“Haunt,” an early Halloween arrival that traps its collegiate protagonists inside an all-too-fatal holiday attraction, delivers a satisfying quantity of creeps and frights that more than compensate for the occasional lull. A step up from found-footage horror pic “Nightlight,” Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’ last directorial collaboration, this latest isn’t a beacon of conceptual originality, either. But that doesn’t matter much, as the writer-directors (co-scenarists of “A Quiet Place”) have a firm hold on atmosphere and demonstrate diverse enough suspense tactics to avoid a sense of slasher formula — while nonetheless hewing fairly close to that template.
With producer Eli Roth’s name as an additional lure, this should do well among genre fans in a limited 10-city theatrical release Sept. 13, simultaneous with On Demand and digital launch.
Though shot in Kentucky, “Haunt” is set in Carbondale, Ill., an improbably named but actual midwest college town. It’s Halloween,...
With producer Eli Roth’s name as an additional lure, this should do well among genre fans in a limited 10-city theatrical release Sept. 13, simultaneous with On Demand and digital launch.
Though shot in Kentucky, “Haunt” is set in Carbondale, Ill., an improbably named but actual midwest college town. It’s Halloween,...
- 9/11/2019
- by Dennis Harvey
- Variety Film + TV
While gaps between classic horror films and their sequels have tested fans’ patience in the past, it’s hard to imagine anyone eagerly waiting for a follow-up to The Strangers. The sub-par bag-head home invasion horror from 2008 had the privilege of being granted a theatrical run back in the day but seemed unlikely to spawn a sequel then, let alone ten years later. What’s more surprising than a belated follow-up being green lit, is that it’s also debuting in cinemas and not being banished to online screening platforms or supermarket bargain bins next to VHS rips of Jeff Speakman’s Timelock or Wild Fishing with Henry Gilbey.
Thankfully, The Strangers: Prey at Night isn’t quite the derivative botch-job one would have expected considering the original’s insignificance and the genre’s tendency to emit cut-price cash-in/ franchise silage. The first act is robust with instant, albeit clichéd,...
Thankfully, The Strangers: Prey at Night isn’t quite the derivative botch-job one would have expected considering the original’s insignificance and the genre’s tendency to emit cut-price cash-in/ franchise silage. The first act is robust with instant, albeit clichéd,...
- 5/1/2018
- by Daniel Goodwin
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
If you missed the return of Dollface, Pin-Up Girl, and Man in the Mask in theaters, you can invite them into your own home on May 22nd with Universal Pictures Home Entertainment's digital release of The Strangers: Prey at Night (read Heather Wixson's review here), followed by a June release of an unrated Blu-ray and DVD (plus digital) that includes an alternate ending:
Press Release: Universal City, California, April 11, 2018 – Inspired by the 2008 cult classic The Strangers, The Strangers: Prey at Night is based on real events surrounding a family struggling to survive as they are attacked on their vacation by a trio of masked psychopaths that hunt their prey with seemingly no rhyme or reason. Director Johannes Roberts (47 Meters Down) pays homage to The Strangers by bringing back the infamous masked villains -- Dollface, Pin-Up Girl and Man in the Mask -- and incorporates elements of the ‘80s...
Press Release: Universal City, California, April 11, 2018 – Inspired by the 2008 cult classic The Strangers, The Strangers: Prey at Night is based on real events surrounding a family struggling to survive as they are attacked on their vacation by a trio of masked psychopaths that hunt their prey with seemingly no rhyme or reason. Director Johannes Roberts (47 Meters Down) pays homage to The Strangers by bringing back the infamous masked villains -- Dollface, Pin-Up Girl and Man in the Mask -- and incorporates elements of the ‘80s...
- 4/11/2018
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
If you would have told me back when the sequel was first announced that The Strangers: Prey at Night could potentially end up as one of my favorite films of 2018, I would have told you that you were completely off your rocker. And yet, here we are, with Johannes Roberts’ sequel defying all of my (admittedly low, but more on that later) expectations to deliver a more than worthy sequel to Bryan Bertino’s The Strangers that captures the unsettling nature of the original, and yet puts in some extra effort that makes Prey at Night still feel like it’s doing its own thing at the same time. As far as modern slashers go, Roberts has confidently crafted one wickedly fun thrill ride that reminds us that it is never wise to answer your door for unknown visitors, especially late at night.
The Strangers: Prey at Night starts off...
The Strangers: Prey at Night starts off...
- 3/8/2018
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
If there’s one thing Johannes Roberts’ pre-screening introduction confirmed before The Strangers: Prey At Night, it’s that he *obsessively* respects the profoundness of John Carpenter’s genre contributions – to the point where the pic is a stalkerish mixtape of all the filmmaker’s favorite bits.
Subtle hints Hammer-to-the-head homages evoke Halloween’s “The Shape,” roll with The Fog and grind Christine’s gears in an atmospherically overt love-letter to Carpenter that Roberts signs in blood. Dash in a bit of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre for flavor and you wonder what individuality this Strangers “offshoot” presents – until Roberts’ execution pushes such thoughts out of your mind. He may be riffing off recognizable horrors staples, but the director’s devotion to royalty is vicious and respectfully realized. Right down to a score you’d believe Carpenter recorded himself.
Screenwriter Ben Ketai (who rewrote Bryan Bertino’s existing script) introduces...
Subtle hints Hammer-to-the-head homages evoke Halloween’s “The Shape,” roll with The Fog and grind Christine’s gears in an atmospherically overt love-letter to Carpenter that Roberts signs in blood. Dash in a bit of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre for flavor and you wonder what individuality this Strangers “offshoot” presents – until Roberts’ execution pushes such thoughts out of your mind. He may be riffing off recognizable horrors staples, but the director’s devotion to royalty is vicious and respectfully realized. Right down to a score you’d believe Carpenter recorded himself.
Screenwriter Ben Ketai (who rewrote Bryan Bertino’s existing script) introduces...
- 3/8/2018
- by Matt Donato
- We Got This Covered
Into the Woods: A Creature Was Lurking in Heller’s Rudimentary Sophomore Film
If it’s nifty poetic title manages to reel you in, you’ll discover a much less memorable narrative at play in Jack Heller’s sophomore effort, Dark Was the Night (if the title sounds familiar, you may be thinking of the 2013 indie Cold Was the Night with Bryan Cranston or the gospel blues song by Blind Willie Johnson). A creature feature filled with familiar scary techniques melded to tangential familial stressors, Tyler Hisel’s screenplay (a writer making a jump from found footage to traditional thriller narratives following the South African flick Safari, 2013) feels rather primitively conceived. A mysterious, mythical beast is unleashed in the woods while the rural townsfolk become terrified as animals disappear and the body count mounts, and the unloved outsider sheriff must contend with stopping the creature from decimating a community...
If it’s nifty poetic title manages to reel you in, you’ll discover a much less memorable narrative at play in Jack Heller’s sophomore effort, Dark Was the Night (if the title sounds familiar, you may be thinking of the 2013 indie Cold Was the Night with Bryan Cranston or the gospel blues song by Blind Willie Johnson). A creature feature filled with familiar scary techniques melded to tangential familial stressors, Tyler Hisel’s screenplay (a writer making a jump from found footage to traditional thriller narratives following the South African flick Safari, 2013) feels rather primitively conceived. A mysterious, mythical beast is unleashed in the woods while the rural townsfolk become terrified as animals disappear and the body count mounts, and the unloved outsider sheriff must contend with stopping the creature from decimating a community...
- 7/23/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Director Jim Mickle’s fourth feature film, Cold in July, is an adaptation of a novel by Joe R. Landsale, set in the particular, simpler landscape of 1989 East Texas. It’s also Mickle’s most accomplished and promising work to date, as it shows the director moving away from the genre hybrids he’s come to be known for, specifically the vampire apocalypse comedy Stakeland (2010) and his remake of Jorge Michel Grau’s We Are What We Are (2013). While those films struggled with consistency and tone, often faltering irreparably under the weight of their derivative natures, Mickle’s latest is a mixture of scaled back flourishes and makes for a cold, mean, vicious neo-noir. The film certainly deserved more attention after critical praise following the Sundance Film Festival premiere, followed by an invite to play at Cannes and then a muted theatrical release in the Us. But its eventual destiny...
- 9/30/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Cold in July
Directed by Jim Mickle
Written by Nick Damici
2014, USA
Fans of pulp fiction will get a kick out of Cold in July, a gritty – at times bloody – and darkly funny crime yarn directed by provocateur Jim Mickle (Mulberry Street, Stakeland). This rigid and enthralling Texas thriller is one the most hyperbolic and stylish crime yarns in years. Think Drive, but with a better cast – a better script – and a sense of humour as sharp as a knife.
Jim Mickle’s violent black comedy stars Michael C. Hall as Richard Dane, a suburban family man who has a small-town framing shop, a beautiful wife and son – and a gun hidden away in the house which he should have no business owning. The opening scene gets the plot moving fairly quickly as he confronts and then fatally shoots a burglar who’s broken into his home. The local sheriff...
Directed by Jim Mickle
Written by Nick Damici
2014, USA
Fans of pulp fiction will get a kick out of Cold in July, a gritty – at times bloody – and darkly funny crime yarn directed by provocateur Jim Mickle (Mulberry Street, Stakeland). This rigid and enthralling Texas thriller is one the most hyperbolic and stylish crime yarns in years. Think Drive, but with a better cast – a better script – and a sense of humour as sharp as a knife.
Jim Mickle’s violent black comedy stars Michael C. Hall as Richard Dane, a suburban family man who has a small-town framing shop, a beautiful wife and son – and a gun hidden away in the house which he should have no business owning. The opening scene gets the plot moving fairly quickly as he confronts and then fatally shoots a burglar who’s broken into his home. The local sheriff...
- 7/25/2014
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
Stake Land director Jim Mickle serves up a twisty neo-noir thriller. Here's Ryan's review of the murky, entertaining Cold In July...
There’s a deliciously slippery quality to Cold In July, a neo-noir thriller from director Jim Mickle (Stake Land, We Are What We Are). Set in late-80s east Texas, Mickle’s movie contains distinct shades of such films as Blood Simple, Red Rock West and Martin Scorsese’s Cape Fear remake, but at the same time, flatly refuses to cleave to genre expectations.
Dexter’s Michael C Hall stars as Richard, a quiet, mild-mannered family man who shoots an intruder in his living room one sultry summer night. Shaken to the core by the experience, Richard’s once humdrum life is disrupted further by the appearance of the intruder’s father, Russel (Sam Shepard), who manages to lace even the most softly-spoken utterance with a thread of barely-concealed menace.
There’s a deliciously slippery quality to Cold In July, a neo-noir thriller from director Jim Mickle (Stake Land, We Are What We Are). Set in late-80s east Texas, Mickle’s movie contains distinct shades of such films as Blood Simple, Red Rock West and Martin Scorsese’s Cape Fear remake, but at the same time, flatly refuses to cleave to genre expectations.
Dexter’s Michael C Hall stars as Richard, a quiet, mild-mannered family man who shoots an intruder in his living room one sultry summer night. Shaken to the core by the experience, Richard’s once humdrum life is disrupted further by the appearance of the intruder’s father, Russel (Sam Shepard), who manages to lace even the most softly-spoken utterance with a thread of barely-concealed menace.
- 6/24/2014
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
Mark Kermode: eating people runs in the family in this laudable Us remake
Americanised remakes of "foreign language" horror movies (from The Vanishing to The Ring to Let Me In et al) have tended too often to gut the cultural meat of the originals, leaving nothing more than a saleably glossy reanimated husk. While this English-language "companion piece" to a modern Mexican classic may not rival the fetid air or alarming impact of its source, it makes a firm fist of respectfully reinventing the key themes of Jorge Michel Grau's ravenous gem. The result is an ambitious (if somewhat uneven) slice of downbeat American gothic which interweaves grim melancholia with pointed satire, doomy portent and moments of gnawing revulsion.
Relocating the grim action of 2010's Somos lo que hay from the teeming, hot suburbs of Mexico City to remote sodden backwoods of the Catskills, this third feature from...
Americanised remakes of "foreign language" horror movies (from The Vanishing to The Ring to Let Me In et al) have tended too often to gut the cultural meat of the originals, leaving nothing more than a saleably glossy reanimated husk. While this English-language "companion piece" to a modern Mexican classic may not rival the fetid air or alarming impact of its source, it makes a firm fist of respectfully reinventing the key themes of Jorge Michel Grau's ravenous gem. The result is an ambitious (if somewhat uneven) slice of downbeat American gothic which interweaves grim melancholia with pointed satire, doomy portent and moments of gnawing revulsion.
Relocating the grim action of 2010's Somos lo que hay from the teeming, hot suburbs of Mexico City to remote sodden backwoods of the Catskills, this third feature from...
- 3/2/2014
- by Mark Kermode
- The Guardian - Film News
Cinematographer Ryan Samul talked to Indiewire about shooting "Cold In July," a noir-thriller starring Michael C. Hall as a small-town man who shoots a burglar in his house, becoming a local hero but provoking the man's vengeful ex-con father (Sam Shepard). The film, which premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival in the Dramatic Competition, was directed by Jim Mickle, who Samul previously collaborated with on "We Are What We Are," "Stake Land," and "Mulberry Street." Which camera and lens did you use? We used two [Red] Epics, one set of Cooke s4s and an Angenieux 24-290 What was the most difficult shot in the movie, and how did you pull it off? No one shot in particular, but we did only have two days to shoot the entire final action sequence. There was a lot to do with few resources and not a lot of time to do it in,...
- 1/24/2014
- by Max O'Connell
- Indiewire
By Terence Johnson
Managing Editor
Cold in July is a classic study on when expectations for a film don’t meet reality. That’s not to say that is a bad thing as the film, a celebration of 80s pastiche and pulp noirs, the film is just different than what you think. But isn’t that what ones looks for a film, an interesting exploration of themes that aren’t what you expected?
Which is probably why this film is so difficult to review (and why there will be a spoiler section at the end of this review). The movie shows how a life can change in an instant. Richard Dane (Michael C. Hall), a mild mannered owner of a frame store, goes to investigate noises in his house one night in 1989 and ends up shooting a small time burglar Freddy Russell. After pleading self defense, he goes on about his life,...
Managing Editor
Cold in July is a classic study on when expectations for a film don’t meet reality. That’s not to say that is a bad thing as the film, a celebration of 80s pastiche and pulp noirs, the film is just different than what you think. But isn’t that what ones looks for a film, an interesting exploration of themes that aren’t what you expected?
Which is probably why this film is so difficult to review (and why there will be a spoiler section at the end of this review). The movie shows how a life can change in an instant. Richard Dane (Michael C. Hall), a mild mannered owner of a frame store, goes to investigate noises in his house one night in 1989 and ends up shooting a small time burglar Freddy Russell. After pleading self defense, he goes on about his life,...
- 1/19/2014
- by Terence Johnson
- Scott Feinberg
Special Mention: Sightseers
Directed by Ben Wheatley
Written by Steve Oram and Alice Lowe
UK, 2012
This bloody, satirical road trip comedy is by no means as great as Terrence Mallick’s Badlands, but it is truly unique, strange, disquieting, and uncomfortably funny. Ben Wheatley is one of the most exciting genre filmmakers working in the industry today and has a talent for coaxing naturalistic, improvisational performances from his actors. Here, Wheatley is working for the first time from someone else’s script. Sightseers was written by TV acting and writing duo Alice Lowe and Steve Oram, with input from Wheatley’s longtime collaborator Amy Jump. In Sightseers, they achieve the relatively rare feat of striking the right balance between sharply observed characterization and jet-black humour. Sightseers was pitched as an unsold TV pilot, which was rejected by every UK broadcaster for being too dark. It isn’t quite horror, but...
Directed by Ben Wheatley
Written by Steve Oram and Alice Lowe
UK, 2012
This bloody, satirical road trip comedy is by no means as great as Terrence Mallick’s Badlands, but it is truly unique, strange, disquieting, and uncomfortably funny. Ben Wheatley is one of the most exciting genre filmmakers working in the industry today and has a talent for coaxing naturalistic, improvisational performances from his actors. Here, Wheatley is working for the first time from someone else’s script. Sightseers was written by TV acting and writing duo Alice Lowe and Steve Oram, with input from Wheatley’s longtime collaborator Amy Jump. In Sightseers, they achieve the relatively rare feat of striking the right balance between sharply observed characterization and jet-black humour. Sightseers was pitched as an unsold TV pilot, which was rejected by every UK broadcaster for being too dark. It isn’t quite horror, but...
- 12/14/2013
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
Chicago – On Tuesday, December 3rd, the Midwest Independent Film Festival will award their “Best of the Midwest” honors with a ceremony at The Underground Nightclub in Chicago. The evening will be hosted by Festival Director Mike McNamara, and nominees include “The Kings of Summer,” directed by Justin Vogt-Roberts, “Sole Survivor,” directed by Ky Dickens and “Be Good,” directed by Todd Looby.
The ‘Best of the Midwest’ Awards Are Tuesday, December 3rd
Photo credit: MidwestFilm.com
The Midwest Independent Film Festival is a year-round movie event in Chicago that takes place the first Tuesday of every month, at the Landmark Century Centre Cinema. The festival has been named by Chicago Magazine in their “Best of Chicago” issue, and has become one of the top places for local filmmakers, producers and actors to network in the city.
The nominees for the “Best of the Midwest” Awards are as follows….
Best Music Video...
The ‘Best of the Midwest’ Awards Are Tuesday, December 3rd
Photo credit: MidwestFilm.com
The Midwest Independent Film Festival is a year-round movie event in Chicago that takes place the first Tuesday of every month, at the Landmark Century Centre Cinema. The festival has been named by Chicago Magazine in their “Best of Chicago” issue, and has become one of the top places for local filmmakers, producers and actors to network in the city.
The nominees for the “Best of the Midwest” Awards are as follows….
Best Music Video...
- 12/2/2013
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
We Are What We Are
Written by Nick Damici and Jim Mickle
Directed by Jim Mickle
USA, 2013
Too few modern horror films take their cue from the power of suggestion. The less you show, the more terrifying your story can be. Some of the all-time greats of the genre, from The Haunting to The Shining, either show nothing scary or deliberately supernatural at all, or bide their time, allowing strange noises in the distance or unexpected shadows to do the heavy lifting. Not every blood-soaked entry is automatically bad for wallowing in gore—the recent Evil Dead remake did not want for the red stuff, but had a black-hearted charm anyway—but, as they say, less is more. And so it is with We Are What We Are, which almost entirely embraces the power of suggestion, to its advantage.
Remade from a Spanish film of the same name, We Are What We Are...
Written by Nick Damici and Jim Mickle
Directed by Jim Mickle
USA, 2013
Too few modern horror films take their cue from the power of suggestion. The less you show, the more terrifying your story can be. Some of the all-time greats of the genre, from The Haunting to The Shining, either show nothing scary or deliberately supernatural at all, or bide their time, allowing strange noises in the distance or unexpected shadows to do the heavy lifting. Not every blood-soaked entry is automatically bad for wallowing in gore—the recent Evil Dead remake did not want for the red stuff, but had a black-hearted charm anyway—but, as they say, less is more. And so it is with We Are What We Are, which almost entirely embraces the power of suggestion, to its advantage.
Remade from a Spanish film of the same name, We Are What We Are...
- 10/18/2013
- by Josh Spiegel
- SoundOnSight
We Are What We Are
Written by Nick Damici and Jim Mickle
Directed by Jim Mickle
USA, 2013
Jim Mickle’s previous film Stake Land, a post-apocalyptic road movie with a vampiric threat, combined the tone of something like The Road with narrative flourishes (invincible hunter known only as Mister, vampires launched from helicopters like dropping bombs) more akin to comic books. The end result: a laboriously dreary film of poorly-defined characters, trite attempts at grandeur through some insipid narration, and an ill-fitting tone. One sequence showed some promise, however; the aforementioned vampire dropping takes place in a long, unbroken tracking shot of an outdoor party in a refugee town, suddenly disrupted by the threat from above, the only moment the lethargic film gets a pulse and actually visualises a frightening concept well. Mickle’s follow-up feature doesn’t contain an overtly frantic sequence like that, but instead the direction, consistency...
Written by Nick Damici and Jim Mickle
Directed by Jim Mickle
USA, 2013
Jim Mickle’s previous film Stake Land, a post-apocalyptic road movie with a vampiric threat, combined the tone of something like The Road with narrative flourishes (invincible hunter known only as Mister, vampires launched from helicopters like dropping bombs) more akin to comic books. The end result: a laboriously dreary film of poorly-defined characters, trite attempts at grandeur through some insipid narration, and an ill-fitting tone. One sequence showed some promise, however; the aforementioned vampire dropping takes place in a long, unbroken tracking shot of an outdoor party in a refugee town, suddenly disrupted by the threat from above, the only moment the lethargic film gets a pulse and actually visualises a frightening concept well. Mickle’s follow-up feature doesn’t contain an overtly frantic sequence like that, but instead the direction, consistency...
- 9/29/2013
- by Josh Slater-Williams
- SoundOnSight
Masterful in its silences, a little less so in its chatter, writer/director Noah Buschel's Sparrows Dance begins almost as a tribute to Chantal Akerman’s masterpiece, Jeanne Dielman, 23 Qual du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, the difference mainly being a dissimilar choice of heroines. Instead of a bored housewife turned prostitute, we have a former actress turned agoraphobic who hasn't left her apartment in over year.
Additionally, here the heroine has no name, at least her moniker's never revealed. Instead she's listed as Woman in Apartment (Marin Ireland) on the credits. That's possibly why in many of the early shots her physiognomy is blocked out. She's lying in the bathtub with a white washcloth over her face. We view her from the back as she vigorously rides her exercise bike. Or we just see her eye as she stares out of her peephole to make sure she’s safe.
The camera...
Additionally, here the heroine has no name, at least her moniker's never revealed. Instead she's listed as Woman in Apartment (Marin Ireland) on the credits. That's possibly why in many of the early shots her physiognomy is blocked out. She's lying in the bathtub with a white washcloth over her face. We view her from the back as she vigorously rides her exercise bike. Or we just see her eye as she stares out of her peephole to make sure she’s safe.
The camera...
- 9/3/2013
- by Brandon Judell
- www.culturecatch.com
Banshee Chapter
Written by Blair Erickson
Directed by Blair Erickson, Daniel J. Healy (story)
Germany/USA, 2013
“We didn’t want things jumping out at you. We wanted you to feel immersed, as if you were inside the scene.” Director Blair Erickson can only be referring to 3D; unlike many lazily post-converted blockbusters, his Banshee Chapter was filmed entirely in stereoscopic 3D, a conscious choice from the outset of the film’s production and a risky experiment for something so low-budget.
The risk hasn’t completely paid off. In Banshee Chapter, journalist Anna Roland’s (Katia Winter) search through the CIA’s Mk-Ultra history calls too much attention to itself precisely because of the unnecessary visual enhancement. A mixture of documentary, found footage, and archive reels, Banshee Chapter sources a variety of different methods but consistently undersells itself due to its third dimension. The appeal to immersion has achieved precisely the opposite effect; on an ordinary,...
Written by Blair Erickson
Directed by Blair Erickson, Daniel J. Healy (story)
Germany/USA, 2013
“We didn’t want things jumping out at you. We wanted you to feel immersed, as if you were inside the scene.” Director Blair Erickson can only be referring to 3D; unlike many lazily post-converted blockbusters, his Banshee Chapter was filmed entirely in stereoscopic 3D, a conscious choice from the outset of the film’s production and a risky experiment for something so low-budget.
The risk hasn’t completely paid off. In Banshee Chapter, journalist Anna Roland’s (Katia Winter) search through the CIA’s Mk-Ultra history calls too much attention to itself precisely because of the unnecessary visual enhancement. A mixture of documentary, found footage, and archive reels, Banshee Chapter sources a variety of different methods but consistently undersells itself due to its third dimension. The appeal to immersion has achieved precisely the opposite effect; on an ordinary,...
- 8/29/2013
- by Ed Doyle
- SoundOnSight
Director: Jim Mickle
Screenwriters: Nick Damici, Jim Mickle
Cast: Bill Sage, Ambyr Childers, Julia Garner, Michael Parks, Wyatt Russell, Kelly McGillis
Synopsis: A seemingly wholesome and benevolent family, the Parkers have always kept to themselves, and for good reason. Behind closed doors, patriarch Frank rules the roost with a rigorous fervor, determined to keep his ancestral customs intact at any cost. As a torrential rainstorm moves into the area, tragedy strikes and his daughters Iris and Rose are forced to assume responsibilities that extend beyond those of a typical family. The most important task the girls face is putting meat on the table— but not the kind that can be found at the local supermarket. As the unrelenting downpour continues to flood their small town, local authorities begin to uncover clues that bring them closer to the secret that the Parkers have held closely for so many years.
Story and...
Screenwriters: Nick Damici, Jim Mickle
Cast: Bill Sage, Ambyr Childers, Julia Garner, Michael Parks, Wyatt Russell, Kelly McGillis
Synopsis: A seemingly wholesome and benevolent family, the Parkers have always kept to themselves, and for good reason. Behind closed doors, patriarch Frank rules the roost with a rigorous fervor, determined to keep his ancestral customs intact at any cost. As a torrential rainstorm moves into the area, tragedy strikes and his daughters Iris and Rose are forced to assume responsibilities that extend beyond those of a typical family. The most important task the girls face is putting meat on the table— but not the kind that can be found at the local supermarket. As the unrelenting downpour continues to flood their small town, local authorities begin to uncover clues that bring them closer to the secret that the Parkers have held closely for so many years.
Story and...
- 1/22/2013
- by Eli Reyes
- GeekTyrant
#5. Concussion
Who: Having begun her ascension via her work as a commercials director/producer, 2012/2013 has turned out to be fairly kick ass in terms of receiving support. From the guidance of producer Rose Troche (helmer of Go Fish), being chosen by Independent Feature Project’s narrative lab to grabbing grants in the shape of the Adrienne Shelly Director’s Grant and Gothams Award’s Calvin Klein Spotlight on Women Filmmakers Live the Dream Grant.
What: Sight unseen, with a high libido, this might be compared to Steve McQueen’s Shame as it also centers on a Manhattanite whose midlife crisis includes a character with a double life of sorts.
Where: You can find more info on the facebook page and the official website should start getting into gear shortly.
When: The Rose Troche produced drama was shot in New York City in March of last year.
Why: Premise alone for...
Who: Having begun her ascension via her work as a commercials director/producer, 2012/2013 has turned out to be fairly kick ass in terms of receiving support. From the guidance of producer Rose Troche (helmer of Go Fish), being chosen by Independent Feature Project’s narrative lab to grabbing grants in the shape of the Adrienne Shelly Director’s Grant and Gothams Award’s Calvin Klein Spotlight on Women Filmmakers Live the Dream Grant.
What: Sight unseen, with a high libido, this might be compared to Steve McQueen’s Shame as it also centers on a Manhattanite whose midlife crisis includes a character with a double life of sorts.
Where: You can find more info on the facebook page and the official website should start getting into gear shortly.
When: The Rose Troche produced drama was shot in New York City in March of last year.
Why: Premise alone for...
- 1/18/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Chicago – The Midwest Independent Film Festival, which convenes every first Tuesday of the month, is fast becoming an institution in Chicago and an influential barometer for the local and Midwestern film scene. On Tuesday, December 4th, 2012, their annual “Best of the Midwest” Awards will be handed out. Hosting the event is the co-founder of the Midwest Indie, Mike McNamara. Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com serves on the Awards Committee.
The ‘Best of the Midwest’ Awards, December 4th, 2012
Photo Credit: www.MidwestFilm.com
The following films and performances are nominated for the “Best of the Midwest” Awards…
Best Music Video
“Moonbeams,” directed by Sam Macon
“Everything Will Be Fine,” directed by Nate DuFort
“War Again,” directed by Paul Griswold
“Are You Gonna Break My Heart,” directed by Will Meyers
“Villain,” directed by Logan Hall
Best Short Film
“The Promise,” directed by Bill Roach and Joel Edwards
“Advantage: Weinberg,” directed by David Singer
“Wednesday’s Child,...
The ‘Best of the Midwest’ Awards, December 4th, 2012
Photo Credit: www.MidwestFilm.com
The following films and performances are nominated for the “Best of the Midwest” Awards…
Best Music Video
“Moonbeams,” directed by Sam Macon
“Everything Will Be Fine,” directed by Nate DuFort
“War Again,” directed by Paul Griswold
“Are You Gonna Break My Heart,” directed by Will Meyers
“Villain,” directed by Logan Hall
Best Short Film
“The Promise,” directed by Bill Roach and Joel Edwards
“Advantage: Weinberg,” directed by David Singer
“Wednesday’s Child,...
- 12/3/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
The Film:
It’s hard to talk about a new vampire film without canonizing the genre, something that been more of a sell-able product to teens than a source of true horror. The vampire has been a long standing image of the purest images of horror whether it’s been in literature, folklore, or early film. Much like the slasher film burnout from the 1980s and its wimpy (in every sense of the word) resurrection in the 1990s, the vampire film has followed this route. What will shake the hair gel and wimpy attitudes that have de-fanged the genre? Great stories. Pure and simple.
Mulberry Street from director Jim Mickle was a clever and fun little movie. Maybe it was even a damn good movie, but nothing there, in my opinion thanks to hindsight, was an indicator to how great his follow-up in Stake Land would be. And I loved Mulberry Street.
It’s hard to talk about a new vampire film without canonizing the genre, something that been more of a sell-able product to teens than a source of true horror. The vampire has been a long standing image of the purest images of horror whether it’s been in literature, folklore, or early film. Much like the slasher film burnout from the 1980s and its wimpy (in every sense of the word) resurrection in the 1990s, the vampire film has followed this route. What will shake the hair gel and wimpy attitudes that have de-fanged the genre? Great stories. Pure and simple.
Mulberry Street from director Jim Mickle was a clever and fun little movie. Maybe it was even a damn good movie, but nothing there, in my opinion thanks to hindsight, was an indicator to how great his follow-up in Stake Land would be. And I loved Mulberry Street.
- 8/4/2011
- by Jon Peters
- Killer Films
In anticipation of the August 2nd Blu-ray/DVD release of the vampire epic Stake Land, Dark Sky has provided us with an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at a bit of the makeup process along with a few fight scenes from the film. Dig it!
Starring Connor Paolo, Nick Damici, Kelly McGillis and Danielle Harris, this Toronto International Film Festival Midnight Madness Award Winner and absolute bloodbath of a film will satisfy any and all vampire cravings the true gorehound may be having. It's simply a punch in the face of a film ... and I mean that in the best way possible.
From the Press Release
In the ultimate tale of survival in the face of a dying world, Jim Mickle’s breakthrough movie, Stake Land (review here), adds a frightening new element to the equation: vampires. The award-winning crowd-pleaser comes to Blu-ray and DVD on August 2, 2011, via Dark Sky Films. This...
Starring Connor Paolo, Nick Damici, Kelly McGillis and Danielle Harris, this Toronto International Film Festival Midnight Madness Award Winner and absolute bloodbath of a film will satisfy any and all vampire cravings the true gorehound may be having. It's simply a punch in the face of a film ... and I mean that in the best way possible.
From the Press Release
In the ultimate tale of survival in the face of a dying world, Jim Mickle’s breakthrough movie, Stake Land (review here), adds a frightening new element to the equation: vampires. The award-winning crowd-pleaser comes to Blu-ray and DVD on August 2, 2011, via Dark Sky Films. This...
- 8/2/2011
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
In the ultimate tale of survival in the face of a dying world, Jim Mickle.s breakthrough movie, Stake Land adds a frightening new element to the equation: vampires. The award-winning crowd-pleaser comes to Blu-ray and DVD on August 2, 2011, via Dark Sky Films. Follow this link for photos, videos and our review! Two-disc DVD And Blu-ray Special Features · 2 Feature-length Cast And Crew Commentaries: Writer/Director Jim Mickle, Writer/Actor Nick Damici, Actor Connor Paolo, Producer/Actor Larry Fessenden, Producer Brent KunkleWriter/Director Jim Mickle, Producers Peter Phok & Adam Folk, Director of Photography Ryan Samul, Sound Designer Graham Reznick, Composer Jeff Grace · Going For The Throat: The Making Of Stake Land · Character Prequels: 7 Short Films From...
- 7/5/2011
- shocktillyoudrop.com
The Missing Person
Director: Noah Buschel
Written by Noah Buschel
USA, 2010
“I’ve never had any dealings with private detectives, Mr Rosow. I’ve seen them in Bogart films, though. Was that one of those kind of jokes? Those dry, sardonic detective jokes . . .”
I knew I was going to like Noah Buschel’s The Missing Person when the opening credits rolled over a shot of a boiling coffee pot, to the gentle accompaniment of a harmonica. It reminded me of private eye Paul Newman’s sad attempts to recycle yesterday’s coffee at the beginning of Harper. Though Buschel’s droll, stylish and well-acted detective drama does have a contemporary setting, this is just one of many reminders of earlier movies about maverick investigators.
Chicago private detective John Rosow (Michael Shannon) lives in a crummy apartment, right on top of the “L”. He’s woken at 5am by a call...
Director: Noah Buschel
Written by Noah Buschel
USA, 2010
“I’ve never had any dealings with private detectives, Mr Rosow. I’ve seen them in Bogart films, though. Was that one of those kind of jokes? Those dry, sardonic detective jokes . . .”
I knew I was going to like Noah Buschel’s The Missing Person when the opening credits rolled over a shot of a boiling coffee pot, to the gentle accompaniment of a harmonica. It reminded me of private eye Paul Newman’s sad attempts to recycle yesterday’s coffee at the beginning of Harper. Though Buschel’s droll, stylish and well-acted detective drama does have a contemporary setting, this is just one of many reminders of earlier movies about maverick investigators.
Chicago private detective John Rosow (Michael Shannon) lives in a crummy apartment, right on top of the “L”. He’s woken at 5am by a call...
- 6/7/2011
- by Susannah
- SoundOnSight
"Denis Villeneuve's Incendies — an operatic saga of intergenerational woe — is the cinematic equivalent of a Harlem Globetrotters game, with brazen contrivances and a preordained outcome repurposed as dazzling spectacle." David Ehrlich at Reverse Shot: "A strained melodrama that unspools like the bastard child of Homer and Alejandro González Iñárritu, Incendies devotes the brunt of its 130 minutes to earning the audacity of its resolution — it's a work of such unchecked ambition that it almost has to be excused before it can be appreciated at all. But if Villeneuve's film ultimately resolves itself as little more than a gaudy parlor trick, it's an expertly executed bit of chicanery whose punchline hits you square in the gut."
"It's a dual story," explains New York's David Edelstein, "of French-Canadian brother-and-sister twins compelled by the will of their dead mother to locate a father they thought died decades earlier and a brother they never knew existed; and,...
"It's a dual story," explains New York's David Edelstein, "of French-Canadian brother-and-sister twins compelled by the will of their dead mother to locate a father they thought died decades earlier and a brother they never knew existed; and,...
- 4/22/2011
- MUBI
In the world painted in Jim Mickle's Stake Land, society has crumbled because of an outbreak of a vampire virus that turn people in to blood thirsty and mindless monsters.
Survivors wander the land searching for food and shelter while others have decided that this outbreak is the work of God and try to spread the infection along with a good dose of religious extremism.
We follow Martin, a young man who's parents and sibling were slaughtered by a vampire creature. He was rescued by a man we only know as Mister, a crusty bastard who has no patience for kindness and has a rather low outlook on life. He becomes Martin's Mr. Miyagi of sorts, teaching him how to dispose of vamps and how to survive in the wild while they drive up north to the fabled New Eden.
On the way the team get in to some...
Survivors wander the land searching for food and shelter while others have decided that this outbreak is the work of God and try to spread the infection along with a good dose of religious extremism.
We follow Martin, a young man who's parents and sibling were slaughtered by a vampire creature. He was rescued by a man we only know as Mister, a crusty bastard who has no patience for kindness and has a rather low outlook on life. He becomes Martin's Mr. Miyagi of sorts, teaching him how to dispose of vamps and how to survive in the wild while they drive up north to the fabled New Eden.
On the way the team get in to some...
- 9/29/2010
- Screen Anarchy
The vampire epidemic movie 'Stake Land' is slated to have three screenings at the 35th Toronto International Film Festival, the first beginning this Friday, September 17.
Here's the full schedule for the blood sucking flick:
o Friday September 17
o 11:59:00 Pm
o Ryerson
o Saturday September 18
o 12:15:00 Pm
o Scotiabank Theatre 4
o Sunday September 19
o 9:00:00 Pm
o AMC 2
About the Movie:
In the aftermath of a vampire epidemic, a teen is taken in by a grizzled vampire hunter on a road trip through a post-apocalyptic America, battling both the bloodsuckers and a fundamentalist militia that interprets the plague as the Lord’s work.
The Director, Jim Mickle graduated from New York University and worked as a storyboard artist, grip and editor before directing such short films as Last Legs (99), The Jam (00), The Underdogs (03) and One Night in December (08). He made his feature directorial debut...
Here's the full schedule for the blood sucking flick:
o Friday September 17
o 11:59:00 Pm
o Ryerson
o Saturday September 18
o 12:15:00 Pm
o Scotiabank Theatre 4
o Sunday September 19
o 9:00:00 Pm
o AMC 2
About the Movie:
In the aftermath of a vampire epidemic, a teen is taken in by a grizzled vampire hunter on a road trip through a post-apocalyptic America, battling both the bloodsuckers and a fundamentalist militia that interprets the plague as the Lord’s work.
The Director, Jim Mickle graduated from New York University and worked as a storyboard artist, grip and editor before directing such short films as Last Legs (99), The Jam (00), The Underdogs (03) and One Night in December (08). He made his feature directorial debut...
- 9/15/2010
- by admin
- MoreHorror
By Christopher Stipp
The Archives, Right Here
I was able to sit down for a couple of years and pump out a book. It’s got little to do with movies. Download and read “Thank You, Goodnight” right Here for free.
Check out my new column, This Week In Trailers, at SlashFilm.com and follow me on Twitter under the name: Stipp
Up and Funny People Giveaway
I realize that some of you would like to be able and cross off a few items off your Christmas list. To that end I am doing my bit and offering a couple of titles to those who are able to come out of your tryptophan stupor for just a little bit and send me an e-mail.
Without question, Up was a film that undeniably of the best films of 2009. No hyperbole. A story of a man who is learning to live after the departure of his wife,...
The Archives, Right Here
I was able to sit down for a couple of years and pump out a book. It’s got little to do with movies. Download and read “Thank You, Goodnight” right Here for free.
Check out my new column, This Week In Trailers, at SlashFilm.com and follow me on Twitter under the name: Stipp
Up and Funny People Giveaway
I realize that some of you would like to be able and cross off a few items off your Christmas list. To that end I am doing my bit and offering a couple of titles to those who are able to come out of your tryptophan stupor for just a little bit and send me an e-mail.
Without question, Up was a film that undeniably of the best films of 2009. No hyperbole. A story of a man who is learning to live after the departure of his wife,...
- 12/4/2009
- by Christopher Stipp
Year: 2009
Directors: Noah Buschel
Writers: Noah Buschel
IMDb: link
Trailer: link
Review by: cyberhal
Rating: 7.5 out of 10
[Newport Beach Film Festival coverage]
“Recently, for a second or two, I almost thought that the world was a decent place to live in.” These are the words of John Rostow (Michael Shannon) when he’s in a good mood. You can imagine what a film noir, laconic, hard boiled git he is the rest of the time. The Missing Person is a dark and mostly brilliant movie that recalls the things that anti-hero Phillip Marlow and Bogart did well, like picking up bad women, wise cracking, chain smoking and drinking hard. I loved this movie, although I wanted it to be even darker. Bombay gin in the morning coffee? Make mine a double! These are all habits that I think a man should have, at least for some of his life. If you like film noir, then...
Directors: Noah Buschel
Writers: Noah Buschel
IMDb: link
Trailer: link
Review by: cyberhal
Rating: 7.5 out of 10
[Newport Beach Film Festival coverage]
“Recently, for a second or two, I almost thought that the world was a decent place to live in.” These are the words of John Rostow (Michael Shannon) when he’s in a good mood. You can imagine what a film noir, laconic, hard boiled git he is the rest of the time. The Missing Person is a dark and mostly brilliant movie that recalls the things that anti-hero Phillip Marlow and Bogart did well, like picking up bad women, wise cracking, chain smoking and drinking hard. I loved this movie, although I wanted it to be even darker. Bombay gin in the morning coffee? Make mine a double! These are all habits that I think a man should have, at least for some of his life. If you like film noir, then...
- 5/1/2009
- QuietEarth.us
One of our most anticipated films of Sundance this year is Noah Buschel's The Missing Person which looks to be some type of throwback to 60's noir and stars one of my personal favorites, Michael Shannon. We reported on this film not 2 weeks ago and some nice anonymous reader sent us a link to cinematographer Ryan Samul's promo reel for the film (thanks), and while it doesn't have any dialog and is set to a jazz soundtrack, you can clearly see this film is really going to be something special.
Private detective John Rosow is hired to tail a man on a train from Chicago to Los Angeles. Rosow gradually uncovers the man's identity as a missing person; one of the thousands presumed dead after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Persuaded by a large reward, Rosow is charged with bringing the missing person back to...
Private detective John Rosow is hired to tail a man on a train from Chicago to Los Angeles. Rosow gradually uncovers the man's identity as a missing person; one of the thousands presumed dead after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Persuaded by a large reward, Rosow is charged with bringing the missing person back to...
- 12/15/2008
- QuietEarth.us
PARK CITY -- One of the hardest things to do on film is to present working-class people without condescension or glamorization. In his directorial debut, Brain Jun went home to southern Illinois and gets it pitch perfect. A family drama that is the visual equivalent of a Bruce Springsteen song, "Steel City" offers several standout performances and a satisfying low-key story that should resonate for festival and art house audiences.
PJ Lee (Thomas Guiry) is a scared kid on his way to becoming something he doesn't want to be. With limited job prospects and a family as broken down as his car, PJ hasn't been dealt much of a hand. His father Carl John Heard) left his wife and two kids years ago and barely looked back. When the film opens, Carl has been thrown in jail for a car crash that killed a cop. But Jun, who also wrote the screenplay, doesn't offer too many details and is savvy enough not to turn the film into an episode of "Law & Order."
When PJ explodes and loses his job washing dishes in a restaurant, he can't keep up the ramshackle house he inherited from his dad. His mother (Laurie Metcalf) has remarried to a cop (James McDaniel) but can't do much to help. His older brother Ben (Clayne Crawford), with a teetering marriage and baby girl, works in a steel mill as he hardens with anger.
PJ also pretends to be hard -- it's a survival skill in these parts -- but Guiry brings an intriguing mix of sweetness and rage to the role. It must be the sweetness that his co-worker Amy (America Ferrera) sees in him, and they start a reluctant relationship; he likes her but she's Mexican and overweight so he can't quite get his mind around it.
With his dad in jail, PJ is forced to turn to his enigmatic uncle Vic (Raymond J. Barry). Vic is not an easy man -- even his brother doesn't trust him -- and when he tries to hold PJ accountable, the young man bolts again. Riding what Springsteen might call "a down bound train," PJ has about hit bottom when he manages to pull himself together. But again, Jun doesn't give the story a Hollywood ending; things just get a bit better. With so little going for them, these people might not like it, but all they have are each other. It simply takes awhile for them to accept it, and Jun doesn't push the issue.
Ground down from life and bad choices, these are not souls given to sharing their feelings, so when they do it's like a frozen river thawing. The reconciliation between Carl and son Ben is earned and deeply moving. Although Carl's seven-year sentence conceals a dark secret, it is satisfying to see him trying to be a better father to PJ from jail than he was in the outside world.
In addition to Guiry, who totally sells the role, Heard does some of his best work to date, while Barry brings a level of complexity to his character rarely seen in slicker productions. To look at "Steel City" and the atmospheric work of cinematographer Ryan Samul, it's hard to believe the film was shot for less than $1 million on Super 16. The only misstep Jun makes, and it's hard to fault him given the budget, is the mediocre and at times heavy-handed use of music. Still, it's an unqualified success from the heartland.
STEEL CITY
Steel City Prods., Your Half Pictures
Credits:
Director-screenwriter-editor: Brian Jun
Producers: Ryan Harper, Rusty Gray
Executive producers: Eric Arlt, Mark Covington, Mike Gandy
Director of photography: Ryan Samul
Production designer: Jack Thomas
Music: Mark Geary
Costume designer: Meredith J. Murray
Cast:
PJ Lee: Thomas Guiry
Carl Lee: John Heard
Amy Barnes: America Ferrera
Ben Lee: Clayne Crawford
Randall Karn: James McDaniel
Marianne Karn: Laurie Metcalf
Vic Lee: Raymond J. Barry
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 95 minutes...
PJ Lee (Thomas Guiry) is a scared kid on his way to becoming something he doesn't want to be. With limited job prospects and a family as broken down as his car, PJ hasn't been dealt much of a hand. His father Carl John Heard) left his wife and two kids years ago and barely looked back. When the film opens, Carl has been thrown in jail for a car crash that killed a cop. But Jun, who also wrote the screenplay, doesn't offer too many details and is savvy enough not to turn the film into an episode of "Law & Order."
When PJ explodes and loses his job washing dishes in a restaurant, he can't keep up the ramshackle house he inherited from his dad. His mother (Laurie Metcalf) has remarried to a cop (James McDaniel) but can't do much to help. His older brother Ben (Clayne Crawford), with a teetering marriage and baby girl, works in a steel mill as he hardens with anger.
PJ also pretends to be hard -- it's a survival skill in these parts -- but Guiry brings an intriguing mix of sweetness and rage to the role. It must be the sweetness that his co-worker Amy (America Ferrera) sees in him, and they start a reluctant relationship; he likes her but she's Mexican and overweight so he can't quite get his mind around it.
With his dad in jail, PJ is forced to turn to his enigmatic uncle Vic (Raymond J. Barry). Vic is not an easy man -- even his brother doesn't trust him -- and when he tries to hold PJ accountable, the young man bolts again. Riding what Springsteen might call "a down bound train," PJ has about hit bottom when he manages to pull himself together. But again, Jun doesn't give the story a Hollywood ending; things just get a bit better. With so little going for them, these people might not like it, but all they have are each other. It simply takes awhile for them to accept it, and Jun doesn't push the issue.
Ground down from life and bad choices, these are not souls given to sharing their feelings, so when they do it's like a frozen river thawing. The reconciliation between Carl and son Ben is earned and deeply moving. Although Carl's seven-year sentence conceals a dark secret, it is satisfying to see him trying to be a better father to PJ from jail than he was in the outside world.
In addition to Guiry, who totally sells the role, Heard does some of his best work to date, while Barry brings a level of complexity to his character rarely seen in slicker productions. To look at "Steel City" and the atmospheric work of cinematographer Ryan Samul, it's hard to believe the film was shot for less than $1 million on Super 16. The only misstep Jun makes, and it's hard to fault him given the budget, is the mediocre and at times heavy-handed use of music. Still, it's an unqualified success from the heartland.
STEEL CITY
Steel City Prods., Your Half Pictures
Credits:
Director-screenwriter-editor: Brian Jun
Producers: Ryan Harper, Rusty Gray
Executive producers: Eric Arlt, Mark Covington, Mike Gandy
Director of photography: Ryan Samul
Production designer: Jack Thomas
Music: Mark Geary
Costume designer: Meredith J. Murray
Cast:
PJ Lee: Thomas Guiry
Carl Lee: John Heard
Amy Barnes: America Ferrera
Ben Lee: Clayne Crawford
Randall Karn: James McDaniel
Marianne Karn: Laurie Metcalf
Vic Lee: Raymond J. Barry
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 95 minutes...
- 1/22/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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