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“Predator” Sequel Announces Keegan-Michael Key to Join Cast

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It’s official, Keegan-Michael Key ain’t got time to bleed. It was recently announced that he’ll join the fight in 2018’s The Predator.

Directed and written by Shane Black (The Nice Guys) with co-writer Fred Dekker (The Monster Squad), The Predator will be a sequel to the 1987 original. I guess that means we’ll be ignoring the 1990 sequel, Predator 2 (with the bizarre cast of Danny Glover and Gary Busey) as well as the other features in the franchise.

Honestly, that’s probably a wise choice considering the low ratings for the rest of the films (and yes, I’m including Alien Vs. Predator and AVP: Requiem because they somehow still count). It will be important to put some distance there.

Thankfully, the project seems to be in good hands. Black has close ties to Predator; he played the character of Hawkins in the original, so we can hope that his familiarity with the material (and perhaps his nostalgia) will result in an excellent end product. We can respect that this sequel is not trying to “re-write” the original that we all know and love.

The announced ensemble for The Predator has already gained some notice. The cast currently includes Trevante Rhodes (Moonlight) as an ex-marine, Boyd Holbrook (Narcos) as a Special Forces Commando and Olivia Munn (X-Men: Apocalypse) as a scientist. We’re not sure if one of them will be a goddamn sexual tyrannosaurus, but, that mantle is already taken anyways. Thanks Jesse Ventura.

Trevante Rhodes in Moonlight [Image credit: Collider]

Boyd Holbrook in Narcos [Image credit: Dario De Navarra]

Olivia Munn in X-Men: Apocalypse [Image credit: ET Online]

Black seems committed to the tonal range that we saw in the original Predator, which was difficult to fit into one genre.

It’s kind of a sci-fi battlefield action horror thriller with moments of comedy, I guess. Again, I emphasize that this is a sequel and not a reboot. This means that there should be a lot of room to play here.

Keegan-Michael Key in Keanu [Image credit: Arts Technica]

Key’s stellar comedic timing and dramatic reach are a welcome addition to the project. I’m excited to see him stretch his legs in an action/horror movie.

We can hope there’s some room for improv, because you just know he will amp up every scene. Key is perhaps most well-known as half of the comedy duo Key and Peele, where they’ve demonstrated their knowledge of horror and their skill with blending different genres in to sketch comedy.

Jordan Peele has also ventured further into the horror realm with his upcoming directorial debut; the racially-charged thriller Get Out (read more about it here).

Overall, this casting news certainly has turned a lot of heads. They had our interest, but now they have our attention.

The Predator is set for a release date of February 2018

[Featured image credit: Hollywood Reporter]

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The Pope’s Exorcist Officially Announces New Sequel

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The Pope’s Exorcist is one of those films that’s just fun to watch. It isn’t the most terrifying film around, but there’s something about Russel Crow (Gladiator) playing a wise cracking Catholic priest that just feels right.

Screen Gems seems to agree with this assessment, as they have just officially announced that The Pope’s Exorcist sequel is in the works. It makes sense that Screen Gems would want to keep this franchise going, considering the first film scared up almost $80 million with a budget of only $18 million.

The Pope's Exorcist
The Pope’s Exorcist

According to Crow, there may even be a The Pope’s Exorcist trilogy in the works. However, recent changes with the studio may have put the third film on hold. In a sit-down with The Six O’Clock Show, Crow gave the following statement about the project.

“Well that’s in discussion at the moment. The producers originally got the kick off from the studio not just for one sequel but for two. But there’s been a change of studio heads at the moment, so that’s going around in a few circles. But very definitely, man. We set that character up that you could take him out and put him into a lot of different circumstances.”

Crow has also stated that film’s source material involves twelve separate books. This would allow the studio to take the story in all kinds of directions. With that much source material, The Pope’s Exorcist could even rival The Conjuring Universe.

Only the future will tell what becomes of The Pope’s Exorcist. But as always, more horror is always a good thing.

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New ‘Faces of Death’ Remake Will Be Rated R For “Strong Bloody Violence and Gore”

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In a move that should surprise absolutely no one, the Faces of Death reboot has been given an R rating from the MPA. Why has the film been given this rating? For strong bloody violence, gore, sexual content, nudity, language, and drug use, of course.

What else would you expect from a Faces of Death reboot? It would honestly be alarming if the film received anything less than an R rating.

Faces of death
Faces of Death

For those unaware, the original Faces of Death film released in 1978 and promised viewers video evidence of real deaths. Of course, this was just a marketing gimmick. Promoting a real snuff film would be a terrible idea.

But the gimmick worked, and franchise lived on in infamy. The Faces of Death reboot is hoping to gain the same amount of viral sensation as its predecessor. Isa Mazzei (Cam) and Daniel Goldhaber (How to Blow Up a Pipeline) will spearhead this new addition.

The hope is that this reboot will do well enough to recreate the infamous franchise for a new audience. While we don’t know much about the film at this point, but a joint statement from Mazzei and Goldhaber gives us the following info on the plot.

“Faces of Death was one of the first viral video tapes, and we are so lucky to be able to use it as a jumping off point for this exploration of cycles of violence and the way they perpetuate themselves online.”

“The new plot revolves around a female moderator of a YouTube-like website, whose job is to weed out offensive and violent content and who herself is recovering from a serious trauma, that stumbles across a group that is recreating the murders from the original film. But in the story primed for the digital age and age of online misinformation, the question faced is are the murders real or fake?”

The reboot will have some bloody shoes to fill. But from the looks of it, this iconic franchise is in good hands. Unfortunately, the film does not have a release date at this time.

That’s all the information we have at this time. Make sure to check back here for more news and updates.

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Panic Fest 2024 Review: ‘The Ceremony Is About To Begin’

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People will look for answers and belonging in the darkest places and the darkest people. The Osiris Collective is a commune predicated upon ancient Egyptian theology and was run by the mysterious Father Osiris. The group boasted dozens of members, each forgoing their old lives for one held in the Egyptian themed land owned by Osiris in Northern California. But the good times take a turn for the worst when in 2018, an upstart member of the collective named Anubis (Chad Westbrook Hinds) reports Osiris disappearing while mountain climbing and declaring himself the new leader. A schism ensued with many members leaving the cult under Anubis’ unhinged leadership. A documentary is being made by a young man named Keith (John Laird) whose fixation with The Osiris Collective stems from his girlfriend Maddy leaving him for the group several years ago. When Keith gets invited to document the commune by Anubis himself, he decides to investigate, only to get wrapped up in horrors he couldn’t even imagine…

The Ceremony Is About To Begin is the latest genre twisting horror film from Red Snow‘s Sean Nichols Lynch. This time tackling cultist horror along with a mockumentary style and the Egyptian mythology theme for the cherry on top. I was a big fan of Red Snow‘s subversiveness of the vampire romance sub-genre and was excited to see what this take would bring. While the movie has some interesting ideas and a decent tension between the meek Keith and the erratic Anubis, it just doesn’t exactly thread everything together in a succinct fashion.

The story begins with a true crime documentary style interviewing former members of The Osiris Collective and sets-up what led the cult to where it is now. This aspect of the storyline, especially Keith’s own personal interest in the cult, made it an interesting plotline. But aside from some clips later on, it doesn’t play as much a factor. The focus is largely on the dynamic between Anubis and Keith, which is toxic to put it lightly. Interestingly, Chad Westbrook Hinds and John Lairds are both credited as writers on The Ceremony Is About To Begin and definitely feel like they’re putting their all into these characters. Anubis is the very definition of a cult leader. Charismatic, philosophical, whimsical, and threateningly dangerous at the drop of a hat.

Yet strangely, the commune is deserted of all cult members. Creating a ghost town that only amps up the danger as Keith documents Anubis’ alleged utopia. A lot of the back and forth between them drags at times as they struggle for control and Anubis keeps continuing to convince Keith to stick around despite the threatening situation. This does lead to a pretty fun and bloody finale that fully leans into mummy horror.

Overall, despite meandering and having a bit of a slow pace, The ceremony Is About To Begin is a fairly entertaining cult, found footage, and mummy horror hybrid. If you want mummies, it delivers on mummies!

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