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Posted on Sunday, November 15th, 2009 0:53:20 GMT by: agentorange
Posted under: movie news fantasy

We've been sitting on this for a while now, but since the cat is ever so slowly climbing out of the bag on Pearry Reginald Teo's top secret Witchville projct, we feel inclined to start sharing some of what little info is out there right now.

First off, Witchville is indeed the fantasy project that Teo was filming in China back in August. We've tracked down a detailed synopsis for you, as well as two pretty random images that were snapped of Luke Goss on a monitor and Sarah Douglas on set in full eagle headdress. Having grown up watching Douglas in V, Conan the Destroyer and Superman, I think it's pretty apropos casting on Teo's part.

Synopsis:
When PRINCE MALACHY returns to his father's kingdom after the Crusades his first impression is that a bad harvest is the reason that the villagers are sick and hungry. But his arrival home is heralded by news of the king's death and Malachy swears to take charge and help his people. But all is not as it seems and a stranger to the village warns the new king that a dark force is the cause of their ills and only Malachy has to key to rid the kingdom of it forever.

The rumor is that Witchville is heading to SyFy, but we'll try to get confirmation on that. If we know Pearry (and we do) then Witchvill will probably bring something unique and bold to the fantasy genre. I mean c'mon. This is the guy that just back-to-back gave us two of the most outrageous visions in Gene Generation and Necromentia.

They're not much to go on, but check out the images after the break.

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Posted on Friday, October 23rd, 2009 16:06:46 GMT by: Ben Austwick
Posted under: movie review action drama adventure

Year: 2009
Directors: Nicolas Winding Refn
Writers: Nicolas Winding Refn / Roy Jacobsen
IMDB: link
Trailer: link
Review by: Ben Austwick
Rating: 7out of 10

Sparse, intense and atmospheric, barbarian epic Valhalla Rising is an unusually artistic take on a genre more associated with the one-dimensional dumbness of the Conan films, one which in its firm grounding in actual history also manages to move beyond the escapism of the fantasy genre it draws inspiration from. However, a brilliantly realized world and immersive atmosphere are betrayed by a meandering, listless story that draws us too far away from the awe-inspiring early scenes and ends up petering out into nothing.

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Posted on Friday, October 9th, 2009 20:29:20 GMT by: rochefort
Posted under: movie review fantasy

Year: 2009
Directors: Michael J. Bassett
Writers: Michael J. Bassett
IMDB: link
Trailer: link
Review by: rochefort
Rating: 6 out of 10

The 1600's don't get nearly enough love in cinema, and it's a real shame. The era of witch hunts, musketeers, and flintlock pistols is a ripe one, and has been the setting for such gems as "Captain Blood", "The Three Musketeers" (partial to the Oliver Reed one, of course; totally badass), and "The Conqueror Worm" (aka "Witchfinder General"). And as much money as the "Pirates of the Caribbean" films have made, their success has led more to the greenlighting of franchises based on rides and brands than any real cinematic rediscovery of the 17th century. Anyway, there's something genuinely irresistible about this time frame, at least for me.

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Posted on Friday, September 25th, 2009 9:43:35 GMT by: quietearth
Posted under: movie review fantasy

Year: 2009
Directors: Michael J. Bassett
Writers: Michael J. Bassett
IMDB: link
Trailer: link
Review by: quietearth
Rating: 7 out of 10

I have to preface this review by saying that I am not a fan of fantasy. I've clearly said that repeatedly in the pages here of Quiet Earth. Conan fighting trolls just doesn't do it for me. Yes, I hate fantasy. And while Bassett's Solomon Kane follows a paper thin storyline from scriptwriting 101, has far too rapid and sometimes terrible editing, and has no replayability, this film was pretty darn good (how's that for a dvd cover quote?). I know our managing editor agentorange will be happy to hear that as he's been following this one forever.

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Posted on Friday, September 11th, 2009 12:39:13 GMT by: agentorange
Posted under: movie trailer news horror fantasy united kingdom

Michael Basset himself told me that an English trailer for his over-due labor of love, Solomon Kane, would be dropping soon and he wasn't kidding. We brought you the Russian trailer premiere only yesterday and now here it is, one we can all understand. With any luck I'll stop reading comparisons to Wolfhound.

Synopsis:
The first part in a trilogy series, Solomon Kane is an epic adventure adapted from the classic pulp stories by Robert E. Howard, creator of "Conan the Barbarian." Solomon Kane (James Purefoy) is a 16th Century soldier who learns that his brutal and cruel actions have damned him. Determined to redeem himself, Kane swears to live a life of peace and goodness but is forced to fight once more when a dark power threatens the land.

Basset's Kane stars James Purefoy, Max von Sydow, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Jason Flemyng, Pete Postlethwaite and many other stellar UK actors.

Run, don't walk to the English Solomon Kane (via: Dread Central) trailer after the break.

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Posted on Tuesday, July 21st, 2009 17:18:27 GMT by: quietearth
Posted under: movie news festival

Wow, Jennifer's Body is opening night.. the PA vampire flick Daybreakers we've been salivating over for over a year is playing, not to mention [REC] 2, the incredible Ong Bak 2 and Bassett's Solomon Kane.. plus more!

Check em out after the break.

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Posted on Wednesday, July 15th, 2009 22:15:54 GMT by: quietearth
Posted under: movie trailer news action crime foreign

This thing is beautifully shot (Red One I'm guessing) and contains quite a bit of action and potential. Japanese/Danish actor and co-director David Sakurai tells us it's in the style of Nicholas Refn's pusher trilogy in that it depicts the underworld of Copenhagen, Denmark.

This teaser is a bit rough as the film's still in post-production, but it looks great! The movie stars Stephanie Leon (Hush Little Baby), David Sakurai (Fighter), Daniell Edwards (Westbrick Murders), Erik Holmey (Conan The Barbarian) and Slavko Labovic from the Pusher trilogy!

UPDATE: Thanks to reader dexta who provided this translated synopsis!
A couple of rash decisions suddenly gets fatal concequenses for four young people. The young couple Johnny (David Sakurai) and Milla's (Stephanie Leon) safe every day life takes a unexpected turn when an old childhood friend, Nino (Daniell Edwards), suddenly makes contact with the young couple. Nino's little brother Miki (Dennis Haladyn) has a huge debt and needs to come up with 850.000 dkk (about $160.000) by midnight the same night. The three friends hunt for money leads them deep into the dirty underworld of Copenhagen (Denmark) and within a short time after Nino's rash decisions, they find themselves as the hunted prey in the streets of Copenhagen. This night - Loyalty, Love and Friendship is really put on a test!

NSFW teaser after the break.

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Posted on Friday, June 12th, 2009 2:27:42 GMT by: agentorange
Posted under: news horror action fantasy

It's official. Germany's dark prince, Marcus Nispel, is directing Millennium's Conan reboot. This is AWESOME news! Next to Neil Marshall (or maybe Michael Bassett), Nispel was one of my top choices.

Of course I know what you're asking. Why is Nispel a good choice? Besides one mediocre fantasy-esque picture (Pathfinder) what's he done to make agentorange get all hot and bothered about his work? Well, you're right. However much I enjoy the idea of Pathfinder the movie itself is pretty bland. However, I blame Laeta Kalogridis' stilted screenplay and Nils Gaup's uninspired an cliched original story for the film's weaknesses and not Nispel, who put the scariest vikings ever on film. Those guys are big, mean dudes who belonged in a Robert E. Howard novel more than a historical epic.

I trust Nispel to push the film towards a hard R rating and not puss out on the subject matter like Brett Ratner or James McTeigue no doubt would. Those bozos make slick comic-book movies, whereas a Conan movie needs to be "earthy." The world that Robert E. Howard concocted for Conan is a violent, evil and dangerous place full of magic and pulpy sexuality. I think Nispel can take us there. And, as long as there is a compelling story at the core of the film, it should be an intense trip. Even though I never really cared about his horror remake work, its hard to deny that Texas Chainsaw Massacre was a force to be reckoned with.

This news is going to piss a lot of Robert E. Howard fans off who don't follow film and see Nispel as just some horror remake hack. For me, I see Nispel as one of the most intriguing choices for the project.

More here.

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Posted on Sunday, April 12th, 2009 23:36:29 GMT by: quietearth
Posted under: zombie news short fantasy

This short film, based on a short story by acclaimed author Terry Pratchett, is set in his Discworld series and sounds completely insane, too bad it's not a feature. The undead have formed an equal rights movement? A barbiarian fighting a troll? Weird. There's only production photos over at their website but I'm itching to take a closer look. The trailer and short we have after the break are both concepts, so I'm assuming this time they made it for real and are currently in post. If anyone has read this short story, chime in!

Cohen is an eighty-seven year old barbarian hero. In a world where the undead have formed an equal rights movement, goblins are on the endangered species list and the evil forest of Cutshade is being logged, this can only lead to one course of action: to face a troll in mortal combat.

Troll Bridge is based on the short story by well loved author Terry Pratchett. Set in the phenomenally successful Discworld series, the film is satirical of The Lord of the Rings, Conan, and at least one well known fairy tale.

Talking horses, mad warlords, wizards, warriors, war, death, destruction and a ten foot tall troll made of stone... all set against an epic backdrop in a world gone mad. Could you possibly ask for more?

Concept trailer and short links after the break. Special thanks to Avery for the sweet find.

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Posted on Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 14:04:16 GMT by: agentorange
Posted under: tv news fantasy

This is a pretty dodgy rumor so take it with a grain of salt until we can substantiate it further but we're hearing that some of the creative team behind HBO's ROME, and a yet unamed British TV company, are in the midst of developing some early Conan stories for the small screen. Here's the rub though. In order to do avoid getting sued by CPI, they're resorting to using public domain titles and will not be using the name "Conan" in any marketing. For example, the treatment for a 90 minute pilot is reportedly titled "Robert E Howard’s The Devil In Iron".

If done properly the mostly episodic Conan saga would work marvelously on the small screen. And, if it's true that a bunch of dudes from Rome are working on it then, well, this is certainly interesting news. We'll try to bring you more REH fans!

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Posted on Monday, February 9th, 2009 15:20:43 GMT by: agentorange
Posted under: post apocalyptic zombie movie comic news horror

According to The Hollywood reporter, Benderspink have enlisted Outlander team, Dirk Blackman and Howard McCain to helm their epic adaptation of Red 5 comics' ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction which "follows an elite team of soldiers sent on a covert operation into hostile territory in the Middle East to stop what they soon discover to be a government-created army of the undead."

Because of Outlander, a movie that nobody seemed to want to begin with, Howard and McCain have certainly found a ton of work. They co-wrote the new Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, and are also attached to pen the first crack at Millenium's Conan reboot (which a little bird told me is being pursued heavily by Friday The 13th director Marcus Nispel... fingers crossed).

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Posted on Tuesday, January 13th, 2009 21:43:06 GMT by: agentorange
Posted under: movie news scifi action fantasy

The Outlander saga has certainly been a long and winding and often bumpy road. First it's a straight to dvd release, then it's not, then early reviews are good, then screenwriters Dirk Blackman and Howard Mccain are put in charge of writing the new Conan reboot and then Weinstein decide to finally give it a limited theatrical release.

Well now, to solidify this even more, Weinstein has sent us the first poster for the film. While not nearly as cool as the first one that dropped way back in April, it's still got something. I'm not entirely convinced that when you've got a film that stars James Caviezel, Ron Perlman, John Hurt, Sophia Myles, and Jack Huston you're doing yourself justice by capitalizing on just Caviezel, but then again he was jesus.

Watch the trailer here. Outlander lands in theaters here in the states on January 23rd. A list of cities where its playing and the embiggened poster after the break.

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Posted on Monday, November 17th, 2008 21:37:33 GMT by: agentorange
Posted under: movie news horror fantasy

Between Solomon Kane, and the upcoming reboots of Conan, and Red Sonja, it appears Hollywood has gone totally bonkers over Robert E. Howard lately- and that's alright with me. Of course, with Brett Ratner officially on board for Conan my dreams of it being a film that will breath new life into the franchise and maybe even spark a new interest in hard R pulp fantasy cinema are pretty much dashed.

Enter Douglas Aarniokoski (probably most famous for his second unit directing on Resident Evil: Extinction) who is on board to helm the Robert Rodriguez produced Red Sonja. His plans to turn Red Sonja into an R rated return to its pulp roots are reportedly similar to that of Ratner's except with Rodriguez involved I have more faith.

A one page treatment detailing the film's plot was recently leaked from Nu Image. It's spoiler heavy but sounds pretty cool. It's a little blurry so you may have to take some Dramamine.

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Posted on Friday, November 7th, 2008 19:32:59 GMT by: agentorange
Posted under: post apocalyptic movie news interview scifi horror dystopian

If you were lucky enough to be at this year's San Diego Comic Con, or just one of the throngs of horror nuts in attendance at the 2008 Toronto After Dark Film Festival, you may have caught The Mutant Chronicles in one of only a handful of the film's big screen showings. You would also be considered lucky.

Love the film or hate it you can't deny that The Mutant Chronicles makes a bold statement about the possibilities of low budget scifi - that, if you get the tools in the right hands, amazing worlds and adventures can be put to celluloid (a word i use lightly as not a lick of film was used to make the film).

Recently, I got a chance to chat with director Simon Hunter, the mastermind behind what I consider to be one of the most adventurous science fiction films in years. We talked about MC's so-called "work in progress" status, whether or not it'll ever be released, and why critic Christopher Tookey is a douche.

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Posted on Monday, October 13th, 2008 16:15:20 GMT by: agentorange
Posted under: movie review horror foreign

Year: 2008
DVD Release date: October 14, 2008
Director: Gabriele Albanesi
Writers: Gabriele Albanesi
IMDB: link
Trailer: link
Amazon: link
Review by: agentorange
Rating: 7 out of 10

If I were a little more scholarly I could probably pinpoint the exact moment when the Italian Giallo movement turned away from its arthouse leanings and became a trashy, exploitive genre. Of course, you could pretty much clock the evolution of any genre that has become popular in Italy and wind up with the same results as the country has a long history of milking every good thing that comes along and capitalizing on the draw of sex and violence until the box office revenue streams run dry. It happened with Spaghetti Westerns, the post-Conan barbarian craze, the zombie genre etc. etc. etc.. I'm pretty sure a combination of Lucio Fulci and the advent of cheap digital photography equipment had something to do with the phenomenon in every case, but I'll leave my speculations out of it. Suffice it to say, The Last House in the Woods is exactly the throwback to this sleazy end of 80s Italian horror that its title suggests; and I loved every blood splattered minute of it.


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Posted on Monday, September 22nd, 2008 18:00:21 GMT by: agentorange
Posted under: movie review western asian

Year: 2008
Directors: Ji-woon Kim
Writers: Ji-woon Kim / Min-suk Kim
IMDB: link
Trailer: link
Review by: agentorange
Rating: 8.5 out of 10

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Posted on Friday, September 19th, 2008 2:41:29 GMT by: agentorange
Posted under: movie news animated

I can't believe it's been almost four years since I first reported on Conan: Red Nails. It was back before I broke into the internet game and was writing a freelance column for a local indie rag that shall remain nameless. As a Conan fan, the decision to adapt Robert E. Howard's first ever Conan story using an allstar cast of voices (Ron Perelman, Clancy Brown, Mark Hamill) sounded exciting and, even though I knew it would eventually wind up in the straight to DVD dungeon, it still peaked the interest of the dark fantasy loving kid in me. The plan was initially to have Red Nails released the next summer and everything seemed to be on track. A website was launched where artwork was being revealed in a blog that was updated regularly (if perhaps a little slowly), and then nadda. Nothing more was heard about the project for almost two years (and I know, because I check the site every week). And just when I was starting to feel like Conan: Red Nails was becoming another casualty of some behind the scenes financial or political squabble, Kiel Phegley from MTV's Splash Page rocks my world by reporting that all is still well on the film's front line. More details on why the delay and when you'll see Conan fighting hoards of Xotalanc Zombies after the break.

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Posted on Wednesday, September 10th, 2008 20:22:51 GMT by: agentorange
Posted under: movie news horror fantasy

If you're anything like me then you're getting excited about seeing the dark fantasy worlds of pulp writer Robert E. Howard come alive in both the Conan reboot and Michael Basset's upcoming Solomon Kane. Of course if you're like me, then you're probably also a little trepidatious about any filmmaker's ability to get right all that your imagination envisioned while reading Howard's bold and adult stories. Well fear not! After seeing seeing some early concept art for the film, I think its safe to say that we can all rest a little easier knowing that, however good or bad Solomon Kane turns out to be, Basset and the gang at least did their homework. Hearkening back to the genius work of Frank Frazetta, these images are a good sign that Solomon Kane will bridge the line between fantasy and supernatural horror and give us a dark adventure story worthy of words of the character's creator. Check out seven pieces of art from the production after the break.
:::BREAK:::

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Posted on Wednesday, August 13th, 2008 21:01:23 GMT by: agentorange
Posted under: movie news horror action fantasy

Some of you may laugh at idea of rebooting this machismo muscle fest franchise but seriously folks, as a true fan of Robert E. Howards character, I'm here to tell that Conan could severely F-you up. Conan is the kind of character that wanders into town, drinks 20 pints of mead, kills everyone in the room, sleeps with your wife, and then robs you blind. And you let him. He hates magic and loves nothing more than to rip the throats out of wizards. Basically, he's the man. I've always been behind the prospects of another round with the brooding barbarian but knew it had to be done right. We haven't seen Outlander yet but early buzz insists that someone has finally done a Viking flick right. Someone at Lionsgate obviously thinks so as well as the film's writers, Dirk Blackman and Howard McCain, have been hired on to take a crack at making the script more in line with Howard's world and character. Now if only they would hire Neil Marshall on to direct, as has been rumored, I'd be deliriously happy.

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Posted on Friday, June 27th, 2008 13:40:21 GMT by: agentorange
Posted under: movie news fantasy

USA Today reported that maverick director Robert Rodriguez will be producing another live action version of Robert E. Howard's Conan counter-part Red Sonja for 2010. Set to be directed by Douglas Aarniokoski (Highlander: Endgame), the film will also star Rodriguez's girlfriend, and raven haired sex-pot, Rose McGowan as the film's fiery locked barbarian broad. Apparently the film will be an origin story and draw from both Howard's original stories as well as the comic series. As much as I have a nostalgic fondness for Richard Fleischer's 1985 version starring Brigitte Nielsen and Arnold Schwarzenegger, it would be a stretch if I said they'd be butchering a classic. As a huge fan of Howard's stories of bawdy barbarians I'm very glad to see that both his awesome properties will be getting a reboot. Bring it on by Crom!

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