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[SXSW Review] ‘Body at Brighton Rock’ Effectively Fun, Spooky Night in the Woods

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Brighton Rock

I’ve been lost in the woods. It’s a complete hoot let me tell ya. There is a firm grip of fear placed upon you and the spiraling thoughts of “hey I might die out here” combined with a heightened state of overall “Oh, fuck.” Roxanne Benjamin’s (Southbound, XX, VHS) latest film Body at Brighton Rock captures those elements succinctly making for a damned spooky night in the woods and a fun night at a midnight movie.

The story centers on Wendy (Karina Fontes) junior park ranger. When we first meet Wendy, who is stumbling in late for her shift, it’s clear that she isn’t the park ranger’s biggest asset. In a move to gain some respect from her fellow co-workers, Wendy switches duties with another ranger. This tasks her with hiking out quite a ways and switching some advisory signs.

Once she looses her direction and stumbles upon a dead body in the woods it becomes an all out fight for survival.

Wendy stepping into the woods is essentially our protagonist stepping into the old dark house. We all know this is going to go bad for her but are along for the ride. Fontes gives a memorable performance as Wendy. Her choices for the character make Wendy a totally lovable, relatable protagonist and one that we can all cheer for… even when she is prone to mistake after mistake.

The palettes and tone of the film are eclectic and change from entirely playful frames that are reminiscent of early John Hughes’ sensibilities complete with a new wave driven soundtrack, to the later dread inducing claustrophobic, dark confines of the woods.  

The sound design is incredible as well. Similar to 63’s The Haunting, Body at Brighton Rock’s sound becomes its own character. Unexpected strings shrieking adds to complete fluid and effective jump scares. It’s constantly evolving and experimental as heck and never allows the audience to rest.

Benjamin who writes and directs, plays with several components as well as possible and fully realized antagonists… or possible antagonist. It’s hard to know exactly what direction the film is going to take making it a treat for genre fans like myself, who tend to see the blueprint of films early on. It manages to keep you guessing by combining real corporeal fears with moments of psychosis and skewed dream logic.

Body at Brighton Rock is a tight, fun survival thriller with a lot of spookiness going on in its runtime. It’s a feast of shifting genre pieces that make for a terrifying night in the woods and an ending that effectively sticks with you. It is an entirely a two fisted approach to a lost in the woods Twilight Zone episode and I’m entirely here for it.

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’28 Years Later’ Trilogy Taking Shape With Serious Star Power

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28 years later

Danny Boyle is revisiting his 28 Days Later universe with three new films. He will direct the first, 28 Years Later, with two more to follow. Deadline is reporting that sources say Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Ralph Fiennes have been cast for the first entry, a sequel to the original. Details are being kept under wraps so we don’t know how or if the first original sequel 28 Weeks Later fits into the project.

Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes

Boyle will direct the first movie but it’s unclear which role he will take on in the subsequent films. What is known is Candyman (2021) director Nia DaCosta is scheduled to direct the second film in this trilogy and that the third will be filmed immediately afterward. Whether DaCosta will direct both is still unclear.

Alex Garland is writing the scripts. Garland is having a successful time at the box office right now. He wrote and directed the current action/thriller Civil War which was just knocked out of the theatrical top spot by Radio Silence’s Abigail.

There is no word yet on when, or where, 28 Years Later will start production.

28 Days Later

The original film followed Jim (Cillian Murphy) who wakes from a coma to find that London is currently dealing with a zombie outbreak.

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Watch ‘The Burning’ At The Location Where It Was Filmed

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Fangoria is reporting that fans of the 1981 slasher The Burning will be able to have a screening of the film at the location where it was filmed. The movie is set at Camp Blackfoot which is actually the Stonehaven Nature Preserve in Ransomville, New York.

This ticketed event will take place on August 3. Guests will be able to take a tour of the grounds as well as enjoy some campfire snacks along with the screening of The Burning.

The Burning

The film came out in the early ’80s when teen slashers were being churned out in magnum force. Thanks to Sean S. Cunningham’s Friday the 13th, filmmakers wanted to get in on the low-budget, high-profit movie market and a casket load of these types of films were produced, some better than others.

The Burning is one of the good ones, mostly because of the special effects from Tom Savini who had just come off of his groundbreaking work on Dawn of the Dead and Friday the 13th. He declined to do the sequel because of its illogical premise and instead signed on to do this movie. Also, a young Jason Alexander who would later go on to play George in Seinfeld is a featured player.

Because of its practical gore, The Burning had to be heavily edited before it received an R-rating. The MPAA was under the thumb of protest groups and political bigwigs to censor violent films at the time because slashers were just so graphic and detailed in their gore.

Tickets are $50, and if you want a special t-shirt, that will cost you another $25, You can get all the information by visiting the On Set Cinema webpage.

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‘Longlegs’ Creepy “Part 2” Teaser Appears on Instagram

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Longlegs

Neon Films released an Insta-teaser for their horror film Longlegs today. Titled Dirty: Part 2, the clip only furthers the mystery of what we are in for when this movie is finally released on July 12.

The official logline is: FBI Agent Lee Harker is assigned to an unsolved serial killer case that takes unexpected turns, revealing evidence of the occult. Harker discovers a personal connection to the killer and must stop him before he strikes again.

Directed by former actor Oz Perkins who also gave us The Blackcoat’s Daughter and Gretel & Hansel, Longlegs is already creating buzz with its moody images and cryptic hints. The film is rated R for bloody violence, and disturbing images.

Longlegs stars Nicolas Cage, Maika Monroe, and Alicia Witt.

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