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[SXSW Review] ‘Upgrade’ Is a Searingly-Cool, Brutal Sci-Fi Gorefest

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Upgrade

I habitually follow whatever director/writer Leigh Whannell is up to. He has a trusted lineup of films out there, ranging from Saw to Insidious that I’ve always enjoyed. The really cool thing about this guy is that he innately feels like one of us. Just a regular ole horror fan. So, it’s par for the course that I was all aboard his latest sci-fi, horror, action film, Upgrade.

Upgrade is the first culmination of Blumhouse and Neon under the name of “Blumhouse Tilt.” I wasn’t sure where we were gonna go from there. Neon has done a lot of cool stuff in their own right, while Blumhouse has a primarily paranormal background. The peanut butter and sandwich that these two houses managed to make is a beast entirely up my alley. I say peanut butter, but Upgrade is more like peanut butter and jelly with a little bit of ecstasy sprinkled on top.

The film follows, Grey Trace after he and his girlfriend are savagely attacked leaving Grey, paralyzed from the neck down. When he is offered a chance at a normal life again by means of a microchip implant called Stem, he takes the opportunity. Once Stem is implanted, Grey begins hearing Stem talk to him, asking for control over his Grey’s body to assist in finding the dudes responsible for the attack.

Upgrade has a really cool ability to swerve in and out lanes that are made of the hilarious and over the top fun and can easily swerve back to the heavy hitting emotional stuff. This is the most Whannell film I have seen from him. This one feels like his voice more than previous work and I’m here for it.

Logan Marshall-Green plays Grey Trace and the guy seriously brings all aspects of the gambit. He can go from the emotional bits to the bloody bits in .5 seconds before coming back and hitting us with those heavy moving gut punches. Without giving too much away, I gotta say… Green is a badass on the levels of a melding of The Terminator and John Wick.

Upgrade is an indie film that manages to feel larger. It’s bridging the gap between an indie horror film and a kick-ass big action film. That bridge is where the undeniable charm of the film lay. It’s accomplishing big strides within its indie heart. I also really like that the film is obviously making an allgeroy about where we currently are with technology and the dangers of where that could lead. What Upgrade does really well with that, is how it doesn’t ever get pretentious or preachy with that message. Its got the message in there but it can also just be a fun action flick to have beer and pizza with.

I was taken completely by surprise by this one. It played as a midnight film at SXSW on the night of the daylight savings switch. As its establishing its characters and narrative I ordered a coffee to stay awake. Little did I know that I wasn’t gonna need that coffee because the action scenes that this movie shoves into your synapses is a speed-ball of action. After the first (and unexpected) fight scene broke out, I was up in my chair, laughing and cheering at the badassery of every aspect of how cool Whannell made these fight scenes look and feel.

One fight that highlights a kitchen knife being used on a badguy essentially turning him into a mangled PAC-Man, set the tone for the film and had the entire crowd cheering and cracking up.

Upgrade is a cool movie. It’s Ghost in the Shell by way of Cronenberg serving that is somehow wrapped in a Terminator exterior. It’s filled with intense, brutal action heightened by a substantial amount of awesome gore. This movie is seriously my jam and a great first outing by the folks at Blumhouse Tilt.

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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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