Cinefantastique Online

You are browsing the archives of 2008 April.

What are our friends on the Internet up to? Let’s take a look…
Trying to drum up interest in the home video release of ONE MISSED CALL this week, Warner Brothers has a contest to give away a free Blu-ray player. You can enter here.
Vault of Horror enthuses over the trailer for IGOR, which screened at [...]

Among this week’s home video offerings are three recent theatrical releases that earned varying degrees of box office success and critical praise; a collection of silent short subjects from the very earliest days of cinema; and a set of British exploitation horror titles from the 1970s. Of course, the big blockbuster release is CLOVERFIELD, the [...]

FORBIDDEN KINGDOM – co-starring Jet Li and Jackie Chan – exceeded expectations, which had predicted the film would edge just past the $19-million mark. Instead, the martial arts fantasy - which made its debut in 3,151 theatres - finished up the weekend with an estimated $20.87-million, easily outdistancing runner-up FORGETTNIG SARAH MARSHALL.

As for returning fantasy, horror, and [...]

In case you hadn’t heard, Fox Television has renewed TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHORNICLES for a second season of thirteen episodes. JEO at Illusiontv.com is happy about the news:
The show averaged 10.5 million viewers per episode in its first season, making it the most successful new scripted series among adults aged 18-49. [...] ”Terminator” has [...]

In “Breathing Life into Dracula,” the Los Angeles Times profiles puppet-maker Peter Brooke, the creative supervisor of Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, who most recently provided puppets for a vignette in FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL, which features a rock-opera version of Dracula.
Getting fleeced: Since the puppets are supposed to have been made by the film’s main character [...]

Wired.com has an interview with Mark Stern, executive vice president of original programming at Sci Fi Channel, who discusses BATTLESTAR GALACTICA and the pilot for the prequel (which is currently being developed, now that BSG is in its last season).

Of the decision to bring BSG to a close, Stern says:
[...] I respect [BSGexecutive producers] Ron [Moore] [...]

Slashfilm.com reports that THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM earned $6.7-million on Friday, indicating that it will wind up the weekend with approximately $19.1-million, which should be good enough for first place.

The $19-million opening is about on part with the debut of Chan’s SHANGHIA KNIGHTS but well behind his three RUSH HOUR films. For Lit, it represents his [...]

Director Frank Darabont has made a cottage industry out of bringing Stephan King stories to the screen. In the past he has done big-budget adaptations of THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION and THE GREEN MILE. Finally released from prison he decided to adapt THE MIST, a short story from King’s Skeleton Crew collection. The fact that THE [...]

ZOMBIE STRIPPERS, the new film starring Robert Englund and Jenna James, opens in limited engagements today, including the Nuart Theatre in Los Angeles. Our friend Lucisu Gore at Esplatter reviews the film here. Here is the plot synopsis from the press materials:
When a secret government agency lets out a deadly chemo virus causing the reanimation [...]

CHILD’S PLAY SCRIBE’S KILL-SWITCH HEADS TO SCI-FI: Bloody-Disgusting.com reports that Don Mancini’s KILL-SWITCH, a one-hour episodic television drama about a woman who can jump into the bodies of people about to be murdered, will come to the Sci Fi Channel.
JUMPER STAR MAX THIEROT TO STAR IN 25/8: Eview Week reports that actor Max Thierot, who [...]

It may not be impossible, but it is certainly difficult to think of a film more weighted down with expectations – both good and bad – than this Hong Kong-style martial arts fantasy. Most obviously, it represents the first on-screen pairing of Jackie Chan and Jet Li – which makes it an automatic must-see movie, while simultaneously [...]

Here, from the vast CFQ archives are Vincent Price’s “Thoughts about the horror films that made him famous.” It’s a piece I wrote for the fabulous double issue of Cinefantastique, from January, 1989 on the career of “Horror’s crown prince,” Mr. Vincent Price.

Of course, earlier today, Steve B. posted the sad news about the passing [...]

Up to now, Legend films is best known for the excellent colorized versions of Ray Harryhausen’s Columbia films. They have also worked with Harryhausen on colorizing SHE and THINGS TO COME. Recently, they licensed a package of films from Paramount including some horror and fantasy titles that they are bringing to DVD for the first [...]