You can never underestimate the power of hearsay. Sometimes, something sounding like it could be true is enough to convince people that it must be. And while this phenomenon can have disastrous real-world consequences when applied to science and politics, it’s also responsible for some memorable instances of collective storytelling.
From hook-handed murderers to gerbils becoming stuck inside famous actors, urban legends are the modern equivalent to ancient campfire stories about werewolves and vampires – which is why it makes sense that they’ve inspired some of most beloved genre films. And with so many of these allegedly “true” stories to choose from, we’ve decided to come up with a list highlighting six of the most underrated movies based on urban legends.
Naturally, we’ll be shying away from more popular films like Candyman and Jamie Blanks’ Urban Legend, but don’t forget to comment below with your own...
From hook-handed murderers to gerbils becoming stuck inside famous actors, urban legends are the modern equivalent to ancient campfire stories about werewolves and vampires – which is why it makes sense that they’ve inspired some of most beloved genre films. And with so many of these allegedly “true” stories to choose from, we’ve decided to come up with a list highlighting six of the most underrated movies based on urban legends.
Naturally, we’ll be shying away from more popular films like Candyman and Jamie Blanks’ Urban Legend, but don’t forget to comment below with your own...
- 3/8/2024
- by Luiz H. C.
- bloody-disgusting.com
While we generally like to think that human beings have catalogued most of the animal kingdom, the fact is that there are still plenty of biological mysteries to uncover. After all, gorillas were only recognized by science in the 1850s, and don’t even get me started on the extinction-dodging coelacanth. That’s why cryptozoology is such a fascinating subject, with amateur zoologists insisting that there’s still a little bit of magic left in the world.
Of course, not every legendary cryptid creature is as cuddly as the jackelope, and that’s why we’ve come up with this list recommending six underrated movies inspired by cryptozoology! After all, what good are monsters if we can’t enjoy scary movies about them?
As usual, we’ll be following a couple of rules in order to keep things concise. First of all, no double-dipping, which means we’ll only be...
Of course, not every legendary cryptid creature is as cuddly as the jackelope, and that’s why we’ve come up with this list recommending six underrated movies inspired by cryptozoology! After all, what good are monsters if we can’t enjoy scary movies about them?
As usual, we’ll be following a couple of rules in order to keep things concise. First of all, no double-dipping, which means we’ll only be...
- 1/25/2023
- by Luiz H. C.
- bloody-disgusting.com
Happy Tuesday, dear readers! We have a brand new round of home media releases on tap for today, and we have a mix of new and classic titles headed home this week. As far as new genre offerings go, Rob Savage’s Dashcam, The Last Thing Mary Saw, and Shark Bait are all being released on DVD, and The Twin featuring Teresa Palmer is coming out on Blu-ray. Galaxy Quest, which is an all-timer in our house, is getting a new Blu-ray today, and as far as older films go, both The Last Broadcast and Terror Circus are getting an HD overhaul, too.
Other releases for July 12th include Death Hunt, Blood Bath and While We Sleep.
Dashcam
Weary of pandemic life, Annie makes a surprise, unwelcome visit to her old bandmate, Stretch, stealing his car and taking over his food delivery gig while live-streaming outrageous antics for internet fans.
Other releases for July 12th include Death Hunt, Blood Bath and While We Sleep.
Dashcam
Weary of pandemic life, Annie makes a surprise, unwelcome visit to her old bandmate, Stretch, stealing his car and taking over his food delivery gig while live-streaming outrageous antics for internet fans.
- 7/12/2022
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
In today’s film news, 25th anniversary showings of “Friends” draw impressively, Screen Gems is developing a Santa Muerte movie and Australian story “Atm Boy” is in the works as a feature film.
‘Friends’ Anniversary
Fathom Events’ three-night showing of NBC’s sitcom “Friends” generated $2.9 million from over 1,600 North American theaters — the second-highest-grossing 2019 U.S. event cinema release after “Bts World Tour.”
Fathom and Warner Bros. partnered on “Friends 25th: The One With The Anniversary,” which attracted more than 230,000 admissions. The release was the widest ever for Fathom, which is operated jointly by the AMC, Cinemark and Regal chains.
The event, which landed in the box office top 10 on each screening day, brought together 12 fan-favorite episodes with each night featuring four episodes that were newly remastered in 4K from the original 35mm camera negative. The programs also included interview footage, which was shot by Extra during the first week of production.
‘Friends’ Anniversary
Fathom Events’ three-night showing of NBC’s sitcom “Friends” generated $2.9 million from over 1,600 North American theaters — the second-highest-grossing 2019 U.S. event cinema release after “Bts World Tour.”
Fathom and Warner Bros. partnered on “Friends 25th: The One With The Anniversary,” which attracted more than 230,000 admissions. The release was the widest ever for Fathom, which is operated jointly by the AMC, Cinemark and Regal chains.
The event, which landed in the box office top 10 on each screening day, brought together 12 fan-favorite episodes with each night featuring four episodes that were newly remastered in 4K from the original 35mm camera negative. The programs also included interview footage, which was shot by Extra during the first week of production.
- 10/4/2019
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
I met with documentary director Stefan Avalos, on Sunday, June 18, 2017, at AFI Docs 2017, to discuss his deeply engaging Strad Style (which I reviewed when it played at Slamdance). The film follows protagonist Danny Houck, from Laurelville, Ohio, as he builds a meticulous replica of famed 17th/18th-century violin-maker Giuseppe Guarneri’s “Il Cannone” violin […]...
- 7/21/2017
- by Christopher Llewellyn Reed
- Hammer to Nail
Would you trust an Ohio hermit who drives a low rider and practices magick to build the violin for your next recital? A prize-winning Romanian soloist does just that in Stefan Avalos' Strad Style, a diverting documentary that, for most of its running time, suggests the musician will regret his choice. Leaning toward the kind of check-out-this-weirdo mode that became fashionable in the 1990s, the film is ultimately more sympathetic to its strange protagonist. While it isn't completely satisfying, the picture has taken home jury and audience awards at Slamdance and elsewhere, and seems to have a long fest life...
- 5/8/2017
- by John DeFore
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
MaryAnn’s quick take… Wonderful; so funny and strange and human. An amazing portrait of a fascinating character, beautifully told with enormous suspense and tenderness. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
I could be a famous violin maker… if I had the energy and drive to do it.” So laments amateur violin maker Danny Houck, who lives in rural Ohio, has no training in crafting musical instruments, and isn’t even a woodworker (“but I am a sculptor,” he offers). He doesn’t seem to have much of anything except a passion for classical music and for great violins, such as the very famous ones built by Antonio Stradivari, which are among the most expensive and most storied on the planet. And now Houck has convinced hot up-and-coming European violinist Razvan Stoica — whom Houck met...
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
I could be a famous violin maker… if I had the energy and drive to do it.” So laments amateur violin maker Danny Houck, who lives in rural Ohio, has no training in crafting musical instruments, and isn’t even a woodworker (“but I am a sculptor,” he offers). He doesn’t seem to have much of anything except a passion for classical music and for great violins, such as the very famous ones built by Antonio Stradivari, which are among the most expensive and most storied on the planet. And now Houck has convinced hot up-and-coming European violinist Razvan Stoica — whom Houck met...
- 2/8/2017
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
Stefan Avalos’s feature dazzled jury and audiences in Park City.
Stefan Avalos’s feature earned the Sparky Prize for Best Documentary Feature and the audience award in Park City on Friday night.
The Sparky Prize for Best Narrative Feature went to Daniel Warth’s Dim The Fluorescents and Bill Watterson’s Dave Made A Maze won the Narrative Feature Audience Award.
Jamie Greenberg’s Future ’38 earned the Beyond Feature Audience Award.
Moriom by Francesca Scalisi and Mark Olexa won the Sparky Prize for best documentary short, while Tim Mason’s No Other Way To Say It won best narrative short and Hold Me (Ca Caw Ca Caw) by Renee Zhan took the animated prize.
UpCycles by Ariana Gerstein won best experimental short and Maxwell McCabe-Lokoss’s took best anarchy short for Ape Sodom.
The Spirit Of Slamdance Award went to the film team behind Neighborhood Food Drive by Jerzy Rose.
Stefan Avalos’s feature earned the Sparky Prize for Best Documentary Feature and the audience award in Park City on Friday night.
The Sparky Prize for Best Narrative Feature went to Daniel Warth’s Dim The Fluorescents and Bill Watterson’s Dave Made A Maze won the Narrative Feature Audience Award.
Jamie Greenberg’s Future ’38 earned the Beyond Feature Audience Award.
Moriom by Francesca Scalisi and Mark Olexa won the Sparky Prize for best documentary short, while Tim Mason’s No Other Way To Say It won best narrative short and Hold Me (Ca Caw Ca Caw) by Renee Zhan took the animated prize.
UpCycles by Ariana Gerstein won best experimental short and Maxwell McCabe-Lokoss’s took best anarchy short for Ape Sodom.
The Spirit Of Slamdance Award went to the film team behind Neighborhood Food Drive by Jerzy Rose.
- 1/27/2017
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Social media can lead to strange things, as evidenced in Stefan Avalos’ documentary Strad Style. Avalos profiles Danny Houck, a 32-year-old living in small-town Ohio at an old, rotting farmhouse, where the stairs literally crumble beneath his feet. He’s unemployed, behind on his bills, and unable to find work, but finds an outlet to take up all of his free time: violins. He’s fascinated with the work of Stradivari and Guarneri, considered to be the greatest violin makers of all-time (their instruments have sold for millions at auctions), and wants to make his own violins despite having no experience. Houck also spends his time online, and it’s through YouTube that he discovers Razvan Stoica, who’s seen as one of the best violinists working today.
Stoica, who uses social media regularly, started talking to Houck after noticing a comment he made on his Facebook page, and their...
Stoica, who uses social media regularly, started talking to Houck after noticing a comment he made on his Facebook page, and their...
- 1/27/2017
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Last night, the 23rd annual Slamdance Film Festival announced the feature and short film recipients of this year’s Sparky Awards. A jury of filmmakers and industry professionals determined the Slamdance Jury Awards for Narrative Feature, Documentary Feature, and Short Film categories. The Audience Awards and the Spirit of Slamdance, an award given by the filmmakers of Slamdance 2017 to the director who best embodies the spirit of the Festival, were also bestowed. The award winners were announced at the festival’s annual Awards Ceremony at the Treasure Mountain Inn in Park City, Utah.
Read More: Slamdance Film Festival Announces 2017 Lineup: ‘Aerotropolis,’ ‘The Children Send Their Regards’ and More
“Independent film is made beautiful not by those individual artists that form celebrity culture but by creative collaboration” said Peter Baxter, Slamdance Co-Founder and President. “At Slamdance this year we’ve experienced an entire program of beautiful independent film and the promise...
Read More: Slamdance Film Festival Announces 2017 Lineup: ‘Aerotropolis,’ ‘The Children Send Their Regards’ and More
“Independent film is made beautiful not by those individual artists that form celebrity culture but by creative collaboration” said Peter Baxter, Slamdance Co-Founder and President. “At Slamdance this year we’ve experienced an entire program of beautiful independent film and the promise...
- 1/27/2017
- by Vikram Murthi
- Indiewire
The Sundance Film Festival won’t be handing out its awards until tomorrow but that other Park City shindig held its ceremony last night and a certain Stradivari obsessed documentary took some top prizes. There were wins for the Bill Waterson directed Dave Made a Maze and a Spirit of Slamdance victory for the Jerzy Rose helmed Neighborhood Food Drive, at the 23rd Slamdance fest on Thursday. The event at Park City’s Treasure Mountain Inn also saw the Stefan Avalos directed S…...
- 1/27/2017
- Deadline
Slamdance remains the little festival that could, a throwback to analog film festivals of the early 1980s, with their cinema-obsessed audiences and packed makeshift screening rooms. A halcyon age of innocence, before the onslaught of marketing, branding, corporate sponsorship, publicists, producer reps, agents, and social media. At Slamdance there’s still no red carpet and no one checks your bags or makes you open your coat for inspection before entering every screening. Nonetheless every year Slamdance, with its tiny slate, upstages Sundance with one or two films that soar. This year’s not-to-be-missed Slamdance film is Stefan Avalos’s Strad Style. Strad Style has […]...
- 1/25/2017
- by David Leitner
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Now well into its second decade, the Slamdance Film Festival is gearing up for its 2017 edition. Mostly taking place at the Treasure Mountain Inn at top of Park City, Utah’s busting Main Street, Slamdance is dedicated to presenting a festival and a community designed “for filmmakers by filmmakers.”
In previous years, projects from directors like Christopher Nolan, Marc Forster, Jared Hess, Oren Peli, Benh Zeitlin, Seth Gordon, Lynn Shelton and Lena Dunham have bowed at the festival, and it’s become a fertile — if offbeat — proving ground for fresh talents. This year looks to be yet another banner one for the fest, and as such, we’ve gone on a little trip through the Slamdance slate to dig up some prime possibilities for must-see films (shorts and features!).
Ahead, check out 13 titles we’re...
In previous years, projects from directors like Christopher Nolan, Marc Forster, Jared Hess, Oren Peli, Benh Zeitlin, Seth Gordon, Lynn Shelton and Lena Dunham have bowed at the festival, and it’s become a fertile — if offbeat — proving ground for fresh talents. This year looks to be yet another banner one for the fest, and as such, we’ve gone on a little trip through the Slamdance slate to dig up some prime possibilities for must-see films (shorts and features!).
Ahead, check out 13 titles we’re...
- 1/17/2017
- by Chris O'Falt, David Ehrlich, Graham Winfrey, Jude Dry, Kate Erbland and Steve Greene
- Indiewire
Slamdance has announced the 11 narratives and eight documentaries that will comprise its 2017 lineup. The festival was established in 1995 and takes place in Park City, Utah in January — the same time and place, of course, as Sundance. 12 of the films will be world premieres, and all competition entries are directorial debuts with budgets of less than $1 million that have yet to receive stateside distribution. Next year’s edition of the festival will run from January 20–26. Full lineup below:
Read More: Watch Slamdance Selections ‘Coming To’ and ‘Courtesan,’ Thanks to Digital Bolex and Seed&Spark (Exclusive)
Narrative Features
“Aerotropolis” (Jheng-Neng Li)
“Beat Beat Heart” (Luise Brinkmann)
“Cortez” (Cheryl Nichols)
“Dave Made a Maze” (Bill Watterson)
“Dim the Fluorescents” (Daniel Warth)
“The Family” (Shumin Liu)
“Kate Can’t Swim” (Josh Helman)
“Kuro” (Joji Koyama, Tujiko Noriko)
“Weather House” (Frauke Havermann)
“Wexford Plaza” (Joyce Wong)
“Withdrawn” (Adrian Murray)
Read More: Watch the Trailer for...
Read More: Watch Slamdance Selections ‘Coming To’ and ‘Courtesan,’ Thanks to Digital Bolex and Seed&Spark (Exclusive)
Narrative Features
“Aerotropolis” (Jheng-Neng Li)
“Beat Beat Heart” (Luise Brinkmann)
“Cortez” (Cheryl Nichols)
“Dave Made a Maze” (Bill Watterson)
“Dim the Fluorescents” (Daniel Warth)
“The Family” (Shumin Liu)
“Kate Can’t Swim” (Josh Helman)
“Kuro” (Joji Koyama, Tujiko Noriko)
“Weather House” (Frauke Havermann)
“Wexford Plaza” (Joyce Wong)
“Withdrawn” (Adrian Murray)
Read More: Watch the Trailer for...
- 11/28/2016
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
Programmers at the Park City jamboree’s upcoming 23rd edition announced on Monday the 11 narrative and eight documentary selections that will play in January.
The 2017 showcase will also feature Dig (Digital, Interactive & Gaming), a platform of eight works by emerging artists working in cutting-edge digital media, while Polytechnic is a series of free workshops exploring disruptive perspectives on filmmaking from industry insiders.
“As filmmakers themselves, the Slamdance programmers and staff share the same creative spirit as the festival artists,” said Slamdance co-founder and president, Peter Baxter. “Our stories are different but our divergent attitude is the same.
“Together, we give a voice to Diy filmmaking. Empowering emerging artists is what we do, and you are about to see a great group at Slamdance 2017.”
The feature competition roster includes 16 premieres – 12 world, 3 North American and one Us. All competition films are feature directorial debuts with budgets of under $1m and without Us distribution.
Jury awards...
The 2017 showcase will also feature Dig (Digital, Interactive & Gaming), a platform of eight works by emerging artists working in cutting-edge digital media, while Polytechnic is a series of free workshops exploring disruptive perspectives on filmmaking from industry insiders.
“As filmmakers themselves, the Slamdance programmers and staff share the same creative spirit as the festival artists,” said Slamdance co-founder and president, Peter Baxter. “Our stories are different but our divergent attitude is the same.
“Together, we give a voice to Diy filmmaking. Empowering emerging artists is what we do, and you are about to see a great group at Slamdance 2017.”
The feature competition roster includes 16 premieres – 12 world, 3 North American and one Us. All competition films are feature directorial debuts with budgets of under $1m and without Us distribution.
Jury awards...
- 11/28/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
As we’ve seen here in the first few weeks of 2014, the landscape of the horror genre is absolutely flooded with found footage movies, and we primarily have two movies to thank/blame for that; The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity.
While 1999’s Blair Witch Project is often credited as the first horror movie made in the Pov found footage style, such a claim is actually quite untrue. Though Blair Witch is no doubt the movie that popularized the style, and Paranormal Activity the one that re-invented it and brought it into a new decade, there were actually a handful of found footage films that came out well before the horrifying tale of the witch in the woods.
Here are seven of those handheld horror movies, which all predate The Blair Witch Project!
Cannibal Holocaust (1980) - Theatrical Trailer
Cannibal Holocaust – 1980
What’s the very first found footage movie ever made?...
While 1999’s Blair Witch Project is often credited as the first horror movie made in the Pov found footage style, such a claim is actually quite untrue. Though Blair Witch is no doubt the movie that popularized the style, and Paranormal Activity the one that re-invented it and brought it into a new decade, there were actually a handful of found footage films that came out well before the horrifying tale of the witch in the woods.
Here are seven of those handheld horror movies, which all predate The Blair Witch Project!
Cannibal Holocaust (1980) - Theatrical Trailer
Cannibal Holocaust – 1980
What’s the very first found footage movie ever made?...
- 1/27/2014
- by John Squires
- FEARnet
A while ago we reported on a 3D animated remake of The Last Broadcast, which if you remember followed two filmmakers, Stefan Avalos and Lance Weiler, as they had their own hunt in the woods looking for a nasty local legend pre-Blair Witch. Today we learned a bit more.
Filmmaker John Stevenson dropped us a line with a quick update.
"A brand new script is being written for the remake, and I am abandoning plans to make a 3D animated film," Stevenson tells us. "Michele Pulaski and James Seward are still reprising their roles for the remake. The film will be set in present day, incorporating present social networking and technology into the film. Interior scenes will be shot in a converted warehouse when the script is finished and exterior filming will be shot in Port Republic, NJ and Batsto."
Look for more on this one soon.
Visit The Evilshop @ Amazon!
Filmmaker John Stevenson dropped us a line with a quick update.
"A brand new script is being written for the remake, and I am abandoning plans to make a 3D animated film," Stevenson tells us. "Michele Pulaski and James Seward are still reprising their roles for the remake. The film will be set in present day, incorporating present social networking and technology into the film. Interior scenes will be shot in a converted warehouse when the script is finished and exterior filming will be shot in Port Republic, NJ and Batsto."
Look for more on this one soon.
Visit The Evilshop @ Amazon!
- 5/12/2011
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
Nothing shocks us anymore. Nothing. Way back in 1998, even before The Blair Witch Project became the phenom that it was, two filmmakers, Stefan Avalos and Lance Weiler, had their own hunt in the woods looking for a nasty local legend in The Last Broadcast. The film played like an A&E documentary with an ending so polarizing that many either sing its praises or damn it to hell. If you missed it, don't worry. Something wicked this way comes.
We received word today that filmmaker John Stevenson is hard at work on a 3D animated remake of The Last Broadcast. The film is being produced by Loyal's House of Blood Production, and Victor Miller (writer of Friday the 13th) is serving as associate producer. Even more interesting ... Michele Pulaski and James Seward are reprising their roles as the characters Michelle Monarch and Jim Suerd.
"I went about the film carefully and revamped everything,...
We received word today that filmmaker John Stevenson is hard at work on a 3D animated remake of The Last Broadcast. The film is being produced by Loyal's House of Blood Production, and Victor Miller (writer of Friday the 13th) is serving as associate producer. Even more interesting ... Michele Pulaski and James Seward are reprising their roles as the characters Michelle Monarch and Jim Suerd.
"I went about the film carefully and revamped everything,...
- 1/24/2011
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
Stefan Avalos and Lance Weiler's 1998 picture The Last Broadcast , arguably the film that kicked off the "found footage" resurgence, is up for a remake. Filmmaker John Stevenson says he's tackling this endeavor with Friday the 13th scribe Victor Miller on board as an associate producer. Loyal Ploof is shepherding the project under his House of Blood Productions banner. The "search for the Jersey Devil"-fueled story will be retold in 3D (of course) and is actually animated, similar to the upcoming Night of the Living Dead: Origins . "[The original film's stars] Michele Pulaski and James Seward are reprising their roles for the remake," says Stevenson. More on this production as it comes in.
- 10/22/2010
- shocktillyoudrop.com
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