On behalf of Overture Films, Screenhead presents a new production still featuring Radha Mitchell from The Crazies, starring Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Danielle Panabaker and Joe Anderson. Quite a bit has been posted here about The Crazies, which opens February 26, 2010.
The story is about a small town where everything is safe and happy…until suddenly it isn’t. In a terrifying tale of the “American Dream” gone horribly wrong, four friends find themselves trapped in their hometown in The Crazies, a reinvention of the George Romero classic directed by Breck Eisner from a screenplay by Ray Wright (Pulse, Case 39) and Scott Kosar (The Amityville Horror, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre).
Popularity: unranked [?]
Much ado has been made of the fact that Staunton Hill represents the first ever release from Cameron Romero, son of legendary horror master George Romero. Well, the folks out at Anchor Bay sent me a copy, and I’ve got some terrible news.
Sadly, horror expertise must skip a generation, as Cameron’s outing is little more than a predictable sludge pile of blood spattered horror occasionally featuring torture porn.
Staunton Hill features a lively group of young folks on their way to a civil rights rally out in Washington DC, but aren’t getting there very fast as they’re on foot. When offered a ride most of the way there, they eagerly accept, but when the truck breaks down and they’re back on foot, then all hell breaks loose.
Okay, when I say, “all hell breaks loose”, what I really mean is “three rednecks on a local farm lay waste to the travelers and render them into their component bits for creepy purposes I won’t describe since some of you may want to see this.” This is all the sort of thing you’ve seen before with a few minor modifications–in fact, one wonders if Cameron never bothered to watch his dad’s stuff very often (it turns out he DID, it just doesn’t show in this one) and instead blew all his time staring at The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, because that’s really about all this is, just given a fresh coat of paint.
And this has no real relevance to the film itself, but dude, future note–it’s EXTREMELY bad form to use your DAD for a box quote. There’s a reason you don’t list family members on a job application–it just looks desperate. Like you couldn’t get anyone to actually say anything good about this depressingly bland tripe you’ve served up, so you turned to the closest thing you had to an actual name and begged a favor. Admittedly, there’s one really interesting surprise in here, but that’s not much compared to the ninety minutes of more of the same I just sat through.
The Screenhead Ten Scale gives a dismissive back of hand “bah” to Cameron Romero’s inaugural horror outing and gives it a three out of ten for managing to get one good surprise in there–that I won’t bother to spoil–but depends way too much on last names and nepotism to get where it is.
Popularity: unranked [?]
Night of the Living Dead: Origins. That’s a thought that should both astonish and horrify all at the same time. While there was already one remake, and as far as I’m concerned it’s the gold standard of remakes, I’m not too sure about a new “remake“…especially one that’s billing itself as, get this–an American-style anime.
Like I said, it’s called Night of the Living Dead: Origins, and they’re meaning to have it explore some of the characters’ backstories. On the one hand, that’s kind of an interesting idea–I like the thought of figuring out everybody’s backstories myself. Sure, we know the Coopers got to the farmhouse, but do we really know how? And which version of Cooper will they follow: the jackass from the remake or the helpful one from the original? I don’t know, and that’s what this movie should help explain. What about Tommy and Judy Rose? And what happened to Ben in Evans City? How did he KNOW it was a “war zone”? There are some good questions here that a remake could help explore, but I find myself skeptical of Hollywood’s ability to handle the remake. Especially since they’re handing the remake over to a couple guys that don’t have much of a filmography that I’ve even heard of. But seeing as how Night of the Living Dead is now public domain, if I remember correctly, it’s not like there’s anything stopping anyone else from doing the job right.
No word on release dates just yet, but hopefully we’ll be hearing more about this in short order.
Popularity: unranked [?]
While back in the depths of the Chiller Dare 2 Direct vault, I found another little short film called It All Comes Out in the Wash. I admit to being concerned, because a similar title and concept involving an horrific laundromat was previously done by George Romero’s Tales From The Darkside series. Of course, as it turns out, this one is NOTHING like the Romero version, and this actually makes little difference.
Basically, it’s just a woman talking about her family for four minutes until something horrible happens. Seriously, this is a plot twist that’s clear out of left field, and I”m not even a hundred percent sure just what happened. I have a very good idea, but it’s nothing conclusive. Definitely nothing a hundred percent.
If you can hang on through about four minutes of seemingly pointless conversation, you’ll get a pretty nice punch at the end. Since the film is free and only four minutes long, there’s really no reason to NOT recommend this. Go ahead, see it–what do you really have to lose?
Popularity: unranked [?]
Having kicked all sorts of ass in Hitman and Die Hard 4, Timothy Olyphant has now signed on to star in the remake of George Romero’s horror film The Crazies.
The story revolves around a small Kansas town where people turn insane after a plane crash lets loose a secret biological weapon into the water supply.
Olyphant is set to play the town’s sheriff. The screenplay has been written by Scott Kosar and Ray Wright, with Breck Eisner directing. Michael Aguilar and Dean Georgaris are producing.
Popularity: 1% [?]
And yet another remake comes our way, courtesy of Overture Films which will produce and distribute a remake of the 1973 George Romero film The Crazies.
The original told the story of people in a small Kansas town who are plagued by a virus that causes insanity and death after a toxin contaminates the local water supply.
The remake is being helmed by Breck Eisner from a script by Ray Wright and Scott Kosar. Romero will serve as executive producer.
Popularity: 1% [?]