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Screamfest Review: Soska Sister’s ‘Rabid’ An Entertaining Ode To Cronenberg

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The Soska Sisters, Jena and Sylvia have made a name for themselves in the modern world of horror with such gory features as American Mary, See No Evil 2, and Dead Hooker In A Trunk. With a proclivity for body horror and deeper subtext (as well as being Canadian) they were the ideal directors to handle a remake of one of David Cronenberg’s earlier works, Rabid.

Image via IMDB

The film follows Rose (Laura Vandervoort) a shy woman attempting to work her way up in the fashion industry and become a successful clothing designer. Her only friend and support being her step-sister Chelsea (Hanneke Talbot) who encourages her to be more assertive. All while working under the obnoxious and arrogant fashion designer Gunter (Mackenzie Gray). After being grotesquely disfigured in a horrific accident Rose’s dreams appear to be shattered… until she receives an offer from the enigmatic Dr. William Burroughs (Ted Atherton) to receive a highly experimental stem cell procedure to regrow her flesh and mend her body. The operation appears at first to be a complete success, making Rose more gorgeous than ever before. But soon Rose finds herself overcome by a hunger for flesh that soon spreads like a pandemic…

The movie is in many ways an improvement on the original story. Giving the lead character of Rose more agency and a larger spotlight and arc throughout the film outside of being Patient Zero. It’s interesting to see Rose’s transition from humble fashion worker to tragically disfigured to a whole new person. The pandemic itself more in the background this time around, and keeping the focus more on the ground and with the immediate characters. As well, the Soska Sisters are clear fans of Cronenberg and don’t just update Rabid, but make the entire movie a widespread homage to the master of body horror. So keep an eye out for those easter eggs.

Image via IMDB

The greatest strength of the movie is its fast pacing. At an hour and fifty minute runtime, it could have easily felt overly long. But The Soskas direct the story into such a breakneck speed and with so many hard hitting scenes that I was hooked on every moment. From the scenes of fashion and iconography to the bites and dismemberment. Which is another positive for Rabid, an amazingly stomach churning level of practical FX. Said FX being so disturbingly real, The Soska Sisters were banned from twitter for promoting the movie with some screenshot gore. The film showcases the outstanding work their team did between bloody massacres and bone crunching body horror.

Unfortunately, Rabid is considerably constrained by a lower budget. As opposed to the original film that showed the pandemic level outbreak of the disease and the ensuing chaos, the scenes and number of characters are noticeably limited. The plus side to those constraints being a greater focus on Rose and grounding the story more. It does diminish the apocalyptic effect and some scenes trying to elevate the danger. And without spoiling, the ending did feel rather abrupt and anti-climactic.

Those flaws aside, Rabid is an impressive update on Cronenberg’s story of infectious madness and sure to attract an audience. With a memorable notch to their credits, I’ll be eagerly looking forward to what Jen and Sylvia Soska do next.

Image via IMDB

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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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