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Nicholas Woods Takes Us Inside “The Axiom”

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Nicholas Woods set out on the road to The Axiom a long time ago.  He was only seven years old when his brother introduced him Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

“I think that was the breaking point for me,” Woods says.  “I was completely fascinated by horror films from that point.  I wanted to watch them, and I wanted to make them.”

Just over a decade later, he left his home in Phoenix, AZ to attend the prestigious film school at Chapman University.  At 22, he graduated and received his first job as a production designer, but he knew when that film was completed that all he really wanted to do was write and direct.  He can’t tell you exactly when and where the idea came from for The Axiom, but once it struck him, he had to see it through.

“I mean, it’s not exactly an original idea,” he explains.  “A lot of my favorite movies and books deal with the idea of portals to other dimensions and the creatures that might inhabit them.”

Still, the idea grew in his mind and his own spin on the theme began to take shape.

Filmed in the stunning Idlewild area southeast of Los Angeles,The Axiom centers on McKenzie (Hattie Smith) and Martin (Zac Titus) who are searching for their missing sister Marylyn (Maria Granberg).  She’s disappeared and they only have a battered journal with pages missing to point them toward her intended destination.  Joined by their friends Darcy (Nicole Dambro), Gerrik (Michael Peter Harrison), and Edgar (Taylor Flowers), they head into the woods after stopping to meet with a man who says he remembers seeing Marylyn only days before.

As they set out to find her, it’s clear that McKenzie knows more than she’s saying, but the truth isn’t revealed until the group finds themselves in an alternate reality where nothing is what it seems.

The setting is beautiful and the action takes place almost entirely in full daylight, unlike many genre favorites.  And that’s just one thing that makes this film stand out from the crowd.

Woods’ script is smart with precision timing, and his characters are actual human beings rather than the tried (tired?) and true archetypes.  In fact, it’s in the story of Edgar in the film that the writer/director’s genius really comes to the surface.  Edgar is prone to hallucinations and is being treated for his mental illness.  So, in the best of times, he cannot trust his own perception.  This makes him an easy target for the beings inside the Axiom, and of course, his friends can write off what he’s saying because they know of his ongoing struggles discerning reality.

 

“That’s the most terrifying thing to me,”  Woods admits.  “You generally trust what you see in front of you, but someone with his mental illness can’t do that.  You’re never sure if what you’re seeing is real.  You’re constantly questioning.  That’s a nightmare to me.”

It was clear during our interview that Woods didn’t just want to scare or entertain his audience.  He wants them to think.  He wants them to walk away from the movie discussing what they saw, and there are a host of elements and little homages to keep that conversation going.

Some of them, he admits, he didn’t even plan.

During our conversation I brought up the moment when the group of friends drink a red liquid from small vials that opens their eyes to the danger around them and brings them back to reality.  I couldn’t help but think of The Matrix and the red pill Morpheus offers Neo during that pivotal scene, but when I brought it up to Woods, he just laughed.

“I love the way that cinema can put color coded messages into your head,” he laughs.  “We’ll never be able to see a red pill and a blue pill on screen without thinking of that scene ever again, I don’t think.”

Woods is working hard for distribution of his debut film, at the moment.  His biggest dream is to make sure that as many people as possible see The Axiom, and iHorror will keep you posted on all the latest news as it comes in.

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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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