Mirrors

I saw Mirrors this afternoon. Not bad, but a bit of a disappointment from director Alexandre Aja, whose previous films, High Tension and The Hills Have Eyes, set expectations pretty high.

Aja remains one of the most stylish directors in action-horror, and he delivers on style here. There are a few moments of gore, most of it CG, apparently, and lots of shock-effects. Unfortunately, the haunted house tropes get old fast, and I frequently found myself itching for something to happen. Suspense quickly gave way to boredom.

The acting is weaker than I expected from this cast. In particular, the scenes of domestic drama don't work.

However, the movie got better as it went along. In fact, the final minute of the film was nearly perfect. If only the rest of the movie had been as good.

If you're a horror fan, you've probably already seen Mirrors. If not, it's worth the matinee price.

Prom Night's Brittany Snow

The Los Angeles Times interviews Brittany Snow (Prom Night):

With saucer-size blue eyes and cheerleader good looks, the Tampa, Fla., native certainly doesn't bring to mind broody slasher queen Jamie Lee Curtis, who starred in the 1980 original. Snow points out that comparisons aren't necessary. "It's not a remake," she says. "It actually just has the same title. But it's a completely different story."

This "Prom Night" sets its cat-and-mouse game in the context of today's super-proms, with the action taking place in a swanky hotel (the Park Plaza Hotel stands in for the film's fictional Pacific Grand Hotel), where couples walk the red carpet for adoring townsfolk and floor-to-ceiling flat screens capture the dance-floor drama.

The role was more than just a sartorial challenge for Snow. "It's hard to make [the terror] real," she says. "That you're being chased by somebody when the person isn't even there -- and there's like 20 crew members staring back at you. There are no footsteps in the distance. And craft services is right around the corner."

Read the rest at The Los Angeles Times.

Justin Marks to Write "Hack/Slash"

Variety reports the latest project for hot action scribe Justin Marks:

Scribe Justin Marks has been tapped to tackle "Hack/Slash," Rogue Pictures' adaptation of the Devil's Due Publishing comicbook Todd Lincoln will helm.

Comicbook, created by Tim Seeley and Stefano Caselli, revolves around Cassie Hack, a young woman who travels the country and takes on homicidal maniacs and serial killers along the way.

The actioner will be heavy on comedy and horror.

Read the rest at Variety.

Interview with Jeffrey Reddick

UGO interviews horror writer Jeffrey Reddick (Day of the Dead):

[The director] told me he wanted to make this more of an action movie, and that that was important to him. And we talked about the military, and we were originally going to have the military folks be older in the first few drafts of the story. But we'd seen so many movies you know like 28 Weeks Later or Aliens where you have these hardened military guys going up against some kind of monster. We said "well why don't we make them reservists?" You know, none of them know when they're called in that everyone is going to turn into a cannibal. They're not ready for that when they get there!

Read the rest at UGO.

Eclipse Reviews "The Ruins"

Eclipse Magazine visits The Ruins:

Unlike a lot of horror films, The Ruins unfolds slowly. Because we are given the time to relate to the group, we become more involved in the action when things begin to go south. Also unlike most horror films, the majority of the action takes place in bright sunlight. There are scenes in the pyramid, but they aren’t a huge proportion of the film.

When it does come, the blood and gore are definitely not for the squeamish, but The Ruins is not a splatter flick and the gore is integral to the plot, not a bid for a cheap scare. Indeed, in one particular sequence near the climax of the film, the gore causes an audience reaction that is equally parts of revulsion and sympathy.

Read the rest at Eclipse Magazine.

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This blog will focus on the action/horror genre in movies, books, television, and video games.