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[Review] Black Mirror’s ‘Bandersnatch’ Could Use Some Tweaking

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If any show on Netflix was going to tackle a choose your own adventure type of viewing experience, the logical choice would be Black Mirror. And when this turned out to be the case, the logical expectation would be for the episode to be absolutely amazing.

But Bandersnatch is really only interesting on a surface level and doesn’t get much deeper than a novelty – not quite the standard for Charlie Brooker’s mind-bending science fiction series.

The story follows a young man named Stefan Butler (Fionn Whitehead) as he attempts to create a videogame based on a choose your own adventure novel titled Bandersnatch. The viewer is able to make choices for Stefan as he works towards creating his game in 1984. The first acts a tutorial – you choose which cereal he will eat, and later on you’ll see a commercial on Stefan’s TV for the chosen cereal. It’s kind of neat and will serve as a hint of what you will be able to do.

It starts out pretty interesting, and retains that interest for the most part. If you fail early on at making the right choices for Stefan (there are a couple of choices that will break the narrative completely and force you to “go back” and correct it), Stefan will comment that he’s been there before. He’ll simply “know” certain things and predict what others will say, setting the episode up for some very meta situations.

At one point, you can even inform Stefan that you are from Netflix, influencing what he does in every situation. It is at the same time both funny and bizarre to watch his reaction as he tries to understand the concept of a streaming service as the episode takes place in 1984. From there, you can really branch out and make some crazy decisions – but the episode will end with a wacky predicament and have you go back to do another one, leaving you feel like there are actual “right” and “wrong” outcomes for Stefan.

The conclusions to this episode are really where Bandersnatch falls apart, simply for that fact that many of the endings don’t really feel like an ending. Many of the endings just left us with the option to “go back”, leaving us to wonder whether or not Stefan was to be stuck in a loop or the viewer just isn’t able to finish the episode.

But when the credits finally did roll and all of the endings had been exhausted, the whole experience just feels somewhat fatiguing. None of the endings gave the feeling of definitive dread or absolute conclusion – and though part of me thinks that it may just due to the fact that you can essentially cycle through all the endings by going back, a bigger part of me is decided on the endings simply not being satisfying enough.

In fact, the cohesive story as a whole seems to be a tad one-dimensional despite the choices and meta experience of Bandersnatch. It’s not awful; it’s just that if you take out the element of choice from this Netflix event, none of the story lines are strong enough or fleshed out enough to stand on its own.

On this one, I would choose “Go back.” I don’t doubt Black Mirror is more than capable of pulling this off in a better way; they just need to make some better choices next time.

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Watch ‘The Burning’ At The Location Where It Was Filmed

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Fangoria is reporting that fans of the 1981 slasher The Burning will be able to have a screening of the film at the location where it was filmed. The movie is set at Camp Blackfoot which is actually the Stonehaven Nature Preserve in Ransomville, New York.

This ticketed event will take place on August 3. Guests will be able to take a tour of the grounds as well as enjoy some campfire snacks along with the screening of The Burning.

The Burning

The film came out in the early ’80s when teen slashers were being churned out in magnum force. Thanks to Sean S. Cunningham’s Friday the 13th, filmmakers wanted to get in on the low-budget, high-profit movie market and a casket load of these types of films were produced, some better than others.

The Burning is one of the good ones, mostly because of the special effects from Tom Savini who had just come off of his groundbreaking work on Dawn of the Dead and Friday the 13th. He declined to do the sequel because of its illogical premise and instead signed on to do this movie. Also, a young Jason Alexander who would later go on to play George in Seinfeld is a featured player.

Because of its practical gore, The Burning had to be heavily edited before it received an R-rating. The MPAA was under the thumb of protest groups and political bigwigs to censor violent films at the time because slashers were just so graphic and detailed in their gore.

Tickets are $50, and if you want a special t-shirt, that will cost you another $25, You can get all the information by visiting the On Set Cinema webpage.

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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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Exclusive Sneak Peek: Eli Roth and Crypt TV’s VR Series ‘The Faceless Lady’ Episode Five

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Eli Roth (Cabin Fever) and Crypt TV are knocking it out of the park with their new VR show, The Faceless Lady. For those unaware, this is the first fully scripted VR horror show on the market.

Even for masters of horror like Eli Roth and Crypt TV, this is a monumental undertaking. However, if I trust anyone to change the way that we experience horror, it would be these two legends.

The Faceless Lady

Ripped from the pages of Irish folklore, The Faceless Lady tells the story of a tragic spirit cursed to wander the halls of her castle for all of eternity. However, when three young couples are invited to the castle for a series of games, their fates may soon change.

So far, the story has provided horror fans with a gripping game of life or death that doesn’t look as if it will slow down in episode five. Luckily, we have an exclusive clip that may be able to satiate your appetites until the new premiere.

Airing on 4/25 at 5pmPT/8pmET, episode five follows our final three contestants in this wicked game. As the stakes are raised ever higher, will Ella be able to fully awaken her connection with Lady Margaret?

The faceless lady

The newest episode can be found on Meta Quest TV. If you haven’t already, follow this link to subscribe to the series. Make sure to check out the new clip below.

Eli Roth Present’s THE FACELESS LADY S1E5 Clip: THE DUEL – YouTube

To view in the highest resolution, adjust the quality settings in the bottom right corner of the clip.

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