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Why Will “Bedeviled” Be Released in Germany First?

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Germany isn’t big in the horror genre these days. And they even ban and censor horror movies. Still, the new movie “Bedeviled” about an evil app that kills people will have it’s first wide release on March 23rd 2017 in Germany.

Of course as a German, this is exciting to me, getting to see this before the rest of the world. Still, I wonder why an American movie with American cast in English is released in Germany. So I decided to investigate.

Step One: Reading Up On the Movie

My first step was to check out if I can find any direct info as to why Bedeviled will come out here first. Read some news articles. Went into the depths of google. The only info I found was they screened it for distributors in Berlin. In the end, Ascot Elite picked it up. That’s the reason why it will be sold in Germany at all. But why did they screen it for German distributors only?

Step Two: Similar Cases?

So I decided to search for similar cases. The first one I found is Battle of the Damned from 2013, a horror film by Christopher Hatton, starring Dolph Lundgren. It got a limited release in Germany, before then going wide in the Czech Republic around 5 weeks later. And it took around 6 more months until it got released in the USA. So Bedeviled‘s release is not the only case.

Another case are the big Marvel Blockbusters. They all came out overseas up to a week in advance. For Blockbusters, that’s the case because by now the foreign market is very important. It brings a lot of money.

Having the foreigners see it first puts new hype on the US release (especially if everybody outside the US loves the movie). And, adding to that, the foreign market is lucrative.

Those are all valid reasons to release a small indie horror on DVD in Germany before anywhere else.  There is another reason though. The foreign market could serve for testing purposes; release it outside first, then change things that didn’t do well with the audiences. 

Step Three: Interpretation

Since there is no hard evidence about this practice, we have to start guessing, or interpreting. It can be to build hype, make money, or for testing purposes. They release it in Germany, see how it does. Then they bring it to distributors in the US, advertise the German sales. The distributors can then apply what they’ve learned to find out how they should best distribute it in America. This is my best guess.

What is your interpretation? Why not release it in the US first. Leave your thoughts in the comments.

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Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role

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Brad Dourif has been doing movies for nearly 50 years. Now it seems he is walking away from the industry at 74 to enjoy his golden years. Except, there is a caveat.

Recently, digital entertainment publication JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols talked to some of the Chucky television series cast members. During the interview, Dourif made an announcement.

“Dourif said that he’s retired from acting,” says Nichols. “The only reason he came back for the show was because of his daughter Fiona and he considers Chucky creator Don Mancini to be family. But for non-Chucky stuff, he considers himself retired.”

Dourif has voiced the possessed doll since 1988 (minus the 2019 reboot). The original movie “Child’s Play” has become such a cult classic it’s at the top of some people’s best chillers of all time. Chucky himself is ingrained in pop culture history much like Frankenstein or Jason Voorhees.

While Dourif may be known for his famous voiceover, he is also an Oscar-nominated actor for his part in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Another famous horror role is The Gemini Killer in William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III. And who can forget Betazoid Lon Suder in Star Trek: Voyager?

The good news is that Don Mancini is already pitching a concept for season four of Chucky which might also include a feature-length movie with a series tie-in. So, Although Dourif says he is retiring from the industry, ironically he is Chucky’s friend till the end.

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Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

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The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film
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Movies

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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