Starting things off this lovely evening is the trailer for Gonzalo López-Gallego's first English language film, Apollo 18, a found footage styled movie that focuses on a NASA mission gone horribly wrong. I've often shared my loving thoughts on the found footage genre, when done well, and one of the things I like about the style is it's cool to see how many different ways it can be used (before it gets completely milked). There're plenty of avenues that can be taken with this style, and I'd like to see it applied to the right types of films in a ways that are both beneficial and creative. Apollo 18 is a great example of a brilliant idea, however, it's tough to say whether or not this film looks any good. More often than not, when I see a trailer for a film such as this, I tend to get pretty pumped for it, however, I cannot honestly say that this trailer is all that great. Something about it rubs me the wrong way. Take a look and decide for yourself.
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Next up on the docket is the low-budget "you kids best not be messin' 'round these here parts" film, Madison County. Written, produced and directed by Eric England, Madison County is the familiar tale of a group of no good kids who head to a small mountain town in the hopes of interviewing the author of a book that tells about the areas brutal murders (longest sentence, EVA!!). Of course they find no such author nor do the local yokels prove to be of any help, so when the kids try and dig deeper, they find that they may actually be digging their own graves! MWHAHAHAHA!! It's clearly a very standard backwoods slasher affair, which is not a huge problem so long as a film, specifically this one, can deliver the goods in other areas. The trailer is good, and I think the pig mask could be pretty cool. And really, what it comes down to is cool killers killing kids in cool ways, right?
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My next preview is as brief as it is interesting. 31 is a short film about a girl who wakes up only to find herself trapped with no clue as to where she is, let alone how she got there. Some other stuff happens, I'm sure, but this is a short that will be running somewhere around 10 minutes long, so I doubt that sharing too many details would be the best idea. Anyway, what would be the bait and hook for 31 is that it's broken up into 31 individual 31-second segments, with each new segment premiering at 3:31 pm EST everyday (on You Tube), for 31 days, starting on March 31st. Whoa, wait, what? That's a lot of 3rty-1nes, right?! Yes, and while it sounds confusing, it's not. Either way, it's an interesting concept, and I like the idea that it's essentially a daily horror serial that will go on for a month. And with each segment only being 31-seconds long, it's would be very easy to keep up with. Now the question is, will it be any good?
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Blooded is yet another familiar story of survival (familiar seems to be quite the trend tonight, huh?), specifically focusing on a group of hunters that are kidnapped, only to awaken in the Scottish hills wearing no more than their underwear. Now, while having your chest acne, saggy boobs, and poop stained underwear exposed may be enough to cause some serious stress, the group of hunters find that they have more to worry about as they are being hunted by an animal rights group, claiming that (tagline alert!) "if you hunt, you're fair game." It's familiar, but as I said, and will always say, if it's done right, that can be forgiven. And the idea of flipping the script on hunters is kind is fun, and I like that there is the automatic humiliation factor of putting them in their underwear. That also bodes well if there is at least one hot chick n the film, and I bet you there is (I see her on that poster! YES!)!
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Okay, for shits and giggles I thought I'd throw in this trailer or Quarantine 2: Terminal, just because I cannot believe that it's real. I mean, Quarantine was an inferiorly shot version of an incredibly crafted handheld horror film, but at least there was a marginally successful attempt at making something competent. This shit, however, looks like they've gone way off the rails here. Seeing as it's a sequel to a handheld movie, I see absolutely no sign of the technique on display here. I suppose that completely dropping the hook essentially makes you a regular old zombie film that's using the name of a somewhat successful horror film, which was a remake of a much better film, only meant to cash in on yet another Foreign property, right? That's like the fucking circle of cinematic life, isn't it? Good luck with this one.
Okay, now that I'm done being too cool, I do kind of what to see this one, only because it looks so bad. Also, I do love that play on words. Sorry, I never said anything about having good taste.
That's it, bitches.
