heavy emotional element to this trap, as the person drowning in liquefied pig is a judge who gave a lenient sentence to the drunk driver who killed the young son of Jeff Denlon (Angus Macfadyen). Jeff is watching the judge go through this ordeal, and the only way he can save the man is by burning the possessions of his dead child.
SAW IV – KNIFE CHAIR
The Saw IV knife chair earns a spot on the list due to the fact that it was the first trap John Kramer (Tobin Bell), a.k.a. Jigsaw, ever made. Built so John could get revenge on Cecil Adams (Billy Otis), the criminal who caused his wife to miscarry their child, this one involves the victim being bound to a rickety wooden chair with a device holding eight knives in front of their face. Their arm and leg restraints will open if they push their face far enough into the knife blades. This trap scenario doesn’t play out smoothly, the chair completely crumbles under Cecil, but even Jigsaw had to start somewhere. After this, some of the traps created by him and his disciples got unbelievably complex.
SAW V – THE WATER CUBE
While Jigsaw would usually give his victims a chance to escape from his traps, his disciples Amanda and Mark Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) had a tendency to create traps that weren’t meant to be escapable. This is one of those. In design, it’s not very impressive. The victim gets their head stuck in a glass cube that quickly fills with water. What makes this trap memorable is the badass method FBI Agent Strahm (Scott Patterson), the closest this series ever had to a potential hero, uses to get out of the predicament: as the cube fills with water and he realizes there’s no way out, he pulls a pen from his pocket and gives himself a tracheotomy. This may be the coolest moment in any Saw movie.
SAW VI – POUND OF FLESH
Jigsaw and his disciples would often demand that the people in their traps cause themselves great bodily harm to get out of the traps, and this is quite an extreme example of that. Simone (Tanedra Howard) and Eddie (Marty Moreau) are provided with a knife and a meat cleaver and told that if they don’t remove a pound of flesh from their body, they will be killed when the device attached to their heads drills screws into their skulls. So they start hacking and slicing at themselves. Another impressive thing about this scene is how good Howard’s scared and pained acting is, considering she won the role by competing on the reality show Scream Queens.
SAW 3D – THE SILENCE CIRCLE
Another trap that earns mention through its degree of cringe. Nina (Naomi Snieckus) is restrained in a straitjacket and sat down in the middle of a contraption that pushes four spikes toward her neck every time she screams above a certain decibel level. To release her, her associate Bobby Dagen (Sean Patrick Flanery) has to pull the fishing line she has been forced to swallow back up out of her mouth. There’s a key at the end of the line… plus a fish hook that scrapes its way along Nina’s stomach and esophagus as Bobby pulls on the line. This would have been cringe-inducing for many viewers even if it was just Bobby pulling the line out of Nina’s stomach without the hook being on there, but imagining the hook slicing into her on its way up makes this scene very uncomfortable to watch.
JIGSAW – LASER COLLARS
The franchise goes super hi-tech with this trap, which feels like it should have been saved for a future sequel where the series goes to space. Brad Halloran (Callum Keith Rennie) and Logan Nelson (Matt Passmore) are both fitted with metal collars that have seven powerful lasers attached to them. These lasers start out being blasted straight up, but gradually turn inward toward Brad and Logan’s heads. If they can’t get Jigsaw to shut off the lasers and release them from the collars, their heads will be sliced into seven pieces. The laser collars earn a place on the list because who ever thought a Saw trap would include frickin’ laser beams?
SPIRAL: FROM THE BOOK OF SAW – THE SUBWAY TRAP
The “side story” Spiral: From the Book of Saw isn’t very popular among Saw friends, but it does feature some nasty, cringe-inducing traps. For example, the finger trap, which forces someone to remove all of their fingers. Or the glass grinder, or the one that involves someone having to sever their spine. That spine one earns points for having a wax element that’s reminiscent of the 1979 classic Tourist Trap… but the best trap in Spiral may be the very first one, which puts a guy on a stepladder in the subway and tells him he needs to bite or rip his own tongue off before a train comes along. The cringing starts as soon as you see the guy’s tongue pulled out as far as possible and clamped into a metal device, and it just gets worse from there.
SAW X – BRAIN SURGERY TRAP
The “eye vacuum” trap got a lot of attention when Saw X was being released and a lot of fans really like the bone marrow trap – but the most troubling trap in this film may be the one that forces a man to perform brain surgery on himself. He has to remove a piece of his brain and get it dissolved in an enzyme tank within a certain amount of time of a mask of heated coils will snap shut on his face. The idea of having to cut open your own skull and take out a chunk of your brain, otherwise you’ll be burned to death… There’s a reason the production company behind these movies is called Twisted Pictures.
SAW – THE BATHROOM TRAP
A bonus entry for the original Saw! At the core of James Wan’s Saw was a very simple set-up: Adam Stanheight (writer Leigh Whannell) and Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) wake up in a dirty restroom, each of them chained to pipes by one ankle. They’ve both been provided with hacksaws to help them get out of their shackles. It’s an idea lifted right out of the end of Mad Max, but Saw caught the attention and captured the imagination of movie-goers with Gordon’s trailer line, “He doesn’t want us to cut through our chains, he wants us to cut through our feet.” With that, the simple, familiar idea launched a franchise.
Do you think these are the best Saw traps? If we didn’t include some you thought were gnarly, list them below!
Originally published at https://www.joblo.com/best-saw-traps/
The latest entry in the VHS series has a serious focus on aliens, but there’s plenty of great gore gags and fantastic segments overall.
Last Updated on October 8, 2024
PLOT: Six bloodcurdling tapes unleash horror in a sci-fi inspired hellscape, pushing the boundaries of fear and suspense.
REVIEW: While the last few entries in the V/H/S series have covered specific years like 1999, 1994, and 1985. I’m glad to see the series leaving behind the year-specific branding, and therefore opening the story up to more possibilities. As great as some of those segments were, others felt very constrained by the time. In V/H/S/Beyond, the found VHS tapes claim to prove the existence of extraterrestrial life. But it’s not just aliens, as they take aim at robots and weird taxidermists as well. And it may be my favorite entry yet.
As someone who finds alien stories to be boring and very samey, I wasn’t entirely sold on the concept of Beyond initially. But thankfully there’s enough variety to keep things interesting. The wraparound story does a good job of establishing these mysterious tapes as being the most concrete piece of evidence of alien existence. Being hosted by an actual occult host in Mitch Horowitz certainly helps with the documentary style. And I loved the inclusion of the Corridor Crew to come in and explain fake UFO footage. It’s a fun moment given the irony of those tricks being used in this film.
The first segment “Stork”, is very aesthetically similar to REC (or its American remake Quarantine), with a swat team taking on a building. They’re searching for abducted babies and when they find them, they also find a bunch of zombie-like creatures and a large, Stork-like monster. I loved the visual of the monster, even if the story gets lost in the chaotic visuals. But that’s kind of what I want from an anthology film like this: a story that fits in 20 minutes that would be tough to expand into a feature film.
Another segment follows paparazzi in India; specifically two gentlemen who are trying to get a photo of a famous actress. This had some interesting visuals and mostly just serves to show off some gore gags. Thankfully, that gore is awesome and gets nice and gooey. Sometimes found footage can get a little stale so it’s interesting to see all the different ways that they utilize it here. And I appreciated that most of it made sense. There were past entries where the camera’s presence/editing made no sense but they did a good job of having a steady throughline.
Alanah Pearce is mostly known from the world of video games but she takes center stage in Kate Siegel’s “Stowaway.” Even as a newcomer, Pearce is a natural and delivers a fantastic performance. Written by Mike Flanagan, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that this is a standout. But it’s what first-time director Siegel decides to show us that brings it together beautifully. This was easily my favorite segment as it’s larger than life while still being intimate and personal.
The digital effects work has really taken a step forward, with nearly everything looking great in-camera. I could never imagine this series pulling off a full skydiving segment but “Live and Let Dive” is absolutely expertly handled. Skydiving is already a terrifying activity not to mention all the ways it can go wrong. But having an alien invasion happen during one is maniacal and fantastic. The gore is absolutely top-notch throughout, but this segment gets to show off how far Independent Film has come with digital effects. If there was any segment that I appreciated the concept but didn’t love the execution, it was probably “Fur Babies.” While it’s cool to see Justin Long getting behind the camera after being so prominent in the horror world, this one didn’t work for me.
Like most in the V/H/S series, not every segment hits, making the film feel a bit overlong. But the few moments that do make an impact make the viewing experience more than worth it. While I still don’t consider myself an anthology fan, nor do I tend to like found footage, but I really enjoyed my time with Beyond. Sure, it’s easy to poke holes in even the good segments, but they work well in their contained stories. V/H/S/Beyond brings an intensity that lasts the entire runtime and consistently delivers thrills and chaos.
V/H/S/BEYOND IS NOW STREAMING ON SHUDDER!
Originally published at https://www.joblo.com/v-h-s-beyond-review-a-fantastic-new-entry/
Love Lies Bleeding star Katy O’Brian will join Glen Powell in Edgar Wright’s upcoming remake of The Running Man.
THR reports that Katy O’Brian, who broke out in a big way with Love Lies Bleeding, is set to join Glen Powell in Edgar Wright’s The Running Man.
Powell stars as a “desperate man, needing money for his sick daughter, who joins the most popular show, The Running Man, in which teams of killers hunt down contestants. The longer that a contestant survives, the more money that person makes. But as the game show’s producers and killers will find out, this desperate man will break all the rules and expose the show’s dark secrets.” O’Brian will play one of the contestants on the show. This won’t be the first time Powell and O’Brian have worked together, as they both appeared in Twisters, with O’Brian playing one of the members of the storm-chasing crew.
Edgar Wright is directing The Running Man from a script he co-wrote with Michael Bacall. It’s based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name, which was published in 1982 under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. Wright has previously said that The Running Man remake will be closer to the original Stephen King novel than the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. “I like the film but I like the book more, and they didn’t really adapt the book,” Wright said. “Even as a teenager when I saw the Schwarzenegger film I was like, ‘Oh, this isn’t like the book at all!’ And I think, ‘Nobody’s [done] that book.’ So when that came up, I was thinking, and Simon Kinberg says, ‘Do you have any interest in The Running Man?’ I said, ‘You know what? I’ve often thought that that book is something crying out to be adapted.’ Now, that doesn’t mean that it’s easy!“
The Running Man isn’t the only major project that Katy O’Brian has in the works. She will also appear alongside Tom Cruise in the eighth Mission: Impossible movie. We don’t know much about her role in the movie, but you would expect that she would be taking part in a few action scenes. O’Brian is also known for her appearances in The Mandalorian as Imperial spy Elia Kane and as Jentorra in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Paramount announced today that The Running Man will hit theaters on November 21, 2025.
Originally published at https://www.joblo.com/katy-obrian-the-running-man-remake/