See No Evil 2 Directed by the Soska Twins

 

 

Over at their Penny Dreadful blog, Jen and Sylv Soska have announced that they have signed up to direct Lionsgate/WWE's See No Evil 2. The first film was a steaming pile of doodie - sub-slasher cack starring the wrestler Kane. Will the Soskas be able to bring a spark of excitement to a project that barely anyone wants to see? I certainly hope so. Given their sheer enthusiasm and a good run of successes, I have every hope that this could be one of the gleaming sequels that rises above the original.

 

Below is their official statement on taking over the film:

 

"We are beyond excited to be pairing with WWE Studios and Lionsgate on SEE NO EVIL 2. We’ve been WWE fans from way back in the day. We actually started watching in the very time frame that Kane was introduced. I had no idea what I was getting into when we were channel surfing and saw the Undertaker addressing the crowd, pleading for them to hear his side of the story regarding his fabled brother. From that very moment, we were hooked and you can be damn sure we were watching that fated PPV event, Bad Blood, during Hell in a Cell, when Kane dynamically made his debut. To be working with Kane is very special for us.

That very year, Lionsgate Entertainment formed in our own hometown of Vancouver and since has proven itself again and again to be a trailblazer in the film industry. It’s been a long time aspiration for us to work with both these phenomenal companies and to be able to work with both on this project is truly a dream realized.

Great things come in twos, proven more so by the sensational script penned by Nathan Brookes and Bobby Lee Darby and though our lips our sealed as to any details on the story itself, we can say that even those who think they know what they’ll be getting are going to be blown away. We could not be happier." ~Jen and Sylvia Soska

The New Dr Who - One Question...

Peter Capaldi is the new Doctor Who. The question on everyone's lips: how far into the first episode will he refer to the TARDIS as 'The f**king TURDIS'?

15 Second Review: Dead Island (Xbox360, 2011)

First, the bad news. Dead Island is glitchy as Hell: zombies regularly walk through walls and the game suffers from under-running when too many zombies enter the screen space, for instance. Some missions require precision jumping, and the control system is not designed to handle such motion. There is little opportunity to escape the onset of a zombie horde: I spent more time running past from zombies than I did fighting them. The Ryder Campaign is especially frustrating – I found myself sprinting to reach the next checkpoint before I died rather than trying to stand and fight. Now, here is the good news. Those faults aside, there is plenty to do here. The side missions are quite fun and are compulsive – in spite of its faults, I played this for hours. In fact, I played through to the end. Amassing some ultra-destructive weapons and learning the island’s layout really increases the game’s appeal.

15 Second Review: Norwegian Ninja (2010)

 

Norwegian Ninja commits the worst crime it possibly could – it is dull. To be more specific, Norwegian Ninja is neither funny nor strange enough to carry the film, even for 80 minutes. Unfortunately, movies like this need “WTF?” moments aplenty if they are to succeed. The premise – Norwegian Ninjas – ought to supply such incidents, but writer/director Thomas Cappelen Malling has dropped the ball. A missed opportunity. Do not be fooled by the title and cover: Robogeisha it ain’t. Give me Ninja III: The Domination (1984) any day.

15 Second Review: Jekyll (2007)

This modern-day adaptation of the Jekyll and Hyde story is a mixed affair. The tone is rather unsettled, swinging between overt comedy, science fiction, thriller, romantic drama, and (unintentionally funny?) stabs at horror. The result does not cohere, and is frequently cheesy. That said, the series benefits from James Nesbitt’s enthused turn as the titular Dr…. Jackman. It genuinely feels like Nesbitt is having enormous fun in his dual role/s. The main reason to watch is simply Steven Moffatt’s writing, which is as delightfully witty as ever. As a master of playful dual perspectives, the Jekyll/Hyde split provides Moffatt with numerous opportunities to merge multiple meanings. Moffatt also pays attention to the practical problems that arise from two personalities sharing a single body, which range from the minor (one wakes with a headache because the other has been drinking all night) to the major (one of them is married with kids, the other is a violent womaniser). Mundane as they may sound, they provide some of the series’ most imaginative and entertaining moments. Elsewhere, Moffatt’s wonderfully economic writing takes centre stage. For example, on a first-date one character is told not to make her usual mistakes: don’t try to be funny, don’t intimidate him, and don’t come across as a gold-digger. When her date opens with ‘what do you do?’, she responds ‘rich men’. It is worth watching Jekyll for these gems alone.

15 Second Review: Moonwalker (1988)

Imagine sitting a hyperactive four year old in front of a series of Michael Jackson videos, intercut with a) an episode of Go-bots, b) a Bugs Bunny cartoon, and c) an anti-drugs public information film. Now, get the energetic child to describe what they have just seen. Write it down. I can only imagine the incomprehensible gibberish that would result is what Moonwalker’s “story” must have looked like when Jackson drafted it. The screenwriter deserves a Nobel prize for bringing this to screen, however bizarre the results are. Part music video, part homage to other cultural touchstones (including Transformers), and part onanistic ego-fantasy, Moonwalker is as curious as it is incoherent. The trailer promises that it is ‘a movie like no other’, and in fairness that is an accurate description. 90 minutes of “stuff”, the film is visually exciting to a fault: it is the ultimate MTV movie in the worst possible sense. The Smooth Criminal section is immaculately choreographed, and is easily the most impressive element of the movie. The “afterschool special” anti-drug vibe is admirable in intent, but is hilariously over-pitched. The resolution is coded as conventional love story clinch, but occurs between Michael and three kids, and so the film does nothing but damage to the allegations of child abuse that would follow. The movie has value as an artefact of Jackson’s fame and of 1980s popular culture. As a narrative? Moonwalker is the cinematic equivalent of being beaten with a copy of Dr Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham.

15 Second Review: Slasher House (2013)

Right, it is rant time. Slasher House suffers from a serious technical problem: the sound mix is so bad, that it renders the film virtually unwatchable. Mumbled dialogue is drowned out by echoes and background noise. Turning the volume up to hear said dialogue is not an option because the “scary” bits are so much louder than the speech. Riding the volume control for the duration is not an appealing prospect, and hardly makes for a gripping experience. Since the filmmakers evidently do not care if the audience has to struggle to access the dialogue, then I suppose the script does not matter. Subtitles are not included, so the distributors evidently agree with that (damning) assessment. The plot – or at least what is graspable without full access to the script – is babble. On the plus side, the saturated green-lighting (although over-used) helps to mask how cheap the film is, and the contrasting red tones work well. However, if writer/director/editor/co-producer/ cinematographer/costumer designer MJ Dixon wishes to rise above mediocrity, he or she should take on less. They should at least seek the assistance of a talented sound designer and mixer rather than taking on too much themselves. As it stands, Dixon puts the ‘hack’ in hack’n’slash.