Over the last few weeks, the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival celebrated the best that the indie filmmaking world has to offer, and during the fest’s run, I had the chance to check out just a few of the genre-related offerings on Tribeca’s lineup: The Endless from Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson, Pat Healy’s feature film directorial debut, Take Me, and the psychological thriller Tilt from Kasra Farahani. Read on for my thoughts on this trio of thought-provoking cinematic treats.
In theaters and on VOD beginning Friday, May 12th is writer/director Ben Young’s emotional captivity thriller, Hounds of Love, which has stunned audiences during its festival fun over the last several months, including at the SXSW and Overlook film festivals (read my review here). Hailing from Australia, Hounds of Love is a harrowing tale about a dangerous couple (played by Stephen Curry and Emma Booth) with a predilection for kidnapping and torturing young girls, including a teenager named Vicki (Ashleigh Cummings), who senses a divide between the couple, and tries to use that to her advantage in hopes of escaping her nightmarish ordeal.
This week kicked off in grand fashion with the world premiere of the Blade Runner 2049 trailer, preceded by an intimate Q&A hosted at IMAX headquarters in Los Angeles with filmmaker Denis Villeneuve and co-stars Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling in attendance to discuss what fans can expect from the film, which picks up 30 years after the events of Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner.
In case you missed the live Blade Runner 2049 Q&A on Monday, Daily Dead was on hand to bring you guys back some tidbits from the trio.
This week, Scream Factory is releasing a fantastic Collector’s Edition Blu-ray for John Waters’ subversive domestic comedy, Serial Mom, which follows a well-meaning mother (Kathleen Turner) who embarks on a murderous rampage after she finds out that certain folks are out to harm certain members of her loving family. In Serial Mom, frequent Waters collaborator Mink Stole stars as Dottie Hinkle, the bane of Turner’s character’s existent and tormented victim of her malicious sense of humor.
For her latest film, Buster’s Mal Heart, filmmaker Sarah Smith infuses an existential thriller with a bit of dark humor and then throws an intriguing mystery into the mix for good measure.
For nearly 40 years now, audiences have been terrified by the cinematic universe Sir Ridley Scott first brought to life in his brilliant Alien. We have been enraptured by the Xenomorphs and all their iterations through three sequels, two Predator-inclusive offshoot films and Scott’s previous effort, Prometheus, which took us even further back to the events that happened prior to Alien. With Alien: Covenant, Ridley looks to start bridging the mythologies established in both films, and overall finds moderate success.
Last week, co-writer/director Clay Staub celebrated the world premiere of Devil’s Gate, his mysterious sci-fi thriller which pits a pair of FBI agents (played by Shawn Ashmore and Amanda Schull) against a small-town farmer, after his family is abducted and nothing is as it seems. Daily Dead caught up with Staub, Ashmore, and Schull to hear more on the project, and they discussed their approach to the material, how being isolated in Winnipeg during production was an asset for them while working on Devil’s Gate, and more.
Throughout the course of his filmmaking career, writer/director Larry Cohen has always bucked the Hollywood system to deliver ingenious stories that subvert genre expectations and challenge societal norms. With over 20 directorial credits and more than 80 writing credits to his name, Cohen’s influence in the realms of horror, sci-fi, and exploitation cinema have been felt far and wide for the last 60 years.
For longtime Daily Dead readers, it should come as no shock that I’m a big fan of Hallmark’s Keepsake Ornament line, as I regularly put each year’s collection in the spotlight for my annual Holiday Gift Guide in December (and have personally been collecting them for decades now). And for 2017, Hallmark has absolutely outdone themselves, as they have dozens of great new ornament selections that were recently revealed, and for those of us who dig horror, sci-fi, and comics-based entertainment, be prepared to go broke trying to keep up with all the great ornaments coming our way this year.
Recently enjoying its premiere at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival, the psychological thriller Tilt follows a struggling Los Angeles filmmaker (played by Joseph Cross) whose life spirals out of control after his wife (played by Alexia Rasmussen) discovers that she’s pregnant, and he faces giving up on his dreams to fulfill his marital obligations.
While he’s helmed short films in the past, actor Pat Healy makes his feature film directorial debut with the darkly comedic Take Me, an unconventional heist/crime caper of sorts that features Healy in the role of Ray, professional kidnapper, who gets more than he bargains for with his latest “victim,” Anna (Taylor Schilling).
Take Me recently premiered at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival, and Daily Dead chatted with Healy about the project. In our conversation, he discussed taking the reins as director, his approach to the material, collaborating with Schilling and Take Me producers Jay and Mark Duplass, and more.
Out in theaters this weekend is J.D. Dillard’s Sleight, which premiered last year during the Sundance Film Festival and is making its way to the big screen now courtesy of BH Tilt and WWE Studios. A bit of a genre mashup that brings together the worlds of magic and science fiction, Sleight follows a street magician named Bo (Jacob Latimore), who, after getting mixed up in a dangerous world of crime, realizes that his only way out is through the utilization of his unique abilities.
Opening in theaters and arriving on VOD this Friday is Steven Shainberg’s sci-fi thriller, Rupture, which stars Noomi Rapace as a single mom abducted by a sinister organization that experiments on her while she desperately tries to escape their clutches. Daily Dead recently spoke to Shainberg in anticipation of Rupture’s release, and he discussed what inspired the project, how the aesthetics he established helped serve the story, and his experiences collaborating with Noomi.
Ready to create some magic in theaters this weekend is J.D. Dillard’s Sleight, which premiered last year during the Sundance Film Festival, and arrives on the big screen now courtesy of BH Tilt and WWE Studios. A genre mash-up that brings together the worlds of magic and science fiction, Sleight follows a street magician named Bo (Jacob Latimore), who, after getting mixed up in a dangerous world of crime, realizes that his only way out is to utilize his unique abilities.
Daily Dead had the opportunity to recently speak with Dulé Hill, who portrays Angelo, Bo’s drug-dealing boss who is not the man you want to disrespect, especially when it comes to matters of business.
One of my favorite indie horror movies of the last five years is Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s Resolution, a genre-bending effort that’s so confidently unique that it’s become a film I’ve recommended countless times to friends and family, whether they dig horror movies or not, and even programmed it as part of the film fest I used to run out here in Los Angeles, just because I wanted folks to have a chance to see it on a big screen (which doesn’t often happen for a lot of lower-budgeted genre fare).
A few years ago, their Lovecraftian love story Spring knocked my socks off, and I enjoyed their contribution to V/H/S: Viral as well, but nothing could have prepared me for my viewing experience while watching their latest movie, The Endless.
