Bret Easton Ellis has written the novels that have inspired such films as Less Than Zero, American Psycho, The Rules of Attraction, and The Informers, and has written the screenplays for The Canyons, The Curse of Downers Grove, and Smiley Face Killers. Now he’s set to make his feature directorial debut with the horror film Relapse – and Joseph Quinn, who played a fan favorite character in season 4 of the Netflix series Stranger Things and will be seen in the upcoming A Quiet Place: Day One, has signed on to star in the film!
Quinn’s Relapse character is Matt Cullen, who checks into rehab after witnessing a horrific death during a drugged-up party. Three months later, he is set to get his life back together, staying at his parent’s mansion in the hills of Los Angeles. But things have changed around Matt and everything seems off balance. Fueled by his unstable personality and the invading power of social media, Matt’s paranoia grows, messing up with his rehabilitation program. As he starts using again, a mysterious presence starts growing around Matt, and a monster that has been haunting him since he was a teenager reveals itself. His therapist tries to help, convinced that the monster is actually in Matt’s head.
Ellis told Variety, “I grew up watching the iconic horror movies of the 1970s. I’ve written Lunar Park, a horror novel, as an homage to Stephen King. It seems appropriate that my first feature would be a horror film. There is a simplicity to Relapse that seems like the perfect form for my directing debut: something direct and impactful.” He added that he has “never seen a monster movie in the kind of upscale L.A. setting I wrote about and I am familiar with.“
He describes Relapse as a personal movie and “a monster movie with my signature characters—young, handsome, rich—at the center. … It will have my strokes: sex, drugs and paranoia. It will also be a fun, lush, and commercial feature film for a lot of people to enjoy.“
SND is producing the film with Adrian Guerra’s Nostromo and Simon Wallon’s Kiss & Kill. SND is also handling worldwide sales and French distribution. They’ll be presenting an exclusive sizzle reel to potential buyers at the European Film Market. DDT Studios is designing the creature.
How does Relapse sound to you? Are you a fan of Bret Easton Ellis’s work, and are you glad to hear that he’s going to be directing a horror movie (with Joseph Quinn in the lead)? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.
Let me give you my thoughts about love. I tend to side with famous Irish poet Oscar Wilde, when he says, “Never love anyone who treats you like you’re ordinary.” This is the basis for any successful relationship between lovers, most importantly during the honeymoon phase. Love sure makes us do crazy things for the people we care for most. But what is that limitation of crazy? And how far can it get before the significant others realizes this and wants to cut the cord for good? Sadly, cutting the cord may mean dire consequences for those that wish to end it. Let’s put that to the test and revisit two star-crossed lovers which is something out of any teenage girl’s dreams. But what if that dream soon warps into a twisted tale of horrific obsession, stalking, and manipulation? We’re talking about 1996’s Fear which is directed by James Foley and features two present day A-listers, at a time when they were just starting to make an impact in the Hollywood circuit. Fear is a movie that fits perfectly within that coming-of-age, teenage culture which was so prevalent during 90’s horror. It’s also been subject of much heated debates, if it’s a true horror film or not. But today, I’m here to tell you my two cents and why it belongs in in this coveted genre especially after a recent rewatch. Yes, today we’re hanging out with Calvin Klein sensation turned hip-hop rapper, Marky Mark, and the always sweet, girl next door, Reese Witherspoon as we revisit 1996’s Fear (watch it HERE).
Fear first became a concept back in 1994, when writer, Christopher Crowe originally titled the movie, “No Fear,” with director James Foley set to direct. The film was picked up by Imagine Entertainment, and Universal Pictures. It went into an eleven-week production mainly in the Seattle, Washington area for the city elements. The Walker residence scenes including that amazing climactic ending, were filmed in Vancouver due to the script’s description of where Nicole and her family resided. The Walker residence was a sophisticated hi-tech establishment which was surrounded by water, and impenetrable to outside dangers. The filmmakers were extremely thrilled that the script’s settings matched the Vancouver residence to a t. Originally, Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio was chosen to be the main star David, but he backed out, citing the material wasn’t for him. However, Leo did pitch his friend Mark Wahlberg to take the spot as David. Both Leo and Mark recently collaborated on the 1995 teenage coming-of-age tale, The Basketball Diaries, so Wahlberg was given the chance to shine. Director James Foley was so impressed with Wahlberg’s audition, that he said he would back out of directing duties if Wahlberg wasn’t cast as the lead star. And truthfully, the movie wouldn’t have had much of an impact if Wahlberg wasn’t cast due to his perfect “wolf in sheep’s clothing” portrayal of David.
Fear centers on 16-year-old Nicole Walker, played by Reese Witherspoon who, like all her other films plays the sweet and innocent do-gooder who lives with her dad Steven, played by William Petersen, and stepmother Laura, played by the always beautiful Amy Brenneman, as well as her stepbrother, Toby. Nicole and her best friend Margo, played by Alyssa Milano, visit a downtown café, and both fall for two edgy, older men, one of them being Mark Wahlberg’s David. David takes a liking to Nicole, as they meet up at a club, their intrigue for each other blossoms into a steady relationship, or in Dane Cook’s terms, a RELATIONSHIT. After some shady and downright disturbing actions from David, Nicole starts to contemplate whether David is her real true love, or one of hell’s own angels brought forth to latch onto her with sinister intentions. It really brings the phrase, “Till Death Do Us Part” into consideration from David’s own psyche as his over-obsessive, psychotic tendencies start taking over, which spill into Nicole’s family and friends being put in harm’s way.
There are some truly memorable and intense moments from Fear that categorize it as a horror. I mean what’s more frightening than a girl not being able to escape the evil clutches of a psychotic boyfriend; let alone the failures of a parent not being able to protect their own child from it? But let’s observe why this is a horror film, as my favorite scenes provide the context. David has a liking to lurking about Nicole’s whereabouts. He’s an infection that has spread and latched itself onto Nicole, and although it may look cute at first, it starts to become a catalyst for what’s to come. Right out of Michael Myers playbook, David is everywhere, just waiting to pounce at a moment’s notice. Hell, he even infiltrates Nicole’s school and stalks the hallways looking at what she does, and who she interacts with. He even lets himself enter a women’s bathroom at a local mall. He also chases down Nicole’s best fried Margo in an intense car chase sequence. If that wasn’t enough, he would even show up in a deserted backwoods area to twist the head off of Nicole’s best friend, Gary.
There’s also a great sequence between Nicole’s dad, Steven, and David. When Steven, who also possesses a little of that overbearing, masochistic edge to him, in all honestly what dad doesn’t with a daughter like Nicole? Steven confronts David in a neighboring street telling him to stay away and threatens him. David reacts with abusing himself when Steven drives away. You’d think a father’s love for his daughter, as well as some intimidation tactics, would stray David, but It only creates more trouble in the process for Nicole and her loved ones. David tells Nicole he was shoved violently and pushed by her father during a confrontation. We know David is not just brawns, but he also has manipulative tendencies as well, outsmarting people in the process. When Steven breaks into David’s home, he finds his room to be enshrined with Nicole’s photos, a mantle dedicated to her, as well as some stolen jewelry which has a new engraving called “David’s girl,” instead of “Daddy’s girl.” Let’s also not forget the self-inflicted chest tattoo showing off David’s artistic skills and devotion to poor Nicole.
And lastly, there is the icing on the cake that makes it a horror movie on its own. I guess you can say the horror really starts when Gary gets his neck twisted like a can of jarred pickles, but the siege on the Walker residence has tons of horror movie moments which states my case. The demise of the family dog. The lights and security going out making it dark and ominous. The poor security guard getting a taste of his own medicine, or even the stalking and lurking around the windows by David, and his drugged-up hooligans make for some borderline Straw Dogs or The Strangers callbacks. Once they break into the house, the fight is on, and Fear brings some slasher cat and mouse moments into the mix. Director James Foley even wanted to have that infamous Shining, axe-to-door scene homage in there for good measure. The movie does a fine job at letting the viewer know how much of a whirlwind David can be, and the dangers he possesses if he doesn’t get his way. Besides the self-abuse, and inflicted tattoo wounds, he brings a believable psychotic nature, with that infamous line as he’s about to break into the Walker home and tells Steven Walker, “Let Me In The Fucking House!” It’s a great spine-tingling moment that people remember Mark Wahlberg for. The way his face contorts, and eye’s pop out bring about the nightmare fuel to women all over the world watching this flick.
This brings me to our two main stars, Marky Mark and Reese Witherspoon. While both go on to become Hollywood A-listers later in their careers, in Fear they’re both exceptionally devoted to the characterizations of David and Nicole. Mark Wahlberg plays the perfect incarnation of a batshit, jealous, downright nutty boyfriend in David. David is three sheets to the wind, making Nicole a possession of his own, and trust me, once she becomes part of that entrapment, there is no getting out. When Nicole’s friend Gary hugs Nicole goodbye after school, Gary gets an absolute ass-kicking in front of the student body by David. Then for good measure backhands Nicole as she tries to pull David off. Big red flags for David right there. Mark Wahlberg plays the role with such malice and vitriol that he is enshrined in the crazy movie boyfriend department for generations to come.
Then there is Nicole Walker played by Reese Witherspoon who you can say has almost played the same kind of character in her films, notably just like Cruel Intentions; where she plays the innocent, reserved type that falls for the asshole and cues some good ol’ fashion heartbreak. In Fear, Reese does an amazing job at displaying innocence lost, being forcefully taken advantage of and letting it happen, due to how head over heels she is for David. During that infamous rollercoaster scene, director James Foley and Reese Witherspoon were at odds with the actions displayed to the viewer, as Foley added the third base component as an idea showing how fast the relationship was heading. Reese wasn’t comfortable with the idea at all, due to the explicit nature of it, and in all honesty, makes the character Nicole a little too easy when her guard should be up. Apparently when you’re Marky Mark those rules don’t apply here. It does, however, make for a steamy dynamic between Nicole and David’s relationship.
The movie has an excellent cast besides Reese Witherspoon and Mark Wahlberg as the lead roles. You have William Petersen who you may all know as the main man of CSI, but he’s also just as great in Michael Mann’s Mindhunter, as Will Graham. William Petersen plays the protective, overbearing, sometimes a loose cannon father in Fear. Let’s be honest, who would mess with this guy as a young adult? Not only was he physically fit in the role, but they established Steve Walker as someone with hot-headed tendencies and could run a mean sprint, which is beneficial to being David’s foil by the end of the film.
Then there’s the stepmother, garden enthusiast Laura, played Amy Brenneman who tries to parent Nicole. She comes off a little too aggressive like calling her stepdaughter slutty with what Nicole’s wearing when she goes out on the town one night. However, Laura has time to redeem her motherly instincts by fighting alongside Steven and protecting their children, which includes a great scene with a drill. She becomes the caring and protective mother figure, that Nicole seeks by the end, You also have Nicole’s best friend Margo played by Alyssa Milano. Margo is more of the bad influence to Nicole, bringing her to the club to pursue Mark Wahlberg’s David. Margo also comes on to Nicole’s dad as she uses her seductiveness and diversion by bending over in front of him while he’s working. This gives Mark Wahlberg’s David the time to sabotage Steve’s office clock so that David has more time to be out with Nicole, and disrespecting curfew. Alyssa Milano has some great dramatic chops here when shit starts hitting the fan and even though she brushes off David’s problems at the start of the movie, justifying David’s abuse as just “what boys do,” she starts to become truly terrified when she’s pursued in her vehicle, or even taken for David’s own pleasure at a party while under the influence, and David enjoying the sadism of it all.
Fear made 20 million and became a sleeper hit off a very small budget of 6 million. Not too shabby, however its critical reception was not too polite comparing the movie as a Fatal Attraction for teenagers. It currently holds a 46% critics score with a 63% audience score. Fear does indeed project itself more of a horror rather than a thriller. It’s the twisted tone of it that makes it a horror, with some slasher elements thrown in for good measure. Reiterating my statement before, there is something truly terrifying about a human being capable of snapping at the flip of a hat, and while that’s been done in similar films like Cape Fear, Fatal Attraction, or P2, Mark Wahlberg plays it with sincere credibility. You get some hints of his upbringing, but you truly don’t know the extent of his mentality when every scene is elevated to the prior one, unleashing the direness of being in Nicole’s shoes. At least you can say David’s devoted to his women, in a very twisted, malevolent kinda way. Ah, that young love makes me all bubbly inside, if it were only that simple. Yeah right.
Two previous episodes of Revisited can be seen below. To see more of our shows, head over to the JoBlo Horror Originals channel – and subscribe while you’re at it!
As we’ve highlighted in previous videos and articles, those who exclusively purchase films through online services are not truly guaranteed to have it available in their collection when the buyer is at the whim of the service provider. The seemingly iron-clad way to have a movie ready-to-watch is if you can have it at your fingertips. There are thankfully some distribution brands that are releasing movies that have been previously hard to find. Shout Factory is one of those brands, and the company has now released details on the restoration of Quigley Down Under on Blu-ray.com.
Directed by Simon Wincer (Lonesome Dove), Quigley Down Under stars Tom Selleck as sharpshooter Matt Quigley. “Arriving in Australia with nothing more than a saddle and his prized six-foot Sharps rifle, American sharpshooter Matthew Quigley thinks he’s been hired to kill off wild dogs,” reads the description. “But when he realizes that his mission is murder — to eradicate the Aborigines from the property of a wealthy cattle baron — Quigley refuses … and quickly turns from hunter to hunted. Forced to wage a savage war against his former employer, Quigley proves that no one gets the best of a steely-eyed gunfighter — no one, that is, except the mysterious beauty who rides by his side … and captures his heart.” In addition to Tom Selleck, the film also stars Laura San Giacomo and Alan Rickman.
Special Features and Technical Specs include:
DISC ONE – 4K BLU-RAY
NEW 4K RESTORATION OF THE FILM FROM THE ORIGINAL CAMERA NEGATIVE
DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo
Optional English subtitles for the main feature
DISC TWO – BLU-RAY
NEW 4K RESTORATION OF THE FILM FROM THE ORIGINAL CAMERA NEGATIVE
“Finding Crazy Cora” – Interview with Laura San Giacomo
“This One Shoots a Mite Further” – Closer Look at the Sharps Rifle with Master Armorer Mike Tristano
If you were wondering what Sony’s up to after its latest State of Play presentation didn’t have much in the way of first-party games, it sounds like there was a reason for that. It looks like PlayStation 5’s 2024 will have a dearth of first-party games over the next year, as the company has confirmed it won’t be…
If you were wondering what Sony’s up to after its latest State of Play presentation didn’t have much in the way of first-party games, it sounds like there was a reason for that. It looks like PlayStation 5’s 2024 will have a dearth of first-party games over the next year, as the company has confirmed it won’t be…
In 2011, BioWare’s Dragon Age II portrayed its four main romantic conquests as bisexual, allowing them to be pursued by either the male or female version of main character Hawke. At the time, I was a young, mostly-but-not-completely out gay high school student, and I spent hours each week on the BioWare forums, hoping…
In 2011, BioWare’s Dragon Age II portrayed its four main romantic conquests as bisexual, allowing them to be pursued by either the male or female version of main character Hawke. At the time, I was a young, mostly-but-not-completely out gay high school student, and I spent hours each week on the BioWare forums, hoping…
Madame Web is now in theaters. The Dakota Johnson-led film seemed to acquire a Morbius-esque reputation building up to the release. Now that the film is out, critics and audiences are able to see if the movie was perhaps a victim of marketing or if it indeed delivered on some of the underwhelming elements that people online would pick up on. The review from our own Chris Bumbray would point out a lot of the baffling flaws the movie showcased, saying, “It has to be said that some of the dialogue here is ROUGH. It’s jam-packed with so much exposition and references to other Spider-Man characters that it becomes cheesy. […] Ultimately, Madame Web could have been a decent little B-side of a superhero film, but the terrible, cornball dialogue and lacklustre pace doom it early on.”
Something noteworthy about Madame Web is the fact that the movie takes place in 2003. That’s right, just one year after Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man became a box office phenomenon after breaking records on top of records. However, there’s a rumor that the film was originally shot to take place in the 90s, only to be changed to 2003 later on. The film’s director, SJ Clarkson would explain to The Hollywood Reporter, “I was sent the script with 2003 in it.” When some of the soundtrack lent itself to the rumor, Clarkson pointed out, “I don’t know, maybe, although some of [soundtrack songs] are on the edge of 2003. So I think it’s about the mix. When you look at making something in a specific year, I always think it’s dangerous to just have all the music, costumes and cars that came out that year.” She would add, “So I was looking to get this timeless quality to the film across the board to where you weren’t sure when it was. For example, Cassie’s jacket. We found that at the last minute, and it was actually based on a vintage 1970s jacket, which felt really cool.”
Our review from Bumbray would also note how there was no post credits scene at his screening, which can sometimes happen to conceal a big secret until the world premiere. However, this time, Madame Web is breaking the Marvel tradition of featuring a little tease when the movie concludes. Clarkson, explains that this is by design. Clarkson stated, “It was about telling a great story. My father always used to say, ‘If you have to say something, stand up, speak up and then shut up.’ So when I got to the end credits, I felt that we’d said everything we needed to say in the film.”
PLOT:: This emotionally thrilling series reveals the shocking story of how fashion icon Christian Dior and his contemporaries, including Coco Chanel, Pierre Balmain, and Cristóbal Balenciaga navigated the horrors of World War Il and launched modern fashion.
REVIEW: Fashion design has found great success as fodder for reality series and romantic comedies. Films like The Devil Wears Prada, Robert Altman’s Pret-a-Porter, and Ryan Murphy’s limited series Halston have looked at the intricacies of the fashion world, mostly from a contemporary standpoint. The new AppleTV+ series The New Look is designed as the start of an anthology series by looking at the tumultuous period after World War II when French fashion icons Christian Dior and Coco Chanel reinvented what we consider haute couture. With a stellar cast led by Ben Mendelsohn and Juliette Binoche, The New Look should have been an instant frontrunner for series of the year. Instead, The New Look is a ploddingly thin drama that barely scratches the surface of the subject matter at hand, resulting in a ten-episode season that barely registers any interest.
Opening in 1955 with on-screen text claiming that the story to follow is about how the creative spirit reinvigorated the world after the end of the Nazi regime, The New Look begins with Christian Dior (Ben Mendelsohn) being lauded at the Sorbonne as the saviour of fashion. Simultaneously, Coco Chanel (Juliette Binoche) is being interviewed upon her return to Paris after years away. The two icons, one representative of the past and the other of the future, are meant to be rivals. The New Look is focused on creating a rift between the two that the series will chronicle, but it never quite reaches that point. For most of the series, The New Look focuses on the designers and their lives over the preceding decades as they developed to their current point at the start of the first episode. Much of the time is dedicated to Chanel’s tenure during the war, including her close connection to the Nazi party. At the same time, Dior is shown trying to save his sister Catherine (Maisie Williams). With a decade serving as the bulk of this series story, it is shocking how little is explored in the course of The New Look.
Ryan Murphy’s Halston spent a great deal looking at how the designer created the revolutionary clothes that gave him fame and fortune. The New Look forsakes the creative process as anything more than a necessary component in telling the stories of Dior and Chanel. Had more time been spent in the creative process, there likely would have been more energy to this story, which is consistently languishing in sadness and depression. Equally underexplored is the personal life of Christian Dior, a gay man living during one of the most repressive regimes in history. The series only superficially looks at what it meant to be a homosexual during World War II, and it seems a disservice to the life of Dior. Equally, the series skirts a lot of the tumultuous elements in Coco Chanel’s involvement with the Nazis, ignoring claims she was a spy for the Reich. Instead, a lot of attention is paid to her using her connections to the Nazis to reclaim controlling stakes in her empire, and she tries to explain it away with barely a thought. For a series that runs ten, hour-long episodes, there should have been substantial time to give these elements screen time.
The faults of The New Look are not due to the cast, who are all exceptional with the time they are given. Ben Mendelsohn has long been deserving of a showcase like this. The actor has appeared in supporting roles for so many years and shined as the lead in HBO’s The Outsider. Here, Mendelsohn imbues Dior with a simmering fear of failure and exposure but does not get the chance to explore the designer’s genius to a satisfactory level. Juliette Binoche, an acting legend, equally tries to make do with Coco Chanel’s trademark mannerisms and affect, but she ends up playing second fiddle in a story that should be all hers. The supporting cast touted in the trailers are all underused, especially John Malkovich as Dior’s mentor, Lucien Lelong. It should be a rule that if you have Malkovich, you use Malkovich. Maisie Williams is excellent as Catherine Dior, providing a powerful if understated performance. Glenn Close appears in a brief role as Harper’s Bazaar editor Carmel Snow, but I wish we had seen more of her. Claes Bang, Emily Mortimer, and Nuno Lopes all provide solid work but none of them are given enough to work with.
Series creator and showrunner Todd A. Kessler, who created the Netflix series Bloodline and the FX series Damages, wrote or co-wrote most of The New Look and helmed multiple episodes. As a director, Kessler does not elevate the series above television quality, with much of The New Look smacking of small-scale visuals. Because Kessler directs the premiere chapter, the other filmmakers in the series, including Jeremy Podeswa, Helen Shaver, and Cannes Palm d’Or winner Julia Ducournau (Titane) have to follow his lead and keep things in check. With so many World War II-era films and series in recent years, I had higher hopes for the look and feel of this series, but it never can truly come together. Maybe it is because the scripts feel disjointed, as if the writers tried to tell two completely disparate stories and then attempted to weave them together. Neither Dior nor Chanel is given enough weight, and the goal of pitting them opposite each other fizzles very early in the series. I had multiple issues with this series, and almost all of them fall on the written page and behind the camera rather than the actors on screen.
A series about fashion designers and the importance of their creations should at the very least spend a modicum of time on how they realized their designs. The New Look wants so badly to be a relevant tale about perseverance in the face of true evil and yet never gives us anything to root for. Ben Mendelsohn, Juliette Binoche, and the entire ensemble of this series are excellent actors and do their best with material that is far below the quality it should have been. With a second season already greenlit by Apple, I hope they find a more energetic way to deliver their next foray into The New Look. This series, which has a fantastic trailer, feels underwhelming, underdeveloped, and ultimately boring. I would expect that even the most ardent fan of Dior or Chanel will find little of interest in this series that feels twice as long as it actually is and painfully wastes every talent involved.
The New Look premieres on February 14th on AppleTV+.
Have you always wanted to take Zac Efron home? Well, A24 is giving you your chance – so long as you don’t mind him as an action figure. The studio has unveiled a new Zac Efron figure in the form of Kevin Von Erich, the real-life pro wrestler he played in last year’s The Iron Claw. The throwback figure is up for pre-order on A24’s site.
Here is A24’s brief description of the Zac Efron von Erich figure, complete with a nod to Rush’s “Tom Sawyer”, a song featured in the movie: “Modern-day warrior, mean, mean stride. Deliver a good ol’ fashioned Texas whooping with The Iron Claw Kevin Von Erich Action Figure.” The figure stands 6.5”, comes with a removable jacket and has 23 points of articulation. It is priced at $48 and will ship in August. Unfortunately for many, A24 has skipped on Jeremy Allan White’s Kerry Von Erich…
A24 is the reigning champion of movie merch. Whether it’s a figurine of the bear from Midsommar or a Mid90s fingerboard or hot dog finger gloves from Everything Everywhere All at Once, they have hit on their niche market to provide cool and offbeat collectibles. This Zac Efron one as his The Iron Claw character is no doubt a welcome addition to their shop and is surprisingly their first of its kind. Now come on, where’s our Howard Ratner figure?
The Iron Claw tells “the true story of the inseparable Von Erich brothers, who made history in the intensely competitive world of professional wrestling in the early 1980s. Through tragedy and triumph, under the shadow of their domineering father and coach, the brothers seek larger-than-life immortality on the biggest stage in sports.” The dynasty’s depiction in the movie earned raves from critics, fans and those within the pro wrestling industry; we even named The Iron Clawone of our top 10 films of the year and, honestly, Efron should have been nominated for an Oscar.
Mattel previously put out a Kevin Von Erich action figure as part of WWE’s Legends line, while Kerry has also received numerous treatments in that form. The Iron Claw is currently on VOD.
Will you be picking up Zac Efron’s Kevin Von Erich figure? Which other A24 characters do you want to see given a figure or doll? Give us your choice below!
