News
‘Child’s Play’ is a Blast and Exists in its Own Parallel Universe
Every time a reboot, remake, rehash, re-do, or remix of one of cult fave film occurs there tends to be a bit of a hubbub. And by “hubbub,” I mean Cold War type spats. These either lead to a shaky acceptance or all out Film Twitter disdain. In the case of Child’s Play, I can say that this is one that is an all-out surprise in terms my expectation being totally exceeded in a variety of delightful, if not murdery, ways.
Child’s Play takes the selective bones of Tom Holland’s Child’s Play ‘88 and strips it of the elements of voodoo and possession. Instead, taking a two-fisted approach to the scarier side of spooky AI and nearly existent tech. Here, the Kaslan Buddi doll is able to control other Kaslan products through Bluetooth, giving him a wide range of control over tech like drones, thermostats, home electronics, etc… Taking a much more Sci-fi approach to the previous straight horror approach.
In the place of a voodoo ritual, we are instead introduced to a disgruntled employee at a Kaslan factory who decides to remove certain safety features from one particular Buddi doll. When young mother decides to gift the doll to her son, things take a bloody, and sometimes oddly touching turn
Director Lars Klevberg comes at this through a really fun approach. Well written and delivered dialogue makes everyone believable and ultimately likeable. Creating a fun Monster Squad, or Lost Boys era childhood camaraderie dynamic. The stand out feature in the first two acts of the film revolve primarily around how bizarre and funny the approach is to Andy and Chucky’s relationship. The beats are familiar to the relationship between John Connor and the T-800 in Terminator 2.
The most hilarious bits are built around the fact that the Buddi doll is severely… off. From facial expressions to strange dialogue, it’s cute and clear that this lil dude is on a planet of his own. Mark Hamill lending voice to Chucky seals the deal and makes the whole Chucky experience magical and simultaneously maniacal.
Don’t let all my talk about how funny and semi-adorable sections of this movie are though, horror hounds. Child’s Play is 100 percent brutal creating some severely well-done gory kills. All while keeping it almost completely practical in the process. Added to that Chucky is very creepy, watching Andy sleep or sitting in dark corners in full stalker mode.
The quality of the third act of Child’s Play is where we see the film start to follow more traditional tropes and is ultimately where the film didn’t work for me. It is seemingly and suddenly in a rush to get to the end credits. And does a criminal job of taking the strange heart that the previous acts did a great job building up. It’s rudimentary but not terrible.
It would be criminal if I didn’t mention the creepy and catchy Buddi song that is repeated more than a few times throughout the films runtime. In addition to the song being pretty dang great, Klevberg and Co. frame the tune in a different light each time it is comes up. Making the song, hilarious, terrifying, heartbreaking and then hilarious again. Composer, Bear McCreary brings a vivaciously eerie soundtrack to the mix all driven by children toys that he decided to use to capture the sounds of a child’s playroom.
This Child’s Play exists in its own parallel universe in my mind. It re-imagines a new killer doll nightmare and does so in a way that is an absolute blast and on its own terms. I’m not usually a remake apologist but in the case of this Child’s Play there is enough driving its engine that I was pleasantly surprised with just how impressive parts of it were. There is nothing about this iteration that takes anything away from Don Mancini’s ongoing Chucky legacy. In fact, this film takes care not to step too far into that wheelhouse and ultimately won me over in the process.
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Editorial
7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch
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)
Ghostface (2021)
Ghost Face (2023)
Don’t Scream (2022)
Scream: A Fan Film (2023)
The Scream (2023)
A Scream Fan Film (2023)
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Movies
Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month
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.
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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Movies
Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released
In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.
The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.
The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.
Here is the fresh trailer:
According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”
Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.
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