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‘Dead Cells’ Brings Pixelated-Permadeath To Action-Platforming

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Dead Cells

Some of us have an insatiable love for things that hurt, like deadly hot sauces conjured from the belly of hell or rom com films. The same area of the brain that causes people to receive enjoyment from torture, happens to be the same brain space that makes folks love the permadeath aspect of Dark Souls games. Well, we all need to give thanks to the Ashen One, cause Dark Cells is here to give us more of those fun frustration pangs that we love from our painfully fun experiences with Souls.

Dead Cells is an action-platformer with a cool Dark Souls twist, a dash of Metroid action  with a splash of classic Castlevania play-style.

In Dead Cells, you play as a character that when killed, is respawned all over again… by means of a ball of green goo. This puts you in the position of having to fight through ever changing levels, leveling up over time, and learning your enemy’s tactics and figuring out what weapon combos work best. Most of all it allows you to keep your learned skills in order to become a tough mo’fo over the course of splendiferous amount of death.

You are going to die. Die a lot. Much like in Dark Souls, dying is part of the whole thing, the blaringly big difference here is that each time you play through a level its laid out entirely differently.

That makes the would-be frustration of having to start over and over and over again, a learning experience, where you are able to level up, create mutations and figure out what makes your enemies fall the fastest.

Slotted weapons allow for a melee item, a ranged item and two sentinel or grenade type items. The combination of these items are up to your preference and finding the one that works best for you might take a few worthwhile deaths.

I know, what you are thinking, all this sounds super familiar. Well hey, it’s something the creators at the devs are acutely aware of, down to the title basically being a play-off of Dark Souls. It’s a labor of homage and love for the permadeath gaming subgenre that actually does a great job of breaking a mold, while still working in the same shop in which that mold that created.

Controls are well-done and exude the feeling of later Castlevania games along the lines of Symphony of Night. Throwing in a variety of weapons and furthering that with tiers on those individual weapons, simply increases playability and doesn’t allow things to become stale as easily. And with a game that’s focus is putting you through the same grind again and again, this mix works like gangbusters.

Enemies come with their distinctive approaches to combat, some yield more annoying results than others depending on the combo of weapons that you have in your arsenal at that moment. Using your full collection of moves, especially the god’s gift that is dodging, are essential to get learn early, cause later levels (if you can make it) are freakin’ tough.

Dead Cells is a really special game that kicks a special amount of pixelated butt. It is in on the joke and remains playful about it, if the title isn’t proof of that the main character and his comedic pantomime expressions sure are. The action, challenge and the rewarding punishment Dead Cells gives you are worth the price of entry, and are essential for Souls and Castlevania fans alike.

Dead Cells is out now on PC, PS4, Xbox One, Mac and Nintendo Switch for $24.99.

 

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New Vampire Flick “Flesh of the Gods” Will Star Kristen Stewart and Oscar Isaac

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Kristen-Stewart-and-Oscar-Isaac

80s nostalgia is still going strong in the horror community. As proof of this, Panos Cosmatos (Mandy) is developing a new 80s themed vampire film. However, unlike some of the other nostalgia bait films that have come out recently, Flesh of the Gods is packing some serious talent.

First, the film is written by the legendary Andrew Kevin Walker (Se7en). If that wasn’t enough, the film will star Oscar Isaac (Moon Knight) and Kristen Stewart (Underwater).

Kristen Stewart
Oscar Isaac, Flesh of the Gods article

Variety gives us a glimpse into the story line, stating that: “Flesh of the Gods is set in glittering ’80s L.A., where married couple Raoul (Oscar Isaac) and Alex (Kristen Stewart) each evening descend from their luxury skyscraper condo and head into the city’s electric nighttime realm. When they cross paths with a mysterious and enigmatic figure known as Nameless and her hard-partying cabal, the pair are seduced into a glamorous, surrealistic world of hedonism, thrills and violence.”

Cosmatos offers his own opinion of the film. “Like Los Angeles itself, ‘Flesh of the Gods’ inhabits the liminal realm between fantasy and nightmare. Both propulsive and hypnotic, ‘Flesh’ will take you on a hot rod joy ride deep into the glittering heart of hell.”

Producer Adam McKay (Don’t Look Up) seems to also be excited about The Flesh of the Gods. “This director, this writer, these incredible actors, vampires, choice ’80s punk, style and attitude for miles… that’s the film we’re bringing you today. We think it’s wildly commercial and wildly artful. Our ambitions are to make a movie that ripples through popular culture, fashion, music and film. Can you tell how excited I am?”

Flesh of the Gods is set to begin filming later this year. It will launch at Cannes with WME Independent, CAA Media Finance, and XYZ Films. The Flesh of the Gods does not currently have a release date.

That’s all the information we have at this time. Make sure to check back here for more news and updates.

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The Pope’s Exorcist Officially Announces New Sequel

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The Pope’s Exorcist is one of those films that’s just fun to watch. It isn’t the most terrifying film around, but there’s something about Russel Crow (Gladiator) playing a wise cracking Catholic priest that just feels right.

Screen Gems seems to agree with this assessment, as they have just officially announced that The Pope’s Exorcist sequel is in the works. It makes sense that Screen Gems would want to keep this franchise going, considering the first film scared up almost $80 million with a budget of only $18 million.

The Pope's Exorcist
The Pope’s Exorcist

According to Crow, there may even be a The Pope’s Exorcist trilogy in the works. However, recent changes with the studio may have put the third film on hold. In a sit-down with The Six O’Clock Show, Crow gave the following statement about the project.

“Well that’s in discussion at the moment. The producers originally got the kick off from the studio not just for one sequel but for two. But there’s been a change of studio heads at the moment, so that’s going around in a few circles. But very definitely, man. We set that character up that you could take him out and put him into a lot of different circumstances.”

Crow has also stated that film’s source material involves twelve separate books. This would allow the studio to take the story in all kinds of directions. With that much source material, The Pope’s Exorcist could even rival The Conjuring Universe.

Only the future will tell what becomes of The Pope’s Exorcist. But as always, more horror is always a good thing.

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New ‘Faces of Death’ Remake Will Be Rated R For “Strong Bloody Violence and Gore”

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In a move that should surprise absolutely no one, the Faces of Death reboot has been given an R rating from the MPA. Why has the film been given this rating? For strong bloody violence, gore, sexual content, nudity, language, and drug use, of course.

What else would you expect from a Faces of Death reboot? It would honestly be alarming if the film received anything less than an R rating.

Faces of death
Faces of Death

For those unaware, the original Faces of Death film released in 1978 and promised viewers video evidence of real deaths. Of course, this was just a marketing gimmick. Promoting a real snuff film would be a terrible idea.

But the gimmick worked, and franchise lived on in infamy. The Faces of Death reboot is hoping to gain the same amount of viral sensation as its predecessor. Isa Mazzei (Cam) and Daniel Goldhaber (How to Blow Up a Pipeline) will spearhead this new addition.

The hope is that this reboot will do well enough to recreate the infamous franchise for a new audience. While we don’t know much about the film at this point, but a joint statement from Mazzei and Goldhaber gives us the following info on the plot.

“Faces of Death was one of the first viral video tapes, and we are so lucky to be able to use it as a jumping off point for this exploration of cycles of violence and the way they perpetuate themselves online.”

“The new plot revolves around a female moderator of a YouTube-like website, whose job is to weed out offensive and violent content and who herself is recovering from a serious trauma, that stumbles across a group that is recreating the murders from the original film. But in the story primed for the digital age and age of online misinformation, the question faced is are the murders real or fake?”

The reboot will have some bloody shoes to fill. But from the looks of it, this iconic franchise is in good hands. Unfortunately, the film does not have a release date at this time.

That’s all the information we have at this time. Make sure to check back here for more news and updates.

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