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Disaster Films Vs. Horror Films

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EDITORIAL

Apocalypse TV streaming service is giving disaster film lovers everything they need to destroy the world and they are tying it in with the horror market.  But it got me to thinking about the disaster film genre and if it does indeed belong under horror.

There’s that age-old debate about horror and science fiction and whether they are exclusive of one another. Is Alien a horror film, a sci-fi film or a sci-fi film with horror elements, or vice-versa?

To me, Alien is a horror film that happens to take place in space, but that’s just my opinion. Anyone else who has their own can cast their comments below.

But disaster films are completely different. I have always thought of them as being in a class by themselves, but then what about World War Z and Dawn of the Dead?

These films don’t destroy the world with meteors or extreme weather, they do it with zombies, classic horror monsters.

Then we are back to the Alien question: if a disaster film contains zombies or other apocalyptic monsters are the films then classified as horror?

Before you ask, why does it have to be classified as anything but a movie? Keep in mind every movie ever made has been filed under something.

War of the Worlds is another example. Hostile aliens destroy cities all over the world, hunting down humans, evaporating them with death rays.

It sounds like horror to me.

I know a lot of you will say, “Horror is subjective, everyone has their own definition of it.” And that is true, we have discussed this before.

But consider iHorror covering San Andreas or Geostorm, does that bruise the feelings of the hardcore fans, the purists who don’t think these films are horror movies at all? And yes, we care what you think.

Nicolás López and Eli Roth’s experiment Aftershock was a crossover between the genres.  On the one hand, a devastating tragedy destroyed a city, but that released a horde of Purge-type criminals who attack our heroes in gruesome and bloody ways. Not to mention the collateral damage of falling concrete, glass, etc.

So to that end, can we classify Roth’s film as horror, or keep it strictly a disaster?

Listen, I don’t think any of us want to extend the labels of the genre to an nth degree: Shaun of the Dead is a horror/comedy/disaster/action/romance.

We want our genre classes singular; otherwise, they wouldn’t exist in the first place.

The world could probably use fewer labels, but in entertainment, they are a part of the initial pitch. Even IMDb needs to organize their database.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvLjD72Nbmk

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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

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In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

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Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers

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Warning: This is a disturbing story.

You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.

This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400. 

If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing. 

Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction. 

“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”

She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.” 

At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.

 “She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”

If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.

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