Horror Cinema

[Agent Purple The Illustrated Man Find all posts View Profile Close Agent Purple]

New Invisible Man film coming, saw an ad on Instagram.

[Agent Purple The Illustrated Man Find all posts View Profile Close Agent Purple]

So yeah, just ordered a standard def copy of TTFAW --- but wait, what's this!? Suggestions for additional buys include The Day The Earth Stood Still, the mindblowing 1951 classic and the only film that could not only challenge but exceed the brilliance of Howard Hawks!!!

Both arrived in good condition this afternoon, but Thing '51 is in one of those shitty cardstock-cover snap-side DVD cases instead of a real case. If only the idiot who thought that up could get a slap in the face for every one sold.

Now to pick which one to watch this weekend at my dad's, unless Netflix delivers a winner.

[Space Cop The Dandy Find all posts View Profile Close Space Cop]

Speaking of good zombie flicks, I finally saw The Girl with All the Gifts last night and it's one of the best I've seen in the genre in some time. Very interesting; good characters. Really, the zombie apocalypse is done in this flick and serves more as a backdrop, which was cool.

[Agent Purple The Illustrated Man Find all posts View Profile Close Agent Purple]

Saw the Invisible Man trailer on YouTube while eating dinner.

Basically the protag woman is believed to be insane because she can see an invisible man who is trying to kill her.

Except that there really is an invisible man trying to kill her, and he really will fuck people up to get what he wants.

Trailer had some genuinely creepy feels to it, and the idea of a stalker figuring out how to turn invisible and then coming after you is terrifying.

[Big Daddy Dave Skywalker Moisture Farmer Find all posts View Profile Close Big Daddy Dave Skywalker]

The Invisible Man trailer looks really good.
I liked the way they are playing the story, that nobody believes this woman and the stalker element. Seems like a no brainer but I can easily see that making for a terrifying story. I may see it in the theater though I havent had time to go lately.

[Big Daddy Dave Skywalker Moisture Farmer Find all posts View Profile Close Big Daddy Dave Skywalker]

I'm not sure how I feel about a backdoor remake of The Thing. Part of me wants them to leave it alone while another part of me is curious to see what they come up with. It seems the selling point is using the recently discovered early version of Who Goes There? found in Campbell's effects. I just picked up a copy of the softcover recently released as Frozen Hell but havent had a chance to read it yet. It appears to be 40 to 50 pages longer than the original short story.

Agent, does the version you have of that story have a ton of misspellings and grammatical errors? I have a few versions of the story but in the original ORIGINAL version that came out in that issue of Astounding Science Fiction is LITTERED with them. Like nobody took the time to proofread anything back then, which amuses me. Fun story though. And you are right about MacReady being bronze everything in that story. It was like Campbell wanted to insert Doc Savage into the story in his own way and that's how he chose to do it.

[Hypo Lil' Leaguer Find all posts View Profile Close Hypo]

Invisible Man reviews are up.

Most recent trailer:

+ YouTube Video

[Agent Purple The Illustrated Man Find all posts View Profile Close Agent Purple]

The Invisible Man trailer looks really good.
I liked the way they are playing the story, that nobody believes this woman and the stalker element. Seems like a no brainer but I can easily see that making for a terrifying story. I may see it in the theater though I havent had time to go lately.

The IM character, as with any character really, has been reinvented from film to film (from tragic scientist originally to framed criminal to reluctant WWII spy), and a lot of the elements of the old don't necessarily need to be preserved (he doesn't need to have world domination fantasies to be a dangerous control freak). Remakes aren't inherently bad, they allow for a new vision of a classic without being a straight imitation of the original. It doesn't always work, but when it does, it can be truly amazing.

I'm not sure how I feel about a backdoor remake of The Thing. Part of me wants them to leave it alone while another part of me is curious to see what they come up with. It seems the selling point is using the recently discovered early version of Who Goes There? found in Campbell's effects. I just picked up a copy of the softcover recently released as Frozen Hell but havent had a chance to read it yet. It appears to be 40 to 50 pages longer than the original short story.

Agent, does the version you have of that story have a ton of misspellings and grammatical errors? I have a few versions of the story but in the original ORIGINAL version that came out in that issue of Astounding Science Fiction is LITTERED with them. Like nobody took the time to proofread anything back then, which amuses me. Fun story though. And you are right about MacReady being bronze everything in that story. It was like Campbell wanted to insert Doc Savage into the story in his own way and that's how he chose to do it.

Huh, I thought it was just a closer adaptation of WGH?. If it's being republished in lengthier form, then I might have to check it out. As for how I myself feel about a remake closer to his original vision(s), I'm cautiously optimistic, because we never have gotten a true adaptation and the original description of the Thing is fucking disturbing.

I'll have to dig my copy out again to give you a clear answer, but since I don't remember having any trouble reading it, I'm going to say the anthology copy I have had a competent editorial staff on hand to keep the readers from failing to grasp the horror of the characters' situation.

And I'm glad to see Invisible Man is getting good initial reviews. Knowing me, especially now that I'm going to end up working overtime due to staff shortages, I won't be able to see it in theaters (but then again, I prefer home viewing).

[Agent Purple The Illustrated Man Find all posts View Profile Close Agent Purple]

I'll have to dig my copy out again to give you a clear answer, but since I don't remember having any trouble reading it, I'm going to say the anthology copy I have had a competent editorial staff on hand to keep the readers from failing to grasp the horror of the characters' situation.

Just flipped through a couple pages of my copy (doesn't say what year it was published, 1948 is the last year given but the copy is mint so it's obviously not 60-odd years old, it only says Buccaneer Books and lists their phone, fax (!), and AOL E-mail), and it has very competent editing, so now hilariously-bad grammatical shenanigans going on.

I should really read the six other stories in the collection.

[Agent Purple The Illustrated Man Find all posts View Profile Close Agent Purple]

Jordan Peele is doing a fucking Candyman film.

Mother. Of. God.

[Hypo Lil' Leaguer Find all posts View Profile Close Hypo]

He's producing and wrote the script, Nia DaCosta is directing.

+ YouTube Video

[Hypo Lil' Leaguer Find all posts View Profile Close Hypo]

THR: James Wan Developing Monster Movie for Universal

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THR: New 'Dracula' Movie in the Works as Universal Remakes Its Monsterverse

Universal's Monsterverse, left for dead after the middling box office returns of 2017's The Mummy, is now back on track. Just don't call it a Monsterverse this time.

On the heels of The Invisible Man's No. 1 opening Feb. 28 and $98.3 million haul so far, Universal is taking steps to revive its fabled stable of classic monsters for the big screen. But the new batch of films will be stand-alone, moderately budgeted efforts rather than big swings within an interconnected movie universe.

The latest: a new Dracula feature that Karyn Kusama (Destroyer) will direct, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. Jason Blum's Blumhouse, which helped kickstart the new monster line by making Invisible Man for only $7 million, is in the midst of setting up the vampire thriller and is producing. The project isn't housed at Universal yet, and technically, it could be made at another studio because Dracula is in the public domain. But that is highly unlikely given that Blumhouse has a first-look deal with the studio, and Universal isn't about to let one of its iconic monsters escape the fold.

Like Invisible Man, which offered a contemporary spin on the classic H.G. Wells novel, a new Dracula would take place in modern times, sources tell THR. Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay, who have collaborated with Kusama on a number of films including Destroyer and The Invitation, are writing the script. The Dracula development comes on the heels of another legacy monster project being set up, an untitled horror thriller to be produced by James Wan.

The new agenda takes a filmmaker-driven approach to the characters as opposed to a star-driven strategy, something Universal tried when it released the 2017 Tom Cruise vehicle The Mummy. That movie's middling welcome — $409 million worldwide off of a $125 million budget — derailed a plan for an interrelated movie universe à la Marvel with stars such as Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie and Javier Bardem.

Now, instead of hearing pitches and reading scripts that tie monsters together, Universal execs are telling filmmakers that storytelling is the star. "It's a 'best idea wins' approach," says one producer, "and they are having the filmmakers find the individual stories."

The studio is working with filmmakers such as Paul Feig, Elizabeth Banks and John Krasinski, even developing multiple takes on one character, sources say. "They have multiple irons in the fire, but not all will become real," says one agent familiar with the studio's plans.

The movies don't have a strict budget range, though moderate ranges seem popular at this stage. And no project seems to be ready to go before cameras, though an Invisible Man sequel from its director, Leigh Whannell, is inevitable (even if talks haven't begun and Whannell is being eyed for other Monsterverse titles).

Getting the universe right had until recently proved elusive for Universal, even with a headliner such as Dracula. The studio most recently tackled the blood-sucking count with 2014's Luke Evans starrer Dracula Untold, which earned $217 million worldwide.

"It shows that by being very agile, they were able to pivot and try a new direction," says Comscore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian. "Had Invisible Man not worked, that would have been a cause for concern. But this sets them up very nicely."

Kusama is no stranger to the horror genre, having helmed the Diablo Cody-penned cult classic Jennifer's Body. On the TV front, she also been busy directing a number of episodes for such series as HBO's freshman hit The Outsider, based on the Stephen King horror crime novel, and Showtime's Billions.

Kusama is repped by ICM and attorney Patti Felker. Hay and Manfredi are handled by UTA and attorney Alan Grodin.

[Agent Purple The Illustrated Man Find all posts View Profile Close Agent Purple]

You know, I really hope this becomes their "Dark Universe," because that is a cool name to reference their horror franchises and I don't want it all to go to waste. We don't need interconnected, at least not for a while, but we can get a healthy stable of standalones.

[Space Cop The Dandy Find all posts View Profile Close Space Cop]

^They should worry about the movies themselves and stop trying to build a universe. The Universal Classic Horror barely connected within their character sequels and the ones that did crossover outright retconned stuff to do it. They didn't count about world building and dropping hints for future movies.