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New trailer for MEGA SHARK VS CROCOSAURUS

We warned you it was coming, now behold the cheesy good(?)ness that is the UK trailer for low budget creacure feature Mega Shark Vs Crocosaurus. Somewhere in the world I'm sure it all makes perfect sense....

Synopsis: In the Atlantic Ocean, the unsuspecting battleship USS Gibson is viciously attacked and destroyed the beast. The sole survivor is Lt.Terry McCormick (Jaleel White), a man experimenting with a sonic shark-repelling device. Meanwhile deep in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigel Putnam, an English hunter (Gary Stretch – Dead Man’s Shoes / Alexander) successfully captures a giant crocodile out to devour him whole. After loading the highly sedated crocodile on to a cargo ship, with its eggs intact, the ship is suddenly attacked by the vicious Mega Shark, waking the crocodile from its sleep and unleashing hell as the terrifying ancient beasts clash. Together McCormick and Putnam joined by Special Agent Hutchinson (Sarah Lieving) must pool their resources to save the world from the gigantic beasts and their killer offspring. Ships will be annihilated, helicopters will fall from the sky, bridges will crumble and cities will be wiped out!

 

Trinity X to play THE BUNNY GAME in the UK

Trinity announced today that they have acquired UK rights to Adam Rehmeier’s controversial low budget horror film THE BUNNY GAME and plan to release it through their new home entertainment label Trinity X in early 2012. Thats the good news. The one fly in the ointment is the fact the movie has yet to be certified in the UK, and if this gets through with an anything less than an “18” (NC-17) certificate, without a few snips here and there, we’d be very surprised.

THE BUNNY GAME, which has been described as ‘taking psychological and physical terror to new extremes’ centres around a drug-addicted prostitute, Bunny, played by Rodleen Getsic, who is kidnapped by a truck driver (Gregg Gilmore) and subjected to a harrowing series of sadistic and torturous ‘games’.

Mark Sandell, co-director of Trinity Films, said today: “Although The Bunny Game is acquired viewing and deals with disturbing issues, it fits the Trinity X brand perfectly in that it is distinctive and independent film-making at its best, with strong performances and a highly original filmic eye”. Its powerful stuff, and the trailers below.

Bunny Game trailer (NSFW)

Trailer for Thai Zombie horror comedy GAN CORE GUD

Has someone in Thailand perhaps been watching Takao Nakano’s low budget J-sploitation horror Big Tits Zombie? Watching the trailer for first time director Joey Bang’s (we didn’t make that name up) Zomb horror comedy Gan Core Gud there’s similarity to be had for sure - but as those mainly revolve around the fact the movies chock full of BIG breasted Bikini clad babes, with a liberal dash of Zombie splatter thrown in, we wont complaint too much.

As with most Thai comedies it starts off innocently enough, with tons of naff jokes and campy sight gags…then the blood starts flying. Yay! Gan Core Gud opens in Thailand July 21st.

Synopsis: A hip-hop group called Gan Core Club is stuck on a remote island. They find their paradise turning into a horror of epic proportions when they encounter bloody islanders who kill people, and Zombies that rising from the sea and prowling on the island.

 

Gan Core Gud trailer

BLACK BELT: DVD Review

Director: Nagasaki Shunichi. Review: Adam Wing.

It would be easy to mistake Kuru-Obi (Black Belt) for yet another martial arts movie, until you take into consideration the presence of director Nagasaki Shunichi, which changes the shape of the film completely. Nagasaki is a highly accomplished filmmaker best known for art house efforts, which suggests to me that he might not be familiar to Western audiences and fans of mainstream action fare.

If that’s what you’re expecting from Kuru-Obi then look away now, Black Belt is a sombre affair with art house credentials, so I doubt that Donnie Yen will be knocking on his door anytime soon. Black Belt follows the journey of three karate experts in 1930s Japan. Giryu (Yagi Akihito), Taikan (Naka Tatsuya), and Choei (Suzuki Yuji) study karate at a reclusive dojo in 1932 Kyushu under master Shibahara (Owada Shinya). When the military come to take over their dojo, lives take a drastic turn for everybody involved. The students resist the advancement, with Giryu making a fool of military commander Tanahara (Hakuryu) in battle...Continue reading review.

TETSUO: THE BULLET MAN on DVD (no Blu) in the US today

It may come as some surprise to hear this, but IFC is dumping Shinya Tsukamoto's Tetsuo: The Bullet Man on DVD in the U.S. today. The third (and final?) film in the Tetsuo trilogy is being released with little/no publicity and only on DVD. I haven't seen anything that says for certain, but it doesn't look like there are any special features on the disc, either. A possible reason for this might be the mostly negative reviews received after the initial festival runs, but in the time since, a number of more positive reviews have surfaced. And IFC has done this before with films that were very successful critically, like Valhalla Rising and The Chaser. Oh well. There's always the Japanese Blu-Ray, I guess.

Synopsis: Calm office worker Anthony, son of an American father and a Japanese mother, lives in Tokyo with his wife Yuriko and their little son Tom. Since Anthony’s mother died of cancer, his scientist father has been overly fearful for their health and rigidly subjects Anthony and Tom to monthly physicals. Walking home, Tom is killed in a hit and run before Anthony’s eyes. Losing their boy pushes Yuriko over the edge and triggers violent emotions in Anthony, whose body begins to transform. Little by little, his cells turn into iron. When the driver who killed Tom reappears and Anthony learns the truth about his father’s past experiments on human guinea pigs and about his mother’s death, Anthony mutates into a mass of metal – a human weapon fuelled by an uncontrollable rage.

IFC's site for Tetsuo: The Bullet Man

Watch the trailer

Order the DVD from Amazon

UK trailer and release date for SHAOLIN!

Andy Lau, Nicholas Tse, Jackie Chan, Wu Jing and Fan Bingbing (to name but a few of the stellar cast) in a high end Hong Kong blockbuster - helmed by veteran director Benny Chan. It’s a no brainer that Shaolin would be a must see for all UK, Kung-Fu action fans, and its due out there on DVD and Blu-ray September 12. A long time coming, so let’s remind ourselves of what we’ve got to look forward to..shall we…

Synopsis: In 1920s war-torn China, ruthless warlord Hou Jie (Andy Lau) is double-crossed by his trusted lieutenant Cao Man during a pivotal battle that culminates in him losing everything he has, including his wife and daughter. Devastated by the betrayal and consumed with revenge, Hou Jie is befriended by Wudao, an uneducated Shaolin cook who nonetheless has a profound understanding of Buddhist philosophy. Eventually Hou Jie finds enlightenment in Shaolin and becomes a monk himself after making up with young monks Jingneng, Jinghai, and Jingkong. Leading the heroic monks against the oppression of the treacherous Cao Man and his henchman Suo Xiangtu, a reformed Hou Jie vows his life to defending the Temple and protecting the people in distress...

Special Features: - Audio Commentary by Bey Logan - Deleted Scenes - Making of Gallery - Interview Gallery - Behind the Scenes Gallery - Trailers

LAFF 2011: THE YELLOW SEA (aka THE MURDERER) review

Director: Hong-jin Na. Review: Adgy.

Director Hong-jin Na’s debut, The Chaser (our review) was one of the more impressive movies to come out of Korea in the last couple of years, so expectations for his sophomore feature, The Yellow Sea, were high. Would he be able to match the intensity and action of his previous film? In this reviewer’s opinion, the answer is a resounding “Yes".

The film follows Gu-nam, played by Jung-woo Ha (previously seen as the bad guy in The Chaser), a poor Chinese Korean living in China and working to pay off the massive debt incurred to smuggle his wife into South Korea. When his gambling debts begin to spiral out of his control, Gu-nam is hired by local mobster Myun, played by Yun-seok Kim (previously seen as the protagonist in The Chaser), to assassinate someone in South Korea, paying off his obligations. As you might expect, things don’t go very well for Gu-nam in South Korea. They go pretty poorly, in fact...Continue review here.

 

The Yellow Sea trailer 

Official site live for Japanese horror thriller NANAGAMI

The official site Ryuta Miyake’s (‘Ju-On: Lady in White') latest horror thriller Nanagami - about a young girls disappearance in "haunted" woods - is now fully live, and tucked within is a trailer that begs the question…Why do Japanese editors insist on ruining the tension of a perfectly good looking trail, by dropping wailing, sickly sweet J-Pop smack in the middle of it?! The mood killing caterwauling to one side, the movie looks quite an intense ride. Check it out at the link.

 

Nanagami official site

Finnish horror SAUNA (aka EVIL RISING) on UK DVD

Well it’s taken its damn time, but Antti Jussi Annila’s stylish, Finnish horror Sauna (we’re ignoring the UK title) is due to be released on UK DVD on 25th July. Those readers in the U.S can pick it up already, as it was released there waaaaay back in 2009. If you like your horror; dark, chilling, moody and thought provoking this could be for you.

Synopsis: The year 1595 - a long and brutal war between Russia and Sweden is finally over. Brothers Knut and Erik - who are part of the commission marking the border between Finland and Russia - commit a terrible sin as they leave a young girl to die a horrible death. As the commission crosses the uncharted swamp the girl returns to haunt them, her face pouring with endless filth. Weary men find solace from the nameless village. Seeking forgiveness the brothers step in...

 

FANTASPOA 2011 film fest lineup announced

Fantaspoa, the biggest fantastic film festival in Latin America, has announced its full line-up this week. The festival will present a total of 150 films from across the genres (55 short films and 95 feature films) and the festival will bring to Brazil more than 20 international guests.

The fest will present the world première of highly awaited Brazillian feature films, such as Pólvora Negra (Black Gunpowder), directed by Kapel Furman and our opening film The Night of the ChupaCabras, directed by Rodrigo Aragão. Also, in the festival, Kyle Rankin (Infestation, The Battle of Shaker Heights) will be present to première his anticipated new feature: Nuclear Family. The closing film of the festival will be Stake Land, presented by Jim Mickle.

In the short film slate, some highlights include The Lost Thing (Andrew Ruhemann and Shaun Tan), winner of this years’ Oscar for Best Animated short film, Maska (The Quay Brothers) based on the text of the polish master, Stanisław Lem, Bobby Yeah (Robert Morgan), the new and anticipated short film, made by the awarded filmmaker Robert Morgan, All Flowers in Time (Jonathan Caouette) and The Legend of Beaver Dam (Jerome Sable) awarded at Sitges, Fantastic Fest and Screamfest, among others.

Some great titles there. Check out the fest trailer here. And the full lineup on the official site.

Black Water director’s survival horror THE REEF on US DVD

If horror thrillers involving poor unsuspecting tourists lost at sea - eventually being nommed on by a Shark - is your bag, then the news that ‘Black Water' director Andrew Traucki’s "based on true events,“ Australian survival horror flick The Reef is due to surface on US DVD next month, may well be of interest. Yes the premise is treading old (Chris Kentis’s 2003 Shark attack flick ‘Open Water,’ comes to mind) water but read our review by 24fps’s very own Adam Wing, and it seems there’s enough new fun been brought to the table, to make it well worth a look. The Reef streets (or is that launches?) on July 19th.

Synopsis: For four backpackers it seemed like a dream come true. A week spent cruising the world's most beautiful coral reef, on their own Yacht. But when their boat capsizes leaving them stranded on an overturned hull the dream turns into a nightmare. What should they do? Stay with a damaged hull that could sink at any moment or try to swim for land! Finally deciding to swim, the friends take to the water. As they close in on land a fin surfaces and with it the realization that they are being stalked by a deadly fifteen foot white pointer shark. Will any of them make the swim, or will the sea take what it wants?

TRAIL OF THE SCREAMING FOREHEAD: DVD review

Director: Larry Blamire. Review: Adam Wing.

Comedy. It’s an acquired taste. With that in mind, I’d like to make a few things clear - that would be me. Airplane. Not funny. Leslie Nielsen. Not funny. Chevy Chase. Not funny. Lee Evans. Funny (even if he does make me feel uncomfortable with his relentless sweating). The Mighty Boosh. Not funny. Harry Hill. Not funny. Leigh Francis. Not funny. My Family… are they even calling that comedy these days? Ricky Gervais. Funny. Steve Merchant. Funny. Michael McIntyre. Funny. Stewart Francis. Funny. Kevin Bridges. Funny. Simon Pegg. Funny. Dumb & Dumber. Funny. Steve Carell. Funny. Comedy, like I say, very much an acquired taste.

Larry Blamire, best known for cult favourite The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, returns to writing, directing and producing with a loving tribute to 60’s sci-fi movies. Lets just make another thing clear - I hate spoofs. Sorry, I should’ve gone with ‘tributes’. It’s not just a loathing for Leslie Nielsen that draws me to that conclusion, whether you want to call them spoofs or tributes, lazy writing is lazy writing. This might perk your interest though; he also directed Johnny Slade’s Greatest Hits, produced by and starring John Fiore, not to mention some of The Soprano’s cast. That’s pretty much all I have to say on the subject. I really miss The Soprano’s…Continue review here.

Forehead trailer

New character posters for Korean monster flick SECTOR 7

A full length trailer for Korean sci-fi/horror mash-up Sector 7 is proving a long time coming, so how about some great looking character posters to tide us over? S7 opens in Korean on August 4th. We cannot wait to see this bad boy. Posters and teaser trailer can be found below.

Synopsis: In "Sector 7", an underwater oil field located south of Jeju Island, Hae-jun is working as a marine equipment manager on an oil prospecting ship called Eclipse. Joining the crew later is Jeong-man, a former colleague of Hae-jun's father, assigned to Eclipse as captain. Though his job is to oversee the withdrawal of the ship, he suggests conducting some drilling one last time. After 3 weeks of preparation, Hae-jun takes new recruit underwater, but he sinks to the bottom of the sea when his equipment fails. Shortly after crew members begin to turn up dead, one by one, their bodies viciously mutilated. What the few survivors soon discover is a transparent underwater creature they encountered once before. The viral monster infiltrated the ship through the drilling pipe and has been feeding on the crew to survive. For Hae-jun and his colleagues, a fight for their lives begins.

Sector 7 posters

 

LAFF 2011: ATTACK THE BLOCK movie review

Director: Joe Cornish. Review: Adgy.

In a statement before the screening, read by Executive Producer Edgar Wright, director Joe Cornish referred to his directorial feature debut as a love letter to the creature feature films from the 80’s like Critters and E.T. as well as the urban gang films like The Warriors. Unlike a similarly premised film about a group of youngsters dealing with an alien invasion in their town released this year, though, Attack the Block does not wear those influences on its sleeve (or screenplay or cinematography or plot). It stands on its own as genuinely exciting piece of filmmaking. One that does not require seeing through special nostalgia glasses to appreciate.

ATB centers around a small gang of teens in South London who all reside in the same large apartment building. Led by Moses (played expertly by the 17 year old John Boyega), they deal drugs and occasionally mug people passing by. One such mugging is interrupted when something falls from the sky onto a nearby car. The less said about the plot from this point the better, I think. There are a number of surprises in the film and I’m not going to be the one to ruin them for you...Continue reading review. 

Attack the Block official site

Blood, gore and sex in Malaysian horror THE HUNTER

Touted as Malaysia’s first ever 3D movie, local director Bjarne Wong’s horror-thriller The Hunter is promising to be more risqué and bloody than anything they’ve seen before. Bold words indeed, but with a movie based around the murderous headhunting tribes of Borneo, he should have plenty of gore to play with. The movie isn’t slated for release until next year, but we’ve already managed to chase up a teaser poster and great looking (if short) teaser trailer, for your viewing pleasure. We’re good that way! More when we get it.

Synopsis: A film crew from China is tasked to shoot exotic flora and fauna of the world’s mysterious 3rd largest island, Borneo. Historical treasures and hundred year old human skulls still hang in the almost untouched equatorial virgin rainforests native homes, in this the notorious tribal land of the Head-hunters. Locals known for their supernatural prowess, bravery and fighting abilities to survive had been at uncountable wars, ending always with enemy skulls brought back home as trophies. The head-hunters live by the hundreds under one common roof. They wear exquisite tribal tattoos over their bodies, intricate woven cloth, produce practical tools, and arts dedicated nature. But most of all, they craft the sacred and ferocious blades meant for ending their enemies lives, and without hesitation, separating skulls from the bodies. The journey began happily on Borneo Island, little did they expect that some would find love, passion and laughter while almost all will taste the stealthy killing power of the warriors enchanted blade around their necks.

LAFF 2011: ELITE SQUAD 2 movie review

Director: Jose Padilha. Review: Adgy.

When I saw that Jose Padilha’s Elite Squad 2: The Enemy Within was playing at this year’s LA Film Festival, I initially gave it a pass. I hadn’t yet seen the first one and didn’t like the idea of going into the sequel without knowing what was going on. I was interested in seeing the first one after hearing that it won the Golden Bear award in Berlin and after seeing reviews out of Berlin and Sundance about it, but had just never gotten a chance. I changed my mind about seeing the sequel first after reading some reviews of it from other festivals recently. Those reviews painted Padilha’s film about systemic corruption in Rio de Janeiro’s police force in a particularly impressive light, and many made mention of not having seen the first one and still enjoying it immensely. So I went to see it at LA Film Festival. And I am very glad I did.

Elite Squad 2 follows the same main character as the first film did. Wagner Moura plays Nascimento, Captain of Rio’s Police Special Operations Battalion (BOPE), in charge of the city’s most volatile maximum security prison. After a riot breaks out and a number of inmates are killed, Nascimento’s supervisors prepare to drop the axe on him, until they see the people begin cheering him as a hero. Instead of being fired, he is promoted to undersecretary of intelligence. In a suit and sitting behind a desk, Nascimento believes he has an even greater opportunity to effect change in the system, and he immediately begins eradicating the city’s drug lords...Continue review here.

Elite Squad 2 trailer

THE LOST BLADESMAN on UK DVD & Blu-ray

Can we have a “hell yeah” for Icon Entertainment, who’ve only gone and made our day with news they are dropping Donnie Yen’s latest big budget period martial arts epic The Lost Bladesman onto UK DVD and Blu-ray on August 8. No word yet as to what (if any) extras it'll have, but we'll keep you posted.

Synopsis: During the warring period of the three kingdoms, ancient China is in turmoil. To unify the country general CAO CAO, the real power behind the emperor, enlists the aid of the greatest warrior in the land Guan Yun Chang (Donnie Yen). However, Guan is a loyal friend of Cao’s enemy Liu Bei. To persuade the peerless warrior to fight, Cao takes his beloved Qi Lan hostage. After leading Cao Cao's forces to victory Guan Yun Chang sets out with Qi Lan to rejoin Liu Bei. But now Cao has deemed him too great a threat to live, and on the journey he must face all the forces at the emperor's command sent to destroy him.

The Lost Bladesman trailer

Uruguayan horror THE SILENT HOUSE: Blu-ray Review

Director: Gustavo Hernández. Review: Adam Wing.

In this day and age you need a great hook if you’re going to make an impact in the world of horror, but on paper, The Silent House reads like every other low budget thriller made in the last ten years. It’s a Uruguayan Spanish-language horror film directed by Gustavo Hernández, inspired by real events that took place in the 1940s. The Silent House is a low budget affair, filmed in much the same style as REC and The Last Exorcism, with a plot reminiscent of every Asian ghost story made since the success of Ringu back in ’98.

What sets The Silent House apart from its rivals is the fact that it was filmed in one continuous shot, which gives you 78 minutes of unadulterated terror, filmed in real time. It’s been billed as the first ever single-take horror film, which is all well and good if you’re talking about technical achievements (an achievement that remains under dispute by the way), but The Silent House should be judged on one thing and one thing alone. Will it scare the bejesus out of you?

Laura (Florencia Colucci) and her father (Gustavo Alonso) arrive at a cottage in the middle of nowhere, planning to repair it so that the owner (Abel Tripaldi) can put it on sale. Which means, rather inevitably, that they will have to spend the night in order to start repairs the following day. It’s not long before the first horror movie cliché is ticked off, as Laura hears a sound coming from upstairs...Continue reading review.

Ridiculously cool 2nd trailer for Korean action comedy QUICK

Pretty girls, pretty boys, bad boys, cars chases, bike chases, explosions galore and all wrapped up in a comedy bundle. The full trailer for Jo Beom-goo’s action comedy Quick has arrived, and if nothing else it proves this is going to be a massive hit in Korea this summer. Quick opens in Korea July 21. Wonder when the U.S remake will be announced?

Synopsis: A former motorcycle gang member, Ki-su, makes a living as a bike messenger. One day after making a delivery to an office building, he witnesses the building blow up. Never suspecting he could have anything to do with the bomb, he moves onto his next job—which is escorting a girl group singer, A-rom, to a TV station. A-rom, it turns out, is an ex-girlfriend from his biker days, and she’s none too thrilled to see him either. As she puts a proffered helmet on her head, a timer mechanism is triggered and a countdown clock appears. Ki-su gets a call from a stranger telling him that the helmet is booby-trapped and will blow up if he fails to make a series of deliveries the stranger demands within a fixed time limit. Ki-su manages to make the deliveries, but each turns out to be a bomb. With the police hot on his trail, he races to complete his last mission and stop the timer on the helmet.

New trailer for violent action drama BELLFLOWER

You may have seen reviews of Evan Glodell's brutal action film Bellflower come out of this year's Sundance and SXSW festivals. They were almost all extremely positive, the film has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes so far, and after having seen this new trailer it's not difficult to believe. Bellflower opens in New York at the Angelika and Los Angeles at the Nuart on August 5th, with a national roll out planned afterward. Prepare yourself accordingly.

Synopsis: Best friends Woodrow and Aiden spend all of their free time building Mad Max-inspired flamethrowers and muscle cars in preparation for a global apocalypse. But when Woodrow meets a charismatic young woman and falls hard in love, he and Aiden quickly integrate into a new group of friends, setting off on a journey of love & hate, betrayal, infidelity and extreme violence more devastating than any of their apocalyptic fantasies.

Watch the trailer on YouTube or download it in HD

Check out Official Website for stills and more info

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