House At The End Of The Street Directed by: Mark Tonderai
Written by: David Loucka, Jonathan Mostow
Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Max Thieriot, Gil Bellows, Elisabeth Shue
Relativity Media | Rogue
Rated PG-13 | 101 Minutes
Release Date: September 21, 2012
Directed by Mark Tonderai, with a script by David Loucka (Dream House) based on a short story by Jonathan Mostow, House At The End Of The Street stars Jennifer Lawrence (The Hunger Games) and Elisabeth Shue (Piranha).
How many times must we watch a horror movie where the premise is, “Someone was killed in that house…” or “They never found the body,” as if all across the country single mothers and their daughters are moving next door to the friendly neighborhood Murder House?
The House at the End of the Street is the latest in a long-running tradition of bad things happening in houses on streets. Of course there’s Wes Craven’s 1972 exploitation film, The Last House on the Left and his 1984 classic, A Nightmare on Elm Street. Actually, considering 1991’s People Under the Stairs is also by Craven, that guy might have a serious issue with houses.
Let’s not forget 1977’s Last House on Dead End Street (originally released in 1974 as The Cuckoo Clocks of Hell), which I only mention because of the awful title(s) and a plot that involves snuff films and power drills. Knowing Hollywood, we’ll probably see a remake of The Cuckoo Clocks of Hell after the next batch of Paranormal Activity sequels.
The digital deal of the day over at Amazon today is Piranha (2010), which is available for rental for only $.99.
This deal is valid only for today, Thursday, March 31, 2011, until midnight PST. Once you activate the rental through Amazon’s Instant Video service, you’ll have access to the movie for 24 hours. If you’re interested in purchasing the digital version, the cost is $14.99.
Also, if you’d like to own a physical copy of Piranha (which was called Piranha 3D in theaters), the Blu-ray is available for $22.99 while the DVD is $18.99. And if you’re set up for 3D home viewing, there’s also a 3D Blu-ray for $26.99.
PIRANHA DVD/Blu-ray/3D
DIRECTED BY: Alexandre Aja
WRITTEN BY: Pete Goldfinger, Josh Stolberg
STARRING: Steve R. McQueen, Elisabeth Shue, Jessica Szohr, Jerry O’Connell, Adam Scott, Christopher Lloyd, Ving Rhames, Paul Scheer, Richard Dreyfuss
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
RELEASE DATE: January 11, 2011
Back in 1975, Steven Spielberg’s Jaws struck pure fear into the souls of moviegoers, creating a phobia of the ocean in many people who saw it. Obviously over the years we’ve learned through countless nature docs and Shark Week binges that sharks — dangerous as they might be — aren’t quite the man-eating monsters we all thought they were. Even so, the recipe behind Jaws is pretty failproof, and it makes sense for filmmakers to use the same basic foundation for other films.
Enter Piranha, a remake of the 1978 movie of the same name that uses just this very same formula. During Spring Break in the town of Lake Victoria, Arizona, an earthquake opens a giant crack in the bed of the lake, creating entrance to a whole new section that had been locked away for millions of years. Even worse, a breed of prehistoric piranhas have thrived in this underwater tomb all along, and when the earthquake gives them access to the surface once again, they come out in droves seeking blood.
Back To The Future 25th Anniversary Trilogy Blu-ray Edition
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Starring Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, Mary Steenburgen, Thomas F. Wilson, Elisabeth Shue
Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Release Date: October 26, 2010
Every decade there is a movie or a series of movies that just blow us away. One set of films in the 80s did just that and became the greatest time travel trilogy ever. We are talking about Back To The Future directed by Robert Zemeckis and produced by Steven Spielberg.
I am a huge fan of this trilogy. While Part II is not the best of the bunch, my favorite movie would have to be the first one. It’s my favorite because of how original the concept is. What would it be like to travel back in time and run into your parents when they are just teenagers? I think it would be fun to see my dad owning people in football like he did when he was younger. I would also like to see what it was like for my mom to be raised by my grandma. This first film opens up the thoughts of what would you do if you did run into your parents? What would you say? I love all the jokes in this film and how real these characters are. But, my favorite character in the entire trilogy is the time-travel machine, the DeLorean, because it truly does take on a life of its own.
For those of you not familiar with the trilogy, here’s a rundown of what each film is about.
This weekend saw quite a bit of movies released, none of which seemed particularly interesting, but one did pique my interest: Piranha 3D, a reimagining of the 1978 Roger Corman feature Piranha. While the original film was an attempt to hitch a ride on the success of Jaws, this new film is instead riding the wave of the recent 3D phenomenon.
Typically, when I find out a movie is in 3D, it actually makes me NOT want to go see it, as today’s 3D is more for high-definition picture quality, whereas I grew up in a time where 3D meant a harpoon was coming right at your face and that’s the 3D I want. Piranha 3D promised me this ‘gotcha’ 3D.
As far as the film’s subject matter, I must admit I’ve been intrigued by those South America fish with a penchant for flesh ever since thrash metal giants Exodus sang about piranha on their 1985 debut album. Of course, I was probably compelled by the song’s reference to them as “Loki’s children,” trapped in the depths of Hell brought up to one day waste mankind. But I was introduced to these deadly creatures nevertheless and the fascination began.
It helped a lot that Piranha 3D, directed by Alexandre Aja (The Hill Have Eyes remake), boasts a cast of Richard Dreyfess, Elisabeth Shue, and Christopher Lloyd, right there enough to get to me go see the film.
If you’ve seen Piranha 3D, then it’s time for some SPOILER TALK.
Continue reading for my SPOILER-filled thoughts on the movie, and feel free to leave your thoughts in the Comments section below.
Students of the Unusual™ comic cover used with permission of 3BoysProductions
The Mercuri Bros.™ comic cover used with permission of Prodigal Son Press