celluloid consommé

  If you ever found yourself aching for a horror retelling of  How the Grinch Stole Christmas  ( this one  specifically, which is arguably already partially in the horror spectrum — although this version) then you have something to look forward to this holiday season. Steven LaMorte directs a script from Finn & Flip Kobler, the latter of the two siblings known mostly for penning direct-to-video Disney sequels ( Lion King II: Simba’s Pride, Hunchback of Notre Dame II, Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp’s Adventure, Pocahontas 2: Journey to a New World ) and the season 2  Deep Space Nine  episode  Profit and Loss , which sees Armin Shimerman’s Quark as a repurposed Rick Blaine in his own galactic version of  Casablanca ’s Rick’s Café Américaine. The ground that  The Mean One  covers is pretty much a revisit of plot points from  How the Grinch Stole Christmas , cherry-picked from both the 1966 Chuck Jones special and the 2000 version, wh...

  THE LEECH. “Never, Have I Ever.” Key Art courtesy of Arrow Films. Eric Pennycoff’s  The Leech  is determined to claw at the inside of your skull while its aesthetic lulls and soothes you in an attempt to convince your mind that what chaos follows is a natural progression. But let’s start from the top first. Father David (Graham Skipper) puts a lot of time and effort into his church services but doesn’t get much turnout for his efforts. Terry (Jeremy Gardner), a homeless man found sleeping amongst the pews is awoken and taken in by David out of the good Christian part of his heart. It’s not something he’d normally do, but once in a while it’s nice to do something for someone for a change. Plus it gets you brownie points with the big guy. But the visit extends from a night into days, days into weeks, and from there time spirals out from the realm of meaning & understanding. Press enter or click to view image in full size Graham Skipper as Father David in THE LEECH. St...

Writer and director Travis Stevens has added a breathtaking and opalescent jewel to his crown of unique projects with  A Wounded Fawn , his third feature film. After making the rounds at various festivals it has carved itself a home at Shudder, and it will certainly stand out amongst the service’s other exclusive programming. This eclectic portrait of a serial killer oozes with bizarre charm, veers into the hallucinatory, and unrolls into a rich and inspired tapestry of surrealism to complement and challenge its characters’ wants & needs, as well as their fears. Press enter or click to view image in full size Josh Ruben as Bruce Ernst in A WOUNDED FAWN. A   Wounded Fawn ’s style is rooted in the marriage of the realistic and the surrealistic image. It owes its fantastical and otherworldly visuals to the work of the undersung genius of Leonora Carrington, who uses a number of religious, mythological and fantastical archetypes in her paintings’ humanoid (and otherwise) subje...