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Horror Talk: 11.17.10

Greetings, boys and ghouls! Welcome back to Horror Talk, hosted once again by your friendly neighborhood gorehound and indie filmmaker extraordinaire, Travis Legge. I’ve survived three weeks in the trenches here at Horror Talk and I’m loving every minute of scouring the digital landscape for gems of gore and terror to share with you.

Let me begin by giving a shout out to the head honcho-ess (is that even a word? Probably not…) here at Horror News, the lovely Dai Green.

See what I mean? LOVELY! She has been incredibly supportive of my work here at the column and even chimed in on the comments at the Raymond Did It STREET TEAM video podcast. Its an honor and a pleasure to play in the guts and gore with all of you each week, and Dai makes that possible, so go follow her on twitter and tell her how much you love Horror Talk!

So let’s get down to business, shall we?

It has been quite a week for movie news. The trailer and one sheet for Red Riding Hood hit the web causing an immediate buzz.

Based on the plot synopsis provided at Apple Trailers it looks like Grandma’s house, and the kindly woodsman have given way to a lovestruck leading lady (Amanda Seyfried), a “famed werewolf hunter” (Gary Oldman) and a werewolf that terrorizes superstitious townspeople. Red Riding Hood is directed by Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke. Based on the trailer audiences can expect a very polished, beautifully shot film. Red Riding Hood is not yet rated by the MPAA, so the possibility remains that we will see a darker, more horror-oriented offering from Hardwicke’s adaptation of the fairytale. Of course, the possibility also exists that it will delve into tween-romance pseudo-horror along the lines of Twilight. In any case I will be keeping a close, hopeful eye on Red Riding Hood.

Speaking of films to keep an eye on, Kevin Smith has been dropping tidbits about his upcoming film Red State for fans via his L.A. based podcast theater, the Smodcastle. On November 7th, Smith played the Red State teaser to a small audience at the Smodcastle, followed by an informative Q&A about the teaser, shooting the film on a RED digital camera and his visual approach to the film. Smith recorded the Q&A, which is available to listen to for free online at http://smodcast.com/redstate/.

Smith has also launched a ten week series at Smodcastle in which a limited audience will get to meet members of the Red State cast or crew, learn about the process of making Red State and get exclusive, advanced access to footage from the film, including a screening when the program wraps up.

Smith announced the Red State of the Union Q&A series on his twitter feed on Monday and tickets were sold out by Tuesday afternoon. Fortunately for fans, “you can HEAR it free every week. http://smodcast.com/RedPod/” as Smith pointed out on twitter.

The release of the highly anticipated prequel to John Carpenter’s The Thing has been delayed. Universal shifted the release date to “TBD” citing a need for additional photography.

I’m still unconvinced that this prequel has a snowball’s chance in hell of living up to the original. However the fact that additional photography has begun after a completed cut of the film was finished indicates that Universal is at least somewhat concerned with turning out a quality film.

Teen filmmaker Emily Hagins, the writer/director of the zombie film Pathogen and subject of the documentary Zombie Girl, is in post production on her latest film, My Sucky Teen Romance.

Set during a sci-fi/horror convention, My Sucky Teen Romance deals with a group of genre enthusiasts who come into conflict with a Robert Pattinson-like teenage vampire who apparently changes one of the group into a vampire. As a result, the hunt begins and the group tries to cure their friend while confronting the vampire responsible. To raise funds for postproduction on the film, Hagins set up a donation page at the crowd funding website IndieGoGo.com. While My Sucky Teen Romance has met their stated fundraising goal, donations are still being accepted. If you are interested in donating, or you just want to see the trailer for My Sucky Teen Romance, visit Hagins’s IndieGoGo page

Though Halloween is well behind us Saw 3D and Paranormal Activity remained in the top 10 at the box office over the weekend. Saw 3D slipped to number 9 bringing in just over 2.8 million dollars, and Paranormal Activity claimed the number 8 slot with 2.9 million dollars in ticket sales.

Anchor Bay’s unrated  remake  of I Spit on Your Grave dwindled to one theater this week. It looks like we may have seen the end of the theatrical run for this film. Again, I would like to applaud everyone involved. I Spit on Your Grave is listed for preorder on Amazon with a release date of February 8th, 2011 on DVD and Blu-Ray. The original I Spit on Your Grave arrives on Blu-Ray the same day,

In television news, Todd McFarlane confirmed this week that the Spawn Animated Series would be returning to television after a ten-year hiatus.

No word yet on which network Spawn will be aired on, but given the show’s performance and quality during its run at HBO, it would seem that any cable network would be happy to add Spawn to its roster. McFarlane told MTV’s Splash Page that Spawn would remain geared to mature audiences regardless of where it ultimately ends up being shown.

Speaking of MTV, a trailer for the new TV series Teen Wolf was released this week. The horror community seems to be universally surprised at how good it looks, given that the TV show is being billed as a remake of the classic Michael J. Fox film. The look of the trailer and the publicity photos making their way around the internet evoke almost no connection to the original film, with the exception of the main character, played by Tyler Posey, being named Scott.

This photo is far more reminiscent of the CW’s Vampire Diaries than any film shot in the 80’s, let alone Teen Wolf. In the remake, Scott is apparently a LaCrosse player who is bitten by another werewolf and infected  with lycanthropy. The trailer canbe seen online at Entertainment Weekly’s PopWatch and doubtlessly dozens of other sites. Despite swapping LaCrosse for basketball and eliminating the family lineage of lycanthropy in favor of making Scott a victim, I must admit that the trailer does look interesting. Maybe Teen Wolf will succeed in re-imagining the basic concept of an awkward teenager going through changes in a new and entertaining way.

Ratings for AMC’s The Walking Dead rose this week, with 5.3 million viewers for the third episode. With only three more episodes left in season one, demand for the show will quickly outpace the supply of available content. Rumors abound across the Internet that the second season of The Walking Dead may not air until October 2011, but AMC has yet to confirm a solid date for season two. Fortunately, fans of the show can always pick up Robert Kirkman’s comic book, which is the basis for the television series.

Before we lay this week’s column to rest, I would like to wish a very happy birthday to Zoë Bell.

If you’ve seen a movie or TV show in the past several years where some tall, hot chick is kicking ass, there is a good chance that the actual ass-kickery is being done by Zoë Bell. Zoë, you are an amazing stuntwoman and actress! Keep bringing the bad-assery!

Many Bloody Returns,

Travis Legge

One comment

  1. Great column!! <3

     

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