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‘The Turning’ Book Presents Henry James Stories Ahead of Film’s Release

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The Turning

The Turning, a new adaptation of Henry James’s classic novella The Turn of the Screw, is headed to theaters on January 24, 2020. In advance of the film’s release, Penguin Books has curated a collection of James’s ghost stories including the novella on which the film is based.

The Turn of the Screw itself has been widely regarded as one of the best ghost stories of its kind ever written not only by literary scholars but also by authors who have come after him.

Stephen King called the novella, “a great novel of supernatural terror” further proclaiming that James’s story and Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House were “the only two great novels of the supernatural in the last hundred years.”

The Turn of the Screw tells the story of a young woman hired as a governess for the niece and nephew of a businessman who inherited custody of them after the death of their parents. She travels to the country to Bly Manor to take care of the children, but soon after her arrival strange events begin to occur.

Over time, the governess begins to unravel the mystery of Bly, but the more she learns, the more she is convinced that the estate is haunted, and further that the children may be possessed by the spirits of former servants.

James cleverly never fully gives the answer to the great mystery of Bly Manor, nor does he even give a name to the governess. It creates a dark aura around the story and leaves much open to interpretation by the reader.

It is because of this that the novella has been adapted almost 30 times since it was first published in 1898.

The latest adaptation, called simply The Turning, was written by twin brothers and writing partners Chris and Chad Hayes (The Conjuring) and directed by Floria Sigismondi (The Runaways). Mackenzie Davis (Blade Runner 2049), Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things), and Brooklyn Prince (Monsters at Large) star in the film.

Penguin’s collection, as mentioned earlier, includes the original tale, but also gives the reader a peek at more of James’s work including “The Romance of Certain Old Clothes,” “The Last of the Valerii,” “Sir Edmond Orme,” “Owen Wingrave,” “The Friends of Friends,” “The Third Person,” and “The Jolly Corner.”

I won’t give away much more than that.

James’s stories must be read to be truly appreciated. I will say that the particular stories chosen are an excellent cross-section of the author’s writings. Each tale is filled with atmospheric locations and the creeping sense of unease that only master storytellers can create.

The Turning (Movie Tie-In): The Turn of the Screw and Other Ghost Stories is available now from Amazon and other online booksellers as well as in bookstores. Pick up a copy today and settle in for a winter’s night of scary stories from one of the undeniable masters of the genre.

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‘Evil Dead’ Film Franchise Getting TWO New Installments

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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.

Evil Dead Rise

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

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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.

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Jake Gyllenhaal’s Thriller ‘Presumed Innocent’ Series Gets Early Release Date

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Jake gyllenhaal presumed innocent

Jake Gyllenhaal’s limited series Presumed Innocent is dropping on AppleTV+ on June 12 instead of June 14 as originally planned. The star, whose Road House reboot has brought mixed reviews on Amazon Prime, is embracing the small screen for the first time since his appearance on Homicide: Life on the Street in 1994.

Jake Gyllenhaal’s in ‘Presumed Innocent’

Presumed Innocent is being produced by David E. Kelley, J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, and Warner Bros. It is an adaptation of Scott Turow’s 1990 film in which Harrison Ford plays a lawyer doing double duty as an investigator looking for the murderer of his colleague.

These types of sexy thrillers were popular in the ’90s and usually contained twist endings. Here’s the trailer for the original:

According to Deadline, Presumed Innocent doesn’t stray far from the source material: “…the Presumed Innocent series will explore obsession, sex, politics and the power and limits of love as the accused fights to hold his family and marriage together.”

Up next for Gyllenhaal is the Guy Ritchie action movie titled In the Grey scheduled for release in January 2025.

Presumed Innocent is an eight-episode limited series set to stream on AppleTV+ starting June 12.

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