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Amazon’s ‘Carnival Row’ is a Timely Dark Fairy Tale

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Carnival Row

Amazon’s Carnival Row debuted yesterday, and the genre-blending series is already becoming one of the streaming platform’s most talked about titles.

Set in an alternate Victorian-era world, the series is built on the idea that humans, upon discovering the world of the Fae went to war over control of it. The battle lasted for years until The Republic of the Burgue withdrew from the conflict leaving the Fae world to the opposing force known as The Pact.

As the series begins, it has been seven years since the Burgue withdrew, and the Fae are now actively hunted by the Pact causing many of them to flee their world, selling themselves into indentured servitude and worse to escape death.

One Fae in particular, Vignette Stonemoss (Cara Delevingne), has been helping her fellow Fae escape, never fully understanding what the world outside was like until she has to flee the Fae world herself.

She soon finds herself entangled with her former lover Rycroft “Philo” Philostrate (Orlando Bloom) as a dark creature begins roaming the streets of the city brutally killing human and Fae alike.

Showrunners Rene Echevarria (MediumStar Trek: The Next Generation) and Travis Beacham (Pacific Rim) created the show’s meticulous mythology, expanding the world that Beacham had created in a film script which was never realized.

Much of it was filmed in the Czech Republic which proves an ideal backdrop for this particular tale. It is dirty and gritty, and surprisingly real considering its fantastic elements.

Delevingne and Bloom give excellent performances as Vignette and Philo leading an equally brilliant cast including Jared Harris (The Quiet Ones), Indira Varma (Game of Thrones), Alice Krige (Sleepwalkers), David Gyasi (Annihilation), and Tamzin Merchant (Salem) to name just a few.

The character relationships with each other and the world around them are incredibly complicated, and in many ways, reflect a sad reality we’ve seen play out time and again in our own world history.

Carnival Row Agreus

The make-up effects department on Carnival Row is second to none as you can see with David Gyasi as the wealthy Puck, Agreus. (Photo via IMDb)

The Fae face constant bigotry and prejudice by humans who in turn exploit everything about them.

At one point, for example, Vignette finds herself face-to-face with a poster advertising an exhibit of Fae artwork collected from Tirnanoc, the Fae World, but the exhibit comes with a prohibition: NO UNACCOMPANIED FAE ALLOWED.

A once wealthy brother and sister chafe when a Puck, a satyr-like Fae, buys the elegant home next to theirs, but they aren’t above using his resources to try to turn their own fate around.

The police constantly harass Fae street vendors asking for “permits” which they’re more than happy to sell to the unfortunate Fae on the spot, lining their own pockets, and nothing is so alluring and taboo for certain society gentlemen than traveling down to the Row to sample the delights at a Fae brothel.

The fact that we see these kinds of behaviors daily in our own society with lines drawn in the sand over race, sexual orientation, gender identity, and religion in 2019 makes Carnival Row feel relevant and timely.

Overall, Carnival Row is masterfully made though it does suffer from the growing pains we’ve come to expect from a brand new series in its first season caught between character development, exposition and a complex plot.

It stumbles from time to time, but it never falls, and anyone who has ever followed a series like Game of Thrones, for example, will have no problems with the complexity of the story.

Moreover, it has one of the most terrifying monsters we’ve seen in quite some time on any screen thanks to an incredible visual effects department.

And then there’s the glorious score created by Nathan Barr. No stranger to the genre space, Barr has composed for Cabin FeverHemlock GroveThe House with a Clock in its Walls, and The Domestics to name just a few.

He has that incredible ability to immerse the audience in a fantastic space, creating music and soundscapes that amplify what we’re seeing onscreen, and his work in Carnival Row is no exception. His score for the series, colored with Celtic instrumentation, sets the perfect tone for a dark fairy tale.

All eight, hour-long episodes of the first season of Carnival Row are available on Amazon Prime. It’s a series worth binging. In fact, it almost demands it.

Check out the trailer below, and let us know if you’re watching in the comments!

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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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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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