Mandy

In the lead-up to Halloween, there are a number of new horror releases scheduled for September and October. There are horror comedies, vampires and alligators, re-makes and sequels, and even a horror musical. One of the films that seems to stand above the rest is Mandy, which earned excellent reviews at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and has very high ratings in both Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic.

The film is directed by Panos Cosmatos, an Italian-Canadian director and screenwriter. It stars Nicolas Cage, whom I haven't seen in a movie for quite a long time. Cage is a good actor-- although in my view he tends toward histrionics in many of his roles--but he's had the misfortune of being cast in a lot of unmemorable films. Apparently, however, his acting in this movie is getting rave reviews, one critic even calling it "the performance of a lifetime".

The film is set in the Pacific Northwest in 1983 where two loners, Red Miller (Nicolas Cage) and Mandy Bloom (Andrea Riseborough) have fallen deeply in love and now enjoy a quiet, peaceful existence together. Miller's life is destroyed when a band of "ravaging cultists and supernatural creatures" invades his home and kills Mandy. He now lives for one thing only: to hunt down this band and exact revenge.

I must admit that I'm not fond of revenge films, and this is a particularly bloody one. But if you're not squeamish, you might want to catch this movie, which may well become a cult classic.

To view the trailer, please click here.

The film is in theatres on September 14.

Award-Winning Horror Films

Now that this year's Academy Awards show has aired, I thought it might be interesting to look back at horror/suspense films that were nominated for or won Oscars. Maybe you'll spot some of your favorites.

Here goes:

Rosemary's Baby - Mia Farrow won the best supporting actress award;

The Exorcist - This movie was nominated for nine awards and was the first horror movie to be nominated for best picture. It won awards for best sound and best screenplay;

Jaws - This Spielberg movie was nominated in various categories, including best picture, and won for best editing, best score, and best sound;

Aliens - This movie, one of the all-time great science fiction films, won for best visual effects and best sound editing;

The Silence of the Lambs - This movie has the distinction of being the first and only horror/suspense movie to win the Oscar for best picture (as well as a slew of other awards);

Jurassic Park - This ground-breaking movie won Oscars for best sound effects' editing, best sound, and best visual effects.

To see other films of this genre that received a nod from the Academy, please visit http://horror.about.com/od/horrorthem....

(Reprinted from an earlier blog post.)

Mutantis: A New Film from Dire Wit Films

 

 

We're pleased to introduce Mutantis, a new film  produced by Dire Wit Films, an indie company. It is a parody of and homage to the more sleazy monster films of the '70s, and is written by Mark Leake and directed by Kelly Fitzgerald.
 

 

Synopsis

 

When an unscrupulous scientist drags his stepchildren out into the forest to use them as bait--in the hopes of luring out Bigfoot--not even the team of hillbillies he hires can contain the horror they find: the horror of Mutantis! Only the adventurer Dr. William Fury may be able to stop the beast, but hope dwindles fast once Dr. Fury realizes that the monster is not only intent on murder, but procreation as well. Could this be the end of the world as we know it?

Our Review of Mutantis

 

Horror film buffs--especially those who like campy movies--will enjoy this send-up of the "more sleazy" horror movies of the '70s. There are the really bad special effects, such as the toy helicopter, that pay homage to Ed Wood, the badly dubbed dialogue which recreates the worst of the old Italian horror movies, a hokey and badly-costumed Godzilla-like monster who personifies EVIL, and a plot worthy of the best/worst of low-budget horror films, with the theme of toxic sludge mutation thrown in for good measure. To add to the general confusion, Mutantis is not only half-man and half-beast, but also half-female and half-male, and the female roles in the film are played by males. 

 

If you're looking for "buckets of gore, cheese, [and] sleaze," Mutantis is definitely your film! (Quotation from Amazon: Editorial Review of Mutantis)

NOTE: Due to the graphic nature of this film, it is not suitable for viewing by children and young teens.

 

 

Additional Information 

 

If you'd like to watch a trailer of Mutantis, please go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttb40xc5JEQ

 

Amazon Buy Link (DVD): http://www.amazon.com/Mutantis-Darren-Bolk/dp/B00ND52RMI/.

 
Digital copies are also available  for purchase or rental at the Dire Wit Films website.