Ten Contemporary Incarnations of the Grindhouse Genre

Hobo With a Shotgun (2011)

The grindhouse genre seems to be going through a bit of resurgence recently. The new releases are different from the originals in many aspects, but all manage to capture the gruesome, gritty hilarity that makes the original players so damn addictive.

We look at 10 recent films showcasing the future of grindhouse .



Classic grindhouse movies from the 70s were very cheaply made so, not very surprisingly, they often descended into porn. This made them perfect for the rundown local XXX theatre and that’s where they lived for many years. That is until some fans of the excess violence and perverse plots grew up to become film makers and what do filmmakers do with their influences? That’s right; they use them to their advantage.

Due to the recent spike in interest, grindhouse movies have lifted themselves (slightly) out of the gutter. Now they still contain all the comic book violence and bizarre plot lines but they are better made, usually with proper film budgets, and are no longer (entirely) riddled with porn. In light of this we have compiled, for your reading pleasure, a list of ten films influenced by the grindhouse genre released since the turn of the century. Enjoy!

Battle Royale (2000)
Battle Royale has altered the amount of violence we will readily accept from our entertainment. Its insanity and gore are unparalleled; therefore I believe it deserves a mention.

What do you do with an overpopulated country that loves good entertainment? Send a randomly selected group to an island give every individual a weapon, force them to kill each other and broadcast it so the lucky ones around the country can indulge in some coliseum style fun. If the run: kill them. If they won’t kill: kill them. If the accidently wander into a closed area: kill them. You get the idea.

Kill Bill Vol. I and II (2003/4)
Tarantino has never tried to hide his love of grindhouse; all our suspicions were confirmed with the release of Deathproof. Previous to this he always used influences from the genre and one movie that was not only influenced but affected the way that grindhouse movies were developing was Kill Bill.
A pregnant woman, (Uma Thurman), is hunted down on her wedding day and left for dead by the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. She comes out of a coma to a world without her baby or husband and is more than a little pissed. Revenge will be had! Samurai swords, child assassins, one-eyed temptresses, the ever present foot fetish and, of course, buckets of blood. Our interest has been sparked.

House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
This is one of those you-think-it’s-not-as-bad-as-you-remember-so-you-decide-to-watch-it-again-only-to-discover-it’s-worse movies. The most bizarre films of modern times; it’ll make you sick but that’s the objective.

A group of young people taking a trip across America decide to take a detour in order to follow up on the urban legend of Dr Satan. Their car (inevitably) breaks down so they call into a house to find help. Little do they know they have stumbled upon a family of psychotic serial killers. Then the fun begins! Ghouls, freaks and monsters litter every scene. It definitely subscribes to the grindhouse idea of dealing with taboo subjects.

Hostel (2004)
Dubbed as “gorn” when it was first released, Hostel is another that certainly deals with taboo subjects and inflicts a little sickly feeling on all viewers. The excessive violence is becoming more common as the resurgence of the grindhouse develops, wonderful if you’re into that sort of thing, not so much if you’re into butterflies and unicorns.

Another group of travelling youngsters are faced with a brutal demise. There’s a lesson in there somewhere but I can’t seem to decipher it… Backpacking across Europe three American guys get locked out of their hostel only to be told of the best frickin’ place on Earth! The women are hot and have a penchant for American guys, it’s cheap and close. Where is it? Slovakia. Eh… OK! The three guys turn up and are greeted with porn star women; everything is how they were told. They did leave out one teeny weeny detail though; you go there you’re most likely going to be kidnapped and murdered in the most brutal fashion possible. But the hot women?! They’re in on it too; the entire bloody country seems to be out to get these guys!
So much torture…

Death Proof (2007)
Probably a bit of a cheat as it is part of the Grindhouse double bill but that just backs up my claim… I’m including it anyway.

Tarantino is really pushing this grindhouse thing but we don’t have a problem because he’s doing it well. This homage to the era follows a former Hollywood stuntman, Mike, and his “death-proof” stunt car. Mike likes to take pretty girls out in his car and then kill them. It’s a good relationship.

We follow him while he stalks a group of voluptuous young women from Austin, Texas then disappearing into the night after he lures away his victim. He turns up again in Labanon, Tennessee only to come up against a group of women that can hold their own. Amazing stunt scenes throughout and a completely unrealistic story line; this is grindhouse.

Planet Terror (2007)
Utterly ridiculous, brilliantly stupid and bone chillingly graphic (the wrist in the car door… ugh, sends shivers down my spine every time). An offering to the gods of the grindhouse if I ever saw one.

People start to turn into mutant flesh-eating zombies after the release of an experimental bio-nerve gas from a remote military base in Texas. Those left unaffected form groups in order to survive; one such group is home to stripper Cherry, (Rose McGowan); a nobody in her former life but an ass-kicking Madonna in these post-apocalyptic times. She loses her leg only to have it replaced with an automatic machine gun; genius! Rodriguez goes all the way on this one; his personal passion for the genre shining through.

Black Dynamite (2009)
The grindhouse genre certainly included Blaxploitation flicks and there is none better than the hilarious Black Dynamite. Ex-CIA agent and full time ladies-man, Black Dynamite, (Michael Jai White), is out to avenge his brother’s death against Kung Fu masters and THE MAN. Yeah bitches! That’s what I call funky fresh.

This is a bad ass, tough as nails action hero that takes no prisoners whether he’s chatting up foxy mommas or taking down the man, Black Dynamite knows where it’s at! You have to talk like that when you watch it. It’s just so infectious!

Machete (2010)
The first film to be adapted into a feature from the fake trailers that were made for in between Tarantino and Rodriguez’ Grindhouse double bill. Made by Rodriguez, he just keeps setting the stakes higher, and featuring an all-star cast, (Danny Trejo, Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba, Steven Segal to name just a few), with some of the most memorable quotes in modern cinema, “you just fucked with the wrong Mexican” and “We didn’t cross the border; the border crossed us!”

Setup and betrayed, ex-Federale Machete will have nothing get in his way as he seeks his brutal revenge on his former boss. He shows no emotion and can crush your head with one hand; you do not mess with Machete.

Piranha 3D (2010)
A remake of the 1978 original by Rodger Corma, Piranha ticks all the right boxes; dancing girls in bikinis, carnivorous fish and Christopher Lloyd! After an earthquake a massive cavern is opened up on the bottom of a lake releasing swarms of prehistoric piranhas into the bathing area. To make matters worse Spring break has arrived and the lake is filled with drunken students. The waters will run red with their blood!

Bodies being ripped apart in mind blowing 3D; the up side of the modern incarnation; no grainy footage, we want to see every detail of the gore!

Hobo With a Shotgun (2011)
Following in Machete’s footsteps, the idea for this film was also born of the grindhouse trailer competition. Not to be overshadowed Hobo with a Shotgun is an entirely different animal.

He, (Rutger Hauer), is landed in a new city where chaos reigns but all he wants is a lawnmower. Instead he decides to make the world a better place, the only way he knows how; by picking up a 20-gauge shot gun. The police are useless so justice will reign down in the most unlikely form. As loyal to the original form as it possibly could be, this signals the full return of the grindhouse genre!

The most recent instalments seem to be a sign of things to come, with the on-going grindhouse competition and a huge resurgence of interest we will not seen the end of this gritty, gory genre for a long time.

Drew Barrymore to direct Heist Society

 

Drew Barrymore will produce and most likely direct an adaptation of Ally Carter's young adult novel Heist Society.

Barrymore has been made a producer on the Warner Bros project, and she'll supervise the writing. Whip It novelist and screenwriter Shauna Cross will adapt the novel, which found itself in the eye of a bidding storm last year.

The plot sees a young woman from a family of master thieves turn her back on her inherited lifestyle.
She's drawn back into the game when her father is accused of pinching a gangster's art collection, and she puts together a team in an attempt to steal the missing goods back.

The film version will see the characters' ages increase a little to become early-twentysomethings.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Barrymore is signed to direct How To Be Single, which she will complete before starting work on Heist Society. There's currently no word on whether she's expected to star in either of these projects.

Barrymore has been linked to Surrender Dorothy, one of many Wizard Of Oz spin-offs in pre-production, though looking at her schedule, it appears that one has been moved firmly onto the backburner. 

The Three Musketeers new trailer

A new trailer for The Three Musketeers has debuted.

The 3D adaptation of Alexandre Dumas's classic stars Logan Lerman as D'Artagnan, with Matthew Macfadyen (Athos), Ray Stevenson (Porthos) and Luke Evans (Aramis) starring as the legendary Musketeers.

The action-packed video, which follows on from the debut trailer earlier this year, is narrated by Macfadyen and features the three villains the quartet must defeat: Cardinal Richelieu (Inglourious Basterds Oscar-winner Christoph Waltz), the Duke of Buckingham (Orlando Bloom) and M'lady De Winter (Milla Jovovich).

The Three Musketeers opens in cinemas worldwide this October.

Watch the new trailer for the movie below

Eisenberg intercepted Jewish sect

Jesse Eisenberg has revealed he intercepted a community of Hasidic Jews to study them for a role in his new film.

The Social Network star plays Hasidic Jew Sam, who lives in a very closed and religious community, but is recruited as a drugs mule to smuggle ecstasy from Amsterdam to New York in Holy Rollers, which is based on real events.

Jesse said: "There's a sect that encourages secular Jews to become more religious. So I took advantage of that group - a group that I would normally avoid and try and walk very quickly past on the street I was now seeking out and they were really sweet to me."

He went on: "They took me to some of their very special celebrations and gave me a Bar Mitzvah that I'd never had before.

"It was a wonderful experience and they incredibly never asked me about what I was doing. I guess they just assumed I was lost, but if they asked me I would have been very open with them. I was just never asked."

The 27-year-old actor admitted he felt a bit guilty of taking advantage of them at first, but he wanted to do them justice with his portrayal.

Jesse said: "I initially did [feel guilty] because it felt strange to infiltrate that world.

"But the way I was thinking about the movie is I was portraying a character that I wanted to be as real as possible so I was trying to do them justice."

:: Holy Rollers is released in cinemas on Friday July 8.

Film means more to dad Schwimmer

David Schwimmer has admitted becoming a father gave his new film Trust more resonance.

The 44-year-old former Friends star - who welcomed daughter Chloe with wife Zoe Buckman in May - directed the Clive Owen movie, about a couple who learn their child has been groomed online.

David said: "I have a feeling it has a lot more resonance because I never experienced until I held my daughter for the first time that feeling of complete responsibility for her wellbeing and safety. This absolute innocence.

"And that was really resonant. It did make me think that, 'Wow, Clive did a good job'. Because he is a father of two girls and he was doing some work on screen that is remarkable and it did make think, 'When I see this film again with my daughter in 14 years or whatever it's going to be interesting.'"

The star came to make the film after working as a director of the Rape Treatment Centre in Santa Monica for several years.

Shia LaBeouf to film Marilyn Manson documentary

Shia LaBeouf is reportedly poised to film a documentary about Marilyn Manson.

The actor, who is best known for his role in the Transformers movies, recently visited Manson's "lair" of a home to discuss "eccentric ideas" for the programme about the making of his latest album.

LaBeouf announced on Live With Regis and Kelly: "[Marilyn] lives in West Hollywood above a liquor store. There's no lights in the room. And there's sort of these big metal doors and he opens the door and he's in a big pink kimono. It's sort of like a lair. No lights, so you have to use your cellphone to guide you around.

"We sat and watched movies for a while and talked about what kind of visuals he wanted on his album. Which are all really eccentric ideas."

Few details have emerged about Manson's new album, with only a 26-second audio clip, which you can see below, available so far.

In May, Manson posted a 26-second video teaser of his band's upcoming new material on their official website, but no other details have been released.

The album will be his first for 15 years without his drummer Ginger Fish, who quit the band in February in order to "see where [his] life and the knowledge of [his] availability" would take him. He has since been replaced by former Nine Inch Nails member Chris Vrenna.

Sandra Hebron to Step Down at BFI

Sandra Hebron, the long-standing artistic director and face of the BFI London Film Festival, is to step down after this year’s edition of the U.K.’s biggest movie shindig.

Hebron is leaving the British Film Institute at the close of the festival this year after “much deliberating and many very enjoyable years” at the business end of the British capital’s festival.

Hebron, who has been with the BFI Festivals department since 1997, is also responsible for the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.

She began her working life in academia, researching in the fields of sociology and cultural studies.

Her resume boasts a fifteen year-plus stint in independent film exhibition and she was Cinemas Director at Manchester's Cornerhouse before joining the BFI in 1997. She has made several short films, and regularly writes and broadcasts about cinema.

Hebron is well-known to filmmakers, industryites and the paying public as a popular and enthusiastic moviephile. An announcement on her replacement following her departure might come as early as next week.

Pirates about to break a billion

'Tranformers: Dark of the Moon' might just have taken the best opening day of 2011 away from 'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides', but Johnny Depp's movie is set to break the magical $1 billion barrier.

In doing so, the fourth film in the sea-faring franchise will become only the eighth film ever to hit that mark at the global box-office. This despite mixed reviews and a general tedium towards 3D, which had led some commentators to believe the film would fail.

A key factor in the success of 'On Stranger Tides' has been the strength of the international box-office, where an increasing number of markets has led to greater returns from previously untapped sources. To date the film has taken £475 million ($762 million) outside of the US with an American domestic gross of £144 million ($231 million).

Depp has two other films in the billion dollar club with 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest' both proving to be hugely successful. It all adds to the lure of the actor, and his recent decision to move into big-budget blockbusters has certainly done his box-office reputation no harm at all.

Of course the king of the hill is the self-proclaimed 'King of the World'. James Cameron's Avatar sits at the top of the list, and is the only film to have made over $2 billion at the international box-office. Hot on its heels is 'Titanic', and with an updated 3D version of the DiCaprio film set for release next year, the list could change again.

Rounding out the eight are 'Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King', 'Toy Story 3' and 'The Dark Knight'

Juno's Diablo Cody to make directorial debut

Juno writer Diablo Cody is to make her directorial debut with the self-penned project Lamb of God.

The Academy Award winner's screenplay centres on the personal journey of a woman who rejects her faith after a plane crash, only to slowly rediscover it while partying in Las Vegas.

Cody will again team up with Mandate Pictures, which also financed Juno and Young Adult.

Nathan Kahane, president of the studio, said: "Having been in the trenches with Diablo and Mason on Juno and Young Adult, we immediately jumped at the opportunity to partner with them again.

"It's an honour to be a part of Diablo's transition as a director."

Cody is currently attached to several projects, including the big-screen adaptation of the teenage novel series Sweet Valley High.

She recently admitted that she felt "pretty dejected" by the decision to axe her television series United States of Tara and partly blamed the collaborative writing process for the series' failure.

The Jennifer's Body screenwriter said: "If I did something again [for television], I think I'd want to take total ownership the way Aaron Sorkin or David Kelley does."

Fox has reportedly picked up another pilot for a new comedy series from Cody.

Noomi Rapace in Anita Lindblom biopic

Noomi Rapace has signed on to a new film from Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo star will portray the Swedish singer Anita Lindblom in a biopic about the 60s icon's life, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Rapace has been attached to the project for several years along with her husband Ola Rapace. He will star in the film as well, playing Bosse Hogberg, a boxing champion who was married to Lindblom.

The actress is currently shooting Prometheus, formerly known as the Alien prequel, alongside Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba and Guy Pearce.

In March, Rapace described her character in Prometheus as significantly different from Sigourney Weaver's Ripley in the Alien films, stating that she does not believe people will compare the two once they see Prometheus.

Last year, Rapace revealed that she thought her performance in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo would be hated, claiming that she never believed that readers of the book the movie is based on would accept her interpretation of the character.

Rapace can be seen next in the Sherlock Holmes sequel opposite Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law.

The Inbetweeners Movie is final piece of the jigsaw

The Inbetweeners writer Damon Beesley has said that the movie represents the "final piece of the jigsaw" for the E4 sitcom's characters.

Beesley, who penned The Inbetweeners Movie with series co-creator Iain Morris, admitted that continuing the adventures of Will (Simon Bird), Jay (James Buckley), Simon (Joe Thomas) and Neil (Blake Sutherland) at university is unlikely.

"When you go to university, it's a different period of your life and you have to start thinking more carefully about your impact on the world around you," Beesley told Empire.

"Here, they're at this glorious age where they do what they like and no-one picks them up on it. They go out into the big, wide, real world, learn some lessons on the way and do a bit of growing up. This is the final piece of the jigsaw."

Morris admitted that he hopes the big screen spinoff is able to sustain itself over a feature-length running time.

"For 25 minutes you'll stay with people because they're idiots and they're making you laugh," he noted. "But my experience of watching films is that you have to give audiences something to hold on to, to help you stay with them."

Beesley cited The Simpsons film, South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut and In the Loop as recent examples of successful TV-to-movie adaptations, saying: "There have been more successes than failures. The failures tend to be from the 1970s, and most of the people who tend to write about them are of a certain age and remember those.

"Wayne's World is brilliant at taking sketch characters and then making people really care about them."

The Inbetweeners Movie opens in cinemas on August 19.

'The Wolverine' will start filming in October

Hugh Jackman has revealed that The Wolverine will begin shooting later this year.

The X-Men spinoff recently recruited James Mangold (Knight and Day) to direct after the departure of Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan) earlier this year.

Jackman told Toronto radio station CHFI that the X-Men: Origins: Wolverine follow-up will likely be released in 2012.

"We shoot in October, so it will probably come out a year after that. That's usually around the timeline," he said.

The Wolverine, penned by The Usual Suspects screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie, will reportedly take the Marvel character to Japan where he trains to become a samurai.

Jackman also confirmed that he will work on an adaptation of Les Miserables with The King's Speech director Tom Hooper next year.

Deathly Hallows: Part 2' new videos unveiled

New Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 footage has been premiered.

Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint return as Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley for the final time as the conclusion to the eight-film series hits cinemas in two weeks' time.

The story of Voldemort's Horcruxes is explained in one featurette. Cast and crew recap the story behind the items, in addition to a look at Harry's quest to destroy the remaining objects holding part of his nemesis's soul.

The new footage shown includes glimpses of the trio inside Bellatrix Lestrange's Gringotts vault, Harry explaining his mission to Aberforth Dumbledore and speaking to Hogwarts students, as well as Professor McGonagall (Maggie Smith) telling Harry to "do what you have to do".

Exploring Voldemort's vulnerability in Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Ralph Fiennes explained: "Voldemort knows that as each Horcrux is destroyed, he loses his power and is diminished to nothing. Once he realises Harry is on to his secret, then there is a sort of urgency."

Is this the end of film piracy?

The latest move in the ongoing fight against online film piracy has seen filmmakers challenge one of the biggest technology companies in the UK.

In a legal first for this country, British Telecom (BT) has found itself facing an injunction that would force it to cut off customers trying to access the Newzbin website.

The action has been taken by the MPA (Motion Picture Association), an industry body that represents the major movie studios. They intend to target BT as it is the biggest Internet Service Provider in the UK. BT has confirmed a court appearance later, but made no further comment.


Chris Marcich, European president of the MPA says:

“Newzbin has no regard for UK law and it is unacceptable that it continues to infringe copyright on a massive and commercial scale when it has been ordered to stop by the High Court. We have explored every route to get Newzbin to take down the infringing material and are left with no option but to challenge this in the courts”

BT already has the ability to block sites using its Cleanfeed service, and it supplies this to many ISPs, but this service is typically used to block access to child abuse images and not pirated material.

Newzbin highlights the struggle the MPA and other organisations are facing when trying to shut down such websites.

Having successfully taken the previously UK-based site to the High Court and forced it to go into administration when copyrighted material was removed, the MPA now says that Newzbin has returned with operations run from the Seychelles.

Currently the UK Digital Economy Act states that ISPs must help identify pirates, but does not give legal powers to rights holders.

If the action is successful it would be the first targeted blocking in the UK. It could also open the way for other websites to be blocked and therefore a significant blow to those obtaining their films and music illegally.

Hangover Part II breaks box office record

'The Hangover Part II' has grossed over $488 million (£301.2 million) to become the most globally successful R-rated comedy ever.

The sequel - which reunites original cast members Zach Galifianakis, Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Justin Bartha for the movie set in Bangkok - took in $21.4 million this weekend, surpassing the $468 million generated from the first movie and bringing the combined total to almost one billion dollars.

Animated sequel 'Kung Fu Panda' also had a successful weekend, making $52.5 million to bring its worldwide total to $423.3 million while 'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides' took in $25.9 million for a total of $731.9 million.

'X-Men: First Class' and 'Green Lantern' rounded out the top five making $21.2million and $17 million respectively.

Following on from the box office success of 'The Hangover Part II', it is likely the cast and crew will return for a third film in the franchise with star Zach - who plays Alan Garner in the Todd Phillips-directed films - already getting calls about it.

He said: "They want to do a 'Hangover 3'. I'm getting fricking phone calls already."

Filmmaker Todd has previously revealed another film in the series would be the last and thought it would be good to change the "template" of the franchise.

He said: "If we were to do a third one, and quite honestly we really haven't talked about it. I think we have a clear idea where that would head and it's certainly not in the same template you've seen these movies and obviously we always envisioned it as a trilogy as you can imagine, the third would very much a finale and an ending."

Cool unused Super 8 posters show up

With the release of Super 8 fast approaching, some very cool hand drawn posters for the film have surfaced.

Unfortunately they were never officially released as part of the film’s promotion, but, thankfully for us, they've turned up online.

It is clear that they have been designed as a nod to producer Steven Spielberg. The posters are reminiscent of those associated with Spielberg’s classics, drawn by artist Drew Struzan.

Bad Robot commissioned artists Daniel Skubal and fiancé Veronica LaPage to make the posters, which never ended up being used.

Needless to say they are impressive and capture the era, mystery and sci-fi feel that this film promises.

HP Deathly Hallows 3D conversion will impress

The 3D conversion of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 will leave fans "really impressed", according to the visual effects supervisor on the series.

Tim Burke admitted that he knows some fans and industry critics are a "little nervous and sceptical" of 3D conversions, but insisted that the final film in the series will leave people pleased.

"I think it's good, actually," he told the LA Times of the 3D version. "I think people are going to be really pleased. I know everyone's a little nervous and sceptical of 3D these days, but the work has been done very, very well.

"We've done over 200 shots in 3D and in the visual effects as well, because so much of it is CG, so the results are very, very good. I think everyone's going to be really impressed with it, actually."

Burke admitted that his team had worked on post-production for the David Yates-directed conclusion to the series "past the wire".

"We really pushed it right way to the end of any possible time on this one," he said. "We had the big conversion to 3D as well, and that sort of added a massive complication. So yeah, we've used every second we possibly could."

Producer David Heyman previously said that Part 2 will "benefit" from a 3D conversion as it is "more epic and operatic" than Part 1.

Jennifer Aniston 'Horrible Bosses' red band trailer

Warning: This article contains language and/or sexual references that younger readers are advised to avoid.

A new red band trailer for comedy Horrible Bosses has been released.

The movie centres on three friends - played by Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis - who plot to kill their bullying employees with the help of Jamie Foxx's Dean 'Mother F**ker' Jones.

Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Spacey and Colin Farrell are the three bosses standing in the way of the friends' happiness.

Watch the red band trailer for Horrible Bosses below:

Steven Spielberg's 'War Horse' trailer

The first trailer for Steven Spielberg's forthcoming adaptation of the Michael Morpurgo novel War Horse has been unveiled.

The two-minute long clip, features minimal dialogue. It is identical to a trailer bearing Spanish subtitles and text which was uploaded to a video-sharing website earlier this morning.

Spielberg's movie is based on the 1982 children's novel by Michael Morpurgo. Set during the First World War, the book tells the tale of Albert, a young boy who undertakes a dangerous mission to save his beloved horse Joey from the fields of war.

John Carpenter's 'The Ward' (inc trailer)

It's been a long ten years, but one of the true masters of horror returns to the big screen this summer. The mastermind behind 'Halloween,' 'The Thing' and 'Prince of Darkness' -- John Carpenter -- delivers a terrifying new batch of chills with his mental hospital-set thriller: 'The Ward.'

Amber Heard stars as Kristen, a troubled young woman who is committed to the isolation ward of an insane asylum. Trying to gain control of her memory and figure out how she ended up in the ward, Kristen discovers that a dark and mysterious figure roams the halls at night; one by one, the women committed to the institution begin to disappear. In order for Kristen to survive her stay, she must discover the horrifying truth of the ward.

For all the Carpenter fans that have been waiting patiently to get scared out of their shoes once again, Moviefone is proud to premiere the poster to John Carpenter's big screen return.

Check out the poster and trailer.

 
 

'Blair Witch' director to make Bigfoot film

The Blair Witch Project director Eduardo Sánchez has officially signed on to direct a new movie about Bigfoot.

Sánchez will start shooting Exists in October, in a joint project between Haxan Films and Amber Entertainment, reports Variety.

Exists is written by Sánchez and Jamie Nash, and will follow a group of people on a trip to a cabin deep in a forest, who are then hunted by the mythical creature.

Sánchez said: "The film is the first in a trilogy exploring and reinventing the Bigfoot myth.

"We all remember the terror of watching such classics as The Legend of Boggy Creek and I look forward to making Bigfoot scary again."

The director said in 2009 that he was "jealous" of the success of the Blair Witch-influenced Paranormal Activity

Swansea Bay film festival branded 'disaster'

A film festival which once boasted Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Sheen among its high-profile supporters has come under fire over allegations of minimal publicity, poor screening facilities and a shoddy judging process.

The Swansea Bay film festival charged film-makers to enter their movies, but organiser Binda Singh allegedly spent little on publicity, programmes or film information. Local politicians are now asking where public money went.

David Phillips, leader of the opposition Labour group on Swansea council, told BBC Radio Wales' Eye on Wales programme: "(Mr Singh) had a considerable amount of public authority support, both directly in kind, and in money terms for things like his dinner and so on, and the involvement of local authorities and other institutions in giving his film festival credibility. And in Swansea's terms, this was a disaster, and yet nobody seems to be concerned about finding out why or, indeed, asking what happened to all the money that went into it."

Zeta-Jones quit as patron of the festival in April. Sheen was formerly vice-president of the event, but severed all ties in March. Last month, the festival staged its 2011 edition in nearby Port Talbot after Swansea council refused to allow its venues to be used.

Singh also runs festivals in Egypt, Australia, Thailand and St Lucia in the Caribbean, as well as elsewhere in England and Ireland. Canadian film-maker Rhonda Zabinsky told the Eye on Wales programme she felt "duped" after travelling thousands of miles to South Africa to attend a screening of her film at one of Singh's events, only to find that she was expected to drum up publicity herself.

"I have never had an experience like this anywhere in my entire life," she said. "I travelled tens of thousands of miles to go to this film festival – I spent a lot of money to come to South Africa from Canada, and it was a bit of a shocker and an eye-opener. I feel absolutely duped; I feel suckered."

Meanwhile, California film-makers Steve Rosen and Terri DeBono have made their own film about their experiences attending the 2010 Swansea Bay festival, where their film Boyhood Shadows: I Swore I'd Never Tell was nominated for best documentary. Titled Looking for an Audience, the film details their distress at arriving in south Wales to discover that their film had no specific screening time and the main audience were other film-makers with entries at the event.

Film-maker Paul O'Connor has detailed his concerns over Singh's festival activities on his Undercurrent blog. Singh did not respond to requests for an interview.

Bridesmaids debuts at UK box office No. 1

Bridesmaids has seen off competition from Kung Fu Panda 2 and Green Lantern to top the UK box office.

The Kristen Wiig-led comedy, which also stars Rose Byrne and The IT Crowd's Chris O'Dowd, pulls in a strong £3.4 million to bag first place on its debut weekend on release.

The opening haul is £1 million more than the debut for Ryan Reynolds's DC Comics superhero movie last week. Bridesmaids had a two-day head-start having opened on Wednesday, but didn't have Green Lantern's benefit of extra revenue from 3D screens.

Three of this week's top five films are comedies, with Bad Teacher and The Hangover Part II landing at numbers four and five respectively.

Formula 1 documentary Senna continues its impressive box office run as it spends its fourth weekend in the chart. Asif Kapadia's account of sporting legend Ayrton Senna's life has now taken more than £2.5 million in UK ticket sales.

Elsewhere, the only other new movie to make a dent in the top ten is Bollywood release Double Dhamaal, starring Sanjay Dutt and Ritesh Deshmukh.

The UK box office top ten in full:

1. (-) Bridesmaids - £3,445,395

2. (2) Kung Fu Panda 2 - £1,532,459

3. (1) Green Lantern - £1,105,089

4. (3) Bad Teacher - £1,061,551

5. (4) The Hangover Part II - £801,784

6. (5) X-Men: First Class - £709,787

7. (6) Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - £523,494

8. (7) Senna - £264,484

9. (8) Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules - £155,605

10. (-) Double Dhamaal - £117,285

Cowboys & Aliens gets a new trailer

With the release of Cowboys & Aliens fast approaching, a third and possibly final trailer has been released, and, handily, you can watch it below.

The film, directed by Iron Man helmer Jon Favreau and starring Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde, Harrison Ford and Sam Rockwell, opens later this summer.

Cowboys & Aliens is set in a seemingly generic old western town, so it's something of surprise when some nasty aliens unleash terror on said town, and it's up to Craig and Ford (AKA Bond and Indy) to lead the fight against them.

Check out the slick new trailer now:

Julianne Moore 'never feels confident on red carpet'

Julianne Moore has revealed that she never feels confident when walking the red carpet.

The Kids Are All Right star stated that in spite of being nominated for an Oscar four separate times, she still feels nervous when at awards shows, according to Health.

"I never feel confident!" Moore said. "I don't know that there's anybody who does. I mean, you don't look around the red carpet thinking, 'There's a lot of confident people out here'."

The 50-year-old went on to credit her genetics for her good looks.

"I have very strong hair, that's just genetics," Moore said. "And I credit my mother for keeping us out of the sun."

In the same interview, Moore confessed that she prefers to age naturally, claiming that she would never undergo plastic surgery.

In March, the actress signed on to star in the film The Seventh Son as the vengeful Mother Malkin in the first adaptation of the children's fantasy series The Spook's Apprentice.

Moore can be seen next in Crazy, Stupid, Love. opposite Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.

Watch the trailer for Crazy, Stupid, Love. below:

Pixar making 'Toy Story 4'

Tom Hanks has revealed that Pixar is planning to make Toy Story 4.

The Larry Crowne star, who provides the voice of cowboy Woody, said that the animation studio is currently working on a further instalment in the popular series.

"I think they are trying to do another one. The spirit afoot is to make a fourth," Hanks told radio station Magic 105.4.

"Whatever is going on at Pixar headquarters is a mystery to me. I'll wait until they blow white smoke out of the chimney or whatever it is that says there's another Toy Story coming down the pipe."

Pixar recently announced plans to release a mystery movie in 2013, although the project is said to be unrelated to any of its previous pictures.

Toy Story 3 opened in cinemas last summer and pulled in more than $1 billion at the worldwide box office. The characters will appear in front of Cars 2 in short film Toy Story Toons: Hawaiian Vacation.

Michael Bay 'insulted by Transformers critics'

Michael Bay has stated that he finds criticism of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen to be "insulting".

The 46-year-old director took offence to the focus on his 2009 blockbuster's critical panning at a press conference for new sequel Dark of the Moon.

When asked by a journalist if he feared another Transformers flop, Bay hit back: "Your comment is a little insulting to the artists who worked on this. The movie did make a lot of money. I admit it's not one of my better films. It's by far not the worst film ever made; that's just false...The movie doesn't make $835 million (£521 million) being the worst film."

Explaining why Revenge of the Fallen may have left some underwhelmed, he added: "We had a writer's strike during movie two, so it was a tough game getting it going.

"It really wasn't fair to the writers because normally a movie like this would take eight months to write and, because of the strike, the writers had about three, so it was a complicated, rough process making that movie. On the third one we tried to get it right and really deliver and I think we did. It's the best of the three, personally, to me."

Transformers star Shia LaBeouf has noted in recent times that Revenge of the Fallen had numerous creative issues and lacked a real script.