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Looking Ahead: Will 2020 be the Year of Henry James?

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Henry James

The year is quickly coming to a close, and looking ahead to 2020, one can’t help noticing an abundance of Henry James adaptations in the mix. While most of these are based around James’s incredible The Turn of the Screw, there is potential for more.

But who was Henry James?

Depending on how inclusive your high school literature courses were, you might not know James, though horror fans have a leg up in this field primarily because of The Turn of the Screw.

Henry James was born in New York in 1843. His father, Henry James, Sr., was a lecturer, philosopher, and theologian who was considered a highly intelligent, congenial and even-tempered man. His mother, Mary, came from a wealthy family, but little more is known about her.

They traveled the world in his youth, and it gave James a love of learning and languages. By age 26, he had settled in England, himself, and it was here that his most well-known works were inspired and written.

Many of his stories and novels were domestic stories involving Americans living outside the United States. Thankfully, he also possessed a talent for telling ghost stories, some of which shared the same themes, and he would pen many of them throughout his life including The Romance of Certain Old Clothes, The Jolly Corner, and of course, The Turn of the Screw.

Much like Shirley Jackson, forever and rightfully lauded for her The Haunting of Hill House, James’s story is one of the most talked about ghost stories in the genre. To date, it has been adapted over 150 times for radio plays, stage plays, a ballet, a chamber opera, numerous films, and television series, and in 2020, we will see three more.

The Turn of the Screw is a terrifying novella about a governess who takes a job in the country watching over the niece and nephew of a man who became their custodian after their parents died. Shortly after her arrival, she begins to notice strange occurrences around the estate and even stranger behavior from her charges.

James’s novella was beautifully written with an ambiguity that left his reader wondering if there were actual supernatural forces at work or if the governess was simply losing her mind. It is because of this ambiguity that The Turn of the Screw has been one of the most debated and discussed novellas of its kind.

Subsequent adaptations have divided into two camps with one attempting to answer that question with others meticulously attempting to preserve James’s ambiguity, and there’s an argument in adaptation for both. I, personally, rather enjoy the more ambiguous interpretations.

Regardless, the novella has spawned some beautiful and haunting films in the last 100 years like 1961’s The Innocents starring Deborah Kerr and for that, every horror fan who loves a good ghost story should be grateful.

This, of course, brings us to 2020. Henry James has been gone for over a century, but his work is on everyone’s mind in the coming year.

On January, 24, 2020, The Turning is set to hit theaters starring Mackenzie Davis (Blade Runner 2049) in the role of the governess with Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things) and Brooklynn Prince (The Florida Project) as her charges Miles and Flora.

The film has garnered early praise and you can watch the terrifying trailer below.

Then there’s Mike Flanagan (Gerald’s Game) who is working on a second season of his series titled The Haunting for Netflix.

After successfully and inventively adapting Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House last year, Flanagan has turned his eye on James’s novella but has also told reporters in various interviews that he’ll include other ghost stories by the author in the series.

And finally Quibi is developing yet another adaptation of The Turn of the Screw according to Deadline. Much like The Turning, this series adaptation will update the story setting it on a small island in the Pacific Northwest where a Mexican-American nanny is sent to take care of two children.

The series was initially planned for Freeform, but was brought to Quibi after the network passed.

It seems that as 2019 comes to an end, now might be the perfect time to acquaint yourself with the work of this masterful storyteller. You can pick up a copy of his collected ghost stories or The Turn of the Screw by itself on Amazon, and see why so many have turned to his work for inspiration.

 

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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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