In the mood for blood and boobs in glorious, glorious three dimensions?

Looks no further than Piranha 3D!

We finally get some horror this summer (the last horror film released theatrically, I think, was Nightmare on Elm Street back in April/May), at the very end.  I really am tired of seeing “Watch it in DIGITAL 3D” at the end of every trailer nowadays, knowing that most movie companies are converting movies post-production just to get the extra money that helped Avatar become the highest grossing movie of all time.

Piranha was converted to 3D post-production, but I had high hopes that, unlike most 3D movies, Piranha would make the best use of its 3D.  In my opinion, even though the movies weren’t necessarily that great, The Final Destination and My Bloody Valentine were some of the best live-action uses of 3D I’ve seen since 3D became all the rage.  Horror in 3D is just about the only 3D worth paying the extra funds for … but was Piranha worth that extra $3.50 charge? (continue reading…)

Last Friday night, a buddy of mine and I decided to finally have the horror movie marathon we’ve been talking about for months now…a Freakin’ Fulci Friday Film Fest!  What did Freakin’ Fulci Friday Film Fest entail?

• 3 Lucio Fulci Films – City of the Living Dead, The Beyond, and House by the Cemetary
• Italian beer – in this case, Peroni and Birra Moretti
• Italian food – pizza qualified because we were lazy

With all three elements in place, we prepared ourselves to venture into the oddness of early 80’s Italian horror! (continue reading…)

This past Friday, the Robert Rodriguez produced Predators, the third entry in the popular franchise (not counting the AvP entries), was released, and fan enthusiasm is at an all time high for the franchise.  With mostly positive reviews and a decent box office opening, is this a revitalization of the beloved franchise?

I loved the first two Predator movies, and with talent like Robert Rodriguez, and direction from Nimrod Antal (Vacancy), was definitely excited about this newest entry.  Does Predators live up to the hype?  After twenty years, does it bring life back to the alien hunters?  Or should they have been left dead?

Warning: very MILD spoilers after the jump!

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I mean, it’s hard to say that a film is going to be good just by looking at the cast, but the upcoming remake of one my favorite 80’s flicks, Fright Night, seems to be shaping up pretty nicely.  The script review at CC2K seems to not think much of it, but let’s be honest – did the original really have that great of a script?  They say it’s “Disturbia with fangs,” but wasn’t the original just Rear Window with fangs?  And isn’t Disturbia just…well, Rear Window?

Really, I think a cast like this can elevate mediocre script writing to cinema gold.  Just announced today are David Tennant as Peter Vincent, and Chrisopher Mintz-Plasse as “Evil Ed.”  I mean, not that Mintz-Plasse is cinema awesomeness, but he’s at least always fun to watch, and after seeing Kick Ass, I think he could pull off Evil Ed quite nicely.  And David Tennant as Peter Vincent?  I mean, that’s just inspired casting.  Also already announced are Anton Yelchin as Charlie (a role originated by William Ragsdale) and Colin Farrell as Jerry the vampire (Chris Sarandon’s part in the original).

I have to admit…unlike most remakes, this cast seems to REALLY fit the roles in question.  As long as they don’t remake Fright Night 2 (fuck that movie), I think we might have a bonafide quality remake coming our way…besides, didn’t I say this would make a great remake?

I’m not a fan of novels that flaunt their influences, particularly when I’m familiar with the influences in question. It’s like paying to see a new band and discovering only after the set begins that you’re watching a cover band. The music may be competent, but if you wanted to hear those songs, you could just listen to the original stuff.

It’s clear from The Devil You Know that Mike Carey really likes Raymond Chandler. I had that influence spotted from the first chapter; I didn’t need the name-check he provides in Chapter 22. The problem is Carey’s not as clever at dialogue or internal monologue as Chandler was. And Chandler had a lot more love for and knowledge of 1940s Los Angeles than Carey has for modern London. A tube-stop itinerary does not compelling reading make, nor does it tell you anything meaningful about London.

When he gets out of his own way, Carey is a good storyteller. When most of the Hellblazer and Raymond Chandler residue is burned off, his talent for world-building and for scripting action scenes shines through. I enjoyed the descriptions of exorcism-by-music. The fights and chases were compelling, and I turned the pages as eagerly as anyone caught up in the action. Unfortunately, a story needs more than fights and chases, and that’s where the book falls down.

There are problems in this book that a good editor should have fixed. For example, Carey makes a point of telling us how competent and worldly Felix Castor is, follows it up with a visit to Castor’s paranoid friend with the comment that said friend’s paranoia is contagious, then three pages later has Castor caught completely off-guard by a succubus. The event doesn’t ring true, and it makes me doubt that he really understands his main character.

The worst offense in the novel, however, is the reveal of the mystery. Castor spends three-quarters of the novel chasing down clues and interviewing people. The clues are intriguing even when they don’t quite connect in the expected way. I accept that I shouldn’t necessarily be able to determine exactly what happened from the clues, BUT… it shouldn’t require a twenty-page-long backstory from the guilty party to explain how all the dots connect. It ceases to be a shocking revelation and wanders dangerously close to a lecture where Carey is just reading us his working notes.

It brings me no joy to write so harshly about this book. I think that Carey’s The Unwritten is the best title currently being published under DC’s Vertigo imprint. I know that Carey is an accomplished storyteller and fully capable of bringing a modern fantasy to life, but ultimately, The Devil You Know feels like a John Constantine story that he never had the chance to tell. I suspect it might have played better as a Constantine story, rather than as a clunky first novel.

As I’m sure we’ll all find out tonight at midnight (those of us attending a midnight Iron Man showing anyway), it appears as if, on the eve of Iron Man 2’s release, we may have news of a secret teaser?

Insiders familiar with the trailer tell us that it shows a bunch of kids who are shooting a movie with a Super 8 camera in the seventies or eighties. When they develop the film, they notice that there’s an alien creature in the frame. Our sources also say that Super 8 is absolutely connected to 2008’s Cloverfield (possibly a prequel, but not a sequel).

Interesting … as Ain’t it Cool News notes in the same article, it would be interesting for Paramount to advertise TWO alien “found footage” films simultaneously, with this and Orin Peli’s Area 51.  However, given the secrecy behind this project, do we even know it’s Abrams’ related?  Maybe it actually is an Area 51 trailer?

I remember when the Cloverfield trailer premiered, the entire internet was buzzing with theories and excitement about the movie, and what its title would eventually be.  I really dug Cloverfield – definitely curious as to what this trailer could mean, and looking forward to some answers!

I can’t lie – I’ve got a little bit of mixed emotions on the news that the directors of Rec and Rec 2 are doing not one, but two more films:

Major Spanish studio Filmax will produce two new [REC] films in the next couple of years called [REC] Genesis and [REC] Apocalypse from the same directors as the first two [REC] films.

[REC] directors Paco Plaza and Jaume Balaguero will split directing responsibilities for the two films. Plaza will direct the first film Genesis, which much like the Batman and Star Trek franchises will return to the origin of the original infection that caused humans to turn into zombies.

Paco Plaza and Luis Alejandro Berdejo (The New Daughter) will co-write Genesis with Balaguero actively involved in the development of the project. The film is expected to be delivered in the autumn of 2011.

Apocalypse will be directed by Balaguero and will end the [REC] saga with the pandemic spreading to unknown proportions. Plaza will assist on the project, which is expected to be delivered in the autumn of 2012.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m super excited about more entries in the series, and I’m happy they brought back these directors, who’s talent is the reason for the film’s lasting success.  My main gripe is the rather cliche-sounding storylines they’re going with.  A prequel and a global pandemic?  Of course, I’m sur eBalguero and Plaza will find a way to impress me more than these descriptions – I just hope this series goes out on a high note, if this truly is the end.

Man, this movie looks stupid.  Like Snakes on a Plane stupid.  But what the hell, it’s also probably going to take good advantage of 3-D technology, feature a ton of gore (from the director of High Tension and The Hills Have Eyes remake), and has a pretty cool cast, so sign me up.

Hello there, boils and ghouls!  It’s time for another very exciting edition of PAUL’S HORROR FLIX!  Two very different horror films this week, as we delve into both the supernatural and the extraterrestrial with:

• The Fourth Kind
• The Reeds

Are either one of these flicks worth your time?  Will they keep you up at night, looking past your bedroom door for ghosts and aliens?  Find out in my full reviews after the jump!

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Speaking of Paul W.S. Anderson, the fourth film in the Resident Evil series, which features his return to the director’s seat after taking the last two off, has released a teaser trailer, and it looks all kinds of awesome.  The emphasis in the trailer, of course, is on the 3D technology they’re using, which is the same as James Cameron used for Avatar, except that they seem to be using it to create some “shit flying at the audience” moments that most 3D films seem to not bother with.

Resident Evil: Afterlife is due out this September