News

Riding to Hell in Domonic Smith’s “Van”

Published

7 years ago

April 30, 2017

Writers and directors in independent short horror films are literally looking everywhere for inspiration. It might come from a sign, a snippet of overheard conversation, or a headline in a newspaper, but when that lightning strikes they’re ready to move on it. Such was the case with Domonic Smith’s short film, “Van” which all started on an app called Hooked which features stories entirely told by text and instant messaging.

“I just kind of stumble on the app,” Smith explained. “I would go on there every day and read through the stories, and I found one called “Waiting for You”. I kept thinking about how much I really liked the story and I wasn’t sure how it would translate over to film but I really want to try.”

Smith contacted the author of the story and asked for permission to adapt it. He explained that there would be things that he had to change, but that it would, at the core, still be the author’s story. When he received a resounding “Yes!” from both the author and then the owner of the app, he was ready to start adapting.

In “Van”, we open on a young woman, Laura, nodding off while she is driving. Suddenly, she’s sitting at a crossroads and her friend, Julia, is calling her on video chat. The friend is obviously in distress and is begging to be picked up. Laura notices blood on Julia’s neck and assumes Julia’s boyfriend has abused her in some way. She agrees to pick up her friend and asks for the address, but when she receives it, she realizes she’s less than one hundred feet from the location.

Enter the ominous, titular van.

“There’s a lot of old folklore about a Devil’s carriage that carries souls to hell,” he pointed out. “So I was thinking what would be the modern equivalent of this creepy carriage? What’s the creepiest vehicle today? And the idea of a van came to me. It’s the creepy van that carries souls to hell.”

The van in question is indeed creepy. A catering van with a creepy devil in its logo (who would order from them?!), it seems to sit and stare Laura down as she approaches it all the while madly texting her friend to find out where she is. This van is really a character itself. It exudes menace and instills dread no matter the angle of filming.

The director came up with a brilliant plan for drawing his audience into the film by using several split screens that allow the audience to not only see Laura’s face, but also to see her phone’s screen as she texts Julia.

“When I’m texting someone and the conversation is intense, I get really nervous when I see those ellipses that show that they’re typing. You don’t know what they’re going to say next. I wanted people to feel like this is a situation they could find themselves in,” he says. “So I don’t want to just shoot a wide shot of someone texting. I want you to see what they’re texting. I want you to see how fast they’re texting. How anxious they are. It replicates what you do in life.”

The choice is effective and I found myself holding my breath as Laura approaches the van and Julia insists that there is no van where she is. I don’t want to give away too much more to avoid spoilers, but the whole scene plays beautifully with an exacting amount of tension. It’s really no wonder at all that the film was a finalist in the iHorror Awards this last season.

You could tell Smith really loves the form of the short film and we talked about his great love for anthology films that went hand in hand with his love of short stories like the ones in Stories to Tell in the Dark which he read when he was growing up.

“I enjoy giving people a taste of fear,” Smith said. “I’ve been doing short films for so long that it’s actually harder for me to do a feature. But if you give me three minutes, five minutes, or even ten minutes, it’s easier for me to tell my story. It has to be tight; the minutes have to be filled, but I love leaving that audience with that cliffhanger. Always leave them wanting more!”

The young director, who just signed on to create content for Crypt TV, has a whole host of short films in the works as well as a feature he hopes to begin shooting at the end of the year. If they’re as creative and fresh as “Van”, I’m sure we’re in for many more spectacular thrills and kills from Domonic Smith.

Check out “Van” below!

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News

Jake Gyllenhaal’s Thriller ‘Presumed Innocent’ Series Gets Early Release Date

Published

17 mins ago

April 26, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Jake Gyllenhaal’s limited series Presumed Innocent is dropping on AppleTV+ on June 12 instead of June 14 as originally planned. The star, whose Road House reboot has brought mixed reviews on Amazon Prime, is embracing the small screen for the first time since his appearance on Homicide: Life on the Street in 1994.

Jake Gyllenhaal’s in ‘Presumed Innocent’

Presumed Innocent is being produced by David E. Kelley, J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, and Warner Bros. It is an adaptation of Scott Turow’s 1990 film in which Harrison Ford plays a lawyer doing double duty as an investigator looking for the murderer of his colleague.

These types of sexy thrillers were popular in the ’90s and usually contained twist endings. Here’s the trailer for the original:

According to Deadline, Presumed Innocent doesn’t stray far from the source material: “…the Presumed Innocent series will explore obsession, sex, politics and the power and limits of love as the accused fights to hold his family and marriage together.”

Up next for Gyllenhaal is the Guy Ritchie action movie titled In the Grey scheduled for release in January 2025.

Presumed Innocent is an eight-episode limited series set to stream on AppleTV+ starting June 12.

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Movies

Trailer for ‘The Exorcism’ Has Russell Crowe Possessed

Published

19 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Timothy Rawles

The latest exorcism movie is about to drop this summer. It’s aptly titled The Exorcism and it stars Academy Award winner turned B-movie savant Russell Crowe. The trailer dropped today and by the looks of it, we are getting a possession movie that takes place on a movie set.

Just like this year’s recent demon-in-media-space film Late Night With the Devil, The Exorcism happens during a production. Although the former takes place on a live network talk show, the latter is on an active sound stage. Hopefully, it won’t be entirely serious and we’ll get some meta chuckles out of it.

The film will open in theaters on June 7, but since Shudder also acquired it, it probably won’t be long after that until it finds a home on the streaming service.

Crowe plays, “Anthony Miller, a troubled actor who begins to unravel while shooting a supernatural horror film. His estranged daughter, Lee (Ryan Simpkins), wonders if he’s slipping back into his past addictions or if there’s something more sinister at play. The film also stars Sam Worthington, Chloe Bailey, Adam Goldberg and David Hyde Pierce.”

Crowe did see some success in last year’s The Pope’s Exorcist mostly because his character was so over-the-top and infused with such comical hubris it bordered on parody. We will see if that is the route actor-turned-director Joshua John Miller takes with The Exorcism.

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News

Win a Stay at The Lizzie Borden House From Spirit Halloween

Published

21 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Spirit Halloween has declared that this week marks the start of spooky season and to celebrate they are offering fans a chance to stay at the Lizzie Borden House with so many perks Lizzie herself would approve.

The Lizzie Borden House in Fall River, MA is claimed to be one of the most haunted houses in America. Of course one lucky winner and up to 12 of their friends will find out if the rumors are true if they win the grand prize: A private stay in the notorious house.

“We are delighted to work with Spirit Halloween to roll out the red carpet and offer the public a chance to win a one-of-a-kind experience at the infamous Lizzie Borden House, which also includes additional haunted experiences and merchandise,” said Lance Zaal, President & Founder of US Ghost Adventures.

Fans can enter to win by following Spirit Halloween‘s Instagram and leaving a comment on the contest post from now through April 28.

The prize also includes:

An exclusive guided house tour, including insider insight around the murder, the trial, and commonly reported hauntings

A late-night ghost tour, complete with professional ghost-hunting gear

A private breakfast in the Borden family dining room

A ghost hunting starter kit with two pieces of Ghost Daddy Ghost Hunting Gear and a lesson for two at US Ghost Adventures Ghost Hunting Course

The ultimate Lizzie Borden gift package, featuring an official hatchet, the Lizzie Borden board game, Lily the Haunted Doll, and America’s Most Haunted Volume II

Winner’s choice of a Ghost Tour experience in Salem or a True Crime experience in Boston for two

“Our Halfway to Halloween celebration provides fans an exhilarating taste of what’s to come this fall and empowers them to start planning for their favorite season as early as they please,” said Steven Silverstein, CEO of Spirit Halloween. “We have cultivated an incredible following of enthusiasts who embody the Halloween lifestyle, and we’re thrilled to bring the fun back to life.”

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Spirit Halloween is also preparing for their retail haunted houses. On Thursday, August 1 their flagship store in Egg Harbor Township, NJ. will officially open to start off the season. That event usually draws in hordes of people eager to see what new merch, animatronics, and exclusive IP goods will be trending this year.