Another Weak Weekend, Especially for "Splice"

So, it was another weak weekend at the box office. "Shrek Forever After" spent a third weekend in the lead, but it was really due to the fact that "Get Him to the Greek", "Killers", "Marmaduke" and "Splice" all underperformed. I guess that's not entirely fair, "Killers" and "Marmaduke" were disasters, but "Get Him to the Greek" did fairly well, considering it stars Jonah Hill and Russell Brand. It did come in second with a respectable $17.5Million take. "Killers" came in third and stars Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl and cost $75Million. "Killers" got terrible reviews, too. Whatever. The disappointed for me was how poorly "Splice" did. Reviews were great, it stars Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley and it was the only horror to get a wide release... but it only pulled in $7.5Million and came in 8th. Shame. Personally, I thought the trailers were a little weak and far too reminiscent of "Species", but still intriguing. They really could've done a better job on the marketing. All I can say is, hopefully it goes on to a good life on DVD and VOD. Anyhow, moving on to the horror that's coming out on DVD this week... you can check out the trailers on our Youtube Page and you can click on the titles to be taken to their page on Amazon, where you can buy them and/or read more about them.

I don't know if "Shutter Island" is considered a horror, but it has elements of horror and it's a Scorsese film. I like both, so I'm going to talk about it. I won't let the cat of the bag, plot-wise, but it's about U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels, played by DiCaprio, who is assigned to investigate the disappearance of a patient from Boston's Shutter Island Ashecliffe Mental Hospital. The film is based on a best selling novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane and, believe it or not, the film gave both Scorsese and DiCaprio their best box office opening to date. Crazy, huh? It remained #1 for five weeks straight, too, and is now Scorsese's highest grossing film of all time.

"Bloodlock" is a low-budget horror from filmmaker William Victor Schotten. It was his second film, after "Dead Life". He's since made "Sabbath" and "The Brass Ring". It's about a couple that buys a fixer upper house in a small town and discovers a secret room in the basement, locked up behind a heavy, titanium door with a cross and mystical writings. So, of course, they want to open the door and, of course, they do. What's behind there? A vampire. What's he do? Kills people. Or does he? You'll have to see it...

"Creek" was originally called "The Unfortunate" and it's directed by Lola Wallace, starring Cassie Jaye and Aaron Leddick. Unfortunately, they should've stuck with the title "The Unfortunate" because it's tough to do any research on something called "Creek", when there's "Wolf Creek", "Blood Creek", "The Creek" and 40 other horror films with the word "Creek" in the title... anyhow, it's about a group of friends that are on their way back from a horror convention and are lured into a roadside attraction that promises them the opportunity to find gold... cursed gold that's protected by ghosts that are out for vengeance.

"Metal Man" is the directorial debut from special effects guy, Ron Karkoska. He did the effects on such classics as "The Hills Run Red", "InAlienable" and "Reeker". He also worked on the upcoming "Dahmer vs Gacy", from friend of Dead Harvey, Ford Austin. "Metal Man" stars Reggie Bannister and is, really, a mock-buster rip-off of "Iron Man" and if you're in to the campy stuff, it looks like it's a film for you. I haven't seen it, but the trailer looks great.

Shutter Island wins the box office and a look at the upcoming week in horror DVD's.

As much as I heart James Cameron and talking about the huge success of "Avatar", I'm glad it no longer tops the box office every week... I was running out of things to say. This week, "Shutter Island" tops the box office with a gross of over $40Million, which gives both Scorsese and DiCaprio their best box office opening yet. The interesting story here is that the film was originally scheduled for release on October 2nd, 2009 and it was pushed back for a variety of alleged reasons... from Paramount not having the financing at the time to market a big awards pic to DiCaprio's unavailability to promote the film internationally. In the end, it worked out for them. The film has received generally positive reviews, but, having said that, very few people have the balls to give a negative review to Scorcese. I haven't seen it, but it is Scorcese and it's a noir suspense/horror. Seems like a perfect storm for me. Next week, more horror... the remake of "The Crazies" comes out. Now, let's look at the horror that's coming out on DVD this week and, as usual, you can check out the trailers on our Youtube Page by clicking HERE and/or you can click on the titles, where you'll be taken to their Amazon page, where you can read more about them and/or buy them.

Sometimes, I have no f'ing clue what's going through people's minds. How in God's name did "The Box" get green lit as a $30Million feature? It's based on the short story "Button, Button" by Richard Matheson from 1970 and was later adapted into an episode of "The Twilight Zone" and I think that's as far as this premise should have gone. The film is about a couple who receive a box from a mysterious man who offers them one million dollars if they press the button sealed within the dome on the top. If they do press it, someone they don't know will die. The film received mixed reviews and didn't really do that well. Apparently, they do keep the film intriguing and it's paced well, but the whole idea just seems so implausible, that I don't think it could carry a two hour film...

Personally, I think that "Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant" was completely mishandled. I haven't seen it, but right off the bat, I dismissed it. I saw the title, the cast, saw that it was PG-13 and that was it. Done... but here's the thing, they didn't market it properly. You see, I believe that horror geared towards a younger audience is a huge, growing and under served market. Done well, you're looking at "Harry Potter" or "Twilight". Done poorly, you're looking at "The Haunted Mansion" or, well... this. I didn't know that this film is actually an adaptation of the first three books of the series "The Saga of Darren Shan", which is a popular series geared towards young adults. The premise is great, too. It's about a teenager that's pulled into a fantastic life of misunderstood sideshow freaks and grotesque creatures of the night. I think John C Reilly was a bit miscast here, as his presence would lead you to believe that you're getting "Talladega Nights" or "Step Brothers" type humor, which you're not. He's also a big presence, possibly overshadowing the lead. Also, the title doesn't do it justice... it sounds corny. Originally, I wasn't going to pay any attention to it, but now I actually want to check this out.

They're rereleasing "The Caretaker", an indie film that we covered quite some time ago. It's a great little flick and you can read our original post on it here.

"Sorority Row" is a remake of the 1983 slasher classic called "The House on Sorority Row". The film is from Summit Entertainment, who are proving that, lately, they're not too great at producing successful films that aren't called "Twilight". It's got a decent cast, including Carrie Fischer and Bruce's daughter, Rumer Willis, and it supplies everything that you'd want from a slasher flick, from hot girls, to suspense and gore. I haven't seen it, but obviously someone liked it, as they're in works on a sequel.

The Original "Blood For The Muse" came out almost a decade ago, but they're rereleasing it as "Blood For The Muse: The Omega Edition". The film is a great micro-budget horror from Terry West, shot in black & white. It's based on the cult comic about a guy who's driven to blood-soaked extremes for his Dark Muse. He believes that tragedy brought her to him and he becomes a serial killer, preying on call girls. Will his new girlfriend stop his gory rampage or will she become his last victim? You'll have to watch "Blood For The Muse" to find out...

If you're into schlock, they're rereleasing a pile of it. There's "Horror of the Blood Monsters"; "Mikels' Bloodbath Collection: Mark of the Astro-Zombies (2002) / Dimension In Fear (1998) / Female Slaves Revenge (1997) / Cauldron: Baptism of Blood (2004) (4-DVD)"; "Brides of Blood" and "The Alcove".

If you're into Blu-ray, you can now get the awesome "Dead Snow", the original George Romero classic "The Crazies", the new version of "Sorority Row", a personal favorite "Ichi the Killer" and Troma's latest classic, "Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead".