Silent Hill 2 Remake Announced at Silent Hill Transmission Event

 

Silent Hill 2 is a landmark game in the landscape of horror video games. Originally released in 2001, the game has you following a man by the name of James Sunderland as he goes to the town of Silent Hill to search for clues because he gets a mysterious letter from his wife, which is weird because… she’s dead. And you have to deal with eerie monsters and other things plaguing James’s consciousness along the way.

 

The game is phenomenal, one of the creepiest games I’ve ever played, and I highly recommend playing the Playstation 2 version of the game if you possibly can because that version of the game is the best in my opinion.

 

Two days ago, Konami announced a remake of the 2001 classic at the Silent Hill Transmission Event. They also announced three other games, which I will be talking about soon, and they announced a new Silent Hill movie which I’ve already talked about.

 

This remake of Silent Hill 2 is being headed by Bloober Team, who have developed modern horror games such as the Layers of Fear games and The Medium. I’ve only played the first Layers of Fear game so I have very limited experience with their work but going off of my experience with that game, I’m cautious about them working on this remake.

 

The Silent Hill 2 Remake is being released for Playstation 5 as a timed console exclusive and PC via Steam. There was a trailer released for the game that shows off the STUNNING visuals and if you want to see that trailer, click right here.

 

Bloober Team CEO Piotr Babiano said in a statement: “SILENT HILL 2 was the game that shaped our collective vision at Bloober Team. It's the game that started us on our adventure in game development. Now, we face an ultimate challenge. A challenge to translate our youthful memories of the ultimate game into a language that modern players can engage with, whilst at the same time crafting an experience true to the original. More than 20 years ago, a team of brilliant minds at KONAMI developed one of the most remarkable games in the history of electronic entertainment. In partnering together, KONAMI and Bloober Team will ensure that SILENT HILL 2 shines once again to set new standards for the genre and deliver an unforgettable experience for the next generation of fans. With our work, we are determined to showcase that Bloober Team is climbing the heights of what’s possible and aiming for the peak in game development. We can't wait for the moment when Players will be able to see our work.”

 

That statement, plus several original members of the dev team at Konami helping with this project gives me more hope for this project, but we’ll just have to wait and see what happens with it.

 

Are you excited for this remake as well?? Have you played the original game?? If not, are you going to now that this remake has been announced?? Be sure to let me know in the comments!

 

Thank you so much for reading, and I’ll see you in the next issue.

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New Silent Hill Movie Announced at Silent Hill Transmission Event

 

Silent Hill is officially back!! Konami, one of the biggest video game developers in the world, announced five new projects in the Silent Hill franchise on Thursday. Four of them are different video games which I will talk about soon but for now, we’re talking about the fifth project that was announced at this event which is a brand-new Silent Hill Movie!!

 

Silent Hill has had two movie adaptations so far, with the first being released in 2006 and the second one, Silent Hill: Revelation being released in 2012. Both of those movies were amazing in my opinion and if you haven’t watched either one of those movies yet, you absolutely should!

 

This new Silent Hill movie project is called Return To Silent Hill, and Christophe Gans is set to direct the film. If you’re unfamiliar with Gans, he directed the original Silent Hill film from 2006 as well as 2014’s Beauty and the Beast (No not the Disney live-action adaptation, that was in 2017).

 

I’m extremely excited to see what this new movie will bring to the table for this franchise. The original film from 2006 is one of the better video game adaptations out there in my opinion, so if you brought the same guy in to direct this film, I have no doubt that this film will be done with just as much love, care and passion as the 2006 film was.

 

There was a trailer for this announcement released on the day of the event so if you want to see it for yourself, click this link right here.

 

What are your thoughts on this announcement?? Is it something that you were expecting?? Are you excited that Silent Hill is back like I am?? Be sure to let me know in the comments!

 

Thank you so much for reading, and I’ll see you in the next issue.

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A Love Letter To The Universal Monsters That'll Leave You Starving For More: Werewolf By Night Review

Werewolf  By Night is a Disney Plus Special Presentation that is a MASSIVE love letter to the olden days of the classic Universal Monster Movies of the 1930s through the 1950s.

 

The film was announced this year at D23 in August, and it got a lot of folks (myself included) interested to see how Marvel and Disney would treat this special based on a very niche series of comics.

 

The film is the story of a group of hunters who gather at the funeral of the leader of the Bloodstone family and are thrust into a deadly competition for a powerful relic called the Bloodstone. While they’re competing, however, they’re also going up against a dangerous monster, and whoever survives this deadly competition is the possessor of the Bloodstone.

 

This film can be summed up in one word: Awesome. The film uses practical effects that look absolutely stunning, from the werewolf design down to the blood and gore effects. This brilliant use of practical effects will help the film age significantly better than films that choose to use CGI effects.

 

Speaking of that werewolf design it seems somewhat familiar to me. It was as if the designers took Jack Pierce’s design of The Wolfman from 1941 and mixed it with the werewolf design of Werewolf of London from 1935. Keeping the human characteristics of Jack Russell while also showing his inner beast works wonders here in this special!

 

Another thing that the film does well is the fact that it’s in black and white for about 98% of the film. This is what gives it that true callback to the days of the Universal Monster movies, and it gives the film a unique flare that Marvel projects today just don’t have anymore.

 

I’m perplexed that Marvel and Disney of all the companies in the world actually told a werewolf story that was dark and intriguing like this was. This special feels like it’s an episode of The Twilight Zone about one night in the life of Jack Russell and Elsa Bloodstone and man does it ever leave me starving for more.

 

I want to find out more about Jack and Elsa. Who they are as people, what their backgrounds are, how Jack ended up in the situation that he’s in, and much more. Marvel and Disney if you see this article, then I have one request for you. Can you please make more projects Like this?? Or hell, can you make Werewolf By Night have its own Disney Plus series?? Cause I seriously need more of this in my life.

 

The director of this short is Michael Giacchino, who you may know as a composer for various games in the 90s and early 2000s such as Gargoyles, The Lion King, the first Call of Duty game, and Call of Duty: Finest Hour as well as the first four Medal of Honor titles. That work in the gaming industry led to him getting opportunities to compose the scores for Alias and Lost.

 

This man has some seriously good directing chops too given how great this special is so I hope he gets more directing opportunities in the future! Because Michael knows EXACTLY what he’s doing and I think it would be a waste to just have him direct this special and not get a crack at anything else.

 

I also have to tip my hat to the performances in this film as the cast was very good. The two standouts however were those of Gael Garcia Bernal as Jack Russell and Laura Donnelly as Elsa Bloodstone. Both actors did a phenomenal job in their roles and I hope that they get to play those characters again in the future if Marvel does decide to do more with those two characters.

 

To wrap it up, I’ll say this. If you’re a fan of werewolves like me and you’re looking for another good werewolf flick to quench your thirst this spooky season, then you have to watch Werewolf By Night. This 53-minute special is a beautiful love letter to the Universal Monster Movie era that WILL leave you starving for more.

 

Thank you so much for reading, and I’ll see you in the next issue.

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The Munsters (2022) Review

 

Initially revealed in 2021, Rob Zombie’s film adaptation of The Munsters just released on Netflix and on physical media via DVD & Blu-Ray on September 27^th.

 

Today, I’m going to be reviewing the film as I watched it over the weekend. So without any further ado, let’s get into the review.

 

The film is a prequel set before the events of the TV Show and like many prequels before it…this one isn’t good. But before I go into why that is, let’s talk about some things that the film does well.

 

The Positives

 

The film actually does some things really well. For instance the set design is amazing in the film. You can tell that Rob Zombie was definitely a Munsters fan because the sets in this film, especially the famous house on 1313 Mockingbird Lane, are beautiful and definitely capture the essence of what the show was.

 

Daniel Roebuck as Grandpa in this movie is the crown jewel of the performances. You can tell that Daniel really got into his role and played it to the best of his ability and I feel that he did it incredibly well.

 

Every time Grandpa was on screen, whether he was the focal point of a scene or not, I was immediately engaged and I wanted to see more of him because he filled Al Lewis’s shoes pretty well in my opinion.

 

The film was also shot really well and the effects in some scenes like when they showed Lily and Herman falling in love with each other, there were some effects that harkened backed to the olden days of film and it was a nice touch.

 

The film gives you this instant feeling of nostalgia because Rob nailed the feel of the show through his cinematography and set design so I have to give him credit for that.

 

Also there are some neat cameos by two of the original cast members: Pat Priest (who was the second actress to play Marilyn) and Butch Patrick (who played Eddie Munster) make voice cameos in the film. Butch plays The Tin Can Man and Pat plays the Transylvanian Airlines PA announcer.

 

That’s really the only two things that are good about this movie, so with that being said, let’s get into the bad.

 

The Negatives

 

Unlike his cinematography, Rob Zombie is an awful writer and once again, that bad writing shows through here in this film.

 

The comedy in the film falls flat because it’s filled to the brim with dad-joke levels of humor, and it’s not even the type of dad jokes you could get a chuckle out of either. It feels like Rob took the worst dad jokes ever and wrote them for this movie, because I only laughed one time throughout this entire movie and it was because of Grandpa.

 

The TV show told its humor through the Munster family just trying to live in this typical 1960s suburban neighborhood like your typical 1960s American family, and not having Eddie Munster or Marilyn Munster there to add to that dynamic really makes the comedy fall flat in that department.

 

The pacing for the film drags on and on and on and it makes the film feel longer than it is. This movie is 110 minutes or an hour and fifty minutes and it honestly felt like a three and a half hour movie. That’s how bad the pacing was so if you’re going to watch this film, keep that in mind.

 

Also other than Grandpa, I feel that the Munster family was horribly miscast. Sheri Moon Zombie (Rob’s wife) plays Lily Munster and while I will give her credit for at least trying in her role, it’s very clear that she can’t act at all. If you look at every single one of Rob’s movies, you’ll see just how bad she is and she hasn’t gotten any better over the years.

 

She talks with this slightly higher pitch that just doesn’t fit for Lily at all and to be honest with you, it’s extremely annoying. Yvonne De Carlo, who played Lily in the TV series, didn’t speak like that at all so if you’re trying to nail the accuracy of the characters as to how they are on the show, you shouldn’t be trying to play them in different ways.

 

Jeff  Daniel Phillips as Herman Munster is better than Sheri Moon Zombie is in this movie, but not by much. He has the imposing look to him due to his height and he does try to put in some effort, but his voice is what ruins it for me. Fred Gwynne, who played Herman in the TV Series, had this really deep and imposing voice to match his looks and it complimented the fact that people were scared of him really well.

Jeff’s voice doesn’t give Herman that intimidation factor and as a result when you see people getting scared of him, it doesn’t feel like it should be happening.

 

Also, the film just feels like it focuses on the wrong plotline throughout the film because there’s no sense of focus here. The main plotline we follow in this movie is the story of Lily and Herman getting together which is NOT the move here.

 

Instead, I feel that the film should’ve focused more on how the Munsters ended up at 1313 Mockingbird Lane which we don’t even get until 2/3rds of the way through the film and the whole plotline behind that was treated as a minor plotline, which was a stupid decision in my opinion.

 

Rob Zombie does a great job with his cinematography due to his work in the music industry so next time he does a movie he REALLY needs to just let someone else handle the writing duties because he isn’t even a good writer when he’s outside out family-friendly stuff like this.

 

The ONLY way I can recommend that you watch this movie is if you’re genuinely curious about it and even then I’d still recommend that you stay as far away from it as possible. And Rob I know you probably won’t see this article but I still have one thing I have to say to you…LET SOMEONE ELSE WRITE YOUR SCRIPTS!!!

 

Those are my thoughts on The Munsters movie. What are your thoughts?? Do you agree with me?? Do you disagree?? Be sure to let me know in the comments below!

 

Thank you for reading, and I’ll see you in the next issue.

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Trick 'r Treat Sequel In "Very Active Development" Says Michael Dougherty

 

Anthology Horror seems to be ramping up in releases as of late. Releases such as VHS ’94, Dark Stories, Ghost Stories, and A Night of Horror are just a few examples of anthology films released since 2020.

 

But there’s one Horror Anthology film that fans such as myself have been clamoring for a sequel to since 2007 when it was released. That film is Trick ‘r Treat, and we FINALLY have some news on a sequel!!

 

According to a report from Bloody Disgusting, the sequel to the cult classic horror anthology movie from 2007 is said to be “Very Active in Development.”

 

This comes from the director of the original film, Michael Dougherty, who has expressed interest in making a sequel to his cult classic from 2007 but has never been able to fully get it off the ground. He announced this news at Beyond Fest, which is currently happening. He tried to get this sequel going around 2013, but a shift in management at Legendary Pictures shut that down and up until now, we hadn’t heard anything since then.

 

If you haven’t seen Trick ‘r Treat yet I highly recommend that you watch it, it’s a fun anthology movie! You can watch it on-demand, on physical media via Blu-Ray and DVD, on October 6 of this year in Regal theaters and on October 21^st in select AMC theaters, marking the first EVER wide theater release of the film.

 

What’re your thoughts on this news?? Are you excited about it?? Have you seen the original film?? Be sure to let me know your thoughts and answers in the comments below!

 

Thank you so much for reading, and I’ll see you in the next issue.

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"Magic" Remake In the Works From...Sam Raimi?!

The horror genre is no stranger to remakes, with tons of them bring released over the years. Some of these remakes have made sense, others not so much.

 

Well today another remake has been confirmed via Bloody Disgusting. A remake of the 1978 evil doll movie Magic, set to be directed by…Sam Raimi?!

 

Roy Lee, the producer of this project, let it slip during an episode of the Post Mortem with Mick Garris podcast that he is producing a new take on Magic and that Sam Raimi himself is directing!!

 

“I’ve only worked with [Sam Raimi] as a producer on films…actually…the first time I’m gonna work with him as a director is on a remake of Magic,” Roy Lee tells Mick Garris. “Which is something that we’re working on now. The Anothony Hopkins movie. We’re actually just hearing the final versions of the different takes from writers next week.”

 

“[Sam] loved the original movie and and the book written by William Goldman,” Lee adds.

 

In the original movie, which is an adaptation Goldman’s book of the same name from 1976, “A ventriloquist is at the mercy of his vicious dummy while he tries to renew a romance with his high school sweetheart.”

 

I’ll be completely honest with you all…until I saw the report from Bloody Disgusting, I had no clue that this movie even existed.

 

But now?? This film just jumped to the top of my watch list, and I’ll be putting out a review of it soon.

 

You can listen to the full episode of the Post Mortem podcast with this link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/roy-lee/id1204949508?i=1000580882539

Roy Lee has produced countless horror movies over the years including, but not limited to: Don’t Worry Darling, Barbarian, His House, IT, IT Chapter Two, Doctor Sleep, Blair Witch, and the upcoming Salem’s Lot remake.

 

Sam Raimi recently directed the smash hit Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness for Marvel, a horror-heavy superhero movie that brought the mastermind behind the Evil Dead Trilogy back into the horror genre.

 

And from the sounds of it, he isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Stay tuned for more updates on this project as they develop.

 

Thank you so much for reading, and I’ll see you in the next issue.

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Blade Director Pulls Out of the MCU Movie's Production

 

The next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which has been going since 2008’s Iron Man, is bringing Blade into the fold with a reboot and with Academy Award winning actor Mahershala Ali filling in Wesley Snipes’ shoes as the titular title character.

 

Announced earlier this year, Blade was set to begin shooting this November with a release in theaters set for November 3^rd, 2023, with Bassam Tariq (known for 2020’s Mogul Mowgli) set to direct the film.

 

Those plans have changed it seems because Variety reported today that Bassam Tariq has exited this MCU project as director.

 

“It’s been an honor working with the wonderful folks at Marvel. We were able to put together a killer cast and crew. Eager to see where the next director takes the film,” Said Bassam in a statement, with Variety reporting that he will stay on the project as an Executive Producer.

 

There’s no word yet on how this shift in production will change the release plan for the film, but I’ll be sure to keep my eyes and ears open and let you know of any updates regarding this project as they develop.

 

Stacy Osei-Kuffour (known for penning 2019’s Watchmen Limited Series) was recently brought on to write the script for this Blade reboot. The cast also includes Aaron Pierre (who was in 2021’s Old) and Delroy Lindo (From 2020’s Da 5 bloods).

 

This vampire-slaying badass of a character was created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist Gene Colan, introduced in July 1973’s The Tomb of Dracula #10. Wesley Snipes played this character across a trilogy of films that spanned from 1998 to 2004, and he was also played by Sticky Fingaz in a short-lived TV series in 2006.

 

Thank you so much for reading and I’ll see you in the next issue.

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