Variety Review: ‘The Mule’ Gives New Meaning To “Gut-Wrenching Suspense”

3 December 2014

Why are we including this, you ask? Well, Leigh Whannell (who got famous ten years ago with Saw when he teamed up with James Wan) co-stars and co-wrote the screenplay. Apparently this is the first time he has played a really vile character– most of us have only seen him as “Specs”, half the ghost-hunting team that works with Lin Shaye’s character, psychic Elise Ranier, in Insidiuous and Insidious Chapter 2 (mainly as comic relief). He also was the unlucky half of the duo chained up in the original Saw, along with Cary Elwes. This isn’t a horror movie, but reviews say it is very intense… and stomach-turning at times. There is one scene referred to as “The one-Man Human Centipede sequence” that is apparently so gross that no-one will even describe it. Guess who came up with and wrote the scene? Our pal Leigh Whannell. Hit “View Original” in the lower left to read the entire review by Justin Chang on Variety.com!

‘Darkly Humorous’, ‘Clever’, and ‘Brutal’: Read Variety’s Review of ‘Blue Ruin’ Here!

1 May 2014

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Blair’s engaging, soulful-eyed performance succeeds by locating the sweet spot between idiot and amateur, predator and prey. Repeatedly, Dwight plans ahead, takes calculated risks and still messes up, and much of the film’s tension derives from his very fallibility, as well as his increasing awareness that none of this can possibly end well. If the climax goes inevitably over-the-top, it’s nonetheless the sort of gruesome finish the story’s steady, merciless buildup demands.

-from the Variety review by Justin Chang

Sold! We’ve also heard great things about Blue Ruin from Ryan at Rhino Horror (here’s the link to his review; definitely worth a look, plus it contains trailer #2). EW.com also has a very entertaining interview from Eve Plumb (yup, Jan Brady) who co-stars in the film, and her character looks like someone you do NOT want to fuck with. Murder Party, (2007) writer-director Jeremy Sualnier’s first genre flick, was hilarious, brutal, and impossible to second-guess up till the very end. Netflix doesn’t have it on streaming, but if you’ve got a program with disc rentals, definitely worth a rental. Looking forward to Blue Ruin yet? We can’t wait (to scrape up the money) to give it a watch.

Find Out How Jan Brady Went Bad for Revenge Thriller ‘Blue Ruin’ (EW.com)

1 May 2014

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Jesus, she does look pretty scary. About the only negative thing I’ve heard about Blue Ruin is that the ending could be seen as over-the-top and gory (which Variety’s review defends). That’s a bad thing? Not to us, it ain’t. Click here to read Variety’s positive review, and Ryan at Rhino Horror also highly recommended it; click here to check out his review (plus trailer #2). We used up our VOD budget for April–actually over-used it–so we’re gonna have to wait to give Blue Ruin a whirl. Click “View original” (I wish they’d just change it back to “Read More” for a link back to the rest of the first article) to read the rest of the Eve Plumb interview; trailer #1 for Blue Ruin is included..

Read EW.com’s ‘Bates Motel’ Postmortem: Norman’s Memory, Dillon’s [SPOILER], and ‘Burning Flame’ Between Norma and Romero

29 April 2014

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What we initially thought was probably going to be a stupid show (early in the first season) has really gained momentum, and we’re no longer content DVR-ing and watching Bates Motel later, but watching it when it airs. Vera Famiga just keeps topping herself with her performance as Norma Bates (and the supporting cast aren’t too shabby either), giving what could have been a one-note character many facets (our hearts actually broke for her more than once in tonight’s episode). We’re actually rooting for her… even though we know how it’s all going to end.

Intense Horror Thriller “Proxy” Opens 4/18 – Find Out If Can You Stomach the Brutal First Five Minutes

17 April 2014

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Deciding whether to see Zack Parker’s Proxy, but aren’t sure if you want to because it might be too violent? Allow us to help you decide by posting this clip for you to view.

We wanted to add EXTREME CONTENT WARNING to the title of the post, but it was already too long. So first, EXTREME VIOLENCE WARNING, even for Horror Boom. In fact, Mrs. Horror Boom here felt a little queasy at the ending, and I’ve never even been pregnant. I don’t recommend it if you’re pregnant, especially if you’re worried something will go wrong; same goes if your wife/partner/sibling, etc. is pregnant. As I mentioned earlier in my intro to the review Variety gave it (which was pretty positive), I do know of people who watched Inside while pregnant. If you’re one of those people then hey, watch away. I just don’t want to get yelled at for not warning you. If you’re eating something right now, you may want to set it aside while you watch. Okay?

Oh, and in case you’re wondering about the content, the clip is titled (on YouTube, anyway) as the following: “A Baby Is Beaten From a Pregnant Woman in Controversial Thriller Film ‘Proxy'”. That should weed out some of you right there. Also, over half the various comments on sites that ran the clip that I’ve read have been along the lines of that’s not art, that’s not even horror, that’s sick! So consider yourself warned (again).

Did Zack Parker make a good movie? You can read the Variety review here, and here’s the link to Rotten Tomatoes and their page for the shocker (67% fresh as of this writing, if you were wondering) where you read many more reviews. Neither of us at Horror Boom have seen it yet (but with the reviews, we will be).

So! Proxy will be available on various VOD platforms in less than 24 hours… or, depending on when you read this, possibly right now.

Good Lord!

Watch: First Trailer for David Cronenberg’s ‘Maps to the Stars’

15 April 2014

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OK, this isn’t a horror movie so much as a dramatic thriller, but David Cronenberg’s Maps to the Stars has a post-production trailer that looks interesting. Also, the Hollywood family portrayed in the thriller looks pretty fucked-up. If you saw Chan-Wook Park’s Stoker, you know Mia Wasikowska can play one creepy, deadly, and awesome daughter. Click “View original” in the lower left to watch the trailer on Variety.com!

‘Breaking Bad’ flash-forward: We imagine everyone’s life 10 years from now

3 October 2013

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Everyone’s Listening to that Song from the End of ‘Breaking Bad’ (theatlanticwire.com)
‘Breaking Bad’ Finale Had Most Viewers In The Show’s History – By A Lot (slashfilm.com)
Breaking Bad finale dark as ever (o.canada.com)
Final Thoughts: “Breaking Bad” (popinsomniacs.com)

‘Breaking Bad’: On the set for the final scene — EXCLUSIVE

2 October 2013

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If you’re a fan, we highly recommend this EW.com piece – . All we can say for now is… SIGH. Also, some trivia about the finale will be coming -hopefully at least a couple of facts will be something you haven’t heard before – including a really gory effect that Vince Gilligan envisioned for the final shoot-out. Greg Nicotero even came up with sketches and concept art, but it was so grisly that Gilligan finally decided it’d be distracting from the final scene with Walt and Jesse.

‘Breaking Bad’: Vince Gilligan explains series finale (horrorboom.com)
Vince Gilligan’s Breaking Bad Postmortems: How Walt “Won” Yet Lost His Soul (entertainment.time.com)
Vince Gilligan Reveals How Else ‘Breaking Bad’ Could Have Ended (slashfilm.com)

‘Dexter’ producers explain finale, defend final season

23 September 2013

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The title of this EW.com piece gives you a hint as to the quality of the finale (“Wait wait wait! At least let us talk about this, we can explain!”, and do they get defensive? Take a wild guess). Well, we will grudgingly give them props to go out on a pretty dark, downbeat note. The leaked spoiler for the Dexter series finale got a couple of things right, but fortunately left Quinn out of things. We just wish anything in the final season had been the least bit enjoyable and/or thrilling to watch. What did you guys think?

Warning: if anything bothered you in the finale, especially plot holes, this piece WILL piss you off. If the finale pissed you off, this will piss you off more, even if you didn’t think that was possible (this writer was willing to give the finale a D+, then decided, fuck those people, now it’s an F before even finishing reading the entire thing). We wouldn’t have blamed the interviewer/writer for saying, “yeah, I call bullshit on that,” and ending the interview in disgust before they said anything more they would regret later (career-wise, that is; we doubt their opinions would change, especially on the arrogant and defensive attitude of the producers). A roller-coaster-ride, this finale was not. Spoiler alerts, if you haven’t seen the finale yet…

Twitter Reacts to The ‘Dexter’ Series Finale and Hopes ‘Breaking Bad’ Will Do Better (cabletv.com)
Dexter Finale Fails to Impress (Video) (guardianlv.com)
The “Dexter” Series Finale Was Unbelievably Awful (buzzfeed.com)
‘Dexter’: About that series finale … (marquee.blogs.cnn.com)
The Terrible End of Our Once Beloved ‘Dexter’ (theatlanticwire.com)
‘Dexter’ Series Finale: EP Explains Why [Spoiler] Was Killed (hollywoodlife.com)

We Are Sorry To Report ‘Dexter’ Finale Leak Sounds Terrible (MAJOR SPOILERS)

15 September 2013

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So, yeah, this isn’t satisfying at all. It sounds the most likely of the leaks and the photos from the Dexter series finale (titled “Remember the Monsters?” – too bad “Surprise, Motherfucker!” has been used already, that title had a lot more pizzazz) that Showtime has released pretty much mirror the hospital stuff. Click the big link below if you want to read the blow-by-blow… We think the odds are high that this leak is in fact correct, so another SPOILER ALERT is probably in order.

Our “Spoiler-A-Rama” page hasn’t seen much action lately, so we cut and pasted it (and fixed some typos and formatting for your reading convenience) on that page. You can cut to the chase if you want by clicking here if you must know immediately what the leaked Dexter finale entails.

There is a major, unexpected death, but you’re probably not going to like it. We can’t guarantee this is what will transpire in the finale, it could be a fake to throw us off, but we doubt the writers care enough to bother. In this leaked Dexter finale, it’s what we’ve come to expect – lazy writing with a “shocker” death that was not earned. It’s easy for a writing team on a series TV show to kill off a major character for shock value –especially when they can’t think of anything else. Cross your fingers that this turns out to be a planted, fake leak and that for the first time since Rita’s death, the show pleasantly surprises or, better yet, thrills us.

Most of the related articles below, unfortunately, support this leak. It definitely leaves ‘some interpretation’ and we can’t see how it could not have a ‘polarizing fan reaction’.