Quotable Quote: Stir Of Echoes

"I didn't marry you 'cause you were going to be famous.
I liked the way your ass looked in jeans."

~ Kathryn Erbe as Maggie Witzky in Stir Of Echoes (1999)

Memorable Monologue: Devil

"When I was a child, my mother would tell me a story about how the Devil roams the Earth. Sometimes, she said, he would take human form so he could punish the damned on Earth before claiming their souls. The ones he chose would be gathered together and tortured as he hid amongst them, pretending to be one of them. I always believed my mother was telling me an old wives' tale."

~ Jacob Vargas as Ramirez in Devil (2010)

Hip Hip Hooray for Canadian Horror Films!

The Unleashed is an independant Canadian film, and the trailer totally made me crap myself. Ok not really, but a metaphorical pant-soiling, for sure.

Here is the write-up courtesy of the film company, Dark House Films.

Madison Kennard, a troubled woman dealing with her dark past, must venture home after an 8 year absence following her mother's death. Almost instantly after her return, Madison must cope with the haunting memories of a childhood best forgotten.

 Bizarre and unexplainable events occur within the house after Madison and old friends come together to dabble with the infamous Ouija board. Dark oak wood, round in shape, and with numbers in Roman numerals, this board is unlike any others. Found in the attic of the home, Madison has no idea of the secrets and danger that comes with contacting the dead through this board.

There are screenings in Canada so be sure to check out their website, and like them on facebook to find out when you can see it! Support indie films, and of course Canadian films, eh?

And this one looks good. It has the creepy Grudge/Ring feel to it. And we loves us a haunted house and creepy images of children. *shudder*

T-Shirt Bordello Gives Horror Fans and Geeks a Thrill!

Don (of the dead) from T-Shirt Bordello.com recently bestowed upon us some amazing t-shirts and horror memorabilia, and we are always grateful for swag.

Check out what he sent us!

Buy it HERE!

Buy it HERE!

You can get these shirts too for good prices and reasonable shipping. Plus where else are you gonna get this amazing selection of geek culture, including references to some of our favie flicks and pop-culture stuff like Star Wars, This is Spinal Tap, all things Star Trek, Zombieland, Ghostbusters, bacon, Superbad, Adam West, etc etc etc. The list could go on forever. These guys know their dork memorabilia!

They also run a booming zombie control business. Want to have up-to-the-minute news on where undead outbreaks are happening? Want answers to some serious zombie health and safety concerns? Want to read up on practical zombie apocalypse survival tips? Want to report zombies in your area? Then don't miss http://www.888wuzdead.com/.

And get some amazing zomerabilia at their etsy store HERE!

Cinema Obsessed Chats with James Cullen Bressack about My Pure Joy, an Independent Horror Comedy

James on set of My Pure Joy

James Cullen Bressack is in the final stages of putting together his feature film, My Pure Joy, a horror comedy. Gawd, we love those two genres together! The trailers are mighty intriguing, and we recently had a chat with James about the project.

Tell us a little about your upcoming horror flick and how you came up with the idea.

The idea originally came from when I had written 5 pages of a screenplay, with characters I didn't like, and decided to kill them off. I had to think to myself, "what is a good idea for a killer?" I didn't want to do a standard slasher movie, because it's been done so many times. So, I decided to introduce the audience to the killer in the beginning and let them get to know him through out the film. So, that's what this movie is about; getting to know a serial killer.

Does it take a lot to gross you out?

I think, with the movies that I watch, it's almost impossible to gross me out. I spent months before writing this script researching the most disgusting and gory films ever made.

Who have been some of your biggest influences in the horror genre?

To name a few: Takashi Miike, Eli Roth, George Romero, Alfred Hitchcock, Frank Henenlotter, Stuart Gordon and Rob Zombie.

What did you use as blood/guts in the film?

We actually used real guts, a real tongue and eyeball all donated from a butcher shop. As for the blood, it was your basic mix of carrow, food coloring, cherry and chocolate syrup and cinnamon. On screen it looked terrifying, but I must admit it tasted pretty good.

What scares you most?

The Lollipop Guild. Have you seen The Wizard of Oz?!

Do you plan on crossing into other film genres in your career?

Yes, I do.  However, I'm already working on another horror movie and opened up Psykik Junky Pictures to be the vehicle for MY films as well as the horror films of the other people I will be producing in the future.  Although I plan on moving into other genres for my own films, I will ONLY be producing horror movies with my business partner, Jarret Cohen.

What is your all-time favie horror flick?

I don't really know how to answer that. I have over 2000 DVDs, most of which are horror. I lean more towards the 80's ultra-gore movies. Although I do have a "Hostle" elite hunting tattoo on my chest.

Who would you most like to work with in the industry?

Quinten Tarintino or Eli Roth, plain and simple but the full list of people I'd aspire to work with is vast.

What are some of the biggest challenges you have faced as an independent filmmaker?

Trying to read the waffle iron. Yes, I actually said that. But, in all seriousness, in the beginning it was very difficult finding funding. Luckily, Jarret Cohen saw something in my script and in me, and decided to fund the movie. Still, working on a budget we worked is no walk in the park.

What are your aspirations for My Pure Joy?

I hope that it's very well received in the festival circuit. It's already started opening doors for me in the industry, and I hope it does the same for everyone else involved in the film. I hope everybody reading this goes to see it and has a positive experience. But remember, this film is not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach.

Thank you so much for taking the time to interview me at Cinema Obsessed. If you want to hear more of my movie ramblings, follow me on Twitter @JamesCullenB and "Like" the fan page for the film on Facebook: click here!

Tasty Tagline: The Grudge 2

No one outlives the terror.

Dan Radcliffe in The Woman in Black

(poster leaves a little to be desired, n'est pas?)

After a seriously hard-core Twihard came onto our site, missed our sense of humour entirely, searched the names of every Twilight cast member and left angry defensive comments on any post mentioning them, while at the same time singing the praises of Daniel Radcliffe and his oh-so-serious after-Potter career, I thought I'd take a look at his resumé to see what he's got coming after Harry Potter wraps up. (run-on sentence ftw!)

I was intrigued by the title The Woman in Black, and a small pic of Raddy in a cool outfit.

"The story follows a young lawyer, Arthur Kipps (Radcliffe), who is ordered to travel to a remote village and sort out a recently deceased client’s papers. As he works alone in the client’s isolated house, Kipps begins to uncover tragic secrets, his unease growing when he glimpses a mysterious woman dressed only in black. Receiving only silence from the locals, Kipps is forced to uncover the true identity of the Woman in Black on his own, leading to a desperate race against time when he discovers her true identity." [Wikipedia]

Oooooh! Ghost story? Check. Haunted house? Check. Period film? Check. Post-pubescent Dan-Rad looking mighty cute? Check. I'm in like Flint, baby. We have a while to wait though, since it's only being released in 2012, but I'm totally ready for a movie to scare the hell outta me. Haven't been genuinely scared by a movie since The Ring. Ok The Grudge too. Ok so both Paranormal Activity movies made me weep like a lil girl. Whatever. I like scary movies, big whoop, wanna fight about it?

Apparently this movie was already made in the 80s, and it was based on a book, so it loses points for originality, but the teaser claims it's the most chilling ghost story of our time. Why haven't I heard of it before? All the better, that way I'll be surprised.

Do you think Dan will have a good career post-Potter?

Tasty Tagline: Plan 9 from Outer Space

Unspeakable horrors from outer space paralyze the living and resurrect the dead!

Insidious: A Spin on the Evil Child Flick

This movie gets instant cred (according to us) with the phrase "from the makers of Saw and Paranormal Activity." That's all we need to trust that it will make us shit our pants in fear.

"A young family discovers that the body of their comatose boy attracts evil entities, while the boy's mind is trapped in a dark realm known as The Further." [Wikipedia]

In reading a little more about this one, I see the budget was only $1 million, which actually isn't a lot for Hollywood, so it seems the Saw guy and PA guy were like "Hey, we're both good at cheap indie horror flicks. Let's team up!"

So it's not the house and it's not the typical evil creepy child premise. It's close though. The kid is attracting the evil shit. I'll bet the dark realm with have some great visuals too, à la hell in What Dreams May Come, or stuff like that.

Some of the trailer looks oddly familiar, as in ripped directly out of other horror movies, like the demonic crackling of the baby monitor, the set-up of the camera equipment, the evaluation of the psychic, the baby crying in the crib, the creepy little girl in a white dress, the crayon drawings of scary black figures, etc. But we'll give it a shot, because we love being scared, and we embrace the horror clichés. Bring it!

Apollo 18 - New Moon Movie Confirms That I Do Not Want To Be An Astronaut

Oh me oh my, this one looks goooood!

We really loved Moon (2009) so we're totally up for another lunar escapade. This one, instead of being futuristic, takes place long ago during the Apollo missions. The tagline tells us there's a reason we didn't go back to the moon, and states that the movie will show you why, with recently discovered footage from the mysterious Apollo 18 mission that NASA cancelled, and that conspiracy theorists (I love them) claim went on as planned.

Another thing y'all know we love is the first-person perspective style, and this one seems to capture the action from the perspective of the astronauts themselves, with their handheld cameras and cams inside the lunar lander. It's advertised as "found footage." Ooooh like Blair Witch, or Cloverfield. But question - how do you find footage of a disaster that happened on the moon? Irrelevant.

There seems to be something lurking on the moon and messing with them, and I don't quite know how I feel about that. The general public is beyond the hokey 60s 'moon men' mentality, and we all know the moon is dead, with nothing currently living there. So where will they go with this? Will there be some scary-ass alien who is visiting? Who beat us there and is pissed that mankind has also landed? Then had the balls to plant a flag and go "MINE!"

Either way it seems like it'll be a great psychological thriller, and I'm sure we'll squirm many times with claustrophobia. Good fun. For some reason the actors aren't listed anywhere, which could be because nobody knows them, or it could be part of the marketing of the film, pimping these guys out as real astronauts. Regardless, not knowing them works to the movie's benefit, as most people can't name more than two real astronauts.

Trailer! What do you think?

Dark Shadows... Burton's Back!

We all know how hot monsters are nowadays. Vampires, werewolves, witches, warlocks, and so on and so on. This upcoming gothic flick caught my attention for a couple reasons:

1. Tim Burton. That is all.
2. I heart monsters... especially monsters with 6-packs.

We know Tim employs an array of peeps for nearly all his films, so it's no surprise that Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter will both star. Also appearing is Jackie Earle Haley and Michelle Pfeiffer. Oh happy day!

Good cast, we're down with the Burtster. All haters can take a moment now to bend over, gently put your head between your legs and munch your own assholes. Ok, that was hateful, but seriously, go munch a log.

Dark Shadows is a gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis, who tells of a dream he had in which a girl takes a long train ride to visit a large mansion. The story 'bible', which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any supernatural elements. It was unprecedented in daytime television when ghosts were introduced about six months after it began.

The series became hugely popular when, a year into its run, vampire Barnabas Collins (played by Jonathan Frid) appeared. Dark Shadows also featured werewolves, ghosts, zombies, man-made monsters, witches, warlocks, time travel (both into the past and into the future), and a parallel universe. A small company of actors each played many roles; as actors came and went, some characters were played by more than one actor. Wikipedia

Here's a taste of the original show - it's amazeballs, you'll see!

Who's excited?!

Eldorado: David Carradine is Still Acting in the Afterlife

Here's the deal. I'm lazy. So I'm giving you this looooong-ass synops from Wikipedia about this upcoming horror-comedy called Eldorado:

The Stranger, a tall striking creature dressed in white sets into motions a series of events whilst reciting the Edgar Allan Poe poem 'Eldorado', which will have an effect on those heading towards the mythical city. The evening was going to be a normal Blues Brothers tribute gig for Oliver and Stanley Rosenblum, The Jews Brothers at a local Bar Mitzvah, but things were not going to go to plan for Stan and Ollie. After being wrongly sent to entertain the annual conference of Neo Nazi's instead of the stripper, which was sent to the Bar Mitzvah by their inept Manager JJ. The Jews Brothers are chased out of town by the head of the Californian Chapter of Neo Nazi's General Zwick, and after contacting their agent JJ who makes amends for the mix up by sending the boys and the stripper Lesley Dean to do a show at the Eldorado Festival. This sets in motion a series of events, as at the same time Jessica Albino Jones is on the run from her husband, strip club owner Roy with a million of his dollars and with words of wisdom from Angel and Lilly, she finds herself on the same road to Eldorado.

As these relatively normal characters make their way there, it becomes increasingly clear that the inhabitants of this town are not the normal folk you expect celebrating their towns bi-centenary. The town folk of Eldorado are a collection of folk who prey on tourists including loud mouth Dick Wheeler coming to their town and making them top of the menu. Now Oliver and Stanley have to escape from this town before they become the dish of the day. With the likes of Lemmas the deranged butcher making sure that only the best meat is ready for the feast it's going to be hard getting out in one piece.

With the Stranger bringing the pieces into play and the Spirit Guide making his own waves, it will end in a way where no one is going to believe. With the town folk on the tail of Oliver and Stanley, they make the run out of town with a million dollars that Stanley has surprisingly found, they are looking forward to a life of no more worries, but the Stranger does not have that in mind, as they find themselves on a cloud on the other side.

Here's the scoop - We were asked to review this film way back when, but the film could not be shipped to Canada. We were so disappointed after hearing that it was David Carradine's last film! Well now we're going to be able to watch it, and we're super excited!

With Peter O'Toole, Darryl Hannah and David Carradine all starring, how could it go wrong? Actually, it quite possibly could go horribly awry, but 'so good it's bad' is aiiight with me!

And BONUUUUSSS, it's in 3D! Something tells me this will only be found in select theaters.

Memorable Monologue: 28 Days Later

"It started as rioting. But right from the beginning you knew this was different. Because it was happening in small villages, market towns. And then it wasn't on the TV any more. It was in the street outside. It was coming in through your windows. It was a virus. An infection. You didn't need a doctor to tell you that. It was the blood. It was something in the blood. By the time they tried to evacuate the cities it was already too late. Army blockades were overrun. And that's when the exodus started. Before the TV and radio stopped broadcasting there were reports of infection in Paris and New York. We didn't hear anything more after that."

~ Naomie Harris as Selena in 28 Days Later (2002)

Tasty Tagline: Haunted Honeymoon

... A Comedy Chiller

Tasty Tagline: My Bloody Valentine

Get your heart broken.

Quotable Quote: Phantom of the Paradise

"I have been in this business a long time. Now, if I don't want to do a show, it's not because I got stage fright. It's because some creature from beyond doesn't want me to do the show."

~ Gerrit Graham as Beef in Phantom of the Paradise (1974)

My Fave Con-Artists

I know this sounds bad, but I'm sure you've been in this headspace before. Ever see someone in a movie pull off an awesome con, and think - I could do that!

I realize in the movies it's very much glamourized, but who cares. It's oh-so-much-fun to watch, and you end up rooting for them to pull it off.

First off, we have The Frighteners (1996). A Peter Jackson film, pre-LOTR, with some ground-breaking visual effects for the 90s.

Michael J. Fox plays an exorcist of sorts who gets the ghouls outta yo house. What you learn fairly quickly into the film is that he's really just a psychic with the ability to see and speak to ghosts. The ghosts causing the hauntings? You guessed it. His pals. They've teamed up to con scared homeowners into forking over dough to exorcise the spooks. Fox's character walks around with bullshit paranormal detecting devices as his buds shake the pots and pans, and even make an infant fly around the room. Good stuff.

The plot gets intersting though as townspeople start dying, and Fox's character realizes there's more sinister things out there than the little game he's playing, and as the only genuine paranormal communicator, it's up to him to figure it all out.

Next up we have Dennis Quaid and Draco the dragon in Dragonheart, also from 1996. Bowen (Quaid) is a successful dragon-slayer way back in medieval times. Too good. His personal quest for revenge (ie slaying all the dragons he hates) ends up almost putting him out of business, when he realizes he's slayed them all. All but one. Draco remains, voiced by none other than Sean Connery, and the unlikely due team up. Draco for reasons of remaining alive, and Bowen for financial gain. To remain employed.

They travel from village to village, Draco terrorizing the locals, and Bowen riding into town all brave and shit, offering his services as a slayer. Draco goes down, disappears, Bowen gets paid, and they meet up later to do it all over again. And of course, since it's a family friendly film, they become good friends and respect each other, and take on an evil king at the same time.

Enjoy this stupid musical montage of Bowen and Draco, to get a taste at least.

In The Brothers Grimm (2005) Matt Damon and Heath Ledger play the famous story-telling bros. The movie starts out with them in a barn, spouting curses and trying to trap and be rid of a witch. We learn quickly that this is a similar scenario to the ones I just described. The witch (actor in a wig) and the bros are in cahoots to make money from scared village people. Things go awry when the Grimms are busted, and must go on a special mission to save their skins from exocution. Soon they realize that the black magic they falsely defended against is more than just stories.

Skip to the 5:00 mark to see the con in action.

Heartbreakers (2001) gives us our first taste of the femme-fatale type of con artist. Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt play a mother-daughter duo, bent on marrying, divorcing, and swindling rich dudes outta their cash. Obviously it's full of shenanigans, and for a second, as a woman you might watch and go "this is the way to go," before slapping yourself and going "what am I saying, I don't wanna marry Gene Hackman."

Honourable Mentions:

Wichita and Little Rock in Zombieland (2009)
The money-grubbing ladies in Mad Money (2008)
The Ocean's 11 gang
Frank Abagnale Jr. in Catch Me If You Can (2002)

Hitchcock's Trailers

Written by this week's Cin-Ob Supreme, ADAM from The Blue Meanies Are Coming!

_____________________________________

We all love going to the cinema to watch the latest movies. Some film fans turn up in time for the start of the film, while others arrive in advance to watch the trailers.

I'm in the second category, and my favourite trailers are those that feature footage that isn't in the film. I don't mean scenes included in trailers released before it was decided to cut them from the film (e.g. the Iron Man 2 trailer), I mean anything that was specifically shot for the trailer only.

Besides being the 'Master of Cinema', Alfred Hitchcock was also the master of this kind of trailer. Here are my two favourite examples...

The opening minute of this trailer for Rope (1948) features a scene between characters Janet Walker and David Kentley, with narration from Jimmy Stewart, who also appears in the film. As the trailer states, this is the only time that we see David alive. I suspect the trailer was shot so that the actor at least got some dialogue!

I don't know what cinemagoers thought of this trailer for Hitchcock's The Birds (1963), but it's certainly worth seeing. It begins as a lecture by Hitchcock himself about man's relationship with birds, and it's only at about four minutes in that we realise something more sinister is going on. Could Hitchcock himself have prompted the film's bird attack, by preparing the meal that we see him almost tuck into?!

Both excellent trailers, and each are available on the DVDs for the respective films.

Brilliant Bloopers: The Happening

I wouldn't really call these bloopers, but more of a gag reel. And possibly one of the worst gag reels I've ever seen. It's like a group of people hanging out who all think they've so clever and witty, but they just ain't. Sorry Marky Mark. Loved you in Three Kings and Rock Star!

It seems fitting that this gag reel is lame, since most people agree this movie was too. We liked it. Shaymalamadingdong is awesome.

Tasty Tagline: Troll

Apartment for rent.

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