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A24 Cuts Into American Theaters with ‘In Fabric’

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In Fabric A24

During it’s premier at the Toronto Film Festival, the North American distribution rights for Peter Strickland’s In Fabric were purchased by art-house film entertainment company A24. While the film has scheduled screening dates within the US for Fantastic Fest and Brooklyn Horror Film Festival (TIFF), a theatrical release was not yet confirmed for Strickland’s consumerist-tale of horror.

Variety reports that A24 has set In Fabric for a 2019 release in American theaters. In Fabric‘s plot is detailed as:

A haunting ghost story set against the backdrop of a busy winter sales period in a department store and follows the life of a cursed dress as it passes from person to person, with devastating consequences.

The dress is sold to victims by a cryptic and malevolent cashier (Fatama  Mohamed (Berberian Sound Studio and The Duke of Burgundy)) of a paranormal department store, watched over by a couple of off-putting bureaucrats. Victims are longing, yearning, helpless souls clawing to fill a void in their hearts, unable to resist the temptation of the baleful dress. With Lynch-ian sound design and cinematography paired with off-kilter comedy, In Fabric aims to entrance audiences with a concept so absurd that they’ll be caught off guard when the terror of the plot finally strikes.

A24 In Fabric

Image via TIFF Talks

Strickland (Berberian Sound Studio and The Duke of Burgundy) disclosed some interesting trivia for In Fabric‘s origins and influence during a Q&A at the Toronto International Film Festival.

While the story primarily circles around the imagery of an enchanted–specifically, cursed–red dress, the dress was not initially the inspirational imagery for the horror film. Mannequins from old department stores, resin dripping from their faces, were a particularly disturbing imagery that Strickland drew from as the original inspiration for the backdrop and imagery of the film. Horror media has used mannequins to serve as some of the most horrifying imagery and creatures, so it’s not far fetched how Strickland could draw inspiration of terror from the uncanny, lifeless, plastic humanoids.

A24 In Fabric

Image via TIFF

Strickland has also stated that In Fabric is a film that, while made as a horror flick, aims to celebrate the life of being a consumer, and specifically to commemorate shopping as a central component to our lives. Oddly enough, Strickland also revealed that ASMR played a role in constructing the sound design and plot for the film, with select scenes focusing on an action’s isolated sound. In fairness, if you’ve seen a film like Eraserhead, ASMR is not the weirdest sound design choice a director could use for a film; however, instead of meshing ambient sounds on top of one another to overbear the viewers hearing, Strickland just has the audience subject themselves to one isolated sound.

Another motif for the film is the essence of being human in the sense of our physical bodies, but more specifically bodily fluids; to elaborate, our interactions with fabrics and clothing often involve various stains we leave as permanent or temporary impressions. This is something Strickland considered heavily when writing and directing the film.

Outside of Strickland’s (artistic) fascination with bodily fluids, ASMR, and reflection of his childhood fears, In Fabric is influenced from Herk Harvey and John Clifford’s Carnival of Souls. Another influence for the film’s creation is the final fight from Lethal Weapon between Riggs and Mr. Joshua; specifically, the part in the fight where Riggs gets Joshua in a judo head lock with his legs. The fight was so intense and raw that Strickland wanted to encapsulate the feeling he had from this scene with the intensity of human nature in his film.

The cast for In Fabric includes Gwendoline Christie (Star Wars and Game of Thrones), Haley Squires (I, Daniel Blake and Southcliffe), Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Robocop 2014  and Without a Trace), and Richard Bremmer (The 13th Warrior and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone). While we know the film will release in 2019, no specific date has been listed yet, but In Fabric has so far received positive praise and reviews after it’s viewings.

In Fabric was shown at TIFF alongside a multitude of other huge films, including John Carpenter’s new Halloween. We know most of you have been chomping at the bit to hear more about Michael’s return home, so you can check our review of Halloween at its TIFF screening here!

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Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role

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Brad Dourif has been doing movies for nearly 50 years. Now it seems he is walking away from the industry at 74 to enjoy his golden years. Except, there is a caveat.

Recently, digital entertainment publication JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols talked to some of the Chucky television series cast members. During the interview, Dourif made an announcement.

“Dourif said that he’s retired from acting,” says Nichols. “The only reason he came back for the show was because of his daughter Fiona and he considers Chucky creator Don Mancini to be family. But for non-Chucky stuff, he considers himself retired.”

Dourif has voiced the possessed doll since 1988 (minus the 2019 reboot). The original movie “Child’s Play” has become such a cult classic it’s at the top of some people’s best chillers of all time. Chucky himself is ingrained in pop culture history much like Frankenstein or Jason Voorhees.

While Dourif may be known for his famous voiceover, he is also an Oscar-nominated actor for his part in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Another famous horror role is The Gemini Killer in William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III. And who can forget Betazoid Lon Suder in Star Trek: Voyager?

The good news is that Don Mancini is already pitching a concept for season four of Chucky which might also include a feature-length movie with a series tie-in. So, Although Dourif says he is retiring from the industry, ironically he is Chucky’s friend till the end.

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Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

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The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film
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Movies

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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