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6 Essential Wes Craven Films

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With the passing of the great Wes Craven (1939-2015) comes great feelings of sadness and loss within the horror community. Many of you, with myself included, have decided to pay homage to the legendary filmmaker by having movie marathons in his honor. To add to the appreciation for our lost icon, here areĀ 6 Essential Wes Craven Films that deserve a rewatch in the coming days. If you haven’t gotten the chance to but are planning on having one this weekend, here are some great ideas. Even if you’re not planning on having one, maybe this can change your mind.

 

Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994)[youtube id=”TV8za5nWxwo” align=”right”]

New Nightmare is a great film with a great idea behind it. The Freddy Krueger in this film takes on a new appearance and more menacing attitude like Wes had originally planned for him to be. The whole idea of taking Freddy out of his own film and coming to life in the “real world” was a great decision, and breathed new life into the franchise. Personally, I am a huge fan of Freddy being darker, as he is in this film.

The Last House on The Left (1972)[youtube id=”n_HUvEpwL1I” align=”right”]

A very violent exploitation film, this movie had been the subject of much controversy since its release, and understandably so. The sexual violence in this film is incredibly hard to stomach, but that’s what makes it so terrifying. It doesn’t rely on fantasy and monsters to create nightmares. The monsters in this one are simply people, like you and me. Except, I’m not a horrible, violent, rapist, and I hope whoever reading this is not either.

The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)[youtube id=”EPWTvbTWhZc” align=”right”]

Wes Craven’s franchise films have been so successful, that the common person outside of the horror community may have forgotten many of his other gems, and I find that incredibly unfortunate. The Serpent and the Rainbow is one of the films that falls victim to this injustice, but you can help! Watch this movie, and show everyone you know! We need more Haitian zombie films.

The Hills Have Eyes (1977)Ā [youtube id=”edn5EzHXVBU” align=”right”]

Michael Berryman!Ā MICHAEL BERRYMAN!Ā Come on, who doesn’t love this guy? I sure do. Yet another film by Wes Craven that has garnered a lot of controversy around the violence. A classic film for people of all ages in which an innocent family is hunted down by savages in the desert. Now isn’t that just so sweet?

 

Scream (1996)[youtube id=”23jmjs-rMGI” align=”right”]

An extremely clever film, with so many horror movieĀ references that it’s hard to count, although I’m sure somebody has, and I’m sure you could find it on Wikipedia or something. This film keeps you guessing the entire way through, and the payoff at the end is absolutely worth it. There have been three sequels, but the original is undeniably my favorite.

A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)[youtube id=”jdb_HSvf2Zk” align=”right”]

Robert Englund stars here in his first role as Freddy Krueger. It’s scary. It’s gory. It’s amazing. This film has instilled the love of the horror genre in so many people over the years, that it is hard to comprehend. Thank you, Mr. Craven. Thank you for Freddy. Thank you for everything.

 

Wesley Earl Craven, 1939-2015. You will be missed dearly.

 

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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/directorĀ SĆ©bastien VanicekĀ 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. “Heā€™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 theyā€™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 wouldnā€™t notice.Ā 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.Ā 

If youā€™re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing.Ā 

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.Ā 

ā€œUncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you donā€™t sign, thereā€™s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!ā€

She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I canā€™t bear it any longer.ā€Ā 

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.

Ā ā€œShe attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,ā€Ā Police Chief FĆ”bio Luiz said in an interview withĀ TV Globo. ā€œOur priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.ā€

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

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