News
‘Fake Blood’ Is One of the Most Disturbing Horror Docs in Recent Memory
Two Canadian filmmakers set out to do a documentary about the effects of movie violence, but they uncover something more diabolical in Fake Blood, a festival favorite that has already created quite a buzz in the industry.
Rob Grant and Mike Kovac are not only good friends, they are also cohorts in front of, and behind the camera.
The duo is especially good at making B-grade horror movies which feature buckets of blood and gore. Although they use violence in their films, neither of them has really experienced it first-hand.
But when they get a creepy video email from a fan who says he’s seen one of their films which features a dismemberment then gives them his own tutorial on body disposal, they grow curious enough to immerse themselves in the methods they write about on screen.
This was the initial inspiration for this documentary. But it’s about to turn into a darker more terrifying lesson.
They decide to seek outside council about the subject which brings them to a mysterious man named “John,” a production assistant who initially seems willing to talk, but when the subject gets deeper he wants nothing to do with their documentary. That is until he agrees to meet with them for $300.
The rendezvous goes south when Rob and Mike show up with a cameraman, something they said they wouldn’t do, but “John” calms down when it’s agreed his face and voice will be altered.
The three sit in a car while “John” becomes increasingly intense, saying death in film really doesn’t compare to real-life. He knows this because of a past violent crime he’s committed which left someone dead.
This Catfish-type meeting takes the documentary in a whole new direction, derailing it from its original thesis. As “John” tells his story, we get to see a re-enactment of his brutal tale.
Shocked by the conversation, both Mike and Rob aren’t sure what to do next. They agree to ditch the original concept of the doc and turn their attention to “John.” But that only opens up more surprises they wish they’d left buried.
Real documentaries in the horror industry suffer from the “found footage” disease. Blair Witch Project created this problem with their ingenious ad campaign – they even eliminated the credits to add to the mystery.
Fake Blood is a straight-forward documentary as any you would see on HBO or Vice. Mike and Rob and their production crew follow them around as they dig deeper and deeper into the subject until it reaches a point that puts them both in real danger.
So terrifying are their revelations it forces them into hiding putting their friendship at risk.
One of my favorite parts of Fake Blood had to do with me, and it will probably happen to you too. It suddenly hit me to ask the question, “Is this real?” because their journey is so extraordinary. I had no other reason to believe it’s staged; the director says it’s real and everyone seems off-script, and not in that plastic improv way.
But still the question lingers.
Logically it comes down to the re-enactments and where they fall in the continuity of the production. Did they film them immediately after they interviewed their subjects, or did they do it after the raw footage was in the can? I guess time will tell.
Unsettling, disturbing and drenched in paranoia, Fake Blood will challenge your suspension of disbelief. It’s bold, it’s unsettling and it will slowly creep under your skin.
These two guys have gone from making low-budget zombie films to investigative journalists who put themselves in harm’s way just to reach a conclusion. But that end never comes and a fresh fracture in their relationship continues to grow.
Fake Blood is what happens when talented filmmakers go the extra step to touch the material so deeply they become the topic, but there is a rule of journalism which says real journalists report the news – they don’t make the news. In this case Mike and Rob do both in a terrifying way.
Fake Blood is now available to watch On Demand: check your streaming service.
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Movies
Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month
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.
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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Movies
Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released
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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News
Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers
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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