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iHorror Exclusive: Director Greg McLean Clues Us In on “The Belko Experiment”

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The Belko Experiment bashes its way onto Blu Ray and DVD on June 27, 2017, and it is hands down a thing of violent beauty.

The film, written by James Gunn, centers around a group of Americans working in an office building in Colombia.  They arrive for work one day and soon after they get down to business, they find themselves locked inside with no escape as a voice over the building’s PA system instructs them to kill or be killed.  Naturally, at first they think it’s a sick joke, but they soon find themselves in a fight for survival that would make William Golding proud.

I recently had the opportunity to chat with director Greg McLean about this corporate Lord of the Flies, and he was excited to talk about how the film came to be and what he has in store for its audience.

“James wrote the script several years ago, but it ended up being shelved,”  McLean explained.  “He went on to become a superstar with Guardians of the Galaxy of course, and a few years later, someone asked if he’d be interested in coming back to Belko.”

Gunn jumped at the opportunity to make the film but he had two conditions: 1) He got to pick the director and 2) there could be no restrictions on how hardcore violent the film could be.  They had no arguments and before long McLean found himself with the script and pitching his ideas to Gunn on how he’d like to make the film.

“I felt like we had to use a counterpoint in the film,” he says.  ‘The kind of thing we saw Kubrick use a lot.  Have extremes between the form and content really creates an interesting effect.  By pairing this crazy violence with really beautiful music and lighting it almost makes that violence a little more palatable.  I wanted to see if we could make a very violent action movie that could be emotionally charged and fun, as well.”

It was a very thin line, the director admits, but one he ultimately walks well.  The film is filled with violence that is over the top (they are killing each other with supplies you can find in an office building after all), but at the same time I found myself genuinely involved in what these characters were going through and that involvement makes each death more intense.

Tony Goldwyn, John C. McGinley, and Owain Yeoman. Photo from Collider.com

Each shot is beautifully rendered and acted by a superb cast including John Gallagher, Jr. Tony Goldwyn, Melonie Diaz and Adria Arjona alongside James Gunn film regulars like Michael Rooker and Sean Gunn.  The score also stands out here with pop songs like “I Will Survive” and “California Dreamin'” translated into Spanish alongside the music of Dvorak and Tchaikovsky.

The director also manipulates color masterfully in the film.

“I think the key was trying to take the film from sort of normality to surrealism,” he confessed.  “By the time you get to the third act, what happened has been so crazy that now you have these very vivid pinks and reds and blues.  It reflects the insanity so well.”

When all of the elements come together, The Belko Experiment shines.  This a movie that is not only extremely violent, but also extremely funny.  You will laugh, gasp, cover your eyes, and hold your breath at regular intervals.

Check out the trailer below and pick up a copy of The Belko Experiment on DVD and Blu Ray on June 27, 2017!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZNfwayNLL0

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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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