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“Contagion” Vs. “Outbreak,” Which is Scarier?

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"Contagion" Warner Bros.

Like the rest of you, I am holed up in my office at home because of the novel coronavirus, and just to make myself more panicked I decided to watch both Contagion and Outbreak in a double feature and lived to tell you which one I think is the scariest.

Contagion is streaming on Cinemax for subscribers and Outbreak is available on Netflix. Both can be rented on Prime.

Outbreak

"Outbreak" starring Dustin Hoffman

Warner Bros.

As you would expect at a time in pandemic world history–the likes recent generations have never seen before–Contagion and Outbreak have become popular re-watches not only for their depictions of real-life horror but to see how a pandemic actually happens and I can say both movies are pretty spot-on as far as protocol, but there is a standout that offers a more realistic, and scarier, scenario.

Let’s start with Outbreak, a big-budget potboiler with more Academy Award nominees per capita than a single section of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. We’ve got Dustin Hoffman, Morgan Freeman, Renne Russo, Cuba Gooding Jr., and Donald Sutherland.

Hoffman plays Colonel Sam Daniels a ballsy member of the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) who’s investigating an icky viral outbreak in Zaire.

Things happen.

The virus-carrying capuchin monkey from Friends is abducted for the black market but manages to escape into the California redwoods but not before infecting his warm-hearted captor (Patrick Dempsey) who has already infected a pet store owner.

A sneeze in a movie theater from an infected victim sprays droplets into the air which land in everyone’s popcorn thus a localized pandemic begins.

Outbreak is an action picture to be sure. When you consider the long list of action stars reportedly considered for the role Hoffman plays–Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallon–this 1995 movie feels like Die Hard with the flu.

The movie doesn’t go too far beyond a small town pandemic in the same sort of way Arachnophobia did with spiders, but the effects of the illness are pretty disturbing with bleeding eyes, purulent facial pustules, and Joker-like death masks.

Contagion

"Contagion" Warner Bros.

“Contagion” Warner Bros.

Contagion, on the other hand, gets too real in some spots, even mimicking what the world is going through right now with coronavirus. It has even more A-list stars to tell the story including Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Laurence Fishburne, and an unsettling cameo by Gwyneth Paltrow.

Like our current situation, the “novel” disease called MEV-1 is traced back to China. Both films explore the possibility that both germs are a part of a government coverup in which they would be used as bioweapons.

Contagion is a bit more modern in its storytelling too. Made in 2011, there are modern conveniences not really seen in Outbreak, so touching your cellphone can be a dangerous habit.

Where Contagion surpasses Outbreak is in its depiction of spreading the disease globally. The trail of the virus gets screentime by way of close-ups of an infected person breathing on someone else in a crowded casino, a man touching a handrail inside a public bus or an infected hospitality staff member who has touched everything in a hotel room.

Just like the headlines of today, there are shots of empty airports, unoccupied streets, and grocery store runs that leave the shelves picked bare.

Both films race toward a cure, Outbreak getting there a bit sooner thanks to a hasty script, Contagion lingers a bit taking us through public disorder, a holistic shill who says he can cure the world, and terrorists who try to steal the vaccine at the source.

“Contagion” (2011)

Final Thoughts

If you want a movie where the action takes center stage then Outbreak gets high marks for stunts involving helicopters and animal actors. The film serves up some realistic warnings about the spreading of diseases but loses some of its oomph when the female lead (spoiler) gets sick but unlike other victims, looks fabulous.

Contagion is more aggressive when it comes to storytelling. There is really no action sequences, but it delves into things people are experiencing now amid the COVID-19 pandemic; people profiting off fear, social distancing and the importance of washing your hands.

There is a montage sequence at the end titled “Day 1,” which takes us through how patient zero (Paltrow) was infected and just that piece of film alone sent chills down my spine.

Approach these films as cautionary tales; they both score well as pseudo-educational stories about the spread of disease. If you want pure entertainment, go with Outbreak, but if you like a little bit more paranoia in your isolation, go with Contagion.

Feel-Good Spoiler Alert

The good news in both films is that they find a cure for their respective diseases, so let’s ride this out, let the scientists do their work and enjoy a little me-time in the meantime.

Here are some helpful links related to COVID-19:

www.coronavirus-sd.com

https://dchealth.dc.gov/coronavirus

https://cancer-network.org/coronavirus-2019-lgbtq-info/

https://kindclinic.org/now-sashay-away-corona/

https://www.cdc.gov/

https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2020/s0228-additional-COVID-19-cases.html

https://www.who.int/news-room

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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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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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