Splice (2009)
Directed by: Vincenzo Natali
Starring: Sarah Polley, Adrien Brody, Delphine Chanéac
Studio: Warner Bros.
Review by: Britt Hayes
Splice is a film several years in the making. A film I’ve been following for three years, ever since I saw the original concept art for Dren, the film’s featured creature. Vincenzo Natali’s (Cube) latest film premiered at Sundance this year to a warm reception, and for good reason.
The film tells the story of Elsa and Clive (no, their names are not coincidence), near-literal rock stars in the genetic engineering world. They dress like grown-up …

Taxidermia (2006)
Directed by: Gyorgy Palfi
Written by: Lajos Parti Nagy (short stories), Gyorgy Palfi, Zsofia Ruttkay
Starring: Csaba Czene, Gergely Trocsanyi, Marc Bischoff, Gabor Mate
Review by: Britt Hayes
Imagine Jean-Pierre Jeunet if he were Hungarian and making a sick and twisted film about sexual depravity inspired by early Cronenberg. That’s Taxidermia. An anthology film directed by Gyorgy Palfi and based on two short stories by Lajos Parti Nagy (with a third story added by Palfi and co-writer Zsofia Ruttkay), Taxidermia follows three generations of men through World War II, Communist-era Hungary, and the …

After.Life (2009)
Directed by: Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo
Starring: Christina Ricci, Liam Neeson, Justin Long
Studio: Anchor Bay Films
Review by: Britt Hayes
Anna Taylor (Ricci) is experiencing something strange. She feels emotionally disconnected, especially in her relationship with Paul (Long), she gets a nosebleed in the shower, and as she’s leaving the elementary school where she serves as a teacher, the lights in the hallway start turning off as she walks by. After an argument with Paul at a nice restaurant, Anna gets into a car accident and wakes up on a slab in a funeral …

Suck (2009)
SXSW 2010
Directed by: Rob Stefaniuk
Starring: Jessica Pare, Rob Stefaniuk, Mike Lobel, Paul Anthony, Malcolm McDowell, Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper, Dave Foley, and Chris Ratz.
Review by: Britt Hayes
The Winners are a rock band made up of friends Joey, Sam, Tyler, and Jennifer, and managed by douche bag Jeff (Dave Foley). They’re almost-famous and can’t get past it because Joey won’t share the spotlight with Jennifer, who actually has some talent up her sleeve, thanks to their past romantic relationship and Joey’s grudge. But the band’s luck is about to change. …

by Britt Hayes
SXSW is hectic, to say the least, so I won’t get around to full reviews right off the bat. Instead, I’ll be throwing you some short initial thoughts, and posting the reviews when I get the chance. Look for reviews sometime this week or next week, and until then, enjoy my Shorthand thoughts:

Tucker and Dale vs. Evil: Fantastic horror comedy from Canadian writer/director Eli Craig. The film has a great cast, including Alan Tudyk – who you may know as Pirate Steve from Dodgeball – as Tucker, Tyler …

by Britt Hayes
Anchor Bay has acquired Cine Tel Film’s remake of I Spit on Your Grave (aka Day of the Woman). You’d think with Anchor Bay’s acquisition we’d only get a DTV release, but that’s not so. Anchor Bay plans on releasing the film in the US, UK, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada. The film will get a theatrical release sometime this fall, with a DVD/Blu release in early 2011 (I’m thinking they’re going for the October/January model).
The original 1978 film was written and directed by Meir Zarchi, and followed …

It’s Alive (2008)
Studio: Millenium Films/First Look Pictures
Directed by: Josef Rusnak
Cast: Bijou Phillips, James Murray, Raphael Coleman, Owen Teale, Ty Glaser
Review by: Britt Hayes
Those familiar with the 1974 Larry Cohen classic killer baby film It’s Alive will undoubtedly be familiar with this story, and some may even be excited: Larry Cohen is credited as a co-writer of this 2008 remake of his own film. Instead of comparing and contrasting the two films, which would be tiresome and useless, I’ll just say this: the 1974 version of It’s Alive works for many …

Daybreakers (2010)
Studio: Lionsgate
Release Date: January 8, 2010
Directed by: The Spierig Brothers
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Sam Neill, Willem Dafoe, Isabel Lucas
Review by: Britt Hayes
It’s the year 2019, and in the not-too-distant future vampirism has overtaken society like a disease. There are less than 5% of humans left alive, and it is now the sole objective of our military to hunt them down and bring them to Bromley Marks, a large corporation whose main income comes from keeping humans alive and farming them for blood to sell through their profitable blood bank. Working …

by Britt Hayes
CHUD just premiered the final one sheet for Martin Scorsese’s upcoming psychological horror flick Shutter Island. It doesn’t look too much different from the teaser poster revealed before, but the final product is stunning.
Like Mr. Devin Faraci over at CHUD, I too saw Shutter Island a couple of weeks ago at Butt Numb A Thon 11. And I have to agree with Faraci: the film grows on you more and more. While I’m not yet sure if this is my favorite Scorsese film ever (time will tell), I …

Frozen (2010)
Studio: A Bigger Boat/ArieScope Pictures
Release Date: January 24, 2010 (Sundance Film Festival)
Directed by: Adam Green
Starring: Emma Bell, Kevin Zegers, Shawn Ashmore
Reviewed by: Britt Hayes
Adam Green is known best to many horror fans for his directorial work on Hatchet, a bloody slasher film starring Kane Hodder as the titular killer. His latest effort, Frozen, isn’t premiering until next year’s Sundance in January, but at last weekend’s Ain’t it Cool/Alamo Drafthouse-sponsored Butt-Numb-A-Thon 11, Adam Green stopped by to give us the world premiere of his new film.
Frozen is a much, much …