Cinefantastique Online

You are browsing the archives of 2009 April.

Anyone who has suffered through the feature film version of AEON FLUX can see why distributor Paramount Pictures kept it hidden from the press before releasing it. The film is a strange anomaly for a piece of 21st century cinema — it has the feel of an old drive-in flick from twenty or thirty years [...]

The heroes of Comedy Central's "Krod Mandoon & the Flaming Sword of Fire"
Comedy Central’s first foray into classic sword & sorcery spoofery, KROD MANDOON AND THE FLAMING SWORD OF FIRE, pretty much sums up its own level of humor right there in the title. See, it could be “… and the Flaming Sword” or “… [...]

Looking for your shot at horror movie stardom? Well, now you can buy your way in, thanks to an Ebay auction that will provide one lucky winner with a walk-on role as one of the infected people in THE CRAZIES. This is your chance to prove that you, too, can play an ordinary person transformed [...]

There was a suprise screening of the J. J. Abrams-directed re-boot of STAR TREK in Austin, Texas at the Alamo Theatre last night, and enthusiastic reviews are already rolling in. Fans were told they would be seeing a brief discussion with the writers and a short preview, along STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN; [...]

Adam Sandler is no Prnce Charming in this sleep-Inducing tall tale.
Once upon a time a little $80,000,000 Adam Sandler movie called BEDTIME STORIES yanked in a decent $110,000,000 at the domestic box-office and $209,000,000 world wide during the 2008 Christmas season. And in April of 2009 the loveable and cuddly folks at Disney Studios—not to [...]

The remake of THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL comes out on home video this week, and one of the nice features of the 3-disc Blu-ray set is that the third disc contains the 1951 original, widely regarded as one of the greatest science fiction flms ever made (a reputation in no way threatened by [...]

There’s a potentially interesting idea at the center of HOUSE, an attempt at a psychological horror film directed by Bobby Henson and based on an apparently well-regarded book by Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker. HOUSE follows a married couple, Jack (Reynaldo Rosales) and Stephanie (Heidi Dippold) whose car breaks down on the way to a [...]

This is one of those busy weeks when th, ere seem to be more science fiction, fantasy, and horror movies released on DVD and Blu-ray than you can count. Actually, there are not that many, but when new titles come out in three iterations (e.g., single-disc, double disc, and Blu-ray), the number of releases can [...]

The debut of FAST & FURIOUS took #1 at the box office, forcing last week’s win-place-and-show trio of fantasy, horror, and science fiction – MONSTERS VS. ALIENS, THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT, and KNOWING – into second, third, and fourth place, respectively.
MONSTERS VS. ALIENS earned $33.5-million its sophomore session, for a two-week total of $105.7-million.
HAUNTING IN [...]

Variety reports that actor Jackie Earle Haley – most recently seen as Rorschach in WATCHMEN – has been cast to play Freddy Krueger in New Line Cinema’s upcoming remake of A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, which is to be produced in conjunction with Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes. The film will be directed by Samuel Bayer, [...]

Tim Lucas at VideoWatchblog points us to this YouTube clip of Mike Patton’s Mondo Cane performing “Deep, Deep Down,” the opening title song from Mario Bava’s excellent comic-book-based fantasy-action-adventure, DANGER: DIABOLIK (1968). I have always loved the song (which was composed by Ennio Morricone, who also scored the film) and regretted that it never appeared on a [...]

ssssThe Blood-Spattered Scribe points us to the Warner Brothers Archive, where you can order DVD on demand. What this means is that WB will burn a professional copy of a DVD you order, complete with artwork, and ship it to you, all for $19.95. Presumably, the strategy here is that there is not enough demand [...]

The Vault of Horror is offering a multi-part guide to Godzilla Films from the Showa Era (that would be the original cycl from the ’50s through the ’70s). The Vault also revisits Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, a memorably spooky tele-film from the 1970s. And just for giggles, how about a list of Freddy’s Famous [...]