Reacher star Alan Ritchson and Here Comes the Boom actor Kevin James must learn how to play nice with each other for the forthcoming action-comedy Playdate. The duo brings dad jokes and action chops to the new project with Luke Greenfield (Let’s Be Cops, The Animal, The Girl Next Door) directing from a script by Neil Goldman (Shrinking, Community, Scrubs).
According to Deadline, Playdate revolves around “a down-on-his luck man, Brian (James), who was just fired from his job and becomes an unexpected stay-at-home dad to his 10-year-old son. On his first day, he accepts a playdate invitation from Jeff (Ritchson), another stay-at-home dad, who turns out to be an unexpected loose cannon. The two fathers and their sons spend the day on the run, facing a deadly conspiracy.”
“I couldn’t be more excited to see such an incredible team come together for Playdate. Alan and Kevin are such a great duo and their chemistry in such a short time is something you can only hope for. Luke has proved time and time again to deliver high-concept comedies that are grounded yet relatable. I can’t remember the last time we had such a great, laugh-out-loud comedy, and I know Playdate will deliver,” said producer Mark Fasano.
“Midnight Run has always been one of my favorite films and this is a great opportunity to reach for that magic. Neil has written an action-comedy that’s all about grounded, relatable characters and their relationships, and that’s the type of film we’re all dying to see again. And this duo of Alan & Kevin is going to capture that magic. This film came together so perfectly because of Mark, Jeffrey and Dan, and that’s a beautiful, rare thing these days,” Greenfield remarked about the perfect chemistry of Playdate.
Invoking the film Midnight Run is a bold move. The Martin Brest-directed action-comedy starring Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin is considered a classic by fans of the genre, making Greenfield’s aspirations for Playdate intriguing. Alan Ritchson and Kevin James are an exciting combo to boot. They both display seasoned comedic chops, and Ritchson’s talent for action is something he’s been sharpening for years. Both actors are excited to star in Playdate, and we’re eager to learn more as the project continues.
True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto was the mastermind behind the first three seasons of the HBO anthology crime series, but he wasn’t creatively involved in the latest season, True Detective: Night Country, despite retaining an executive producer credit on the show – and he repeatedly let it be known that he wasn’t a fan of how the show was going in his absence. True Detective: Night Country comes to us from Tigers Are Not Afraid filmmaker Issa López, who directed and co-wrote all six episodes of the season, and despite Pizzolatto’s objections, this season was able to draw in enough viewers that it became the most-watched season of the show, with Deadline reporting that it averaged 12.7 million cross-platform viewers, with 3.2 million checking out the season finale on the day of its release. So it’s no surprise to hear that López might be coming back for more True Detective.
True Detective: Night Country picks up after the long winter night falls in Ennis, Alaska, as the six men that operate the Tsalal Arctic Research Station vanish without a trace. To solve the case, Detectives Liz Danvers and Evangeline Navarro will have to confront the darkness they carry in themselves, and dig into the haunted truths that lie buried under the eternal ice. JoBlo’s own Alex Maidy loved Night Country, giving it a 9/10 review.
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, López confirmed that she has had some ideas for what a follow-up to Night Country could be like, revealing that it would be set during “the long day” in Ennis, but said she probably wouldn’t pursue that idea because she liked where the characters were in the Night Country season finale, feeling their story has come to an end. “It would be a disservice to the characters” to just drop them into another mystery story. Still, “the constant information that I’m getting from social is they want more of Danvers and Navarro, and also Prior. There’s a lot of love for Prior. It’s very tempting. But I do feel that the characters grew. It’s a lot more boring to do drama about grown people than people that need growth. So I don’t think I’ll do it.“
But would López do a True Detective that wouldn’t be a Night Country sequel? She said, “I cannot answer that just yet.” When the interviewer noted that sounded optimistic, she said, “I cannot answer that just yet. But…” She went on to say, “This is an absolutely honest answer: I miss cinema enormously, and I do have a project that is on the cusp, actually. I was on the cusp of making it, and it was stopped to do True Detective. Now the big question is, do I jump right back into that movie, or do I want to make more TV? And, we will know very shortly.“
The interviewer then suggested having a season where Jodie Foster’s Night Country character would share the screen with Matthew McConaughey’s character from the first season. López responded, “Right. That would be … (Pauses.) Oh, f*ck. Well, there’s an idea… (Laughs.) There you go!“
We know Nic Pizzolatto wouldn’t be happy to hear that True Detective might continue on under the guidance of Issa López, but what do you think of the idea? Would you like to see another López season of the show? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Filming wrapped on director Eli Roth‘s adaptation of the Borderlands video game series from Gearbox and 2K way back in June of 2021. A year and a half later, Deadpool director Tim Miller had to step in to handle the project’s two weeks of reshoots because Roth had the chance to finally – after sixteen years – make a feature based on the Thanksgiving faux trailer he put together for the Quentin Tarantino / Robert Rodriguez collaboration Grindhouse. The Borderlands reshoots have been completed, Thanksgiving has come and gone, and Lionsgate is now gearing up to finally release Borderlands into the world on August 9th. With just over five months to go until that date arrives, Lionsgate has unveiled a trailer for the film, and you can check that out in the embed above.
The Last of Us showrunner Craig Mazin wrote the initial screenplay for Borderlands, but removed his name from the project after the script was rewritten by Roth, Juel Taylor, Tony Rettenmaier, Joe Crombie, Chris Bremner, and Sam Levinson. Zak Olkewicz wrote scenes for Miller during the reshoots. Elements from drafts Aaron Berg and Oren Uziel wrote before Mazin have reportedly made their way into the film as well. So there were a lot of cooks in the kitchen on this one.
The film stars Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Edgar Ramirez, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu, Haley Bennett, Olivier Richters, Gina Gershon, Cheyenne Jackson, Charles Babalola, Benjamin Byron Davis, Steven Boyer, Bobby Lee, Ryann Redmond, Penn Jillette, and Janina Gavankar, who plays “a new, key character” called Commander Knoxx, someone who has not been in the video games. Jack Black provides the voice of the robot Claptrap. Here’s the synopsis: Lilith (Blanchett), an infamous outlaw with a mysterious past, reluctantly returns to her home planet of Pandora to find the missing daughter of the universe’s most powerful S.O.B., Atlas (Ramirez). Lilith forms an alliance with an unexpected team – Roland (Hart), a former elite mercenary, now desperate for redemption; Tiny Tina (Greenblatt), a feral pre-teen demolitionist; Krieg (Munteanu), Tina’s musclebound, rhetorically challenged protector; Tannis (Curtis), the scientist with a tenuous grip on sanity; and Claptrap (Black), a persistently wiseass robot. These unlikely heroes must battle alien monsters and dangerous bandits to find and protect the missing girl, who may hold the key to unimaginable power. The fate of the universe could be in their hands – but they’ll be fighting for something more: each other.
Borderlands is produced by Arad Productions’ Avi Arad and Ari Arad, along with PICTURESTART’s Erik Feig. Gearbox founder Randy Pitchford serves as executive producer with Strauss Zelnick of Take-Two Interactive. James Myers and Aaron Edmonds are overseeing the project for Lionsgate, while Emmy Yu does the same for Arad Productions and Lucy Kitada and Royce Reeves-Darby are overseeing for PICTURESTART.
Are you looking forward to Borderlands? What did you think of the trailer? Let us know by leaving a comment below – and check out these character posters while you’re scrolling down:
PLOT: Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) continues his war against the Harkonens. But, he realizes that the Fremen consider him more of a messiah than a leader and is tormented by not only the prospect of defeat but of victory too.
REVIEW: Back in the dark days of the pandemic, one of the true moviegoing tragedies was that enough people didn’t see Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part One on the big screen. With many of the set pieces being shot for IMAX, it was an altogether different experience in cinemas than it was streaming. Had it come out at a different time, it would have made at least double the still impressive $108 million it made domestically. With the sequel hitting theatres, this will likely be the first time a huge chunk of the audience is seeing Villeneuve’s adaptation of the Frank Herbert classic the way it was meant to be seen, with the desert vistas of Arakkis all the more stunning on a giant IMAX screen. As such, I’m expecting a massive box office jump for this, especially with the two young stars, Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya, being significantly bigger now than they were in 2021.
Quality-wise, Dune: Part Two is a stunning achievement. A much more action-driven story than the exposition-heavy first film, it wastes no time plunging us directly into the war between the Freman and the Harkonens, picking up in the immediate aftermath of Paul’s knife fight with the Freeman warrior Jamis. Many are comparing it to The Empire Strikes Back, and that’s pretty fair, as it picks up in the middle of a chaotic war and has a conclusion that leaves us anticipating a third film (which is to be based on Dune Messiah).
Indeed, I can only think of a handful of times in recent years when I’ve been so immersed in a film. I don’t think it ever really happened to me last year outside of maybe Oppenheimer, and the scale and verisimilitude of Villeneuve’s work is staggering. By design, it feels like half of a bigger whole with the first film. Even still, I think those who might have found the first Dune too talky might find this the kind of quality jump The Dark Knight made from Batman Begins. It really grabs you right off the bat and doesn’t let go until the end credits.
Villeneuve has shot the entire film with IMAX cameras this time, giving it a staggering visual look that needs to be seen on the biggest screen possible. This might be the best-looking film Greig Fraser has ever shot, and that’s saying something considering his filmography. The cast is uniformly excellent, from the returnees to the new additions.
Timothée Chalamet was always ideally cast as Paul Atreides, and in Dune 2, he makes a convincing transition, as he has to go from the boy duke of the first film to a leader crushed under the weight of destiny. The theme of this film makes it much different from David Lynch’s adaptation of the same material. That was a heroic take on the messianic themes of the novel. By contrast, Villeneuve’s movie shows the devastating cost to Paul, with him a more reluctant leader here than we’ve seen before.
Chalamet is expertly supported, with Rebecca Ferguson’s Lady Jessica more of a schemer this time with an unhinged lust for power that doesn’t make her all that different from the Harkonens, putting her at odds with her heroic son. Zendaya’s Chani grounds him, with her evoking both her character’s deep, almost star-crossed love for Paul, as well as her bittersweet knowledge of the fact that Paul’s destiny may take him far away from her or make him a different man than the one she fell in love with. Physically, she and Chalamet look amazing together, with the fight scenes the two are in expertly shot, with the moves perfectly complimenting each other in a way that shows the character’s connection even extends to the battlefield.
Meanwhile, Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin are touching as Paul’s two pseudo-father figures. Bardem is Stilgar, the Fremen leader convinced Paul is the messiah they’ve been waiting for, while Brolin’s Gurney is his last connection to the House of Atreides. Both men give the impression of being willing to sacrifice everything, including their lives, for Paul, making their performances tremendously affecting. Bardem also finds a few moments of humour here and there to lighten the mood a bit, as overall, this is pretty heavy stuff.
As far as the baddies go, Dave Bautista and Stellan Skarsgård have bigger roles this time, even if, in terms of menace, they can’t help but be eaten alive by the saga’s newest addition. Indeed, Austin Butler’s Feyd-Rautha may be the role that finally gets people to stop looking at him as Elvis, with him playing a sadistic baddie who’s about as far removed from The King of rock n’ roll as you can get. His intensity and sadism push the boundaries of the PG-13 rating, and the final confrontation with Paul will likely rank highly among the best action scenes of the year.
Meanwhile, other new additions to the cast, including Christopher Walken and Florence Pugh have comparably less screen time as the Emperor and his daughter. Still, both convey the scheming, calculating natures of the characters with aplomb (Pugh is set to have a much larger role in the sequel). The casting in the entire saga has been impeccable all the way through. Plus, the score by Hans Zimmer remains the perfect soundtrack for what – should it get a third instalment as expected – may well end up being the great sci-fi trilogy of our generation, being up there with the original Star Wars and Lord of the Rings.
In this day of assembly line blockbusters, it’s a miracle that director Denis Villeneuve has managed to get not one but two incredible, uncompromised epics like this through the studio system. It works as a tentpole blockbuster, but Dune Part Two is also filmmaking at the highest level. It’s a real cinematic event everyone owes it to themselves to take in and hopefully won’t be forgotten come Oscar time. It’s a masterpiece.
Although it seemed like the DCEU was down for the count after the theatrical release of Justice League in 2017, the universe found more solid footing in several films afterward. However, one thread they didn’t get to pick up on was the tease of Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke in the post-credits scene in which Jesse Eisenberg returned as Lex Luthor and proposed a league of their own. The DCEU has officially concluded with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and James Gunn’s reign with his DCU will be kickstarting with Superman: Legacy.
However, ComicBook.com reveals that Manganiello now has a new opportunity to continue his Slade Wilson incarnation despite the DCEU being dissolved. When Affleck’s in-universe version of The Batman fell through, in which Deathstroke was set to appear as the main antagonist, Manganiello wrote his own Deathstroke screenplay, which reportedly was well-received at Warner Bros. before the big studio shake-up. Since Gunn’s DCU is taking over, Manganiello now reveals that DC Comics is interested in having him take his screenplay and adapt it into a graphic novel series. Although this new plan had him remain hopeful that he could gain traction from his graphic novel and parlay it into the possibility of still playing Deathstroke on screen, his friend James Gunn would intervene with some Sage advice.
Manganiello explains, “James [Gunn] is my buddy, and James and I had a conversation about it because Jim lee over at DC Comics wanted me to create a graphic novel series based on the screenplay that I wrote for the Deathstroke origin film that, when they were dismantling the DCEU, that went to the wayside as well. Jim read it, and wanted it to be a graphic novel series, but no one could assure me that, if it garnered the attention of directors and producers, that I couldn’t be attached. So I had to let it go. James Gunn was just like, ‘Let it go.’”
Reacher star Alan Ritchson has been gathering a ton of online support to be cast as the next incarnation of Batman. James Gunn is currently concentrating on his Superman film and hasn’t made any new announcements on The Brave and the Bold. It has been reported that The Flash director Andy Muschietti will be getting a second chance in the new universe as the director of the film. Even with Gunn’s advice, perhaps a throwdown between a Ritchson Batman and a Manganiello Deathstroke could be a card to have in the back pocket.
When you think of Ashlee Simpson, there’s probably only one image that comes to mind: her lip-syncing snafu on SNL, in which she went to perform her second song of the night, only for the playback to trigger her first song, “Pieces of Me”. She had been caught going full Milli Vanilli. And to get herself out of the situation, Simpson basically la-la’d her way off stage while doing a jig, leaving her band behind to “play”. Twenty years after the incident, Simpson is remembering the moment as a life lesson. But this may not be the case for others who also made some serious bonehead moves on SNL…
It’s extremely rare for musical guests on SNL to go through gaffes of Ashlee Simpson’s magnitude: musicians like Elvis Costello would instead raise intentional hell by playing whatever song he wanted, while Sinead O’Connor used her moment to send a message. More often than not, it’s the guest hosts who goof, leading to humiliation and sometimes lifetime bans.
Let’s start with Martin Lawrence, who led off his 1991 stint as host with a monologue that went completely off script, riffing on feminine hygiene and John and Lorena Bobbitt, the latter of whom had cut off her husband’s penis (the subject of many-a Weekend Update segment). Yes, Martin Lawrence has a permanent ban. Another host saved his gaffe for later on in the show. In 2003, Adrien Brody tried to pay homage to the Jamaican roots of musical guest Sean Paul, turning up in full rastafarian mode, complete with dreadlocks and a faux accent that was of course immediately deemed to be inappropriate and racist. He, too, would be banned.
Sometimes the presence of a host alone can be enough for controversy, as was the case with Andrew Dice Clay, whose 1990 gig prompted SNL cast members like Nora Dunn to refuse to work that week. Clay would go on with the show but numerous protests were spawned due to the comedian’s act containing derogatory remarks about women. Steven Seagal also caused trouble behind the scenes, proving a true pain in the ass to the cast. Lorne Michaels would go on to take the understandable stance that Seagal was the worst SNL host ever.
But gaffes have done plenty of SNL cast members dirty, too. In 1981, player Charles Rocket erred by dropping the f-bomb during the closing monologue; he would be fired from the show after just one season. In 1997, Weekend Update host Norm Macdonald slipped after making a strange noise, saying, “What the f*ck was that?” Knowing he goofed immediately, Macdonald joked that it would be his “farewell performance”…he would be fired later that season (although part of that had to do with slamming NBC president Don Ohlmer’s buddy O.J. Simpson).
On her own SNL incident, Ashlee Simpson – appearing on Broad Ideas with Rachel Bilson & Olivia Allen (via People) – said of the moment, “It taught me humility, it taught me so much about myself and my own personal strength,” adding that it gave her resiliency in terms of dusting off her boots. As for why she opted not to sing at all, she cites a case of acid reflux, leaving her without proper vocals. Steven Seagal could not make the same claim…
But these are only a fraction of those who suffered embarrassing incidents on SNL. Which guest or host do you think had the most damaging on-air flub? Give us your picks below!
Just five years ago, Marvel Studios appeared to be unstoppable. As The Hollywood Reporter puts it in a new write-up, they “had steadily been generating box office gold” with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with the studio’s “Infinity Saga” culminating, after eleven years of build-up, with the release of Avengers: Endgame – a film that became the highest-grossing movie of all time (for a while). But then Disney asked Marvel to “scale up in an unprecedented way”, expanding into TV series and animation, “with the goal of the MCU becoming a place with a seemingly endless procession of year-round releases.” Now Disney and Marvel have had to admit that the task was too unwieldy to sustain. Not only have fans complained about a decline in quality in the last couple years, but Marvel projects have also started underperforming. Things got rough in 2023, with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania turning out to be a box office disappointment and failing to break even during its theatrical run; the Disney+ series Secret Invasion‘s viewership numbers ranking it in the bottom third of Marvel’s shows; and The Marvels becoming the lowest-grossing film in the MCU’s 33-film run, reaching only $206 million at the global box office. They did have a hit with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 along the way, but it has become clear that repairs have to be made before the ship sinks, and The Hollywood Reporter has heard that Marvel is indeed undergoing a creative retooling, with studio president Kevin Feige reportedly “recalibrating the creative direction behind the scenes”.
One thing we’ve heard before is that we’re going to see the Marvel output slow down for a while. The only Marvel Studios film to reach theatres in 2024 will be Deadpool & Wolverine (its release date is July 26) – a project that appears to be off to a great start, considering that the first trailer, unveiled during the Super Bowl, became the most-watched trailer of all time. On the streaming side of things, we’ll only see two MCU shows this year: Echo, which was already released, and Agatha: Darkhold Diaries, which just completed a single day of reshoots earlier this month. According to THR, Marvel is feeling very positive about the Agatha show, which they plan to release through Disney+ sometime this fall. This gap between releases is meant to “give creatives some breathing room and give audiences the chance to miss the MCU, just a little bit.”
As of right now, Disney has four Marvel titles scheduled to reach theatres in 2025: Captain America: Brave New World (a film that is undergoing some major reshoots) on February 14, Fantastic Four (which just announced its cast and will be filming this summer) on May 2, Thunderbolts (which is gearing up to go into production next month) on July 25, and Blade on November 7. There is some speculation that Blade could be moved into 2026 so Disney can try to avoid Marvel overload by releasing four movies in the same year.
Although the extensive reshoots have some worried about how Captain America: Brave New World is going to turn out, earlier this month Disney CEO Bob Iger named that film as one of the 2025 releases he is most excited about during an earnings call. During that same call, Iger said, “Some of our studios lost a little focus. So the first step that we’ve taken is that we’ve reduced volume. We’ve reduced output, particularly at Marvel, (to ensure) the films you’re making can be even better.“
The Hollywood Reporter was also able to learn that Thor: Ragnarok and Black Widow screenwriter Eric Pearson is currently performing a polish on the Fantastic Four script, as he “has a reputation for taking projects over the finish line.” Marvel is hanging a lot of hopes on that project, as they’re still looking for characters and actors who can carry the MCU forward now that it has lost the likes of Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man and Chris Evans’ Captain America. Can the Fantastic Four‘s cast and characters take their place?
Meanwhile, Joanna Calo, showrunner of the FX series The Bear, has been brought in to work on the script for Thunderbolts.
Another issue Marvel ran into in 2023 was the fact that Jonathan Majors, who played Kang – who was supposed to be the central villain of this new saga of Marvel films – was convicted of reckless assault in the third degree and harassment after a domestic incident. Marvel publicly dropped Majors just hours after his conviction, but we’ve been left wondering how they were going to handle the Kang character… especially since one of the films on the 2026 release schedule is titled Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. That film is currently undergoing rewrites that will “minimize the character or excise him entirely”, so don’t expect it to end up being called Avengers: The Kang Dynasty when it’s released. Sources told The Hollywood Reporter that Marvel was already moving toward minimizing the character before Majors was convicted, after Quantumania (where Kang was the lead villain) underperformed. Thankfully, the events of Loki season 2 – which also featured a Kang variant – could provide the answers for how Marvel can get away from Kang.
Marvel has hit a rough patch recently, but they’re working on a course correction. As a source told The Hollywood Reporter, “They’re not going to give up. They want to make something great.“
Do you feel the Marvel Cinematic Universe can be saved with some creative retooling, or is superhero fatigue too strong at this point? Share your thoughts on the state of Marvel by leaving a comment below.
Zombie movies? Can’t shake a stick without knocking a minimum of 20 quality ones out of a tree. You want vampires? Tell me the decade and the type and I’ll give you recommendations to keep you going for weeks. Werewolves? Well, for some reason, the werewolf falls in with his other Universal monster counterparts The Mummy, Frankenstein, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon as creatures that should have a lot more entries come to mind. I’m not saying that there aren’t any, quite the contrary. I can tell you quite a few must-see werewolf movies that you all probably know but the list is not nearly as deep as the other monsters mentioned above. Late Phases (watch it HERE), also known under the stupidly generic title of Night of the Wolf, does a lot of interesting things while being a thoroughly enjoyable and almost arthouse movie which more than qualifies as a Best Horror Movie You Never Saw.
This entry started when my oldest son, the 13-year-old, asked the question that needed asking. What are some of the best werewolf movies and can I see them? The second part of that question is irrelevant to our discussion today, but the other one is damn important. I thought of all of the usual suspects and then when I looked up a few options I came across Late Phases, something I remember watching and enjoying, but that had also fallen through the cracks to the point that I swore it came out in 2017 not 2014. I took a chance and rewatched it and remembered exactly why I liked it and why I want to recommend it to watchers of this particular show. I can’t find its budget or box office numbers but it’s not an overly expensive movie and it appears the only theatrical action it saw was at the South by Southwest film festival. It came out the following year on digital and disc formats, but I don’t have sales numbers there either. Absolutely screams “best movie you never saw” because there just is not a lot of records of people actually seeing it.
Director Adrian Garcia Bogliano enjoyed the script he read from Eric Stolze and had built up a reputation with his segment of The ABCs of Death as well as Here Comes the Devil from 2012. While he has slowed down a bit since this movie’s release, he continues to work in film and TV today. Eric Stolze has far less to his name but also most recently wrote surprise 2020 hit The Stylist. The talent assembled in front of the camera is far more recognizable, well except one who is a name you will know but I literally didn’t recognize him until looking it up. The lead is blind veteran Ambrose Mckinley played to salty perfection by Nick Damici. Damici was first known to me when he showed up in that early 2000s sleazy Meg Ryan and Mark Ruffalo movie In the Cut but has a trilogy of good and underseen horror movies with today’s flick, the American remake of We Are What We Are, and Stake Land. He also wrote Stake Land, We Are What We Are, and several episodes of underrated TV show Hap and Leonard.
We will get into more of the cast later, but the movie opens up Ambrose looking to pick out his headstone as he is moving to a senior living space. The salesperson is played by Larry Fessenden who shows up in nearly every independent horror movie now but that’s also because he helps produce so many of them, including this one. Ambrose’s son Will, played by Ethan Embry, drops him off at his new living arrangement and even though Ambrose is curmudgeonly to put it lightly, he makes friends with his very sweet neighbor. He’s not as kind to the welcoming party but to be fair, he’s not wrong. These characters would bug the heck out of me too. This is Damici’s movie in every sense. His line delivery, the added age makeup as even though he was in his early 50s, the character was a decent amount older, and his mannerisms while playing blind are all incredible.
He finds a claw in his new wall, and we learn what it belongs to much quicker than anticipated. A Howling size bipedal werewolf kills both his new neighbor friend and his guide dog. Kudos to the movie for getting right into it with the monster of the movie and having the guts to kill that sweet dog. Ambrose is unable to get his gun in time to save the dog or kill the monster, but he is motivated. Of course, the community and police don’t believe him. Crescent Bay apparently has attacks like this once a month where people and animals are attacked and killed. Ambrose knows its more than this and I can tell what some of you are thinking…haven’t I seen this in Bubba Ho-Tep but with a Mummy? While the retirement community is a familiar place, this doesn’t have the over-the-top premise or silliness. The movie has a lot of witty lines but is a mostly serious and straightforward story.
For being a grounded veteran, Ambrose is ready to jump to the werewolf conclusion pretty quickly and I think it helps the movie. What also helps the movie is he never really outright tells anyone what he thinks is happening. His next course of action is to find out who in the community is the creature. He goes to where his favorite women are and its probably the right time to mention that one of them is Ginger from Gilligan’s Island, one of them is a horror mainstay from Amityville II, The Dark Half, and The Stuff, and the last one was in He Knows You’re Alone and Wolfen. Intentional or not, its fun to have these names show up in mostly thankless roles. Ambrose doesn’t think its one of the older ladies in the community so he heads to the church services after the recommendation from the local police.
On the bus we get an awesome red herring when Tom Noonan shows up as the father of the church. I say red herring because it almost seems like a rule that when Tom Noonan shows up, he’s the bad guy. The movie lets you feel that way for a while but eventually dispels it and it’s a fun diversion. The other guy who shows up on the bus is who I mentioned earlier. There is no way I would have ever recognized him but it’s Lance Guest from Halloween II, Jaws: The Revenge, and The Last Starfighter. The cast here is such a fun and enjoyable collection of actors that put their all into the characters, even if they are mostly one dimensional. Ambrose goes to a guy for ammo and while he has eliminated the father, he asks if anyone else has asked for silver bullets. It’s a great way to find out who may have been the wolf without telling the ammo maker that he is hunting werewolves. There’s even a cool exchange where he asks the guy what silver bullets make him think of…. and he says The Lone Ranger.
We cut to who asked for silver bullets and its Lance Guest’s character of the driver and helper at the church. He knows that Ambrose is on to him and that Ambrose may be hard to deal with one on one. After a really nice emotional exchange between Ambrose and his son, something that will pay off a little down the line, Griffin decides to make a mini army of wolves to help him. The really messed up part and a cool addition to the movie is that he bites these victims in his human form. It’s really disturbing. He does it knowing the full moon is coming soon and he will have them ready to go. He even does it during the day, which is always fun for a horror movie to showcase that sort of thing in the light of the sun.
Ambrose knows that the final fight is about to go down and we find out that Father Smith did know in a way what James was up to. In a classically tragic werewolf trope, James hunted and killed the beast when he first came out here over 20 years ago, but it also got to him. In maybe the best line of the movie he tells Father Smith that he’s going to fully kill him out of love because he doesn’t wish this fate on anyone. The transformation scene is one of the better you will see and showcases why we still need to use practical effects. The final form of the wolves may be cheesy if not unique, but I dare you to find something bad to say about James’s transformation.
Ambrose is ambushed in his neighbor’s house and is clawed deeply in the side but makes it home and goes full Rolling Thunder by putting on his military uniform to take on the threat. He leaves a final message to his son that we hear in full at the end of the movie and it ties up the emotional story of the movie nicely. Ambrose may not be able to see but he uses his other senses and training to get the jump on his attackers. He takes almost as much as he gives but is able to brutally dispatch the entire team of lycanthropes in convincing fashion. Knowing he isn’t going to make it; he lays down in his rocker and peacefully goes out before his son finds him.
The music is most noticeable in the final act and over the credits but it’s one final piece of the puzzle that puts together a really fun movie. Late Phases fights the glut of straight to video movies that are bad imitations of Hollywood showcases. It’s a tight tale with nearly everything going for it, well, except for that dumb alternate title and awful alternate poster. Both the name Late Phases and the brilliant orange and black poster show exactly what you will get out of this movie. I don’t blame anyone who sees the bad alternate poster with title and decides to pass. For those willing to give it a try, you will not only find one of the centuries best werewolf tales but also, without a doubt, one of the best horror movies you never saw.
A couple previous episodes of the Best Horror Movie You Never Saw series can be seen below. To see more, and to check out some of our other shows, head over to the JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel – and subscribe while you’re there!
The new Texas Chainsaw Massacre video game from Gun Interactive and Sumo Nottingham was just released for PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One back on August 18th, and the game’s developers are working to make sure the game stays alive by dropping in frequent updates. Tomorrow, an update will bring a new execution pack and weapon skins into the game, as well as new looks for a couple of the characters. A while back, it was announced that a new killer character, a new victim character, and a new map called The Mill… and now genre icon Barbara Crampton has revealed that she’s playing one of the new characters! Our friends at Bloody Disgusting have learned that Crampton’s character is named Virginia, but it’s not clear if she’s a killer or a victim.
Crampton made the announcement herself, in a social media video where she also said that director Tobe Hooper’s 1974 classic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (watch it HERE) is her favorite horror movie.
Judging by the image that comes up at the end of the video, it looks like Crampton’s video game character is going to look just like she did in the horror classic Re-Animator.
Matches of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre video game pit 4 victim characters against 3 killer characters. The story of the game has the following set-up: When Maria Flores went missing, and local law enforcement seemed to stall out in their search, her younger sister Ana teamed up with some of Maria’s friends from college to pick up the trail. The game takes place before the events of the original film.
Kane Hodder (who also worked on Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III) did the motion-capture performance for Leatherface in the game, as well as the Grandpa character. Other motion-capture performers include Sean Whalen (The People Under the Stairs) as The Hitch-hiker; Troy Burgess (Swedish Dicks) as The Cook; Kristina Klebe (Don’t Kill It) as new killer character Sissy; and Dove Meir (Dig) as new killer character Johnny. Scout Taylor-Compton (Rob Zombie’s Halloween) did the mo-cap for all of the female victim characters while Hunter C. Smith (Lucky) did the mo-cap for all of the male victim characters. Although Whalen did the mo-cap for the Hitch-hiker, Edwin Neal, who played the character in the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, provided his voice for the game. Damian Maffei (The Strangers: Prey atNight) provided the voice of Johnny, and Michael Johnston of Teen Wolf did the same for Danny. BAFTA winner Cissy Jones did the mo-cap and vocal performance for Nancy. You can find out more about the killer characters at THIS LINK and the victim characters HERE. To learn more about the voice cast, head over HERE.
Have you been playing the Texas Chainsaw Massacre video game, and are you glad to hear that Barbara Crampton is being added to it? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
We recently heard there’s a new Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie, called Texas Chainsaw Legacy, in the works. I suggest the filmmakers should take note that Crampton is a Chainsaw fan and get her into that movie as well.
As Zendaya walks the red carpet at Dune Part 2 with an outfit that resembles the Metropolis robot as a dominatrix, you can catch her in the trailer for the newest drama from Amazon MGM Studios, Challengers. The trailer reels you in with the dynamic of Zendaya’s tennis pro taking on two male protégés as they, too, embark on their professional tennis careers. Things get hot and heavy (then complicated) when Zendaya’s character entangles herself with both men. MGM has released the new trailer with a few new images that, interestingly, all involve a side two-shot of characters in conversation.
The official synopsis from MGM reads, “From visionary filmmaker Luca Guadagnino, Challengers stars Zendaya as Tashi Duncan, a former tennis prodigy turned coach and a force of nature who makes no apologies for her game on and off the court. Married to a champion on a losing streak (Mike Faist – West Side Story), Tashi’s strategy for her husband’s redemption takes a surprising turn when he must face off against the washed-up Patrick (Josh O’Connor – The Crown) – his former best friend and Tashi’s former boyfriend. As their pasts and presents collide, and tensions run high, Tashi must ask herself, what will it cost to win.”
Call Me By Your Name‘s Luca Guadagnino directs a script from writer Justin Kuritzkes. Executive producers on the film include Bernard Bellew, Lorenzo Mieli and Kevin Ulrich. In addition to starring in the film, Zendaya is also on board as a producer, and she’s joined by Amy Pascal, the film’s director Luca Guadagnino and Rachel O’Connor. The theatrically released film has been rated R for “language throughout, some sexual content and graphic nudity.”
Guadagnino says Zendaya trained with tennis coach and former player Brad Gilbert for three months. During that time, Zendaya sharpened her skills on the court, learning to use momentum to her advantage, track a tennis ball with pinpoint accuracy, and smash any challenge with determination. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross composed the film’s score, adding tension and drama to the backdrop of this steamy love story.
Challengers is set to serve into theaters on April 26.
