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Review: Misery (Collector’s Edition) (Blu-Ray)

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Regarded as one of the best of the Stephen King film adaptations, 1990’s Misery, based on King’s 1987 novel, revolutionized how King’s work was perceived in Hollywood.  A box office and critical success, Misery brought the first, and so far only, Academy Award to the King cinematic universe, when Kathy Bates won the best actress Oscar for her memorable portrayal of Annie Wilkes.  The prestige that Misery attracted transferred itself to the King-inspired films The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption, two Oscar-nominated films that further enhanced the credibility of King’s work in Hollywood and in the minds of audiences.

Misery highlights one of King’s essential gifts as a writer, which is his uncanny ability to connect suspense and tension to seemingly ordinary settings and situations.  In the film, Paul Sheldon, played by James Caan, is a best-selling novelist who, as the film opens, finds himself incapacitated when his car spins off a road in the midst of a blinding blizzard.  Paul is rescued by Bates’s Annie Wilkes, a seemingly pleasant woman who nurses Paul back to health in her secluded home.  Trapped in bed, his legs badly broken, Paul discovers that Annie is his “number one fan,” someone who is completely infatuated with Paul’s writing, to the point where she’s unable to distinguish fiction from reality.  As his attempts to make contact with the outside world are rebuffed, Paul eventually discovers that Annie is a demented, unhinged woman who intends to keep Paul as her prisoner.

More than a quarter of a century after its theatrical release, Shout! Factory has immortalized the film’s legacy with their new Blu-Ray release, Misery: Collector’s Edition, which documents every element of the making of the film, from page to theatrical release.  Along with a 4K restoration of the film, which was culled from the film’s original elements, the Blu-Ray contains new interviews with director Rob Reiner and special makeup effects artist Greg Nicotero.

Anchoring the Blu-Ray are the commentaries provided by Reiner and screenwriter William Goldman, both of whom go into painstaking detail regarding the challenges they faced in bringing King’s novel to the screen.  For Reiner, who had previously directed Stand by Me, based on the King novella The Body, Misery was a transforming moment in the director’s career, allowing him to fully make the transition from comedy to broader material.  In addition to the commentaries, several documentaries explore the elements and themes contained within in the film, which are mostly-related to stalking as it relates to Annie Wilkes’s twisted psyche.

Although Misery has long been a staple of cable television, Shout! Factory’s release serves as the last word on this now classic film and is a recommended addition to any genre fan’s library.

The Misery: Collector’s Edition Blu-Ray is available on November 28, 2017. 

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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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