47 Meters Down
Blu-ray | DVD | Digital
Directed by Johannes Roberts
Written by Johannes Roberts, Ernest Riera
Starring Mandy Moore, Claire Holt, Matthew Modine, Chris Johnson, Yani Gellman, Santiago Segura
Lionsgate
PG-13 | 89 minutes
Release date: September 26, 2017

47 Meters Down is a shark movie starring Mandy Moore (This is Us) and Claire Holt (The Originals) as sisters on vacation in Mexico, who decide to go cage diving with Great Whites. That turns out to be a bad decision as their cage plummets to the titular depth, and soon the women are fighting for survival from both the sharks above and the impending loss of oxygen. I’ll be honest, this movie had me at “shark.” I am an unabashed shark movie enthusiast. Spielberg’s JAWS is one of my favorite films ever, and I started writing for Geeks of Doom by covering the Sharknado franchise. So suffice to say, if you put sharks in a movie, I’ll be there to watch it. Unfortunately, sharks are about the only thing 47 Meters Down has going for it.

It’s been over 25 years since Wes Craven’s The People Under the Stairs came out in 1991. Despite grossing nearly 4x its budget, the film is rarely mentioned among Craven’s best work. The film is marketed as a pure horror film, the poster featuring an ominous skull over a creepy house, and even the title triggers visions of monsters in the basement. What the film is though, is way ahead of its time. The film is brimming with social commentary that fits much better in 2017’s America than it did perhaps in the early ’90s. This weekend at the New Jersey Horror Con and Film Festival in Iselin, NJ, stars of the film reunited to meet fans, sign autographs, and take pictures. On Saturday morning, Sean Whalen (Roach), Yan Birch (Stairmaster), Brandon Adams (Fool) and Kelly Jo Minter (Ruby) took the stage for a Q&A discussion with fans.

More below.

Emanating from the Renaissance Woodbridge Hotel in Iselin, NJ; the New Jersey Horror Con and Film Festival welcomed several film reunions. Over the weekend stars from The People Under the Stairs, Rob Zombie’s Halloween, and Night of the Demons (1988) all met up for group panels and Q&As. Perhaps the most eagerly attended panel though was for The Goonies. NJ Horror Con welcomed Mikey and Andy, Sean Astin and Kerri Green and the room was packed upstairs with fans of all ages, many wearing Goonies-themed shirts.

Moderated by Chris Stiles, Astin and Green took the stage to a loud applause. Stiles open by asking about their audition process back in 1984-85, and Astin jokes about being shocked he got the role since he couldn’t remember any of the lines. Kerri Green adds how embarrassed she felt about losing her shoes during her audition, later finding they were taken by director Richard Donner as a joke. It’s fascinating listening to these actors discuss day to day interactions with titans of Hollywood, Steven Spielberg and Richard Donner. Astin described Donner as scary but lovable. The two trade stories, mostly about Astin being a kid and the kids running wild on set, while Kerri and the older kids were much more relaxed. Chris Stiles asked about the competition for box office in those amazing middle 80s years with films like Back to the Future, Ghostbusters, Commando, etc coming out and that lead to a panel-long gag between Stiles and Astin over Chris’s obsession with film competition.

More below.

Heroes and Villains FanFest has come and gone from the tri-state area (but plenty of tour left!), and now Stephen Amell and the HVFF organizers want some input. Noticing how much excitement was generated by the Walker Stalker cruise (of Walker Stalker Con fame), they want to know what fans think about a possible HVFF one.

Check out Stephen Amell’s video below.

Fans attend conventions for a variety of reasons. It could be the celebrity guests, cosplay, panels, and Q&A sessions. One thing that unites all cons, is merchandise. This weekend fans poured into the Renaissance Woodbridge Hotel in Iselin, New Jersey for the New Jersey Horror Con and Film Festival. There were celebrities signing autographs and snapping photos, films running upstairs, and vendors galore downstairs. The horror fans had their pick of everything and anything their hearts could desire. There were plenty of t-shirts, comics, and DVDs but this con had some truly unique and original merch up for sale.

More below.