New This Week 1.14.14

Not a ton of stuff out there today, really but there are a few big 2013 theatrically released films that I'm sure a lot of horror fans will be interested in checking out.

Chloe Grace Moretz and Academy Awardr nominee Julianne Moore* star in this exhilarating reimagining of Stephen King's iconic best seller. After merciless taunting from classmates and abuse at the hand of her religious fanatic mother (Moore), Carrie's (Mortez) anger - and her telekinetic powers - are unleashed. And when a prom prank goes horribly wrong, events spiral out of control until the terrifying conclusion of this powerful, pulse-quickening horror story.

Okay, so this one got so-so reviews, but Chloe was great in the Kick-Asses and Let Me In (which was actually quite excellent despite a couple of wonky CGI bits) so I'm willing to give it a shot, though I will most likely be renting it first. Amazon

An exploding industry without rules! Direct to-video madness! VHS vs. Beta! In the 1980s, videotape changed the world and laid the foundation for modern media culture. REWIND THIS! traces the rise and fall of VHS from its heyday as the mainstream home video format to its current status as a nostalgic relic and prize to collectors who still cherish it. Featuring interviews with both filmmakers and enthusiasts from the VHS era, including Troma legend Lloyd Kaufman, indie auteur Atom Egoyan, and Hobo with a Shotgun filmmaker Jason Eisener, REWIND THIS! is the definitive story of the format that came to be synonymous with the home video revolution. So gather up your friends and start the pizza party just make sure to have your tapes back on time. 

Special Features:
Packed with extras, including commentary, original animations, a special music video, and over an hour of bonus interview footage on laserdisc, remix culture, video panic and more! 

Get it from Amazon.

Aubrey and Paul Davison decide to celebrate their wedding anniversary by inviting their four children and their significant others to a family reunion at their remote and slightly rundown weekend estate. But the family reunion goes awry when their home comes under siege by a mask-wearing team of crossbow-bearing assailants. The family has no idea who's attacking them, why they're under attack, or if the attackers are inside or outside the cavernous, creaking house. All they know for certain is that nobody is safe.

Get it at Amazon, currently only $17. It's definitely one of the more entertaining "home invasion" movies I've seen, certainly well worth picking up at that price.

Vin Diesel reprises his role as the antihero Riddick in the latest chapter of the groundbreaking saga. A dangerous, escaped convict wanted by every bounty hunter in the known galaxy, Riddick has been left for dead on a sun-scorched planet that appears to be lifeless. Soon, however, he finds himself fighting for survival against alien predators more lethal than any human he's encountered. The only way off is for him to activate an emergency beacon and alert mercenaries who rapidly descend to the planet in search of their bounty. With time running out and a deadly storm on the horizon that no one could survive, his hunters won't leave the planet without Riddick's head as their trophy. Also starring Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica), Karl Urban (Star Trek Into Darkness) and Dave Bautista (WWE). 

Fun Fact: I've never seen one minute of any of the Riddick movies. I'm honestly not even 100% sure exactly what they're about. Here's a question for my reader, are any of the Riddicks worth a look?

Pick this one up at Amazon.

Macabre Movie Poster Madness - American Horror: Japanese Style

I think my favorite country for movie posters just might be Japan. I like posters that are a bit out of the ordinary and Japan can tend to get really out there with their designs. I especially like what they were doing with American horror films in the 70s and 80s. A lot of the time the posters are like very chaotic collages - movie stills, art from other posters for the film, and Japanese characters splattered seemingly randomly around. It's fascinating really, I could look at them for hours.

The Evil Dead. This poster damn near out-kitsches Army of Darkness' Japanese poster. Not nearly as cool as the one for AOD (and really, what could be?), but this thing is still absolutely bananas.

Now a hysterical poster from John Carpenter's Halloween. At first glance, this poster is fairly kick ass. It's simplistic, but very moody and sinister at the same time. But wait! Take a look a Mikey's face. Whoops! I like to imagine this guy was just really blitzed while he was painting this at the last minute, desperate to make a deadline and he just accidentally went a little too "bulgey-eyed puppet man" with his depiction of Michael Myers.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre - The collage-like design really works quite well here. Like a page from some demented scrapbook that might've been kept on the premises of the Sawyer compound. What all the Japanese stuff would be doing on there, I do not know, but you see what I'm saying.

Re-Animator - A masterful classic, brimming with severed head eroticism. Gotta love the blood splatter to hide Barbara's business. I don't know if that's supposed to be funny, but....

Carrie - I've got no comment on this one, but I figured the post would look odd without something other than the title here.