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‘Scare Package’ is a Fun and Fantastic Love Letter to Horror Anthology

Published

4 years ago

December 11, 2019

I’m a huge fan of anthologies, and this year, I have had the opportunity to watch several of them. However, it was one wild-ass meta ride of an anthology titled Scare Package that became my favorite anthology of the last couple of years due to its playfulness, heart and pastiche of 80’s horror.

Scare Package has its tongue firmly placed in cheek with its opening story, ‘Cold Open,’ directed by Emily Hagins (Grow Up Tony Phillips). The story revolves around a dude that very much understands that his job in daily life is to offer a generic cold open day in and day out. Tired of the rigmarole, he decides to take steps to become more than a cold open character and someone that might have more a pivotal role in life. Of course this comes with hilarious and deadly consequences.

It’s a nice setup and sets a clear blueprint of the sort of horror-beholden shenanigans the audience is in store for. From Cold Open we are lead into the wrap-around portion of Scare Package and, man is it a fun one. It takes place in a video store owned by a Joe Bob Briggs obsessed dude named Rad Chad. Each of the following segments in the anthology are introduced through this particular group of video store employees. It gives the entire structure of the anthology a creative and unique approach to its core.

Scare Package does a nice job of delivering the goods with a completely eclectic selection of stories, that could have easily been akin to randomly selecting videos from your local video store on a Saturday night. In fact, the film speaks to that singularly special feeling of sharing random, bloody video store picks and enjoying them with friends over the weekend. That is of course back when video stores were a ubiquitous thing.

Scare Package

For example, One Time in the Woods is a perfectly goopy and hilarious ride that would have fit in very well with the school of Troma. In this one, a group of friends out attempting to camp in the woods is interrupted by a slime gloppola monster and a serial killer. There are some great comedy bits and gags, but the real MVP is the incredible practical makeup effects that ramp up throughout.

Noah Segan (Knives Out) writes, acts and directs in a straight up werewolf story titled M.I.S.T.E.R. I can definitely say that you have never seen any werewolf story like this werewolf story. It’s got the wolfouts and gore that you would hope for and all, but it’s message is really smart and entirely poignant for our current climate.

Horror Hypothesis is the big red bow on the entire run of Scare Package. Directed by Aaron Koontz (Camera Obscura), this entry takes the characters from the wrap around and places them into a seriously hilarious love letter to a bevy of slasher films. In this one, a group of folks have to escape The Devil’s Lake Impaler (think Jason Voorhees) while adhering closely to the unwritten rules of a slasher. It’s full of winks and nods to some memorable moments from horror history and a big fuckin surprise in the shape of bigger than life Joe Bob Briggs briefly dropping in to assist in battling The Impaler.

You can seriously feel the passionate reverence for horror throughout Scare Package. I know without question these select filmmakers were at the video store picking up as many horror films as they were allowed in a weekend during their youth. That sort of history and love for the genre is bleeding through the screen in unique ways in each of Scare Package’s segments. That sort of thing comes with a two-fisted approach of pure honesty and not holding anything back, and the film is all the better for it.

The most charming thing about horror anthologies is the ability to offer a cup of tea to everyone. Each story recalling youthful bedtime, or campfire stories; these scares feel like an old friend. Scare Package is a resolute, fun and meta take on horror anthologies as a whole. It offers the most meta wormhole that we may have ever traveled through as an audience of anthology fare. It also offers up a group of filmmakers that are made up of the same ilk that made magic possible in anthologies like Creepshow and Tales from the Crypt. Its overt honesty to the genre and the blast I had watching it will keep me coming back to re-watch and show as many like minded friends as possible.

Scare Package

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Movies

Trailer for ‘The Exorcism’ Has Russell Crowe Possessed

Published

4 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

6 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

8 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.