News

Blu Hunt on Becoming Dani Moonstar in ‘The New Mutants’

Published

4 years ago

August 26, 2020

Blu Hunt does not know how she really feels about The New Mutants finally opening after years of anticipation, but if she’s honest, “overwhelmed” probably sums it up best.

“I’m just like pacing around my apartment, walking in and out of my bedroom, lying down, getting up,” the actress told iHorror in a recent interview. “Like, I don’t know what to do with myself. And I can’t go do anything because I’m living in LA and I’m quarantined. I can’t go do things. I think I’m just really anxious. I’m anxious for it to come out. I’ve never had a movie I was in come out like this before.”

That feeling has been a part of her life since she was first cast in the role of Dani Moonstar, a young mutant with incredible reality-altering powers locked away in an asylum with other teenagers like herself. It was the role of a lifetime for a young actor who had never really been in a film.

The fact that it was a Marvel film had her pinching herself right up until the moment they were filming.

“I’m a realist to a fault,” Hunt explained. “The way that it happened. I didn’t let myself believe that it was happening for a long time. I mean even when I was there I was like this cannot be real. Wake me up. Just having this huge role in the movie, too. It wasn’t just like a background role. It was like, she comes in and she’s becoming a leader. It was a really intense role to take on but I mean it’s an incredible opportunity that I’m still grateful for it.”

It wasn’t just the fact that it was a Marvel movie, however, that challenged her. Co-writer and director Josh Boone had created a character with a lot of layers that Hunt had to navigate while playing the role many of which brought their own forms of pressure.

What she had not anticipated was the immediate social media reaction to her casting.

Blu Hunt had no idea, really, the way that social media would react to her casting as Danielle Moonstar.

“The pressure of Dani being like the first leading, female, indigenous superhero in a film like this was really intense for me, especially because I am mixed race,” she pointed out. “I remember waiting to go make the movie, sitting in my bedroom, on my phone, looking at Twitter with everyone arguing about my heritage and my race and whether I’m dark enough skinned to play the role and really feeling the pressure come down on me, then. I really had to have that conversation with myself. Am I the right person to play this role? I am the right person to play this role. Some people don’t think I am, but I know I am.”

In the midst of that doubt, she reached out to other indigenous actors and members of her community for reassurance and was pleased when they seemed to just be happy for her for taking on this role. They also reminded her that she was representing something really important for other indigenous young people and to take that responsibility seriously.

It wasn’t only pressure from the online indigenous community, however. When it was revealed that Hunt’s character would be involved in a romantic relationship with Rahne Wolfsbane played by Maisie Williams, another corner of social media seemed to rise up as well.

Some were upset that the characters were a part of the LGBTQ community, labeling it political. Others were upset that the wrong characters were being put into a same-sex relationship. And others were upset in general with seemingly no reason at all.

Hunt was again overwhelmed and she credits Williams–who had plenty of experience dealing with social media rage during her time on Game of Thrones–with helping her through that.

“After talking to Maisie, she was like, you just can’t care,” she said. “I think that was one of my favorite parts of Dani’s character is that she got to be gay. I loved that. I loved that this was my first romantic role in a movie. Getting to have that with another woman was just really was an honor. It was really cool to represent both the Indigenous community and the LGBTQ community.”

Hunt eventually left social media behind, and has been able to focus more on what this role meant to her and the kind of character that Dani Moonstar ultimately became.

“When I read the comic books, like the way she moves through the world to me was really strong and tough,” she said. “She’s like a complicated leader. She’s incredibly intelligent and strong but she’s also kind of introverted. She likes to be alone. In the comic books she kind of sits in the woods and thinks about things. She’s really deep. Playing her this young, as a 16 year old, I just really wanted to play her more, not sad, but a little more shy but finding out that she’s strong. She doesn’t know she’s a strong person yet. She’s just tough. She doesn’t take anybody’s shit but she’s really insecure and a teenager.”

The New Mutants is out this week in theaters across the country with openings in drive-ins, as well, on August 28, 2020. Take a look at Blu Hunt in the introduction video for her character that released earlier today below.

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News

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

Published

3 hours ago

April 19, 2024

Timothy Rawles

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

Published

5 hours ago

April 19, 2024

Timothy Rawles

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

Published

1 day ago

April 18, 2024

Timothy Rawles

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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