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Travel Back to The VCR Age of Horror at SLASHBACK VIDEO!

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The internet has made movie accessibility a breeze. If you want to find a movie to watch, you got Netflix, Hulu, Youtube, and all manner of streaming sites on top of Amazon ordering and local Red Box rentals. But it didn’t always used to be this way. Back in the day, the best way to find a specific movie, especially a horror movie, was to visit your local video store. Walking those hallowed aisles of VHS and later DVD divided by genre, alphabetical order, and new releases. Those days, and most video stores have gone the way of the dodo, though. Blockbuster all but a myth. But what if I were to tell you there was a place to witness the video rental days of old, complete with art pieces and other goodies? Then let’s take a trip down to SLASHBACK VIDEO!

An art installation event in Burbank, California located at the Bearded Lady’s Mystic Museum, and presented alongside Blumhouse’s Ryan Turek with support by genre companies like Fright-Rags, Creepy Co., Waxwork Records, Phantom Carriage, and Mixtape Massacre. With that kind of pedigree, you know it’s a good time.

Visiting the store myself, it was like travelling to a wonderful alternate universe where not only video stores still existed, but there was an entire store devoted to the horror label. All across from another exhibit revolving around Ben Cooper Vintage Halloween Masks and costumes. There are dozens of rare and collectible genre titles to look at (but not physically touch) such as A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, HELLRAISER, and FRIDAY THE 13th, to obscure and gonzo titles like THE KEEP, STAGE FRIGHT, and SOLE SURVIVOR (The Slashback Video Pick of the Month). Slashback Video operates as a true art gallery for the video era. As so many movies tantalized with simple things like cover art and memorable titles.

The setting decorated with all things genre related and from the time long past. With inflatable promo items for THE CHILDREN OF THE CORN III: URBAN HARVEST and even JAWS: THE REVENGE. A small TV plays round the clock horror movies (I was lucky to see them play ARMY OF DARKNESS on a loop.) As well, there were several custom art pieces such as movie posters and VHS boxes featuring pop up monsters and items. All of which are for sale to video connoisseurs.

One of my favorite galleries was the ‘New Releases’ aisle. Featuring VHS versions of modern horror with retro overtones such as THE FINAL GIRLS and BEYOND THE GATES. As well as a multitude of faux VHS tapes made by artist/writer/comedian, Rob Schrab. Featuring ludicrously awesome titles and cover art like TREE-ANIMATOR, SHARK HOTEL, and CANNIBAL AIRLINES among many more.

 

And on top of everything else: They have a working SPLATTER HOUSE arcade cabinet with a quarter per play!

And yet, there is so much left to discover down the magnetic tape rabbit hole. So, if you’re in the Los Angeles area, and want to relive the golden age of horror rentals, or even give a history lesson to someone while looking at some kick-ass art, check out Slashback Video!

 

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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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