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[REVIEW] ‘Haunt’ Is All Bloody, Well & Good

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A group of college kids find themselves stalked inside an extreme haunted house attraction in Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’ (A Quiet Place) violent new feature film Haunt (2019). Things go slice in the night as the group is pursued by a gang of bloodthirsty psychos who seem preoccupied with altering their faces and the body parts of hapless guests.

It also happens to be Halloween night and our beautiful heroine Harper (Katie Stevens) has just reluctantly ended it with her abusive boyfriend only to immediately rebound with the even hunkier Nathan (Will Brittain) at a party. Although nothing happens between them, they orchestrate a perfect meet-cute and decide to gather up four other friends to celebrate the holiday at a haunt attraction.

En route, Harper feels they are being followed and demands they pull over on a desolate Chicago dirt road when out of nowhere a trailer marquee lights up near the car reading “Haunted House” with the “Haunt” part glowing brighter than the rest.

Intrigued, the group throw caution to the wind and follow the road leading to the attraction where they willingly give up their cellphones to a creepy clown attendant before signing a waiver and venturing inside. What they endure is a bloody Grand Guignol production where the actors attack the audience with an assortment of weapons and booby traps.

It all gets pretty bloody as each of them starts realizing the kills aren’t performances and try to escape.

Haunt is a slasher plain and simple. There is a backstory about Harper’s abusive father and her ongoing bout with PTSD. But in the end, various sharp implements and traps are used in the funhouse to dispose of the visitors in various ways; usually through extreme trauma to the head.

Carotid arteries don’t pump this much blood.

Beck and Woods know how to gather an ensemble and flesh them out to be more than just psycho fodder and in this film they again work with an excellent cast who elevate themselves above shopworn tropes.

Katie Stevens is better known for her television roles, but broadens her emotional range here as an abused young woman taking risks to break the cycle only to be thrust into a more extreme version. Stevens gives her character a victim’s heart but doesn’t let her hide behind it. She knows the character is at the verge of an epiphany which she allows her to claim even through the horrors of the night.

Mention should also go to a wonderful performance by Andrew Caldwell who plays Evan, the comic relief of the group. Caldwell has some strong scenes and even though he plays the class clown he doesn’t reduce Evan to a sight gag. It’s a great performance that might get lost in the buckets of blood.

The villains are also remarkable, each dressed in stylized versions of classic Halloween characters, from a witch to a clown to a ghost. They are scary enough in disguise, but more grotesque once their freakish faces are unmasked.

Haunt is the perfect Halloween movie. It’s got blood, realistic kills, and nicely edited suspense. We get a final girl and even a pre-credits stinger which I’m still not sure works.

Where it fails is in its mechanics of percieved free will. I felt that some of the setups required the characters to be in the right spot at the right time which makes it feel as though the killers could foresee the choices long before the victims made them naturally. The “serendipitous” placement of the marquee for instance.

It’s those things that pull you out of the film, like seeing the strings in a carnival dark ride but getting a kick out of it anyway.

Haunt is a slaughterhouse stocked with great gore effects tempered with above-par acting and genuinely creepy monsters. Its heart remains visible through the many other brutalized organs.

“Haunt” is in Theaters, On Demand/Digital: September 13, 2019.

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Childhood Memories Collide in New Horror Film ‘Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble’

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It looks like ITN Studious and Jagged Edge Productions are going the Avengers: Infinity War route with their upcoming film Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble. From the deranged mind of Rhys Frake-Waterfield (Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey) comes this belligerent mash up of beloved childhood icons.

According to an article out of Variety today, Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble will consist of Winnie the Pooh, Bambi, Tinkerbell, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, Tigger, Piglet, The Mad Hatter, and Sleeping Beauty. All of these iconic figured will be warped into nightmarish versions of their former selves. Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble is set to be released upon the world sometime in 2025.

Poohniverse

Actor-producer Scott Chambers (Malevolent) had the following to say about Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble. “As horror fans, we would love an Avengers that is all villains. It’d have Freddy Krueger, Jason, ‘Halloween,’ ‘Scream,’ all of those. Obviously that will never happen, but we can make it happen in our own little way, and that’s where this film has been born.”

Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble will be a part of The Twisted Childhood Universe. Just like the MCU, each character will first get a standalone film. After introductions are made, they will be reunited in an Avengers style film. Although they will be killing off the survivors from the previous films, they won’t be working together.

Chambers describes this as an “epic sequences of monster vs. monster.” And I don’t know what more fans could ask of the studio. This fantastical idea is a huge risk but Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble sounds amazing.

That’s all the information we have at this time. Check back here for more updates on Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble. If you haven’t already, check out the trailer for Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 below.

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Blumhouse’s ‘The Wolf Man’ Reboot Kicks Off Production with Leigh Whannell at the Helm

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Blumhouse Productions has officially commenced filming its reboot of the Universal Monsters legend, “Wolf Man”. Under the direction of Leigh Whannell, known for his acclaimed work on “The Invisible Man” (2020), the project promises to breathe new life into the iconic tale. The film is slated for a theatrical release on October 25th, marking a new chapter in the storied franchise.

Wolf Man

The journey of a “Wolf Man” reboot began in 2020 when actor Ryan Gosling presented a fresh take on the classic story to Universal. This concept quickly evolved into a screenplay crafted by the talented duo Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, who are known for their work on “Orange Is the New Black,” alongside contributions from Whannell and Corbett Tuck. The narrative is set in contemporary times, drawing inspiration from the atmospheric tension of Jake Gyllenhaal’s “Nightcrawler,” albeit with a distinct supernatural twist.

The film has seen its share of directorial and casting shifts, with Whannell initially signing on to direct in 2020, only to step away and then return to the project after Ryan Gosling and director Derek Cianfrance exited. The lead roles have been filled by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, both of whom bring significant talent to the screen. Abbott portrays a man whose family faces the terror of a lethal predator, with Garner likely playing his wife, sharing in the familial peril. The storyline also hints at a daughter named Ginger, adding a layer of depth to the family’s harrowing experience.

Julia Garner and Christopher Abbott

This reboot represents a collaboration between Blumhouse and Motel Movies, with Jason Blum producing. Ryan Gosling remains involved as an executive producer, alongside Ken Kao, Bea Sequeira, Mel Turner, and Whannell himself. The announcement of the film’s production start was made by Jason Blum, who shared an exciting glimpse of Whannell on set, signaling the beginning of what is hoped to be a memorable addition to the horror genre.

As the “Wolf Man” reboot moves forward, fans and newcomers alike are eager to see how this modern interpretation will pay homage to its roots while offering a fresh and thrilling experience. With a talented cast and crew at the helm, the film is poised to reintroduce the timeless tale of transformation and terror to a new generation.

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‘Immaculate’ Stars Reveal Which Horror Villains They Would “F, Marry, Kill”

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Sydney Sweeney is just coming off the success of her rom-com Anyone But You, but she’s ditching the love story for a horror story in her latest film Immaculate.

Sweeney is taking Hollywood by storm, portraying everything from a love-lusting teenager in Euphoria to an accidental superhero in Madame Web. Although the latter got a lot of hate among theater-goers, Immaculate is getting the polar opposite.

The film was screened at SXSW this past week and was well-received. It also gained a reputation for being extremely gory. Derek Smith of Slant says the, “final act contains some of the most twisted, gory violence this particular subgenre of horror has seen in years…”

Thankfully curious horror movie fans won’t have to wait long to see for themselves what Smith is talking about as Immaculate will hit theaters across the United States on March, 22.

Bloody Disgusting says that the movie’s distributor NEON, in a bit of marketing smarts, had stars Sydney Sweeney and Simona Tabasco play a game of “F, Marry, Kill” in which all their choices had to be horror movie villains.

It’s an interesting question, and you might be surprised at their answers. So colorful are their responses that YouTube slapped an age-restricted rating on the video.

Immaculate is a religious horror movie that NEON says stars Sweeney, “as Cecilia, an American nun of devout faith, embarking on a new journey in a remote convent in the picturesque Italian countryside. Cecilia’s warm welcome quickly devolves into a nightmare as it becomes clear her new home harbors a sinister secret and unspeakable horrors.”

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