remake tagged posts

March 16, 2020, Posted in  Podcast Comments: No comments

Episode 84 of The Movie Robcast casts an eye over the latest telling of The Invisible Man. From the Blumhouse stable and directed by Upgrade creator Leigh Whannell, it boasts Elisabeth Moss in the lead role as an abused woman who fears her ex may be closer than she realises.

One of the Robs enjoyed this take on the classic, the other had more trouble seeing the good stuff. But, it makes for a lively discussion and they both agree this remake of a classic Universal monster is far superior to the 2017 redo of The Mummy.

Rob Wallis also points out that, while The Mummy was an indisputable stinker, the podcast episode reviewing it was rather funny. So, in an act of shameless promotion, here it is again for those intrigued…
apple.co/39qcGJ9

As this was recorded on Tuesday 3rd March...

March 4, 2020, Posted in  Reviews Comments: 2 comments

Director: Leigh Whannell

Writer: Leigh Whannell, H.G. Wells (source novel, uncredited)

Cast: Elisabeth Moss, Aldis Hodge, Harriet Dyer, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Michael Dorman

Producers: Jason Blum, Kylie Du Fresne

Music: Benjamin Wallfisch

Cinematography: Stefan Duscio

Editor: Andy Canny

Cert: 15

Running time: 124mins

Year: 2020

What’s the story: When Cecilia (Moss) escapes abusive boyfriend Adrian Griffin (Jackson-Cohen), she believes the worst is behind her. But, as odd and unsettling occurrences mount, Cecilia begins to think Griffin may still be close by.

What’s the verdict: Leigh Whannell’s adaptation of H.G. Wells’ irresistibly premised 1897 source novel is a case of “interesting subtext, shame about the telling”.

October 28, 2018, Posted in  Podcast Comments: No comments

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE EPISODE

Or if you subscribe to Spotify…

In Episode 51 of The Electric Shadows Podcast, Robs Daniel & Wallis looks back at the movies that impressed them at the BFI London Film Festival 2018.

Rob Daniel valiantly battles through a heavy cold to impart his movie opinion. Rob Wallis, being younger and of a generally tougher constitution, is on finer form.

Movies discussed range from the thrilling (Widows, Suspiria), to the moving (If Beale Street Could Talk, They Shall Not Grow Old) to the plain batsh*t crazy (Sorry To Bother You, In Fabric, Mandy).

The Robs reveal what their two fave films of the festival were, plus the one true stinker they both endured. What to know what these films are? Listen on…

To check out Rob Wallis’ mo...

October 17, 2018, Posted in  Reviews Comments: 2 comments

Director: David Gordon Green

Writers: David Gordon Green, Danny McBride, Jeff Fradley

Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Will Patton, Haluk Bilginer, Rhian Rees, Jefferson Hall, James Jude Courtney, Nick Castle

Cert: 18

Running time: 106mins

Year: 2018

What’s the story: 40 years after the events of Halloween, Laurie Strode (Curtis) must protect daughter Karen (Greer) and granddaughter Allyson (Matichak) from unstoppable killer Michael Myers when he escapes from prison.

What’s the verdict: For a franchise with an unkillable boogeyman, a 40^th anniversary movie was always likely. Less certain was if said movie would be any good.

Halloween’s 1998 20^th anniversary instalment, H20, was a worthwhile reuniting of Jamie Lee Curtis and her most enduring co-star...

October 15, 2018, Posted in  Reviews Comments: 4 comments

Director: Luca Guadagnino

Writers: David Kajganich (script), Dario Argento, Daria Nicolodi (1977 script)

Cast: Dakota Johnson, Tilda Swinton Angela Winkler, Lutz Ebersdorf, Mia Goth, Chloë Grace Moretz

Cert: 18

Running time: 152mins

Year: 2018

What’s the story: 1977, Berlin. Susie Bannion (Johnson) arrives at the Markos Dance Academy, not knowing it is run by witches.

What’s the verdict: Remake Suspiria at your peril was the consensus opinion. Director David Gordon Green realised that and abandoned his attempt, having more success with 2018’s Halloween remake-sequel. Darren Aronofsky paid homage in Black Swan rather than tackling head-on.

Dario Argento’s 1977 horror masterpiece is too delirious, too of-a-moment, too one-man’s-vision to be effectively replicated decades later...

December 3, 2017, Posted in  Reviews Comments: 2 comments

When discussing Blade Runner, Ridley Scott said, “It’s as bad to be ahead of your time as behind it.”

Director William Friedkin can sympathise with this.

In the early 1970s he was a filmmaker in synch with the mood of the nation. He revitalised the cop thriller with The French Connection in 1971, nabbing Best Director and Best Film among a five Oscar haul.

Two years later he reinvented horror cinema for the modern age with The Exorcist.

Then, in 1977 he delivered to American audiences Sorcerer, a film fundamentally at odds with a country aching to slough off a decade of uncertainty and corruption.

A loose remake of Henri-Georges Clouzot’s 1953 thriller The Wages of Fear and Georges Arnaud’s same-name source novel, Friedkin’s movie was too bleak for a nation hungry for the escapist th...

September 3, 2017, Posted in  Features Comments: 3 comments

Horror Channel FrightFest 2017 has come and gone. Like any good horror icon, it will be back. But, let us take time to reflect upon a suitably wild eighteenth year for the festival. For the first time we have decided to round-up FrightFest with a series of awards. Awards which we hope will provide a flavour of what FF 2017 was like. So, until FrightFest 2018…

BEST “INTRO & Q&A” AWARD– Jennifer Tilly, Cult of Chucky

“I’m here now, bitches!” If we learnt one thing at FrightFest 2017, it’s that an intro to a movie and said movie’s Q&A will go insane if Jennifer Tilly is in the room. A force of nature, when director Don Mancini was late announcing her she burst onstage with, “I have a thing about people starting without me. But, I’m here now, so continue Don, I would love ...

March 29, 2017, Posted in  Reviews Comments: No comments

Director: Rupert Sanders

Writers: William Wheeler, Jamie Moss, Ehren Kruger (screenplay), Masamune Shirow (manga), Kazunori Ito (1995 movie)

Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Pilou Asbæk, Takeshi Kitano, Juliette Binoche, Chin Han, Peter Ferdinando, Danusia Samal, Michael Pitt, Rila Fukashima

Cert: 12

Running time: 107 mins

Year: 2017

What’s the story: In New Port City, a Far Eastern metropolis of the future, Major (Johansson), a human brain planted into a cyborg shell after a terrorist attack, is a front-line soldier in the city’s counter terrorism unit. A cyberhacker killing high ranking personnel at technology company Hanka is her greatest threat to date.

What’s the verdict: Mamoru Oshii’s 1995 anime Ghost in the Shell, based on Masamune Shirow’s manga, hit Hollywood influencers with...

January 15, 2017, Posted in  Reviews Comments: No comments

Director: Howard Hawks

Writer: Charles Lederer (screenplay), Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur (play)

Cast: Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy, Helen Mack, Joe Qualen

Cert: U

Running time: 92mins

Year: 1940

Film:

Extras:

What’s the story: Ruthless newspaper editor Walter Burns (Grant) schemes to keep his ex-wife and best reporter Hildy Johnson (Russell) from marrying new fiancé Bruce (Bellamy).

What’s the verdict: Renowned as the archetypal screwball comedy, 76 years on from its original release His Girl Friday remains sparkling and surprisingly relevant. With a few wince-inducing comments that betray its age.

On the surface this is the madcap rom-com territory Howard Hawks previously traversed to great effect in 1934’s Twentieth Century and Bringing Up Baby four years later...

August 31, 2016, Posted in  Reviews Comments: No comments

Director: Marcel Walz

Writer: Philip Lilienschwarz (written by), Philip Lilienschwarz, Marcel Walz (story by)

Cast: Robert Rusler, Caroline Williams, Sophie Monk, Sadie Katz, Roland Freitag

Cert: 18 (TBC)

Running time: 90mins

Year: 2016

What’s the story:  In a Parisian suburb restaurant owner Ramses (Rusler) begins ritually murdering woman to resurrect the Egyptian goddess Ishtar.

What’s the verdict: If director Marcel Walz’s intention was for his remake of the 1963 Blood Feast to honour the original movie, then mission accomplished.

Blood Feast 2016 is as leaden-paced, awkwardly-acted, and boringly gory as Herschell Gordon Lewis’ film, without having the advantage of being the first of its kind to temper the awfulness.

More than just a name-only redo, the plot echoes the ori...