Cinefantastique Online

You are browsing the archives of 2008 August.

Takashi Miike goes all KILL BILL memory-dump on the spaghetti western with SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO. It’s like when THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN paid homage to Kurosawa paying homage to the western in THE SEVEN SAMURAI, but way crazier.
The set-up is stock: Mysterious stranger (Hideaki Ito) rides into a town riven by two warring families, and all [...]

The original black-and-white version of TV’S THE OUTER LIMITS has been released on DVD in various permutations. First it was (logically) divided into two volumes, one for Season One and a second for Season Two; then it was in explicably divided into three volumes (presumably because Season One was nearly twice as long as Season [...]

VINYAN, a new film variously described as a “supernatural thriller” and a “tsunami horror film,” recently screened at the Venice Film Festival. Because the film’s jumping off point is a real-life 2004 tsunami, some have questioned whether the project is in good taste. French actress Emmanuelle Beart and British thespian Rufus Sewell star as a [...]

MGM Home Entertainment will release the horror classic CARRIE and the sub-classic THE AMITYVILLE HORROR on Blu-ray just in time for the Halloween season this year, on October 7.
Based on Stephen King’s first published novel and directed by Brian DePalma (The Black Dahlia), CARRIE (1976) is a pulse-pounding thriller starring Sissy Spacek (In the Bedroom) [...]

Over at the Los Angeles Times, David Tischman laments the demise of STARGATE: ATLANTIS, but sees hope in a spin-off series down the road:
THE Sci Fi Channel canceled “Stargate Atlantis” this month, less than halfway through its fifth season. And indeed, the episodes have been disappointing so far, with no new plot twists to enhance [...]

Hollywood Reporter reviews PONYO ON THE CLIFF BY THE SEA, the latest anime film from Hayao Miyazaki (PRINCESS MONONOKE), which screened in competition at the Venice Film Festival. Their bottom line assessment: “A superb work of Japanese fantasy from animation wizard Miyazaki that transcends age barriers.” The film is loosely based on the Hans Christian Anderson [...]

Actor Jeffrey Combs (who earned an eternal place in horror history with his performance as as Herbert West in H. P. Lovecraft’s REANIMATOR) tells Fangoria that he has a “strong supporting role” in a remake of Lovecraft’s “The Dunwich Horror,” but he will not be appearing THE THING ON THE DOORSTEP, the Lovecraft inspired film [...]

Ain’t It Cool News follows up on trade paper reports that Robert Rodriguez has signed a deal to direct a film version of Edgar Rice Burrough’s novel Princess of Mars, scripted by Mark Protosevich:
First of all, am I allowed to say how happy I am that Robert is not writing this film? [...]
This time out, [...]

by Dan Persons
David Koepp directing Ricky Gervais in a romantic fantasy? Could be cool.

However, D.J. Caruso directing Shia LeBeouf in a crazy-ass, paranoid thriller? Could kick ass.

GHOST TOWN is out September 19. EAGLE EYE follows on September 26.

I’m a little late on this one, but I wanted to mention that the talented screenwriting team of Karaszewski and Scott Alexander are negotiating to write a feature film based on the Goosebumps young-adults horror series. There have been some direct-to-video adaptations, but this would be the first time the franchise reached the big screen. [...]

Ever wonder why some of your friends are not merely scared by horror films but absolutely freaked out? Well, science may have found the answer, according to this article in the Telegraph:
Scientists say different versions of a single gene linked to feelings of anxiety can explain the way in which some people simply cannot abide [...]

The Chronicle Herald’s Life & Arts section offers a Fall Film Preview, including mention of several fantasy titles scheduled for later this year. There will be no new HARRY POTTER film (which has been bumped back to next summer), but there will be other cinefantastique titles to enjoy: the new James Bond film QUANTUUM OF SOLACE; [...]

One of the best DVD releases of last year was Fox Horror Classics, Volume 1. On September 9, 20th Century Fox’s home video division will follow-up with Fox Horror Classics, Volume 2, which promises to be another exciting three-disc box set, including CHANDU THE MAGICIAN, DR. RENAULT’S SECRET, and DRAGONWYCK. As with Volume 1, Volume [...]