Day of the Dead has one of the most interesting trajectories in the Zombie Canon. The original 1985 film from George Romero didn’t exactly set box offices afire, and the 2005 sequel in name only Day of the Dead 2: Contagium is one of the least fondly remembered horror films in history. That was briefly challenged by the 2008 remake of Day of the Dead, which took the name and nothing else for it’s ridiculous story starring Nick Cannon and Mena Suvari (and Ving Rhames, who sadly was not playing the brother of his Dawn of the Dead remake character!) There is also a comic prequel, which is the only media related to Day of the Dead I’ve heard people say good things about besides the original film.
But 2008 was so long ago, it’s time to revisit the story of Day of the Dead, or at least make more sweet sweet $$$$ off of the name recognition now that World War Z somehow didn’t bomb. Enter the producers of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D, Lati Grobman and Christa Campbell, who are out to proof that they are the new faces of horror. Thus they want to create a film that is more like the original and less like World War Z. Which is an odd comparison to make, but okay, sure, whatever. Christa Campbell was even in the 2008 remake of Day of the Dead. Because this can’t get any weirder. Luckily, they are keeping the budget at $10-20 million, which should be enough to get a return even if it does terrible.
It’s a monster-sized edition to the Links post to celebrate Monster Love and to make up for Monster Laziness! So many good posts you won’t have to go anywhere else the rest of the day except all these places below. And also come back here. And share other links in the comments if you want. It’s a free internet!
As usual, we got lots of cool links from out friends and some movie news that didn’t rate its own post, and then science stuff thrown in for good measure because learning is cool. So be super monster cool and read all this stuff before I get mad!
**Top picture is Last Play by Jason Edmiston that appeared in the Village Voice, but I found on tumblr long ago with no proper attribution
**Yes, this link goes to the Daily Dot. But it’s not a terrible article, it’s actually good. I was just as surprised as you! The greatest movie that never was
**Is there a Jodi Arias Lifetime movie in the works? You bet your sweet bippy! If you aren’t Nancy Grace or someone who accidentally watched three seconds of Nancy Grace before the batteries in the remote kicked in and you could change the channel once more, you probably have no idea who Jodi Arias is, so count yourself lucky!
**Speaking of killer women, Women’s Studies is a crazy bad horror film about a killer women’s studies cult. I can’t tell if it is supposed to be a parody or what a MRA guy actually believes. Anyone with NetFlix or Amazon streaming want to check it out?
**Also LOL at this book:
**Go Go Girls vs. The Nazis is an upcoming Russ Meyer tribute film spearheaded by Wayne Clingman. Patrick Beck is slated to direct with a screenplay by Ross Bigley. The listed cast includes Melanie Robel, Elvis Thao, Melantha Blackthorne, and Ted Alderman.
This motion picture will include three critical elements to give a true grindhouse feel:
**The Gremlins remake is lumbering forward, now produced by Seth Grahame-Smith, the guy who wrote Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and the script to Dark Shadows (and rewrites on the Fantastic Four reboot.) Please feed this movie after midnight, but feed it poison!
**Babysitter Massacre sounds like it would be cooler if it was a straight horror movie version of The Babysitters Club instead of a sort of the same.
**These damn Pylopagurus discoidalis hermit crabs just can’t be found alive, except for now when they did. Also they named them The Three Amigos after the film.
That’s it until next time, bur remember, keep safe and keep loved!
The remake of The Crow somehow sprung back to life the past few weeks as it was offered to a bunch of established actors, all of which wisely passed. But someone had to bite the bullet, and that someone was Luke Evans, who is on the cusp of becoming someone well-known (he’s appearing in the upcoming Fast and Furious 6, The Hobbit prequels, and the Dracula prequel), but all that attention will turn into disappointment as The Crow (remake) is turning into the biggest fiasco since the last biggest fiasco! (John Carter, The Lone Ranger, Jack the Giant Slayer, take your pick) A new script review of the current draft by Latino Review has pointed out a few flaws with the current script. Basically, it sucks worse than anything has ever sucked before, even the DTV The Crow sequels!
Unfortunately for me, the review is in video format. But thanks to the magic of someone else watching it and giving a summary (thanks, Bloody Disgusting!) we have an idea of the main reason I’m talking about this:
Eric Draven is now a bible quoting police officer (not a rock musician) who has to paint his face because he’s invisible
Now, I’m no The Crow super-fan and have no real dog in this fight re: respecting the original source. Hence my call to action – WE MUST DO EVERYTHING IN OUR POWER TO GET INVISIBLE BIBLE GHOST COP: THE MOVIE MADE!! This film will be the beginning and end of awful ridiculousness, and it must be born!
**Stephen Chow is rumored to star in a sequel to the latest Journey to the West film. Of course, he was rumored to start in the last one that he directed, and he doesn’t show up in it. There will also be more horror elements, and as the first one is sort of 50-50 horror-comedy, the new one might be scare-inducing. I’ll still watch…
**There will be a GI Joe 3. No word on how long this will get randomly delayed mere weeks before it’s set to open.
**The Biker Warrior Babe vs. The Zombie Babies From Hellmade enough off IndieGoGo to get distribution online.
**If you like weird movie titles like that, remember there is also a Steampunk Samurai Biker Chickthat filmed last year!
**The world needs more programs where a heroic white guy saves Asia, and we’re getting that again thanks to a remake of the Shogun tv miniseries (based on the novel by James Clavell). If heroic white guys saving the day aren’t your thing, you can also watch a heroic black football player get away with murder with an OJ Simpson miniseries. What company is giving us these gems? Fox, of course!
**Christina Applegate is rumored to be up for the role of Rusty Griswold’s wife in the new generation of National Lampoon’s Vacation films. Ed Helms is already cast as the new Rusty, who will be the one taking his family on vacation. And if you are wondering if Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo will appear, they are in talks now!
**Sex.Violence.FamilyValues is a 47 minute Singaporean flick banned in Singapore (until some scenes were deleted), but it just scored a US distribution. I’m not keen on paying to see such a short movie, though the fact it was banned/censored makes it more appealing. Though I’ll still wait for it on video.
**The Pete’s Dragon remake that has been rumored for ages has hit the point where they hired someone to make a script. David Lowery is the lucky ducky, and this Pete’s Dragon will ignore most of the story except the “core” and not be a musical. Will Disney drop the abused kid creating an “imaginary” dragon guardian angle and make this just a randomly dumb film? Or will they keep all that and make it all gritty? Considering Pete’s Dragon is the first film I remember seeing at a drive-in theater, it holds a special place in my heart. Which means I’ll burn down Disneyland if they fuck it up!!!
**Here is a kick butt article about things in the Peruvian rain forest, including spiders that make huge decoy spiders, macaws licking clay, very hairy caterpillars, and a moth that uses a basket as a cocoon.
Until next time, remember to vote early and vote often!
If you liked Escape From New York and Escape From LA, but thought that we needed a prequel remake trilogy, then you are certifiable. And also in luck, because that’s what we’re getting! Studio Canal is working with Joel Silver’s Silver Pictures to bring the new trilogy to life. So far, all they’ve done is a few brainstorming sessions (if that) and dropped the press release to Deadline, but eventually they’ll have a writer and director and a new Snake Plissken cast that will upset 95% of the internet.
Please, sir, can I have some more terrible Hollywood adaptations?
When you think of things that are mysteriously popular, you don’t think of parkour or Paul Walker, because those things are never popular. Except they suddenly are, and it’s weird!
Those two great tastes have gone all chocolate and peanut butter on us, and combined to give us the Paul Walker vehicle Brick Mansions. If that sounds vaguely familiar, it’s because Brick Mansions is the American remake of Banlieue 13! Don’t worry, Banlieue 13 star and parkour creator David Belle will be around to costar in case anyone wants to go all Punisher: War Zone on them. And you should.
The film will be set in America. Walker will play an undercover detective chasing a weapon of mass destruction that was stolen by a drug dealer in the ghetto known as Brick Mansions. He seeks help from the incredibly agile Lino (Belle), who knows Brick Mansions better than anyone and is the only person not cowed by the drug dealers. Besson’s Europa Corp is producing along with Ryan Kavanaugh, Tucker Tooley and the Relativity team. While a number of Hollywood actors wanted the Lino role, Besson would not make the movie unless Belle was in it.
Let’s not forget the parkour Oliver Twist movie (funded by Red Bull!) called Twistthat’s also coming soon! I bring this up not only for the parkour reference, but because there is another Oliver Twist movie coming down the pipe.
Dodge and Twisttakes place as a now adult Oliver and Artful Dodger are on opposite sides of the law in a theft of the Crown Jewels case. So it’s one of those films.
Paul Walker is also starring in the Hitman remake, Agent 47. The original Hitman came out in 2007, with Timothy Olyphant as Agent 47. Skip Woods and Michael Finch are writing, you might recall that Skip Woods wrote the original Hitman. that’s the kind of outside the box thinking that will make Agent 47 the kind of movie you don’t rent from RedBox.
