Na początek definicja. Kto chce, niech pominie.

Horror (łac. groza, strach), fantastyka grozy – odmiana fantastyki polegająca na budowaniu świata przedstawionego na wzór rzeczywistości i praw nią rządzących po to, aby wprowadzić w jego obręb zjawiska kwestionujące te prawa i nie dające się wytłumaczyć bez odwoływania się do zjawisk nadprzyrodzonych. Zadaniem horroru jest wywołanie lęku i niepokoju u odbiorcy utworu. Pojawiające się w świecie utworu zjawiska fantastyczne podważają ustalone na początku i akceptowane przez bohaterów prawa świata. Różnica między horrorem a thrillerem polega na tym, że w thrillerze zagrożenie ma charakter realny (np. przestępca, epidemia).

źródło: Wikipedia, a jakże

Idąc powyższym tropem – a jest mi to niezmiernie po drodze – powrót do prawdziwego horroru to prawdziwa rzadkość. Slashery wszelakie, pełne zdeformowanych ludzi, zwyrodniałych rodzin czy wygłupiających się nastolatków to, okazuje się, nie są horrory jako takie. A nie piszę tak dlatego, że chcę zdeprecjonować ich pozycję a raczej wykazać różnice między horroru formą oryginalną a nabytą (czy raczej: zaadaptowaną).

Po co to analityczne wydumanie? Przedwczoraj w końcu trafiłem na “Paranormal Activity” i, wbrew zdaniu naprawdę wielu osób, jestem pod wielkim wrażeniem. Ok, przez kilka pierwszych minut miałem wrażenie, że zanurzę się za głęboko w fotelu i zasnę – ale to wrażenie minęło bardzo szybko. Siadłem wpatrzony w ekran i oniemiałem.

Na dobrą sprawę, dalej jestem pod wrażeniem, i to nie przedstawionej historii, ale raczej tego, że dwójka nieznanych aktorów plus w większości statyczna kamera ustawiona na komodzie jest w stanie obudzić we mnie instynkty, które, zdawało się, usnęły na dobre w czasach makabreskowej znieczulicy.

Tak, zawsze można napisać: “… ale to wszystko było w “Blair Witch Project“. Nie, nie było. Historia poszukiwania czarownicy z Blair rozgrywa się w mrocznym lesie na mrocznym odludziu. “Paranormal Activity” to atak na stateczne życie w schludnym domku na przedmieściach Filadelfii. Młode małżeństwo, ona z tych uczonych, on – z tych zarabiających. Czasem wyskoczą na imprezę, znajomi czasem też się zjawią, generalnie sielanka. Ale dom chyba trochę nawiedzony. Więc mąż kupuje kamerę i biega z nią po całym domu, robiąc przymiarki do rejestrowania duchów. I demonów.

Nadchodzi noc. Kamera na komodzie leży, rejestruje śpiącą parę i trochę przedpokoju. I cisza. Para śpi, w prawym dolnym rogu kadru czas nieubłaganie biegnie ku kolejnemu dniu. Nadchodzi godzina trzecia…

… i ja już nic nie piszę, oddaję się lękom pierwotnym. Kto chce zobaczyć, co się dzieje o trzeciej w nocy w domu bohaterów – niech pędzi do kina. Ja osobiście nie pamiętam, żeby mi tak serce wyskakiwało z piersi przy statycznym kadrze obejmującym dwójkę śpiących ludzi.

Podobno – a przeczytałem o tym ostatnio – miłośników horrorów można podzielić na dwie szkoły: szkołę “Piły” (acz krzywdzące to w stosunku do pierwszej części) i szkołę “Blair Witch Project”. Jedni wolą zaskakiwanie i odrażające rytuały, które wykonują – lub którym są poddawani – bohaterowie owych filmów; inni – w tym ja – wolą masochistyczne poddawanie się lękom abstrakcyjnym. Niewidocznym. Nieukazanym. Fragmentarycznym.

Umysł ludzki działa tak, że czego nie widzi – to sobie dopowie. A to co sobie dopowiada – zwykle jest po stokroć wyolbrzymione. Potwory, których nie widać; które poznajemy zaledwie po kawałkach skóry, kończyny i innych takich, są znacznie ciekawsze dla “widza obcowania”. Im mniej widać, tym jest straszniej. W “Paranormal Activity” widać… no właśnie: widać, czy nie widać? Wymijająco: widać tyle ile trzeba żeby porządnie się przestraszyć. A, o ile mnie pamięć nie myli – o to chodzi w horrorach?

Also spends two hours mutilating potatoes

From AceShowBiz.com

Paul W.S. Anderson, who is currently shooting “Resident Evil: Afterlife”, has planned to keep himself busy after wrapping the movie. His partner in “Resident Evil”, producer Jeremy Bolt, recently told press that the helmer, who has been set to produce “The Three Musketeers”, is circling two upcoming movie projects.

According to Bolt, Anderson has once again eyed the helmer position for “Castlevania”, in which James Wan has been attached to direct. Additionally, he has put his name in the unofficial bidding for directing “Metal Gear Solid”.

“Castlevania”, based on classic video game with the same title, will follow Transylvanian knight who leads his men into a gothic castle to seek refuge from the Turkish army. The knights soon discover the castle is controlled by the original vampire. Paul W.S. Anderson will serve both as producer and writer of the 2010 movie.

As for “Metal Gear Solid”, the action sci-fi movie will serve as an adaptation of Konami’s video game series centering on Solid Snake, a retired soldier who infiltrates a nuclear weapons disposal facility to neutralize the terrorist threat from Foxhound, a renegade special forces unit, in an attempt to liberate their two hostages. Produced by Michael De Luca, it is scheduled to be released in 2012.

Amazon Specials!

Et de six. L’épisode tant redouté, d’abord au niveau de son titre français (rire assuré du caissier de votre cinéma, au moins les premières fois ; mais la sonorité a le mérite d’annoncer la boucherie visuelle…), ensuite au niveau de son intérêt tout court (franchement : aucun), débarque en ce début novembre comme le marronnier des films d’horreur qu’il est devenu, avec encore plus d’idées tordues, plus d’images gore, plus d’imbrications tarabiscotées entre nouveaux acteurs et victimes des jeux macabres de John Kramer alias Jigsaw, le type qui a décidé de vous punir du fait que vous ne respectiez pas assez la vie. Comme lui s’est mis en tête de bien vous la pourrir (en fait, on le soupçonne d’être jaloux de la bonne santé des autres ; si c’est pas puant, comme leitmotiv, ça…), on se demande si tout cela ne vire pas au paradoxe un peu bête mais enfin, il y a des fans et suffisamment de gens se ruant sur la chose chaque année pour justifier qu’un nouvel opus générateur de beaux dollars voie le jour, hélas.
De deux choses l’une, donc : soit les spectateurs arrêtent de se déplacer en masse pour voir des films de merde (pour mémoire, le réalisateur des quatre épisodes précédents s’appelait « Bousman » ; c’est prophétique, non ?) comme celui-là, soit les producteurs arrêtent de se justifier à la manière autrefois d’un Patrick Lelay déclarant sûr de son argument « les gens aiment, la preuve, ça marche ». Une véritable quadrature du cercle (critique, culturelle) qui ne peut pas nous aider à résoudre cette éternelle question du « pourquoi le public va-t-il voir ça », d’autant qu’au final, les producteurs se fichent bien qu’une partie dudit public et de la critique en pense du mal (et après tout c’est leur droit), et ne se soucient guère du fait que les qualités cinématographiques du film soient inexistantes (ce qui est vrai : techniquement, hormis les effets de maquillage, c’est d’une pauvreté effarante). Pourquoi vont-ils « tous » voir ça, donc ? Parce que c’est violent, exutoire, prétendument subversif ? Parce que c’est imaginatif (sic) dans les meurtres ? Parce c’est tortueux, malsain (très formaté, là, le malsain…) et que la torture parle à chaque bourreau sommeillant en nous ? Parce que c’est fun et trop gore, trop invraisemblable de toute façon pour être pris au sérieux donc pour exercer une mauvaise influence sur les esprits fragiles, déséquilibrés ? Tout cela à la fois sans doute, et chaque argument se tient d’une certaine façon. Pour autant, être amateur du genre horrifique même dans ses représentations les plus basiques, ne signifie pas qu’on doive, côté réalisateur, se passer d’une vraie responsabilité visuelle ; côté spectateur, se satisfaire d’un film qui, dans le fond, n’a aucun respect pour ceux qui le visionnent.

La preuve avec cette histoire multipliant les personnages et enjeux secondaires juste par principe de surenchère et de brouillage narratif (le mot « brouillon » serait plus approprié, même si Kevin Greutert, monteur des précédents, assure un peu plus de stabilité visuelle que Darren Lynn Bousman). Dans Saw VI, le détective Hoffman (l’horrible Costas Mandylor, au jeu au moins aussi gras que son physique), légataire du sanglant héritage de John Kramer (des indices sont laissés ici et là, ou remis à de tierces personnes, bref, c’est toujours le même schéma démultiplicateur de protagonistes liés au tueur), initie un « nouveau jeu » censé révéler, je cite le dossier de presse, « le véritable grand dessein derrière les machinations de Jigsaw »… Le grand dessein, comme toujours dans la saga, consiste en un twist qui n’en est pas vraiment un, une révélation en forme de sortie de secours vers les possibilités d’une séquelle « plus » : brutale, absurde, stupide (ma foi, ça n’est pas censé être à tout prix intelligent), gratuite (toute violence est gratuite mais dans ces cas-là autant ne pas chercher à justifier les enjeux, et balancer directement la sauce – rouge sang, évidemment)., etc. Sans trop révéler les affres d’un film que les plus acharnés seraient prêts à aller voir malgré tout (au prix que coûte le billet, vous n’avez pas honte ?), disons que le seul apport notable du film (au-delà de cette imagination débordante – c’est effarant – pour concevoir les instruments d’une cruauté qui franchement n’amuse pas du tout) reste la critique, simpliste mais « louable » en ces temps de volonté de réforme de Barack Obama sur le sujet, du système étatsunien de l’assurance maladie. Voilà Jigsaw pourfendeur de la politique de « rentabilité » de la sécurité sociale privée, avec douloureuse leçon de vie / de mort prodiguée à un gestionnaire cynique qui ne voudrait « miser » que sur des gens sains, donc économiquement viables. Et le pauvre diable d’être entraîné dans une suite d’épreuves qui lui démontreront (et à nous aussi, les Saw n’étant jamais à une leçon de morale près, avec un premier degré qui laisse pantois), que l’arrivisme et la réduction de l’humain à des formules économiques, mathématiques, des produits calculés sans âme (tiens, comme la saga, non ?), sont néfastes, nihilistes, destructeurs. Cette menue réflexion, pour une fois un tout petit peu ancrée dans la réalité sociale, se trouve vite raillée par une logique certes anti-cinématographique mais réelle : prôner le droit aux soins (donc la bonne santé) pour tous est une bien jolie idée, mais s’il faut que les gens se mutilent ou se coupent un bras pour la faire accepter, alors la morale s’annule.

Au-delà de cette considération décadrée, Saw VI déconcerte dans sa culture vivace du « torture flick », un genre devenu tendance, donc débarrassé de sa capacité à déranger (puisqu’il rameute et avec consensus). Comme le déclare l’un des personnages estropiés : « regardez mon bras, je suis censée tirer quelle leçon ? ». Voilà une réplique qui veut tout dire ; même sans céder aux sirènes de la bienséance tronquée (le cinéma n’a pas inventé la barbarie, c’est l’homme et lui seul, donc avant d’éradiquer les films « barbares », éradiquons les barbares eux-mêmes), il faut bien considérer que cette marchandisation poussive de la violence graphique, ce gore ultra lucratif, sont aussi déplaisants qu’artistiquement condamnables. Le cinéma n’y gagne rien sauf des éclaboussures de sang qui n’entâchent aucune manière de faire du système (capitalisme, libéralisme et tout ce qu’on veut), et ne font bien au contraire que lui cirer les pompes ostentatoires. Quant on pense que Jigsaw / Kramer reproche à ses victimes d’instrumentaliser le monde et leur entourage. Quel sort réserverait-il aux producteurs de ses « aventures » dispensables ?

Stéphane Ledien

> sortie le 4 novembre 2009

Species Name: Repeaticus Sameoldshitius

I should like this franchise.  I mean, it’s essentially about a wacko, named Jigsaw, who kidnaps the shitheads of the world and places them in “tests” that they have to escape out of to stay alive.  Jigsaw is essentially making these people thin themselves from the herd.  It’s pretty brilliant.  And you know what?  I loved the first SAW.  I own it on DVD and consider it to be a very inventive, gory, fun yet disturbing flick with a great twist at the end.  I even gave SAW II a chance, curious to see how they would expand the plot, and that’s where I turned on the franchise.  They didn’t expand the plot at all, the only difference is that Jigsaw has all his “victims” locked in a house.  Lame.  This franchise has gone from creative to outright insulting.  This franchise has gone from creative to outright insulting.  I don’t even fault Lionsgate for continuing to put these movies out.  If people are still dumb enough to go see six of essentially the same movie, that’s their own dumbass fault.  Lionsgate is in the business to make money, and they make buttloads off this franchise.  Well at least they did until this weekend when SAW VI was trounced by Paranormal Activity, an actual fresh take on the horror genre — what a novel fucking concept.  Maybe American movie watching audiences are finally wising up…probably not though.

Frankly SAW, you’ve worn out your welcome, and your constant rehashing of the same story, with new ways to make a person sever their own limbs has become nothing more than gratuitous torture porn.  As an avid horror film fan my whole life, it hurts my heart a little bit, but I feel compelled to thin you from the herd.

In a world where the SAW franchise didn’t exist to induce vomiting in theaters:

• Cary Elwes career would never have been reinvigorated…oh wait…

• Studios would actually have to produce quality horror films to compete for the Halloween movie season, instead of surrendering in defeat to the mighty SAW franchise.
• HOSTEL VI would be in theaters right now (I fucking hate you Eli Roth, except in Inglorious Basterds, you were the shit in that, just please stop directing shitty horror movies please.)

DOOOOOOOOOUCHE!

• James Wan and Leigh Whannell, the creators of the SAW franchise, would be waiting tables at The Olive Garden and Chili’s, respectively, instead of being multi-millionaires doing lines of cocaine off of hot model’s asses.
• Tobin Bell would go back to sitting in his windowless van outside elementary schools.

Interested in some free candy little girl???

• Danny Glover’s career would never have been reinvigorated…oh wait…

• Horror movies would go back to being scary instead of just disgusting.

I wish that the disappointing opening weekend of SAW VI would spell death for the franchise, but because those movies cost six dollars to produce, and they have already started pre-production on SAW VII, the end appears to be far from over.

But one has to have dreams right?

I'm in a glass case of emotion!

Carman
A dying mechanic extends his life by hooking himself up to a 1967 Mustang…fusing man and machine and creating pure awesomeness.
Based on a pitch by Jay Leno.

Flan of The Month
A taut thriller about a man who joins a flan of the month club, only to find out each month’s flan is made of people!
Writer: James Wan

Inkjet
Based on the popular printer style.

Silencio desde el mal (dir: James Wan, 2007)

Los muñecos son una fuente de inspiración inagotable dentro del cine de terror. Desde el inquietante payaso de “Poltergeist” (remake en marcha, snif!), pasando por el célebre Chucky o los “Juguetes asesinos” de Charles Band, hasta llegar al mismísimo Pinocho en “La venganza de Pinocho“; todos ellos le han hecho la vida imposible a sus sufridos propietarios.

Billy & Friends!

El australiano James Wan ya dio muestras de su gusto por los muñecos a través de Jigsaw (atentos aquí a su “cameo“) en la prolífica saga de “Saw” y ahora hace lo propio, aportando su granito de arena a este subgénero de la mano del misterioso Billy, pariente lejano del presidente del gobierno. “Silencio desde el mal” (una vez más, los traductores se han quedado a gusto), cuenta la leyenda de Mary Shaw, una anciana ventrílocua sin más descendencia que la de sus propios muñecos, muerta en trágicas circunstancias y que tiene la fea costumbre de arrancar la lengua de cuajo a todo aquel incauto que ose gritar en su presencia.

Con tan prometedora premisa, la película arranca por medio de una escena muy similar a la del principio de “The Ring” presentándonos, topicazo a topicazo, la clásica historia del hombre que vuelve a su pueblo natal buscando respuestas tras el asesinato de su esposa. Ni qué decir tiene que la policía no se lo pondrá nada fácil (el personaje de Donnie Whalberg es de juzgado de guardia) y tampoco falta la vieja loca que sabe más de lo que aparenta.

Muñecos asesinos y poseídos!

En ese sentido, también cabe destacar al actor Bob Gunton en un papel secundario. Wan dirige con oficio y parece haber aparcado un poco su faceta más efectista, dejando de lado la estética videoclipera, sin renunciar a muchas de las constantes de su cine que apuntaba en su anterior trabajo. Por ejemplo, el uso de los flashbacks o un giro final en la línea de “Saw”, que es lo que consigue salvar en gran medida la función. Otro de sus aciertos es la hábil combinación entre los silencios y la música compuesta por Charlie Clouser (da gusto oír algo suyo que no sea el leif motiv machacón de “Saw”), exmiembro del grupo Nine Inch Nails. El punto negativo se lo lleva el abuso de efectos especiales, y es que, parece mentira que la industria no aprenda de cosas como “La guarida” y no se den cuenta de que las mejores secuencias son las que no están retocadas digitalmente. Véase la del desván o cualquiera de los flashbacks, en especial, el del niño en la funeraria.

Lo que es innegable es que James Wan tiene una gran facilidad de crear mitos del terror contemporáneo más o menos resultones (no es muy difícil imaginar otra retahíla de secuelas de este “Dead Silence“). Eso, viniendo de un tipo que podría haberse encasillado a costa de seguir dirigiendo “Saw” y, sin embargo, ha preferido ofrecernos un humilde cuento de fantasmas de los de toda la vida, dice mucho de él.

20ª Participación para el concurso de la mano de Manu!

Saw IV (dir: Darren Lynn Bousman, 2007)

La saga de “Saw” necesita una transfusión urgente. Sangre nueva. Bueno, de sangre la verdad es que anda sobrada. Basta con ver el prólogo de “Saw IV“, durante el cual asistimos a la autopsia de Jigsaw con todo lujo de detalles, y digo yo “¿para qué coño practicarle la autopsia a un asesino en serie que ha sido brutalmente degollado?“.

Autopsia de Jigsaw

Éste es sólo uno de los muchos ejemplos de la suerte de despropósitos que constituyen esta cuarta entrega, más cercana ya a una serie de televisión que a una película propiamente dicha, cuyo único interés se basa en un final cada vez más rebuscado y menos original. Sin ir más lejos, en este caso se trata de un pastiche compuesto a base de retazos de las dos primeras partes. Me pregunto si el bueno de James Wan (responsable de la original y director de “Silencio desde el mal“) será consciente del chiste privado al que se ha visto reducida su obra. Un chiste incomprensible para el espectador medio, dado que hay que tener muy reciente “Saw III” si queremos pillar la mitad de las cosas de su continuación.

El juego de Jigsaw...

Conste que, hasta ahora, a mí esta trilogía me parecía decente e incluso entretenida pero, si bien la muerte de Jigsaw a priori suponía un agravante, aquí se nos confirma que no hay nada que hacer sin el carismático personaje interpretado por Tobin Bell. En realidad, lo mejor de la cinta son los flashbacks (hay tantos…) protagonizados por él. El resto de personajes, a cada cual más estereotipado, son peones mal definidos y peor conducidos que entran y salen de la trama como Pedro por su casa, a merced de una narración caótica. El tal Darren Lynn Bousman debía estar medicándose cuando la dirigió.

Al final uno no sabe si lo que está viendo es pasado, presente, futuro o un flashback del flashback. Un puzzle, a fin de cuentas, mal construido que deja más cabos sueltos de los que ata y poca o ninguna gana de ver “Saw V”.

19ª Participación para el concurso de la mano de… Manu!

Saw – L’enigmista è un thriller/horror del 2004, diretto da James Wan, che ne ha anche scritto il soggetto con Leigh Whannell.
Il film è stato girato in soli 18 giorni e nel mese di gennaio 2004 c’è stata la prima proiezione al Sundance Film Festival. È uscito negli USA il 29 ottobre 2004; il 14 gennaio 2005 in Italia.

Leggi altre notizie su: | Thriller | Horror | James Wan | Tobin Bell | Leigh Whannell | Cary Elwes

Saw – L’enigmista è un thriller/horror del 2004, diretto da James Wan, che ne ha anche scritto il soggetto con Leigh Whannell.
Il film è stato girato in soli 18 giorni e nel mese di gennaio 2004 c’è stata la prima proiezione al Sundance Film Festival. È uscito negli USA il 29 ottobre 2004; il 14 gennaio 2005 in Italia.

Leggi altre notizie su: | Horror | Thriller | James Wan | Tobin Bell | Leigh Whannell | Cary Elwes | Danny Glover

Dr. Lawrence Gordon and Adam come to terms with their capture in "Saw".

(James Wan, 2004)

October 28, 2009

by Joel Crary

The conclusion of “Saw” is so audacious that I can’t help but be in awe of it, even after a second viewing. The film’s puzzle pieces are not pieced but hammered together, and that is simultaneously its greatest strength and weakness. It is orchestrated as though the script was written backwards from the twist, which is totally unbelievable, but also kind of brilliant.

If only the same could be said for all that comes before it. Two men wake up in the filthiest bathroom imaginable with no recollection of how they got there or who the other man is. Adam (Leigh Whannell, who also wrote the screenplay) and Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) are chained to large pipes on opposite sides of the room. Between them is a body with a gun in its hand and a very large hole in its cranium.

For a while, the men attempt to make sense of their situation, and this is when the film really works. Gordon’s wife (Monica Potter) and daughter (Makenzie Vega) are being held captive elsewhere. Unless he kills Adam by 6 o’clock, they will die. The room is being monitored by a camera. In a device influenced by a score of noir films, Gordon recounts his implications in the murders of a killer dubbed Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), whose MO is teaching his victims the value of life. He places them in nightmarish situations that will cause them harm yet prevent their own deaths if they successfully follow his instructions. The killer’s lone survivor (Shawnee Smith) is questioned by police, who relates her experience of having to gut a man alive in order to unlock a reverse bear trap that Jigsaw had strapped to her mouth.

It’s all pretty gruesome, and the scenes of struggling victims are shown at high speed, cut with quick edits and accompanied by roars of machinery and inhuman screams to drive home the point that they’re having a really bad time. The film contains some great sets and lighting, and the traps are diabolical works of the talented design crew.

Unfortunately, everything tends to get a little carried away at the expense of the story. Villains striking at people we root for make for effective thrillers, and the film loses steam outside of the bathroom set. Take Detective Tapp (Danny Glover) and his partner Detective Singh (Ken Leung), the two men tracking Jigsaw. The obsession of Glover’s character is never based in anything. A few weeks ago I championed the merits of David Fincher’s “Zodiac“, a film that built obsession in a character until the obsession propelled the film’s suspense, not the grisliness of the murders. Detective Tapp is a cardboard cutout. He is obsessed because the plot requires his anger to sustain a feverish pitch when the story diverts away from Gordon and Adam, yet his scenes are dulled by his lack of depth. He becomes a potential suspect, but it’s an ineffective red herring because we’re never given the chance to form an opinion about him.

Even Gordon and Adam can’t hold up their end of the drama. I was shocked at the level at which Elwes hams it up by the film’s conclusion. He’s a great actor, but he takes the character far out into unintentionally funny territory, barking histrionic demands that would raise Patton’s eyebrow and losing his mind with the conviction of a temper tantrum. The men’s memories return at moments when past events are necessary to advance the plot and after a while it starts to feel a little contrived.

I like a twist that hangs in front of my eyes the entire time but never reveals itself. The genius of setting much of the movie in a single room is the implication that everything in the set is exactly as it seems. “Saw” contains all of the necessary elements for a terrific character drama, but squanders it to a large extent for hyperactive editing and jump scares. Terror always comes out of character, not situation. For a while, “Saw” gets this right, but ultimately it can’t keep its chains on.

Oh, they are the best! They depict emotions in a raw, powerful form. And by revenge, I’m not talking about an underpaid, overworked guy sticking it up to boss’s ass. Nope. I am talking about when a loved one is murdered and the one who left behind takes justice into his own hands. The latest promising avenger movie is Law Abiding Citizen, starring Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx.

LAW ABIDING CITIZEN (2009)

Butler’s character is the avenger. But the wonderful think about the film is he won’t be just taking care of the murderers that took his family’s life. He will also come after the prosecutor who cut a deal with them, the judge who let him and basically the whole system. Don’t worry, I didn’t give away any spoilers. It is all in the thriller. You can check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMoP35u8oN0.

I for one can’t wait till it comes to a theater near me. Until it does, I decided to pay a visit to some of the revenge movies I love.

BRAVEHEART (1995)

It is a revenge movie. Yes, it is epic,and glorious and tells us how the real life Scottish folk hero led his people to freedom by fighting the English. But the urge to take revenge starts all that. Wallace was just an ordinary boy when his father was killed. But he was taken and raised by his uncle, who taught him to be an intelligent, world-savvy person. He came back to his town and he had no desire to fight. But then the English kill his wife- a woman he loved deeply and loved more than anything and everyone else. So, this drove him to edge. It is possibly one of the most noble acts of revenge, since he did not give up after finishing off his wife’s murderers and continued to fight for his and his countrymen’s freedom. All of the scenes are priceless. The movie has 5 Academy Awards, including Best Film and Best Director; both won by the film’s lead actor/director/producer Mel Gibson. If you haven’t seen it yet, and you are not against the concept of historical epic movies, you really shouldn’t miss this.

The Crow (1994)

Such a dark,gothic,powerful cult classic. A rock musician’s ( Eric Draven played by Brandon Lee) fiancée is raped and murdered. Moreover, he is murdered. The great thing about this movie is that the avenger is also dead, and yet he comes back to avenge his and his fiancée’s murders. It is also fascinating to watch as the bad guys go nuts trying to kill him because he just can’t be killed. After all, he is already dead. It would have been lovely to follow Brandon Lee’s projects after this one, but unfortunately he died during the making of this film, which adds to its dark atmosphere. Director Alex Proyas created a cult status for himself. Although Dark City was brilliant, he disappointed quite a few times with his other work. But hey, it is hard to measure up to a film like this.

Death Sentence (2007)

trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLT-sNZH7CQ&feature=related

Although it is not as highly rated and regarded as the two movies above, it is a solid example of the genre. Kevin Bacon plays a dad whose son is murdered and the guilty will not receive a slightly deserving punishment. He loses it. He kills the guy who did it. But where the other revenge flicks would normally end, this one actually starts. Now the gang the bad boy belonged to goes after the dad and the remaining of his family, which might end up in dad having to take revenge once again, more brutally and absolutely. I think revenge flicks should not be judged the originality of the script. Not that I find this one refreshing in some parts, I do. But this kind of drama takes its power from the actors and how the director handles the shots. And this movie was beautifully done. Bacon is apt at playing any character, good and bad. But I am guessing the fact that he is a father in real life and really big on his family, and his own fears helped him bring out such a powerful performance. Watch it. It is exciting, disturbing and emotional. I am not exactly a fan of Saw movies. Haven’t even seen the first one. But now that I found out that the director of the first movie,James Wan, directed Death Sentence, I have this newly found respect for the guy. May he make more movies like this…

Desperado (1995) :

trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZdZv3kT9xk

Oh yeah. The movie that will make me love its director Robert Rodriguez regardless of how I feel about his other projects. This is a glorious,well-funded sequel to the more modest El Mariachi,which as good as it might have been, lacked one very important element: Antonio Banderas. In the first movie his girlfriend was murdered so now he seeks to avenge her death. Oh, and he has guitar case stuffed with the good guns and he will get rid of you if you try to get in his way.

The revenge movie’s lead is so undeniably significant. He needs to be likable. Yeah, sure it is
easy to identify with a guy whose loved one has been murdered- who loved that person so strongly that they risked their own lives in the name of taking justice in their own hands. He needs to look like a lover and a killer. Brandon Lee was charismatic in spite of his make-up-which added wonders to the cult image. Mel Gibson was tough,strong and masculine, and yet vulnerable, despite the traditional kilt. Antonio Banderas makes a wonderful action hero. He is hot,dark,well-built and passionate. What he lacks in height is more than made up to by his charisma and extreme good looks. Oh, he also sings, plays the guitar, uses his guitar as a weapon and meanwhile he does seduce and is seduced by the gorgeous Salma Hayek. Desperado is pure action, 0 drama and kick-ass entertainment. It doesn’t get deep.It just gets even. Kevin Bacon comes from the theater. He started in H0llywood as nice guy roles but he made a name for himself playing the bad guys. So he has no problem at all portraying a guy who is driven to the edge. In fact, he looks like he is made for it.
These movies are all different from each other but they have the core in common: You root for the good guy, you love the blood shed from the bad guys and the action sequences are brilliant. With the exception of Death Sentence, I have seen the rest many times.Which reminds me, I definitely should add the Kevin Bacon film to my collection. It sure as hell deserves a second viewing. I think for an actor, the action role doesn’t get better than a good revenge movie.

CLICK FOR TRAILER

What?

Nick Hume is a mild-mannered executive with a perfect life, until one gruesome night he witnesses something that changes him forever. Transformed by grief, Hume eventually comes to the disturbing conclusion that no length is too great when protecting his family.

Where?

At home.

With?

The girlfriend just before bed…again.

Why?

Are you serious? It’s Footloose vs. Hatebreed, surely the question should be “Why the hell not?”

Worth It?

It’s a decent movie, a massive throwback to the 80’s in terms of sheer revenge and destruction. Again, it’s weird that Kevin Bacon isn’t offered bigger roles when time after time he proves how versatile he is as an actor. One scene set in the car park was notable for some great shots from James Wan, a few of them without cuts that spanned multiple floors were particurly impressive. Sure, the villains were essentially cartoons and Hume’s transformation was slightly schizophrenic, but that’s half the fun and the other half was delivered in buckets. Sheer god damn revenge!

7.5/10

Written & Directed By: Mark Hartley
Cinematography By: Karl Von Moller & Germain McMicking

FEATURING: Quentin Tarantino, Russell Mulcahy, Barry Humphries, Jamie Blanks, Russell Boyd, Jamie Lee Curtis, Rod Hardy, Richard Franklin, Wendy Hughes, Stacy Keach, Ted Kotcheff, George Lazenby, George Miller, Philippe Mora, Greg Mclean, Steve Railsback, Fred Schepisi, Rod Taylor, James Wan, Jack thompson, Brian Trenchard-Smith, Leigh Whannell, Simon Wincer, Susannah York

A fun rollicking, No holds barred documentary about the Australian film industry from the beginning in the sixties to it’s peak during the 70’s and 80’s which produced more exploitation type movies then anything but also put several of it’s filmmakers and stars o the map. It also showed a emerging style of filmmaking that rightly deserves to be noted and noticed. Which is still kicking around today though unfortunately not as much.

This is a fun documentary with tons of clips from those movies. Which allows a viewer like myself to discover a lot of these films only half of which are still available to see in the united states. It let’s you in on some behind the scenes details on these films and what it’s influence was at home and abroad. While celebrating the directors who deserve credit for there strides in helping put Aussie films on the map.

You hae details from most of the people involved in these films from the actors, Producers Directors, Crew Members, Directors and the critics even Quentin Tarantino gets involved.

Without this ozploitation series of movies there would be no films as diverse As MAD MAX, WALKABOUT, PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK, MY BRILLIANT CAREER, STARSTRUCK, BMX BANDITS.

This film is a genre lovers wet dream my only complaint is that I wish it was longer.

I really enjoyed myself watching this if you are a true film fan. I think you will to. Its not just boring talking heads interviews, Because as fun and crazy as the films are. The filmmakers are just as crazy if not crazier as they tell stories of using real ammo firing at the actors in action scenes. Not using any proper safety precautions. A lot of things they couldn’t have gotten away with today. 

GRADE: A+       

Well, its good to have goals, even nerdy ones.

It’s October and any film geek worth his fanboy badge knows this is the month…of SCARY MOVIES.

So, looking at my ungodly-way-to-big-for-it’s-own-good DVD collection I realized I got a lot of  horror/scary movies that I haven’t watched since I’ve gotten them. 

Some of them I’ve seen before and I just wanted to own, some of them I bought but I haven’t watched yet, and others are ones that I just borrowed but haven’t gotten around to popping them in the DVD player.

Want to see what I have in store for myself? No prob people…..

So here’s whats on the menu…

Abominable, The Decent, The Host, Dorm, A Tale of Two Sisters, Seven, Dead Silence, Puppet Master 4, Puppet Master 5,  Sleepy Hollow, The Flesh and Blood Show, Evil Aliens and Pans Labyrinth.(yeah, debate all you want on putting SEVEN on there, but that movie scared me when I was a kid.)

And those are all the ones I have on me right now, but who knows, I could add more (I noticed Drag me to Hell came out this week on DVD, and I have been kicking myself for missing out on it.)

So, my goal is to try to finish the list I have on here before the months out, even if I add a title, I would like to finish the list I wrote on here first.

How I write about each film will depend on the flick it self. I might feel passionate about it (either positively or negatively) to write a lot, or I will find the film so blase that a paragraph or two will sum up how I feel.

So, let’s get this started…

I was always curious about the second film from the writer and the director of the original SAW. I always liked the first SAW ( though I have never bothered with th 5 sequels that followed it.) I thought it was a stylish and pretty entertaining thriller so I was wondering how their follow up feature was like

Dead Silenceis your classic small town is fearful of an urban legend tale. A young man , who’s wife is mysteriously murdered, returns home to try to solve her murder and wonder how it ties with the towns lone ghost story, the tale of the evil Mary Shaw, the haunted ventriloquist.

Director James Wan’s got a good eye as his visuals are pretty strong. Good creepy mood, nice transitions, and some real cool camera tricks keeps the flick  boring to look at…to bad for its slow pacing and no real sense of tension makes the film really not very scary.

The script is also, by all accounts, lazy. It’s full of your usual horror movie cliches. The annoying cop that doesn’t believe the protagonist, the protagonist that has a father that he hates, the crazy old lady who sees the ghots etc.

Like SAW there are no real interesting protagonists. The lead, played by Ryan Kwanten, is just lifeless as both a character and as a performer.

The film even tries to pull a SAW-like twist at the end, but instead of being a cool surprise, came off uninspiring as a BIG reveal.

Dead Silence was overall an OK film, but it’s one that I probably won’t watch again any time soon.

Take is all for now, and I hope I follow through with another one soon.

Take care peoples.

Okay.  Everybody who chats with me online regularly has already read this, I’ll admit.  Why?  Because I’m a noisy little monster when I have ideas trying to wiggle their way out of my skull, that’s why.

The Dark Knight, up until its end, is an incredible film.  I personally prefer Mask of the Phantasm, though others have their own opinions (more on that later.)  Well, there’s a third Batman Begins film coming out, which seems to be likely to feature the Riddler.

Now, given that another third Batman movie featured the Riddler… well, they can’t do much worse than that one (honestly? I thought Batman and Robin was better than that POS!)  But what would I like to see in the third Batman Begins film?  What would I consider the ultimate capstone on the trilogy?  Here we go.

In Mask of the Phantasm, Bruce’s old girlfriend – who he almost gave up Batman for – comes back hunting the gangsters who hounded her father to death.  Eventually, trying to kill the Joker, she meets her (supposed) end in a firey explosion, only to turn up on a cruise ship, leaving Gotham forever.

Well, I’d like to take that plot and filter it through the Batman Begins universe… why?  Because it neatly wraps up BB’s little morality play.  The first one featured Batman (and his questionable methods) up against people who were clearly beyond the pale (R’as and his cronies).  Batman was clearly the hero – Gotham’s prodigal son was fighting crime, kicking ass, taking names, and eventually letting the leader behind all this die in a nasty conflagration.  Dark Knight featured him up against a being of pure evil, and forcing himto confront the issue of just what extents he *will* go to in order to protect people… and how he handles failing to protect them, if that will push him over the edge so that he ‘doesn’t save’ another bad guy, the way he did R’as.  In case you’ve been under a rock for the last year nd a half, he doesn’t – he only kills once, and that is because there’s no other way to save an innocent boy from dying.

What’s the final act to all this?  What else – put the Batman up against somebody who *wants* to die… not because of some twisted game, but out of a sick sense of justice.  Put the Batman up against an enemy who *is* everything he could become, if he lets his dark side take over – a sick soul with a death wish, meting out death and destruction, while privately wishing for the same, to put an end to the gut-wrenching pain inside brought on by the path they’ve followed.

Now, of course, the question is… who is, the Phantasm?  What person could we put behind that Reaper’s mask, to really drive the message home?

Rachael.  Yes, I know, she was blown up in Dark Knight.  Work with me here – if Jean Grey, Gwen Stacey, and Bucky can all benefit from a revolving door policy on the afterlife, so can Rachael.  Don’t you point out that those are all Marvel characters – if Supes gets a ‘get out of epic, dramatically suitable death free’ card, then Rachael does too.

For our purposes, she isn’t actually killed in the blast – instead, she’s ‘rescued’ by Killer Croc, another Batman villain who fits perfectly into this universe. I’m inclined to make the Joker responsible for this – having him send the Croc there – but obviously certain events make writing the Joker out of this story desirable.  At any rate, Croc does with Rachael whatever the screenwriters think they can get away with during the time he has her (and the cops are chasing Batman.)  For once, I’m inclined to say they could let the little James Wan inside them get out and run free.  This time around, it would actually benefit to some extent from having a few suitably harrowing torture sequences – they feed into the later mystery of the film.  They shouldn’t be the key of the film, of course, but it doesn’t hurt to play it up a bit.  It also gives the Croc time to explain that he’s helping smuggle some chemicals that are being illegally disposed of or somesuch – the specifics aren’t too important, just covering that there are things down in the sewers that aren’t safe to be in contact with.

Eventually, Rachael gets the chance to escape, albeit at a hefty price.  She manages to tie off her wrist, then takes off her hand so she can get free.  Croc chases her, but in the course of the chase through the nearly pitch-black sewers, he ends up taking a dive into the Bad Stuff that’s down there.  Rachael makes it a bit farther, but through increasing blood loss and shock, she eventually passes out.

When she comes to, she’s been rescued by a group of people living down there.  Most big cities actually do have communities like this – homeless people who’ve made their own homes in abandoned sewer lines, maintenance tunnels, and subway lines beneath the city.  The group that’s found her is a small enclave led by a veteran who left the surface world and all its problems behind him.  There are others with them, some normal people, and one man based loosely off the Toyman from the DC universe (ie, tinkerer and gadgeteer who can put together handy trinkets along similar lines as the Batman’s.)

Having come to, Rachael discovers her entire life has fallen apart.  Batman has killed Harvey, so she’s heard, which is devastating to her psychologically.  She knows Bruce, has all his life.  She knows he wouldn’t have killed Harvey… not unless Harvey had gone wrong somehow.  But she knows Harvey, knows he wouldn’t do that… or, at least, that he wouldn’t have if he’d known she was alive.  And if Batman *did* kill Harvey without there being a good reason for it… then the only reason for that would be because Bruce had snapped because of what happened to her.  Any way you look at it, it’s her fault (to a grief-stricken, somewhat twisted mind).  What’s more, it wouldn’t have happened if Batman *had* just gone ahead and ignored the system, killed the Joker when he’d had the chance.  Her entire worldview is shattered; she blames herself for the death of Harvey, and she sees a world that’s bleak, dark, and entirely unredeemable… a world where the Bruce who almost shot a man in the middle of a courthouse was right, and she was wrong.  A world where Batman isn’t going far enough.

She talks this over with her rescuers (obliquely, not specifics) while she slowly recovers.  The vet who leads the group teaches her how to fight, ostensibly so she can protect herself in the Underground – she doesn’t have a life to return to anymore, so she might as well learn how to survive here.  The Toyman makes her a prosthetic cap for her arm that she can mount a knife to, so she doesn’t have to carry a separate weapon and fight with her only hand.  Gradually, she goes from basic self-defense to being able to *fight*.  This doesn’t all have to be covered on-screen at the time; a lot of it can be covered in later flashbacks.

Of course, this movie isn’t all Rachael’s.  Christian Bale needs to earn his paycheck too.

In the meantime, in the world up above, Batman is trying to do his work without getting caught by the police.  He’s gradually been mopping up other mental ward rejects from Arkham, dealing with organized crime, and generally cleaning things up – Gotham’s looking a lot better, from the perspective of having to deal with organized crime, but there’s still the issue of the *dis*organized crime.  It’s fairly good timing, in some ways – Batman isn’t as necessary, allowing Bruce Wayne to let his alter ego rest (more often) while working through social programs to try and address the conditions that create some of the crooks he’s still got to deal with.  For some situations though, Batman is still necessary – like when dealing with the hulking monstrosity that’s started rampaging through Gotham in the dead of night, leaving bodies behind him.

At first it’s gang-bangers and homeless bums… but before long it’s hookers mixed in with them, often raped as well as torn limb from limb.  The cops are paying attention as much as they can, but they can’t get much done… which puts Batman back out in the open.  Trying to evade the police, and the distrustful people of the slums who figure they might be able to take care of two birds with one stone, he sets out to find the killer.  Batman traces the killer into the Underground, and follows him there.  He eventually finds Killer Croc’s lair, or what’s left of it – there, he’s attacked by Croc, now mutated even further by the chemicals he was dumped into.  Batman fights back, of course, but between the darkness and the inhuman strength of his attacker, he’s outclassed.  While Croc takes a beating, he eventually gets the better of Batman, nearly breaking his back in the process (suplex maneuver at full Killer Croc strength?)   Before he can deliver a killing blow, however, a cloaked figure shows up, attacking from behind.  Batman witnesses flashes of the fight, but eventually succumbs to the pain as Phantasm does battle with the Croc.  (For the audience’s benefit, Croc escapes – wouldn’t be necessary if Ledger hadn’t died, but….)

When he comes to, he’s back home; somebody called Alfred and let him know that Bruce was badly hurt.  The press has been told that Mr. Wayne was injured in a skydiving accident… but it presents the worrisome question of who called Alfred.

Here’s where we can go one of two ways.  I’ll go with the one I currently prefer.  Rather than the question lasting, when Bruce asks Alfred who it was that called him, Rachael comes in.  She’s missing her hand, but after some time in the hospital of her own, she’s got a proper prosthetic rigged, and is looking much, much better than she was before.  She moves in with Bruce, her own life having been ravaged by the fact that she was assumed dead, and Bruce needing somebody besides Alfred to help take care of him during his convalescence.  During this time, obviously, Batman is AWOL – and the criminal element begins to stick their head out.

As Rachael goes over the Hell that has been her life in bits and pieces (explaining to Bruce how she’s alive, etc.), the same dark figure who helped rescue Bruce before starts showing up above ground now.  The Phantasm isn’t a replacement Batman though – the Phantasm is a killing machine, not worried about collateral damage as long as it’s other people who ‘deserved it.’  Innocent bystanders are safe – they have to be, to keep the Phantasm a somewhat sympathetic figure.  Bruce begins investigating the Phantasm, who makes his way through the streets with a massive blade on one glove, covered in a shroud of fog that he seems to be able to generate at will.  The cops, obviously, are hunting the Phantasm down hardcore – Batman was a black eye, the Phantasm is an obvious homicidal maniac.

Complicating things, Rachael seems to know something about all of this… but she’s reluctant to explain until later.  When the time comes, she explains her relationship with the vet who rescued her, and that he was talking about doing exactly this when she left.  She thinks that he’s the Phantasm… which certainly seems believable enough.  A 50-60 year old Vietnam vet who can fight like a sonofabitch and has a chip on his shoulder is a good candidate, especially with the Toyman’s help.  Mask of the Phantasm was a little enough known piece that the obvious suspect isn’t so obvious.  Rachael is, after all, a 30-something lawyer missing a hand and rather slightly built.  Add to that the fact that she’s living with Bruce – how could she possibly be the Phantasm, given all of that?

Of course, given that fact that Bruce isn’t exactly around all the time either, it becomes plausible, but that’s for the audience to click with later.

The cat and mouse game between the Phantasm and Batman continues, with Batman ocasionally having to save crooks from the Phantasm.  Little hints are dropped here and there that the Phantasm knows about Batman – he won’t kill him, for example, despite his being a murderer according to the press.   He gives him openings he doesn’t have to.  All this time, the cops are searching for them both (admittedly, against Gordon’s wishes, but he has to thanks to the end of Dark Knight).

If Ledger were alive, I’d want to use the chance to start turning the Joker into a sort of supervillain Hannibal Lecter; Batman reluctantly coming to him in his cell to find out what he might know about the Phantasm (an interview through the window between Batman and the Joker has an incredible amount of cinematic potential.)  Without Ledger, that’s not going to work (recurring theme, I know, I know.)  However, if I ever do this as a fanfic, it’s something to bear in mind as an option.

In the end, it comes down to a final confrontation between the Batman, and the Phantasm, trying to save the life of a criminal who’s pushing even Batman’s limits.  This is where Batman has to make the decision – does he go down the Phantasm’s ultimately destructive (yet effective) path, or does he hold true to his (barely, at times) heroic code?  My preference, given conditions?  Killer Croc (AKA Bane) again.  He gets away from the Phantasm in their first confrontation, and eventually comes back, more ripped and mutated than ever, possibly in the service of whoever provided the mutagens that transformed him in the first place.  There’s a three-way battle between Bane, Phantasm, and Batman… and, in the end, the Batman discovers that Rachael is the Phantasm.  And worse, that all she wants at this point is for him to kill her and end her suffering.

In the end, the movie finishes with the same explosive finale as Mask of the Phantasm, the Batman barely escaping the conflagration that seems to destroy his beloved… except for a little hint we get at the end, that maybe the Phantasm lives on, sane or otherwise….

So, there you have it.  My vision of Mask of the Phantasm adapted to the Batman Begins universe, and what I’d *love* to see as BB3.  Not gonna happen, I’m quite sure, but I’d be thrilled if something even remotely like this came out.  It would tie in one of the more obscure (yet excellent) visions of Batman with the one that’s currently the most popular, and also have elements of one of the slightly more obscure (yet excellent) storylines from the comics (Knightfall is echoed in Batman’s injuries and his being ‘replaced’ by a psychotic, homicidal vigilante).

Now… you’ve read through all of that, and I feel obligated to reward you for it.  Fortunately, I can do so – I found my copy of Mask of the Phantasm!

So here’s the contest.  I’ve told everybody (at length) what my favorite Batman movie is.  I want to hear what yours is.  One of the old Batman serials?  The camp-fest that was the movie spawned by the 60’s series?  One of Burton’s two masterworks?  Christopher Nolan’s original?  The Dark Knight is one I expect to hear a lot, I’ll admit.

Are you one of those sad, sick souls who actually thought that Joel Schumacher’s vision of the Bat is the ideal one?

Or maybe you prefer the animated versions.  Return of the Joker?  The anime version that came out?  Sub Zero?  Mystery of the Batwoman?

Well, by year end, leave a comment explaining your favorite Batman movie.  What is it, and why?  You don’t need the full-on synopses that I’ve been doing, though I won’t hold it against you if you toss a few spoilers in.  The only limitation I’m going to put on you is that I want to see a moving version of it – I’d be interested in knowing your favorite comic arc, but it won’t qualify for the contest.

Entries must be received by 12/31/2009.  A winner will be chosen by 1/31/2010, on the following grounds:

• Explanation of why you like your favorite film.  Just saying “because I do” won’t get you anything (unless NOBODY else enters).  I’d like to see the reason why – what are the themes, what are the aspects of Batman that you like.  Long-winded won’t get you bonus points, but well explained will.
• Sincerity.  This one’s hard to quantify, but if you just trot out “The Dark Knight, because it’s the best Batman film out there, everybody except you knows that,” or “Mask of the Phantasm, for all the reasons you explained,” you’re not likely to win it.
• Originality.  This is kind of in there already, but I’d like to see a reason that makes me look at it in a way I haven’t before.

So, if you’re declared the winner, you will receive one (1) copy of Mask of the Phantasm, never before viewed, but not shrinkwrapped.  If I actually get enough really good entries to justify multiple prizes, I might edit the prize packages (they’d be getting better, not worse, trust me).  If you want to list your entry but don’t actually want the DVD, let me know so I don’t end up mailing it out to you before I find out you’re not interested.

So, have at it!  You’ve got just a little bit over three months – get cracking, people!

Crítica de Cinema – Texto publicado originalmente em A ARCA, em 31/01/2005.

Não adianta. Como alguém quer que eu faça uma crítica sem me envolver emocionalmente com o que escrevo? Vejam só meu caso: sou um fã ardoroso e declarado de fitas de suspense, obcecado por Alfred Hitchcock, pelos primeiros trabalhos do Brian DePalma e doente por “filmes com final surpresa” (à exceção das produções assinadas por M. Night Shyamalan, de quem sou chegado pero no mucho). E tudo isto por culpa de um sujeitinho chamado David Fincher que, há exatamente dez anos atrás, ainda um “quase estreante”, comandou uma fita independente que estraçalhou todos os blockbusters em seu caminho, virou de ponta-cabeça todos os conceitos do gênero e se tornou um divisor de águas na forma de se fazer filmes: Seven – Os Sete Crimes Capitais (1995). Com esta fita, David Fincher também fez a gentileza de me apresentar ao universo do cinema de suspense – gênero que hoje em dia é o meu preferido.

Seven marcou época graças à sua forma praticamente inédita de contar uma história – usando e abusando de tomadas mórbidas, cenas cruéis e um roteiro pra lá de enxuto com um final arrasador, e logo gerou seus filhotinhos. Todos, principalmente os grandes estúdios, queriam copiar a fórmula de terror psicológico que fez tanto sucesso nas mãos de Fincher. Com isso, surgiram do nada várias produções deste que já era considerado um subgênero. Todos ruins, aliás. Vixe, cada um pior que o outro! E foram necessários dez anos para que chegasse às telonas um exemplar digno de honrar a memória do primeiro longa. E olhem só: este exemplar da qual estou falando também é uma produção indie e saiu da cabeça de dois estreantes – dois caras que, sem as amarras de estúdios “top de linha”, puderam fazer o que quisessem sem suavizar porcaria nenhuma. Pois é, enquanto veteranos andam desapontando cada vez mais, os novatos só nos surpreendem. E será que ainda é possível alguém como eu não gostar de Jogos Mortais (Saw, 2004)? Não, não é possível.

Na verdade, o ideal mesmo é que não houvesse uma resenha para esta produção. Jogos Mortais é um daqueles trabalhos que ficam bem mais impressionantes e saborosos quando não se sabe absolutamente NADA a respeito deles. Por isso, dou aqui a opção: não revelarei nada neste texto além do que é naturalmente divulgado pela distribuidora numa sinopse, mas se ainda assim você achar melhor descobrir o enredo por si mesmo, pare de ler este texto agora!

Voltando à nossa programação normal, acho que sou até ponderado ao afirmar que há tempos não surge nas telonas um exercício de horror tão impressionante quanto este. Jogos Mortais é o típico longa-metragem que chega pra provar que, pra se fazer terror de verdade, daqueles de fazer tremer na base e grudar o espectador na poltrona, não é preciso investir rios de dinheiro em efeitos especiais mixurucas e inventar uma pusta história sem pé nem cabeça com demônios, monstros e afins (alô, Exorcista: o Início?). É só bolar um enredo coerente (hmmm, isto é o difícil em Hollywood… achamos o problema!), um roteiro técnico que não ofenda a inteligência do público – sim, nós somos inteligentes! – e colocar no meio um serial killer metódico e cauteloso, capaz de botar medo em qualquer um. Tudo bem, o cartaz nacional da fita, que divulga em letras garrafais a frase “Esqueça Seven”, com certeza exagera bastante. Mas ainda assim, Jogos Mortais é, sim, ducacete!

A culpa é dos tais dois caras estreantes, os amigos James Wan e Leigh Whannel, ambos de 27 anos. Os dois escreveram a história original, e enquanto Wan dirigiu os atores, Whannel cuidou dos diálogos e do tratamento final do texto. O resultado do trabalho em conjunto foi um roteiro que, de tão bom, nem precisou ser lido até o final para receber sinal verde (diz a lenda que os investidores do projeto toparam desembolsar um tutuzinho depois de ler apenas as primeiras páginas). Bem, se é assim, tinha que sair alguma coisa boa, certo?

Certíssimo. A exemplo do John Doe de Seven, o lunático de plantão aqui, apelidado de Jigsaw (literalmente, o Assassino do Quebra-Cabeça), acredita fazer “um favor à humanidade”, mas ninguém sabe ao certo o que isso significa (e quem sabe não vai contar pra não estragar a surpresa, né!). O que o cara faz: seqüestra alguma pessoa aparentemente inocente e arma uma espécie de “jogo” para esta pessoa. Se ela não concluir o jogo, morre. Se concluir, é libertada. O problema é que o próprio jogo oferece muitos riscos de vida – e são riscos que podem causar (e causam) mortes e/ou mutilações horríveis, daquelas que você não consegue nem mesmo imaginar, tamanho o nível de crueldade. Em um destes jogos, por exemplo, uma garota é presa a uma espécie de “armadilha de urso ao contrário”, um mecanismo que pode arrancar sua mandíbula quando acionada. Para tirar o aparato, ela precisa… bem, é melhor não entrar em mais detalhes.

Enfim, o tal serial killer, apesar de ser perseguido aos quatro cantos pelo detetive Tapp (Danny Glover), não pode ser condenado, já que ele não suja as mãos matando as vítimas; simplesmente fornece as “ferramentas” para que elas se matem sozinhas.

Enfim, quando Jogos Mortais começa, somos apresentados a duas pessoas “estranhas” entre si. Um é o Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes, de O Mentiroso e Beijos que Matam), médico que atravessa uma crise no casamento com a bela Alison (Monica Potter, que atuou em Na Teia da Aranha – curiosamente, um prequel de Beijos que Matam). O outro é Adam (Leigh Whannel, o autor do roteiro), que trabalha como… bem, deixa pra lá. Enfim, Gordon e Adam têm algo em comum: os dois acordam em um imundo e desativado banheiro do que parece ser um galpão abandonado. Cada um está em um canto do extenso ambiente, e ambos estão acorrentados pelo pé em grossas tubulações de água. No centro do banheiro, um corpo de um homem mortalmente ferido na cabeça. Junto ao corpo, uma arma e um mini-gravador.

Adam e Gordon não tardam a entender que são as novas vítimas do tal Jigsaw, que assiste o martírio dos dois homens através de uma câmera escondida, e dois envelopes escondidos em seus bolsos explicam que devem participar de “uma brincadeira”, se tencionam sair dali com vida. As “regras” do jogo são dadas, e… tá bom, agora chega!

Pois é, não tem mais o que dizer. Qualquer coisinha, por menor que seja, estraga. Só o que posso comentar é que a direção de James Wan é bem competente, o roteiro de Leigh Whannel prende a atenção do início ao fim e até o trio Danny Glover/Cary Elwes/Monica Potter – três atores com uma enorme (e verdadeira) fama de “canastrões” – dá conta do recado. A direção de fotografia do semi-desconhecido David Armstrong (cujo trabalho mais prestigiado é O Professor Aloprado, e ainda como assistente de câmera) é um primor e algumas cenas beiram o horror escatológico, nos fazendo fechar os olhos e tapar os ouvidos numa boa. Melhor não assistir comendo, pois há o risco de você “chamar o Hugo”! Talvez o único ponto fraco de Jogos Mortais seja a seleção da trilha sonora. Nada contra heavy-metal e hard-rock, mas em determinadas cenas simplesmente não combinou.

E quanto ao final, alardeado como “surpreendente”… bem, sim, ele é. Um final chocante mesmo, de fazer todo mundo exclamar “Putz, como não pensei nisso antes?”. Só não é tãããão chocante assim. O que torna Jogos Mortais uma experiência impressionante é justamente seu roteiro bem amarrado e, por muitas vezes, original. Um verdadeiro tapa na cara de muito cineasta velho de guerra que só anda fazendo lixo. Talvez o que mais surpreenda nisso tudo é saber, com Jogos Mortais, que ainda há gente infiltrada no meio, cuja preocupação maior é oferecer um trabalho com qualidade, sem intenções de apenas arrancar nosso dinheiro e nos chamar de “burros” na cara dura. E pelo amor de Deus: de onde surgiu aquela cabeça de porco e aquele palhaço maldito? Se eu dou de cara com aquilo no meio da noite, eu infarto na mesma hora!

CURIOSIDADES:

• Jogos Mortais foi rodado em apenas 18 dias.

• O enredo, escrito a quatro mãos por James Wan e Leigh Whannel, foi enviado a seu agente, que leu as primeiras páginas e, sem pensar duas vezes, despachou o manuscrito a um executivo de Los Angeles. Este imediatamente entrou em contato com os roteiristas. Nem bem leu a resenha, o tal executivo forneceu verba para Wan e Whannel rodar uma das cenas de Jogos Mortais em formato de curta-metragem, para apresentar aos estúdios.

• Originalmente, James Wan e Leigh Whannel pretendiam lançar Jogos Mortais direto em VHS/DVD. Depois de uma exibição teste, os produtores insistiram que a Lions Gate, empresa responsável pela distribuição, deveria jogá-lo nos cinemas, e investiram uma nota preta em marketing. Confiando em seu próprio taco, o diretor se recusou a receber um salário fixo e optou por ganhar somente uma parcela na bilheteria. Levando-se em consideração que o filme rendeu US$ 55 milhões só nos EUA – uma marca impressionante para uma produção independente -, Wan fez a escolha certa.

• Jogos Mortais teve problemas com os puritanos da MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America), que exigiram cortes para que o longa pudesse ganhar a classificação R (classificação indicativa que exige acompanhamento de adultos para menores de 17 anos) ao invés da temidíssima NC-17 (que proíbe rigorosamente a entrada a menores de 18 anos, mesmo acompanhado dos pais). Uma das cenas cortadas é a tão comentada “cena do intestino”, que James Wan já prometeu que estará no DVD. Então beleza! Ah, não sabe qual é a cena do intestino? Assista e entenda, uai!

• Leigh Whannel declarou em uma entrevista que sua principal fonte de inspiração foi a filmografia do cineasta italiano Dario Argento, especializado em histórias extremamente bizarras e responsável por Suspiria (1977), considerado um dos grandes trabalhos de horror da história do cinema.

SAW • EUA • 2004
Direção de James Wan • Roteiro de Leigh Whannel
Elenco: Leigh Whannel, Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Monica Potter, Ken Leung, Dina Meyer, Shawnee Smith.
102 min. • Distribuição: Paris Filmes.

CASTLEVANIA MOVIE: The film adaptation of Castlevania is no longer canceled, but now a new director is handling the project.

Bloody-Disgusting reports that a film adaptation of Konami’s vampire-whipping Castlevania video game series is back on. This news comes after the Castlevania movie that was going to be directed by Paul W.S. Anderson (Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil, Event Horizon, Alien vs. Predator) was recently canceled.

Now, the writer and director of the original grisly SAW horror film, James Wan, will both write and direct the Castlevania adaptation.

“The thing I love about what Konami did with Castlevania, was taking the iconic Dracula mythology and Eastern-European setting, and retelling it with a Japanese pop-cultural sensibility…That’s the East-meets-West tone I want to visually expand on for the film. I’m thrilled by the opportunity to make a highly stylized, fantasy, action film that focuses on the gothic storyline and the cool, anime-like characters.”

-James Wan

Okay, another top 100 list here and this time it’s movies. As usual, this is a list of my favourites which may have some random choices in it but it’s boring having every list out there the same. So without dragging this longer than it needs to, here is the top 100 films below.

WARNED: potential spoilers will appear if you haven’t seen ANY of these films.

100. ZOOLANDER

DIRECTOR: Ben Stiller

STARRING: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell, Christine Taylor, Milla Jovovich, Jerry Stiller & Jon Voight

FAVE QUOTE: “How can we be expected to teach children to learn how to read if they can’t even fit inside the building?” – Derek Zoolander

BEST MOMENT: Two words – gasoline fight!

Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller) is VH1’s three time male model of the year, but when Hansel (Owen Wilson) wins the award instead. Zoolander’s world turns upside down as his male model friends die in a freakish gasoline fight accident, he decides to retire and goes back to live with his father (Jon Voight), whose dissapointed in him & what he has become. Evil fashion guru Mugato (Will Ferrell) hires Zoolander, he thinks his life has turned back round again, that is until he finds out that Mugato has actually brainwashed him to kill the Prime Minister of Malaysia, he needs help from Matilda (Christine Taylor) and his rival Hansel to stop it from happening. The film was released back in 2001 and to be honest, this is a film that Ben Stiller hasn’t better acted in (though there is another film which he directed that is higher on this list). Stiller & Wilson really work well together and Ferrell is really good aswell as the evil fashion guru Mugato. Look out for random guest appearances (David Duchovny, David Bowie & Billy Zane!??). Should check it out and of course at the end, Zoolander does realise that there is more to life than being really, really, ridiculously good looking.

99. A NIGHT AT THE ROXBURY

DIRECTOR: John Fortenberry

STARRING: Will Ferrell, Chris Katan, Dan Hedaya, Loni Anderson, Molly Shannon & Chazz Palminteri

FAVE QUOTE: “Steve, don’t hit on the bridesmaid. It’s your wedding.” – Barbara Butabi

BEST MOMENT: The dancefloor scene

 

98. COOL RUNNINGS

DIRECTOR: Jon Turteltaub

STARRING: John Candy, Malik Yoba, Doug E Doug, Leon Robinson, Rawle D Lewis & Raymond J Barry

FAVE QUOTE: “I’m freezing my royal Rastafarian nay-nays off!”- Sanka Coffie

BEST MOMENT: Crossing towards the finish line at the end…you’ll get it

  

97. GO

the movie poster DIRECTOR: Doug LimanSTARRING: Katie Holmes, Sarah Polly, Desmond Askew, Nathan Bexton, Scott Wolf, Jay Mohr, Timothy Olphant, William Fichtner & Taye DiggsFAVE QUOTE: "Wow, I didn't know we'd become such good friends, because if we had, you'd know that I give head before I give favors and I don't even give my best friends head so your chances of getting a favor are pretty fucking slim."- ToddBEST MOMENT: A naked Fichtner creeping out Jay Mohr...priceless 96. BRONSONTom Hardy as Bronson

DIRECTOR: Nicolas Winding Refn

STARRING: Tom Hardy, Matt King & Amanda Burton

FAVE QUOTE: “For most people, prison is a monotonous nightmare. But for me, it was finally a place where I could sharpen my tools, hone my skills.” – Charles Bronson

BEST MOMENT: The scene where he takes the library officer & strips naked and shouts abuse at him whilst waiting for the other guards to arrive.

95. MONSTERS INC

 

Mike & Sulley

DIRECTOR: Pete Docter

STARRING: John Goodman, Billy Crystal, Mary Gibbs, Steve Buscemi, James Coburn & Jennifer Tilly

FAVE QUOTE: “Oh, you should have seen the look on Waternoose’s face when that wall went up. Woo-hoo! I hope we get a copy of that tape. Hey, you all right? Come on, we did it. We got Boo home. Sure, we put the company in the toilet, and, gee, hundreds of people will be out of work now, not to mention the angry mob that’ll come after us when there’s no more power… but hey, at least we had a few laughs, right?” – Mike

BEST MOMENT: Sulley takes Boo home. I see those tears dammit!

94. SIN CITY

 

Marv's going to war

DIRECTOR: Robert Rodriguez & Frank Miller

STARRING: Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba, Devon Akoi, Powers Boothe, Rosario Dawson, Beinicio Del Toro, Carla Cugino, Josh Hartnett, Clive Owen, Brittany Murphy, Michael Clarke Duncan, Jaime King, Rutger Hauer, Michael Madsen, Nick Stahl & Elijah Wood

FAVE QUOTE: “OSo, you were scared, weren’t you Goldie? Somebody wanted you dead and you knew it. Well, I’m gonna find that son of a bitch that killed you, and I’m gonna give him the hard goodbye. Walk down the right back alley in Sin City, and you can find anything.” – Marv

BEST MOMENT: Marv in the electric chair

93. THE CABLE GUY

Steven & Chip

DIRECTOR: Ben Stiller

STARRING: Jim Carrey, Matthew Broderick, Leslie Mann, Jack Black, George Segal, Diane Baker, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson & Eric Roberts

FAVE QUOTE: “Come back here, so that I may brain thee!” – Chip Douglas

BEST MOMENT: The entire Medival Times scene, especially Chip Douglas’ Kirk VS Spock Star Trek moment, utter genius!

92. THE MIST

 

Something ain't right outside

DIRECTOR: Frank Darabont

STARRING: Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurie Holden, Andre Braugher, William Sadler, David Jansen, Toby Jones, Jeffrey DeMunn, Frances Sternhagen, Nathan Gamble & Sam Witwer

FAVE QUOTE: “If you hit me again, if you dare, you’ll be on your knees to me before this is through.” – Mrs Carmody

BEST MOMENT: Almost sounds cliche saying this, but it does have an ending that will stick with you for quite sometime and fair play to Frank for sticking to his guns in doing this.

91. DONNIE DARKO

ever gone into a cinema & see a big rabbit

DIRECTOR: Richard Kelly

STARRING: Jake Gyllenhaal, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Holmes Osborne, Daviegh Chase, Mary McDonnell, James Duval, Patrick Swayze,  Jazzie Mahannah, Jena Malone, Seth Rogen, Kristina Malota, Marina Malota, Drew Barrymore & Noah Wyle

FAVE QUOTE: “Dear Roberta Sparrow, I have reached the end of your book and… there are so many things that I need to ask you. Sometimes I’m afraid of what you might tell me. Sometimes I’m afraid that you’ll tell me that this is not a work of fiction. I can only hope that the answers will come to me in my sleep. I hope that when the world comes to an end, I can breathe a sigh of relief, because there will be so much to look forward to.” – Donnie Darko

 

BEST MOMENT: The “Mad World” Montage at the end.

Freaky doll

DIRECTOR: James Wan

STARRING: Leigh Wannell, Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Ken Leung, Monica Potter, Michael Emerson, Shawnee Smith & Tobin Bell

FAVE QUOTE: “Congratulations. You are still alive. Most people are so ungrateful to be alive. But not you. Not anymore.”- Jigsaw

BEST MOMENT: It looks like they’re going to make it….wait a minute, what the fuck? the body that’s been lying on the floor montionless all this time gets up!!! A Franchise is born.

89. PRIATES OF THE CARRIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL

Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow

DIRECTOR: Gore Verbinski

STARRING: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Kiera Knightley, Jack Davenport, Geoffrey Rush & Jonathan Pryce

FAVE QUOTE: “Me? I’m dishonest, and a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly. It’s the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they’re going to do something incredibly… stupid.” – Jack Sparrow

BEST MOMENT: The introduction of Jack Sparrow & the boat sinking.

 

88. BRICK

Brick

DIRECTOR: Rian Johnson

STARRING: Joesph-Gordon Levitt, Nora Zehetner, Noah Fleiss, Lukas Haas, Noah Segan & Emilie de Ravin

FAVE QUOTE: “Ask any dope rat where their junk sprang and they’ll say they scraped it from that who scored it from this who bought it off so and after four or five connections the list always ends with the Pin. But I bet you got every rat in town together and said ’show your hands’ if any of them’ve actually seen the Pin, you’d get a crowd of full pockets.” – The Brian

BEST MOMENT: The baseball slide followed by head to post moment….ouch!

 

87. THE GOONIES

The Goonies

DIRECTOR: Richard Donner

STARRING: Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Jeff Cohen, Corey Feldman, Kerri Green, Martha Plimpton, Jonathan Ke Quan, John Matuszak, Anne Ramsey, Robert Davi & Joe Pantoliano

FAVE QUOTE: “Hey, you guys!” – Sloth

BEST MOMENT: The Truffle Shuffle, everytime or Sloth ripping his shirt to reveal the Superman one.

 

86. THE LOST BOYS

Before the Jack Bauer days

DIRECTOR: Joel Schumacher

STARRING: Kiefer Sutherland, Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, Dianne West, Barnard Hughes, Jamison Newlander, Edward Herrmann & Jami Gertz

FAVE QUOTE: “Death by Stereo.”- Sam Emerson

BEST MOMENT: The complete over the top death of the vampire in the garlic filled bath.

 

85. TRADING PLACES

Trading Places

DIRECTOR: John Landis

STARRING: Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd, Jamie Lee Curtis & Denholm Elliott

FAVE QUOTE: “Those men wanted to have sex with me.”- Louis Winthorpe III

BEST MOMENT: Louis pretends to be a  rastafarian as Billy Ray pretends to be a Cameroon exchange student in the train scene.

84. SLUMGDOG MILLIONAIRE

Slumdog Millionaire

DIRECTOR: Danny Boyle

STARRING: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Saurabh Shukla, Madhur Mittal & Anil Kapoor

FAVE QUOTE: “Maybe It’s Written.”- Jamal

BEST MOMENT: The train montage scene with M.I.A’s “Paper Planes” song and the moment they fall off & roll down the hill & grow older.

83. LETHAL WEAPON

Lethal Weapon

DIRECTOR: Richard Donner

STARRING: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Mitch Ryan, Gary Busey, Tom Atkins, Darlene Love, Traci Wolfe, Ebonie Smith & Damon Hines

FAVE QUOTE: “Hey, look friend, let’s just cut the shit. Now we both know why I was transferred. Everybody thinks I’m suicidal, in which case, I’m fucked and nobody wants to work with me; or they think I’m faking to draw a psycho pension, in which case, I’m fucked and nobody wants to work with me. Basically, I’m fucked.”- Riggs

BEST MOMENT: The rooftop scene. Do you really wanna jump?

82. JAWS

Jaws

DIRECTOR: Steven Spielberg

STARRING: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary & Murray Hamilton

FAVE QUOTE: “You’re gonna need a bigger boat. ” – Martin Brody

BEST MOMENT: Jaws finally appears on screen.

81. 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN

40 Year Old Virgin - The waxing scene

DIRECTOR: Judd Apatow

STARRING: Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, Catherine Turner, Seth Rogen, Romany Malco, Kat Dennings, Elizabeth Banks & Jane Lynch

FAVE QUOTE: “You know, I may not have had sex, but I could fuck you up. ” – Andy Stitzer

BEST MOMENT: The entire improvised “You Know How I Know You’re Gay?” scene between Paul Rudd & Seth Rogen.

80. GET SHORTY

Get Shorty

DIRECTOR: Barry Sonnenfield

STARRING: John Travolta, Gene Hackman, Danny De Vito, Rene Russo, Delroy Lindo, Jon Gries, Dennis Farina & James Gandolfini

FAVE QUOTE: “Rough business, this movie business. I’m gonna have to go back to loan-sharking just to take a rest.” – Chili Palmer

BEST MOMENT: Chili Palmer throwing Bear down the stairs…then the talk afterwards.

79. MYSTIC RIVER

Sean Penn in Mystic River

DIRECTOR: Clint Eastwood

STARRING: Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon, Tim Robbins, Laurence Fishburne, Laura Linney, Emmy Rossum & Marcia Gay Harden

FAVE QUOTE: “Sometimes I think, I think all three of us got in that car….” – Sean Devine

BEST MOMENT: Dave’s rant about vampires to his freaked out wife.

Segundo a Folha Online, a empresa japonesa de games Konami está em fase final de negociação para levar o jogo “Castlevania” às telas de cinema:

De acordo com o site da revista “Variety”, o diretor James Wan (“Jogos Mortais”) e o roteirista Ian Jeffers (“Sentença de Morte”) estarão no comando do projeto.

Steven Paul, da Crystal Sky Entertainment, será responsável pela produção.

Leia mais clicando aqui.

Let me first start of by saying that Castlevania was probably the BEST game EVER for the  NES! There were obviously some other really good ones but I will have to say this game pretty much blew my damn mind as a kid! I was the first one to beat the damn game too of any kid or teen in my whole neighborhood! My friend Dave Park (My NES partner in crime back then) and I liked it sooo much that when I beat it we were recording the final battle I had with Dracula on a VHS tape! Yeah you could do that back then. I almost lost my mind when I beat Dracula and then he suddenly turned into that HUGE white demon-then I had to kick it’s ass too! Anyway you can tell it was pretty epic for me and I still think I am some kinda video game hotshot still because of that.

Well it turns out that they are making a ”Castlevania” movie now. I am not sure about you but I don’t think that video game movies have ever turned out that good. I guess Resident Evil had some promise but really these movies end up to be clunkers. Unless this movie has all the camera angles from the side view and all the bosses from the original game it just might as well not be made! The Simon Belmont  better have a whip, some crosses and big jugs of  holy water to toss too.  Ok I admit maybe I am being a little too picky. 

From what I hear the movie is being written and directed by James Wan, of the “Saw” franchise who also directed “Dead Silence” and “Death Sentence”.  Here’s what he had to say about it on Bloodydigusting.com:
“I’m very fresh on this project, so its early stages and I’m still trying to work things out, but the producers love my vision for it, I’ll be working on the script with a writer to give it a new spin, different to the previous versions. This will have my stamp on it which Konami is very excited about.

“The thing I love about what Konami did with Castlevania, was taking the iconic Dracula mythology and Eastern-European setting, and retelling it with a Japanese pop-cultural sensibility,” he continues. “That’s the East-meets-West tone I want to visually expand on for the film. I’m thrilled by the opportunity to make a highly stylized, fantasy, action film that focuses on the gothic storyline and the cool, anime-like characters. For once, the human hero is as sexy and dangerous as the vampire villain, and his weapon of choice was what attracted me to the project in the first place”

Se vé joven, pero se vé que este director sí ha jugado Castlevania

Bloody-Disgusting reporta que el director James Wan (de la franquicia de Saw) va a ayudar a hacer el guión y de paso a dirigir la película de Castlevania para Paul W.S. Anderson que también escribio este guión y que anda produciendo. Wan estará reemplazando a Sylvain White, quien anteriormente iba a dirigir esta adaptación del video juego.

“La cosa que me encantó que hiciera Konami con Castlevania es que tomara la mitología de Dracula y su locación en el este de Europa y lo volviera a contar con un estilo japones muy pop. Ese es el tono donde el Este-conoce-al-Oeste que quiero mostrar visualmente y expandirlo en la cinta. Esto muy emocionado por la oportunidad de hacerlo bien estilizado, con fantasía, acción y que se enfoque en la historia gótica y sobre todo en los personajes tan perrones con su influencia de anime. Por primera vez, el héroe humano es tan sexy y tan peligroso como el villano vampiro, y su arma preferida fué lo que me atrajo al proyecto en primer lugar – El Látigo mata vampiros”.

¿Eso se escucha a que el héroe puede que sea una heroína?. Espero que el director sea tan apasionado como se escucha, pero me daría más seguridad si en lugar de decirle así al látigo lo hubiera llamado como todos los fans de Castlevania lo conocen: “La Estrella de la mañana”.

Como muchos saben, Castlevania está basada en el clásico videojuego y comienza con la historia de un caballero de Transilvania que dirige a sus hombres a un castillo gótico en busca de refugio para escapar del ejército Turco. Ahí los caballeros descubren que el castillo está controlado por el vampiro original.

El guión pone un choque generacional con el Vampiro Vlad y con la familia Belmont, un clan que se encarga siempre de combatir a Drácula y que desde hace varias generaciones batalla una y otra vez contra él.