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Neo-Noir ‘Dreamland’ Trailer Stars Henry Rollins, Stephen McHattie

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Dreamland

A71 Releasing Inc. is pleased to announce the Canadian release of beloved cinematic visionary Bruce McDonald’s latest picture, Dreamland, hitting Apple TV, Bell, Cineplex, Cogeco, Rogers, Shaw, and Telus l on May 29th, 2020. The release follows a busy festival tour which began with a riotous world premiere at the Brussels International Fantastic Festival in 2019, followed by the Fantasy Film Festival in Germany, the Torino Film Festival in Italy, and a thrilling North American premiere at the 2019 Fantasia International Film Festival.

Reuniting McDonald with collaborators from the 2008 cult favorite Pontypool, Dreamland is written by Tony Burgess and Patrick Whistler. The film features a searing Stephen McHattie and Lisa Houle, returning to characters introduced in the post-end-credits coda of Pontypool, Johnny Dead Eyes and Lisa the Killer. McHattie and Houle are joined on screen by Juliette Lewis – who starred in McDonald’s storied Picture Claire – and iconic punk rocker, poet, and pundit Henry Rollins.

Dreamland

via A71

A surreal, darkly comic vision blending horror and fantasy, Dreamland follows reluctant hit man Johnny Dead Eyes (McHattie) who – on the orders of diabolical underworld kingpin Hercules (Rollins) – must cut off the pinkie finger of his jazz legend doppelgänger The Maestro (also McHattie). Johnny makes his way through a neo-noir cityscape populated with street urchins, vampires, and a crime queen called The Countess (Juliette Lewis), while – like all movie hit men – contemplating getting out of the game. But first he’s got to set a few things right…

The Pontypool team had long wanted to get the band back together and McDonald felt strongly about creating a project for Stephen McHattie.

“Once in a while, in this movie game, we connect with people who are stars – and we are inspired to create just the right movie for them. This one is for the great Stephen McHattie,” says McDonald. The writers began with the Pontypool coda characters in mind and were also inspired by a short McHattie starred in which he played Chet Baker in the last minutes of his life, The Deaths of Chet Baker.

McDonald, speaking to inspirations for the film, adds, “Making the movie, I encouraged the team to embrace the Dream in Dreamland. We tried to keep a hatch always open to the subconscious. We tried to have instincts rule over logic. We embraced the guiding spirits of filmmakers Louis Bunuel, David Lynch, Peter Mettler, Bruce Weber, Rainer Werner Fassbinder – of poets Jim Carrol, Richard Brautigon – and of writers Williams S. Burroughs and Raymond Chandler – of musicians Chet Baker, The Eurythmics and Alice Cooper.”

Dreamland

via A71

Dreamland was shot in Luxembourg and Belgium with Director of Photography Richard Van Oosterhout, Production Designers Florence Vercheval and Eugenie Collet, and Costume Designer Magdalena Labuz. The moody jazz score, a character in its own right in the film, was composed by Jonathan Goldsmith (Away From Her, Take This Waltz).

“We are very excited to bring this movie to audiences across Canada while people are looking for new content,” says A71 Releasing Inc. CEO Justin Rebelo. “Dreamland is the work of a director with complete command of his craft and relentless in his pursuit of artistic risk – and it carries on the genre legacy established by these collaborators with Pontypool.”

The film is executive produced by Rob Merilees, Michael Robson and Jim Sherry, alongside Morris Ruskin. Producers on the film are Amber Ripley of Vancouver’s Goodbye Productions, Jesus Gonzalez-Elvira of Luxembourg-based Calach Films, and Sebastian Schelenz of Belgium’s Velvet Films.

Dreamland is produced with support from Telefilm Canada, Film Fund Luxembourg, BNP Parabis Fortis Film Finance, Wallimage and VOO & BE TV with development support from Telefilm Canada and Creative BC.

You can check out the trailer and character posters below

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Trailer for ‘The Exorcism’ Has Russell Crowe Possessed

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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.

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Win a Stay at The Lizzie Borden House From Spirit Halloween

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lizzie borden house

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.

Inside the Lizzie Borden House

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.”

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.

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

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28 years later

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.

28 Days Later

The original film followed Jim (Cillian Murphy) who wakes from a coma to find that London is currently dealing with a zombie outbreak.

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