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Blu-ray Review: ‘A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night’

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What do you get when you combine elements of a spaghetti western, an Iranian vampire film and a love story? You get a new kind of film that is a different chemical composition all together, in the form of “A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night.”

Visionary writer/director (and all around cool person) Ana Lily Amirpour digs deep for the black and white Iranian vampire movie that is one of those films that you know instantly while watching is going to be timeless.

The story follows both Arash, (Arash Marandi) a good hearted guy who is helping his father pay off his debts that were born from drug use and “The Girl,” (Sheila Vand) a vampire who watches the streets of Bad City and feeds on those unlucky enough to get on her bad side. Through a series of events their paths are crossed and fates become entwined.

Vand, plays the vampire with ferocity with a splash of vulnerability. The black and white film adds to her pale skin and predatory big eyes. She makes vampires entrancing and scary again in the same way that Bela Lugosi made the iconic role of “Dracula” in 1931.

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“A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night” gets everything right and transports you into a black and white dreamscape that is filled with characters cut from a caring creators mind.

This is one of those films you could literally pause at any time and have a still of art for your art collection or at the very least your computer desktop.

Small items and moments make this movie what it is. “The Girl” skateboarding around Bad City looking for prey is one of those cool things in films that are instantly burned into your memory forever.

Amirpour is a film fanatic first. In one of the special features on the Blu-ray, she talks about her inspiration for the look and feel of this film and high on that list is none other than David Lynch and his film “Wild At Heart.” Her passion for film not only comes out in conversation but also in vision. She manages to create the same droning dreadful feelings that accompany many of Lynch’s films.

Much like the vampire in the film, “A Girl Walks Home At Night” is simultaneously beautiful and menacing and haunting. Amirpour and the cast create a world that is supposed to be based in Iran but also feels alien. It feels like a world that is not of this earth, which adds to the spell that the film casts from opening frame to closing frame.

My favorite thing about purchasing a Blu-ray is the physical product first and a special features second. I like my Blu-ray purchases to have weight to them that way when you are pulling away the shrink wrap when opening it for the first time, you are not only greeted by the intoxicating new Blu-ray smell but also a handful of content to discover.

“A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night” on Blu-ray does not disappoint in that direction. Distributor Kino Lorber did a fantastic job with this release, which includes beautiful artwork from top to bottom and then some.

The Blu-ray comes inside of slipcover with a foldable inner sleeve and a graphic novel of more dark adventures of the vampire from the film.

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The graphic novel features beautiful artwork done by Michael DeWeese and is written by Ana Lily Amirpour. The stories give some background on the character and explain how she arrived in Bad City.

The special features on the disk are plentiful and lengthy as well. The range from behind the scenes footage of Shelia Vand as she is fitted for her fangs and Dominic Rains getting molded for prosthetics. Vice also does a featurette on Ana Lily and features some behind the scenes stuff as well as conversations with executive producer Elijah Wood.

The crowning special feature has Ana Lily doing a Q&A session with none other than the legendary Roger Corman about “A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night.” During the Q&A Ana Lily discusses her influences, while Corman confirms that “Little Shop of Horrors” was indeed shot in two days and one night.

The special features are good and give a great look at what went into “Girl “while giving an up close look at the director. For me the packaging (and of course the brilliant vampire story) really makes this release worth adding to your collection.

Ana Lily Amirpour is a director that we will all be seeing a ton of in the future. Her next project “The Bad Batch” stars Jim Carrey and Keanu Reeves and takes places in a Texan wasteland where cannibalism has taken over certain group’s appetites. Get in on the ground floor with the seductive and dangerous “A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night” now on Blu-ray and DVD.

 

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

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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 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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Live Action Scooby-Doo Reboot Series In Works at Netflix

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Scooby Doo Live Action Netflix

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.

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!

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.

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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BET Releasing New Original Thriller: The Deadly Getaway

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The Deadly Getaway

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
The Deadly Getaway

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+.

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