Connect with us

News

‘Velvet Buzzsaw’ Is Mesmerizing Art Horror About The Horrors Of The Art World

Published

on

“All art is dangerous.” is an off-hand line in Velvet Buzzsaw. It proves to be all too true.

Image via IMDB

The story follows foppish master art critic Morf Vandewalt (Jake Gyllenhaal) as he becomes entangled in an art exhibit with side effects worse than Stendhal Syndrome. Josephine (Zawe Ashton) an ambitious agent at an art exhibitor run by former punk icon Rhodora Haze (Rene Russo) finds a tenant in her apartment building dead one day. The man, Ventril Dease was a hermit who amassed a massive portfolio of beautifully painted portraits of his own design. After being pushed by Rhodora into claiming the isolated deceased’s collection of work, they plan on exhibiting it at the Los Angeles Museum of Art with much hype. Unwittingly however, they unleash a supernatural force that wreaks bloody mayhem on anyone who dared to profit off these ill-gotten masterpieces…

The movie by Nightcrawler‘s Dan Gilroy reunites some of his stars from the intense sociopathic thriller with Jake Gyllenhaal and Rene Russo the leads once again in an impressive ensemble cast that also includes Toni Collette as an art curator and John Malkovich as a formerly alcoholic artist trying to recapture his glory. This ensemble cast sets-up many potential victims and how interwoven the web of lies and deceit within the world of art can be. Though at times it can be easy to lose track of characters and arcs as the spotlight hops around. Gyllenhaal’s performance as Morf was powerful as a man obsessed with finding perfection. Remarking “The critic is God in the art world” and driven to the point of describing his lover’s skin tone like a palette and even criticizing a funeral casket. Russo’s Rhodora likewise comes off as morally grey

Image via IMDB

At its core, Velvet Buzzsaw is a horror movie, without a doubt. Combined with that however, it is a flesh biting satire of the art world and the corruptive nature of art becoming more about business rather than… art. And the disturbing works of Dease punish those that seek to make a fortune from his accursed portraits. In a sense, the story of Velvet Buzzsaw is a traditional one in the horror genre: cursed treasure. Be it pirate booty or an ancient artifact, we are compelled to seek and utilize these objects in the face of unbelievable danger and death.

Image via IMDB

Whether to increase our bank accounts or our egos, the risk seems to match the reward. Leading to Dease’s art to set-up some gruesome and memorable kills through. combination of the portraits and environments. My personal favorite involving an exhibit called ‘Sphere’ like an industrial sized version of Phantasm‘s sentinel sphere. Gilroy seems to have a few clever horror homages through the film, (Including one I assume to be to Tales From The Hood) though they could be up to interpretation. Art, after all, is subjective.

While being based on such an esoteric community may turn off some, these same sentiments of art, greed, and desperation can relate to so many different communities and forms of creative expression. If you can, immerse yourself into the world of Velvet Buzzsaw on Netflix, February 1st or at one of its limited release screenings.

Image via IMDB
Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

News

Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role

Published

on

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.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading

Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

Published

on

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
Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading

Movies

Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

Published

on

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.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading