Movies

Justin Long’s Great Horror Career Even Before ‘Barbarian’

Published

2 years ago

September 9, 2022

Justin Long’s new movie Barbarian is creating quite the buzz, but this isn’t his first time at the horror movie rodeo. Long was originally supposed to replace Steve on the kid’s show Blue’s Clues back in 2002. That’s how non-threatening the actor’s face is. Through the years, Long has used that to his advantage in horror movies. He is so innocent looking that putting him in horrific situations makes perfect sense because he appears so boyish and likable.

We have gathered some of the 44-year-old’s best horror movie performances just in case you want to explore some of his earlier work before Barbarian.

Jeepers Creepers and Jeepers Creepers 2 (2001 & 2003)

Whatever you may think of this troubled franchise, in the beginning, Jeepers Creepers was a huge hit. The horror movie industry was craving a new movie monster and The Creeper answered that ten-fold. Long plays the handsome Darry who is driving across the country in a classic car along with his sister. They encounter a strange van on the highway and just when you think this going to be another Hitcher long-form chase film, it makes a horrifying left turn.

Drag Me to Hell (2009)

Sam Raimi must have noticed and liked Long’s performance in earlier films because he cast him as Clay Dalton, a frustrated young man whose girlfriend is being stalked by a vengeful witch. In true Raimi style, Drag Me to Hell is full of over-the-top visuals and terrifying special effects. Again, the wholesome Long is thrust into this world making him the perfect contrast to a supernatural powerhouse.

Tusk (2014)

Another prolific director, Kevin Smith, chose Long to star in his off-beat horror film Tusk. This weird shift for Smith is both comical and disturbing. Long plays an opinionated podcaster who goes to Canada to conduct an interview. What he doesn’t know is that the person he is interviewing has a plan to turn him into a walrus using human skin. No kidding.

Ghost Team (2016)

Although not a total disaster, Ghost Team is an amicable distraction. As the title implies this comedy/thriller follows a team of friends who want to investigate a reportedly haunted farm. What they find is more than they bargained for. Long plays a security guard who joins the team and may or may not survive the night.

House of Darkness (2016)

As meet-cutes go, this one is sinister. Long is a man who just wants to hook up with a beautiful woman. As things seem to be going in his favor, his date begins to act strangely. This is a reimagining based on a Bram Stoker novel. Although they don’t say which one in the trailer, you can probably guess without looking on IMDb.

Barbarian (2022)

Here’s one that has everyone talking this year. Many have suggested you stay away from the trailer just to give you an added layer of blindness. Some critics have said that the movie is not what you’re expecting, but it’s even better than you would hope. Zac Efron was supposed to play Long’s role originally, but thank goodness he turned it down because this one is already a classic.

Whether you consider Justin Long an A-list celebrity or an indie prince, his line-up of films is very impressive. As we start seeing him re-visit his horror origins in current films, let’s hope he keeps it up and gives us even more thrills. His latest movie Dear David is in post-production and tells the true story of a journalist haunted by a bean-headed child in his small apartment.

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Movies

‘Evil Dead’ Film Franchise Getting TWO New Installments

Published

7 hours ago

April 26, 2024

Timothy Rawles

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.

“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}

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Movies

Fede Alvarez Teases ‘Alien: Romulus’ With RC Facehugger

Published

8 hours ago

April 26, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Happy Alien Day! To celebrate director Fede Alvarez who is helming the latest sequel in the Alien franchise Alien: Romulus, got out his toy Facehugger in the SFX workshop. He posted his antics on Instagram with the following message:

“Playing with my favorite toy on set of #AlienRomulus last summer. RC Facehugger created by the amazing team from @wetaworkshop Happy #AlienDay everybody!”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Fede Alvarez (@iamfedealvarez)

To commemorate the 45th anniversary of Ridley Scott’s original Alien movie, April 26 2024 has been designated as Alien Day, with a re-release of the film hitting theaters for a limited time.

Alien: Romulus is the seventh film in the franchise and is currently in post-production with a scheduled theatrical release date of August 16, 2024.

In other news from the Alien universe, James Cameron has been pitching fans the boxed set of Aliens: Expanded a new documentary film, and a collection of merch associated with the movie with pre-sales ending on May 5.

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Movies

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

Published

9 hours ago

April 26, 2024

Timothy Rawles

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.