News

Way back in 2011, Sony Pictures acquired a spec script titled The Big Stone Grid, which was written by S. Craig Zahler – who is best known these days for writing and directing the films Bone Tomahawk, Brawl in Cell Block 99, and Dragged Across Concrete. As of early 2012, Michael Mann was in talks to work on script revisions with Zahler and to direct the film. The Mann take on the material didn’t come to fruition, and four years later the project moved over to Lotus Entertainment, with Pierre Morel on board to direct. Morel couldn’t get it into production, either. Eight more years down the line, World of Reel reports that Zahler is now set to direct the film himself.

Part of the reason why Zahler has gone six years without directing a new film is the fact that the project he was pursuing, Hug Chickenpenny (an adaptation of...

S. Craig Zahler is a standout in the crime genre, with three films that offer different perspectives on crime and showcase his gritty, violent storytelling. Zahler's mastery of various art forms, including writing, directing, and scoring, adds to his claim as the best crime director of his generation. While Zahler's penchant for violence is controversial and polarizing, his ability to draw unforgettable performances and his unique take on the genre make him a fascinating and niche talent in the crime genre.

Director S. Craig Zahler has made a name for himself for his gritty crime-driven stories infused with graphic violence, with many going as far as calling him the best crime director of his generation. This is an impressive claim off the back of three films, but each offers a different look into the world of crime. This includes the dark Western Bone Tomahawk, the ultraviolent tale of an incarcerated...

British actor Darren Kent, who had a memorable, heartbreaking role in HBO's hit series Game of Thrones, has died.

According to a post on X from his talent agency, Carey Dodd Associates, Kent passed away on Friday. While it was noted that his best friend and parents were by his side, no additional details were shared on the nature of Kent's passing, though he had been battling osteoporosis, arthritis, and a very rare skin disorder all throughout his career. The actor, who was just 36 years old, is getting remembered on social media by some of the people who'd gotten to know him through their work together.

It is with deep sadness we have to tell you that our dear friend and client Darren Kent passed away peacefully on Friday. His parents and best friend by his side. Our thoughts and love are with his family in this difficult time. Rip my friend â.¤ï¸. pic.

Netflix is about to introduce one of Mexico’s most legendary fictional families to the English-speaking world with “We Are the Nobles,” a new U.S. film adaptation of Mexican sensation “Nosotros los Nobles” (The Noble Family).

Eight years ago, Gaz Alazraki’s family comedy became a certified blockbuster, and still ranks as the second highest-grossing Mexican film of all time, behind “Instructions Not Included.” When Netflix was getting into original production outside of the U.S., its first effort was the series “Club of Crows,” created by Alazraki and inspired by his cinema super-hit.

Netflix is co-producing with Alazraki, who produced and directed the original, and Chris Columbus, Michael Barnathan and Mark Radcliffe from 26th Street Pictures, with whom the streamer has a larger overall deal, which also includes an untitled Chupacabra film with Jonas Cuarón, son and frequent collaborator of Alfonso Cuarón. Guido Rud, CEO and founder at FilmSharks,...

"This is the biggest unfair advantage in human history." Vertical Ent. has released an official trailer for a sci-fi thriller titled Parallel, from filmmaker Isaac Ezban. This originally premiered in 2018 at all the fall genre fests: FrightFest, Morbido, Sitges, Utopia, and a few others including Fantasia in Montreal. A group of friends stumble upon a mirror that serves as a portal to a "multiverse", but soon discover that importing knowledge from the other side in order to better their lives brings increasingly dangerous consequences. Whod've thought?! The film stars Aml Ameen, Martin Wallström, Georgia King, Mark O’Brien, Alyssa Diaz, with David Harewood and Kathleen Quinlan. I dig the setup and the intro to the parallel universe, but I'm worried it will get really cheesy when bad things start happening. Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Isaac Ezban's Parallel, direct from Vertical's YouTube: A group of friends stumble upon...

Georgia King in a scene from Parallel. Courtesy of Vertical Entertainment.

Vertical Entertainment has dropped the first trailer for the sci-fi thriller Parallel from The Realm, a division of Bron Studios. The film stars Martin Wallström (Mr. Robot), Aml Ameen (I May Destroy You), Georgia King (Devs), and Mark O’Brien (Ready Or Not) and focuses on four friends who stumble upon a mirror that serves as a portal to a “multiverse.” They soon discover that importing knowledge from the other side in order to better their lives brings increasingly dangerous consequences.

The film will be released in theaters and on demand on December 11, 2020.

Parallel is director Isaac Ezban’s English language debut but it is his third feature film. Ezban previous films include The Incident, which premiered at Cannes Film Festival, and The Similars which won Best Latinamerican Feature Film at Sitges. These two sci-fi odysseys earned Ezban prestige in...

“Parallel,” a sci-fi thriller from director Isaac Ezban, has sold U.S. distribution rights to Vertical Entertainment.

The movie will release in theaters and on demand on Dec. 11.

“Parallel” follows four friends who find a mirror that serves as a portal to a “multiverse.” But they quickly find out that getting information from the other side to better their lives can have lethal consequences. The cast includes Martin Wallström (“Mr. Robot”), Aml Ameen (“I May Destroy You”), Georgia King (“Devs”) and Mark O’Brien (“Ready or Not”).

The movie marks the English-language feature debut for Ezaban, a Mexican director known for “The Incident” and “The Similars.”

“‘Parallel’ is a film that blends genres — science fiction, horror, and even comedy — in a uniquely satisfying way,” said Rich Goldberg, co-president of Vertical Entertainment. “The ensemble cast features some fresh new faces on the brink, and we’re happy that the film will be opening this December.

In a cultural landscape flooded with paroxysms of sanctimony and indignation, the prospect of a productively provocative work might seem like a non-starter—for when discourse inevitably breaks down into tetchy outbursts of bad-faith criticism, and artists in turn retreat behind self-defined platitudes in an attempt to avoid misunderstanding and offense, is there room for art that explicitly baits such responses, for movies that want to alienate an audience? Then again, as suggested by Dragged Across Concrete, the latest film from writer-director S. Craig Zahler, perhaps this is just a question of intensity.With just three directorial features under his belt, the Miami-born director has positioned himself as a workmanlike genre filmmaker in the vein of Don Siegel, whose Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954) provides the clear model for Zahler’s previous film, Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017). Even before stepping behind the camera, though, Zahler worked mainly as a writer,...

Horror movies have tended to be cyclical in their quality. For every 1987, there’s a 1988 (the year of Halloween 4 and Hobgoblins). But every now and again we get enough high quality horror over an extended period time to allow us to ignore the dross that tends to get served up in between.

The ‘Teens’ (are we calling it that?) has been one such decade. Since 2010 we’ve seen some modern classics of the genre with some great new talent coming on the scene. Whether you’re looking for blood and gore or creepy fake grandparents, the Teens (I’m running with it) have got something for you.

To help narrow down the field, in this article we’ll be discussing 5 of the most immersive and unsettling films of the last nine years. Films that won’t have you jumping out of your seat, but will make you think you’re...

Following his success with 20th Century Fox's The Martian, which was nominated for Best Picture and made over $630 million worldwide, director Ridley Scott is reuniting with the studio and The Martian writer Drew Goddard for a new project. 20th Century Fox has closed a deal for the rights to author S. Craig Zahler's Western novel Wraiths of the Broken Land, which Ridley Scott will direct from an adapted script by Drew Goddard. Both the writer and director are also set to produce, alongside Michael Schaefer, Simon Kinberg and Aditya Sood.

Wraiths Of The Broken Land is set at the turn of the 20th Century in a town near the Mexican border. The story follows a group of men who team up to find their sisters, who have all been taken captive. As these men cross treacherous badlands to find their beloved siblings, their lives, ethics and sanity are put on the line.

Like most pre-teens and teenagers who grew up with spending their weekend nights at the video store picking out what films you were going to watch over the weekend, I watched a lot of Full Moon films. While there were plenty of franchises out of the Full Moon universe, the one that stuck with me was the Puppet Master franchise. I think Puppet Master III is the best entry with the latest entries severely lacking in progressing and getting to the point of saying “who cares”.

Last year, at Fantastic Fest, I saw the closing night film, Bone Tomahawk starring Kurt Russell and was blown away by it. I would later find out the man who wrote and directed the film wrote a independent film called Asylum Blackout. That man is S. Craig Zahler. This past weekend was Texas Frightmare Weekend in Dallas, TX and some interesting news came out...

Another beloved horror franchise is getting the reboot treatment, with Di Bonaventura Pictures and Caliber Media optioning the rights to the Puppet Master series. The Studios have brought on Bone Tomahawk writer-director S. Craig Zahler to pen the script for this new sequel, titled Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich. No director is attached at this time, but the producers want to create multiple story lines for a new cinematic universe.

The Puppet Master franchise kicked off in 1989, following a group of puppets that came to life through an Egyptian curse. Each of these murderous puppets have their own set of abilities and weapons, representing heroes, villains and anti-heroes. The original movie spawned the 1990 sequel Puppet Master II, 1991's Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge, 1993's Puppet Master 4 and 1994's Puppet Master 5: The Final Chapter.

Deadline reports that the new story will center on a young man going through a divorce,...

It shouldn’t be a surprise to any of our readers that we here at PopOptiq love horror movies. All month long we’ve been counting down the 200 greatest horror films ever made alongside our 31 Days of Horror marathon. And every year just before Halloween, our staff bands together to decide what our favourite horror films of the past year are. It’s never an easy feat since we don’t always agree but as with every list, nobody will. That said, here are the 17 best horror films of 2015 according to our writers.

Note: We didn’t bother to list them in any order but we recommend them all!

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A Christmas Horror Story

A Christmas Horror Story offers five interwoven tales of terror set on Christmas Eve, as executed by three Canadian filmmakers, Grant Harvey, Bret Sullivan and veteran genre producer Steven Hoban making his feature directorial debut. Much like Trick ‘r Treat,...

A new cannibal film is being developed by Caliber Media. The film is titled Bone Tomahawk, starring Kurt Russell. In the film, Russell plays Sheriff Franklin Hunt. As well, the first still has been release for the film, seen left. The photo shows Russell in costume and in the film's primary setting, the Wild West. One part western and one part horror, the film also notably stars Sean Young (Bladerunner), Patrick Wilson (The Conjuring), Matthew Fox, David Arquette and Sid Haig. Recently completed, a preview of Bone Tomahawk is hosted here. Very few story details have been revealed for the film. However, from the Caliber Media synopsis: "four men set out in the Wild West to rescue a group of captives from cannibalistic cave dwellers." S. Craig Zahler has directed this feature. Zahler recently directed another horror feature, titled Asylum Blackout (2011). A review of this earlier title is available here:...

On this week’s episode, Michael & I talk about a low budget film Anchor Bay’s Mimesis: Night of the Living Dead

Show Notes:

Intro

What We’ve Been Watching

Andy: A Good Die to Die Hard, Beyond the Black Rainbow Michael: Asylum Blackout, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 2, Billion Dollar Brain, Contagion, Fast Five

Picks of the Week – DVD & Blu-Ray Releases for February 19, 2013

Andy’s Pick

Michael’s Pick

Mimesis: Night Of Living Dead Discussion

Outro

Contact us Email Michael & Andy at [email protected] Leave us a voicemail at 206-338-4259

Leave us a review & Subscribe on iTunes | Follow us on Twitter & Facebook | Join the Facebook Group Here!

On this week’s episode, Michael & I talk about ABCs of Death.

Show Notes:

Intro

What We’ve Been Watching

Andy: The American Scream, House of Cards Michael: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Girls: Season 2, Catfish, Asylum Blackout

Article mentioned: Very Aware article on Catfish

Picks of the Week – DVD & Blu-Ray Releases for February 12, 2013

Andy’s Pick

Michael’s Pick

Discuss: Wizard Video

The ABCs of Death Discussion

Outro

Contact us Email Michael & Andy at [email protected] Leave us a voicemail at 206-338-4259

Leave us a review & Subscribe on iTunes | Follow us on Twitter & Facebook | Join the Facebook Group Here!

The Old West is slowly coming back. Being at its biggest during John Wayne’s career, the popularity of such films petered out. It seems that with remakes of “3:10 to Yuma,” and “True Grit” has spurred a rebirth. And now that Quentin Tarantino is on his way to paying homage to the genre, Westerns are gaining mainstream momentum.

“Justified’s” Timothy Olyphant is set to star in “Bone Tomahawk.” Instead of the aforementioned movies, the movie is not just a Western, but a Horror. Four men set to journey outside of the edge of civilization in order to free a group of captives. In order to brave the fire, the posse must face the cannibalistic cavemen that have kidnapped the innocents.

Also appearing will be Kurt Russell, Peter Sarsgaard, Jennifer Carpenter, and Richard Jenkins. “Bone Tomahawks” will also be the first directorial effort by S. Craig Zahler, who wrote the script for “Asylum Blackout.

A few years ago, it seemed like Kurt Russell was poised for a career resurgence thanks to a starring role in Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof (Aka the second half of Grindhouse). Unfortunately, Grindhouse ended up bombing and Russell went back to doing nothing for the next five years. Recently he turned up on screen again in Touchback, the poorly-reviewed Christian football movie, but here's some good news: he's just signed on to star in Bone Tomahawk, a horror-western that sounds much more in line with the Kurt Russell we used to know. I mean, the movie's called Bone Tomahawk... can you get more bad-ass than that? The movie also co-stars Richard Jenkins, Peter Sarsgaard and Jennifer Carpenter, and the plot synopsis is as follows: "The brutally violent, character-driven Bone Tomahawk follows a sheriff (Russell), a gunslinger, a befuddled oldster (Jenkins) and a cowboy (Sarsgaard) as they attempt to rescue a...

Some interesting casting has shaped up for debut director S. Craig Zahler's horror Western, Bone Tomahawk.  It looks like Kurt Russell (The Thing), Peter Sarsgaard (Green Lantern), Richard Jenkins (The Cabin in the Woods) and Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter) are all on board.  Bone Tomahawk "follows a sheriff (Russell), a gunslinger, a befuddled oldster (Jenkins) and a cowboy (Sarsgaard) as they attempt to rescue a group of captives (including Carpenter) from a band of cannibalistic troglodytes."  If you ask me, there just aren't enough movies with troglodytes these days.  Hit the jump for more. Variety reports that Zahler will make his directorial debut with Bone Tomahawk with the above-mentioned cast attached.  The film is currently being shopped to international buyers at Afm by Celluloid Dreams.  The bloody, violent and character-driven film is being produced by Dallas Sonnier and Jack Heller with an eye towards a spring production start in New Mexico.

What's next for acclaimed South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook, the mind behind the Vengeance Trilogy/Oldboy and Thirst? He's finishing up his latest film Stoker, starring Mia Wasikowska and Matthew Goode, for Fox Searchlight, and now Variety is reporting he's in talks to move onto a western called The Brigands of Rattleborge next. Red Granite Pictures is financing with Mythology Entertainment, working from a script written by Craig Zahler that was on the Blacklist a few years ago. It's an ultraviolent western with quite a few good roles to fill, and I think it might be an excellent follow-up to Stoker for Chan-wook. The screenplay by S. Craig Zahler (Asylum Blackout) made the Blacklist back in 2006. The original synopsis for Brigands of Rattleborge: "The story is about a group of ruthless thieves who use the cover of a torrential rainstorm to plunder a frontier town named Rattleborge. During the chaotic aftermath,...

So, the guy who directed "Oldboy" and "Thirst" tackling a western? Um, yes please. Just tell us when it's ready and we're there. Variety reports that Park Chan-wook is in talks to direct "The Brigands Of Rattleborge," and it sounds promising as hell. Penned by S. Craig Zahler ("The Incident"), the script made the 2006 Black List but has apparently stalled in development due to the kind of graphic violence that requires a big star to sign on to get financing to come together. Well, Red Granite Pictures ("Friends With Kids," "The Wolf Of Wall Street") is helping out in that department and are teaming up with Mythology Entertainment to make it happen. So what is it all about? The premise is awesomely simple, centering on a group of bandits who use a torrential thunderstorm as cover to rob a small town, and the sheriff and doctor who seek out revenge against them.

Last week saw a great handful of international releases make their way onto our shelves, with Shion Sono’s Himizu and David and Stéphane Foenkinos’ Delicacy topping the list. And this week brings us another excellent set of international films for our enjoyment, along with a handful of classics getting the HD treatment.

We’ve also been enjoying the special Blu-ray Steelbook releases from Play.com over the past few months, in tandem with Universal’s 100th Anniversary, and now Paramount are entering the fray with two titles of their own getting a Steelbook re-packaging, for their own Centenary celebrations.

My picks of the week:

Morten Tyldum’s Headhunters.

And the Blu-ray releases of Shion Sono’s Love Exposure & the Steven Spielberg-produced Falling Skies – Season 1.

Headhunters Iframe Embed for Youtube

DVD and Blu-ray

Acclaimed and best-selling Norweign writer Jo Nesbø has had a very successful year, with not one...

The awkwardly titled “I Against I” is a new British thriller from writer director James Marquand, son of Richard Marquand, best known for helming “Return of the Jedi” and “Jagged Edge” back in the 1980s. The film is a complex, noir-tinged affair, with a twisting, cat and mouse plot played out against a stylishly modern London background, its events taking place over the course of a single night and intertwined with flashbacks. Without giving too much away, things kick off with a businessman called Drake (Kenny Doughty, “The Incident”) being snatched by the ruthless gangster Joseph (Mark Womack, “Route Irish”), who accuses him of having killed his father Tommy (veteran Brit television actor John Castle). Although Drake denies the murder, Joseph has CCTV footage of him in the building at the time of the crime, and with Tommy having owed him money, the pieces seem to fit. When Drake claims...

The Scapegoat – or, Au bonheur des ogres, in the original French – adapts the first novel of the same name in Daniel Pennac’s popular ‘La Saga Malaussène’ series, making it a very promising crime-comedy to look forward to next year.

The first three posters for the French-language film have made their way online, giving us a look at leading man, Raphaël Personnaz as the series’ eponymous Benjamin Malaussène.

Starring alongside him will be the lovely Bérénice Bejo, the Oscar-nominated star of last year’s success story, The Artist, as well as Emir Kusturica, Thierry Neuvic, Guillaume de Tonquedec, and Mélanie Bernier.

“There is something strange and fishy – some would even say abnormal – about the Malaussène tribe. But if you take a closer look, no one could be happier than this cheerfully chaotic family, even though their mother is usually off on one romantic junket or other, leaving behind a slew...

We’ve all seen Jean Dujardin play the part of George Valentin in the fantastic Oscar winning movie, The Artist but if you’re expecting more of this same from The Players then think again as this couldn’t be more different where Dujardin plays five characters – Fred, Olivier, François, Laurent and James ! Momentum Pictures have sent us this new Nsfw trailer for the movie which hits Cinemas for a limited run on 6th July and on DVD and download 30th July.

I’ve embedded it below but note that you need to be over 18 to watch it. The movie also stars Guillaume Canet (The Beach) and Dujardin’s wife Alexandre Lamy (Possessions) and is helmed by seven (yes seven!!) directors including Oscar winner Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) Fred Cavayé (Point Blank), Eric Lartigau (The Big Picture), Emmannuelle Bercot (Backstage), Alexandre Courtès (The Incident), Jean Dujardin, and Gilles Lellouche.

The...

A rock band moonlighting as cafeteria workers in an asylum for the criminally insane get trapped in the asylum when the power goes out. The outage lets the patients loose. And, as it would be, they have not been taking their medication, so they are particularly rowdy. The musicians must think on their feet as they struggle to survive the "asylum blackout."

Asylum Blackout was put out by IFC. I was anxious to check it out as IFC has distributed some great genre films in recent years like Dream Home, Dead Snow and Dead Hooker in a Trunk.

While Asylum Blackout didn’t live up to any of those aforementioned titles, it wasn’t a complete waste of time. It has its moments. There were even a few things that I liked about it. Everything that I liked about the film, however, was overshadowed by a piss-poor ending.

Read more.

Asylum Blackout Trailer, The Incident Trailer. Alexandre Courtès‘ Asylum Blackout / The Incident (2011) movie trailer stars Anna Skellern, Rupert Evans, Dave Legeno, Richard Brake, and Kenny Doughty. Asylum Blackout‘s plot synopsis: “It’s a thin line that separates a domesticated man from his repressed animalistic side. On a dark and rainy night, three friends are forced to cross [...]

Continue reading: Asylum Blackout / The Incident (2011) Movie Trailer...

It’s Friday again and that means it’s time to update your iTunes or your favorite RSS feedcatcher and listen to the new episode of The Destroy the Brain Podcast. My co-host, Michael Haffner, and I cover the Tim Burton film Dark Shadows which is out today. Find out if it is worth your time.

Show Notes

Intro

What We’ve Been Watching (1:30)

Michael: The Avengers (review), Bad Moon, The People vs. George Lucas

Andy: Asylum Blackout, 42nd Street Forever: Blu-Ray Edition

Cannes News and Kickstarter projects (24:22)

Out of Print – the New Beverly documentary The Lost Films of Herschell Gordon Lewis Restoration Project

Picks of the Week for May 15th Releases (34:34)

Michael’s Pick: The Grey

Andy’s Pick: Chronicle

Break (44:19)

Dark Shadows Discussion (47:06)

Outro (1:34:31)

Contact us Email Michael & Andy at [email protected] Leave us a voicemail at 425-419-1687

Leave...

By Jesse Miller, MoreHorror.com

It’s November 6th, 1989 and a group of struggling, aspiring musicians are trying to record a heavy rock album.

Struggling financially, they each get a job as kitchen hands at the Sans Asylum – a building out in the middle of the country, cut off from the rest of the world – and this is one of those buildings that somehow manages to send chills up your spin.

After some quick introductions with the small group of friends are made in Asylum Blackout ,and after we are given a little insight into their lives, we are suddenly thrown into this nightmare when the power in the asylum cuts out, in the process destroying the back up generator, trapping the staff and our poor struggling musicians in the process and letting loose the assortment of rabid inmates.

Gorehounds will be pleased to know that there are quite a...

Having never been in a high security mental institution I can only imagine what the interaction between cook and patient really is. I keep thinking of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest… Nurse Ratchet. McMurphy. Chief. It would seem to me it’s a rather humorous place to be if you just take the Ken Kesey angle (until Billy kills himself… then it’s no fun for anyone). Maybe the institution of Asylum Blackout is more like Arkham Asylum from the world of Batman. Dark. Demented. The patients ready to get out and exact revenge, insanely, on a staff that cared too little. Mostly I think of the thorazine shuffle. I think of heavily medicated folks drooling on themselves meandering about their padded cell. With that in mind, when I tell you that Asylum Blackout didn’t quite do it for me, it’s not for the lack of...

Welcome to issue 6 of Trailer Trash our [more often than] weekly series showcasing the latest trailer releases – this issue once again features our all-new “excitement-o-meter” where we rate (in exclamation marks on a scale of 1 to 5) each and every trailer by how excited we are to see the film after watching it. This issue of Trailer Trash includes new trailers for Killer Joe, Dark Horse, Argo, Dragon Wasps, The Incident and Piranhaconda!

Killer Joe

When 22-year-old Chris (Emile Hirsch) finds himself in debt to a drug lord, he hires a hit man to dispatch his mother, whose $50,000 life insurance policy benefits his sister Dottie (Juno Temple). Chris finds Joe Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), a creepy, crazy Dallas cop who moonlights as a contract killer. When Chris can’t pay Joe upfront, Joe sets his sight on Dottie as collateral for the job. The contract killer and his hostage develop an unusual bond. Like from a modern-day,...

Back in 1982 there was a very cool horror ensemble flick called Alone in the Dark. It starred Jack Palance, Donald Pleasance, and Martin Landau, and it focused on how an unfortunate psychiatrist has to defend his home from a pack of escaped lunatics. It's clunky and dated these days, but there's some actual fun to be found in that flick. But even back in 1982 I remember thinking, "Man, it's really stupid to have an asylum locked down through electricity. You're just begging for a storm, a blackout, a mass escape, and a gory massacre." Thirty years later, not much has changed. The recent French/Belgian/American co-production known as Asylum Blackout proves that pretty capably. Known on the festival...

Alexandre Courtes' The Incident was a divisive one when it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival but audiences in France - where the English language film was produced - will have a chance to see what the chatter was about soon with the upcoming theatrical release. Here's how Tiff described it:It's a thin line that separates a domesticated man from his repressed animalistic side. On a dark and rainy night, three friends are forced to cross that divide as they navigate a labyrinth of madness and brutality in The Incident. George (Rupert Evans), Max (Kenny Doughty) and Ricky (Joseph Kennedy) play in a band together, struggling to record their first album and performing small gigs between shifts cooking for the inmates of the...

*full disclosure: a DVD screener of this film was provided by IFC Midnight. Director: Alexandre Courtès. Writers: S. Craig Zahler, and Jérôme Fansten. Cast: Anna Skellern, Rupert Evans and Dave Legeno. The Asylum Blackout creates the right atmosphere for a horror feature. There are dark halls, mutilated corpses and the criminally insane hiding out in every dark corridor. The environment is chilling; yet, something is missing. The writing follows a linear structure with few deviations. This is director Alexandre Courtes' first feature with writer Craig Zahler also creating his first script here. So, understandably, the writing is cautious. The contradiction between the thrilling settings with the straight forward approach to writing still creates for an entertaining time. The plot structure is fairly simple. Three friends and bandmates work at the local Sans Mental Institution in Washington, State. Here, they feed the crazed and hungry. Then, the crazed feed on the.

Title: Asylum Blackout Director: Alexandre Courtes Starring: Rupert Evans, Kenny Doughly, Joseph Kennedy, Dave Legeno Part thriller of containment, part horror movie, “Asylum Blackout” is a skillfully cobbled together little calling card of a film, suffused with woozy dread. If in the end it’s a bit short on convincing payoff, its atmospheric spell should generally satisfy genre fans and also augur good things for all those involved. Formerly known as “The Incident,” but re-titled in more forthright fashion, director Alexandrer Courtes’ movie centers on a group of friends and aspirant musicians who, between small gigs, work as kitchen cooks in a high security mental asylum in Washington State. It’s not ideal, but George (Rupert [ Read More ]...

Time to add a little darkness in the literal sense to your afternoon. Two new clips from Asylum Blackout (formerly The Incident (review here)) have made their way online and we have 'em both right here. Dig it!

Look for the movie in select theaters and on IFC Midnight Cable VOD and Digital Outlets like SundanceNOW, iTunes, Amazon Streaming, Xbox Zune, and Playstation Unlimited on May 4th.

Alexandre Courtes' Asylum Blackout stars Rupert Evans, Kenny Doughty, Unax Ugalde, Dave Legeno, Anna Skellern, Richard Brake, Eric Godon, Joseph Kennedy, and Marcus Garvey.

Synopsis

George, Max, and Ricky are in a rock band and waiting for their big breakthrough. Between small gigs and rehearsals they work in the kitchen of a high-security asylum for good pay at minimum risk — they have no physical contact with the inmates. One night just before dinnertime, a big storm shuts down the security system, the doors open,...

Asylum Blackout is exactly the movie it promises to be-- the story of what happens when the power goes out at a high-security asylum and the inmates stage a breakout. What makes this different from most other thrillers you'll see, though, is the sane people left to survive in the asylum are three slackers and bandmates who had been working in the asylum kitchen for easy money. You can meet those four guys in the exclusive clip we're premiering below, in which you see both the dismal conditions in the cafeteria and the potential start of the rebellion. Take a look: After premiering at the Toronto Film Festival under the title The Incident, the movie was renamed Asylum Blackout and is now coming to theaters and VOD via IFC Midnight. It's the feature directing debut for Alexander Courtes and stars Rupert Evans, Kenny Doughty and Joseph Kennedy. Below you can...

Hot on the heels of yesterday's one-sheet debut for the newly renamed Asylum Blackout (formerly The Incident (review here)), we now have the trailer for you cats. Dig it!

Look for the movie in select theaters and on IFC Midnight Cable VOD and Digital Outlets like SundanceNOW, iTunes, Amazon Streaming, Xbox Zune, and Playstation Unlimited on May 4th.

Alexandre Courtes' Asylum Blackout stars Rupert Evans, Kenny Doughty, Unax Ugalde, Dave Legeno, Anna Skellern, Richard Brake, Eric Godon, Joseph Kennedy, and Marcus Garvey.

Synopsis

George, Max, and Ricky are in a rock band and waiting for their big breakthrough. Between small gigs and rehearsals they work in the kitchen of a high-security asylum for good pay at minimum risk — they have no physical contact with the inmates. One night just before dinnertime, a big storm shuts down the security system, the doors open, and the lunatics break loose. Help is on...

IFC Midnight will release the inmates with Asylum Blackout. The rioting begins May 4th on video-on-demand. This is the date when a storm hits, the power goes out and a group of friends must then fight for their lives! This film was partially shot in Brussels, Belgium and this is director Alexandre Courtès first entry into the horror genre. And Asylum Blackout is truly terror filled. Enjoy the film's trailer and movie poster here until the breakout begins in just a few days! Release Date: May 4, 2012. (Video-on-demand). Director: Alexandre Courtès. Writers: S. Craig Zahler and Jérôme Fansten. Cast: Rupert Evans, Dave Legeno and Anna Skellern. The film's trailer is here: *previously called The Incident.  |  |  |  Advertise Here - Contact me Michael Allen at 28Dla Subscribe to 28 Days Later: An Analysis Email Subscription

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A new one-sheet for the newly named Asylum Blackout (formerly The Incident (review here)) has made its way online, and we have it for you right here complete with lunatics who have some red on them.

Look for the movie in select theaters and on IFC Midnight Cable VOD and Digital Outlets like SundanceNOW, iTunes, Amazon Streaming, Xbox Zune, and Playstation Unlimited on May 4th.

Alexandre Courtes' Asylum Blackout stars Rupert Evans, Kenny Doughty, Unax Ugalde, Dave Legeno, Anna Skellern, Richard Brake, Eric Godon, Joseph Kennedy, and Marcus Garvey.

Synopsis

George, Max, and Ricky are in a rock band and waiting for their big breakthrough. Between small gigs and rehearsals they work in the kitchen of a high-security asylum for good pay at minimum risk — they have no physical contact with the inmates. One night just before dinnertime, a big storm shuts down the security system, the doors open, and the lunatics break loose.

With a release date rapidly approaching, IFC Midnight has changed the name of its next title, The Incident (review here), to something a bit more on the nose - Asylum Blackout.

Look for the flick in limited theatres on May 4th, 2012. Alexandre Courtes' Asylum Blackout stars Rupert Evans, Kenny Doughty, Unax Ugalde, Dave Legeno, Anna Skellern, Richard Brake, Eric Godon, Joseph Kennedy, and Marcus Garvey.

Synopsis

George, Max, and Ricky are in a rock band and waiting for their big breakthrough. Between small gigs and rehearsals they work in the kitchen of a high-security asylum for good pay at minimum risk — they have no physical contact with the inmates. One night just before dinnertime, a big storm shuts down the security system, the doors open, and the lunatics break loose. Help is on its way and should soon arrive ... they just have to survive until it does.

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A few weeks ago, we brought you news of Ewen Bremner’s (Trainspotting, Jack the Giant Killer) casting in Bong Joon-ho’s indie Sci-Fi film Snow Piercer. This project, produced by Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, Thirst), has just gained another to the cast.

Variety reports that Kenny Doughty (The Incident, Elizabeth) has just been cast in Snow Piercer. Doughty joins Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton, Jamie Bell, Octavia Spencer, and John Hurt in this post-apocalyptic thriller.

Snow Piercer follows Chris Evans’ character who is looking for his kidnapped son in a future world where a failed experiment to stop global warming caused an Ice Age that killed off all life on the planet except for the inhabitants of the Snow Piercer, a train that travels around the globe, powered by a sacred perpetual-motion engine.

If you’re familiar with Park Chan-wook’s work, you’ll know that this film will not be your ordinary post-apocalyptic film.

The news just never stops, man. Every time we think that we're done for the day, boom, another story hits our radar. Good thing we live and breathe for this stuff. Moving on ...

According to Variety The Incident star Kenny Doughty, who just joined the cast of Bong Joon-ho's Snow Piercer, is set to make his feature directorial debut with Vengeance Waits, a British revenge thriller written by first-time scribe C.D. Carver. Richard Coyle, who stars in Radius-twc's English-language remake of Nicolas Winding Refn's Pusher, is attached to star in the film, which Turnover Productions and Swing It Films are producing. Lensing is scheduled for September.

Oldboy helmer Park Chan-wook is producing Snow Piercer, a post-apocalyptic thriller that stars Chris Evans, Jamie Bell and Tilda Swinton. Set in a world covered in snow and ice, the story follows a train full of travelers who struggle to co-exist.

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28Dla's friends over at Quiet Earth have debuted a second trailer for Community courtesy of High Point Media. In the second clip there is more horror as a hybrid brand of marijuana changes parents into the lackadaisical and their children into killers. The latest movies from the United Kingdom that involve horror have tackled themes of youth run rampant. Eden Lake (2008), Harry Brown (2009) and the recent Attack the Block (2011) show the ills of urban living and the difficult choices therein.

Also, Community stars Elliott Jordan who set Cinemas in Bolton ablaze with another horror effort titled The Toybox. The Toybox was also shot in the United Kingdom and instead of drug dealing hoodies this film dealt with witches and ancient myths. Jordan continues to be one of the standouts in modern British horror with Darren Kent (The Incident) and Terry Bird also starring in Community. Enjoy the second trailer for the film inside.

We've been talking about The Incident (review here) for quite some time here at DC, and we're happy to announce that the good folks over at IFC have finally firmed up a release date. Read on.

Look for the flick in limited theatres on May 4th, 2012 with a VOD presumably taking place about a month before. Alexandre Courtes' The Incident stars Rupert Evans, Kenny Doughty, Unax Ugalde, Dave Legeno, Anna Skellern, Richard Brake, Eric Godon, Joseph Kennedy, and Marcus Garvey.

Synopsis

George, Max, and Ricky are in a rock band and waiting for their big breakthrough. Between small gigs and rehearsals they work in the kitchen of a high-security asylum for good pay at minimum risk — they have no physical contact with the inmates. One night just before dinnertime, a big storm shuts down the security system, the doors open, and the lunatics break loose. Help is on its...

Formerly Incident at Sans Asylum, The Ring remake producer Roy Lee is behind Alexandre Courtes' The Incident, a violent new thriller starring Rupert Evans, Kenny Doughty, Unax Ugalde, Dave Legeno, Anna Skellern, Richard Brake, Eric Godon, Joseph Kennedy and Marcus Garvey. Having had its world premiere at the Midnight Madness portion of the Toronto International Film Festival (read our extremely negative review), IFC Midnight acquired the title for limited theatrical release on May 4. VOD presumably will be a month before. "George, Max and Ricky are in a rock band and waiting for their big breakthrough. Between small gigs and rehearsals they work in the kitchen of a high-security asylum for good pay at minimum risk they have no physical contact with the inmates...."...

Mention October to some and revolution and Eisenstein will spring to mind. To others, it'll be the journal of art criticism and theory (whose latest issue, as it happens, concentrates on film and video). But for many more, it'll be "the arrival of coolth and crispidy after months oppressive heat and intrusive sunshine… the downward spiral of maple leaves from the tree tops, the wind in the willows, the shadow over Innsmouth, the silence of the lambs, the howling in the woods, I love every damned thing about this glorious but all-too-short season!" exclaims Richard Harland Smith at Movie Morlocks. And of course, what he especially loves are "all the shades of Halloween, from the ticky-tack gee-gaws on the shelves at Cvs and Rite Aid to the widespread enjoyment of classical music (Camille Saint-Saëns's Danse Macabre, Johann Sebastian Bach's Toccata and Fugue), literature (Henry James's The Turn of the Screw,...

The last weekend of Tiff 2011 is upon us. For many, the festival ended when the celebrity circus packed up and left town, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t plenty of great films playing between now and Sunday. Here is a list of ten films (in no particular order) that might have escaped you during the festival proper that are getting encore screenings this weekend – eight of which I have seen, one that I have only seen parts of, and one that I feel the need to mention despite not yet having the opportunity to see it.

Like Crazy, dir. Drake Doremus

I will happily shout from the heavens to anyone that’s listening that Like Crazy is one of my favourite films of all time. This story of two university graduates (Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones) trying their hardest to make a long distance relationship work is...

We usually leave the business reporting to other outlets, but yesterday saw such a remarkable string of acquisitions, I can't help but take note. For starters, Palisades Tartan has picked up Us and UK rights to This Is Not a Film (review; roundup), co-directed by Jafar Panahi and Mojtaba Mirtahmasb. Panahi, of course, remains under house arrest and Mirtahmasb was detained from leaving Iran over a week ago — and I haven't seen any updates on his status.

IFC Films has gone on a shopping spree in Toronto and, within hours, has secured North American rights to Alexandre Courtes's horror film The Incident (there'll be a Midnight Madness roundup soon enough), Lynn Shelton's Your Sister's Sister (roundup's on the way) and Abel Ferrara's 4:44 Last Day on Earth, which few critics besides Danny Kasman seem to have caught in Venice (nonetheless, that roundup is in the works as well). Fortunately,...

Rupert Evans horror The Incident, directed by Alexandre Courtes, lands at IFC Midnight Jérôme Fansten and S. Craig Zahler-written pic is currently showing at the Toronto International Film Festival and tells of a group of cooks at an asylum for the criminally insane, who get locked in with the inmates after a power outage due to a massive thunderstorm. They must endure a cat and mouse chase with the maniacs on the loose. Also in the cast of The Incident are Dave Legeno, Anna Skellern, Richard Brake, Kenny Doughty, Eric Godon and Joseph Kennedy.