Microsoft’s latest holiday marketing campaign is all about how you can play Xbox games even without the actual console. “This is an Xbox,” the slogan reads as it lists laptops, smartphones, VR headsets, and other platform-agnostic devices. But despite doubling-down on the virtues of “play anywhere,” the company is…
Looking back on the late 90s and early 2000s, it wasn’t exactly the best time for the horror genre, and you’d be hard pressed to argue that anything released at the time was a classic. Because they weren’t. That’s not to say that we didn’t get any ‘cult’ classic titles that have stood the test of time because of elements other than the quality of the movie. 1999s The Blair Witch Project had a genius marketing campaign that sold the movie as a scary, true life tale, while the press made out that it was so terrifying, people were being sick in cinemas. The truth is, it’s an average horror movie and it was the shaky camerawork that more than likely made people nauseous. It’s still regarded as a cult classic, however, but what about the rest of the content from the time? Well, we did get some fun sequels such as Bride of Chucky from 1998, as well as the hairy shenanigans in Ginger Snaps from 2000. My point is, the horror genre wasn’t exactly thriving when it came to producing exciting, genre defining movies, but by the time 2002 rolled around we were at least starting to get some nastier flicks. The Ring was a slick remake of the Japanese original, 28 Days Later was a cracking Zombie feature, and I’ve got a lot of time for Neil Marshall’s gut-spilling Dog Soldiers. So, with the horror marketplace beginning to show some gory signs of life, it meant that the lower budgeted, more independent features were being left in the shadows. Which brings us nicely to the movie we’re focusing on in today’s video; Robert Harman’s They. The movie was met with a mixed reception when it first appeared in 2002, but with a big name executive producer onboard in Wes Craven, and a decent concept, does it hold up more than twenty years later? Well, look out for those dreaded night terrors as we take a trip back to some childhood trauma, here on WTF happened to They.
Before taking on the horror genre with They, director Robert Harmon already had some very interesting projects as part of his growing resume. His first feature saw him tackle the psychological thriller genre with China Lake, starring the great Charles Napier as a deranged biker, who rides around on a motorbike “targeting” people that have offended him in some way. All set in and around the titular location of China Lake. After having some success with the movie, he directed what would go on to become a cult classic horror / thriller from 1986; The Hitcher. As I’m sure most viewers will know, the film follows Rutger Huaer in the title role, playing a murderous hitchhiker who stalks a young motorist across the highways of West Texas. It wasn’t necessarily met with a warm response from critics and its commercial success was limited, but the movie has gone on to have a massive following since. And rightly so. He followed up The Hitcher with Mr snake hips himself, John Travolta, in 1991’s Eyes of an Angel, then he tackled Van Damme actioner Nowhere to Run before helming a few TV features in the run up to the year 2000. Judging from the relative success he’d had so far, taking on another horror feature was certainly in his skillset.
The movie’s budget was around $17 million dollars, which is a fairly substantial amount, considering the movie didn’t have any A-listers in the cast, nor did the production seem to spend a great deal on marketing the movie. However, there was oneperson, synonymous with the horror genre, attached to the project, who’s name was used heavily to sell it – Wes Craven. The legendary, and sadly late, director of such awesome horror franchises such as A Nightmare on Elm St and Scream was brought on as one of the movie’s executive producers on the movie. Despite this though, Craven had no other part in the movie’s production, other than adding his name to the title. It was a wise move on behalf of production companies Focus Features, Radar Pictures and Dimension Films, as if there was one name guaranteed to whip up some excitement with horror fans at the time, Wes Craven was your guy.
The production team maybe didn’t have the budget or enough of an enticing concept to bag any big names for the movie, but during an interview with our very own John Fallon, AKA ‘The Arrow’ from February 2003, writer Brendan Hood describes how he had certain actors in his mind for some of the roles, saying that; “It’s funny, you always get a picture in your head of what the characters will look like and which actors will play them. For instance, I always thought of Paul as looking like Jared Leto. Additionally, I initially thought of Sarah Polley in the role of Julia. But that’s really just to help you envision the story while you’re writing it.” Casting would be key for They, so could the filmmakers find actors who could bring the spooky shenanigans to life?
In the end, the production cast some very talented and dependable actors in the movie. Paul was played by Marc Blucas who featured in the Mel Gibson war drama We Were Soldiers in 2002, plus a recurring part in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. His resume is loaded with TV and film roles, with the most prominent being the Tom Cruise action comedy Knight and Day from 2010, plus another decent TV part in Underground, which aired from 2016 to 2017. The other main protagonist, Julia, was played by Laura Regan who has form in the horror genre and who had a successful recurring role in the great Mad Men TV series that ran from 2007 to 2015. We also get Ethan Embry as Sam Burnside and Dagmara Dominczyk as Terry Alba, two characters who, like Julia, had night terrors when they were kids..
Another key aspect of the interview our man John Fallon did with writer Brendan Hood, is how he cites a divide between the writing team and the studio in terms of how the script development eventually panned out. Hood explains that, “the original screenplay that I wrote is my vision for the film, and what got made was really the vision of the producers. Those are two separate things. Personally, I’ve never been a huge fan of cheap scares or endless scenes of people sitting around and giving exposition that doesn’t advance the plot. Great horror films work because of four important components: a strong story structure, three-dimensional characters, original
concepts, and most importantly, tension.” He also goes on to discuss how the scriptwriting process was subsequently “haphazard” and that the script was constantly being tinkered with throughout production, ultimately harming the final product.
I went into my viewing of They with an open mind and some optimism for what I was hoping to be a tense, taut and well crafted thriller. Plus, with Wes Craven lending his name to the movie, surely it could provide some decent gore and engaging characters I could get behind, and not cheer about too much when they come to a spectacularly gory end. However, none of that happened and, unlike the inventive horror movies Craven is known for, They didn’t deliver enough scares or carnage for me to engage with. I know Craven’s name is only there to sell the movie and he had zero creative input into the movie, and despite the script development issues mentioned earlier, I was still clinging on to something, anything to elevate this one from being just another average thriller.
The movie’s plot gets underway with an opening scene in which a young boy, called Billy, wakes up from a nightmare and is assured by his mother that the monster he saw in the closet is all in his head. She kinda makes things worse, too, by ‘jokingly’ saying she’ll turn into a monster if he doesn’t go back to sleep. Cracking parenting that is! After she leaves the poor little fella, he’s soon whisked away by a dark apparition that emerges from the closet. The scene’s lighting is good and there’s some nice tension built up by the tight editing, but you could see what was coming a mile off.
The action fast forwards almost twenty years to 2002, where Billy meets up with his childhood friend Julia, played by Laura Regan, who also had night terrors when she was a kid. After warning her that they are back and to stay away from the dark, he commits suicide in front of her. Julia meets up with two friends of Billy at his funeral, Terry and Sam, who, yep, you guessed it, also had night terrors when they were kids and that they are not only experiencing terrifying visions themselves, but that they have been “marked” with a sore on their bodies that won’t heal.
The set-up is decent, but the subsequent action left me feeling not only short-changed, but frustrated that the filmmakers could have conjured up some more memorable arcs for the characters. They’re all fairly one dimensional and spend most of the movie’s run-time either screaming or hiding from the largely unseen monsters, and keeping them mostly in the shadows was a wise move given the fairly limited budget. CGI creatures in this type of smaller horror movie would most likely have looked awful.
There are some moments where the tension is built up effectively, such as when Terry investigates some freaky sounds, that seem to be lifted from Jurassic Park’s raptors, and hides away in a heating vent. There’s also a nice scene involving a swimming pool, but overall the mystique surrounding the monsters doesn’t pay off sufficiently. Not for this blood thirsty gore-hound anyway. Overall, the movie works more or less as a below average thriller, but there’s too many stretches of the plot that are too dull, or superfluous to the story for it to be anything more. It’s a shame as I was hoping for more from the director of The Hitcher, but alas this one won’t be giving me any night terrors, that’s for sure.
They had its US premiere on November 27, 2002 and over its opening weekend the movie grossed roughly $5.1 million. Its lifetime gross was $12.8 million in the US and $3.3 million overseas, making for a total worldwide gross of $16.1 million, which unfortunately is less than the reported budget of $17 million dollars.
Critically, They was met with a mixed response, but some of the more prominent reviewers at the time praised the film. It holds a 39% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 57 reviews, with an average rating of 4.5/10. The site’s consensus states: “They fails to sustain the level of creepiness necessary to rise above other movies in the horror genre.” The New York Times were critical of the script but also praised how scary they found it, saying, “Though you may share the characters’ skepticism about the reality of those nightmare creatures, and occasionally twitch with impatience at the movie’s clumsy dialogue and haphazard logic, you may also find yourself thoroughly terrified. I confess I was relieved when the movie ended and the lights came back on.”
It’s also interesting to note that the production shot two alternative endings that never made it into the finished product. The first in which Julia is released from a mental institution after convincing psychiatrists that she had regained her sanity, only for the monsters to appear in her apartment. The other also sees Julia in a mental institution but it all turns out to be a fabrication of her damaged mind. To be honest, I don’t think either would have added any weight to what is a fairly average thriller for this gore-hound, and while I appreciated some of the production values, I think the troubled scriptwriting process had lasting damage on the movie. However, as usual it’s YOUR opinion that matters the most to us here at JoBlo, so what’s your take on the film? Is They a worthy entry in the thriller / horror genre, or will you be having night terrors about the time you’ve wasted watching it? Let me know in the comments and I’ll see you wonderful gore-hounds next time. Thanks for watching!
A couple of the previous episodes of What Happened to This Horror Movie? can be seen below. To see more, head over to our JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel – and subscribe while you’re there!
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In 2024, anything goes – and that means Mike Tyson stepping into the ring with YouTuber Jake Paul. Airing live on Netflix tonight, November 15th, Tyson will face off against Paul in a bout scheduled for eight rounds. And if you’re a betting man, you might want to keep an eye on the odds before making that final bet.
As of this morning, the odds are as follows, according to BetMGM: Mike Tyson at +160, Jake Paul at -150 and a tie at +900. FanDuel, meanwhile, has Tyson at +164 and Paul at -205. For those not familiar with betting odds, that makes Jake Paul the favorite; in the case of the latter odds, you would need to bet $205 to win $100. And with a 30+-year age difference, one can see why Paul is in that position. But that doesn’t mean The Baddest Man in the Planet isn’t ready for what will no doubt be one of the most important bouts of his life.
Who do you think will win? Take our poll:
Mike Tyson hasn’t had a professional bout since 2005, when Jake Paul was just eight years old and was barely in its infancy. More recently, he had an exhibition fight against Roy Jones Jr. at an event where Paul also had a match on the card.
Expectedly, Jake Paul himself said he’s got $40 million on himself – with the ego to match. As he previously stated, “The people think I’m going to get knocked out by this strong, powerful guy. All the people in my comments say, ‘Look at his power. He’s going to get KO’d.’ … This has taken a chance to fight somebody as vicious as Mike can be. You got to risk it for the biscuit. That’s the name of the game. I’m here to make history…He’s vicious. He’s a killer. I know all of these things. He has one-punch knockout power. He’s the greatest heavyweight of all time. But I will prove…all the haters wrong.”
The showdown between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul was first teased last year, with the bout being set for July 2024. However, after Tyson suffered an ulcer flare-up, it had to be postponed until November. And now that time has finally arrived, with Netflix – who has made a major push to host live sporting events as of late – streaming the event live from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Who do you think will win between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul? Give us your prediction below!
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While Hugh Grant has made his career playing the male protagonist in romantic comedies, the actor is currently showing audiences a new side of himself in the horror film Heretic. In this A24 film, he plays against type as the villain of the movie. In his review for Heretic, our own Chris Bumbray said, “It’s certainly a far cry from the stammering rom-com roles that made him such a heartthrob […] He radiates fiendishly clever intelligence, and he’s given a sadistic streak I didn’t see coming, which feels bold for a mainstream horror flick.”
As the trailer for his return to the Bridget Jones franchise drops, Grant also reflects on a past role of his where he didn’t find the character terribly affable. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Grant recently participated in Vanity Fair’s “Scene Selection,” where actors explain some of their past roles. Grant would talk about his character, William Thacker, from Notting Hill. Grant humorously says,
Whenever I’m flicking the channels at home after a few drinks and this comes up, I just think, ‘Why doesn’t my character have any balls?’ There’s a scene in this film where she’s in my house and the paps come to the front door and ring the bell and I think I just let her go past me and open the door. That’s awful.”
In the film, Grant plays a bookstore owner who forms a relationship with Julia Roberts’ character, who’s a famous movie star. The paparazzi and tabloids are set ablaze with this new romantic entanglement and both Grant and Roberts’ characters attempt to navigate the manic situation as they try to live a normal life seeing each other. He continued, “I’ve never had a girlfriend, or indeed now wife, who hasn’t said, ‘Why the hell didn’t you stop her? What’s wrong with you?’ And I don’t really have an answer to that — it’s how it was written. And I think he’s despicable, really.”
Grant returns for Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, where Bridget is alone once again, widowed four years ago, when Mark (Oscar winner Colin Firth) was killed on a humanitarian mission in the Sudan. She’s now a single mother to 9-year-old Billy and 4-year-old Mabel, and is stuck in a state of emotional limbo, raising her children with help from her loyal friends and even her former lover, Daniel Cleaver (Grant).
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Despite a recent spate of successful games-to-screen transitions—such as Fallout, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and Arcane—publisher Ubisoft continues its endless run of cinematic misfortune. The latest blow comes in the form of the long-planned Splinter Cell movie, which is now not going to happen.
Despite a recent spate of successful games-to-screen transitions—such as Fallout, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and Arcane—publisher Ubisoft continues its endless run of cinematic misfortune. The latest blow comes in the form of the long-planned Splinter Cell movie, which is now not going to happen.
Three years have gone by since it was announced that Edgar Wright was coming on board to direct a new take on the novel The Running Man, which was written by Stephen King under his Richard Bachman pen name. The Running Man was, of course, previously turned into a film back in 1987 that starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and had little to do with the source material. Earlier this year, it was announced that Glen Powell of Top Gun: Maverick, Hit Man, and Twisters is following in the footsteps of Schwarzenegger to play the lead role in the new adaptation. Wright’s take on The Running Man is now in production and Powell has been spotted on the set – and yes, he was running. You can check out some of the images right here:
King’s novel has the following description: It was the ultimate death game in a nightmare future America. The year is 2025 and reality TV has grown to the point where people are willing to wager their lives for a chance at a billion-dollar jackpot. Ben Richards is desperate – he needs money to treat his daughter’s illness. His last chance is entering a game show called The Running Man where the goal is to avoid capture by Hunters who are employed to kill him. Surviving this month-long chase is another issue when everyone else on the planet is watching – and willing to turn him in for the reward.
During an interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast last year, Wright said he was drawn to The Running Man because, “I like the film but I like the book more, and they didn’t really adapt the book. Even as a teenager when I saw the Schwarzenegger film I was like, ‘Oh, this isn’t like the book at all!’ And I think, ‘Nobody’s [done] that book.’ So when that came up, I was thinking, and Simon Kinberg says, ‘Do you have any interest in The Running Man?’ I said, ‘You know what? I’ve often thought that that book is something crying out to be adapted.’ Now, that doesn’t mean that it’s easy! [Laughs] But it’s something that we are working on, yes.”
Wright is directing The Running Man from a script he co-wrote with Michael Bacall and is producing the film with Nira Park and Simon Kinberg. Powell is joined in the cast by Katy O’Brian (who had a breakthrough role in Love Lies Bleeding and shared the screen with Powell in Twisters) as a contestant; Daniel Ezra, who played the character Spencer James on 106 episodes of the CW series All American; Josh Brolin (Outer Range), who is playing the main villain; Lee Pace (Halt and Catch Fire) as a ruthless hunter; Michael Cera (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) as a “naïve rebel who tries to help the desperate man”; Emilia Jones (CODA) as a “privileged woman blind to the oppression of the government“; and William H. Macy of Fargo and Boogie Nights.
Are you looking forward to seeing what Edgar Wright and Glen Powell do with The Running Man? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
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Ever since it was first announced, we’ve had bits and teases about what we can expect from Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: The First Steps, with fans using artwork to search for clues as to when the film would be set, which additional characters outside of the core four would appear and pretty much anything else their minds could conjure up. Now, with Phase Four on the brink of wrapping up next year, Marvel is keeping no secret about the plot of their Phase Five launcher, releasing the official plot synopsis.
Here it is, courtesy of Fantastic Four Updates: “Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” introduces Marvel’s First Family—Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Johnny Storm/Human Torch, and Ben Grimm/The Thing as they face their most daunting challenge yet. Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). And if Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal.”
If we weren’t already excited enough – The Fantastic Four: The First Steps is currently my most anticipated in Phase Five of the MCU – that synopsis teases the sort of mixture of action and emotion that come of the best films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have given us. OK, so The Fantastic Four has a terrible track record on the big screen – the movies either suck or were literally unreleasable – but this introduction into the MCU is long overdue and I believe that the work has truly been done this time around to make it worthwhile and a service to fans. The film comes out on July 25th, 2025.
The central cast features Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing.
What do you hope to see in The Fantastic Four: The First Steps? Are you excited for the gang to join the MCU?
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Poetry Comics Month, Day 15: Flow
Conan O’Brien has been tapped to host the biggest night in Hollywood as the former late-night talk show host has been announced to host next year’s Oscars. The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences extended an invite to the beloved comedic host and he has graciously accepted. The ceremony is set to take place at the Dolby Theatre at 4 p.m. PT on Sunday, March 2, 2025. The prestigious event of the film industry will be televised live on ABC in more than 200 territories around the world.
Academy CEO Bill Kramer and president Janet Yang announced Friday morning in a statement, “We are thrilled and honored to have the incomparable Conan O’Brien host the Oscars this year. He is the perfect person to help lead our global celebration of film with his brilliant humor, his love of movies and his live TV expertise. His remarkable ability to connect with audiences will bring viewers together to do what the Oscars do best — honor the spectacular films and filmmakers of this year.” O’Brien added, “America demanded it and now it’s happening: Taco Bell’s new Cheesy Chalupa Supreme. In other news, I’m hosting the Oscars.”
Conan‘s illustrious career in the late-night game came to an end in 2021, and since then, he’s been focusing on a more stripped-down format with his podcast, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend as well as his new spin on the travel show genre with the Max original series, Conan O’Brien Must Go.
Craig Erwich, the president of Disney Television Group, which oversees ABC, has also made a statement, “Conan is a preeminent comedic voice, whose decades-long success is marked by his distinctive humor and perspective. He joins an iconic roster of comedy greats who have served in this role, and we are so lucky to have him center stage for the Oscars.” Producers of the last Oscars telecast, Raj Kapoor and Katy Mullan, have added, “Conan has all the qualities of a great Oscars host — he is incredibly witty, charismatic and funny and has proven himself to be a master of live event television. We are so looking forward to working with him to deliver a fresh, exciting and celebratory show for Hollywood’s biggest night.”
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