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Interview: Sam Keeley Stars in “The Cured”

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David Freyne’s new Irish horror film, The Cured, is one of the most original and intelligent zombie films I’ve seen in over a decade. It imagines a world in which a cure has been found for the infected and what happens after it is administered.

There are a couple of caveats, you see, to the film’s cure. It only worked on about 75% of the infected, and those who were cured remember every moment and every atrocity they committed during the infection.

When the uninfected population found out about that last side effect, things began to get ugly for the cured. It’s assumed that because they remember their terrible actions then they could have controlled them, and if they could have controlled them, they should not have committed these acts in the first place.

They are pariahs and some are taking action against those who treat them poorly.

Enter Senan played by Sam Keeley. The treatment worked for him and unlike many of the cured, he has family, an American sister-in-law named Abbie (Ellen Page) still living in Ireland with her son, who will take him in and give him a place to live as he tries to re-integrate into society.

It was not an easy role to portray, Keeley told me in an interview earlier this week.

“Finding that mental space wasn’t fun,” Keeley said. “I looked into people who have been released from prison after committing murder or manslaughter and sex offenders who have been through the system and have to find a way back into society.”

Once inside that head-space, he had to keep “one foot in the door” throughout the shoot to hold onto that bleak outlook no matter if he was on set or not and he admits it took “a lot of red wine and a lot of hot baths” to deal with that bleak emotional center for the seven weeks of filming.

Still, the results were ultimately brilliant and Ireland was the perfect setting for a film of this nature. The tiny island nation has dealt with more than its fair share of political and social upheaval and the oppression of its citizens by various regimes, and Keeley says that changes a people.

“It creates a kind of character that’s unique,” he explained. “This is just another version of the political and religious upheavals we’ve had in this country, and I think that creates a hotbed environment for interesting filmmakers and stories and characters.”

They reinforced this connection to Ireland and its people by filming entirely on location.

“Abbie’s house was a house in Dublin; those streets are Dublin streets,” the actor pointed out. “The prison where the infected that couldn’t be cured were held was a prison in Belfast that held prisoners up until only recently.”

This last location was particularly difficult to work in according to Keeley. There was very little natural light or ventilation and the walls would quickly begin to close in on them.

“There’s no life in there,” he explained. “It’s specifically designed to numb a human’s senses so we had to take a lot of breaks while the crew switched out camera positions or we’d go crazy.”

At the end of the shoot, the actor says, it was all worth it, and he learned a few lessons along the way.

“I think it just made me very mindful of the world and the things going on it; there’s a refugee crisis going on right now that no one is talking about,” he said. “I think the world is crazy, and I think doing a film like this, even though we’re not beating people over the head with a message it’s enough to remind you that everyone has something going on. In a way, it just kind of kept me in check in terms of being aware of other people’s situations. It was very humbling.”

The Cured releases in the US on February 23, 2018.

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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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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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Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

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In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

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