The Invasion Continues With The Straw Dogs Remake

Here's the new poster, which I think is pretty horrible, for the upcoming remake of Sam Peckinpah's movie of the same name. That movie, as I mention elsewhere in the Lair was one of the original home invasion flick, and what with class flicks such as Kidnapped out there I can only wonder how this will turn out. In an ideal world it'll be a solid remake along the lines of Last House on the Left or I Spit on your Grave. However, if the trailer is anything to go by I think we are in for a tiresome time...

SYNOPSIS
David and Amy Sumner (James Marsden and Kate Bosworth), a Hollywood screenwriter and his actress wife, return to her small hometown in the deep South to prepare the family home for sale after her father’s death. Once there, tensions build in their marriage and old conflicts re-emerge with the locals, including Amy’s ex-boyfriend Charlie (Alexander Skarsgård), leading to a violent confrontation. 

Thanks to Marc at Brutal as Hell for bringing the poster to my attention, however bad it is. As for the trailer, you can make your own minds up....

Straw Dogs is set for a September 16th release.

Number 5 Is Alive

No, I'm not having a Short Circuit flashback. I actually thought I would take a cue from The Conduit Speaks and make a list of my top 5 movies of the year so far. Ok, so I lied, there are 6, but it's my blog and I make the rules!!

The Man From Nowhere

Ip Man 2

Insidious

The Super

Kidnapped

Hobo With A Shotgun

Bellflower - New Trailer

Further to yesterday's post about Bellflower, which can be found here, I now have the full theatrical trailer for you enjoyment. Muscle cars, flamethrows and damned cool tunes abound!

Filthy Competition!

It's time for the first giveaway contest at the Lair, and it's going to be as easy as you like! One winner will receive a copy of Cross, Sweet Karma and the novel The 13th by John Everson. All you need to do to snag all of these is send me an email to judefelton@hotmail.com and tell me which film Vinnie Jones made his debut in. Told you it was easy! Just make sure you include the title "Karma is a bitch" when you enter and include your name and mailing address. I'll let this run until June 24th 2011 when I will then pick a winner. Oh, the official rules are my decision is final and yes I will ship worldwide, so anyone can enter.

Sweet Karma is released today (June 15th)

Sweet Karma is a thriller starring Shera Bechard (Miss November 2010). It follows Karma Balint a shy, mute Russian girl whose sister Anna left for Canada with bright hopes of making some money for the two of them. When Karma discovers that Anna’s body has been found in the woods, the apparent victim of a Russian mafia hit, Karma sets off to infiltrate the criminal underworld to avenge her sister. Her journey takes her through the twisted underbelly of society leaving behind death and mayhem in her wake.

When beautiful, young women start disappearing from the streets of L.A., it’s time for good-guy Callan (a.k.a. Cross) and his crew of weapons experts to kick into high gear and take out the trash. Granted incredible power by his ancient Celtic cross, Callan must fight to stop an immortal Viking from destroying mankind with his doomsday device. Also starring: Tom Sizemore, Jake Busey and Lori Heuring.

Castle House Lodge. A century ago it was an exclusive resort hotel. But for years it’s stood empty, a haunting shadow of its former glories.

Now, after twenty-five years of rumors and ghost stories, the overgrown grounds are showing signs of being tended. The building itself has been repaired. Castle House has new occupants. What was once a haven for the elite is now a madhouse, a private asylum for pregnant women.

But are all the patients really insane?

And is it just a coincidence that people have begun to disappear from the nearby town?

David Shale’s girlfriend is one of the missing, and he’s determined to find the truth behind the mysterious Dr. Rockford and his house of secrets. He will learn the meaning of the red X painted on the basement door…and he will know the ultimate fear, the horror of…

THE 13TH.

Wildside Review - Kidnapped

Due to reasons that I won’t go into I ended up watching Kidnapped,Secuestrados in its native Spain, in two parts. When sitting down to watch the final 20 minutes or so I warned my wife that it apparently gets quite harsh so she may not like what happens. Needless to say it did and she didn’t. Kidnapping certainly packs one hell of a punch.

On the surface Kidnapped could be viewed as just another home invasion style movie, and truth be known it is a home invasion flick. A Spanish couple and their daughter move to a new house, and everything is going smoothly aside from the odd glitch which is bound to happen upon arriving at your new house. Before the night is over though three men break into the house and take the family hostage. This in turn starts a chain of events that slowly and methodically builds to a stunning finale.

To read the rest of the review click here

Coming Soon - Bellflower

Not necessarily the usual faire you will find in the Lair, but this flick does have me quite excited. The full trailer has just debuted on IMDB and can be found here. In the meantime I have included the teaser trailer.

OSCILLOSCOPE LABORATORIES

PRESENTS

BELLFLOWER

Opens August 5th 

in NY at the Angelika Theater

in LA at the Nuart Theater

with National Rollout to Follow

WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY EVAN GLODELL     

  

OFFICIAL SELECTION

2011 Sundance Film Festival

2011 SXSW Film Festival

ABOUT THE FILM:

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 and hate, betrayal, infidelity and extreme violence more devastating and fiery than any of their apocalyptic fantasies.

The film opens in New York and Los Angeles on Friday, August 5th, 2011. National rollout to follow.

Written/Directed By: Evan Glodell

Produced By: Vincent Grashaw and Evan Glodell

Starring: Evan Glodell, Jessie Wiseman, Tyler Dawson, Rebekah Brandes, and Vincent Grashaw

Distributed By: Oscilloscope Laboratories

TRT: 105 minutes

Rated: R for disturbing violence, some strong sexuality, nudity, pervasive language, and some drug use.

Lock Your Doors And Windows

To coincide with the release on VOD of Miguel Angel Vivas' Kidnapped I thought I would have a quick look back at a few other home invasion flicks. Some are better than others, but all are worth watching at least once. This isn't an exhaustive list, it's just a taster. It is a fascinating little sub-genre in my opinion so I hope you enjoy these trailers and find something you haven't seen before. Enjoy.

Cherry Tree Lane (2010)

Still to receive a US release Cherry Tree Lane is directed by Paul Andrew Williams, who also gave us The Cottage. This flick however is a lot bleaker than his earlier movie, and whilst not perfect it is an incredibly bleak movie.

Ils (Them) (2006)

This French movie I found to be one of the more effective home invasion movie. Tense and scary throughout, although let down slightly by its weakish ending. Still, a terrific movie that I highly recommend.

The Strangers (2008)

Home invasion Hollywood style. The first time I saw this I wasn't blown away, I thought it was ok but could have been better. Funnily enough though it actually improves with a second viewing. Not bad at all.

Inside (A l'interieur) (2007)

An absolute bloodbath, and one of the best horror flicks of the last 10 years. Chilling, gory and sure to leave you stunned. You will need a strong stomach for this beauty.

Straw Dogs (1971)

Probably the Granddaddy of all home invasion flicks. Peckinpah, Hoffman and George deliver the goods in sunny Cornwall England. Watch this before the remake/sequel hits later this year.

Funny Games (2008)

Michael Haneke remade his own movie, I regret that I have still yet to see the original (yes, I should be publicly flogged), with Tim Roth and the creepy Michael Pitt and managed to still make an effective movie. I rarely watch remakes having not seen the original so I can't compare but I did think that this was a solid movie.

House on the Edge of the Park (1980)

By far the sleaziest entry into this genre, in my opinion anyway. Ruggero Deodato directs and David Hess and Giovanni Lombardo Radice star in this nasty but very good piece of celluloid filth. As I said once before Alex likes to boogie!

How Far Is Too Far?

There always seems to be a lot of hullabaloo about which film is the nastiest, or most extreme, especially with much-hyped flicks such as The Human Centipede (which I have not seen) and A Serbian Film (review here) doing the rounds.


So, I thought I would post a few trailers of flicks I have seen that will bludgeon, sicken or just plain scorch their marks into your psyche. Of course there are plenty more out there, so I may do a follow-up at some point, but you can't go far wrong with these. 


With regards to the inclusion of August Underground's Penance I would probably say that Mordum, which Toetag released before this, was probably a nastier flick but I will be damned if I can find a trailer.


I wouldn't suggest watching these trailers at work or in front of the kids. Sure, they are just trailers but they still contain strong images. So don't come running to me if you get all upset.

Men Behind The Sun (1988)

Black Sun: The Nanking Massacre (1995)

Aftermath (1994)

Nekromantik (1987)

Red Room (2006)

Guinea Pig: Flowers of Flesh and Blood (1985)

August Underground's Penance (2007)

Wildside Review - The Wave

Director Dennis Gansel’s previous movie was the flawed, yet still very enjoyable, vampire flick We Are The Night (Wie Sind Die Nacht). Now, whereas that movie was rooted firmly in the realms of the fantastical, as to my knowledge there aren’t vampires swanning around Berlin at the moment (although I could be wrong), The Wave has its feet firmly placed in modern day reality. The story may seem slightly outlandish but it is based on a novel which takes its cues from an actual experiment performed in 1967.

Set in a German high school in western Germany, although filmed near Berlin, The Wave follows rebellious school teacher Rainer Wenger (Jurgen Vogel) and his class during Project Week. The class itself is Autocracy, and not Anarchy as Wenger would have preferred, so he starts to ask the pupils what autocracy actually means and their thoughts on it. As the discussions progress they involve into an experiment as to whether the class could operate as one unit, with one leader, much as a dictatorship would work. The results being that both teacher and pupil become absorbed into their new roles, the majority embracing it whilst one or two find themselves ostracized from the group.

For the entire review click here