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[SXSW Review] ‘Upgrade’ Is a Searingly-Cool, Brutal Sci-Fi Gorefest

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Upgrade

I habitually follow whatever director/writer Leigh Whannell is up to. He has a trusted lineup of films out there, ranging from Saw to Insidious that I’ve always enjoyed. The really cool thing about this guy is that he innately feels like one of us. Just a regular ole horror fan. So, it’s par for the course that I was all aboard his latest sci-fi, horror, action film, Upgrade.

Upgrade is the first culmination of Blumhouse and Neon under the name of “Blumhouse Tilt.” I wasn’t sure where we were gonna go from there. Neon has done a lot of cool stuff in their own right, while Blumhouse has a primarily paranormal background. The peanut butter and sandwich that these two houses managed to make is a beast entirely up my alley. I say peanut butter, but Upgrade is more like peanut butter and jelly with a little bit of ecstasy sprinkled on top.

The film follows, Grey Trace after he and his girlfriend are savagely attacked leaving Grey, paralyzed from the neck down. When he is offered a chance at a normal life again by means of a microchip implant called Stem, he takes the opportunity. Once Stem is implanted, Grey begins hearing Stem talk to him, asking for control over his Grey’s body to assist in finding the dudes responsible for the attack.

Upgrade has a really cool ability to swerve in and out lanes that are made of the hilarious and over the top fun and can easily swerve back to the heavy hitting emotional stuff. This is the most Whannell film I have seen from him. This one feels like his voice more than previous work and I’m here for it.

Logan Marshall-Green plays Grey Trace and the guy seriously brings all aspects of the gambit. He can go from the emotional bits to the bloody bits in .5 seconds before coming back and hitting us with those heavy moving gut punches. Without giving too much away, I gotta say… Green is a badass on the levels of a melding of The Terminator and John Wick.

Upgrade is an indie film that manages to feel larger. It’s bridging the gap between an indie horror film and a kick-ass big action film. That bridge is where the undeniable charm of the film lay. It’s accomplishing big strides within its indie heart. I also really like that the film is obviously making an allgeroy about where we currently are with technology and the dangers of where that could lead. What Upgrade does really well with that, is how it doesn’t ever get pretentious or preachy with that message. Its got the message in there but it can also just be a fun action flick to have beer and pizza with.

I was taken completely by surprise by this one. It played as a midnight film at SXSW on the night of the daylight savings switch. As its establishing its characters and narrative I ordered a coffee to stay awake. Little did I know that I wasn’t gonna need that coffee because the action scenes that this movie shoves into your synapses is a speed-ball of action. After the first (and unexpected) fight scene broke out, I was up in my chair, laughing and cheering at the badassery of every aspect of how cool Whannell made these fight scenes look and feel.

One fight that highlights a kitchen knife being used on a badguy essentially turning him into a mangled PAC-Man, set the tone for the film and had the entire crowd cheering and cracking up.

Upgrade is a cool movie. It’s Ghost in the Shell by way of Cronenberg serving that is somehow wrapped in a Terminator exterior. It’s filled with intense, brutal action heightened by a substantial amount of awesome gore. This movie is seriously my jam and a great first outing by the folks at Blumhouse Tilt.

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New Windswept Action Trailer for ‘Twisters’ Will Blow You Away

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The summer movie blockbuster game came in soft with The Fall Guy, but the new trailer for Twisters is bringing back the magic with an intense trailer full of action and suspense. Steven Spielberg’s production company, Amblin, is behind this newest disaster film just like its 1996 predecessor.

This time Daisy Edgar-Jones plays the female lead named Kate Cooper, “a former storm chaser haunted by a devastating encounter with a tornado during her college years who now studies storm patterns on screens safely in New York City. She is lured back to the open plains by her friend, Javi to test a groundbreaking new tracking system. There, she crosses paths with Tyler Owens (Glen Powell), the charming and reckless social-media superstar who thrives on posting his storm-chasing adventures with his raucous crew, the more dangerous the better. As storm season intensifies, terrifying phenomena never seen before are unleashed, and Kate, Tyler and their competing teams find themselves squarely in the paths of multiple storm systems converging over central Oklahoma in the fight of their lives.”

Twisters cast includes Nope’s Brandon Perea, Sasha Lane (American Honey), Daryl McCormack (Peaky Blinders), Kiernan Shipka (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), Nik Dodani (Atypical) and Golden Globe winner Maura Tierney (Beautiful Boy).

Twisters is directed by Lee Isaac Chung and hits theaters on July 19.

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Travis Kelce Joins Cast on Ryan Murphy’s ‘Grotesquerie’

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Football star Travis Kelce is going Hollywood. At least that is what Dahmer Emmy award-winning star Niecy Nash-Betts announced on her Instagram page yesterday. She posted a video of herself on set of the new Ryan Murphy FX series Grotesquerie.

“This is what happens when WINNERS link up‼️ @killatrav Welcome to Grostequerie[sic]!” she wrote.

Standing just out of frame is Kelce who suddenly steps in to say, “Jumping into new territory with Niecy!” Nash-Betts appears to be in a hospital gown while Kelce is dressed as an orderly.

Not much is known about Grotesquerie, other than in literary terms it means a work filled with both science fiction and extreme horror elements. Think H.P. Lovecraft.

Back in February Murphy released an audio teaser for Grotesquerie on social media. In it, Nash-Betts says in part, “I don’t know when it started, I can’t put my finger on it, but it’s different now. There’s been a shift, like something’s opening up in the world — a kind of hole that descends into a nothingness…”

There hasn’t been an official synopsis released regarding Grotesquerie, but keep checking back to iHorror for further details.

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’47 Meters Down’ Getting Third Movie Called ‘The Wreck’

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Deadline is reporting that a new 47 Meters Down installment is heading into production, making the shark series a trilogy. 

“Series creator Johannes Roberts, and screenwriter Ernest Riera, who wrote the first two films, have co-written the third installment: 47 Meters Down: The Wreck.” Patrick Lussier (My Bloody Valentine) will direct.

The first two films were a moderate success, released in 2017 and 2019 respectively. The second film is titled 47 Meters Down: Uncaged

47 Meters Down

The plot for The Wreck is detailed by Deadline. They write that it involves a father and daughter trying to repair their relationship by spending time together scuba diving into a sunken ship, “But soon after their descent, their master diver has an accident leaving them alone and unprotected inside the labyrinth of the wreck. As tensions rise and oxygen dwindles, the pair must use their newfound bond to escape the wreck and the relentless barrage of bloodthirsty great white sharks.”

The filmmakers are hoping to present the pitch to the Cannes market with production starting in the fall. 

47 Meters Down: The Wreck is the perfect continuation of our shark-filled franchise,” said Byron Allen, founder/chairman/CEO of Allen Media Group. “This film will once again have moviegoers terrified and on the edge of their seats.”

Johannes Roberts adds, “We can’t wait for audiences to be trapped underwater with us again. 47 Meters Down: The Wreck is going to be the biggest, most-intense film of this franchise.”

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