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Showing posts from September, 2010

Trolls are real, m'kay. The Norwegians have proof.

For some reason horror and the fake documentary seem a good fit. The subgenre exploded onto the scene in 1999 with The Blair Witch Project and has been alive and well as of late with Cloverfield, Paranormal Activity and The Last Exorcism, which Shawn and I have yet to see. Now the Norwegians are getting into the game with their film Troll Hunter (Trolljegeren) and wow does it look like fun. The film is a "documentary" about a group of students who discover what they believe is a government conspiracy to keep the existence of trolls in the north of Norway hidden from the general public. Much running, screaming and smashing ensues. We like smashing here in The Basement. Troll Hunter opens in Norway on Oct. 29, and Shawn and I promise to acquire a copy as soon as possible and get you a review. Check out the trailer below and let us know your thoughts! Troll Hunter - English Subtitled Trailer Uploaded by dreadcentral . - Full seasons and entire episodes online.

Second Skyline trailer hits . . . looks fantastic!

A month or so ago we showed you the first trailer for Skyline , an alien invasion flick made on a budget that impressed despite the limited info presented. Now the second trailer has arrived and it kicked Jason's ass. We're sure, when Shawn sees it, his ass will be kicked too! Gaze in wild wonder at the preview below, and leave a comment or two if so inclined! Skyline touches down in theatres in November.

Horror film The Tall Man shoots in B.C. Stars sexy actress.

Not to be confused with the infamous character from the Phantasm series, acclaimed French director Pascal Laugier (Martyrs) is set to make his English-language debut with The Tall Man this month. The film will lense for eight weeks in Nelson, B.C. Oh, and hottie Jessica Biel stars in it. Hence the above picture. Lucky Nelson residents! The story? Right, that's important: "Set in the town of Cold Rock, The Tall Man is a story of the haunting secrets that hide behind closed doors. With children gone missing over the years, leaving neither a clue nor a witness, superstitious locals talk of ‘The Tall Man,’ a legendary, mysterious dark figure who takes children away never to be seen again. When a woman’s son is taken, the chase is on and with it the quest for answers: Who is the Tall Man, and what happens to the children?"   The Tall Man also stars Stephen McHattie, William B. Davis, Samantha Ferris and Jodelle Ferland. We'll keep you posted as the

The Coen Brothers bring True Grit to Christmas

We here in The Basement don't get too excited about remakes, but when Joel and Ethan Coen decide to redo a classic John Wayne Western with Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon, it's hard not to get too excited. When the film looks as good as the trailer below, one starts to think the film has promise. Taking on the role made famous by Wayne in the first film adaptation of Charles Portis' novel, Bridges plays eye-patch-wearing, beverage-loving U.S. Marshall, Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn. The trailer doesn't give us too much plot-wise, but it seems to follow the same story as the book and original film, which had Cogburn going deep into "Indian Territory" to help a young woman named Mattie Ross (newcomer Hailee Steinfeld) hunt down her father's killer (Josh Brolin). Also along for the ride is Texas Ranger La Boeuf (a nearly unrecognizable Damon). Give the preview a look, and be sure to share your thoughts!

Chromeskull returns in Laid to Rest II

Robert Hall's Laid to Rest was one of those under-the-radar horror films that kicked some serious ass. Now Bloody Disgusting is reporting that Hall is bringing his brutal would-be-horror icon back for another go-around. Chromeskull: Laid to Rest II begins filming Nov. 1. Hall penned the script with producing partner Kevin Bocarde. Hall, Bocarde and Chang Tseng are producing the film under their Dry County Entertainment banner.  Returning for the sequel are original Laid to Rest stars Thomas Dekker (A Nightmare on Elm Street) and Nick Principe, who once again dons the familiar mask of Chromeskull. Although casting is still underway, the film already boasts a line-up of stars including Brian Austin Green (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, 90210), Michael Biehn (Aliens, The Victim), Christopher Nelson (Kill Bill: Volume 1, The Tripper), Jennifer Blanc (Bereavement, The Victim) and Danielle Harris (Halloween, Stakeland, Hatchet 2). Writer/director Robert Hall introd

Weekly box office report: Gordon Gekko back in style

Michael Douglas's one-time master of the universe, Gordon Gekko, showed he could still close a deal, as Oliver Stone's sequel to his 1987 Wall Street won the weekend with $19 million. Pairing Douglas with young Shia LaBeouf, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps also won the battle of long movie titles as it bested the $16.3 million announced for the 3D animated feature Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole. Legend, based on the first three of Kathryn Lasky's 15-book fantasy series, can at least claim it's the top-opening owl movie ever, unless you count Harry Potter's mail carrier Hedwig. The film version united two disparate forces: Zach Snyder, the director of the R-rated fables 300 and Watchmen, with the guys who animated Happy Feet, that G-rated penguin movie of four years back. Legend started slow on Friday, picked up a number of Saturday-matinee kids yesterday and hopes to pull in more today than it did on its opening day. The Town, the

Next on the chopping block

We are Jason and Shawn and we are in The Basement! And in just one week we premiere live on 92.5FM CFBX at 10 p.m. and continue live every Friday after that, same Bat Time, same Bat Channel. Are we nervous? Sure. Are we excited? Absolutely. Our hope is to kick off with a fun, informative and entertaining hour of movie news, music and reviews and keep that trend going for as long as the show runs on The X. We've got an interview with John Fallon, AKA The Arrow of Arrow in the Head , in the can and have a couple more guests lined up, including Leah Cairns of Battlestar: Galactica fame. There's also a growing list of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of B-, C- and even Z-grade movies for us to review. We hope all our current fans will join us Oct. 1 at 10 p.m. either on 92.5FM CFBX or online via the station's website . Those who can't are encouraged to check out a podcast version of the show on the Monday or Tuesday via this blog or over on podOmatic . And by all means

Horror-movie marathon: Dead Snow, Death on Demand and The Thing From Another World

Nothing tops a cabin in the woods with a fridge full of beer as the perfect setting for a horror-movie marathon. And although Mike S. and Jason didn't get to catch The Evil Dead (the best cabin-in-the-woods horror movie ever made) there were still a couple of good selections to view, and one piece of utter shite! Read on for the details. Dead Snow: Jason: This is the the most energetic movie about mowing down revenants with a chainsaw since Bruce Campbell said "groovy." And groovy this movie is, at least for the most part. This is a homage to the horror genre and, especially, Sam Raimi's Evil Dead movies. There's blood and gore a plenty and, for once, the human's do a damn good job of fighting back against the zombies . . . which are Nazis. It's all in the name of grue, and there are some real creative death scenes which are equally horrifying, complex and comical.A Good review from The Basement for me. Mike S: A pleasant and fast paced zo

New horror franchise planned with Costume

The boys at Bloody Disgusting report that offers are being made on a new horror screenplay from writer Carter (Dead Asleep, Near Death) Blanchard titled Costume, with the hope of launching a new horror icon and franchise.  The premise takes a somewhat fresh spin on the cliched concept of an unstoppable movie killer: a costume makes the rounds on Halloween night, possessing whomever puts it on. Actually, that does sound pretty cool. Kill one wearer, and the evil can still live on. Unless you burn the costume I guess. In my opinion, moviedom NEEDS this. The Saw franchise has run out of steam and all Hollywood seems capable of doing is recycling horror icons from the 1980s. Hopefully a major studio will pick up the script and we'll see a decent big-budget horror series back on the big screen. Then again, Hollywood can't seem to do anything right, so hopefully an independent will pick this up instead. Here's a preview for a Halloween-themed horror franchise that Holly

Micro Review: MacGruber

It's nice to know that stupid funny is alive and well. That's not exactly a compliment, but I'm not slamming the movie either. MacGruber is better than it has any right to be, and it could have been great had the filmmakers not focused on shock value over straight comedy. The film works best when its being a satire of 1980s action movies and fails miserably when it falls back on its roots as a bad Saturday Night Live skit. A Bad review from The Basement on this one.

Micro Review: Brooklyn's Finest

An absorbing, gritty police drama with bursts of realistic violence. Actually the entire film, with its three intersecting stories, plays stark, honest and brutally real. And, with Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke and Wesley Snipes leading the cast, there's enough intensity and well-acted performances to fill a dozen movies. The film does have its cliched moments, but the strong cast and director Antoine Fuqua's talent for crafting high tension push the picture through them. One of the better cop films since Fuqua's own Training Day. A Good review from The Basement on this one.

Box Office Report: The Town Comes Home To No. 1

B-Aff really went to town at the box office this weekend as the actor/director/co-screenwriter of The Town saw his crime drama perform much better than expected in its debut, taking in an estimated $23.8 million to open in first place, upsetting the widely predicted winner Easy A. Ben Affleck's film, his second as a director, was expected to open in second place with around $15 to $17 million. Credit its actual performance to strong reviews, positive word of mouth and its status as the first serious Oscar hopeful to come out of the gate this season. Easy A had to settle for second place and earned an estimated $18.2 million. Opening in third place was Devil. The movie, the first in the Night Chronicles series of low-budget horror releases produced by M. Night Shyamalan, scared up an estimated $12.6 million. 'Devil' had to share a genre audience with last week's champ, Resident Evil: Afterlife. That film slipped to fourth place and lost 62 percent of its

Paranormal Activity 2 Gets A Poster

I usually shy away from updating the blog on Saturdays but, seeing as I've been away for a few days, why the F not!?! Below is the exclusive poster for Paranormal Activity 2, which is playing a nasty game on fans of the original. Audiences get a clue here to what the follow up to the surprise horror hit is all about, a hint there, but no one really knows what the story is. Will Katie be back ? Is that dark shape in the doorway, seen in the film's teaser, her or someone entirely different? Is it another woman possessed by the same demon? In the poster below we see a mirror with no reflection of the baby in the cradle, and a light cracking through an opening door. An angry dog. That's it. But the image does continue the theme started with the poster of the first movie. I, for one, hope the movie is great. Shawn does too. Paranormal Activity was a great, spooky surprise, and we here in The Basement hope the sequel isn't another Blair Witch 2!

Steve Austin: Astronaut

This has little to nothing to do with movies, and everything to do with being fucked up and funny. Especially if you grew up on Lee Majors and the Six Million Dollar Man. Just watch the video and enjoy. We'll be back in a couple of days.

Tag Team Review: Hit and Run

Mike S and yours truly (Jason) are back, this time taking on the suspense flick Hit and Run. We use the term suspense loosely. Jason:  A film that tries very hard to be more Hitchcock thriller than simple slasher, but fails at almost every turn. The concept of a woman stalked by a man she hit with her vehicle and left for dead has potential, but director Enda McCallion is totally inept at getting any suspense out of the proceedings. In fact, McCallion doesn't even understand how to stage a scene. The film just clunks from one moment to the next and never ends up going anywhere. Laura Breckenridge makes for a fetching damsel in distress, but the movie ultimately lets her down. Better luck next time. Mike S: This movie was a hit and run in it self. While I will give it credit for some interesting film techniques (the high speed driving), the rest of it was as lively as... well, road kill. The acting was barely passible. The characters weren't engaging, and I wa

Is Santa the next Freddy or Jason? Looks that way.

It looks like someone finally cracked the combo of  Santa Claus and horror (sorry, Silent Night, Deadly Night). Building a crazy amount of buzz at the Toronto Film Festival is Jalmari Helander's horror tale from Finland, Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale . From what I can gather, Rare Exports tells the taleof a not-so-magically Christmas discovery: buried 486 metres deep under the Korvatunturi mountains is the real Santa Claus. A feral, bad ass one. Maybe more?  No word yet on when the film gets a release, but we in The Basement are intrigued. Check out the trailer below for a look at this slick, potentially amusing production.

Box Office Report: Still some life in Resident Evil

The box office was a wonderland for Alice, Milla Jovovich's zombie fighter, in Resident Evil: Afterlife. In what was surely the least suspenseful box office contest of the year, the fourth Resident Evil film easily grabbed the top spot on the chart with an opening estimated at $27.7 million, a record for the franchise. Takers continues to hold, actually climbing one rung to second place in its third weekend of release. It earned another estimated $6.1 million, with the highest per-screen average ($2,784) of any wide-release movie except Resident Evil. The heist drama has nabbed a total of $48.1 million to date. Falling hard were last week's two new thrillers. The American lost 55 percent of its business and fell from the top spot to third place, probably because of disappointed word-of-mouth from moviegoers who'd been led to expect an action-packed spectacle instead of a contemplative, brooding, European-style drama. Its second-week take was an estimated

Micro Review: Hatchet

Revisiting Adam Green's Hatchet years after its release I had forgotten how much fun the film is. More so than any remake or retread Hollywood has produced lately, this film captures the look and feel of 80's slasher movies in every gory detail. It's campy, corny and bad, but in the best possible way. Hatchet knows it's a loving tribute to 80s horror, and plays up to that fact. Writer-director Green has also created a new horror icon in Victor Crowley, whose back story and penchant for ripping people apart guarantee he'll be murdering horny, partying teens for years to come. A Good review from The Basement on this one.

We Need To See Julia's Eyes.

When a movie comes along from producer Guillermo Del Toro and the director of the creepy-as-hell Spanish horror The Orphanage, then the film is an automatic must see. The trailer for director Guillem Morales' Los Ojos de Julia (Julia's Eyes) is out and boy does it looks great. As my wife said upon viewing it: "That's creepy!" The film stars Belen Rueda of The Orphanage and tells the story of a woman who is determined to uncover the secret behind her sister's death, even though she is slowly going blind.  All the makings of a great thriller are here: moody atmosphere, beautiful damsel in distress, and more than a little bit of suspense. Hopefully this gets a theatrical release in North America . . . but I doubt it. Shawn and I will have to seek out the Christmas Present Version and get a review up pronto!

Stephen King's Dark Tower Headed For Film, TV Series

I don't know if this is good news or not, but Stephen King's The Dark Tower is finally hitting the big screen and the small screen. Universal Pictures and NBC Universal Television will produce both a film trilogy and a TV series based on King's series of books, the companies announced Wednesday. Ron Howard is attached to direct the first film and first season of the series, which screenwriter Akiva Goldsman will pen. The Dark Tower series, which dates back to 1982, is comprised of seven books, short stories and comic books. The fantasy follows a gunslinger's long quest to find The Dark Tower, a building said to be the nexus of all universes. For the record, the books rock. Save for the seventh volume, which has the worst ending of any series in history. "I've been waiting for the right team to bring the characters and stories in these books to film and TV viewers around the world," King said in a statement.  "Ron, Akiva, Brian along

Box Office Report: The American Outpaces The Mexican

George Clooney's hitman tale The American captured the top spot at the box office with a $16.4 million debut over the long Labour Day weekend. Since opening Wednesday, the Focus Features release has taken in $19.5 million. The 20th Century Fox revenge romp Machete and Sony's heist thriller Takers were in a duel for second-place. Machete led with $14 million from Friday to Monday. Takers followed with $13.5 million. Takers" which had been the No. 1 movie the previous weekend, raised its 10-day total to $40 million. The weekend's other new wide release, Drew Barrymore's romance Going the Distance from Warner Bros., opened at No. 5 with $8.6 million. It was a typically quiet Labuor Day period for Hollywood, a transition weekend as summer blockbuster season ends and young audiences prepare for the start of the school year. With $3.9 million over the long weekend, Universal's animated hit Despicable Me raised its haul to $241.3 million, surpa

Drive-In Showing The Last Exorcism Goes Down In Flames

Wrath of God? Disgruntled employee? Pissed off moviegoer? No one knows, but The Admiral Twin drive-in of Tulsa, Oklahoma was destroyed by fire on Sept. 3, 2010. The cinema was screening the Eli Roth produced The Last Exorcism when it burned down. Fortunately no one was injured by the blaze. Authorities do not know how the fire started, so an investigation is underway. Built in 1951, the drive-in has become a local landmark in the community, according to Horror Movies.ca .

Unbreakable 2 Coming? Kinda.

Unbreakable is one of my favourite comic book movies, even though it's not based on an actual comic book. But it is a realistic representation of someone who realizes he is a super hero. Not a super-man type, but a hero with powers who fits into our real world. Still with me? Good. M. Night Shyamalan has been teasing us with the idea of a sequel to Unbreakable since the film was released.  As it turns out, Shyamalan realizes that the film, for whatever reason, is not going to happen, so he's adapting his ideas for the sequel into a standalone film sans Bruce Willis' character. Still with me? No? I don't blame you. Shyamalan says he had "such a cool idea for a villain" for Unbreakable 2 that he began writing ideas around it. When the projct became less likely, he cannibalized that idea for his upcoming Night Chronicles series. The first of those films, Devil, hits theaters on Sept. 17. With Shyamalan's name producing diminishing returns, if De

Trailer Alert: Deaden

We're all about low budget movies here in The Basement and, when we get the chance to promote one starring someone we know, we jump at it. Deaden is an action/revenge film co-written and starring Canadian actor, writer, director, stunt man and film critic John Fallon. Regular readers might know him better as The Arrow of Arrow in the Head , one of pioneers of Internet horror-news sites . Listeners of our upcoming radio show will get to hear an exclusive interview Shawn and I had with Fallon on Oct 8 at 10 p.m. Until then, enjoy this action packed U.K. trailer for Deaden. The film has yet to premiere here in Canada. Hopefully it will soon because we here in The Basement would love to see it!

Next On the Chopping Block: Solomon Kane

Our September special is about to be unleashed, and we've got a film for you that is right up our alley here in The Basement: Solomon Kane. Gaze in wild wonder at the trailer below, and our final episode ever recorded in The Basement will go live on Labour Day. And don't forget to tune in one month from now for the first episode of our radio show on 92.5FM The X at 10 p.m. It's radio that's so awesome, you'll be awesomed out by its awesomeness.