News

Underrated Horror: ‘The Awakening’

Published

9 years ago

September 19, 2015

The Awakening begins in 1920s London, where accomplished author and paranormal investigator Florence Cathcart spends much of her time outing charlatans and debunking spooky stories. She’s an educated lady with no time for anyone’s malarkey, and she has received plenty of flak for her no-nonsense approach to her profession. She carries on in the face of such vitriol nonetheless, and when she is referred to as a ghost hunter, she replies, “You can’t hunt what doesn’t exist.” Just underneath the surface, however, is a little hope that her assertions are not true.

Soon after she reveals an over-the-top séance as a hoax, handsome war veteran Robert Mallory arrives at her doorstep and requests her presence at a boarding school purported to be haunted by the spirit of a murdered boy. A student has just died shortly after seeing the spirit, and a real danger exists. It is the urgency of the situation that compels Florence into reluctantly accepting the invitation.

When she arrives, she finds the enormous school, which was previously an opulent private residence, teeming with mischievous boys who she believes are likely the cause of the apparent sightings. She meets Maud, the older caretaker of the premises, and Tom, a student who takes a liking to Florence and spends much of his time under Maud’s supervision. Robert, Maud, and Tom help Florence understand the school’s layout, history, and current operation. She also observes a class and hears from a frightened student who explains that he saw the ghost boy, who had an expression of pain on his face, and urged Florence to help them, to “kill it.”

Florence’s investigation begins easily enough; she sets up old fashioned traps and gizmos and other methods of catching any specters—or anyone acting like one. She initially suspects the boys of sneaking around in the middle of the night, but soon Florence begins to experience events with less obvious explanations. In one of the most chilling scenes, she catches glimpses of a boy running up the stairs. She follows and is led to a grimy, abandoned room—abandoned except for an impressive, detailed doll house. When she peers inside, she sees just how real ghosts are after all. As supernatural activity increases over the course of her investigation, memories of Florence’s own troubled past begin to bubble up. She is being haunted inside and out, and she feels the world around her unraveling, her sense of reality spiraling away. Her situation becomes desperate as she tries to uncover the secrets of the menacing halls and of her own consciousness.

The performances by the leads are right on target. As Florence, Rebecca Hall is smart and savvy. She is confident and borderline cocky early on, but as the film progresses and Florence’s cracks begin to show, Hall keeps you right there with her, hoping for her, fearing for her. As Robert, Dominic West plays the perfect tones of melancholy. He’s a man haunted by his wartime past, and his internal pain hangs heavily across his face in every scene. Imelda Staunton and Isaac Hempstead Wright round it out as Maud and Tom, and their performances are filled with compassion and suspicion—you’re never quite sure of their motivations in any given scene.

The Awakening is an engaging slow burn of a film. The time period is a refreshing setting for a ghost story. It’s a pleasure seeing Florence set up her old-timey gadgets, a welcome change from watching someone strap video cameras all over the place or hold up their smartphone to try to catch ghosts. It’s a different era without our modern conveniences, and it’s an era where everyone is inclined to believe in a spiritual world. In addition to its excellent setting, the film splendidly examines what haunts people from the inside and the outside. The external haunting triggers something buried deeply inside of Florence, and she must fight to keep her senses and come to terms with it all. The Awakening is a haunted house story with true soul.

The Awakening is currently streaming on Netflix and Amazon, and is available to purchase on DVD and Blu-ray from Amazon here. Watch the trailer below. [youtube id=”iB8UAuGBJGM” align=”center” mode=”normal” autoplay=”no”]

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News

‘Talk To Me’ Directors Danny & Michael Philippou Reteam With A24 for ‘Bring Her Back’

Published

2 hours ago

April 30, 2024

Timothy Rawles

A24 didn’t waste any time snatching up the Philippou brothers (Michael and Danny) for their next feature titled Bring Her Back. The duo have been on a short list of young directors to watch for since the success of their horror film Talk to Me.

The South Australian twins surprised many people with their debut feature. They were mostly known for being YouTube pranksters and extreme stuntmen.

It was announced today that Bring Her Back will star Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water, Willy Wonka) and begin filming this summer. No word yet on what this film is about.

Talk To Me Official Trailer

Although its title sounds like it could be connected to the Talk to Me universe this project doesn’t appear to be related to that film.

However, in 2023 the brothers revealed a Talk to Me prequel was already made which they say is a screen life concept.

“We actually shot an entire Duckett prequel already. It’s told entirely through the perspective of mobile phones and social media, so maybe down the line we can release that,” Danny Philippou told The Hollywood Reporter last year. “But also while writing the first film, you can’t help but write scenes for a second film. So there’s so many scenes. The mythology was so thick, and if A24 gave us the opportunity, we wouldn’t be able to resist. I feel like we’d jump at it.”

In addition, the Philippous are working on a proper sequel to Talk To Me something they say they have already written sequences for. They are also attached to a Street Fighter film.

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News

‘Happy Death Day 3’ Only Needs Greenlight From Studio

Published

21 hours ago

April 29, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Jessica Rothe who is currently starring in the ultra-violent Boy Kills World talked to ScreenGeek at WonderCon and gave them an exclusive update about her franchise Happy Death Day.

The horror time-looper is a popular series that did pretty well at the box office especially the first one which introduced us to the bratty Tree Gelbman (Rothe) who is being stalked by a masked killer. Christopher Landon directed the original and its sequel Happy Death Day 2U.

^{Happy Death Day 2U}

According to Rothe, a third is being proposed, but two major studios need to sign off on the project. Here is what Rothe had to say:

“Well, I can say Chris Landon has the whole thing figured out. We just need to wait for Blumhouse and Universal to get their ducks in a row. But my fingers are so crossed. I think Tree [Gelbman] deserves her third and final chapter to bring that incredible character and franchise to a close or a new beginning.”

The movies delve into sci-fi territory with their repeated wormhole mechanics. The second leans heavily into this by utilizing an experimental quantum reactor as a plot device. Whether this apparatus will play into the third film isn’t clear. We will have to wait for the studio’s thumbs up or thumbs down to find out.

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Movies

Will ‘Scream VII’ Focus on The Prescott Family, Kids?

Published

1 day ago

April 29, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Since the beginning of the Scream franchise, it seems there have been NDAs handed out to the cast to not reveal any plot details or casting choices. But clever internet sleuths can pretty much find anything these days thanks to the World Wide Web and report what they find as conjecture instead of fact. It’s not the best journalistic practice, but it gets buzz going and if Scream has done anything well over the past 20-plus years it’s creating buzz.

In the latest speculation of what Scream VII will be about, horror movie blogger and deduction king Critical Overlord posted in early April that casting agents for the horror movie are looking to hire actors for children’s roles. This has led to some believing Ghostface will target Sidney’s family bringing the franchise back to its roots where our final girl is once again vulnerable and afraid.

'SCREAM VII' will reportedly include Sidney Prescott's family as leads.

"They are looking to cast Sid's two kids. It seems like the movie will focus on Sid's family as all 4 (her, her husband and 2 kids) are listed as leads."

(Via: @DanielRPK) #ScreamVII pic.twitter.com/TPdkE1WbOa
— CriticalOverlord (@CriticalOverlo3) April 6, 2024

It is common knowledge now that Neve Campbell is returning to the Scream franchise after being low-balled by Spyglass for her part in Scream VI which led to her resignation. It’s also well-known that Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega won’t be back any time soon to play their respective roles as sisters Sam and Tara Carpenter. Execs scrambling to find their bearings got broadsided when director Cristopher Landon said he would also not be going forward with Scream VII as originally planned.

Enter Scream creator Kevin Williamson who is now directing the latest installment. But the Carpenter’s arc has been seemingly scrapped so which direction will he take his beloved films? Critical Overlord seems to think it will be a familial thriller.

This also piggy-backs news that Patrick Dempsey might return to the series as Sidney’s husband which was hinted at in Scream V. Additionally, Courteney Cox is also considering reprising her role as the badass journalist-turned-author Gale Weathers.

As the film starts filming in Canada sometime this year, it will be interesting to see how well they can keep the plot under wraps. Hopefully, those who don’t want any spoilers can avoid them through production. As for us, we liked an idea that would bring the franchise into the mega-meta universe.

This will be the third Scream sequel not directed by Wes Craven.