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Remembering Anne Heche & Two Outstanding Roles in Horror Movies

Published

2 years ago

August 12, 2022

Anne Heche holding a kinife in I know What You Did Last Summer

Tragedy struck one of Hollywood’s most controversial celebrities, Anne Heche, last week. The star died today after being on life support. On Friday, she crashed her car into two Los Angeles homes. The 53-year-old actress was not expected to survive her injuries.

Heche is a soap opera veteran who has won many Daytime Emmys. She often took many independent film roles and it wasn’t until the disaster film Volcano (1997) that Hollywood discovered she could stand on her own as a box office draw despite her controversial appeal.

I Know What You Did Last Summer

The actress was on a roll in the mid-nineties, taking on many off-beat characters. She even dipped her toe in the horror pond during that time. One of her most iconic roles was that of Melissa Egan, in I Know What You Did Last Summer.

Although she was only in the film a short time, she made an impact. Depending on who you ask, Heche’s character, Missy, has the most memorable scene next to Jennifer Love Hewitt’s rant to the heavens.

Missy’s scene is pivotal to the plot, because her dialogue seemingly revealed a potential suspect killing the young adults of Southport, NC. Heche played Missy as a country bumpkin living off the grid in a backwoods hovel. Hewitt’s character Julie and her friend Helen (Sarah Michelle Geller) pretend their car has broken down and ask to use Missy’s phone using subterfuge to get information about her brother who she thinks took his own life.

The scene is strikingly tense because at this point anyone could be the killer. The audience judges Missy for her lifestyle, but Heche’s performance is so good you never know if she knows more than what she is saying or if she has something to do with the murders. Sadly Heche may have been working with method for the role since she had a brother in real-life who died by suicide.

She also proved the film with its most innocuous jump scare. Even though it’s a small cameo, Heche’s role is iconic because she is so believable as someone who may be unhinged.

Psycho (Remake) 1998

Gus Van Sant took notice of Heche and cast her as the iconic Marion Crane in his controversial shot-for-shot remake of Psycho in 1997.

Heche plays the apprehensive Crane much like her predecessor Janet Leigh did in the Hitchcock original; with a driven mind, but a guilty heart. The facial expressions in the clip below showcase Heche’s talent to emote without speaking a word. She’s beautiful, vulnerable, but determined. In fact, it is her performance that sells the film, despite Vince Vaughn’s attempt at Norman Bates.

As far as the iconic shower scene, Heche allowed herself to trust her talents. Leigh will never be outdone by anyone doing that scene because the terror is real. Hitchcock notoriously put the actress through immense psychological torture to get it right and it shows.

Heche finds her own pain and when the knife strikes her body, we never get a sense that she is as weak as Marion was. But it still works because we want Marion to survive, to make good on her redemption by returning the money. Her death never gives us the satisfaction of a satisfyingly resolved story arc and so, it becomes tragic.

What makes Heche’s performance even more intriguing is that she had never seen the original.

Heche has other projects scheduled to be released over the next year. Some are completed while others are in post-production. Her penultimate film, Chasing Nightmares, is a horror movie.

Anne Heche brought a lot of awareness to Hollywood. From dealing with mental health issues to bravely coming out publically. But most of all, she will be remembered as the spitfire actress who took strong female lead roles at a time when Hollywood was shy about handing them out. She was an inspirational trailblazer in Tinsel Town who leaves many fans in her wake.

Anne Heche (1969 – 2022)

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Netflix Releases First BTS ‘Fear Street: Prom Queen’ Footage

Published

13 hours ago

April 30, 2024

Timothy Rawles

It’s been three long years since Netflix unleashed the bloody, but enjoyable Fear Street on its platform. Released in a tryptic fashion, the streamer broke up the story into three episodes, each taking place in a different decade which by the finale were all tied together.

Now, the streamer is in production for its sequel Fear Street: Prom Queen which brings the story into the 80s. Netflix gives a synopsis of what to expect from Prom Queen on their blog site Tudum:

“Welcome back to Shadyside. In this next installment of the blood-soaked Fear Street franchise, prom season at Shadyside High is underway and the school’s wolfpack of It Girls is busy with its usual sweet and vicious campaigns for the crown. But when a gutsy outsider is unexpectedly nominated to the court, and the other girls start mysteriously disappearing, the class of ’88 is suddenly in for one hell of a prom night.”

Based on R.L. Stine’s massive series of Fear Street novels and spin-offs, this chapter is number 15 in the series and was published in 1992.

FEAR STREET: PROM QUEEN IS NOW IN PRODUCTION 🩸 Welcome to Shadyside High. We're gonna have a killer time. pic.twitter.com/jDl0zRa2CH
— Netflix (@netflix) April 30, 2024

Fear Street: Prom Queen features a killer ensemble cast, including India Fowler (The Nevers, Insomnia), Suzanna Son (Red Rocket, The Idol), Fina Strazza (Paper Girls, Above the Shadows), David Iacono (The Summer I Turned Pretty, Cinnamon), Ella Rubin (The Idea of You), Chris Klein (Sweet Magnolias, American Pie), Lili Taylor (Outer Range, Manhunt) and Katherine Waterston (The End We Start From, Perry Mason).

No word on when Netflix will drop the series into its catalog.

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News

Live Action Scooby-Doo Reboot Series In Works at Netflix

Published

14 hours ago

April 30, 2024

Timothy Rawles

The ghosthunting Great Dane with an anxiety problem, Scooby-Doo, is getting a reboot and Netflix is picking up the tab. Variety is reporting that the iconic show is becoming an hour-long series for the streamer although no details have been confirmed. In fact, Netflix execs declined to comment.

If the project is a go, this would be the first live-action movie based on the Hanna-Barbera cartoon since 2018’s Daphne & Velma. Before that, there were two theatrical live-action movies, Scooby-Doo (2002) and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004), then two sequels that premiered on The Cartoon Network.

Currently, the adult-oriented Velma is streaming on Max.

Scooby-Doo originated in 1969 under the creative team Hanna-Barbera. The cartoon follows a group of teenagers who investigate supernatural happenings. Known as Mystery Inc., the crew consists of Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, and Shaggy Rogers, and his best friend, a talking dog named Scooby-Doo.

Normally the episodes revealed the hauntings they encountered were hoaxes developed by land-owners or other nefarious characters hoping to scare people away from their properties. The original TV series named Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! ran from 1969 to 1986. It was so successful that movie stars and pop culture icons would make guest appearances as themselves in the series.

Celebrities such as Sonny & Cher, KISS, Don Knotts, and The Harlem Globetrotters made cameos as did Vincent Price who portrayed Vincent Van Ghoul in a few episodes.

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News

BET Releasing New Original Thriller: The Deadly Getaway

Published

14 hours ago

April 30, 2024

Cameron McFarland

BET will soon be offering horror fans a rare treat. The studio has announced the official release date for their new original thriller, The Deadly Getaway. Directed by Charles Long (The Trophy Wife), this thriller sets up a heart racing game of cat and mouse for audiences to sink their teeth into.

Wanting to break up the monotony of their routine, Hope and Jacob set off to spend their vacation at a simple cabin in the woods. However, things go sideways when Hope’s ex-boyfriend shows up with a new girl at the same campsite. Things soon spiral out of control. Hope and Jacob must now work together to escape the woods with their lives.

The Deadly Getaway is written by Eric Dickens (Makeup X Breakup) and Chad Quinn (Reflections of US). The Film stars, Yandy Smith-Harris (Two Days in Harlem), Jason Weaver (The Jacksons: An American Dream), and Jeff Logan (My Valentine Wedding).

Showrunner Tressa Azarel Smallwood had the following to say about the project. “The Deadly Getaway is the perfect reintroduction to classic thrillers, which encompass dramatic twists, and spine-chilling moments. It showcases the range and diversity of emerging Black writers across genres of film and television.”

The Deadly Getaway will premiere on 5.9.2024, exclusively ion BET+.