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‘The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan’ Takes ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ Terror to New Heights’

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Medan

If you had told me that one day it would be possible to turn ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ books into deeply involved, and absorbing game narratives, I would have found a way to build a frickin’ time machine in order to reach said future all the faster. The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan is that future, and accomplishes that Choose Your Own Adventure brought to life in pretty mesmerizing ways.

Supermassive Games is the team behind 2015’s sleeper hit Until Dawn. Much like Dawn’s meticulous branching story lines based on choice, Man of Medan is deeply involved and ever revolving.

Man of Medan follows a foursome and their boat captain as they head out for an underwater diving expedition to sculp a sunken WWII plane. Brothers Alex and Brad paired with Alex’s girlfriend, Julia and her brother Conrad make up the cast of main characters and are what brings the familial and relationship drama into the fold. All this while, Fliss captain’s the boat and tries to remain as neutral (but headstrong) as possible. When the crew is eventually hijacked by pirates who believe there is gold to be found, our group of characters are forced to board a WWII ghost ship that hides some terrifying secrets.

Medan

The story setup is straight out of something that is half 90s horror and half JJ Abrams. It definitely has familiar, fun b-movie tropes but it also pushes into the mysteries that would have fit in with Abrams’ Lost series.

Much like Until Dawn the dialogue and its many splitting trees are written by horror alum, Graham Reznick and Larry Fessenden. They clearly speak the genre lingo and do a great job of bringing that horror movie experience to the cast of characters in exceedingly creative and swell ways.

The voice acting is on par too and with a game so focused on the characters, it really had to be. Conrad played by Shawn Ashmore is no stranger to the world of acting in games following his starring role in Remedy’s Quantum Break. Mannerisms and mocap magic really work to create fleshed out and a believable set of characters.

The Dark Pictures Anthology clearly signifies that we are going to have many genre titles coming out of this world. The totem of the series being The Curator, a mysterious sort of guide who unfurls the story to you allowing you to make choices for the characters their in. Think of The Curator as the Rod Serling to Twilight Zone or the Crypt Keeper to Tales from The Crypt. Save for, he allows you to write the story and choose characters’ fates.

Since everything you say and certain actions you take have constant consequences, Man of Medan comes with several different endings. These endings are based on the lives you save during your play through. There is a way to have everyone survive and there is a way to have everyone meet their grisly end. Now, the goal might be to have everyone come out hunky all hunky-dory but there is significantly more fun and a lot more frights from allowing your characters to die.

Medan

Man of Medan offers you the choice to play alone to enjoy the experience via co-op. The multiplayer section breaks into playing online with other and a movie night couch party mode that allows you and your friends/family to play through using one controller. In this mode, each person selects which character(s) they will play as, when it comes to their turn a prompt comes up that lets you know to pass the controller. When I first heard about this mode, I thought it would be kind of intrusive and break the spell, but it comes off nice and organic and doesn’t interfere with gameplay at all.

Much like Until Dawn, this one is told through a variety of static third person angles. Instead of letting this format strictly be the angles we are watching a story unfold, Supermassive Games uses these angles as a way to scare the absolute soul out of you. Some of the best scares in the game take place in the periphery of those points of view. Either eluding to someone watching you, spooky things existing in foregrounds as well as backgrounds and to just throw something directly at you. On one occasion while walking through one of the ghost ships corridors I, saw a woman facing the wall in an odd spot. When I went back to look she was gone. It was an instant and could have easily been missed. But the care was there to put her there anyways. I really love how the team fully understands not all gamers are going to be looking in the same spot, so to take advantage of that they place different subtle scares throughout the game.

The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan is a great start to this anthology. It’s characters and story consumes you whole. I absolutely didn’t want to stop playing the game, like a good book, I couldn’t put it down. The team at Supermassive Games has carved out a very special niche in the genre by bridging what we all love about horror with everything we revere in gaming, all while not having any problem with keeping it weird and terrifying.

The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan is out now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

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The Original ‘Beetlejuice’ Sequel Had an Interesting Location

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beetlejuice in Hawaii Movie

Back in the late ’80s and early ’90s sequels to hit movies weren’t as linear as they are today. It was more like “let’s re-do the situation but in a different location.” Remember Speed 2, or National Lampoon’s European Vacation? Even Aliens, as good as it is, follows a lot of the plot points of the original; people stuck on a ship, an android, a little girl in peril instead of a cat. So it makes sense that one of the most popular supernatural comedies of all time, Beetlejuice would follow the same pattern.

In 1991 Tim Burton was interested in doing a sequel to his 1988 original, it was called Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian:

“The Deetz family moves to Hawaii to develop a resort. Construction begins, and it’s quickly discovered that the hotel will be sitting on top of an ancient burial ground. Beetlejuice comes in to save the day.”

Burton liked the script but wanted some re-writes so he asked then-hot screenwriter Daniel Waters who had just got done contributing to Heathers. He passed on the opportunity so producer David Geffen offered it to Troop Beverly Hills scribe Pamela Norris to no avail.

Eventually, Warner Bros. asked Kevin Smith to punch up Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian, he scoffed at the idea, saying, “Didn’t we say all we needed to say in the first Beetlejuice? Must we go tropical?”

Nine years later the sequel was killed. The studio said Winona Ryder was now too old for the part and an entire re-cast needed to happen. But Burton never gave up, there were a lot of directions he wanted to take his characters, including a Disney crossover.

“We talked about lots of different things,” the director said in Entertainment Weekly. “That was early on when we were going, Beetlejuice and the Haunted MansionBeetlejuice Goes West, whatever. Lots of things came up.”

Fast-forward to 2011 when another script was pitched for a sequel. This time the writer of Burton’s Dark Shadows,  Seth Grahame-Smith was hired and he wanted to make sure the story wasn’t a cash-grabbing remake or reboot. Four years later, in 2015, a script was approved with both Ryder and Keaton saying they would return to their respective roles. In 2017 that script was revamped and then eventually shelved in 2019.

During the time the sequel script was being tossed around in Hollywood, in 2016 an artist named Alex Murillo posted what looked like one-sheets for a Beetlejuice sequel. Although they were fabricated and had no affiliation with Warner Bros. people thought they were real.

Perhaps the virality of the artwork sparked interest in a Beetlejuice sequel once again, and finally, it was confirmed in 2022 Beetlejuice 2 had a green light from a script written by Wednesday writers  Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. The star of that series Jenna Ortega signed on to the new movie with filming starting in 2023. It was also confirmed that Danny Elfman would return to do the score.

Burton and Keaton agreed that the new film titled Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice wouldn’t rely on CGI or other other forms of technology. They wanted the film to feel “handmade.” The film wrapped in November 2023.

It’s been over three decades to come up with a sequel to Beetlejuice. Hopefully, since they said aloha to Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian there has been enough time and creativity to ensure Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice will not only honor the characters, but fans of the original.

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice will open theatrically on September 6.

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Russell Crowe To Star in Another Exorcism Movie & It’s Not a Sequel

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Maybe it’s because The Exorcist just celebrated its 50th-anniversary last year, or maybe it’s because aging Academy Award-winning actors aren’t too proud to take on obscure roles, but Russell Crowe is visiting the Devil once again in yet another possession film. And it’s not related to his last one, The Pope’s Exorcist.

According to Collider, the film titled The Exorcism was originally going to be released under the name The Georgetown Project. Rights for its North American release were once in the hands of Miramax but then went to Vertical Entertainment. It will release on June 7 in theaters then head over to Shudder for subscribers.

Crowe will also star in this year’s upcoming Kraven the Hunter which is set to drop in theaters on August 30.

As for The Exorcism, Collider provides us with what it’s about:

“The film centers around actor Anthony Miller (Crowe), whose troubles come to the forefront as he shoots a supernatural horror movie. His estranged daughter (Ryan Simpkins) has to figure out whether he’s lapsing into his past addictions, or if something even more horrific is occurring. “

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New F-Bomb Laden ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Trailer: Bloody Buddy Movie

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Deadpool & Wolverine might be the buddy movie of the decade. The two heterodox superheroes are back in the latest trailer for the summer blockbuster, this time with more f-bombs than a gangster film.

‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Movie Trailer

This time the focus is on Wolverine played by Hugh Jackman. The adamantium-infused X-Man is having a bit of a pity party when Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) arrives on the scene who then tries to convince him to team up for selfish reasons. The result is a profanity-filled trailer with a Strange surprise at the end.

Deadpool & Wolverine is one of the most anticipated movies of the year. It comes out on July 26. Here is the latest trailer, and we suggest if you are at work and your space isn’t private, you might want to put in headphones.

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