Bloody Bits is a 2016 Canadian horror compilation of seven of the best short films shown at the Blood in the Snow film festival.
The shorts are from directors Christopher Giroux (Dead All Night), Darryl Shaw (Greater Than), Jay Clarke (Lively), Navin Ramaswaran (One More For The Road), Kat Threlkeld (Seiren), Greg Kovacs (Tasha And Friends) and Alex Hatz (Uncommon Enemies).
Horror cinema is pretty damn awesome. And as great as this site is, it’s somewhat lacking in information on the interesting and terrifying world of horror movies. Fortunately, like the Man of Steel himself (Reeve, not Cavill), someone has come to the rescue and there’s now a horror columnist in town.
In this column, I’ll update you on the recent developments in the world of horror movies and will also provide a review of a horror film (new or old) at the end in the hope that some of the most frightening movies ever get seen by more people. Changing the world, one poor internet user enduring the depravity of Wes Craven at a time.
Screaming Snippets
Classic 1973 supernatural horror The Exorcist is set to be remade as a 10-part TV series in the USA. The series will be directed by Sean Durkin, last seen at the helm of Elizabeth Olsen’s beautifully unsettling debut film Martha Marcy May Marlene, so it should go at least some way towards creating the creeping terror that made the original film a work of genius.
According to entertainment website Vulture.com: “Durkin’s version of The Exorcist follows the events leading up to a demonic possession and especially the after-effects of how a family copes with it.” So it sounds as if it’s going to be a very different beast to the original film and thus, it could go either way. It will be shopped to networks in a few weeks’ time and its progress is certainly worth monitoring.
Chloe Grace Moretz has been cast in the title role for the upcoming remake of Brian De Palma’s Carrie, with Julianne Moore cast as her mother. The upcoming remake has been described as a “more faithful” adaptation of Stephen King’s original source novel: his first published work. Partly it’s concerning to see a great suspense movie subjected to the remake treatment, but equally it’s heartening to see a horror remake that doesn’t have Michael Bay attached to it so I’ll maintain an open mind.
It appears that we finally have a US release date for sadistic horror The Bunny Game. The unflinching shocker has been banned over here in the UK by the BBFC but will be released on US DVD and Blu-Ray on 17th July. The Bunny Game follows a prostitute who hitches a lift with a truck driver who subsequently subjects her to a number of torturous “games” and is surrounded by the kind of morbid curiosity that also surrounded The Human Centipede II: Full Sequence last year.
Look Back In Splatter...
Videodrome (David Cronenberg, 1983)
David Cronenberg is a director renowned for his mastery of body horror. For many, Videodrome is classed as one of his best works, if not his best, and it’s easy to see why. Videodrome is a wonderful amalgamation of excellent tension, an intriguing premise way ahead of its time and body horror showcasing the unsophisticated, yet terrifying, prosthetic's of the 1980s.
Videodrome tells the story of struggling network executive Max (James Woods) looking desperately for the future of television. Pirating a signal from abroad, he is shown "Videodrome": a programme appearing to show the torture and murder of anonymous victims. He eventually learns that the programme is more than just snuff TV: it is the epicentre of an attempt to control the minds of Americans.
The first thing to mention about Videodrome is its delicious high concept. Even before the digital revolution gave us millions of channels and millions of psycho-analysts damning its effects on humanity, Videodrome hypothesised about the dangers of television. When this is combined with some deeply creepy prosthetic effects and several scenes that genuinely cause chills, we are left with a surreal classic that rightly stands amongst the best of the genre.
TOM B
We're happy to have Tom onboard and look forward to his writings on the world of horror next month.
