A documentary recently came to my attention that simply blew my mind, and I assumed might many of you as well, but I held off on reporting it, because I was sure–sure–someone else would get to it, probably right as I was typing mine up. It just seemed like such a given! Well, some days have gone by, and nothing. So it is my duty to report to you the existence of Cropsey, a film that dares to ask, what if your urban legends were real?
Brought to us by the team of Joshua Zeman & Barbara Brancaccio, Cropsey delves into a tragedy from their mutual childhoods, the disappearances of seven local Staten Island children….and the perpetrator’s possible connection to the decades-old campfire story of Cropsey, which ispired films such as The Burning, and Madman.
If you head over to www.cropseylegend.com, you can sign up for the flick’s newsletter, and you can dig the official trailer by clicking the handy link below…. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJKPvaNEVjs
(Embedding was disabled, or else it would be right here in front of you…sorry kiddies.)
Currently part of the lineup at the Tribeca Film Festival, Cropsey looks to be a chilling and intriguing cross between The Burning and Blair Witch Project, and I for one can’t wait for it.
Now if someone could just make a Bloody Mary documentary….
Director: Rick Rosenthal
Writers: Larry Brand, Sean Hood
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Brad Loree, Busta Rhymes, Bianca Kajlich
Rating: R (USA), 15 (UK), MA (Australia)
The RZ HALLOWEEN 2 teaser trailer is now playing in select NY & LA theaters. While it has yet to officially hit the internet, Entertainment Tonight aired it under the snipped-down guise of “exclusive clip” (which they always do), so here that is – when a better copy is up we’ll update this post. April 20 – Updated with HQ Version
Looking forward to the alternate ending, because the one they went with was the only buzzkill on the entire rollercoaster ride for me – specifically talking the final shot of the film here – the very moment they should have used to strengthen the presence of Harry Warden/The Miner, they wasted to set up the decidedly skinny ‘host’ for a sequel.
Lussier reveals that Axel Palmer (Kerr Smith) was the killer in the first draft of the screenplay and that ther will be 30 minutes of deleted scenes and an alternate ending on the forthcoming DVD/Blu-ray release arriving in stores on May 19.
TRICK ‘R TREAT is a longgg delayed slasher-friendly anthology flick, which should finally be hitting DVD in October. It’s said to be the best Halloween-themed horror flick since HALLOWEEN, which isn’t that much a stretch – for some reason, the holiday has never been truly exploited in cinema, with most preferring not to even attempt to tread on the sacred toes set by John Carpenter’s standard. A shame, really. TRICK ‘R TREAT isn’t the most recent anthology feature to implement slasher elements – AMUSEMENT was another that did, to mixed results but an admirable attempt.
Poison, Drowning, Claw, Or Knife. So Many Ways To Take A Life.
It is said that Halloween is the night when the dead rise to walk among us and other unspeakable things roam free. The rituals of All Hallows Eve were devised to protect us from their evil mischief, and one small town is about to be taught a terrifying lesson that some traditions are best not forgotten. Nothing is what it seems when a suburban couple learns the dangers of blowing out a Jack-o-Lantern before midnight; four women cross paths with a costumed stalker at a local festival; a group of pranksters goes too far and discovers the horrifying truth buried in a local legend; and a cantankerous old hermit is visited by a strange trick-or-treater with a few bones to pick. Costumes and candy, ghouls and goblins, monsters and mayhem… the tricks and treats of Halloween turn deadly as strange creatures of every variety-human and otherwise-try to survive the scariest night of the year.
It seems every day there’s news on a new horror film, remake or sequel that’s happening. Good to hear when something’s not happening though. Like MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3D, which we told you back in February had ideas swirling between writer/buck-naked star Todd Farmer and director Patrick Lussier.
Quick update from Fangoria’s Weekend of Horrors… Director Patrick Lussier revealed today that Lionsgate expressed it has no interest in a sequel to My Bloody Valentine 3D.
According to Lussier, the studio, while surprised by the slasher film’s b.o. success, doesn’t want to develop a follow-up and would prefer to leave the film as a one-shot.
Again, I must send out my plea to Hollyweird – turn the 3D element into a franchise by grabbing another retro slasher and reboot it in three-dimensions. Can’t you just picture the glory of HUMONGOUS 3D?
Proto-Slashers: Looking at the flicks that paved the way for Halloween and the heyday of slasher movies.
Homicidal (1961)
I love William Castle movies… The Tingler, The House on Haunted Hill, Mr. Sardonicus, Macabre, I Saw What You Did, 13 Ghosts, The Night Walker, Straight-Jacket. I mean, what’s not to love? Castle made movies that attempted to give the horror audiences of the 50’s and 60’s what they wanted – fast paced fear flicks that genuinely tried to generate some thrills. Sure he had to resort to gimmicks sometimes, but that’s part of the fun. Whether is was wiring seats to gives movie goers a mild shock, or releasing a fake skeleton on a wire overhead, Castle went all out to deliver the goods.
After Hitchcock had a major hit with Psycho in 1960, Castle responded the following year by producing and directing Homicidal. To help lure audiences, Castle created the Fright Break and Coward’s Corner. Just before the film’s twist ending was revealed, a clock appeared on the screen accompanied by a voice over informing viewers that they had 45 seconds to leave the auditorium if they were too frightened to see what was coming next. Those who left would receive a full refund, but there was a catch. Walkouts would have to sit in Coward’s Corner, a booth in the theatre’s lobby. They would have to remain there until the movie was over and everyone else who was brave enough to see how Homicidal ended had walked past, undoubtedly jeering. But nah, I can’t imagine anyone opting for that humiliation.
Homicidal tells the story of a mysterious woman (Jean Arless) who checks into a hotel and offers the bellboy a large sum of money to marry her. He agrees, and after a murder occurs, we find out that the Mysterious Ms. lives in the small California community of Solvang where she cares for her husband’s wheelchair-bound former governess (Eugenie Leontovich). Why she does this, I dunno. Enter Arless’ husband, his sister (Patricia Breslin) and her boyfriend (Glenn Corbett), and the stage is set for a murder party straight out of the Psycho handbook. Just why all these murders take place is reveled in a convoluted twist ending that most audiences will have guessed long before the film’s end.
On my first viewing of Homicidal at a film festival a few years ago, I fell victim to a laughing fit as the film’s surprise became immediately apparent upon its introduction. It was a “Is everybody seeing this?” kind of moment. As it turns out, most people in attendance were indeed seeing the same thing I was, judging by the amount of knowing laughter spreading throughout the theatre. I can’t speak for everyone else at that screening, but I can tell you that I wasn’t laughing “at”Homicidal, but I was laughing at it’s audacity. I’ve always appreciated Castle’s willingness to put any and every over the top element he could think of up there on the screen in the name of entertainment. That’s something that some of the more outrageous slasher films would eagerly adhere to twenty years later, and it’s a reflection of Castle’s genuine showmanship. Castle’s horror movies always had a keen sense of entertainment delivered through their “stop at nothing” attitude that never truly looked down at their audiences. Instead, Castle’s flicks respected their audiences’ desire to have a good time and a few scares at the movies. Recently, I watched Homicidal again with a couple of pretty savvy movie viewers, and I was stunned when they didn’t catch on to the film’s twist until the end of the movie. It was good to know, however, that the movie could still work on the unsuspecting.
Homicidal is a fun viewing experience and a tiny step forward on the road from Psycho to Halloween. Its campy aspects are part of its charm. Even guessing the film’s twist shouldn’t stop you from enjoying the out of control plot and the film’s set pieces. A couple of the murders in particular come as a surprise even today. Following Psycho’s lead, one slash-a-thon especially comes out of the blue and features more black & white blood than expected, and another, using a trick Castle would repeat in Straight-Jacket, entails a body part being removed in silhouette.
Incredibly, Homicidal managed to end up on Time Magazine’s Best Films of the Year List, an honour the magazine had denied Hitchcock’s film a year earlier. So why not do like Time, and pay an over-the-top tribute to this proto-slasher yourself? Get your hands on the DVD, have some friends over, and recreate Coward’s Corner in your living room. Isn’t it time you had a Fright Break?
Director: Steve Miner
Writers: Robert Zappia, Matt Greenberg, Kevin Williamson
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Adam Arkin, John Hartnett, Michelle Williams
Rating: R (USA), 18 (UK), M (Australia)
