This week is all about thrills chills and superheroes. From the news of Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man finally getting an official green light to a little film called The Dark Knight Rises swooping into theatres on Friday there’s also a wide range of horror sci-fi and fantasy hitting the trailer-sphere. Push your nerd glasses back up onto your nose and check them out below.
Grabbers
Following in the tradition of Shaun of the Dead and An American Werewolf In London this Irish horror-comedy combines two of the UK’s favourite pastimes: drinking and fighting monsters. In this case the beasties are some kind of alien/octopus hybrid out to attack the residents of a small fishing village unless they quote “taint their blood with booze.” It’s a tough job but someone has to do it…
Oz The Great and Powerful
B-horror maestro Sam Raimi earned enough blockbuster clout with the Spider-man trilogy to helm a Disney flick and here’s the first look. This high-def spin on the Wizard of Oz stars James Franco as a bewildered magician and three evil (?) witches played by Mila Kunis Rachel Weisz and the always fantastic Michelle Williams. Fair warning: There’s an incredibly annoying nail-scraping sound effect near the end so hit pause at the 1:30 mark if you have sensitive ears.
The Dinosaur Project
Dinos haven’t looked this deadly since Wayne Knight got his face melted by a spitter. The latest entry in the “found-footage horror” genre follows a film crew deep into to the Congo where they discover that the prehistoric creatures might not be extinct after all. Not sure if I can totally recommend it but it could be good for a few laughs at a cheap theatre screening.
Branded
I mentioned this Russian “marketing sci-fi” in a previous column but it wasn’t until I saw the second trailer that I actually wanted to watch it. Ed Stoppard of The Pianist fame fronts the cast of Max von Sydow Leelee Sobieski and Jeffrey Tambor (hey now!) in a surrealist fable about the dangers of advertising. The creepiest moment involves some kind of McDonald’s snake monster sucking the life out of a little boy. Eep…
End of Watch
This buddy-buddy cop flick starring Jake Gylenhaal and Michael Peña basically looks like “Shit ______ People Say” with guns and douchebag Oakley shades. If it’s anything like director David Ayer’s previous efforts ( The Fast and the Furious Training Day Harsh Times ) you know it’s gonna be a violent thrill ride but it seems pretty “meh” so far.
Item 47
If you were crushin’ on Lizzy Caplan in Party Down this new short film from Marvel brings her into the comic book zone. After discovering alien weaponry that falls from the sky she and boyfriend Jesse Bradford decide to use it for less-than-savoury purposes and it’s up to a pair of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to stop them. The 12-minute short will appear as a bonus feature on The Avengers DVD and Blu-ray this fall.
Frankie Go Boom
OK this one doesn’t look all that nerdy but it does feature Ron Perlman (who recently announced that he wants to make Hellboy 3 ) in drag. There’s a fairly awkward smooch between him/her and Chris O’Dowd plus a squeamish reaction from Chris Hunnam. The latter is also set to star with Perlman in Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim an aliens vs. robots movie hitting theatres in 2013.
Dirty Laundry
In other Ron Perlman news the fanboy actor also appears in this Punisher short film which surprised audiences at San Diego’s Comic-Con over the weekend. Thomas Jane reprises his role as the gun-toting vigilante from the flop 2004 adaptation which was way less awesome than 2008’s Punisher: War Zone in my humble opinion. Regardless Jane clearly loves strapping in as Frank Castle and you can watch the full 10-minute film above.
