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TIFF Review: Jeremy Saulnier’s ‘Hold the Dark’ is Beautifully Bleak

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Hold the Dark Netflix

Hold the Dark is the latest film from extraordinarily talented director Jeremy Saulnier (Murder Party, Blue Ruin, Green Room). It’s a harsh, bleak, and visually stunning thriller set in the sparse isolation of a small Alaskan community. Saulnier’s previous films have also focused on isolated communities, but Hold the Dark is by far the largest in scale.

In Hold the Dark, we follow writer Russell Core (Jeffrey Wright – Westworld, Boardwalk Empire), a retired naturalist and wolf expert. He receives a letter from young grieving mother Medora Sloane (Riley Keogh – Mad Max: Fury Road, It Comes at Night) whose 6-year-old son was taken by a wolf pack that has already claimed three other local children. Medora asks Core to come to Alaska to kill the wolves as local authorities have made no steps to help the isolated (and mostly Indigenous) community.

When Medora’s husband, Vernon (Alexander Skarsgård – True Blood, War on Everyone), returns from the Iraq War, the news of his son’s death ignites a violent chain of events that drags Core into a vicious heart of darkness.

via IMDb

Written by Macon Blair – who has also appeared in all three of Saulnier’s previous feature films – and adapted from the 2014 novel by William Giraldi, Hold the Dark is wonderfully economical in its exposition.

As an audience, we only see and hear what is needed to tell the story we’re immediately faced with. Still, the information we are given is extremely limited and mostly implied. Lines are subtly dropped that allow the viewer to piece together other points in the backstory, but Blair makes you work for it, and much is left open to interpretation.

It adds a layer of mystery that echoes the emotionally closed nature of the characters on screen. We gain just as much from the silences as we do the dialogue.

In the interest of keeping this review spoiler-free, the only point to be discussed regarding the plot will be to say that it unfolds in a way that keeps the audience searching for these clues. Visual cues and bits of dialogue cycle back and give an attentive audience more to unpack.

via Metal Underground

The limited daylight in Alaskan winter plays a large part in the atmosphere of the film. The disorientation of a seemingly endless night works in sharp contrast with the overwhelming light of a bright sun on snow.

The film is permeated in darkness; the limited light creates that impression of a harsh cold that you can feel in your bones. This lack of warmth is felt through the characters – there’s a palpable tension and quiet anger lying just under the surface.

One particular confrontation between police chief Donald Marium (James Badge Dale – 13 Hours) and fury-filled local, Cheeon (Julian Black Antelope – Penny Dreadful), simmers with a taut but controlled rage. Every performance in the film is incredible, but this head-to-head had the whole TIFF audience on edge.

The characters of Vernon and Medora Sloane have an unnatural, masking calm that is as captivating as it is unsettling. There’s something about them that you’re never quite sure you understand, which makes them fascinating to watch.

via TIFF

The way that Saulnier shoots scenes of violence is extremely effective. He captures the horrific and gruesome acts without lingering long enough to glorify them.

The result is just as stomach-churning without being gratuitous, and it mimics the way we often naturally observe brutal injuries – we glance long enough to register, then turn away to process.

Think of the arm injury or stomach slit in Green Room, for example. You can remember exactly what they look like, even though each are only visible for 1-2 seconds.

via Netflix

The beautiful but isolating wilderness of Alaska is cleverly used by Saulnier and cinematographer Magnus Nordenhof Jønck (A Hijacking). Though shot in Alberta, Canada, the message is the same: we are insignificant, and nature is beyond our control. 

Hold the Dark wraps around concepts of parental trauma, isolation, neglect, and our own personal nature. There are different sides to every story, and in one way or another, we’re all villains here.

 

Hold the Dark arrives on Netflix on September 28th.

via Netflix

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Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role

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Brad Dourif has been doing movies for nearly 50 years. Now it seems he is walking away from the industry at 74 to enjoy his golden years. Except, there is a caveat.

Recently, digital entertainment publication JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols talked to some of the Chucky television series cast members. During the interview, Dourif made an announcement.

“Dourif said that he’s retired from acting,” says Nichols. “The only reason he came back for the show was because of his daughter Fiona and he considers Chucky creator Don Mancini to be family. But for non-Chucky stuff, he considers himself retired.”

Dourif has voiced the possessed doll since 1988 (minus the 2019 reboot). The original movie “Child’s Play” has become such a cult classic it’s at the top of some people’s best chillers of all time. Chucky himself is ingrained in pop culture history much like Frankenstein or Jason Voorhees.

While Dourif may be known for his famous voiceover, he is also an Oscar-nominated actor for his part in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Another famous horror role is The Gemini Killer in William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III. And who can forget Betazoid Lon Suder in Star Trek: Voyager?

The good news is that Don Mancini is already pitching a concept for season four of Chucky which might also include a feature-length movie with a series tie-in. So, Although Dourif says he is retiring from the industry, ironically he is Chucky’s friend till the end.

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Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

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The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film
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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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