Forget Me Not Interviews: Writers, Director, Stars

FEARnet did a couple of exclusive interviews with the writers, director, and stars of Forget Me Not back in ’09 when it premiered at Screamfest.  The film, just now coming out straight-to-DVD, centers on a vengeful spirit that attacks a small town during graduation weekend.  FEARnet interviewed co-writer/director Tyler Oliver and co-writer Jamieson Stern, who discussed the origins of the story and their working relationship.  They also interview the leads, Carly Schroeder (Firewall, Mean Creek) and Micah Alberti (American Pie Presents Band Camp), who discuss getting their roles and cast bonding.

Stern has since gone on to co-write High School, a direct-to-video title with Snoop Dogg due next year.  Schroeder will appear in the thriller Creeper alongside Wes Bentley, Christian Slater, and Stephen Dorff later this year.

Upcoming Release Calendar Added!

For years now (has it been that long?) you’ve been clamoring (okay, asking politely) for an upcoming release calendar.  We’ve finally got one.  From here on out, you’ll be able to find it in our top nav bar, right next to “Reviews”.  It’s only got a few months so far, but we’ll add more as we go.  Check it out!  (And thanks for your patience.)

New Wolfman Installment Likely to Go Straight-to-DVD

Bloody Disgusting reporting that a second installment in the Wolfman reboot franchise is, according to their source, likely to be (a) a sequel—not a prequel or re-re-boot, (b) straight-to-DVD, and (c) written by Michael Tabb.  Tabb has some direct-to-video experience as one of the four writers on the 2006 Tom Sizemore horror flick Ring Around the Rosie.  Given that the original’s worldwide theatrical plus home video grosses only barely covered production costs (much less marketing), a straight-to-DVD sequel—if any—seems a likely next step.

The Bleeding Clips: Shootout, Weapons, Behind the Scenes

Anchor Bay has released three clips from vampire action/horror flick The Bleeding, out now on DVD.  In the first one, our hero, Shawn (Michael Matthias), saves a slayer (DMX) from a bloody fate by shooting lots and lots of vamps.  In the second, a slayer/priest (Michael Madsen) introduces Shawn to his array of blessed weapons.  The third clip is a behind-the-scenes featurette that show you how they did that thing to DMX’s hand in the first clip, among other things.  First and third clips are a little gruesome, so be warned (or encouraged as the case may be).  The film also stars Kat Von D, Vinnie Jones, and Armand Assante.

Clip 1: Gun Fight

Clip 2: Weapons

Clip 3: Behind the Scenes

And, while we’re at it, here’s the trailer…

S2DVD Salutes…”Disturbingly Cheap Reviews”

In the interest of keeping you up to date on all of the resources available to the avid straight-to-DVD film watcher, we bring you Shawn Cain’s Disturbingly Cheap Reviews, stick-figure video reviews of some of the worst titles out there. The reviews are hilarious, and the horrendous stick figure art only accentuates the poor quality of the films they represent — a sort of metacommentary. Cain gives out spoilers at the ends of his reviews, but he always gives you fair warning (and, to be honest, they’re often the funniest part). So check them out, and if you’re looking for a good place to start, his review of The Maze is priceless.

New Trailer and Clip From Dead Space: Aftermath

EA and Anchor Bay have released a clip and trailer from the new film Dead Space: Aftermath, based on the survival horror video game Dead Space whose sequel, Dead Space 2, comes out on the same day. The animated film picks up after the events Dead Space (which had its first film companion in 2008), and sees a rescue team encounter the survivors from the original and, if the trailer is any indication, lots of blood and monsters. The clip shows the initial arrival of the rescue team.

Dead Space: Aftermath arrives on DVD and Blu-ray on January 25th.

Here’s the trailer, then the clip, both of which are pretty bloody so, be warned:

Trailer

Clip

Vinnie Jones Trips the Light Pimptastic in The Bleeding Trailer

Anchor Bay has just released a trailer for The Bleeding, a new horror/action flick in which a recently minted vampire slayer (Michael Matthias) must take on his brother-turned-ubervamp (Vinnie Jones). Jones appears to be especially pimped out, making one hope for the line, “Bitch better have my blood. Not some, not half, but all my plasma.” But I digress.

The film also stars DMX, Armand Assante, Rachelle Leah, Michael Madsen (in full-on preacher/cowboy mode), and L.A. Ink‘s Kat Von D as a vampire lieutenant.

The Bleeding arrives March 1st. Check out the trailer below.

Unthinkable Wins the 2010 Straight-to-DVD Movie Awards

Terrorism thriller Unthinkable has taken the crown in the 2nd Annual Straight-to-DVD Movie Awards, grabbing Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Action/Thriller. This year’s winners were spread among a variety of films, unlike the inaugural awards, which were dominated by horror anthology Trick ‘r Treat.

Donnie Yen took home the prize for Best Actor as the lead in Ip Man while Natasha Lyonne won for Best Actress for the horror satire All About Evil, which also won Best Comedy. The Worst Picture kudo went to Corey Feldman’s other horror flick this year, Terror Inside.

The Monica Bellucci/Sophie Marceau headlined Don’t Look Back won for Best Horror while on the other end of the spectrum, Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue won for Best Family Film, an award won by its predecessor, Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure, last year.

Best Documentary went to Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy, which also won the top prize at the Reaper Awards. DC Comics’ animated Crisis on Two Earths won for Best Sci Fi/Fantasy.

While a number of Title-So-Bad-It’s-Awesome votes went to Sharktopus, it turns out that film premiered originally on television, and isn’t even out on DVD just yet, so that award went to the latest installment in the series that won last year, Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus.

Here is the full list of winners:

Best Picture: Unthinkable

Best Actor: Donnie Yen, Ip Man

Best Actress: Natasha Lyonne, All About Evil

Best Director: Gregor Jordan, Unthinkable

Worst Picture: Terror Inside

Best Comedy: All About Evil

Best Horror: Don’t Look Back

Best Action/Thriller: Unthinkable

Best Family Film: Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue

Best Documentary: Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy

Best Sci Fi/Fantasy: Crisis on Two Earths

Title-So-Bad-It’s-Good: Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus

Snipes, Van Damme, Others Pulling Double Duty in ’11

Moviehole’s list of 20 Direct-to-DVD Movies Coming in 2011 brings to light the fact that Wesley Snipes, Richard Grieco, Dolph Lundgren, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Billy Zane will be making appearances more than once throughout the year. Snipes, apparently knocking out as many films as possible before entering the clink, will be in Game of Death and Gallowwalker next year, while Grieco, who’s actually been acting pretty consistently since his 21 Jump Street days, will appear in both Cats Dancing on Jupiter and Almighty Thor. Van Damme and Lundgren will appear in yet another Universal Soldier sequel and while Lundgren also stars in a Uwe Boll-directed sequel to In the Name of the King, Van Damme will star in the actioner Weapon. Billy Zane will appear in the latest Scorpion King sequel and hit man road movie Guido.

Check out the full list, which features films starring Hilary Swank, Val Kilmer, C. Thomas Howell, and more.

Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated – The Straight2DVD Review

Pity poor Night of the Living Dead. Out of copyright for years, the film that ushered in a whole generation of zombie films has had to suffer indignity after indignity, from cheapo public domain DVD transfers to an audio butchering by the ex-Mystery Science Theater 3000 guys who do the Rifftrax audio goofing (actually, that one’s pretty funny). Now comes Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated, a jam of what seems like hundreds of artists, creating new visuals (all in black-and-white, just like the original film) to go with the soundtrack of the movie.

It’s an inspired idea — let a bunch of cartoonists and filmmakers go nuts with the storyline and see what they come up with. But as a viewing experience, it’s — predictably — a mixed bag. One of the DVD’s saving graces is how it quickly transitions from artist to artist. No one visual approach lasts too long. Some run only seconds before the next guy gets his shot. Some bits are animated, some are still drawings, some are even puppets!

There are some very cool visuals; the computer animated sequences serve the material well, and some of the drawings we see are truly artful and original. Some folks contribute rough, punk-inspired art. Some of the art is pretty bad. But then you’ll get a stretch of what looks like Rotoscoping (the old process of painting over live action, championed by Ralph Bakshi in films like Wizards and the original animated Lord of the Rings). It’s a double-edged sword; the good stuff you want to see more of lasts as long as the bad stuff you want to end.

It’s really all over the map, and ultimately, kind of pointless. It’s an interesting experiment, and might be good to put on as background viewing at a Halloween party with some of your artsy friends. But as a “let’s sit down and watch a movie” DVD, its shtick gets old fast.

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