Mycho Magazine

REVIEW : RESIDENT EVIL : AFTERLIFE

2011-01-23T04:09:00.000-08:00

RESIDENT EVIL : AFTERLIFE

Resident Evil was, and still is, one of the most remembered and respected games in the entire history of gaming. It brought horror to an audience that until that point had almost no choice when it came to horror video game entertainment. So it would seem that making a movie of such a franchise would make sense, keeping the dark, suspenseful thrills and creepy set pieces that have become such a part of groundbreaking games.. or you could just turn into an action movie that just happens to have zombies in it. Lets go for the second one shall we? And here comes the review of Resident Evil Afterlife 3D.

Alice is on the hunt for Wesker, the head (I think), of Umbrella corporation. After something to do with clones Alice loses her powers and ends up flying a plane to a place where she, for some reason, finds a feral Claire Redfield with no memory and they head off as enemies to an abandoned prison where a few survivors are holding up. All this is strung together with bad story telling and of course the magic of 3D.

Now first up as you can tell from the synopsis above, the plot of Afterlife is almost non-existent, as with the previous Resident Evil movies. But lets be honest now, if you went into this movie expecting anything with substance then you are probably one of the unrealistic characters that inhabits these movies in the first place. So with that said lets actually look at it for what it is.

The 3D is not post conversation for a start, which means that the film was shot in 3D, not converted afterwards, (Unlike Piranha and Wes Craven’s My Soul To take), so Afterlife gets points for that. As usual it also tries to jam in some cool things from the games, of course often at the expense of story telling. So the appearance of the huge axe wielding brute from Resident Evil 5 was a nice touch and Chris Redfield finally appears for no real reason, but its familiar and should have fans of the series happy.

The film is stylish, looks great and most of the action flows very nicely, the main issue I had with the film was that there was no real spectacle made from the 3D. Therefore almost making it pointless to have shot in 3D in the first place. Most of the 3D moments felt half-cocked, with no dynamic to them and that brings the film down to below average.

OVERALL

The film is actually watchable if you turn your brain off, so if you’re one of the zombies waiting to eat Alice’s brains, then you should be fine. Don’t expect much and you’ll be all right. Unfortunately the lack of any kind of plot when releasing a film that costs this much and is shot in brand spanking new 3D tech leaves me no choice but to bring it down in marks. I have no doubt that Resident Evil 5 is on the way as the film hit big at the box office, but as usual I wouldn’t expect much, apart from naked Alice of Course.

Mycho

REVIEW : BURIED

2011-01-09T16:29:00.000-08:00

BURIED

Boxes are some scary shit aren’t they? If you’re in a horror movie, you definitely don’t want to find a mysterious one. Just ask Cameron Diaz, or the cast of any of the Hellraiser movies, they’ll tell you. But what you don’t want even more than that is to wake up inside one with no idea where you are or how you got there. Unless you’re into that kind of thing, No? Then lets move on.

Buried is a simple premise, Ryan Reynolds wakes up 6 feet under with no idea how he got there or why someone would do this to him. Slowly but surely we find out the whys, the what’s and the how’s.

Buried was a concept so simple that it almost seemed doomed to failure, especially after such films as the mediocre Phone Booth, I figured that if a film with a guy trapped in a phone box was hard to pull off, then guy in a box would be close to impossible. But here we are and guess what? It works.

Buried works for two reasons and of course they are the most important two things in any film. Script and casting. The film is phenomenally well written, and never leaves the box in question. But it never needs to, the film never feels like it slows down and believe me it should, but it never suffers from any kind of drag, we feel the tension all the way. Which brings me to my second point.

Casting Ryan Reynolds is a stroke of genius, ok he’s an obvious Hollywood choice. But one thing we forget about Van Wilder, is that he actually has the chops for it and he carries the tension from frantic beginning to nail biting end and in my eyes never makes any unrealistic decisions for the sake of driving the film home.

Buried is a well but together film and is also well shot as an added bonus. The only qualm I have here is that the whole film takes a very different direction of the why our hero finds himself in the box to what I would have imagined or preferred. Some will like it, for me it was the easy way out, but I’ll leave that down to preference and of course will not spoil the film for you.

OVERALL

Buried shouldn’t work, but it does. The film is so tight that its actually hard to give you any kind of description about it without ruining it for you. But I will say, watch out for a snake moment that puts Indiana Jones to shame, and Indy had the whole world to hide, Reynolds only has a box. Just watch it.

MYCHO

REVIEW : BLACK SWAN

2011-01-08T12:48:00.000-08:00

BLACK SWAN

Ah ballet school. How I miss thee. Ok not really, but it is a manly thing… honest. Van Damme did ballet. Ok I realise I’m not doing myself any favours here bringing JC into it, but ballet does make for a totally awesome backdrop to a horror movie. Just ask Suspiria.

Nina (Natalie Portman) is your usual quiet, shy dancer who, through a turn of events and a load of hard work, ends up with the sought after role of the lead in Swan Lake. Her sleazy teacher (Vincent Cassel) realises that, although she is the embodiment of the white swan, It may take a descent into madness for her to find the Black Swan within. Cue descent.

Darren Aronofsky is a director that has always sat in a strange place with me, although I dig his films, I never quiet feel the need to revisit them. I probably should. Films like the Fountain and Requiem For A Dream, almost NEED a re-watch to get a new perspective on the film itself. Black Swan is no different.

The relationship between Nina and here mother does cry out Carrie, but without ever being brave enough to go all the way. Speaking of going all the way, when Nina and fellow student Lily (Mila ‘Shud Up Meg’ Kunis) start getting it on the film takes a twist for the worse as we start to realise that all the strangeness happening around Nina may be in her head. Or is it?

Yes. Then no. Then yes. The film jumps along in this fashion until by the end we are amazed at the visual feast put before us, but understanding it? Not so much.

I have to draw comparisons to Argento’s Suspira at least for setting and feel and for a long time during the movie I wished that this had been a Suspiria remake rather than a film that had no clear antagonist. That being said the build up to the transformation sequence at the end of the films 2^nd act and the transformation itself are strange, but stunning, combined with the beautifully shot dance sequences that push the tale forward make this film worth a watch or two.

OVERALL

Black Swan is being marketed at the mainstream, but its art, true and simple and many casual cinemagoers won’t get it. Many hardcore cinemagoers won’t get it. Maybe we’re not suppose to get it. But film is entertainment at the end of the day and as entertained as I was, I also found myself lost at times. Aronofsky will be taking on Marvel Comics Wolverine next, with the working title being THE WOLVERINE. How about we go all the way (lol) and call it REQUIEM FOR A WOLVERINE?

Mycho

REVIEW : STAG NIGHT

2011-01-07T12:19:00.000-08:00

STAG NIGHT

The mention of Stag Night’s usually brings memories of loud, obnoxious lads, boozing, strippers and rob zombie. Actually, very true, worryingly enough for myself. But this film brings all those things to the table with a twist of horror, of course the horror, this time at least, not coming from the strippers in the City Of Newcastle…Urg. (Although see Zombie Women Of Satan for Geordie Strippers)

Mike is about to get married to the lovely, but somewhat boring, Clare. But there is the obvious underlying tone that she is a bit of a bitch. Hmm. Anyways this results in the obvious Stag Night festivities in which the group of cliché’s finish off at a strip Club. We have the loud, take no shit from nobody, Tony, also brother to our hero, and the others, who are Best Friend Carl and bland boring Joe.

They are being ejected for hitting on some strippers and soon end up on the train home. But Tony, being as obnoxious as the cliché will allow him, sees the strippers they met at the bar and decides the night is not over. After a bit of banter and some misunderstandings involving the girls, Tony, an oncoming train and pepper spray in an enclosed space, the boys and the two strippers end up on an abandoned platform with their train leaving them behind. Carl being a bit of a ladies man decides that romancing the stripper is more important than any kind of escape and so the others head off down the tunnels to find a way out and get thier friends out.

Someway down the tunnel they come across a night security guard, only to see him brutally murdered by a gang of homeless people who I can only say look like Rob Zombie. Thus begins the nightmare as they are picked off one by one by the homeless that live in the tunnels beneath New York City.

I know, I moan, but the simple fact is that even with all its clichés and bad dialogue and forceful story pushing, Stag Night is actually a very watchable film, although with a terrible title font. Tony is played by Breckin Meyer, who some people will remember from teen comedy Road Trip and for the most part Meyer handles his performance with everything we need, even his change in character toward the end of the film isn’t too jarring.

Its well shot, but the pacing was not so much. I found myself at the end of the film feeling like I’d been there for a couple of hours when it was little over 1. There is also some bad dialogue and some very bad and unrealistic character decisions that just don’t sit right for me. Obviously they were placed to push the story forward, but I wasn’t buying it that a girl who had just attacked a bunch of guys with pepper spray would then leave with them into a dark tunnel without her only friend. Then again she was your usual ballsy, ain’t scared of no one, dark haired chick, so maybe I can excuse it. Or not.

The main problem with Stag Night is that it’s a great Idea that never reaches its full potential and hits us with such a tacked on ending that pulls the small amount of emotion from the films climax right out of you, leaving you like a bland guy on a stag night. Bored and frustrated.

OVERALL

Give Stag Night a watch, its worth a one time viewing and its got good production values, but then it did cost £4 Million to make so overall its not that impressive. Where did the money go we wonder and then we stop wondering as we realised it was used to develop technology to clone Rob Zombie.

MYCHO

REVIEW : MACHETE

2011-01-04T16:03:00.000-08:00

MACHETE

You knew it was only a matter of time. After the epic trailer for Machete appeared tagged to the front of Robert Rodriguez’ Grindhouse entry Planet Terror, we all knew that Hollywood would try and suck the life out of the trailer that made you put on your deepest trailer voice and spout the name ‘Machete’ to any slightly relevant situation. But could Machete ever work as more than just a trailer? And as the uncle in Spy Kids... Obviously.

When immigrant Machete (Danny Trejo) is hired to assassinate a corrupt politician, he soon finds himself being double-crossed and in the line of fire himself. But as the trailer famously states “If you hire Machete to kill the bad guy, you better make damn sure the bad guy isn’t you”. We now follow Machete as he attempts to get his revenge on the men who betrayed him.

Its all very familiar stuff, we’ve seen it hundreds of times before and not just recently, every action film in 70’s had vaguely the same plot. But where Machete shines through, is that it knows this and is winking at you almost every step of the way. The look and feel of the film have you convinced at times that this film could have been made some 40 years ago.

There are some great appearances from Rodriguez favourites like Trejo, and Cheech Marin as well as some great performances by A-Lister’s like Michelle Rodriguez, Jessica Alba and amazingly Lyndsay Lohan who, along with her mother, gets tapped by Machete himself. Drop in Seagal and De Niro and you have a roster to cream your jeans over.

Its all insane and for some reason the only way I think that most of us will accept someone as ‘Interesting’ looking as Trejo getting it on with some the most beautiful women in the Hollywood. But insane as it is, its all just good fun and takes you on a ride that you won’t soon forget.

OVERALL

Machete is a thrill ride from bloody beginning, including a pistol being hidden in the least obvious of places, to the crazy Immigrant Lord Of The Rings Battle that sees us out. With plenty of sex, violence and bad language sprinkled along the way Rodriguez has done it again.

MYCHO

JANUARY 2011

2011-01-02T09:59:00.000-08:00

First of all Happy New Year to everyone who takes the time to read our little online publication that we update as often as we can with such a bust schedule. We ran a little test run of the Blog in November and the response was extremely positive and so we're back.
Mycho Magazine aim to bring you Reviews, Interviews, Features and much, much more through 2011 and beyond. This month we're looking at the top 5 favourite KILLER CLOWN movies in Horror cinema and you can help us decide by joining us over at http://facebook.com/mychomagazine

In the meantime keep dropping by and show support to the fledging Magazine that we are trying to build here. We have some great stuff coming up this month including and Interview with Danny Draven (Director of HorrorVision & Ghost Month) and of course Scarlet Salem, our November Scream Queen of the month will be dropping by to chat about what she has been up to as of late and what we can expect from her in the New Year.
So stay tuned to us and we'll keep the Horrors coming thick and fast.

Mycho

REVIEW : RAMPAGE

2010-12-13T15:47:00.000-08:00

REVIEW : RAMPAGE

You know those guys who go into a club and hit on a shit load of girls and you know that eventually one of those chicks is gonna say ‘yes’? Well it appears that Uwe Boll has been playing the same game with movies and it was only a matter of time before he finally hit the target. But here’s where it gets even stranger, not only does Boll hit that mark, he blows a mother fuckin’ hole in it.

Rampage opens with our ‘hero’, and I use the term loosely, Bill who is crapped on by everyone around him in his small American town, including shop clerks, his boss and just about anyone else he comes in contact with. What these people don’t understand is that Bill has been preparing a plan for all of them. He has been preparing ‘A Rampage’.

Uwe Boll is known for his less than favourable video game adaption’s and for the most part the director has completely missed the point of almost every title he has attempted to put on the big or, more accurately, straight to DVD screen. But is it really fair to judge him on them? Its not like there’s an army of directors out there who have got it right and it is definitely not an easy feat. But his original works like Seed have often just left a bad and, for the most part, bored taste in my mouth.

But Rampage is different, it does exactly what it says on the tin and the execution (No pun intended) is stunning as we follow Bill on his titular Rampage through the town, taking down, literally, everyone in sight. The whole sequence which takes up over half the film is shocking to watch, but yet difficult to take your eyes away from. All this draws itself to a stunning close that will make your jaw hit the floor with it well-placed twist.

If not for the last few minutes kind of souring what had gone before, Rampage would be a perfect movie, but the last moments of the film leave the viewer with a small amount of frustration that takes away from the well-built story.

OVERALL

Rampage is the first Uwe Boll film I would recommend for positive reasons, but I can’t recommend it enough. It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty damn close. It just goes to show, if you practice hard enough, you will eventually get it right.

Mycho

SCREAM QUEEN : SCARLET SALEM

2010-11-25T01:19:00.000-08:00

NOVEMBER 2010 : SCARLET SALEM

Working in Independent Horror can be tough, but that hasn’t stopped, Minesota born Squeen Queen, Scarlet Salem. Then again, it can’t hurt that she has always had a love for the genre, and that love shows. This particular love of hers has led to many great opportunities in the Horror world.

Her love of ghouls and gore led her to a role in NFTS Productions YOUR NEXT : Pyjama Party Massacre 3, which led the young actress to want more. Since then she has gone on to star in a huge amount of Independent Horror hits. Including being involved in such films as The Resist Evil Trilogy, Camp Kill, Terror Overload, Killer Biker Chicks and the infamous Strip Club Slasher.

If that wasn’t enough, that seems to be the tip of the iceberg with Trailers for Potpourri and In Harms Way appearing online this month as well as the announcement of Scream Queen CampFire and Werewolf Thriller Hallow Pointe. With all this and more on the table, it looks as though Miss Salem is around for a long time to come.

Check out Scarlet Salem's Official Website

Mycho

REVIEW : NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (2010)

2010-11-25T01:15:00.000-08:00

NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (2010)

Well it finally happened, it was only a matter of time before they tried to reinvent this generations most iconic monster. Yeah they took on Leatherface, Jason Vorhees and even the Amityville house. Now comes the re-imaging of the king of them all, as Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes bring us Freddy Kruger for the 21st Century.
The children of Elm street see him in their dreams, the man they called Fred Kruger. Once a local gardener at the pre school nursery, he disappeared many years ago, now he has returned. But in the form of something evil, something sinister that stalks the teens of Spring-wood in their dreams and so it begins again as Platinum Dunes reboot the Nightmare franchise and oh how wrong they got it.

Lets just get straight on with my absolute main gripe with this movie, apart from the fact that it is soulless, cardboard-cutout horror, is the casting. Never before have I seen actors that literally can't convey any kind of emotion across the screen. I've seen bad actors, you need only head to reviews lower on this blog to see that I watch some right crap, so I would like to think of myself as a bit of an expert on terrible b movie actors.

But this is Hollywood, they have the money to cast the best, or at very least the second best. Yet every time someone speaks within Nightmare On Elm Street, I suddenly wanted them to die. Instantly. Maybe this was the intention, although I find it hard to believe that they would also want this quality from the two leads Rooney Mara (The new boring Nancy) and Kyle Gallner (The new Johnny Depp, I guess) who do terrible jobs throughout.

The only casting they got potentially right was drafting in Jackie Earle Haley as the new, although not so much improved, Freddy Kruger. The man clearly has the chops as we saw in Watchmen with is portrayal of Rorschach, but his make up here is miss done, his voice over dubbed to the point it doesn't match his lip movement, turning Freddy into what feels like a limp, pathetic and almost laughable villain.

Add to this the uninspired Nightmares, terrible dialogue, awful CGI and you have a film that keeps you amazed that they even got it to the finish line intact.

OVERALL

Usually I try to leave a positive note on even the worst of films, but for lack of any better words A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET is 'shit'. What a shame. Good day.

Mycho

REVIEW : PREDATORS

2010-11-24T02:55:00.000-08:00

PREDATORS

Like many others, I eagerly awaited the true sequel all fans of the original 1987 testosterone-fuelled classic Predator have been dreaming of… Oh well…

I let myself get excited over this film from the first moment I heard it was in production. For years I’ve wanted nothing more than to see the series return to its jungle roots (AVP2’s woodland rubbish doesn’t count, because that film, like its predecessor, simply doesn’t exist), and Predator 2’s concrete jungle, while great in its own way, just didn’t have the same impact on me as the organic setting of the first film.

Predators opens with a variety pack of bad-ass killers parachuting unconsciously deep into a strange jungle. Off to a good start. There’s Royce (Adrian Brody), a gravel-voiced mercenary who adopts the role of reluctant leader, hired muscle Cuchillo (Danny Trejo), minigun-wielding soldier Nikolai (Oleg Taktarov), sniper Isabelle (Alice Braga), guerilla fighter Mombasa (Mahershalalhashbaz Ali), psychopathic murderer Stans (Walton Goggins), sharp-suited Yakuza, Hanzo (Louis Ozawa Changchien), and seemingly weedy doctor Edwin (Topher Grace). When they come to and bump into each other, after they’ve waved their willies around for a bit they decide to group together to find out where they are… When they do (I’ll not ruin what little impact it has by divulging where they are), let me just say that they’re not best pleased with the situation! To add insult to injury, it soon becomes clear they are being picked off by everyone’s favourite scorpion-faced extra-terrestrial hunters (with some new toys), as well as their big brothers, and even their pet pooches get in on the fun. Along the way they encounter Noland (Laurence Fishburne), a survivor from a previous hunt, who offers the group shelter in his hideaway, but at what cost…?

Hearing that the film was going to be developed from a Robert Rodriguez (Desperado, Planet Terror, Machete) script that he wrote in the mid nineties, and that he was producing it himself made any concerns I had about the relatively inexperienced director Nimrod Antal (Vacancy, Armoured) being at the reins of such a beast melt away, and as the plot, actors and concepts were teased to us over time, my expectations just kept rising… What eventually surfaced was a painfully average action film, with mostly forgettable characters (aside from Fishburne’s Noland, and, to a lesser extent, Brody’s Royce), and a distinct lack of tension throughout. Between some hammy performances (looking at you here Grace), and too-obvious hints within the direction, the few plot twists that do exist within the story are so telegraphed that even your average Hollyoak’s viewer would have worked them out long before their eventual reveal, meaning that this blockbuster roller-coaster mostly ends up feeling more like a train ride at a petting zoo.

Don’t get me wrong, Predators is not a bad film, but it was more mediocre than it could afford to be. Lesson learnt.

JonnyRAW

INTERVIEW : JENNIFER LIM

2010-11-22T16:53:00.000-08:00

JENNIFER LIM

Jennifer Lim is a bit of an icon in modern horror, becoming somewhat of a star amongst horror fans with her character 'Kana' in the Eli Roth's splatter movie Hostel. Since then she has gone on to star in the first Horror film series made directly for Mobile Phones in the form of When Evil calls alongside Sean Pertwee and Chris Barrie.

Mycho : How did you get started in acting and what made you decide you wanted to be an actor?

JENNIFER : I've always wanted to be an actor as long as I can remember. I guess it started when I was about 6/7 years old when my nan would take me to the movies and I'd recreate the scenes back at home with my dolls! It sounds mad but I guess story-telling, make-believe and being different characters became an intergral part of my young life. As I grew older, I realise that we've only got this one life and it's far too boring to just do one thing so I guess acting became the natural option. You can be different people in one life!

Mycho : How did you end up with the role of 'Kana' in Hostel?

JENNIFER : I went for the audition and sat in a room with lots of other girls who went into the casting suite screaming their heads off. Guess they liked my scream :)

Mycho : Is it strange now being connected to such a 'modern classic' and how was the experience during shooting?

JENNIFER : I feel really honoured and priviledged to be part of the 'Hostel' experience. I don't think anyone imagined it to have such a huge impact upon its release when we were shooting it. It was one of the best experiences of my life - a really lovely and happy atmosphere when we were shooting it and it was a real joy to work with all these people who were so enthusiastic and passionate about what they were doing.

Mycho : What was Eli Roth like to work with?

JENNIFER : He's a complete sweetheart and totally nuts about horror! He totally loves what he does and is really passionate about the genre. My abiding memory of him was the first time we met - he came into the makeup trailer and saw my 'eye' for the first time. He was like a kid in a candy store - he was really chuffed with the gore and kept encouraging the makeup guy to 'juice it up'!

Mycho : You starred in When Evil Calls, The first series/film shot for mobile phones, how did you get involved in the project?

JENNIFER : I was told about it by a friend of the producer who was looking for someone to play another part. I wasn't interested in the original part but when the producer heard that I was in 'Hostel', he asked to meet me and considered me for the main girl who they were having trouble casting.

Mycho : Over the past 5 years you seem to have become an icon in Horror, do you enjoy working in the genre?

JENNIFER : Yes, I do. I think there's a lot to be said for horror films - they are fun to make and it's a carthartic experience for both the actors and the viewers.

Mycho : What is the film you are most proud of as an actress?

JENNIFER : 'Hostel' - definitely!

Mycho : Any plans to do another Horror film in the near future?

JENNIFER : If the right offers come along, then definitely yes. I was supposed to do a supernatural horror with a British director last year but the project fell through which was a shame.

Mycho : Is there anyone you would most like to work with in the film industry?

JENNIFER : There are lots I would love to work with. Quentin Tarantino would be on the top of my list.

Mycho : What's next for Jennifer Lim?

JENNIFER : Not sure yet. Am attached to a project in America that they're looking to put it together and I've got a few tiny projects of my own - have written a supernatural thriller and hope to get that off the ground. Fingers crossed!

Mycho

REVIEW : HUSH

2010-11-19T15:24:00.000-08:00

HUSH

There is nothing better than slipping in the DVD of a horror film you know nothing about, other than its clues on the cover of course. So when Hush came out as a British, Independent Horror, I have to admit I got excited and it turns out it was for good reason.

Young couple Zakes and Beth are on their way home, and stuck out on the motorway. Having a near miss with a truck driver, Zakes notices something strange as the two avoid collision with each other. As the trucks tailgate flips up, Zakes sees, what he thinks is a woman in a cage. The two find themselves stuck in traffic behind the van, but Zakes declines to do anything. Pulling into a service station it becomes clear that this is just another reason for his girlfriend Beth to be disappointed in him.

Zakes storms off and on return realises that Beth is gone, but where? Then he sees the truck and its driver and realises that Beth has suffered the same fate as the girl he saw. Giving chase Zakes suddenly finds himself trapped in a nightmare that soon takes a very sinister twist.

Hush was extremely surprising considering, until viewing, I had never even heard of it, and by the cover art, it is easy to assume that I had a Duel or Roadkill copycat on my hands. But Hush, is much more down to earth, it almost feels real. Never stepping beyond the boundaries of reality, with a photography style that only compliments the way the story is told and moves it forward.

There are some great and iconic moments in Hush that actually send me back to it for a second watch, and although it ends quite abruptly, it doesn’t leave the viewer feeling as if they have been cheated. The sense of tension running through the film is phenomenal as we try and guess how Zakes will react next with each obstacle he comes across.

The only thing that lets the film down is the forced performance by girlfriend Beth (Christine Bottomley) who never seems to express a single line of dialogue with any sincerity. But that is about it. The cinematography might feel a bit much for those used to Hollywood Blockbusters, but for those who like a bit of class to their photography, you will get something out of this.

OVERALL

Hush is a nice little dark horror/thriller that keeps you guessing and watching as you follow our hero on his nightmare journey to save his girlfriend, who unfortunately can’t act. But don’t let that put you off, she’s not in it for very much anyway. Also the simple style of the ‘killer’ is something of note and brings a sense of British grit to a tense & exciting movie.

MYCHO

INTERVIEW : TRENT HAAGA

2010-11-19T11:00:00.000-08:00

TRENT HAAGA

Trent Haaga is a name that anyone who knows Independent Horror should recognise. He’s been everywhere. Jumping from Actor to writer to director throughout the last decade since we first saw him in Troma ‘Masterpiece’ Terror Firmer.

Since then, Trent has gone on to star in a huge list of Independent Horror films, as well as playing iconic roles such as Maniac Jester Killjoy, Trent also wrote indie hit ‘DeadGirl’ and has recently made the step to directing his first film with ‘Chop’. On top of that Trent Haaga was a large contributor to the filmmaking bible "Make Your Own Damn Movie"

Mycho : For those who don't know. How did you get into the film, and more specifically the horror film, industry?

Trent : I've been a movie freak - and more specifically, a horror and cult movie freak - for as long as I can remember. I made my first film, TERROR FIRMER, with Troma. I went in to try and be an extra for a day and ended up landing the role of "Jerry." The rest, as they say, is history ...

Mycho : After parting ways with Troma, you have spent the last decade playing some pretty out there characters. Are there any that stand out to you?

Trent : SUBURBAN NIGHTMARE was a big step up for me, acting wise, because it was the first time I played a lead with a lot of scenes and it was more of a dramatic role ... up until that point, I was always getting cast in smaller, more comedic roles. Of course KILLJOY, simply because I got to be a monster with full prosthetic makeup. Doing LIVING & DYING was great fun, too, because it was more of a heist film and I had a really fun death scene at the hands of Arnold Vosloo (The Mummy himself)!

Mycho : Whatever happened to Bonnie & Clyde VS Dracula?

Trent : B&CvsD is finally coming out on DVD in the States in early 2011 from a company called Indican Pictures (http://www.indicanpictures.com/).

Mycho : How did Deadgirl finally end up in production?

Trent : The directors of DEADGIRL came to me wanting to develop a script. I gave them a copy of DEADGIRL as a writing sample. I had been told so many times that no one would ever make the script into a movie, so I was shocked when they came back a week later and told me that they wanted to make the movie!

Mycho : I heard somewhere that there are plans for a follow up. Is this true?

Trent : I've written a script for DEADGIRL 2. I'd love nothing more than to see it get made, but I'm kind of married to the directors on any sequels and I'm not sure if they'll ever do it. At the moment my hands are tied and the script is sitting on a shelf, collecting dust. Maybe one day, but who knows?

Mycho : How did you end up playing Killjoy in Killjoy 2?

Trent : I was actually hired to Produce the film. There was very little money or prep time, so the director suggested that I play the role since I was going to be on set every day anyway. I had no intention of playing Killjoy when I came on board, but as a Producer, I knew that it was our cheapest solution to a casting problem!

Mycho : After nearly 8 years, how did Killjoy 3 come to be and how did you get involved?

Trent : Tom Devlin, KJ3's makeup man, and I have been friends for years. He got hired and suggested that they bring me back for the role since I was comfortable in the makeup and knew what to expect. I almost declined - the money's not great and the makeup can be a pain in the ass and by this time I was making my name as a writer. But then they told me that they'd be shooting in Guangzhou, China. I couldn't resist the opportunity to work and travel and really make the character of Killjoy mine once and for all.

Mycho : Would you do another Killjoy movie & what would you like to see in it?

Trent : Hmmm ... Never say never, I suppose. I guess we'll have to see how the third one is received. I'd like to see the fourth film get a bigger budget so that Killjoy could really do some amazing gags and kills ... and I think that he should team up with - or fight - the Insane Clown Posse.

Mycho : You have just made your directorial debut with 'Chop', How did that come around?

Trent : One of the good things about going to China for Killjoy 3 was that I got to visit an acquaintance of mine in Beijing who agreed to finance the film. I had optioned the script from a friend of mine, Adam Minarovich, who not only has a role in CHOP, but has gone on to some success with his own writing and acting!

Mycho : Any plans for another movie?

Trent : I've already optioned another script from a fan-turned-friend called TROUBLED and I'm trying to sell CHOP in order to get financing together to direct this one. Another film is in the future, but how soon in the future depends on a few factors, but mostly how well I can make CHOP succeed.

Mycho : What's next for Trent Haaga?

Trent : I'm always working on something or other. Unfortunately, as I start to line up bigger projects, it becomes part of the deal that I can't really talk about them. I'm currently writing a script for a pretty big cable channel whose name I can't mention and I've just signed a deal to write and produce another movie that I'm not at liberty to discuss. Lame, I know ... in the meantime, I've just sold a script to the Producing team that did the film A HORRIBLE WAY TO DIE and another movie that I wrote - FETCH - is finished and currently seeking distribution ...

You keep up to date with Trent Haaga's goings on by following his Blog at http://trenthaaga.com

Mycho

REVIEW : DRAG ME TO HELL

2010-11-19T03:08:00.000-08:00

DRAG ME TO HELL

Like for many Sam Raimi fans, Spider-man 3 left a very sour taste in my mouth, and it took a skanky, toothless old hag to violently gum it away for good…
Unlucky bank loan officer Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) chooses the wrong day to be career-driven when she refuses gypsy witch Mrs Sylvia Ganush (Lorna Raver) an extension on her home loan and gets (somewhat unfairly) cursed to be dragged down to hell by an ancient goat demon called the Lamia. Haunted by her experience and receiving less-than full support from her well-meaning boyfriend Clay Dalton (Justin Long), Christine turns to fortune teller Rahm Jas (Dileep Rao) for assistance, which he initially refuses to give out of fear. When things really start getting freaky for her he eventually puts Christine in touch with experienced medium Shaun San Dena (Adriana Barraza) and together they try to dispel the curse and the dark forces behind them...
Drag Me To Hell is Raimi back on top form as he returns to his comfort zone of mid-scale, character-focused horror comedy. Here he delivers a master class of pacing, framing and storytelling, creating a true new horror icon in Mrs Ganush, expertly portrayed by Raver as genuinely terrifying, but retaining an intangible sympathetic quality to the bitter end (and beyond). Lohman puts in an admirable performance as Christine, bearing the worst of Raimi’s infamously punishing physical direction for hours on end, and still coming back asking for more. Long plays Clay pretty close to type, and his familiar, non-threatening style works in the context of the film, ruling out unnecessary exposition away from the core story. All the main actors put in solid performances, bringing depth and believability to the characters, and the film also includes welcome cameos from familiar faces from previous Raimi films (but sadly no Bruce Campbell).
There are some pretty gross and shocking moments in the film (hooray), especially for its 15 rating, but the way Raimi weaves his vision it never stops being fun even for those of a less psychotic, I mean, more nervous disposition than myself…
I would thoroughly recommend this film to anyone who values entertainment, and if you haven’t seen it, do…

JonnyRAW

REVIEW : THE TORMENT

2010-11-18T16:03:00.000-08:00

THE TORMENT (aka The Possession Of David O'Reilly)

I love having friends round to stay, but then don’t we all? Even if they’re being pursued by demons? Sure. The more the merrier…hang on. Did you say demons?

Alex and Kate are having a quite night in, about to head to bed, when a knock at the door reveals Alex’ old friend David. He has left his cheating girlfriend and doesn’t know where else to go. The couple take him in and before long David begins to see things, things that have followed him. Suddenly the couple find themselves trapped in David’s world of demons and the dead with no escape.

The Torment starts out as an extremely promising concept, and the camera work and story telling are great from the offset. It brings us straight into the characters and then begins to slowly build the fear. Setting up semi-clever plot devices, such as the camera that turns on to track movement that the couple have bought for home security. The first sighting of one of David’s ‘demons’ is immensely well executed and brings in the fear factor early on.

Unfortunately as the film progresses, the acting stays top notch, if at times a bit too ‘British’ with heavy accents sometime feeling a little put on. But where this film falls is as we move around the apartment complex into a story that I suddenly found very difficult to follow and with the bright, in your face camera, trying to pull the tale along, it wasn’t long before it became boring and a little tedious to watch.

The film is very original in its style and substance, but for me I felt that it almost ran away of it own accord leaving the plot way off in the dark, so to speak. There is still a lot on offer here though, a great idea, some immensely good creature fx work that is extremely reminiscent of The Thing and the performances, for the most part, are top notch.

OVERALL

The Torment is a great idea, in fact a bunch of great ideas, that are just not executed quite right. I like the film in many respects, but the confusing nature of it was nearly enough to put me off. Still if you find this lying around then do check it out. It might be right up your street.

Mycho

NEWS : PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3

2010-11-18T02:53:00.000-08:00

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3 CONFIRMED

Yes thats right. It looks like we have a new Saw on our hands, in the sense at least that we'll get one every Halloween. Look like Paranormal Activity 2 made enough money at the box office to make it profitable for a 3rd installment, which has been announced from distributor Paramount.

No plot details as of yet, but lets hope they move the story forward instead of the slightly disappointing idea of a prequel that we were presented in Paranormal Activity 2. PA 3 is set for release theatrically on October 21 2011.

Mycho

NEWS : AFTER DARK "HUSK"

2010-11-17T14:27:00.000-08:00

AFTER DARK ORIGINALS ANNOUNCE 'HUSK'

A fair few years ago I came across what I can only describe as an awesome trailer for another Killer Scarecrow movie. Husk. You'll find in time that one of my guilty pleasures is the 'Evil Scarecrow sub genre' If such a thing exists. Well on top of that comes some great news for indie Horror fans.

After Dark, the same company responsible for distributing 8 Indie features a year, theatrically, through their now infamous After Dark 8 Films to Die For HorrorFest, Have announced the production of a feature film version of the said short. Below is a poster and official synopsis for the film.

When a murder of crows smash into their car windshield, causing their car to crash, the group of young friends, inside, are forced to abandon the vehicle. Stranded beside a desolate cornfield, they see a light on in a window and decide to go in search of help. They head into the fields but instead of finding sanctuary they discover something evil and unnatural lurking in the corn.

Husk looks like something that we could really get into here at Mycho and we hope that it ends up as good as it potentially could be. We've not had a great killer scarecrow movie... well... ever. But maybe thats part of the reason we like them.
In the meantime lets keep our fingers crossed that we don't end up with another Perkins' 14 (The last original film After Dark produced) on our hands. After Dark also have another 7 original features planned for the future. Check out the roster at their official site. After Dark Originals.

In the meantime I managed to track down the Trailer for the short film. Watch it below.

Mycho

REVIEW : LET ME IN

2010-11-17T12:38:00.000-08:00

LET ME IN

Young love. Great isn’t it? But this is the horror genre, and so any kind of puppy love is doomed here. Still that has never stopped any of us watching the train wreck as it unfolds before our eyes.

Lets forget that Let Me In is a remake of 2008 Swedish break out hit ‘Let The Right One In’ and the frustrating dumbing down of the title for the western audience. ‘Let Me’ judge the film on exactly what it is.

Owen is a lonely young kid, forgotten by his parents, who are in mid-divorce, un-noticed at school, apart from negative attention from the school bullies, he dreams of taking his life back, but never has the guts to bring it fruition. Enter: Abby, the girl next door, but with a twisted difference and as Owen listens through the paper thin walls of his apartment at night he begins to suspect that there is more to this girl that meets the eye.

After a number of chance encounters with the Abby, it becomes clear that the two share a special bond and the bodies start piling up around them.

There is a lot to ‘Let Me In’, great characters, beautiful cinematography, some fantastic writing at times, although some feels a little forced, and especially feels placed for the trailer. But there lies my only single large-(ish) gripe with ‘Let Me In’. I won’t bring the original into this as in a world of remakes that miss the point; this sees the point and sticks to it, to the letter, whilst making it interesting to original fans and first time viewers alike.

At heart it’s a simple forbidden love story, with some sickening twists that lead to an ending that pays off nicely for fans of the macabre. Let Me In is a winner in my book, and I find it sad that genre fans are staying clear after the flood of poor remakes over the last few years. But let me tell you now ‘Let me In’ should not be tarred with the same brush. As remakes go, it’s better than ‘THE RING’, as films go it’s probably the best theatrical horror you’ll see this year.

I do have a little bit of an issue with some of the transitions from live action to CGI which kind of pulled me out of the movie for a moment and threw me back to the likes of the first Spiderman movie. But that’s me being picky. All in all the effects work is absolutely above par.

OVERALL

‘Let Me In’ delivers an exciting and emotional mix of true character mixed with the horrors of growing up and the ‘very real’ horrors of what lurks in the night. A great piece of film that comes close to art and never feels too pretentious. No sequels please, leave us on a high.

Mycho

REVIEW : VAMPIRE GIRL VS FRANKENSTEIN GIRL

2010-11-14T16:48:00.000-08:00

VAMPIRE GIRL VS FRANKENSTEIN GIRL

It’s saying something when you have two girls fighting over you. Through into consideration that one is a vampire and the other is the high school bitch that has been brought back from the dead from selective body parts of her fellow classmates. Here begins the tale of one Vampire Girl, a Frankenstein Girl and their Romeo…who is also half vampire.

Jyugon Mizushima is the only decent boy in school apparently, and so it becomes a case of High School Princess (& Principles Daughter) Keiko and new student Monami, who just happens to be a centuries old Vampire, fighting it out for his attention. Both girls have the hots for him and he becomes bullied into being a relationship with each one. First by Keiko, as she is the most popular girl in school. Then by Monami, because she will kill him if he doesn’t. After Keiko’s accidental death, her father, who is also some kind of mad, kabuki scientist takes it upon himself to bring her back from grave. This obviously results in a battle of the two undead girls of the love of Jyugon that only one can survive. It ain’t Shakespeare, or is it?

The thing with Vampire Girl VS Frankenstein Girl is that it is what it is. Ridiculous. But in a 'Troma' kind of way. It is so over the top that you can’t help but enjoy almost every second of its randomness. Blood swords and blood skates are just two of the weird and wild things on offer. But to try and describe them to you here, would be to descend into madness. They have to be seen, to be believed. Throw in some weird twists on high school sub culture with such things as The School Wrist Cutters Club and you have a film that is so crazy that it just works.

There are some great and instantly iconic characters here on offer and I hope that I see Some Vampire and Frankenstein Girl’s out and about next Halloween. I’ve seen a lot of this recent wave of Japanese Gore Movies and this ranks right up there with the likes of Machine Girl. At times you forget that it’s such a low budget affair and some of the effects in the climatic battle would suggest Hollywood movie. Amazing stuff, pure and simple, and whilst it has its flaws, they are over-shadowed by its heart being in just the right place. With a stake through it.

OVERALL

Vampire Girl VS Frankenstein Girl is, as usual with these films, exactly what it says on the tin and watching two undead chicks battle it out for love over 90 minutes is just the thing you can sit and watch on a Friday night with the guys (or girls if they can handle the copious amounts of blood thrown at the screen). Its an instant classic and should be accompanied by action figures. I hope the right people are listening.

MYCHO

REVIEW : SPLICE

2010-11-14T11:09:00.000-08:00

SPLICE

When I first heard the concept for the film Splice, it did intrigue me. Added to that some artwork and stills of our featured creature ‘Dren’ and you could have colourer me officially interested. Then about 3 years went by and I didn’t really hear anything about it. To the point where I figured that the project must have been dropped half way through filming, but oh no, like the opening scenes of the movie itself, Splice was all of a sudden dragged in front of kicking and screaming.

After creating an organism that scientifically benefits mankind, Adrian Brody and Sarah Polley are ready for human testing. The company funding them however are not, they only want the big bucks from the proteins created by the original little hunk of flesh. Of course Elsa (Polley) thinks it a great idea just to go ahead with it anyway and somehow manages to convince Adrian Brody to take there half human foetus to full term. The result is Dren (Nerd spelt backwards btw, but I shall let you laugh at this scene on your own) a half human, half god-knows-what, that the couple keep secret from their fellow scientists and friends. As you might have guessed though, these things never end well. Before long Dren starts to become something of a danger to all those around her.

All sounds pretty clichéd right? Well it is. It’s got some great effects, the evolution of Dren is fun to watch for the first 25 minutes of the film. Then we head into David Cronenberg territory, but mixed with the dumbed down nature of Species. Great you might say. Well yes, David Cronenberg tackled the ‘Body Horror’ sub genre with tact and finesse. There’s none of that here. The main difference is that Cronenberg, for the most part, has something to say within his films. This has nothing to say. Unless of course the message is “don’t make a genetic half breed because you’ll only end up shagging it”. Oh yeah, the film has a tendency to break out into inappropriate sex scenes as we go along. Which while driving the thin story forward, feel like they were added for shock value only.

I’m not saying that the film is bad, it kept my attention and I wasn’t particularly bored during the whole thing. But it could have been so much more and its not like they didn’t have long enough to make it a better film. The problem it suffers is that its too close to Species, but without the weird creature sex stuff. Oh no wait, that’s in there too.

OVERALL

By all means check it out if your fan of horror/Sci-Fi or if you have nothing else to watch. The creature evolution at the beginning of the film is a lot of fun and the special effects are well done for the fact its not a summer blockbuster. It’s not the best film you’ll see this year, but hey at least its not the worst. Yeah, Cherry Tree Lane. I’m looking at you. Probably worth watching on Blu-Ray too.

MYCHO

REVIEW : ATTACK GIRLS SWIM TEAM VS THE UNDEAD

2010-11-14T04:15:00.000-08:00

ATTACK GIRLS’ SWIM TEAM VS THE UNDEAD

Don’t you just hate it when you start a new school, intent on joining the swim team, only to discover that the teachers and students are part of a secret experiment to turn the general populous into flesh hungry creatures from beyond the grave? No? Come to think of it I don’t think that has ever happened to myself either. But that exactly what’s on offer here in Attack Girls’ Swim Team VS The Undead (A.k.a. The Girls Rebel Force Of Competitive Swimmers, A.k.a. Undead Pool).

Our heroine and lead, Aki, has arrived at her new school only to find that the teachers and students have been infected with an inoculation, that is supposed to vaccinate them from a new virus that seems to be making the students drop like flies, but instead turns them into psychotic zombies. If that’s not bad enough, our protagonist finds solace in this horrific situation through her strong urge to join the high school swim team and a fellow classmate who may or may not be her sister, who she sleeps with on the cantina floor during the said takeover. Throw in a teacher with razor sharp rulers, a super assassin back story, an abusive swim team coach, a vibrator glove, a flute that makes school girls take there clothes off and you have an hour or so of mind blowing, what the f**k movie, that the title only begins to gesture toward.

It all sounds like great fun doesn’t it? And for the most part it is. Its not high art. It’s not even low art. It is what it is. A girls swim team fighting the undead. The whole thing starts quite strong and even though the film is shot on video, it almost adds to the wackiness seen on screen. Its only when we get about half in that the whole thing kind of loses it’s way, focusing a lot more on stripping the girls rather than spraying the gore. That’s where the film falls down, although the sex scenes are fun within the context of the movie, they quickly over stay their welcome and it becomes uncomfortable viewing.

The film manages to almost redeem itself with an epic fight scene and couple of twists in the last act that almost bring it back to awesomeville. But it just never quite gets back to where it started.

OVERALL

A movie that has its really highs and its really lows. Like I said, it’s not art, it never pretends to be, its stupidity, but stupidity at its best. Some of the kills are amazing and will have you shouting no belief (I swear that at one point you actually see a mannequin head, like they didn't even bother to cover up the fact that that's what it was).

Best thing you can do with this is get some beers and a take away and some like-minded friends and watch away.

Mycho

Mycho Magazine Online Launches

2010-11-12T15:58:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the beginnings of Mycho Magazine, the latest branch of the Mycho Empire. Mycho has been a company for 6 years now and has risen from the depth of no budget filmmaking to become a new force in the world of Independent Horror Entertainment, Live Music Events and many other horror related activities. So it is with great pleasure that we cut the ribbon on the gates of the Online Mycho Magazine.

Here you'll be able to find Reviews on the newest up coming Horror movies, Interviews with key players in Horror world and special features focused on the Horror world that Mycho Pictures Sleep, Eat and Breath. So keep checking back and we shall unveil all you could ever want here at the all new New Mycho Magazine.

Mycho