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Five most horrifying non-horror characters

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anton-chigurh-no-country-for-old-menOne doesn’t need to be Freddy Krueger or Hannibal Lecter to be horrifying. It simply comes down to demeanor and of utmost importance, dialogue.

What and how its spoken are the key to sending shivers down the spine. And these five non-horror characters left an indelible mark on moviegoers.

Bob Gunton as Warden Samuel Norton (The Shawshank Redemption)

Calm, whispered threats are frightening enough, but there is something inherently terrifying about someone using your own words against you when making said quiet declarations. It communicates very clearly that not only were they were listening, but what you said stuck with them and they want you to know that particular blade cut, but they can cut deeper.

Gettin’ my drift…?

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Elijah Wood as Kevin (Sin City)

Now, it’s not lost on me that I just got done talking about the importance of menacing dialogue, but Wood’s portrayal of Kevin is a subtle in that it embraces and thrives through silence rather than being impaired by it. It’s not about the killing and ninja-like nimbleness, but rather the stoicism of his actions. It’s not indifference either , because that would imply Wood’s Kevin lacks investment one way or the other. No, it’s placid. The peacefulness and serenity Wood unleashes is simply unnerving.

Case in point, even as Kevin is being devoured alive, his eyes slowly shift down to watch it happen and his quiet expression isn’t one of horror or defeat, but rather delight.

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Stellan Skarsgard as Martin Vanger (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)

Skarsgard is always money, and the first time I saw Dragon Tattoo (which is on par with Silence of the Lambs in my humble estimation), I knew Captain Tupolev was the culprit. Why? It was not unlike seeing Bruce Davison’s name flash across the credits at the beginning of a Law & Order episode. They didn’t get Davison to simply play a bit role, it’s him. He’s the guy who did it.

However, Skarsgard’s reveal didn’t disappoint. Martin calmly (and clearly) savored every moment of his work, and delivered dialogue that offered a blue print of a horrifying mind as he shared that the fear of pain was trumped by the fear of offending — and “they always come willingly.”

And we’re not allowed to forget “You are and I aren’t so different. We both have urges. Mine simply requires more towels.”

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Kevin Spacey as John Doe (Se7en)

Upon receiving the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain in 1996, Spacey thanked Andrew Kevin Walker “for the coolest dialogue I’ve ever said.”

Coolest. In the same vicinity as chilling.

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Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh (No Country for Old Men)

For as much as John Carpenter wanted to personify evil with Michael Myers, one would be hard pressed to offer a film character who demonstrated a greater embodiment of that term than Bardem’s Chigurh.

Fate as coin toss and eclectic weaponry utilized by a man without a sense of humor fueled what can only be described as efficient and horrifying brutality.

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‘Evil Dead’ Film Franchise Getting TWO New Installments

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It was a risk for Fede Alvarez to reboot Sam Raimi’s horror classic The Evil Dead in 2013, but that risk paid off and so did its spiritual sequel Evil Dead Rise in 2023. Now Deadline is reporting that the series is getting, not one, but two fresh entries.

We already knew about the Sébastien Vaniček upcoming film that delves into the Deadite universe and should be a proper sequel to the latest film, but we are broadsided that Francis Galluppi and Ghost House Pictures are doing a one-off project set in Raimi’s universe based off of an idea that Galluppi pitched to Raimi himself. That concept is being kept under wraps.

Evil Dead Rise

“Francis Galluppi is a storyteller who knows when to keep us waiting in simmering tension and when to hit us with explosive violence,” Raimi told Deadline. “He is a director that shows uncommon control in his feature debut.”

That feature is titled The Last Stop In Yuma County which will release theatrically in the United States on May 4. It follows a traveling salesman, “stranded at a rural Arizona rest stop,” and “is thrust into a dire hostage situation by the arrival of two bank robbers with no qualms about using cruelty-or cold, hard steel-to protect their bloodstained fortune.”

Galluppi is an award-winning sci-fi/horror shorts director whose acclaimed works include High Desert Hell and The Gemini Project. You can view the full edit of High Desert Hell and the teaser for Gemini below:

High Desert Hell
The Gemini Project

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‘Invisible Man 2’ Is “Closer Than Its Ever Been” to Happening

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Elisabeth Moss in a very well-thought-out statement said in an interview for Happy Sad Confused that even though there have been some logistical issues for doing Invisible Man 2 there is hope on the horizon.

Podcast host Josh Horowitz asked about the follow-up and if Moss and director Leigh Whannell were any closer to cracking a solution to getting it made. “We are closer than we have ever been to cracking it,” said Moss with a huge grin. You can see her reaction at the 35:52 mark in the below video.

Happy Sad Confused

Whannell is currently in New Zealand filming another monster movie for Universal, Wolf Man, which might be the spark that ignites Universal’s troubled Dark Universe concept which hasn’t gained any momentum since Tom Cruise’s failed attempt at resurrecting The Mummy.

Also, in the podcast video, Moss says she is not in the Wolf Man film so any speculation that it’s a crossover project is left in the air.

Meanwhile, Universal Studios is in the middle of constructing a year-round haunt house in Las Vegas which will showcase some of their classic cinematic monsters. Depending on attendance, this could be the boost the studio needs to get audiences interested in their creature IPs once more and to get more films made based on them.

The Las Vegas project is set to open in 2025, coinciding with their new proper theme park in Orlando called Epic Universe.

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

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Jake gyllenhaal presumed innocent

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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