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Indie Movie Review: The Bridgewater Triangle

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Every town has its urban legends. Bigfoot. The Loch Ness Monster. Mothman. The Jersey Devil. Chupacabra… The list goes on.

Living in southeastern Massachusetts, our myth goes beyond a single being or species. Instead, we have an entire 200-square-mile region with a storied past of strange sightings, known as The Bridgewater Triangle. There have been numerous books written about the area, but directors Aaron Cadieux and Manny Famolare are the first to explore the subject with a feature-length documentary. Aptly titled The Bridgewater Triangle, the film attempts to make sense of the unexplainable.

Likened to the Bermuda Triangle, author Loren Coleman first defined the parameters and dubbed the area the Bridgewater Triangle in his 1983 book, Mysterious America. The name stuck and the legend has only seemed to grow stronger in the years since, but there is a longstanding history of unexplained activity in the area.

One of the most diverse hot spots of phenomena in the world, the Bridgewater Triangle has been said to include unidentified flying objects, animal mutilations, hauntings, apparitions, disappearances, and inexplicable orbs of lights, among others. Cryptozoological animal sightings are a common occurrence; people have reported seeing Bigfoot, various large dogs, cats, snakes and birds, and several unidentifiable creatures. The film dedicates time to each of these mysteries and more.

Nestled in the middle of the Triangle is Hockomock Swamp, the epicenter of activity. The documentary explores this and other interesting landmarks, including Dighton Rock, a large boulder inscribed with indecipherable writing of unknown origin, and a Native American burial ground located within the region.

One potential source of the power behind the Bridgewater Triangle is King Philip’s War, a lengthy, brutal fight between the English colonists and the Native Americans in the 1600s. The bloodiest conflict in American history per capita, the war killed 5% of all New England residents at the time. Some theorize that the Native Americans placed a curse on the land, while others question if the war was merely another result of the existing evil.

The Bridgewater Triangle’s interview subjects consist of eyewitnesses, paranormal researchers, cryptozoologists, historians, authors (including the aforementioned Coleman), journalists, and other experts. Naturally, their stories are largely comprised of second and third-hand information, so it’s particularly exciting to see the bits of original footage and EVP recordings, unclear as they may be, provided by some of the witnesses.

The interviewees generally approach the subject matter seriously, although there are a few scattered moments of levity. Some of the people involved began as skeptics before firsthand experiences turned them into believers. That said, the folks interviewed are also able to recognize that some stories are little more than urban legends passed down without evidence. Others occurrences, however, are so common that they’re difficult to refute.

The Bridgewater Triangle is briskly paced; it packs a lot of information in 91 minutes without becoming overly dry. Like any documentary, some segments run a little long while others seem glossed over, but overall it’s well-balanced. The professional-quality production is reminiscent of something you’d find on the History Channel or Discovery Channel while channel surfing, only to be sucked in by its fascinating subject matter. My only gripe – and it’s a tiny one – is that the ambient background music borders on distracting during some interviews.

Regardless of if you’re a Massachusetts local or if you’ve never heard of the Bridgewater Triangle, the documentary is an undeniably interesting affair (as long as you can look past a few thick Bostonian accents). Even as a skeptic, I found it a bit creepy. More importantly, The Bridgewater Triangle will keep you wondering what other oddities are waiting to be discovered in your own backyard.

Watch the full movie free here:

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‘Longlegs’ Creepy “Part 2” Teaser Appears on Instagram

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Longlegs

Neon Films released an Insta-teaser for their horror film Longlegs today. Titled Dirty: Part 2, the clip only furthers the mystery of what we are in for when this movie is finally released on July 12.

The official logline is: FBI Agent Lee Harker is assigned to an unsolved serial killer case that takes unexpected turns, revealing evidence of the occult. Harker discovers a personal connection to the killer and must stop him before he strikes again.

Directed by former actor Oz Perkins who also gave us The Blackcoat’s Daughter and Gretel & Hansel, Longlegs is already creating buzz with its moody images and cryptic hints. The film is rated R for bloody violence, and disturbing images.

Longlegs stars Nicolas Cage, Maika Monroe, and Alicia Witt.

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Melissa Barrera Says ‘Scary Movie VI’ Would Be “Fun To Do”

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Melissa Barrera might literally get the last laugh on Spyglass thanks to a possible Scary Movie sequel. Paramount and Miramax are seeing the right opportunity to bring the satirical franchise back into the fold and announced last week one might be in production as early as this fall.

The last chapter of the Scary Movie franchise was almost a decade ago and since the series lampoons thematic horror movies and pop culture trends, it would seem they have a lot of content to draw ideas from, including the recent reboot of slasher series Scream.

Barerra, who starred as final girl Samantha in those movies was abruptly fired from the latest chapter, Scream VII, for expressing what Spyglass interpreted as “antisemitism,” after the actress came out in support of Palestine on social media.

Even though the drama wasn’t a laughing matter, Barrera might get her chance to parody Sam in Scary Movie VI. That is if the opportunity arises. In an interview with Inverse, the 33-year-old actress was asked about Scary Movie VI, and her reply was intriguing.

“I always loved those movies,” the actress told Inverse. “When I saw it announced, I was like, ‘Oh, that would be fun. That would be so fun to do.’”

That “fun to do” part could be construed as a passive pitch to Paramount, but that’s open to interpretation.

Just like in her franchise, Scary Movie also has a legacy cast including Anna Faris and Regina Hall. There is no word yet on if either of those actors will appear in the reboot. With or without them, Barrera is still a fan of the comedies. “They have the iconic cast that did it, so we’ll see what goes on with that. I’m just excited to see a new one,” she told the publication.

Barrera is currently celebrating the box office success of her latest horror movie Abigail.

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Thrills and Chills: Ranking ‘Radio Silence’ Films from Bloody Brilliant to Just Bloody

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Radio Silence Films

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett, and Chad Villella are all filmmakers under the collective label called Radio Silence. Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett are the primary directors under that moniker while Villella produces.

They have gained popularity over the past 13 years and their films have become known as having a certain Radio Silence “signature.” They are bloody, usually contain monsters, and have breakneck action sequences. Their recent film Abigail exemplifies that signature and is perhaps their best film yet. They are currently working on a reboot of John Carpenter’s Escape From New York.

We thought we would go through the list of projects they have directed and rank them from high to low. None of the movies and shorts on this list are bad, they all have their merits. These rankings from top to bottom are just ones we felt showcased their talents the best.

We didn’t include movies they produced but didn’t direct.

#1. Abigail

An update to the second film on this list, Abagail is the natural progression of Radio Silence’s love of lockdown horror. It follows in pretty much the same footsteps of Ready or Not, but manages to go one better — make it about vampires.

Abigail

#2. Ready or Not

This film put Radio Silence on the map. While not as successful at the box office as some of their other films, Ready or Not proved that the team could step outside their limited anthology space and create a fun, thrilling, and bloody adventure-length film.

Ready or Not

#3. Scream (2022)

While Scream will always be a polarizing franchise, this prequel, sequel, reboot — however you want to label it showed just how much Radio Silence knew the source material. It wasn’t lazy or cash-grabby, just a good time with legendary characters we love and new ones who grew on us.

Scream (2022)

#4 Southbound (The Way Out)

Radio Silence tosses their found footage modus operandi for this anthology film. Responsible for the bookend stories, they create a terrifying world in their segment titled The Way Out, which involves strange floating beings and some sort of time loop. It’s kind of the first time we see their work without a shaky cam. If we were to rank this entire film, it would remain at this position on the list.

Southbound

#5. V/H/S (10/31/98)

The film that started it all for Radio Silence. Or should we say the segment that started it all. Even though this isn’t feature-length what they managed to do with the time they had was very good. Their chapter was titled 10/31/98, a found-footage short involving a group of friends who crash what they think is a staged exorcism only to learn not to assume things on Halloween night.

V/H/S

#6. Scream VI

Cranking up the action, moving to the big city and letting Ghostface use a shotgun, Scream VI turned the franchise on its head. Like their first one, this film played with canon and managed to win over a lot of fans in its direction, but alienated others for coloring too far outside the lines of Wes Craven’s beloved series. If any sequel was showing how the trope was going stale it was Scream VI, but it managed to squeeze some fresh blood out of this nearly three-decade mainstay.

Scream VI

#7. Devil’s Due

Fairly underrated, this, Radio Silence’s first feature-length film, is a sampler of things they took from V/H/S. It was filmed in an omnipresent found footage style, showcasing a form of possession, and features clueless men. Since this was their first bonafide major studio job it’s a wonderful touchstone to see how far they have come with their storytelling.

Devil’s Due

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