Resident Evil Reboot Gets Official Title!

 

Things have been quiet on the upcoming reboot of the "Resident Evil" film series since the production wrapped filming several months ago. Today, we finally get to hear a little more about it with a recent interview with director Johannes Roberts who talked a little about the inspirations behind his vision and has finally revealed the official title! "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City".

The director also revealed that the film will be inspired by the works of John Carpenter! Specifically citing the 1980 film "The Fog" for it's creepy tone and the story revolving around an ensemble cast coming together against the monsters. This sounds like the perfect tone for the franchise and keeps sounding better and better with each new piece of news. He goes on to say that the "Resident Evil 2 Remake" really helped to give the film it's dreary tone. 

“The thing I loved about the games is they were just scary as hell and that is very much what I wanted. That atmosphere — it’s rain, it’s constantly dark, it’s creepy. Raccoon City is kind of this rotten character in the movie and that sort of atmosphere in the games I wanted to put in [the film].”

 Sadly, the interview with IGN was brief and there's still no word on any official photos or trailer as of yet. But you can be sure that I'll be back here the moment something drops so stay tuned. "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City" will be released on September 3, 2021 and stars Kaya Scodelario, Hannah John-Kamen, Robbie Amell, Tom Hopper, Avan Jogia, and Neal McDonough. It will be set in 1998 and is a retelling of the first two games in the series.

'The Vigil' Review

 

"The Vigil" is a supernatural thriller about a former Hasidic Jew whose faith and mental stability was shaken following a traumatic event. Desperate for money, he accepts the job from an old friend to perform a ritual known in Judaism as 'The Vigil', where he must watch over a body to guide their soul through the afterlife overnight. Once he begins his work, he slowly begins to unravel as a demonic entity is lurking inside the house and begins to feed on his pain, both physical and mental.

This one was quite the little hidden gem! I only ever heard of the film thanks to my local cinema (shout out to the Promenade Cinema) carrying more indie films to fill out the rather anemic roster. The film was released sometime last year and was a critical hit and I can understand why. The film may use the old trope of a demonic entity haunting someone in an old dark house, but makes it fresh again by utilizing the culture of the Jewish faith and plays out as more a psychological struggle of a man whose past has caused him so much pain. 

It's a literal fighting your own demons scenario and it's executed well. The film's visuals are the highlight as with most horror/thriller with deep oranges and dark shadows lurking everywhere. Throughout the runtime you start to notice less and less light creeping in as if the protagonist's pain and fears are boxing him in and the final confrontation involving a single candle really stands out as a result making the imagery and subtext clearer. 

If you're looking for something bombastic and aggressive a la "The Exorcist" or it's many retreads, this isn't really that kind of film. Sadly, due to US distribution belonging to horror staple Blumhouse "The Vigil" will have a sort of expectation but "Insidious" this is not. This is a subtle slow burn with strong themes of mental health, redemption, and overcoming our fears and mistakes. It just happens to use a fear-eating demon to bring those themes to life. 

"The Vigil" is not for everyone, but it's a great watch for fans of more classic horror that's tense, thought-provoking, and emotional. All this in a little PG-13 horror flick. Who would have thought?

A+

'Event Horizon' Blu-Ray Review

 

"Event Horizon" was originally released in the summer of 1997 and stars Laurence Fishbourne and Sam Neill. The story takes place in the year 2047 when the rescue vessel the Lewis & Clark have gone into deep space to investigate the mysterious return of the Event Horizon, a starship that travels using a dimensional engine and disappeared on its maiden voyage 15 years prior. Once the crew is onboard, they begin to slowly realize that not all is right with the Event Horizon and that it may have brought back something of pure chaos and pure evil.

"Event Horizon" had a hard time getting off the ground back in the day. Originally greenlit with a rather large budget for a small horror film, it was bogged down due to studio interference and poor early test screenings. It was rushed to completion to fill an empty slot in Paramount Pictures' roster due to the delayed release of their upcoming epic "Titanic" and was given little to no marketing. The original cut of the film was rumored to have a runtime of 130 minutes, and was infamously edited down mainly due to the it's more graphic moments. It failed to gain much of an audience in theaters and most critics of the time labeled it as an inferior clone of "Alien".

Thankfully, in the years since it's gained a strong cult following who long for the director's original cut which has been long sought after and has since become the stuff of film legend. Shout! Factory went far and wide attempting to locate the lost footage for this new Blu-Ray release but sadly was unable to find much beyond what has already been released in prior versions. After all that backstory and drama, what about the film itself? The edits and problems behind the scenes have definitely hurt "Event Horizon" and it's hard to deny it's many problems. Sam Neill's Dr. Weir character has little to no proper transitions to justify his actions throughout the film. Sometimes he's clearly under the influence of the ship and acts suspicious and evil and change back without notice in the very next scene.

Many of the character's backstories are left on the cutting room floor, making the scenes where the ship begins to show them their fears feel out of nowhere or goes unexplained. Some of the film's set pieces that are clearly symbolic in nature are ruined by some choppy editing as well. Make no mistake, going from 130 minutes to a measly 96 there is no possible way that just the film's gore was left on the cutting room floor. What is left in the film does still have its moments with strong visuals and throwbacks to "Alien" and even "Hellraiser" and even if the characters aren't as strong as I suspect they were in the original cut, they do play off each other very well and you do still get that feeling that these folks have been together for a long time and feel like a real crew. 

The special effects that remained in the final product are still intense and gross but the film also was one of the first to attempt computer generated effects to create weather and individual objects which would have been amazing at the time. They may not hold up that well in high definition these days but the ambition deserves praise. Say what you will about his later work, but Paul W.S. Anderson clearly had passion for this project and put his all into it. He really wanted this film to work and despite the manipulation and constant sabotage his effort still shines through. Hopefully one day we'll see the full fruit of his and the crew's labors and that infamous director's cut will finally see the light of day. As of now though, "Event Horizon" is still an effective and disturbing sci-fi/horror that's worth a watch.

This new Blu-Ray from Shout! Factory comes with a new 4K scan from the film's original negative and it's never looked better! It retains a nice amount of film grain and the overall grimy metallic look remains intact. The soundtrack has good balance and the louder moments was really booming through my sound system. Special features are pulled from the previous releases such as an Audio Commentary with the director, an hour long documentary, an 8 minute behind the scenes montage, a special section for the few deleted scenes they could find, and of course the film's theatrical trailer. As far as new material, we have 11 interview segments with various cast and crew. These were shot on internet chats due to the Pandemic so while not the most ideal way, they work fine and give some new insight into the production and some retrospective thoughts overall. 

This new edition of "Event Horizon" may not have the coveted director's cut we wanted but it's still an excellent release from Shout! Factory with a great new picture, audio, and a hefty amount of features to keep you happy. 

Movie: B-

Blu-Ray: A

You can pick up "Event Horizon" HERE

New 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' is Confirmed to be a Sequel

 

 Last year, Fede Alverez (Evil Dead, Don't Breathe) announced he would be producing a new "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" film for Legendary Pictures. Soon after the production went underground and remained quiet until today when Alverez did an interview with Bloody Disgusting where he discussed various aspects of the film. Not only did he confirm that it be set several years after the 1974 original film but we'll also be seeing a much older Leatherface.

“It is a direct sequel, and it is the same character. It is old man Leatherface,” Alvarez says.

 He also goes on to discuss various elements of the production, including his insistence of using old school gore and special effects whenever possible.

“Everything is classic, old school gags. It's a very old school approach to filmmaking" 

2013 saw a similar situation with "Texas Chainsaw 3D" which attempted to tie itself directly to the original and was slayed by both fans and critics and ending up a box office bomb. However, this new approach seems to be heading in the right direction. The film has just finished up filming and is now in post production and is scheduled to release sometime this year.

"Texas Chainsaw Massacre" is directed by David Blue Garcia and written by Chris Thomas Devlin. The plot is still under wraps. It stars Elsie Fisher, Sarah Yarkin, Alice Krige, Mark Burnham, and William Hope. Alverez will be co-producing the film with original producer/writer Kim Henkel.