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[SXSW Review] ‘Body at Brighton Rock’ Effectively Fun, Spooky Night in the Woods

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Brighton Rock

I’ve been lost in the woods. It’s a complete hoot let me tell ya. There is a firm grip of fear placed upon you and the spiraling thoughts of “hey I might die out here” combined with a heightened state of overall “Oh, fuck.” Roxanne Benjamin’s (Southbound, XX, VHS) latest film Body at Brighton Rock captures those elements succinctly making for a damned spooky night in the woods and a fun night at a midnight movie.

The story centers on Wendy (Karina Fontes) junior park ranger. When we first meet Wendy, who is stumbling in late for her shift, it’s clear that she isn’t the park ranger’s biggest asset. In a move to gain some respect from her fellow co-workers, Wendy switches duties with another ranger. This tasks her with hiking out quite a ways and switching some advisory signs.

Once she looses her direction and stumbles upon a dead body in the woods it becomes an all out fight for survival.

Wendy stepping into the woods is essentially our protagonist stepping into the old dark house. We all know this is going to go bad for her but are along for the ride. Fontes gives a memorable performance as Wendy. Her choices for the character make Wendy a totally lovable, relatable protagonist and one that we can all cheer for… even when she is prone to mistake after mistake.

The palettes and tone of the film are eclectic and change from entirely playful frames that are reminiscent of early John Hughes’ sensibilities complete with a new wave driven soundtrack, to the later dread inducing claustrophobic, dark confines of the woods.  

The sound design is incredible as well. Similar to 63’s The Haunting, Body at Brighton Rock’s sound becomes its own character. Unexpected strings shrieking adds to complete fluid and effective jump scares. It’s constantly evolving and experimental as heck and never allows the audience to rest.

Benjamin who writes and directs, plays with several components as well as possible and fully realized antagonists… or possible antagonist. It’s hard to know exactly what direction the film is going to take making it a treat for genre fans like myself, who tend to see the blueprint of films early on. It manages to keep you guessing by combining real corporeal fears with moments of psychosis and skewed dream logic.

Body at Brighton Rock is a tight, fun survival thriller with a lot of spookiness going on in its runtime. It’s a feast of shifting genre pieces that make for a terrifying night in the woods and an ending that effectively sticks with you. It is an entirely a two fisted approach to a lost in the woods Twilight Zone episode and I’m entirely here for it.

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News

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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Movies

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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