Connect with us

News

‘Bram Stoker’s Shadowbuilder’ Gets A Soul-Stealing Blu-Ray

Published

on

Shadowbuilder

Look you guys, there is nothing that the presence of Michael Rooker wouldn’t improve on. Over the years The Rooker is constantly the high point of his films. The same goes for the MVD Rewind Blu-ray reissue of a satanically bonkers film, Bram Stoker’s Shadowbuilder.

Rooker plays Father Vassey, a disgraced, gun-toting, renegade priest who is tasked with tracking down a soul-eating demon that was set loose on the world during a satanic ritual. It’s a race against time to stop the demon before it takes soul of a young boy destined to be a Saint. If the demon is successful he would be able to open a gateway to hell, and that would be bad news for everyone.  Like I said, its bonkers.

We are introduced to Vassey when he kicks open a door open wielding guns akimbo, fully fitted with laser sights. Again, that’s pretty much all you need to know before taking the plunge on watching this one. Also, did I mention Tony Todd plays an eye-patch wearing, dreadlock styled badass? Well, he totally does and that is worth the watch all on its own.

Shadowbuilder was based on a Bram Stoker short story in a collection titled Under the Sunset and Other Stories. There are several blaring differences between the original story and this Jamie Dixon directed film. Writer, Michael Stokes take it in a contemporary direction, and basically re-writes the whole thing to fit nicely into a very 1998-centric cinematic world.

The special edition MVD Rewind Collection Blu-ray is loaded with special features, that take a deep-dive into the making of this 90s-hidden gem. The transfer is a major improvement from the original VHS quality, almost making the film a different experience entirely. The downside of the fantastic transfer is that it does shows the detail on some extremely rough 90s CG. The good news is that with the transfer a lot of the black levels have been ironed out making for a viewing experience that isn’t as muddy as its previous VHS release.

Features include:

  • Audio Commentary from Director Jamie Dixon
  • Making of Shadowbuilder featurette featuring director Jamie Dixon, writer Michael Stokes and stars Andrew Jackson (The Shadowbuilder) and Tony Todd (Covey)
  • Shadowbuilder: Visual Effects
  • Shadowbuilder: Kevin Zegers
  • Original Theatrical Trailer
It’s a nice section of Rooker’s body of work and a cool entry into a strange time for horror during the 90s. Outside of the rough CG work, Shadowbuilder is definitely worth a peek.

Shadow

'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?

Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

Movies

‘Evil Dead’ Film Franchise Getting TWO New Installments

Published

on

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

'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?

Continue Reading

Movies

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

Published

on

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.

'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?

Continue Reading

News

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

Published

on

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.

'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?

Continue Reading