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SXSW Review: Hounds Of Love

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Hounds

I actually needed a few hours in order to collect my thoughts here at SXSW this year. I screened a film called Hounds Of Love and it stayed with me long after it had ended. It actually bled into all other screenings I had that day. It is poetically disturbing and a high mark in the genre world.

The film centers around John and Evelyn (Steven Curry and Emma Booth), a couple who pray on folks in their small town. They use the perceived safety of a couple into luring people into their car and then eventually back to their house where they sexually and mentally torture the unlucky person. When they abduct young Vikki (Asheleigh Cummings) their relationship begins to crack as their dynamic begins to shift.

Almost the entire film takes place within the walls of one house. The time spent in the home gives you a grounded layout and creates an atmosphere pregnant claustrophobia. The film is shot with wide lenses in tight spaces that create a subliminal need to get the hell out of the house. Beautifully shot high frame rate sequences of the suburbs show the minutia of everyday life in mesmerizing detail to contrast the prison that is created in John and Evelyn’s home.

Hounds Of Love speaks on hyperbolic levels of the most toxic and abusive relationships and how easy it is to be enabled by someone in the wrong relationship.  Both Evelyn and John have created a world with each other that justifies their sickness, by turning it into sexual deviance and a way to unhealthy way to connect and express their love. Their behavior mimics addicts or those that co-exist with physical abuse between them. The more abusive John becomes the more Evelyn is willing to take him back and the further she is removed from herself.

The cast is insanely good. Stephen Curry creates a bad guy that is one of the most despicable and easily hated bad dudes in recent history. His character’s abusive nature and manipulative ways are shown in terrifying detail. Emma Booth, who I was unfamiliar with prior to this, is someone that everyone needs to keep their eye on. Her ability to zig zag between psychotic assistant to John’s deviance and then to snap back to display a mother’s intuition is staggering. The role requires a lot and her character becomes the center of the narrative because of it. Ashleigh Cumming’s character is the glue that ties the whole narrative together, which with a film this heavy can’t be an easy thing to do. The character she starts off as changes in stages throughout. A happy teenage girl, is forced to endure and share Evelyn and John’s darkness and little by little, she becomes despondent, but finds her character’s strength through that despondence. If I had awards to hand out, these guys would all get one.

Director, Ben Young achieves a film that has echoes of Wes Craven’s early work. The level of suspense and tension he builds, comes with a heavy emotional resonance. Young, uses slow motion in a way I rarely see, he actually uses to propel and at times freeze you in the tension. The shocking last ten minutes of the film, is one sustained note that fills you with a sense of dread for one of the characters. In most films, you can tell early on how things are going to go, who is going to survive and so forth, but this dude never allows you to settle and relax. He is one of those rare filmmakers that creates danger on film with the absence of a safety net.

Hounds Of Love actually shook me. It unraveled me and took me for a terrifying journey, where I was intensely invested in the characters. I can’t even remember the last times I left a theater with my hands shaking or a film that raised my pulse but this one managed to do both and I love it all the more for doing that to me.

 

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Russell Crowe To Star in Another Exorcism Movie & It’s Not a Sequel

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Maybe it’s because The Exorcist just celebrated its 50th-anniversary last year, or maybe it’s because aging Academy Award-winning actors aren’t too proud to take on obscure roles, but Russell Crowe is visiting the Devil once again in yet another possession film. And it’s not related to his last one, The Pope’s Exorcist.

According to Collider, the film titled The Exorcism was originally going to be released under the name The Georgetown Project. Rights for its North American release were once in the hands of Miramax but then went to Vertical Entertainment. It will release on June 7 in theaters then head over to Shudder for subscribers.

Crowe will also star in this year’s upcoming Kraven the Hunter which is set to drop in theaters on August 30.

As for The Exorcism, Collider provides us with what it’s about:

“The film centers around actor Anthony Miller (Crowe), whose troubles come to the forefront as he shoots a supernatural horror movie. His estranged daughter (Ryan Simpkins) has to figure out whether he’s lapsing into his past addictions, or if something even more horrific is occurring. “

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New F-Bomb Laden ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Trailer: Bloody Buddy Movie

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Deadpool & Wolverine might be the buddy movie of the decade. The two heterodox superheroes are back in the latest trailer for the summer blockbuster, this time with more f-bombs than a gangster film.

‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Movie Trailer

This time the focus is on Wolverine played by Hugh Jackman. The adamantium-infused X-Man is having a bit of a pity party when Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) arrives on the scene who then tries to convince him to team up for selfish reasons. The result is a profanity-filled trailer with a Strange surprise at the end.

Deadpool & Wolverine is one of the most anticipated movies of the year. It comes out on July 26. Here is the latest trailer, and we suggest if you are at work and your space isn’t private, you might want to put in headphones.

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Original Blair Witch Cast Ask Lionsgate for Retroactive Residuals in Light of New Film

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The Blair Witch Project Cast

Jason Blum is planning to reboot The Blair Witch Project for the second time. That’s a fairly large task considering none of the reboots or sequels have managed to capture the magic of the 1999 film that brought found footage into the mainstream.

This idea has not been lost on the original Blair Witch cast, who has recently reached out to Lionsgate to ask for what they feel is fair compensation for their role in the pivotal film. Lionsgate gained access to The Blair Witch Project in 2003 when they purchased Artisan Entertainment.

Blair witch
The Blair Witch Project Cast

However, Artisan Entertainment was an independent studio before its purchase, meaning the actors were not part of SAG-AFTRA. As a result, the cast are not entitled to the same residuals from the project as actors in other major films. The cast doesn’t feel that the studio should be able to continue to profit off of their hard work and likenesses without fair compensation.

Their most recent request asks for “meaningful consultation on any future ‘Blair Witch’ reboot, sequel, prequel, toy, game, ride, escape room, etc., in which one could reasonably assume that Heather, Michael & Josh’s names and/or likenesses will be associated for promotional purposes in the public sphere.”

The blair witch project

At this time, Lionsgate has not offered any comment about this issue.

The full statement made by the cast can be found below.

OUR ASKS OF LIONSGATE (From Heather, Michael & Josh, stars of “The Blair Witch Project”):

1. Retroactive + future residual payments to Heather, Michael and Josh for acting services rendered in the original BWP, equivalent to the sum that would’ve been allotted through SAG-AFTRA, had we had proper union or legal representation when the film was made.

2. Meaningful consultation on any future Blair Witch reboot, sequel, prequel, toy, game, ride, escape room, etc…, in which one could reasonably assume that Heather, Michael & Josh’s names and/or likenesses will be associated for promotional purposes in the public sphere.

Note: Our film has now been rebooted twice, both times were a disappointment from a fan/box office/critical perspective. Neither of these films were made with significant creative input from the original team. As the insiders who created the Blair Witch and have been listening to what fans love & want for 25 years, we’re your single greatest, yet thus-far un-utilized secret-weapon!

3. “The Blair Witch Grant”: A 60k grant (the budget of our original movie), paid out yearly by Lionsgate, to an unknown/aspiring genre filmmaker to assist in making theirfirst feature film. This is a GRANT, not a development fund, hence Lionsgate will not own any of the underlying rights to the project.

A PUBLIC STATEMENT FROM THE DIRECTORS & PRODUCERS OF “THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT”:

As we near the 25th anniversary of The Blair Witch Project, our pride in the storyworld we created and the film we produced is reaffirmed by the recent announcement of a reboot by horror icons Jason Blum and James Wan.

While we, the original filmmakers, respect Lionsgate’s right to monetize the intellectual property as it sees fit, we must highlight the significant contributions of the original cast — Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, and Mike Williams. As the literal faces of what has become a franchise, their likenesses, voices, and real names are inseparably tied to The Blair Witch Project. Their unique contributions not only defined the film’s authenticity but continue to resonate with audiences around the world.

We celebrate our film’s legacy, and equally, we believe the actors deserve to be celebrated for their enduring association with the franchise.

Sincerely, Eduardo Sanchez, Dan Myrick, Gregg Hale, Robin Cowie, and Michael Monello

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