Cinefantastique Online

You are browsing the archives of 2010 April.

Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars trilogy
It may not be the most suprising news ever but according to IGN George Lucas’ team are officially working on giving the two STAR WARS trilogies the Blu-Ray treatment. At the Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo (C2E2) Steve Sansweet, Lucasfilm ‘Director of Fan Relations’, updated the masses [...]

The self-styled superhero risks his own life to rescue a helpless victim of street crime.
Well, the geek, fan-boy wet-dream of a movie known as KICK-ASS is now in theatres, and critical reaction has been adoringly positive (one might even say “kiss ass” in its kindness), with the Rotten Tomatoes tomato-meter currently registering a 77% approval [...]

Mike Fleming at Deadline New York reports that Kirsten Dunst (SPIDER-MAN) will be taking the lead role in Danish director Lars Von Trier’s $7-million science-fiction disaster film, MELANCHOLIA, which is about a giant planet on a collision course with Earth. Dunst is replacing Penelope Cruz, who jumped ship to appear in PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON [...]

Hollywood Reporter informs us that the revived Hammer Films is teaming up with Dark Horse comics to create a line based on the studios horror movies. The first entry will be based on LET ME IN, the remake of the Swedish vampire film LET THE RIGHT ONE IN. Later comics will be based the studio’s [...]

The recently released AFTER.LIFE is intended as a thought-provoking horror film, but the only lasting thought it provoked in me is the question: Why is Christina Ricci not a horror star? She surpasses the chill-factor of her supposedly creepy co-stars, projecting not only a melancholy gloom but also an eerie allure perfectly suited to the genre.

Josh Marshall of the political blog Talking Points Memo compares the current throw-down between RNC Chairman Michael Steele and former Bush’s Brain Karl Rove to a kaiju slug-fest.

Read more about Malice in Wonderland (2009) by clicking the links below:

Malice in Wonderland theatrical playdate

[ April 16, 2010; ] Magnet Releasing – the genre arm of Magnolia Pictures – has decided to put this updating of Alice In Wonderland in theatres [*See update below.]  for a limited platform release before its arrival on home video in May. Simon Fellows directed from a screenplay by Jayson Rothwell. Maggie Grace plays the modern Alice, who is [...]

This episodic horror-comedy, which appeared in a handful of art house engagements last year before arriving on home video this March, doesn’t quite hold together for its entire length, but its amiable approach will win you over with its good intentions, which include nostalgic nods to horror classics of yesteryear: atmospheric bits that echo Universal Pictures [...]

If ever there was a film that seemed designed with MYSTER SCIENCE THEATER 3000 in mind, MEGA SHARK VERSUS GIANT OCTOPUS is it.

This 1969 curio  from director Freddie Francis is so obscure it doesn’t even qualify as a cult film. The title of the twisted tale was shortened from the original MUMSY, NANNY, SONNY, AND GIRLY in order to sell it as a sexploitation effort, and later home video box art (first on VHS back in the [...]

Rifftrax performs a genuine public service for stop-motion and/or dinosaur fans curious but trepidatious about viewing this uber-lame 1978 sci-fi flick. Their alternate soundtrack is the only way to truly enjoy PLANET OF THE DINOSAURS.

[ April 13, 2010 to April 15, 2010. ] This week offers only a handful of horror, fantasy, and science fiction films on home video, all of them either older titles being re-released or direct-to-video obscurities probably best consigned to the vault of oblivion. The big cheese of the weekly offerings is Walt Disney’s animated adventure THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE, which arrives in something called the “Mystery in the Mist Edition,” with a new digital transfer and several bonus features.