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‘Brightburn’ Director Believes Superheroes Are Evil

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The world has been trained to believe that when an otherworldly being, like E.T. or Superman, arrives on Earth in a spaceship, it’s a good thing.  The upcoming superhero horror film Brightburn has a much darker view of superheroes and their intentions.

The director of Brightburn, David Yarovesky, believes that the training the public has received over the years regarding superheroes is dangerous and wrong.  “If a baby arrived on Earth in a spaceship, most people would think, ‘Oh, this is wonderful,”’ says Yarovesky.  “If that happened in real life, most people, because of how they’ve been trained by what they’ve seen in comic books and films and on television, would think, ‘This must be Superman.’  I would call the police and tell everyone.  To me, this would be a clear sign of an upcoming disaster.”

What if Superman came to Earth to destroy mankind, instead of help it?  This scenario provides the basis for Brightburn, which tells the story of a husband and wife, Kyle (David Denman) and Tori Breyer (Elizabeth Banks), who decide to raise an otherworldly baby as their adopted son, whom they name Brandon.  “This is a very bad decision,” says Yarovesky  “They raise Brandon to be a decent, good young man, and his childhood is fairly uneventful except for the superpowers that he demonstrates, which Kyle and Tori, much like we saw with Superman and his adoptive parents, urge him to use for good purposes.”

When Brandon reaches his early teens, the temptation to use his powers for evil purposes becomes overwhelming for him.  Brandon’s dark transformation is accompanied by the ominous-looking cape and costume he wears in the film.  “Again, we’ve been trained, with Superman and so many other superheroes, to look at a cape as a symbol of goodness,” says Yarovesky.  “In this film, it’s a symbol of evil, which I think is really going to be a shock to audiences.  With this film, we wanted to redefine the reality of what superpowers represent in our world.  When you see the cape in this film, it means that you need to run.  A cape is bad.”

Yarovesky says that his mistrust of superheroes was born at an early age.  “I look at this film as being my story, in a way, because I’ve always been so pessimistic about the concept of superheroes,” says Yarovesky.  “This set me apart from the kids at school, who believed in and loved superheroes when I was growing up.  I’ve always found the idea of superpowers, and especially the image of a superhero in a cape and costume, to be very scary, and that’s represented in this film.  I’ve always had a difficult time accepting the idea that an otherworldly figure with superpowers was likely to be altruistic.  I think people, especially those who have grown up believing in superheroes, are going to lose their minds when they watch this film and see how we’ve taken the concept of the cape and costume and turned it into something so dark and evil.”

Brightburn arrives in theaters on May 24, 2019.

 

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News

Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role

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Brad Dourif has been doing movies for nearly 50 years. Now it seems he is walking away from the industry at 74 to enjoy his golden years. Except, there is a caveat.

Recently, digital entertainment publication JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols talked to some of the Chucky television series cast members. During the interview, Dourif made an announcement.

“Dourif said that he’s retired from acting,” says Nichols. “The only reason he came back for the show was because of his daughter Fiona and he considers Chucky creator Don Mancini to be family. But for non-Chucky stuff, he considers himself retired.”

Dourif has voiced the possessed doll since 1988 (minus the 2019 reboot). The original movie “Child’s Play” has become such a cult classic it’s at the top of some people’s best chillers of all time. Chucky himself is ingrained in pop culture history much like Frankenstein or Jason Voorhees.

While Dourif may be known for his famous voiceover, he is also an Oscar-nominated actor for his part in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Another famous horror role is The Gemini Killer in William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III. And who can forget Betazoid Lon Suder in Star Trek: Voyager?

The good news is that Don Mancini is already pitching a concept for season four of Chucky which might also include a feature-length movie with a series tie-in. So, Although Dourif says he is retiring from the industry, ironically he is Chucky’s friend till the end.

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Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

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The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film
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Movies

Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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