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[SXSW Review] ‘Us’ is a Masterstroke of Genre Genius

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Us

Jordan Peele’s move from comedy to horror forged a new name among the masters of horror lineup. With Get Out he added social commentary relevancy back to genre film in game-changing ways. And while a sophomore jinx is always scary and a heck of a possibility, his latest film Us takes a peak in a new terrifyingly relevant area of our society while offering up a new breed of horror.

Us follows a family on vacation down to the coast near Santa Cruz. The introduction to the family leads you safely in, allowing you to put your guard down and experience the events to come shoulder to shoulder along side them. When their home is suddenly attacked by what appears to be doppelgängers, their night goes down a weird, dark and revelatory path. From there the film becomes very much a home invasion thriller with their doppelgängers, who are referred as ‘The Tethered’, attempting to untether themselves using giant pairs of gold scissors.

The cast is absolutely amazing with Elisabeth Moss giving food for nightmares in her portrayal as her doppelgänger, Dahlia. Lupita Nyong’o absolutely transcends as both Adelaide and her dopple, Red. Her choices as Red especially full of a quite menace and is definitely an approach I haven’t seen before.

Peele is on point aesthetically and tonally taking us from bright Instagram gold exteriors to dower claustrophobic areas. Along with these things, he also creates a living mythos out of a a viciously entertaining two-hour runtime. He is also an expert at giving the audience what they don’t want to see in terms of having characters make iffy decisions that he knows will have people screaming “don’t go in there, dummy!” from the aisles. But, he does so with a deep understanding of the genre never allowing you to know where the scare is going to come from within the fun of yelling at the screen.

Where before Peele deconstructed underlying racial injustices through the genre. Here he peels back the covers on America as a whole and explores where the Reagan administration, 80’s era new money and our current state of social media usage has lead us to a time we are embolden to our digital selves.

It’s one of those films that I’m sure can be dissected a hundred ways. And that’s what is really special about it. I can already feel that my second, third and fourth viewings will each bear new theories.

While it is a razor sharp cookie of a film, it is a simultaneous blast and a crowd pleaser. Creating big moments that had our audience cheering, the mood of the film is still very Jordan Peele and in the vein of honesty in comedy and horror. For example, from the beginning of the film, multiple VHS cases are visible on a shelf that include C.H.U.D., The Goonies, The Man with Two Brains among others. And each is playfully paid homage to throughout. This makes for intense melding of fun, smarts and genre nerd stuff that I can totally get behind.

The film is full to the brim with symbolism as well, ranging from baby boomer generation inspired multiplying rabbits, to the easter eggs of strange coincidence that fill each frame. Even the doppelgängers names are in references to specific queues. “Umbrae” for example refers to the darkest part of a shadow. The entire film is filled with these little mysteries that beg to be pieced together.

Cinematographer, Mike Gioulakis is responsible for creating the visual tension in both It Follows and Glass and follows up here with the best thing I have seen him do yet. Not afraid to play around with angles, close-ups and wide shots Gioulakis is able to maintain an energy that is hard to look away from even with the threat of being petrified with fear.

In its final moments the film gives what is going to be one of my favorite edited, choreographed and scored sequences of 2019. It’s entirely haunting, beautiful and grounded in genius and I can’t wait to discuss this in a more spoilery way after the film comes out. Cause… damn!

Us is weird, hilarious, terrifying and poignant. Most importantly it’s devilishly entertaining and has a lot of fun to unpack. Peele is at ease that stance has lent to creating more tension, frights and laughs than he has before. Get Out was good, Us is plain masterful.

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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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