Review: ‘Wildling’ is dark, coming of age tale.

WILDLING

 **WORLD PREMIERE – 2018 SXSW FILM FESTIVAL**

The feature debut from Fritz Böhm, WILDLING is a spellbinding take on the werewolf legend starring Independent Spirit Award Nominee Bel Powley (The Diary of a Teenage Girl), SAG Award® Winner Liv Tyler (Lord of the Rings, Armageddon) and Academy Award® Nominee Brad Dourif (One Flew Over Cuckoo’s Nest, Child’s Play).

 WILDLING is a unique dark fantasy tale centered on young Anna (Powley) who has been raised in isolation by a man she knows only as Daddy (Dourif) who has done everything possible to conceal the truth about the girl’s origins from her. But when the teenage Anna is suddenly thrust into the real world under the protection of no-nonsense police officer Ellen Cooper (Tyler), it soon becomes clear that the young woman is far from ordinary. Unable to adjust to a normal life, Anna finds herself drawn instead to the wild freedom of the forest while struggling to resist the growing bloodlust that has awakened inside her. This moodily atmospheric thriller combines supernatural scares with a myth-like tale of self-discovery.

There are many elements of Wildling that excited me. The cast is beyond excellent. Bel Powley is undeniably a star. As she never seems to age, she can continue to portray exceedingly young characters. Her onscreen presence is captivating. And while she actually speaks relatively few lines in the film, she owns each scene she appears in. Liv Tyler is as elegant as ever. Never doubt her ability to completely inhabit any role. Brad Dourif is scary as hell. He makes your skin crawl in the best way possible. The lighting is truly something to behold. Extra attention to the sound mixing plays perfectly on the audience’s sense of dread or wonder, depending on the moment to moment needs of the plot.

After all of the positives, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the rushed feel of the story. Much of the plot seems to be missing as if there is an entire section of canon that was left out for runtime. I have so many questions pertaining to missing elements (I won’t be too specific because of spoilers) and I was a genuinely baffled by their absence. Some serious plot holes. The emotional transition of all the major players was swifter than feel natural under the circumstances. Finally, if I hadn’t seen Netflix’s original series Big Mouth, perhaps I wouldn’t be so bothered by the final creature FX.

Wilding has a graphic novel turned feature film feeling to it. It’s most definitely entertaining and worth the watch. You can watch the trailer below.

IFC Midnight will release the upcoming thriller WILDLING in theaters in NYC and LA as well as on VOD and Digital HD on April 13.

Review: Can Daniel Radcliffe survive the ‘JUNGLE’?

 

Based on the international best-selling memoir by Yossi Ghinsberg

An enthusiastic young adventurer follows his dreams into the Amazon jungle with two friends and a guide with a mysterious past. Their journey quickly turns into a terrifying ordeal as the darkest elements of human nature and the deadliest threats of the wilderness lead to an all-out fight for survival.

Daniel Radcliffe is almost unrecognizable as real-life adventurer Yossi Ghinsberg. Greg McLean‘s film, based on Ghinsberg’s harrowing journey (and autobiography) in the Bolivian jungle in 1981 is filled with some of the most gag-inducing moments in a non-horror film we’ve seen since 127hrs. Radcliffe, sporting a heavy accent, transforms onscreen from a fit hiker to gaunt survivor. His emotional and physical rollercoaster ride is quite the experience for the audience, proving once again that Radcliffe’s talent is far beyond his Harry Potter years.
The film is essentially broken into 2 equal parts equally. The first hour is how Yossi and company come to be in the jungle, to begin with. Relationships are challenged, tempers flare, bodies are wearing down. Suddenly, and by a devastating accident, Yossi falls into the raging river, stranding him alone. This second hour has Radcliffe in almost every shot. Blended with colorful flashbacks, seriously intense stunts, and beautiful insight, JUNGLE thrills. The story is beyond incredible, lending you to wonder how and if you could survive. Check out the trailer below!

Momentum Pictures will release the thriller JUNGLE in select theaters and On Demand/Digital HD on October 20th.

A true story of survival against all odds, JUNGLE is based on the international best-selling memoir by Israeli adventurer Yossi Ghinsberg and is directed by Greg McLean (The Belko Experiment, Wolf Creek).  The film adaptation stars Daniel Radcliffe (Swiss Army Man, Horns, Harry Potter franchise) as Yossi, Thomas Kretschmann(Wanted, King Kong, Resident Evil: Apocalypse), Alex Russell (Carrie, Unbroken), and Joel Jackson (“Safe Harbour”).

Review: ‘The Houses October Built 2’ scares up some déjà vu.

Recovering from the trauma of being kidnapped last Halloween by the Blue Skeleton – a group who take “extreme haunt” to another level – five friends decide they must face their fears in order to move on. Heading back out on the road to visit more haunted house attractions, signs of the Blue Skeleton start appearing again and a new terror begins…

 

THE HOUSES OCTOBER BUILT 2 is the sequel to the 2014 cult hit, and marks the return of Brandy Schaefer (“coffin girl” from The Houses October Built) along with the original filmmaking team of Director and Co-Writer Bobby Roe, Producer and Co-Writer Zack Andrews , and Producer Steven Schneider (Split, Insidious, Paranormal Activity).

This sequel essentially picks up where the first ends… so (SPOILER ALERT) everyone is actually alive. Surprise! The cops come to the rescue and it has all been for publicity and extreme scares thanks to The Blue Skeleton crew. Convenient, but alright let’s roll with it. What we’re really getting with The Houses October Built 2, is The Houses October Built but with even less of a narrative. The first hour, exactly like the first film is a massive ad for all the top haunted houses across the US. The only added storyline is the fact that Brandy a.k.a. “coffin girl” is famous on Youtube and now everyone wants the group to visit their attraction and they will pay them… as long as Brandy is present. Problem being, she is understandably traumatized by her experience being kidnapped and emotionally tortured. Cajoled into a tentative travel schedule, our five experience The Zombie 5k, Zombie Pubcrawl, and a few other new Halloween fan favorites. Every once in a while we get what appears to be a snippet of plot thrown into the roughly hour and a half runtime, but basically, it doesn’t really amount to much until the final 25 minutes. Yes, it’s got a clever ending but that doesn’t save the fact that the acting is underwhelming and the guys, consistently disregarding Brandy’s feelings are kind of the only real villains in the film. If you’re looking to try out haunted houses of various kinds but don’t actually have the nerve to do it yourself, then The Houses October Built 2 might be up your alley. You can catch the trailer below for a sneak peek into the sequel and can catch it in theaters or on demand starting today.

RLJ Entertainment will release the upcoming horror film THE HOUSES OCTOBER BUILT 2 in theaters and available On Demand / Digital HD September 22, 2017.

Review: Is ‘Bushwick’ a new normal just around the corner?

SYNOPSIS: When Lucy (Brittany Snow) steps off the subway, she walks into an utter bloodbath on the streets of Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood. Texas is attempting to secede from the Union, and militia forces have descended upon New York City to claim it as an East Coast base of operations and negotiation tool. Faced with a flurry of whizzing bullets and total destruction around every corner, Lucy takes shelter in the basement of Stupe (Dave Bautista), a burly war veteran who reluctantly helps her traverse the treacherous five-block stretch of Bushwhack to reach her destination—assuming it’s still there.

BUSHWICK stars Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy, Spectre), Brittany Snow (Pitch Perfect franchise, Hairspray), Angelic Zambrana (Precious, Fighting), Jeremie Harris (FX’s “Legion,” The Angriest Man in Brooklyn, Pariah), and Christian Navarro (Netflix’s “13 Reasons Why,” Amazon’s “The Tick”).

The film is directed by the filmmaking team of Cary Murnion and Jonathan Milott (Cooties), and written by Nick Damici (We Are What We Are, Stake Land) and Graham Reznick (Chilling Visions: 5 States of Fear).

BUSHWICK is unrelenting from its opening shots until the final frame. The audience experiences the story in real time just as the main characters do. With the use of what feels like a single camera, lengthy POV takes (as if the viewer were the unseen third character), add to the heightened pace and overall menace of the film’s plot. Bushwick pulls no punches with its realism. There are small lulls but you might imagine that to be the case if the scenario presented were actually occurring. Overall, the action is non-stop and scary. Both Snow and Bautista deliver down-to-earth performances and give us two very different backgrounds from which to relate to. There are moments that seem unscripted they are so natural and out of the blue. Without spoiling anything, you’ll have to watch to understand what I mean by that. The timing of the film’s release is eerie considering our present political climate. It’s almost like a creepy omen of things yet to come. Don’t be fooled by the trailer. You are in for a much darker ride than you might expect. You can watch BUSHWICK now in theaters, on VOD and Digital HD.

TITLE: BUSHWICK

IN THEATERS AND AVAILABLE ON VOD AND DIGITAL HD: August 25, 2017

DIRECTOR: Cary Murnion, Jonathan Milott

WRITERS: Nick Damici, Graham Reznick

CAST: Dave Bautista, Brittany Snow, Angelic Zambrana, Jeremie Harris

GENRE: Action

DISTRIBUTOR: RLJ Entertainment

Review: ‘Wichita’… Another Average Horror Flick

Wichita

Available On DVD & Digital HD: June 20, 2017

Guest review from Reel Reviews Over Brews

Wichita is about a filmmaker named Jeb (Trevor Peterson). Jeb is the creator of a TV series that is in decline. In order to try and save the show, he sets up a writing retreat for all of his co-workers to join him at a secluded home in the mountains. Little do they know that Jeb has wired the house with hidden cameras, due to his obsession with watching and manipulating their lives. Unfortunately for Raven (Persia White), she is his biggest obsession. When Jeb is eventually fired, he loses his mind completely and returns to the retreat with his camera where he sets himself on a horrifyingly violent rampage in hopes to capture it all for one final masterpiece.

We’ve been watching a lot of horror movies lately and Wichita joins in the middle of the pack. It takes a while for this movie to get going and once it does, it still didn’t quite have us on the edge of our seats, but it did have us trying to figure out what Jeb would do next. This movie takes a lot of the classic horror moves into play, so a few of the scenes seemed predictable. Trevor Peterson played an amazing role as Jeb though! It’s very easy to get caught up in his character’s story and that is why we have to applaud him. One thing we wish directors Justyn Ah Chong and Matthew D. Ward did with this movie, is utilize the hidden cameras more. It felt like hidden cameras were going to be a big part of the story line and they just weren’t used as much as we hoped or thought. In the end, Wichita isn’t bad, but it also isn’t great. Its average and we’re okay with that because most horror movies have been fairly underwhelming lately.

Reel ROB Rating: 3.25 out of 5 stars

Post Credits Scene: No

We want to thank our friends at Reel News Daily for allowing us to do this guest review for them!

Review: ‘The Shadow Effect’ begs for more.

Obsessed with gene regeneration, and fascinated by the phenomenon of the waking dream, Dr. Reese (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) explores the psyche of Gabriel Howarth (Cam Gigandet), a young man whose life is turned upside down when his violent dreams begin to blend with reality. When Gabriel’s dreams mirror political assassinations, he must race against the clock to not only save himself and his wife Brinn (Britt Shaw), but stop an experimental government program. With time running out, and Gabriel’s life on the line, only Dr. Reese holds the key to unlocking the truth.

There is a ton of potential in The Shadow Effect. Stars Cam Gigandet and Jonathan Rhys Meyers are both absolutely on point with their performances. They try very hard with the material provided, so it’s not really their fault that the film’s inconsistent moments of great and not so good cannot match up to the caliber of their talents. The editing is the guilty culprit. There are moments in the first half of the film with stellar use of speed dynamics that set up the plot, but the CG is downright awful. Some of the action sequences, including punches, are ill-timed and/or missing the proper sound effect. It’s incredibly distracting. The Shadow Effect might have been better off as a series on SyFy network. The script is intriguing enough to hold your attention, but I yearned for more. There is so much we’re missing or quickly glazed over that I think multiple episodes would have done a better job at delving into the past of all the characters. Trying to shove everything into about a 95-minute run doesn’t do any one plot line the justice it deserves.

You can catch The Shadow Effect ON DEMAND, DIGITAL HD AND DVD right now. Check out the trailer below.

TITLE:  THE SHADOW EFFECT
ON DEMAND, DIGITAL HD AND DVD:  May 2, 2017
DIRECTORS: Obin Olson, Amariah Olson
WRITERS:  Chad Law, Evan Law, Tony Feole
CAST: Cam Gigandet, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Brit Shaw, and Michael Biehn
GENRE: Action, Thriller
DISTRIBUTOR: Momentum Pictures

Review: ‘Lavender’ will haunt you in the daytime.

SYNOPSIS: When a photographer (Abbie Cornish) suffers severe memory loss after a traumatic accident, strange clues amongst her photos suggest she may be responsible for the deaths of family members she never knew she had. Justin Long plays a psychiatrist who helps her recover lost memories.

In Lavender, Abbie Cornish‘s character Janie is haunted by memories old and new. Trying desperately to reconnect to her childhood, she is drawn back to the home she once lived in and where her family was massacred. Problem is, she has zero memory of anything involved in that time or space. A car accident has triggered someone or something to send her mysterious gifts to help along the way. Her daughter Alice is being affected as well. Can Janie put together the disturbing clues in time to save history from repeating itself? A speeding ticket lawyer is a legal professional who practices law and focuses mostly on vehicular traffic infraction and other crimes related to this particular offense. This is an important matter because many people who commit this may overlook this and take it for granted or forget about it. If this happens, the crime may become a bigger issue. An attorney who specializes in this particular field is specially trained and educated to defend his client for charges associated with this offense. If you want to get more details, then visit LouisianaSpeedingTicket.com site.

There are several options that a speeding ticket lawyer can give his client. Several general defenses for this charge include refuting the speed that the police officer stated, moving above the speed limit but conditions warranted it and moving above the limit due to an emergency situation. If these defenses are presented, several evidences need to be presented to support the claims. The legal professional needs to establish that the need to move above the limit was there during the time. There is also such a thing as a presumed and absolute speed limit. With the former, it means that the individual who was driving has driven above the limit and he needs to prove that he was moving at a safe speed. In the absolute state, the speeding ticket lawyer has to defend a person who has actually driven above it even though it was just one mile over the limit.

Cornish is wonderful in this role. It’s a subtle and believable performance under truly bizarre circumstances. Dermot Mulroney plays her only living relative and uncle. His genuine and seemingly even paced presence is a gift to the film. Not to be left out is the altogether unsettling Justin Long. As Janie’s doctor, there is something a little extra strange about his character that will drive your brain to do somersaults as the plot twists at every turn. A bit of a departure from his usual fare, there is no denying his talent here. Nothing but praise for the entire cast as the chemistry is palpable. Director Ed Gass-Donnelly uses music and sound to his advantage to build the unease. With co-writer Colin Frizzell, the script will challenge you at every turn. Clever use of what appears to be a 360-degree camera and quick cuts only adds to the suspense. You will not figure it out until the final 10-15 minutes of the film. Lavender is a thrilling little gem.

TITLE:  LAVENDER
THEATRICAL, VOD AND DIGITAL HD RELEASE DATE: March 3, 2017
DIRECTOR: Ed Gass-Donnelly
WRITER:  Colin Frizzell, Ed Gass-Donnelly
CAST: Abbie Cornish, Diego Klattenhoff, Justin Long, Dermot Mulroney
GENRE: Thriller
DISTRIBUTOR: AMBI Media Group & Samuel Goldwyn Films

 

Review: ‘THE CONNECTION’ out on DVD, Blu-Ray, and HD Digital!

The Connection posterA stylish, ’70’s-period crime thriller inspired by true events, THE CONNECTION tells the story of real-life Marseille magistrate Pierre Michel (Academy Award® Winner Jean DujardinThe Artist, The Wolf of Wall Street) and his relentless crusade to dismantle the most notorious drug smuggling operation in history: the French Connection. In his crosshairs is charismatic and wealthy kingpin, Gatean, who runs the largest underground heroin trade into the States. Though the fearless and tenacious Michel, aided by a task force of elite cops, will stop at nothing to ensure the crime ring’s demise, Zampa’s “La French” always seems one step ahead. As La French mounts its retaliation, Michel will be forced to make the most difficult decision of his life: to continue waging his war, or ensure his family’s safety, before it’s too late.The connection
This film is massively dynamic. From the crisp and well framed cinematography to the outstanding cast. Dujardin proves he is still a star as Michel. He owns every moment on screen as his presence is captivating. Gilles Lellouche as Gaëtan ‘Tany’ Zampa is just as powerful. In a script where both men are equally determined to protect their legacy, Dujardin and Lellouche are movie magic when they appear on screen together. The film is action packed. Even with a runtime of 135 mins, it never seems like it drags. If you’re a fan of Netflix‘s new series Narcos, The Connection is right up your alley.The connection 2 still
It deserves the multitude of praise and awards is has garnered thus far. Director Cédric Jimenez (also one of the screenwriters) clearly knows his stuff. I’d love to see more from him asap. The overall look is pretty killer from the slick wardrobe to the soundtrack of the era filled club scenes. They nailed it.  While the idea of cops and gangsters is anything new, I still think this film keeps your interest with it’s mixture of action and plan of action. The acting is beyond solid with a vast array of bad guys to run through. DVD extras include a featurette on the making of The Connection as well as some great deleted scenes. We highly recommend you catch this film and thankfully, now you can!
 
Product Information
Language: French                                                     
Subtitles: English
Widescreen: Yes
Length: 135 min.
Year: 2014                                        
Genre: Action/Foreign
Rating: NR
CC: No
DVD
SRP: $24.99                                                  
Blu-Ray
SRP: $29.93
About Drafthouse Films
Drafthouse Films, the film distribution arm of the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, is a curated brand of provocative, visionary and artfully unusual films new and old from around the world. Following the earnestly simple motto of “sharing the films we love with widest audience possible,” Drafthouse Films debuted in 2010 with the theatrical release of Four Lions, which was named of Time Magazine’s “Top 10 Films Of The Year.” Their diverse and unique slate includes the highly-acclaimed, Oscar® nominated documentary The Act Of Killing produced by Errol Morris and Werner Herzog, 2013 SXSW Midnight Audience Award winner Cheap Thrills starring David Koechner (Anchorman), British auteur Ben Wheatley’s psychedelic trip into magic and madness, A Field In England, Ari Folman’s Cannes Film Festival selected sci-fi epic The Congress starring Robin Wright, Harvey Keith, Jon Hamm and Paul Giamatti, Midnight Movie sensations Miami Connection andThe Visitor and rediscovered classics Wake in Fright and Ms. 45. Recent and upcoming releases include Dutch thriller Borgman, Michel Gondry’s Mood Indigo, Sundance Award-winning documentaries The Overnighters and the recently acquired Look of Silence, Joshua Oppenheimer’s stunning follow up to The Act of Killing. Drafthouse Films distributes films theatrically, through home video, VOD and their direct-to-consumer platforms integrating into the ever-growing Alamo Drafthouse entertainment lifestyle brand, which along with the Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas includes: Mondo, the collectible art boutique; Fantastic Fest, the largest international genre film festival in the US; and the pop culture website Birth.Movies.Death.