Apartment 1303 3D Brings a Curse from Japan to North America: Preview

Author/Michael Allen

The latest poster for Apartment 1303 3D has been available for awhile now, but this is the first time info' on this horror title has passed along the newswire. Apartment 1303 is a remake of a 2007 film from director Ataru Oikawa. Both versions of the film deal with a cursed apartment that leads many occupants to suicide over and over again. The curse cannot be broken. In the North American version, filmed in Montréal, Québec, the cast is made up of Mischa Barton (Homecoming) and Rebecca De Mornay (Mother's Day). Expect De Mornay to play the mother and Barton will play the older sister who has just lost her sibling to suicide. This film is in post-production and fans of the Japanese style of filmmaking might find something that draws them nearer in this latest title. More cast and crew details for Apartment 1303 3D are inside.

Writers: Jim Steele (screenplay), and Michele Taverna.

Cast: Mischa Barton, Rebecca De Mornay, Julianne Michelle, Corey Sevier and John Diehl.

Apartment 1303 3D at Monte Cristo Int.

Apartment 1303 at Monte Cristo Int.

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SyFy's Weather Wars and The End of It All: A Movie Review

Author/Ed Sum

*here be spoilers.

Director: Todor Chapkanov.

Writer: Paul A. Birkett.

Cast: Jason London, Wes Brown, Erin Cahill and Stacy Keach.

With a title like Weather Wars, some viewers may think that the Gods of Olympus are feuding. Although David Grange (Jason London, Dazed and Confused) has issues with his brother Jacob (Wes Brown, We Are Marshall), these two forge an uneasy truce so they can deal with father dearest, Marcus (Stacy Keach). Dad has gone off the deep end. Ever since he showed favouritism towards David and left his boys to fend for themselves, he immersed himself in his work.

His inventions look like they are taken from what famous inventor Nicolas Tesla wanted to create; both had ideas in how to manipulate atmospheric ions so it could control the weather. Although Marcus was not able to build the HAARP array, his inventions are smaller and far more sinister. They could be subverted to become weapons of mass destruction. That was his plan.

But ever since his funding got cut, Grange Sr. has harboured a grudge towards the military, namely Senator Aldrich (Lance E. Nichols). To show the world what these 'weapons could do, the mad scientst does what any insane person woulld do: to turn Washington, D.C. into a combat zone. The carnage is delivered quite well, and this movie does a better job at budget made special effects than any other SyFy product.

After all, for world annihilation type films, who doesn’t want to see Washington, D.C. get taken down first?

At the same time, the two brothers are acting like they are back at school. The subplot of Jacob yearning for his father's acceptance sadly gets lost in the tempests going on, and when some movement happens in the plot, the steps taken are very short. Sadly, the scripting comes through as very uneven. It has a scene defining moment that is ripped off from a particular science fiction movie involving a father and son, which only diminishes this product. But for those looking for a subtext, that moment takes a turn for the worse, and it leads in to the other subplot.

The Grange boys are interested in Samantha, (Erin Cahill, "Saving Grace") the romantic lead. While that does not get fully explored, the hints of where the movie could go — if it gets a sequel — is a tale that not even George Lucas would explore. The strife is very evident in how Brown plays the part. Both Keach and Brown deliver the better performances in the road they have decided to travel.

Sometimes being evil is just fun, and Keach certainly was enjoying himself in this film.

But as with most SyFy products, many of the movies aired are just one-offs instead of a series of action-adventure trilogies that other networks used to produce, like TNT’s "The Librarian."

Overall: 6 out of 10.

Weather Wars at Active Entertainment:

Weather Wars at Active Ent.

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Exorcismus: The Possession of Emma Evans and Facing Your Demons: A Movie Review

Author/Ed Sum

*here be spoilers.

Director: Manuel Carballo.

Writer: David Muñoz (screenplay).

Cast: Sophie Vavasseur, Stephen Billington and Richard Felix.

Emma Hawkins (Sophie Vavasseur) seems to be the typical everyday teenage girl living outside of London proper. She has her atypical problems and obvious life struggles with her parents. But when audiences have the foreknowledge of knowing where Exorcismus is going, any shock value is going to be rendered moot.

Although there are no scares to be found, the real fright is in seeing how this young lady deal with life lessons and responsibilities she tends to avoid. After she has a row with mom over not being able to go to London for a rock concert, what she does next seems visceral. She cuts her hand to alleviate the anguish.

That action is also an invitation for the devil to come knocking. He does and Emma has an epileptic seizure. Emma has no one to talk to, except her uncle, Christopher Taylor (Stephen Billington), a priest. At least she can talk to him with some relative comfort in knowing he can forgive. But Taylor is not without his own problems. He’s been suspended because he performed an exorcism that resulted in a teenage girl’s death.

Emma does not seem to care. She believes she’s possessed and wants his help. At least Taylor has the sense to say he needs the parent’s permission even though he does not go to the Bishop for a formal blessing. The act has to be done in secret, a recent trend in exorcism films, and that is just cause for his run-in with the devil as well.

And when most of the characters do not understand the reasons behind what causes the devil inside to manifest, at least the religious context is not being bashed over anyone's head. This movie is one that does not try to explore dogma. Mom wants medical answers instead of spiritual mumbo jumbo. Thankfully any discourse is quick and the film returns to exploring the emotional rollercoaster ride that Emma has to face as people start die around her.

Vavasseur does a very good job at expressing feelings of guilt. She has a beautiful punky style and tough-as-nails attitude in her performance. And when required, the grief she expresses creates some sympathy for this devil-in-disguise.

For most of Emma's life up until now, her parents tried to set up everything so that she will be grateful when she turns adult. But when she gets possessed, she's hardly in a position to be thanking anybody. This film is great in showing that she has to learn about the consequences of her actions, and when she reveals all, the onus is on her accepting the fact that she has to tame the Mr. Hyde in her. This movie is beautiful because the devil is hardly the cause of her problems. He is merely the navigator.

And this film reaches that cameo that everyone has been waiting for. Father Ennis (Doug Bradley) makes his appearance to help wrap up the story.

With relatively solid performances throughout, the character-driven plot helps make for one of the better possession related scenarios to be put to film. Instead of dealing with real demons, the tale is more about dealing with adulthood and the responsibilities that come with it.

Next time, Emma should be very careful in what to wish for.

Overall: 7 out of 10.

The film's homepage is here (Spanish):

Exorcismus' Homepage

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MS One: Maximum Security aka Lock-Out Brings the Prison Riot April 20th

Author/Michael Allen

At last a film to look forward to seeing in theatres, MS One: Maximum Security. Also called the simpler Lock-Out, this film stars Guy Pearce, Maggie Grace and Peter Stormare in a sci-fi thriller taking place outside of the Earth's stratosphere. Here, in space, a prison turns from the inescapable to a place of torture with the president's daughter (Grace) held hostage. A man (Pearce) is sent after her and he is motivated by clemency after being charged with espionage. Can he get her free before the prison tumbles out of orbit? Have a look at the trailer for Lock-Out below and get set to find your theatre seat April 20th!

Release Date: April 20th (Theatrical).

Directors: James Mather, and Stephen St. Leger.

Writers: Luc Besson, and James Mather.

Cast: Guy Pearce, Maggie Grace, Peter Stormare, Joseph Gilgun, Lennie James, Vincent Regan, Jacky Ido, Tim Plester, Anne-Solenne Hatte, Yan Dron, Bojan Peric, Nick Hardin, Marko Janjic, and Charlie Kranz.

The trailer for Lock-Out is here:



*budgeted at $20 million plus.

**available in high definition here (trailer):

Lock-Out Trailer at Youtube

Source:

Lock-Out at Film Book

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Full Moon's Puppet Master X Unveiling and Movie News

Author/Ed Sum

Another installment of the Puppet Master franchise, Puppet Master X: Axis Rising, is being planned and last Monday, Full Moon unveiled the latest puppet, Blitzkreig. He will grace the screens along with three other additions. No news has been revealed yet as to the plot, but this film will no doubt continue in where Axis of Evil left off.

In the climax of the previous film, the Nazi threat in America is seemingly neutralized with the death of Max (Tom Sandoval). But Ozu (Ada Chao), the Japanese spy, literally exited the stage with all the puppets. This kidnapping attempt really must be followed up on, and for Danny Coogan (Levi Fiehler), he will get to follow his dream and go to war.

There is no word on whether or not these performers will reprise their roles, but chances are highly likely that they will. Charles Band may well be planning either a duology or trilogy that focuses on how the puppets can save World War II.

More details can be found at Puppet Master X: Axis Rising

Full Moon Horror's Official Website

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Mother's Day and Making Momma Proud: A Movie Review

Author/Michael Allen

Director: Darren Lynn Bousman.

Writer: Scott Milan.

Unbelievably, Darren Lynn Bousman's (Saw III) Mother's Day never received a North American release; this film can only be found in the United Kingdom. That is a shame, because this is one of the better and most brutal films this reviewer has ever scene. Full of scenes of torture, Mother's Day is a hard watch. This is also a remake of the 1980 film from Charles Kaufman and Mother's Day has to be seen by fans of horror.

The story seems pretty simple, but the character's keep events complicated. This is a fight for survival after all. The Koffin family takes up residence in their old haunt after a bank robbery goes wrong. They ruin the new residents' party. Hostages are taken, torture ensues and the film turns into a bloody mess. You see, there is money at stake and mom does not like to be lied to: "where's the money!" A tornado on the horizon also keeps events tense.

Lots of sub-plots develop involving lost children, and stolen babies, but this reviewer enjoyed the moral dilemmas. Bousman brings some of this storytelling from the Saw franchise to create difficult situations for the hostages. At an automated teller robbery, Ike forces two girls to decide which of the two survives by giving them a knife and stating: "whoever kills the other lives." That is no easy task when you have to kill your best friend. Later, the survivors have to choose who will be raped by one of momma's boys. And Beth Sohapi (Jaime King) is later told to run over a police officer at gunpoint. The Stanley Milgram experiment would tell us that people really need very little provocation to torment their fellow human beings. So, it is surprising to see Beth spinning the wheel at the last possible moment. All of these scenarios keep the scenes compelling.

This reviewer really enjoyed this film over all. There are plenty of action scenes and the gore seems to fly about. So let this be your warning: if you do not like scenes of torture, then steer clear. As well, the film is very disturbing and some of the latter scenes are hard to watch. The adult material might have killed this film's chances of having a North American premiere. There are also lots of surprises here as survivor turns on survivor. One of the best scenes in the film involves a brawl between two men while country music plays in the background. You can almost see this same scenario happening in one of John Ford's westerns.

This reviewer would really encourage fans of horror to order this film from the United Kingdom. Mother's Day does not disappoint. Full of great lines from a sneering Rebecca de Mornay: "you always make such a mess," this film deserves a larger audience. Expect tragedy, expect difficult situations and expect to walk away from this film with a twisted smile on your face!

Overall: 8 out of 10 (good writing, lots of characters, complex scenarios, high production values).

*watching a woman strip for a man while his mom undid his pants was probably one of the strangest scenes this reviewer has seen.

The film's official website is here:

Mother's Day's Homepage

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