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Shane Black Explains Why 1980s Nostalgia Inspired ‘The Predator’

Published

6 years ago

July 20, 2018

Shane Black was only twenty-five when he arrived in Mexico in the summer of 1986 to act in the first Predator film. Black was given the dubious honor of playing Rick Hawkins, a Special Forces soldier who ends up becoming the first victim in the Predator film series.

More than thirty years later, Black looks back fondly on the making of Predator, a film that Black considers to be one of the greatest genre films ever made. “I think Predator is the ultimate genre film,” says Black. “It was a zeitgeist film. It combined the alien film craze, which was born out of James Cameron’s Aliens, and the Rambo war movie craze. It had mystery and tension, and it was pure pulp entertainment.”

It seems like yesterday when Black took Hollywood by storm with his screenplays for the action films The Last Boy Scout and Lethal Weapon. Now fifty-six years old, Black is at a loss to explain where the time has gone. “I feel old,” says Black. “I didn’t see the time pass. What the hell happened? I remember being a student in UCLA, and then there was Lethal Weapon, and The Monster Squad, and Predator. I really miss those days.”

This wave of nostalgia is precisely what inspired Black to want to return to the Predator film series, as a filmmaker, after more than thirty years. “I wanted to go back in time with this film,” Black, explaining the origins of The Predator screenplay, which Black co-wrote with longtime friend Fred Dekker. “With The Predator, I approached the film as if it was being made back in the 1980s. I wanted to make a 1980s war film and then add in the FX shots later.”

After five Predator films (including the spin-offs Alien vs. Predator and Alien vs. Predator: Requiem), does the Predator film series still have the ability to generate mystery and suspense? Black believes that there are still many interesting questions to answer within the series. “The second film happened, and the other films happened, and now, in 2020, Earth has taken notice that all of these things have happened,” says Black of the film’s premise. “The intelligence community has created a division that’s devoted to responding to predator incursions.”

With The Predator, Black also wanted to further explore the origins of the predator species and the question of why the predators have been visiting Earth. “The predators have been visiting Earth for a long time, possibly since ancient times, and I wanted to explain why,” says Black. “The predators are obviously hunters, warriors, but they also have amazing technology, so the predator planet must be populated by scientists and warriors. We don’t have the ability to build interstellar spaceships, so the predator planet must contain some kind of think tank. From Earth’s perspective, there are technological opportunities.”

Black says that the predators in the film are also motivated by revenge. “There’s a rogue faction within the predator race, and some of them are angry because of what happened in the previous films,” says Black. “They’re angry because, time and time again, the predator warriors have been bested by humanity’s best champions, starting with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character in Predator. They want to punch back.”

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Movies

Trailer for ‘The Exorcism’ Has Russell Crowe Possessed

Published

2 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Timothy Rawles

The latest exorcism movie is about to drop this summer. It’s aptly titled The Exorcism and it stars Academy Award winner turned B-movie savant Russell Crowe. The trailer dropped today and by the looks of it, we are getting a possession movie that takes place on a movie set.

Just like this year’s recent demon-in-media-space film Late Night With the Devil, The Exorcism happens during a production. Although the former takes place on a live network talk show, the latter is on an active sound stage. Hopefully, it won’t be entirely serious and we’ll get some meta chuckles out of it.

The film will open in theaters on June 7, but since Shudder also acquired it, it probably won’t be long after that until it finds a home on the streaming service.

Crowe plays, “Anthony Miller, a troubled actor who begins to unravel while shooting a supernatural horror film. His estranged daughter, Lee (Ryan Simpkins), wonders if he’s slipping back into his past addictions or if there’s something more sinister at play. The film also stars Sam Worthington, Chloe Bailey, Adam Goldberg and David Hyde Pierce.”

Crowe did see some success in last year’s The Pope’s Exorcist mostly because his character was so over-the-top and infused with such comical hubris it bordered on parody. We will see if that is the route actor-turned-director Joshua John Miller takes with The Exorcism.

'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?

News

Win a Stay at The Lizzie Borden House From Spirit Halloween

Published

4 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Spirit Halloween has declared that this week marks the start of spooky season and to celebrate they are offering fans a chance to stay at the Lizzie Borden House with so many perks Lizzie herself would approve.

The Lizzie Borden House in Fall River, MA is claimed to be one of the most haunted houses in America. Of course one lucky winner and up to 12 of their friends will find out if the rumors are true if they win the grand prize: A private stay in the notorious house.

“We are delighted to work with Spirit Halloween to roll out the red carpet and offer the public a chance to win a one-of-a-kind experience at the infamous Lizzie Borden House, which also includes additional haunted experiences and merchandise,” said Lance Zaal, President & Founder of US Ghost Adventures.

Fans can enter to win by following Spirit Halloween‘s Instagram and leaving a comment on the contest post from now through April 28.

The prize also includes:

An exclusive guided house tour, including insider insight around the murder, the trial, and commonly reported hauntings

A late-night ghost tour, complete with professional ghost-hunting gear

A private breakfast in the Borden family dining room

A ghost hunting starter kit with two pieces of Ghost Daddy Ghost Hunting Gear and a lesson for two at US Ghost Adventures Ghost Hunting Course

The ultimate Lizzie Borden gift package, featuring an official hatchet, the Lizzie Borden board game, Lily the Haunted Doll, and America’s Most Haunted Volume II

Winner’s choice of a Ghost Tour experience in Salem or a True Crime experience in Boston for two

“Our Halfway to Halloween celebration provides fans an exhilarating taste of what’s to come this fall and empowers them to start planning for their favorite season as early as they please,” said Steven Silverstein, CEO of Spirit Halloween. “We have cultivated an incredible following of enthusiasts who embody the Halloween lifestyle, and we’re thrilled to bring the fun back to life.”

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Spirit Halloween is also preparing for their retail haunted houses. On Thursday, August 1 their flagship store in Egg Harbor Township, NJ. will officially open to start off the season. That event usually draws in hordes of people eager to see what new merch, animatronics, and exclusive IP goods will be trending this year.

'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?

Movies

’28 Years Later’ Trilogy Taking Shape With Serious Star Power

Published

5 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Danny Boyle is revisiting his 28 Days Later universe with three new films. He will direct the first, 28 Years Later, with two more to follow. Deadline is reporting that sources say Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Ralph Fiennes have been cast for the first entry, a sequel to the original. Details are being kept under wraps so we don’t know how or if the first original sequel 28 Weeks Later fits into the project.

**Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes**

Boyle will direct the first movie but it’s unclear which role he will take on in the subsequent films. What is known is Candyman (2021) director Nia DaCosta is scheduled to direct the second film in this trilogy and that the third will be filmed immediately afterward. Whether DaCosta will direct both is still unclear.

Alex Garland is writing the scripts. Garland is having a successful time at the box office right now. He wrote and directed the current action/thriller Civil War which was just knocked out of the theatrical top spot by Radio Silence’s Abigail.

There is no word yet on when, or where, 28 Years Later will start production.