Movies
WATCH: Netflix’s ‘Things Heard & Seen’ Trailer Will Haunt You
Netflix’sĀ Things Heard & Seen is set to debut at the end of this month, and if the new trailer is any indication, we’re in for a hauntingly good time!
Amanda Seyfried (You Should Have Left) and James Norton (Little Women) star as Catherine and George Clare, a handsome young couple who move their family to an idyllic town in the Hudson Valley. As they settle into their new lives, Catherine begins to suspect that there is a previously unknown darkness to their marriage that might even rival their new home’s history.
Seyfried and Norton are joined by a stellar cast including Karen AllenĀ (Raiders of the Lost Ark), F. Murray Abraham (Homeland), Rhea Seehorn (Better Call Saul), and Natalie Dyer (Stranger Things).
Things Heard & Seen is co-written and co-directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, and is based on theĀ All Things Cease to Appear, a novel by Elizabeth Brundage.
“I find it more of a literary ghost story, in the tradition ofĀ Turn of the Screw and things like that. And there’s a gothic kind of quality to it, with the heroine kind of searching for her freedoms and with the supernatural element. I mean, the real horror of the story is the marriage,” Pulcini said in a statement quoted byĀ Entertainment Weekly.
The trailer certainly has that classic ghost story feel to it.Ā Things Heard & Seen is set for release on April 29, 2021 on Netflix. Check out the trailer below and let us know what you think in the comments!
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Movie Reviews
Panic Fest 2024 Review: ‘Haunted Ulster Live’
Everything old is new again.
On Halloween 1998, the local news of Northern Ireland decide to do a special live report from an allegedly haunted house in Belfast. Hosted by local personality Gerry Burns (Mark Claney) and popular children’s presenter Michelle Kelly (Aimee Richardson) they intend to look at the supernatural forces disturbing the current family living there. With legends and folklore abound, is there an actual spirit curse in the building or something far more insidious at work?
Presented as a series of found footage from a long forgotten broadcast, Haunted Ulster Live follows similar formats and premises as Ghostwatch and The WNUF Halloween Special with a news crew investigating the supernatural for big ratings only to get in over their heads. And while the plot has certainly been done before, director Dominic O’Neill’s 90’s set tale of local access horror manages to stand out on its own ghastly feet. The dynamic between Gerry and Michelle is most prominent, with him being an experienced broadcaster who thinks this production is beneath him and Michelle being fresh blood who is considerably annoyed at being presented as costumed eye candy. This builds as the events within and around the domicile becomes too much to ignore as anything less than the real deal.
The cast of characters is rounded out by the McKillen family who have been dealing with the haunting for some time and how it’s had an effect on them. Experts are brought in to help explain the situation including the paranormal investigator Robert (Dave Fleming) and the psychic Sarah (Antoinette Morelli) who bring their own perspectives and angles to the haunting. A long and colorful history is established about the house, with Robert discussing how it used to be the site of an ancient ceremonial stone, the center of leylines, and how it was possibly possessed by the ghost of a former owner named Mr. Newell. And local legends abound about a nefarious spirit named Blackfoot Jack that would leave trails of dark footprints in his wake. It’s a fun twist having multiple potential explanations for the site’s strange occurrences instead of one end-all be-all source. Especially as the events unfold and the investigators try to discover the truth.
At its 79 minute timelength, and the encompassing broadcast, it’s a bit of a slow burn as the characters and lore is established. Between some news interruptions and behind the scenes footage, the action is mostly focused on Gerry and Michelle and the build up to their actual encounters with forces beyond their comprehension. I will give kudos that it went places I didn’t expect, leading to a surprisingly poignant and spiritually horrifying third act.
So, while Haunted Ulster Live isn’t exactly trendsetting, it definitely follows in the footsteps of similar found footage and broadcast horror films to walk its own path. Making for an entertaining and compact piece of mockumentary. If you’re a fan of the sub-genres, Haunted Ulster Live is well worth a watch.
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Movie Reviews
Panic Fest 2024 Review: ‘Never Hike Alone 2’
There are fewer icons more recognizable than the slasher. Freddy Krueger. Michael Myers. Victor Crowley. Notorious killers who always seem to come back for more no matter how many times they are slain or their franchises seemingly put to a final chapter or nightmare. And so it seems that even some legal disputes cannot stop one of the most memorable movie murderers of all: Jason Voorhees!
Following the events of the first Never Hike Alone, outdoorsman and YouTuber Kyle McLeod (Drew Leighty) has been hospitalized after his encounter with the long thought dead Jason Voorhees, saved by perhaps the hockey masked killer’s greatest adversary Tommy Jarvis (Thom Mathews) who now currently works as an EMT around Crystal Lake. Still haunted by Jason, Tommy Jarvis struggles to find a sense of stability and this latest encounter is pushing him to end the reign of Voorhees once and for all…
Never Hike Alone made a splash online as a well shot and thoughtful fan film continuation of the classic slasher franchise that was built up with the snowbound follow up Never Hike In The Snow and now climaxing with this direct sequel. It’s not only an incredible Friday The 13th love letter, but a well thought out and entertaining epilogue of sorts to the infamous ‘Tommy Jarvis Trilogy’ from within the franchise that encapsulated Friday The 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter, Friday The 13th Part V: A New Beginning, and Friday The 13th Part VI: Jason Lives. Even getting some of the original cast back as their characters to continue the tale! Thom Mathews being the most prominent as Tommy Jarvis, but with other series casting like Vincent Guastaferro returning as now Sheriff Rick Cologne and still having a bone to pick with Jarvis and the mess around Jason Voorhees. Even featuring some Friday The 13th alumni like Part III‘s Larry Zerner as the mayor of Crystal Lake!
On top of that, the movie delivers on kills and action. Taking turns that some of the previous fils never got the chance to deliver on. Most prominently, Jason Voorhees going on a rampage through Crystal Lake proper when he slices his way through a hospital! Creating a nice throughline of the mythology of Friday The 13th, Tommy Jarvis and the cast’s trauma, and Jason doing what he does best in the most cinematically gory ways possible.
The Never Hike Alone films from Womp Stomp Films and Vincente DiSanti are a testament to the fanbase of Friday The 13th and the still enduring popularity of those films and of Jason Voorhees. And while officially, no new movie in the franchise is on the horizon for the foreseeable future, at the very least there is some comfort knowing fans are willing to go to these lengths to fill the void.
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Movies
Mike Flanagan Comes Aboard To Assist in Completion of ‘Shelby Oaks’
If you have been following Chris Stuckmann on YouTube you are aware of the struggles he has had getting his horror movie Shelby Oaks finished. But thereās good news about the project today. Director Mike Flanagan (Ouija: Origin Of Evil, Doctor SleepĀ andĀ The Haunting) is backing the film as a co-executive producer which might bring it much closer to being released.Ā Flanagan is a part of the collective Intrepid Pictures which also includes Trevor Macy and Melinda Nishioka.
Stuckmann is a YouTube movie critic whoās been on the platform for over a decade. He came under some scrutiny for announcing on his channel two years ago that he would no longer be reviewing films negatively. However contrary to that statement, he did a non-review essay of the panned Madame Web recently saying, that studios strong-arm directors to make films just for the sake of keeping failing franchises alive. It seemed like a critique disguised as a discussion video.
But Stuckmann has his own movie to worry about. In one of Kickstarterās most successful campaigns, he managed to raise over $1 million for his debut feature film Shelby Oaks which now sits in post-production.
Hopefully, with Flanagan and Intrepid’s help, the road to Shelby Oak’s completion is reaching its end.
āItās been inspiring to watch Chris working toward his dreams over the past few years, and the tenacity and DIY spirit he displayed while bringing Shelby Oaks to life reminded me so much of my own journey over a decade ago,” Flanagan told Deadline. “Itās been an honor to walk a few steps with him on his path, and to offer support for Chrisā vision for his ambitious, unique movie. I canāt wait to see where he goes from here.ā
Stuckmann says Intrepid Pictures has inspired him for years and, “itās a dream come true to work with Mike and Trevor on my first feature.”
Producer Aaron B. Koontz of Paper Street Pictures has been working with Stuckmann since the beginning is also excited about the collaboration.
āFor a film that had such a hard time getting going, itās remarkable the doors that then opened to us,ā said Koontz. āThe success of our Kickstarter followed by the on-going leadership and guidance from Mike, Trevor, and Melinda is beyond anything I could have hoped for.ā
Deadline describes the plot of Shelby Oaks as follows:
“A combination of documentary, found footage, and traditional film footage styles, Shelby Oaks centers on Miaās (Camille Sullivan) frantic search for her sister, Riley, (Sarah Durn) who ominously disappeared in the last tape of her āParanormal Paranoidsā investigative series. As Miaās obsession grows, she begins to suspect that the imaginary demon from Rileyās childhood may have been real.”
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