This film is shot well, it's packed with awesome performances, and it's SO MUCH FUN! It's a ton of fun, in fact. It has a great style and keeps switching things up in a wonderful way.
Don't read anything about it online. Don't Google it. Just watch it!
Chris Peckover has come a long way since Directing Undocumented - a fine film, but not on this level, in my most humble opinion. I want to see more team-ups between him and Zach Kahn for sure. It made for a wondrous film experience.
Loved this film. Watch it at once. Currently running on SHUDDER (U.S.)
I was passed a CUTE LITTLE BUGGERS screener today and I gave it a watch at once. I had seen a teaser and few articles on it and then it dropped off my radar. When I saw the screener link roll in, I was super excited. Now, before I really get rolling, I'm going to address the elephants in the room. • This is a low budget film. Relatively, of course. I just saw a short with the budget of $25, so.... • This does have some rather dodgy 3D in it. Some bits more wonky than others. I mean...we're dealing with CGI rabbits on a low budget. But, even though it may not be "A List", it was solid. • Lastly, we have almost a full ADR dubbing situation. Some of it comes off as odd, but seeing as I'm a huge giallo fan, I was over that within 10 minutes.
But, none of that matters in the long run.
Tony Jopia, Garry Charles, Andy Davie, Kristofer Dayne, and the cast and crew of CUTE LITTLE BUGGERS have managed to do something highly entertaining and fun here. That means a lot to someone who was a teen horror lover in the 80s. Their press kit was saying that this is "Hot Fuzz meets Gremlins", but - while those ARE fun films, I'm going to give this film an even bigger complement. This totally reminds me of the fun I had watching the awesome Peter Jackson work of the 80s and 90s with films like MEET THE FEEBLES, BRAIN DEAD and BAD TASTE. It's wacky, silly, funny, and a bloody good time.
The plot is throwback as well. Aliens are using our women to breed. And, what better tool to use as a hunter / gatherer for said women than...rabbits. The rabbits are altered to become fierce creatures of death that the aliens use to drag women back to their breeding chamber and to defend. When the towns folk find out what's happening, they have to fight back to save their women...and their world!
I had a blast watching this. It's just a lot of fun all around. While the budget might have been low on this, it had a ton of things going for it that elevated it immensely. At the base, of things the writing was lively and highly entertaining. The overall look and feel of the film was very professional and far better than many indy films I've seen. It was clear that the filmmakers knew what they were doing. The lighting and camerawork were grand.
The 3D in the film was ambitious and totally got the job done. The 3D and effects production teams were doing a lot of work here and it shows. I was watching the film and trying to think of just how long the effects production work took seeing all the shots that had some sort of 3D or post effects work done on them. I believe the aliens had post work done on their eyes and tongues, ALL the rabbits....so many rabbits...moving around and attacking. But, the thing that I found to be the most fun about this was the CG gore.
I'm not usually a computer gore fan. Blood sprays that used to be done with squibs back in the day were far more visceral and real than 75% of the CGI stuff we are seeing today. When used sparingly, computer generated gore and blood can be a big help. (see Greg Nicotero and Team's WALKING DEAD work) What I loved about the use of computer aided nastiness here is the fact that they didn't dabble.
It's like they just said, "Ok...we have rabbits whose heads split open with tentacles attacking humans. Let's go big!" And big they go. Blood sprays, limbs are ripped from bodies, and deadly rabbits fly!
The characters were a hoot as well. Over the top caricatures of small town residents were in abundance from the slightly bumbling police officer, to the crazy old folks, to the wondrous Caroline Munro appearance as Mystic Mary. This really had a BRAIN DEAD feel for me because I love over the top characters being alive, energetic, and invested in films. You could tell that these folks were not just phoning it in. They were going above and beyond and they were having fun doing it.
And, while I'm chatting this film up, I have to mention the women. :::swoon::: While they are not going to be seeing a passing grade on the Bechdel test, they are taking things back to the 80s here again with the amount of beautiful women finding various ways to "get their kit off" as they say. It's comical in it's own right and really did remind me of 80s movies. Shirts were flying.
This film managed to entertain me, but it also did more than that. It provided some genuine laugh out loud moments that had me giggling and chuckling at all over the place. By the end of the film, I found myself being very surprised and just how much I was laughing and how I wasn't doing my usual indy film groan & eye-roll ® combination. A refreshing treat!
You're going to want to down this as soon as it comes out. Get some food and beverages, gather your friends round the TV, and prepare to have a silly good time!
We have a lot going on in our family with a 4 year old and a 2 year old,
work, freelance and more family business. It's hard to pick up a book
at the end of the night instead of crashing on the couch with the
television telling me stupid stories. :) Well, I was FINALLY able to finish GHOST WALK by Brian Keene and man...I hope someone options it for a film! hehehehe I'd love to see it done well by someone. There are so many cool elements to the story it just seems ripe for someone taking it on.
The general plot (spoiler free) is simple. There is an ancient evil that is making it's way into our world from the beyond a la Lovecraft and a small group of people need to stop it before it does. It just so happens that the field area where the locals are setting up the Halloween Ghost Walk is entry to our world.
Now, this may seem rather basic in premise, but Keene's execution is fun and highly entertaining.
The characters are believable and interesting. The pace is grand - flowing from one scene to the other and building into a frenzy at the end. And, it read well, if that makes sense. It never stumbled over itself trying to be something grand or overly deep, but in that simplicity it became something kinda grand in a way. Something that had me nodding my head and smiling about from time to time as I thought, "Right on - that's really cool."
Short, sweet and to the point - I really enjoyed this book! Well worth a read through. Pick it up!
Agent M FLEM found some really amazing vinyl toys recently. Sadly, they are not available for purchase...YET! :) A great design style and fun characterization.
I'm not going to spend a whole lot of time on this film.
People ripped it TO PIECES. They hated it. Laughed at it. But, I'm going out on a limb and saying...I didn't hate it. It's fine. It's watchable like a college play is watchable. I watched and didn't want my time back afterwards and that's saying something.
There's nothing new here. It's Dracula. But, there are some fun Argento-isms that I enjoyed seeing. The story moves along and things happen....:::shrug:::: There are some nekkid folks in it, blood and biting. Everything you'd expect. I think it was due to the extremely low expectations that I didn't walk away feeling this movie was all that bad. Especially when watching at home with a small glass of an adult beverage on my comfy couch via Netflix. It was a good time.
Now, there are HORRID things in here as well. Things they just should have masked with shadows, fog and darkness. The 3D. It's bad. It's cheap and bad and it should not be as prominent as it is. When it comes up, it's obvious and sad.
Asia "Yum Yum" Argento is still delicious, but she seems like she's playing well under her age range and it really doesn't work. The period clothing and hairstyle has an adverse affect on her charms as well, but she can vamp it up in true Asia style and it's fun.
And...Rutger Hauer in a "what am I doing here?" portrait of Van Helsing is just...yeah. You have to see it. It's fun in and of itself. :)
The lighting is strange overall as well. It's such a bright film. However, I think I might get what Argento was going for.
If you look at old Hammer films, they have the same look at points. Bright and stage-like, the lighting is blown out and in your face. I thought....just for a moment...that Dario might be going for this bright look of the older Hammer films.
At any rate, the film was fun and I enjoyed watching it. I still would have LOVED to see a SUSPIRIA Dario era Dracula - I think that would be really wild. Toss this on if you're in the mood for some fun post-recorded dialogue, bad 3D and strange turns of events. It's fine.
My sister-in-law gave Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters a go recently and really enjoyed it. "It was fine. I mean...you know...it was just fun and light." I made note and gave it a go and she was right - it was just a fun film.
You know the drill - Hansel and Gretel story with a new twist where they continue their witch killing as youths, teens and into adulthood leading to the resolution where there is a major witch happening that they need to take on. There are "Van Helsing Style" steampunk weapons, a troll, bad humans and enough fighting and spell casting to make things interesting throughout.
The cast is fine and doing what they need to do to sell the story. Jeremy "Hawkeye" Renner is dashing and tough, the delicious Gemma "Quantum of Solace" / "so damn cute" Arterton is her so damn cute self and tough and the age defying Famke "Jean Grey / Xenia Onatopp" Janssen chews up everything in her path and plays the evil up to 13 in a fun, nasty witchy way. Man, she looks the same as she did in 1995. It's amazing.
The film follows the Van Helsing path, switching up the old tale with some new, alternate history madness where Gatling guns and tricky, self loading crossbows are weapons of choice. But, you know what? I'm totally fine with both films, really. At least someone is doing something interesting, fun and new-ish. And, they make use of some practical effects here as well. Good old fashioned makeup, prosthetics and costumes mixed in with computer effects. The troll was a lot of fun and felt like some of the Henson Dark Crystal work.
A small rant:
A recent view of THE BELL WITCH HAUNTING made me want to kick a...well...whoever greenlit the project, really. :::grin::: It was more of the same, found footage nuggetry that is all over the place. All hell is breaking loose, yet people are still compelled to point a camera around. DEVIL'S DUE is running into the same madness. A man's pregnant wife is speaking like a demon and he doesn't fail to continue rolling tape. Mind boggling. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters is just playing around. Tommy Wirkola knows what he's doing both behind the keyboard (writer) and behind the camera. However, as with his previous feature DEAD SNOW, I'm not sure people get that he's playing and having fun. I'm not sure what they are expecting, but to rail against this film is just silly. If you saw the trailer, you knew what you were getting into straight away.
It would be like me complaining if I went to see DEVIL'S DUE after seeing the trailer. I know it's not for me - why rip it more than I have already? :)
If you're not afraid to take in some fun, try out Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters. It's a hoot. :)
Some fun PRACTICAL effects work in here as well. Like this fun troll, Edward. :)
The folks over at Tirana Films passed me the latest and greatest trailer and images for their upcoming feature CRYING WOLF and I have to say that I'm excited about seeing it. We're not talking "mega-blockbuster-horror" here. We're talking "they love horror" here and that shines through in the trailer. There's a heart and soul to this feature and it has a style and look that I find very appealing.
Now, let's really look at this trailer and what it offers. Fans of SHAUN OF THE DEAD, UNDEAD, DOGHOUSE, or more specific werewolf films like AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON or THE HOWLING should be able to appreciate this effort. You can see that the filmmakers are not dealing with AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF budget, but that they are all in and really trying to present something that will entertain. It's working for me for sure. The acting stands out for me. I want to compare Crying Wolf to many other films right now, but I don't want to bash the others due to the new HORROR SHOW policy and standards for reviewing. (If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all.) Suffice it to say that I've seen many films of late that don't have this level of talent. This crew seems to be all in when they are working their roles. The way the film was shot is getting me more excited about this production. This doesn't look like they broke out a single Lowel light kit, a Sony HD pro-sumer cam and a prayer. There is some attention to framing and lighting here and makes me very happy. The color and picture quality takes this film to the next level.
And they have some good old "werewolf human" practical effects going here. Prosthetics and real world effects work with some light computer work tossed in for flavor. That makes me happy as well. I love seeing this sort of effects work in film. (Why Greg Nicotero makes me so happy with THE WALKING DEAD - not a lot of CGI work) I'm a sucker for a biped werewolf. It's why I love the Howling wolves better than David in AMERICAN WEREWOLF. I love seeing this style of wolf growling around. :) And lastly, they look like they are having a damn good time making the film and that energy is coming through in spades. It takes me back to a happy time for me. That time back in the 80s or so where people were excited about making films and really trying to not only get something on film, but to make people excited and happy that they watched the film in the first place. The golden time for me where my "internet" was Fangoria Magazine which I would buy religiously and read from cover to cover until the next issue would come out. I wish these folks well and I hope that I'm on the short list when it comes to announcements in the future. I can't wait to get my soda (...or whiskey, depending on the time of day....:::grin:::), my popcorn and snuggle up with this good ole werewolf flick. BRING IT ON! I'll be looking for Tony Jopia's CUTE LITTLE BUGGERS as well!
Feel free to toss me a screener, Mr. Jopia - I'll review it with gusto! :) I really want to see this film. It just looks like tons of fun.
CRYING WOLF:
"From the director of Deadtime and the greatly
anticipated comedy horror Cute Little Buggers Tony Jopia, comes the
British comedy horror Crying Wolf.
Produced by Tirana Films
International and Great Dayne Entertainment, ‘Crying Wolf’ stars
Caroline Munro, Gary Martin, Joe Egan, Kristofer Dayne and Ian Donnelly.
Due
for release in 2014, the comedy horror movie, ‘Crying Wolf’ starts its
tale in the small village of Deddington where prankster Andy is bitten
by a werewolf that kills his friend Charlotte. Andy tries to warn his
friends, but winds up turning them into a pack of werewolves. Enter a
pair of hapless journalists doomed to a grizzly end, then add a pair of
hard boiled vigilantes hot on the heels of the werewolf pack and before
you know it, everyone’s ‘Crying Wolf! during a bloody camping holiday in
the Cotswolds."
The Theatre Bizarre was another Netflix special - tossed on as a background film while I was doing other things. It turned out to be another one that I stopped and put on when I could actually sit and watch it.
We have another anthology venture here. A woman gets drawn to this strange theater and slips inside. Mannequins and dummies populate seats here and there. She takes a seat herself and Udo Kier walks onto the stage in some of the most creepy dummy makeup I've seen in a while. He introduces the first act and additional dummies come to life on stage...and away we go.
I won't go into much more. We have a series of short horror films presented well, shot well and written well for the most part. The stories are interesting and engaging and well worth a viddy. Sort of like the old HITCHHIKER HBO show from back in the day. Nothing "brilliant", but nothing I wish I had my life back from either. On Netflix streaming at the time of this post. Check it!
Directors: Douglas Buck ... (segment "The Accident") Buddy Giovinazzo ... (segment "I Love You") David Gregory ... (segment "Sweets") Karim Hussain ... (segment "Vision Stains") Jeremy Kasten ... (framing segments) Tom Savini ... (segment "Wet Dreams") Richard Stanley ... (segment "The Mother Of Toads")
Jovanka Vuckovic (@JovankaVuckovic on Twitter) posted an image of a new painting she had in her home - a grand Phantom of the Opera that had my jaw dropped to the floor.
The artist is Donald Caron and he's an instant, new favorite of mine. His work is fantastic and the subject matter is RIGHT down my alley!
He has a great way with light and motion that really makes his work pop. He also has an eye for a great composition and adding layers of detail that help to lock in a lot of depth and atmosphere.
I think it's the light that really strikes me, however. One example is in the illustration "Premature Birth" (Frankenstein) below.
His characters are fun as well. His detail and lighting work can be seen in "SPASM 2009" (Ax). The light play in the folds of the clothing, hands and hair is grand and knowledge of human anatomy help to make the figure look "realistic", yet keeping a fun, illustrated style.
Much of his work has a cool, kinetic feel to it that really makes the subject matter come alive.
Ok, ok....I'll stop gushing about this guy's work already! :)
Needless to say, I'm going to be doing some research to see if he has some "Father of four affordable" prints for sale! Check him out and support this amazing artist!
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