Author: Alex Billington

"You don't have to be afraid... This child is His way." 20th Century has revealed the first official trailer for The First Omen, short and sweet (and spooky) at barely over 60 seconds long. It's not a teaser, just a very clever trailer. This technically is a prequel to The Omen, the 2006 horror film about a boy who might in fact be the Devil incarnate. In this film, a young American woman is sent to Rome to begin a life of service to the church, but encounters a darkness that causes her to question her faith and uncovers a terrifying conspiracy that hopes to bring about the birth of evil incarnate. Starring Nell Tiger Free, Tawfeek Barhom, Sonia Braga, Nicole Sorace, and Bill Nighy, with Ralph Ineson as Father Brennan. I really dig the playing-in-reverse gimmick of this trailer, it's unique and freaky and gets your attention. "Witness the birth of evil." Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Arkasha Stevenson's The First Omen, direct from YouTube: "Create something to fear." When a young American woman (Nell Tiger Free) is sent ...

"I've never heard of a case where the kidnappers drop their victim on the front door of their house." Netflix has revealed an official trailer for another chilling true crime doc mini-series titled American Nightmare, arriving to watch later in January. Continuing the trend of featuring frightening stories from America, this doc examines the real life case of Denise Huskins and an vent in March of 2015. After a home invasion and abduction, a young couple's recounting of the events is too far fetched for the police to believe. Why did the victims seem so calm? Was it all a hoax? From the filmmakers behind The Tinder Swindler, this three-part doc unravels the consequences of our cultural rush to judgment, and the (irreversible) damage done when law enforcement decides the truth can't possibly be true. Which is extra disquieting to think about... Netflix reminds: "The story of Huskins' disappearance invited national media scrutiny, with many comparing it to the 2012 Gillian Flynn novel Gone Girl." But there's much more than that. What a deranged & twisted story. Here's the main official ...

"We're gonna make her pay!" Paramount has revealed a final "Revenge Party" trailer for the 2024 update on Mean Girls, a big screen version of the Mean Girls musical from Broadway (which closed in 2020). It's not really a remake or a reboot, it's kind of a re-imagining but as a musical even though it borrows the same story from the original 2004 Mean Girls movie. Paramount Pictures Presents, a Broadway Video/Little Stranger Production, arriving in theaters nationwide this January. "You're invited to the Revenge Party of the year." Cady Heron is a hit with the Plastics, A-list girl clique at her new school and she makes mistake of falling for Aaron Samuels, the ex-boyfriend of alpha Plastic Regina George. Angourie Rice stars in this as Cady, with an ensemble cast also featuring Auli'i Cravalho, Reneé Rapp, Jaquel Spivey, Avantika, Ashley Park, Bebe Wood, Christopher Briney, Jenna Fischer, Busy Philipps, Tina Fey, and Tim Meadows & Jon Hamm. This is a better trailer than that first teaser, but this still doesn't look that good. Here's the second & final trailer for ...

"If you knew what I knew, would you stop me...?" Vertical has revealed an official trailer for a crime thriller revenge film titled The Bastard Sons, arriving to watch on VOD this week. If anyone cares to watch. The film marks the feature directorial debut of actor / writer Kevin Interdonato, who stars in, co-wrote, and produced this film in addition to directing. A misfit crew of small-town gangsters in New Jerseey enact brutal vengeance after an inside job ends in the murder of the head of their crime family, their Boss. They wage a brutal war to regain control of the business and get their pound of flesh. Kevin Interdonato stars along with Charles Malik Whitfield, Frankie Edgar, Joseph Sernio, and Kirk Ponton. This looks as mediocre as any movie can, featuring bad cinematography and even worse performances spun around a plot we've seen 100 times before. Cutting a silent trailer with only a few lines of dialogue is an interesting choice. Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Kevin Interdonato's The Bastard Sons, direct from YouTube: Life for a crew ...

"Great cinema is all around us... but in this ever-changing landscape it can be difficult to find [it] when navigating algorithms." You may have missed it when it first launched last year, so here's a 2024 update for anyone interested. There's a new online film club called Galerie that is worth joining if you're a cinephile like us. Galerie is a new film club and publication created by Indian Paintbrush, the production company behind Wes Anderson's films. They describe themselves as: "Galerie is a cinema club built by today’s most celebrated filmmakers. Personally shaped by award-winning artists, it combines film collections, original interviews, essays and live experiences into a single destination." It only costs $10 per month to join and includes plenty of fresh video content, not just text and essays, much more than that. "A new curator every month, in-depth essays, original videos and exclusive live events." It's cool to see something new & exciting in the online realm - and if this concept interests you, might as well sign-up & see what they've got to offer. Click on either ...

"It was a movie that was so personal to me when I made it." As everyone knows, Zack Snyder's latest movie Rebel Moon - Part One is now playing on Netflix around the world. As part of a promo for the release, the site Letterboxd had a short interview with Zack Snyder (note: it's ZacK with a K, not Zach with an H) and asked him a series of questions from site members. It's a fan Q&A that covers his entire filmography, from Army of the Dead to Dawn of the Dead to Man of Steel to Watchmen. So even if you didn't like Rebel Moon, there's more in here to explore than that movie. The most interesting question asked is: "What made you decide to become your own Director of Photography?" Ever since Army of the Dead, Snyder has been working as the cinematographer on all of his own movies. Why the switch? His answer is related to Justice League, and it all makes sense with how he explains it. He also reveals that he didn't really forbid chairs, ...

"The world has come to an end. The world calls upon the hunter." Netflix has launched a teaser trailer for a Korean post-apocalyptic action movie called Badland Hunters, arriving for streaming (worldwide) later in January. "Ready, Set, Hunt." This looks badass! Years after Seoul turns into an apocalyptic wasteland, a tough huntsman takes matters into his own hands when a teenager he’s close to is abducted by a mad doctor who conducts experiments on humans. Nam San battles formidable foes in the wilderness with an array of weapons, from bare fists to rifles, with the intense action choreography that is a hallmark of Director Heo Myeong-haeng's stunt work. Don Lee (Ma Dong-seok - Korea's "Dwayne Johnson" seen in Train to Busan, The Outlaws, The Eternals) stars as Nam San, with Lee Hee Jun, plus Lee Jun-young as his trusted partner, Choi ji-wan. Looks gnarly! Another film for Don Lee to punch everything, including a big alligator. Here's the first teaser trailer for Heo Myeong-haeng's Badland Hunters, direct from Netflix's YouTube: The story unfolds after an earthquake transforms Seoul into an apocalyptic wasteland. ...

"The Mouse is out." Surprise, surprise, they've already turned Mickey Mouse into a horror icon. Mickey's Mouse Trap is the first ever Mickey Mouse horror movie from filmmaker Jamie Bailey. If you didn't hear already, starting in 2024 the original Mickey Mouse first introduced in Disney's classic animated Steamboat Willie short from 1928 is now in the "public domain" and no longer copyrighted. Which means anyone can do whatever they want with it and of course they first thing someone does is turn it into horror (they always do this - same with Winnie the Pooh). "We just wanted to have fun with it all. I mean it's Steamboat Willie's Mickey Mouse murdering people. It's ridiculous. We ran with it and had fun doing it." Okay. The film stars Sophie McIntosh, Callum Sywyk, Allegra Nocita, Ben Harris, Damir Kovic, Mackenzie Mills, Nick Biskupek, and Simon Phillips. Yep this looks as dumb and as cheesy and as obvious as expected. Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Jamie Bailey's Mickey's Mouse Trap, direct from YouTube: "DISCLAIMER: THIS IS NOT NOT A DISNEY FILM ...

"Three... two... one... lift!" Netflix has unveiled the final "New Year's Day" trailer for the heist action comedy Lift, coming to Netflix to watch streaming in just a few weeks. This action thriller comedy is one of the first big releases on Netflix in 2024 (along with Society of the Snow). An international heist crew, led by Cyrus Whitaker, race to lift $500 million in gold from a passenger plane while flying at 40,000 feet. It's from the same director as The Italian Job remake and Law Abiding Citizen, so it might actually be entertaining to watch. With Kevin Hart Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Vincent D'Onofrio, Úrsula Corberó, Jacob Batalon, Billy Magnussen, Viveik Kalra, Yun Jee Kim, Burn Gorman, Paul Anderson, plus Jean Reno and Sam Worthington. This doesn't look that bad, but it also but doesn't look that good either, like most of the expensive Netflix movies recently. Worth a watch? Hard to tell from just the trailers. What do you think? Here's the second & final official trailer for F. Gary Gray's Lift, direct from Netflix's YouTube: You can rewatch the first ...

"Why do they want me to be scared?" WB Thailand has unveiled a first look teaser trailer for an upcmoing sci-fi movie called Taklee Genesis, opening in Thailand next May. This is the first ever Thai movie from Warner Bros Thailand, an ambitious sci-fi time-hopping thriller. During the Vietnam War, the American military built a large research station at Camp Ramsun, rumored to be a site experimenting with supersonic travel. The plot involves a device that allows for time warping - spanning thousands of years as hinted at in this trailer with dinosaurs and more. "Taklee Genesis is a Thai film genre not undertaken on the big screen for a long time," WB says. Starring Paula Taylor, Peter Corp Dyrendal, War-Wanarat Rasamerat, Natcha Nina Jessica Padowan, Phutharit Phrombandan, Sai-Indira Charoenpura, Nuchanpa Soidara, and Nara Thepnupha. This looks pretty dang cool, I have to say - the teaser certainly got my attention. I'm curious to find out more. "Join us on a journey to find the answer in movie theaters in 2024." Here's the teaser trailer (+ poster) for Ma-Deaw Chookiat Sakveerakul's ...