How many times can Michael Myers truly come back to terrorize the residents of Haddonfield?
If the ‘Halloween’ franchise is anything to go by, the answer to that is, “as long as people show up to watch the movies.” And the latest entry is on the way this fall, so the first trailer for ‘Halloween Ends’ has now stalked online.
Director David Gordon Green, who gave the horror franchise a jolt back in 2018 with his first ‘Halloween’ (which directly followed the events of the original and largely ignored most of the other sequels), is here wrapping up his own run on the movies.
Jamie Lee Curtis is back once again as Laurie Strode, one of the few survivors of Michael Myers’ original October slaughter rampage, who has since turned herself into a lean, mean fighting machine, ready to put an end to him once and for all.
To be honest, we’ve heard that before – no matter how many times someone (even Laurie) thinks they have put an end to Michael, he always seems to return, ready to pick up whatever is around and start slashing people.
This latest movie is being billed as Laurie’s last stand, as she faces off for the last time against the embodiment of evil in a final confrontation unlike any captured on-screen before. Only one of them will survive.
(L to R) Michael Myers (aka The Shape) and Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode in ‘Halloween Ends,’ directed by David Gordon Green.
Four years after the events of last year’s ‘Halloween Kills’, Laurie is living with her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) and is finishing writing her memoir. Michael Myers hasn’t been seen since. Laurie, after allowing the specter of Michael to determine and drive her reality for decades, has decided to liberate herself from fear and rage and embrace life.
But when a young man, Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell), is accused of killing a boy he was babysitting, it ignites a cascade of violence and terror that will force Laurie to finally confront the evil she can’t control, once and for all.
You knew it wasn’t going to be that easy, right? Laurie’s spent decades being worried that Michael would return, even when everyone else was convinced he was gone for good. Of course, he wasn’t, and the end of ‘Halloween Kills’ hinted that he’d once more be wandering the suburb killing people.
Green now faces the true challenge of putting a capper on the whole story – even if someone picks up the baton in the future.
Samara Weaving as Major O’Hara / Scarlett in ‘Snake Eyes.’
Cameras are rolling on the next ‘Scream’ Movie, which, while it’s being referred to as ‘Scream 6’, will more likely end up titled ‘Scream II’ or some immediate sequel variant, since the most recent movie was simply called ‘Scream’.
Weaving has experience with the directors – she starred as a young woman who marries into a wealthy family, only to discover their dark gaming traditions in ‘Ready or Not’, which was the movie that is partly responsible for the pair landing the job in the ‘Scream’ world.
Revolori, meanwhile, is more known for his work with Wes Anderson and acting as smug high schooler Flash Thompson in the latest three live-action ‘Spider-Man’ movies.
It has so far made more than $140 million worldwide and a sequel was announced almost as soon as it debuted. As it turns out, the creative team – which includes James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick once again co-writing the script – had already been figuring out what the next movie should be, which explains while it’s already in production.
Barrera, Brown, Gooding and Ortega are all officially confirmed to be coming back for more, having survived their encounter with the cloaked menace in the last movie, called, like the original, simply, ‘Scream’.
Spyglass Media and Paramount have yet to announce much about the story, save for the hint that it follows those four surviving younger characters leaving the town of Woodsboro behind to start a fresh chapter in their lives.
Also on board for this latest movie is veteran Courteney Cox, once more back as intrepid journalist Gale Weathers, plus Hayden Panettiere, returning as Kirby Reed, who last tangled with Ghostface-related terror in ‘Scream 4’.
“Sadly, I won’t be making the next ‘Scream’ film,” Campbell said in a statement. “As a woman I have had to work extremely hard in my career to establish my value, especially when it comes to ‘Scream’. I felt the offer that was presented to me did not equate to the value I have brought to the franchise.”
There have been rumors of a boosted offer to star not just in this next film but also a potential seventh outing, but nothing is official right now.
Whatever the final title is, the next ‘Scream’ will be dialing up some scares in theaters from March 31 next year.
We’ve had plenty of peeks at Rob Zombie’s movie adaptation of ‘The Munsters’ 1960s TV series, as the director has been posting plenty of images and making casting announcements as work as continued on the film.
Now we have our first proper look at the movie as Zombie has put it up on YouTube.
The original show, a satire of the sort of idealized American family life chronicled in the sitcoms of the era, it ran on CBS for 2 seasons between 1964 and 1966. It followed the Transylvanian-American family who reside at 1313 Mockingbird Lane in the fictional city of Mockingbird Heights.
Though it didn’t run too long, it was rebooted in the 1990s and spawned a few TV movies.
Fred Gwynne starred as Herman, a Frankenstein’s Monster-style character, who is the breadwinner but doesn’t always make the smartest decisions. Yvonne De Carlo played his vampire wife Lily, who often sets her husband straight, while Al Lewis is Lily’s Dracula-alike father Grandpa, who longs for the good old days in Transylvania.
This unusual – but friendly – clan is completed by Butch Patrick’s Eddie, the werewolf son of Herman and Lily and the family’s niece Marilyn, played by Pat Priest, who is a regular human and considered the “ugly duckling”.
(L to R) Sheri Moon Zombie as Lily, Jeff Daniel Phillips as Herman, and Daniel Roebuck as Grandpa in director Rob Zombie’s ‘The Munsters.’ Photo courtesy of robzombie.com.
Writer/director Zombie has also found room for some of the original cast, with Butch Patrick and Pat Priest both showing up. Horror icon Cassandra “Elvira” Peterson will also show up along with Richard Brake and Jeremy Wheeler.
It’s somewhat surprising to see Zombie – the rocker-turned-filmmaker who is more known for the gruesome likes of ‘House of 1000 Corpses’, ‘The Devil’s Rejects’ and the 2007 reboot of ‘Halloween’ going the family friend comedy horror route.
Still, he’s gone on record as saying that this is an idea he’s been chasing for 20 years, and it certainly appears from this trailer that Zombie has fully embraced the wackiness of the original series, with its campy style. He’s even given it a full-color make-over to ensure it’s even more vibrant.
This trailer promises “the greatest love story ever told” featuring some origin material of how Herman and Lily Met (looks like she once dated Nosferatu, but it didn’t work out) and riffs on the show’s opening credits to keep the story going.
Will the loose style put some people off? It’s possible and this is sure to be divisive, but we doubt Zombie will care since he’s finally gotten his passion project to screens.
‘The Munsters’ should be in theaters this September.
Rob Zombie’s ‘The Munsters’ is scheduled for release in September 2022. Photo courtesy of robzombie.com.
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If you’ve been craving more horror in your summer, then the ‘Orphan: First Kill’ trailer is here to deliver.
2009’s ‘Orphan’ famously revealed that its titular character was – spoiler alert for anyone who hasn’t seen it – not actually an orphaned girl, but a murderous, height-challenged woman who posed as a nine-year-old and was adopted by a family grieving the death of their daughter.
In that film, directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, Isabelle Fuhrman played Russian girl “Esther”, who ends up causing violent, murderous problems for adoptive parents played Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, at least until they discover the truth.
Esther (AKA Leena Klammer) suffers from Hypopituitarism, a condition where a lack of hormone generation leads to dwarfism, which in her case allowed the 33-year-old woman to pose as a child.
‘Orphan: First Kill’ is the prequel to that movie. Fuhrmann returns as “Esther” (though we know from the start that she’s actually Klammer), for a story that takes place before the events of that movie.
Originally titled ‘Esther’, the movie has William Brent Bell (‘The Boy’, ‘The Devil Inside’) in the director’s chair, while David Coggeshall wrote the script based on story concepts from David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and Alex Mace, who worked on the original ‘Orphan’.
Isabelle Fuhrman in Paramount Pictures ‘Orphan: First Kill,’ from Paramount Players, eOne, and Dark Castle Entertainment.
Here’s your synopsis: After orchestrating a brilliant escape from an Estonian psychiatric facility, Esther travels to America by impersonating the missing daughter – who at this point has been gone for four years – of a wealthy family. Yet, an unexpected twist arises that pits her against a mother who will protect her family from the murderous “child” at any cost.
Julia Stiles plays the proactive mother of the family Tricia Albright, with Rossif Sutherland as her husband Allen, who is initially convinced that his wife is suffering from paranoia and hallucinating, and Leena sees this as an opportunity to drive a wedge between them.
With Fuhrmann returning, the filmmaking team had to rely on even more clever techniques to make her into a convincing child, including make-up and forced perspective (sizing tricks utilized by movies such as the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy and ‘Elf’ to make actors appear different sizes.
The trailer promises plenty of creepiness, including “Esther” plotting something with rats (that can’t end well), unusually skilled artwork for a youngster, warped music and chaos when the truth is discovered. And while the prequel story means that Leena survives to kill again, don’t expect everyone to survive this initial encounter…
There was also some CG deployed alongside child doubles (including Irwin, who also plays Lena at a younger age.
‘Orphan: First Kill’ will be making its way into theaters, digital and streaming via Paramount+ on August 19th.
Isabelle Fuhrman as “Esther” in ‘Orphan: First Kill’ from Paramount Players, eOne, and Dark Castle Entertainment.Julia Stiles as “Tricia” in ‘Orphan: First Kill’ from Paramount Players, eOne, and Dark Castle Entertainment.(L to R) Rossif Sutherland as “Allen” and Julia Stiles as “Tricia” in ‘Orphan: First Kill’ from Paramount Players, eOne, and Dark Castle Entertainment.(L to R) Matthew Finlan as “Gunnar” and Julia Stiles as “Tricia” in ‘Orphan: First Kill’ from Paramount Players, eOne, and Dark Castle Entertainment.‘Orphan: First Kill’ will be making its way into theaters, digital and streaming via Paramount+ on August 19th.Isabelle Fuhrman in Paramount Pictures ‘Orphan: First Kill,’ from Paramount Players, eOne, and Dark Castle Entertainment.
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Premiering on digital and On Demand beginning July 12th is the new horror thriller ‘Neon Lights,’ which was written and directed by Rouzbeh Heydari.
The new movie was written by and stars Dana Abraham as Clay Amani, a tech tycoon that brings his estranged to a remote location for a reunion. However, unbeknown to his guests, Clay is haunted by a mysterious figure named Denver (Kim Coates), which leads to a deadly killing spree.
But he is probably best remembered for his role as Alexander “Tig” Trager on FX’s ‘Sons of Anarchy,’ and recently reprised his part on the spinoff ‘Mayans M.C.’
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Kim Coates about his new movie ‘Neon Lights,’ acting with his daughter, working with Bruce Willis on ‘The Last Boy Scout,’ the legacy of ‘Sons of Anarchy’ and reprising his role on ‘Mayans M.C.’
Kim Coates in ‘Neon Lights,’ which premieres on digital and On Demand beginning July 12th.
You can read our full interview with Kim Coates below or watch the interview by clicking on the video player above.
Moviefone: To begin with, as a producer and an actor, why did you want to be a part of this project, and what was your first reaction to the screenplay?
Kim Coates: Well, it was pretty simple, really. I mean, the pandemic just started. It was 2020 and everything was shut down. Everyone left L.A. and I went back to Canada. Around June or July of 2020, in Canada, before America, before we had all the vaccines, things started to pick up a little.
This script was thrown at me in September of 2020 and when my Canadian manager-agent brought it to me, she said, “You know what? They obviously want you bad because they need a name in this little beautiful, independent film, but there’s a part for Brenna as well.” So, I read it and Brenna, my daughter, plays Laila, the psychiatrist. So, when I read it, I had that in mind.
But I really have to tell you that this guy, Denver Kane, who I play, I can’t really say much about this guy. You need to discover this character when you’re watching the movie, because he’s freaky, he’s cocky, and this is a weird psychological thriller with a bit of horror in there. It really encompasses everything.
When I read this story, I threw everything else out. I threw me out, and Brenna out. I thought about the mental health aspect of the movie, and we’re in the middle of a pandemic or the beginning of a pandemic. What Dana Abraham did in writing this thing and starring in this thing was mind-blowing to me. So, that’s why I said yes.
Kim Coates and Erika Swayze in ‘Neon Lights,’ which premieres on digital and On Demand beginning July 12th.
MF: How do you approach playing a character that is purposefully mysterious in the screenplay?
KC: Well, that’s just a terrific question because, is he really there, is he not there? What’s happening? The beginning takes a little bit of time. It’s very freaky. You don’t know what’s going on. Then the movie really starts. Then Dana starts to sit down with his psychiatrist, played by Brenna, and we can’t say much to you after that. But then the story evolves in going to this estate with his former foster brothers and their wives, girlfriends, and a kid.
They go for this like reawakening with Dana’s character, trying to figure out who he is, and what’s happened in his life with all the trauma. He’s become this incredible tech tycoon, but his life is falling apart. My character kind of wheedles his way through the whole film with a little thread and needle and goes all the way through this film.
So, for you to bring that up and for me not to really be able to talk about it, but to let you know that I did research on trauma and early homes that possibly had a lot of trauma. So, I had to read a couple of books to try and get inside this Denver Kane’s head.
Kim Coates in ‘Neon Lights,’ which premieres on digital and On Demand beginning July 12th.
MF: As you mentioned, your daughter is also in the movie. As a father, how proud were you to work with her and see that she is following in your footsteps?
KC: How great is that, right? I mean, this kid’s been an actor her whole life. I stumbled into it in college. I took an acting class to meet some girls. I was going to be a history teacher. I didn’t know what a soliloquy even meant. Brenna’s been an actress since she’s been 4 years old. This kid did it the right way. Theatre, theatre, theatre, theatre!
She went to NYU. She auditioned for the Tisch Acting Academy. She got in, she got her degree. She did a bunch of plays there. Then she did this play called “The Wolves” on Broadway. She won a Drama Desk Award. The New York Times called it one of the greatest plays of the last 25 years.
So, Brenna needs no help from her dad. Brenna has her own movie star thing waiting to happen. She’s got two movies opening back to back, this one and another one called ‘Burden.’ She’s got another couple of offers in the fall. She loves theatre, she loves movies, she loves TV, she loves it all. But I’m very proud to see her work, man. I stayed out of her way. But she’s her own artistic, explosive girl. I’m just so proud of her, for sure.
(L to R) Bruce Willis and Kim Coates in Tony Scott’s ‘The Last Boy Scout.’
MF: Looking back at your career, you had an amazing scene with Bruce Willis in ‘The Last Boy Scout.’ In the scene, you punch him in the face and shout, “Boomba Baby!” Was that line improvised of scripted, and what are your memories of working with Bruce Willis?
KC: Yeah, that was mine. “Boomba Baby!” That was all me. Look, Bruce Willis was my first really big movie star. I’d worked with Dean Stockwell, and Kim Cattrall, but ‘The Last Boy Scout’ was my very first Hollywood movie in 1991. The late Tony Scott, I’m so sad that he’s gone, but he cast me right away.
I just got to tell you about that scene. Because I’ve been told they show that cigarette scene in all these acting classes. It’s always prefaced by “How to steal a scene from the movie star.” I got to know Bruce a little bit. Then I got to know him more on ‘Hostage.’ Then I got to know him more by hanging out with him. He’s got a lot going on right now, that poor guy, but I love him, and I always will love him. I’ve got nothing but good thing to say about Bruce Willis.
MF: Finally, can you talk about your ‘Sons of Anarchy’ experience? What was it like reprising your character on ‘Mayans M.C.’ and have you stayed close with the other cast members since the series ended?
KC: Yeah, we really have. I think it’s an anomaly. I think it’s a one-off. I think of those seven years on ‘Sons’ and how did we still love one another? It was a very volatile, weird, dark, and beautiful time. That show got more and more violent as it went along. But those seven years were amazing.
To do the ‘Mayans’ and to play Tig again after like eight years, it was great. I still have my bike outside. I had such a terrific time on that show. The best.
( L to R) Mark Boone Jr., Charlie Hunnam, Tommy Flanagan, and Kim Coates in FX’s ‘Sons of Anarchy.’
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Based on a short story by Joe Hill, Ethan Hawke stars as The Grabber, a child killer that abducts a 13-year-old boy named Finney (Mason Thames), who begins to receive calls on a disconnected phone from the killer’s previous victims.
The result is a thrilling story about growing up in the 1970s, that is more interested in exploring the emotions of the kidnapped kids than the flashy villain and features superb performances from young actors Mason Thames and Madeleine McGraw.
In 1978, we are introduced to Finney (Thames) and Gwen (McGraw), who are brother and sister and living in the Denver area. Their father, Terrence (Jeremy Davies) is an abusive alcoholic raising the kids alone after his wife’s death. Like her mother, Gwen is showing signs of having psychic abilities, which angers her father. The town is on edge because a kidnapper called The Grabber (Hawke) has been abducting children, leaving only black balloons behind after the kids disappear, never to be seen again. After his best friend goes missing, Finney quickly becomes the next victim of The Grabber.
(L to R) The Grabber (Ethan Hawke) and Finney Shaw (Mason Thames) in ‘The Black Phone,’ directed by Scott Derrickson.
Finney is taken to a soundproof room, where he finds a disconnected phone on the wall. He begins to receive calls from The Grabber’s former victims, instructing him on how to escape. Meanwhile, Gwen is determined to find Finney, and against her father’s wishes, begins to help the police by using her powers. Now, Finney will have to summon strength that he didn’t know he had to face his fears and escape The Grabber’s hideout before it’s too late.
Full disclosure, I’m not a fan of horror movies. But, I am a fan of good filmmaking and storytelling, which is why I liked ‘The Black Phone’ so much. While Scott Derrickson began his career as a horror director with ‘Sinister,’ much like Sam Raimi and James Wan, he has been able to transition to other genres within the horror world like the police drama ‘Deliver Us from Evil’ or the superhero movie ‘Doctor Strange.’ Both films had clear horror elements, even though they were basically a different genre. Derrickson does something similar here, with a horror movie that is really a coming-of-age story for the young lead characters.
The film is based on a short story by Joe Hill, who is the son of Stephen King. I mentioned this only because I saw a lot of similarities between ‘The Black Phone’ and his father’s ‘The Shining.’ Both films are set in the horror genre, but neither is really a horror movie in the classic sense. ‘The Shining’ is really a haunted house story, that just happens to feature a character with psychic abilities, but that is not the movie’s main focus. The same could be said for this film, as Gwen’s powers are not the main focus but rather an extra attraction, as the real story is about how Finney will overcome his own fears to survive.
Ethan Hawke is dazzling as The Grabber and is clearly having fun with the role in his limited screen time. Derrickson was wise to limit how much of The Grabber we see, keeping him a dark and mysterious character. Too much of the character would have taken away from Finney’s story of facing his fears and would not have had the same effect on the audience.
(L to R) Vance Hopper (Brady Hepner) and Finney Shaw (Mason Thames) in ‘The Black Phone,’ directed by Scott Derrickson.
‘Sinister’ actor James Ransone has a very funny role in the movie, which I won’t spoil but he is perfect in the part. However, Jeremy Davies’ performance as Finney and Gwen’s dad was too one-note for me. I know the character is an alcoholic, still grieving from his wife’s death, and his abuse is there to signal what Finney was too afraid to stand up to, giving him the strength to finally fight against The Grabber. But the character’s true feelings for his kids is never shown in the actor’s performance, and the child abuse scenes were just a bit too much.
But for me, the true breakout stars of the film are young actors Mason Thames and Madeleine McGraw, who were both excellent as Finney and Gwen, respectively. McGraw is absolutely believable as a young girl confused by her supernatural abilities, and her love for her brother comes is very apparent. For his role, Thames had the challenge of creating a shy and timid kid at the beginning of the film and transcending to a young man who is brave and strong enough to stand up to The Grabber. It’s surprising to see such a layered performance from an actor who is that young, which makes it all the more impressive.
In the end, ‘The Black Phone’ is a horror movie in the sense that it deals with some horrific themes, and certainly will scare you if that is what you are looking for. But it is really a movie about growing up, facing your fears, and taking control of your own life. Those are themes audiences can relate to, no matter what genre the movie is set in.
Ethan Hawke as The Grabber in ‘The Black Phone,’ directed by Scott Derrickson.
The film reunites Scott Derrickson with his ‘Sinister’ star Ethan Hawke, who plays The Grabber, a child killer that abducts a 13-year-old boy named Finney (Mason Thames). Locked in a soundproof basement, Finney begins to receive calls on a disconnected phone from the killer’s previous victims, instructing him on how to escape.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Ethan Hawke about his work on ‘The Black Phone.’
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You can read our full interview with Ethan Hawke below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Hawke, Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, and director Scott Derrickson.
Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about your approach to playing The Grabber?
Ethan Hawke: Well, it’s hard with somebody who’s so malevolent, to try to understand them and try to find their motivations, but also just give in to a sense of play. One of the things that was absolutely essential to the character was the masks, and the fact that it wasn’t one mask, that he constantly changes his mask. Why does he do that? Why does he wear a mask and why would he change it? Why is he so damaged that he would do some of the things that he’s doing and what makes him laugh? What makes him happy and what scares him?
All those essential questions, when you’re building a character, you have to figure out. But a lot of it’s, as soon as I would get the mask on and start moving around in it, it seemed to just reveal itself. And I think that’s just a sign of a very well-written script.
MF: Is it difficult putting a character like this away when you finish shooting?
EH: Not to be corny, but it takes a long time to be able to do that. It’s very difficult. I’ve said often that I didn’t want to play villains because of various reasons, but in truth, I really didn’t like playing them when I was younger, because it was hard to let go of the character and not feel them inside of you unlocking aspects of you that you’re not interested in knowing about.
Who in the hell wants to know more about somebody who locks kids in their basement? You know what I mean? You don’t really want to play that guy. You have to want to be in the movie, and to help make the movie, because you think the movie will be valuable. As I’ve gotten older, it’s been easier and easier for me to invite this stuff in and let it get out.
(L to R) The Grabber (Ethan Hawke) and Finney Shaw (Mason Thames) in ‘The Black Phone,’ directed by Scott Derrickson.
MF: You have some really intense scenes with Mason Thames, were you concerned about doing those scenes with such a young actor?
EH: Yeah, I was a child actor, and so I, of course, was concerned going to set. Like, how am I going to do this? Does this kid understand? The second I met him, all those fears disappeared. He was so playful and so into it, and that’s the nice thing about being around young people is they just love to play. It was clear to him that we were playing an elaborate game of pretend and that it was kind of thrilling to put ourselves in this situation.
That’s the spirit of performance that you want to have. Just let your imagination go. It’s you in these new circumstances, with these words, go, be it, do it. He loved acting and when somebody loves it, well, then you’re not worried you’re going to negatively impact them because they understand we’re playing pretend.
MF: Finally, what was your initial reaction to the screenplay when you first read it?
EH: Couple things. I thought it was kind of brilliant mixing the genres of the classic serial killer movie, but also a ghost story. That it was both at one time, and simultaneously, a coming-of-age story. The movie at its core is really about these young people finding themselves in a world that is not helping them, and that’s what makes it unique. It has the makings of something that could be classic in a way because it takes these familiar genres, but just spins them just around in a circle, so it feels new.
Ethan Hawke as The Grabber in ‘The Black Phone,’ directed by Scott Derrickson.
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Neve Campbell (“Sidney Prescott”) stars in Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group’s “Scream.”
In the months since the most recent entry in the Ghostface franchise – simply titled ‘Scream’, despite being the fifth movie – we’ve had a flurry of stories that represent good news for fans.
That was followed by word that ‘Scream 4’s Hayden Panettiere would be back as her character, Kirby Reed. And just this month, Dermot Mulroney was recruited to join the movie, set to play a cop (which doesn’t point to the healthiest life expectancy for his character).
But then came the bad news: Neve Campbell, one of the veterans of the franchise, the woman who has brought stalker slasher survivor Sidney Prescott to life in every one of the movies so far, would not be returning for this new one.
And, as it turns out, it’s because she’s taking a stand over a lowball pay offer. “Sadly, I won’t be making the next ‘Scream’ film,” Campbell says in a statement. “As a woman I have had to work extremely hard in my career to establish my value, especially when it comes to ‘Scream’. I felt the offer that was presented to me did not equate to the value I have brought to the franchise.”
Neve Campbell (“Sidney Prescott”) stars in Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group’s “Scream.”
Campbell has a point – this is a run of movies that has so far made around $774 million in the last two decades plus, and fans do keep coming back to see how Sidney fares.
She goes on to add: “It’s been a very difficult decision to move on. To all my ‘’Scream fans, I love you. You’ve always been so incredibly supportive to me. I’m forever grateful to you and to what this franchise has given me over the past 25 years.”
The movie has yet to start shooting, so there remains hope that Paramount could dig into its pockets (recently lined with lots of ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ money) and put forth a better offer.
Fellow ‘Scream’ stalwart Courtney Cox will be back for the new movie as Gale Weathers, and the cast is led by the survivors of this year’s ‘Scream’ – Melissa Barrera (Sam Carpenter), Jasmin Savoy Brown (Mindy Meeks-Martin), Mason Gooding (Chad Meeks-Martin) and Jenna Ortega (Tara Carpenter), whose characters are moving out of Woodsboro to try and start the next chapter of their lives.
Little else is known about the plot so far, save that Ghostface will naturally be back to terrorize everyone and there’ll be plenty of references to horror movies. Ortega has described the script as getting “more and more gory” as it goes along, and that the masked menace will be “the most aggressive and violent version” yet.
(L to R) Tristan Ruggeri as Elliot and Teresa Palmer as Rachel in ‘The Twin.’ Photo Credit: Heikki Leis/Shudder.
Opening in theaters, On Demand, digital, and streaming exclusively on Shudder beginning May 6th is the new psychological horror thriller ‘The Twin,’ which was co-written and directed by Taneli Mustonen (‘Lake Bodom’).
Co-written and produced by Aleksi Hyvarinen, the film revolves around Rachel (Teresa Palmer) and Anthony (Steven Cree) who movie their family from the United States to Anthony’s birthplace of Finland, after a tragedy that kills their young son, Nathan (Tristan Ruggeri). Following the move, his surviving twin brother Elliot (Ruggeri) begins to communicate with his deceased sibling.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with director and co-writer Taneli Mustonen and producer and co-writer Aleksi Hyvarinen about their work on ‘The Twin.’
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You can read our full interview with Taneli Mustonen and Aleski Hyvarinen below or watch our interviews with Mustonen, Hyvarinen, and actress Teresa Palmer by clicking on the video player above.
Moviefone: To begin with, what can you tell us about your writing process together and how you broke the story for this movie?
Taneli Mustonen: Oh, wonderful question. We met in film school and actually Aleksi wrote my first feature. It was a family film. So, we started from there and we’ve been working, running our company together ever since then. With this particular film, after “Lake Bodom”, we wanted to write something bit more adult-themed. Basically, we wanted to create a really proper character study in a horror film, because ‘Lake Bodom’ for us was trying to come up with something new in the slasher genre that we really love. Then with this, we wanted to pay homage to those awesome films from the ’70s and early ’80s like ‘Don’t Look Now,’ ‘The Omen’ or ‘The Changeling’ by the wonderful Peter Medak.
So, we started from there. But basically, as parents, we wanted to really write a story about what grief can cost you, especially when losing one’s child, and that’s every parent’s worst nightmare. We noticed that in many horror films nowadays, it seems that tragic loss is usually used as a setup, but we wanted to really focus the story on creating a scary adventure ride, but really deal with the fact of what losing your child can do to you.
(L to R) Co-writer and director Taneli Mustonen and Co-writer and producer Aleksi Hyvarinen at ‘The Twin’ premiere at the Landmark Theatre, Los Angeles, CA.
MF: Can you talk about the idea of a mother losing her child and dealing with that grief, and how you wanted to explore that in this screenplay?
Aleksi Hyvarinen: The thing about horror as a genre is that you actually get to write and work with a story that is super entertaining in a scary way, but at the same time, you actually deal with themes and subject matter that are super archaic and deals with your ultimate fears basically. I think that’s something both of us have always loved about horror, that even in “The Twin”, you deal with the biggest fear of being a parent. We are both dads and obviously that was kind of the starting point for us. What is your ultimate fear as a parent? Anybody who’s a parent probably that is their ultimate fear and it becomes an entertaining ride at the same time.
TM: Basically, we wanted to create horror films that paid homage to those awesome films that we grew up with and really make it the scariest thing you ever seen. That was our main focus when writing, but we really wanted to make it about the characters. Let’s create complex in-depth characters and cast Teresa Palmer as the role of Rachel. She’s pretty much in all of her scenes and at the same time, it felt important to us that we also drive the audience towards a certain rabbit hole, you could say.
When viewing the film, we are also asking the question, what is real and what is not? I think that those are the things that everybody can relate to, even though you don’t have to be a parent to be afraid of losing your sanity. I feel it’s a film that really makes you question the true nature of evil and if there’s an evil entity, what would be his way of getting to you? So, those were the things we were actively doing with this one.
(L to R) Tristan Ruggeri as Elliot, and Teresa Palmer as Rachel in ‘The Twin.’ Photo Credit: Shudder.
MF: Can you also talk about using classic horror movie tropes to throw the audience off from what is really going on in the film?
AH: You know, I often talk about with Taneli that when you’re watching a horror film, it’s basically a fairy tale for adults and your kind of watching it on two levels. It’s always the adult who’s looking for those clues in the plot, but also finding references to the horror films we all love, which is, as I said, ‘Don’t Look Now,’ Peter Medak’s ‘The Changeling’ and all of those great ’70s, ’80s horror films that Taneli and I grew up with. So, that’s one level.
The other level is you as a kid and just being scared to the bone and really living the story on that emotional level. That is something we love about horror. It also makes it fun to write. It’s something we already exercised a bit in our previous horror film ‘Lake Bodom,’ introducing a character, a theme, and then flipping them around a couple times. It’s a bit of fun and we just feel that it’s always one of the greatest things in horror, even though it’s going to be super scary and super touching, it’s also a kind of a game as an audience member.
MF: Taneli, can you discuss how you planned your camera moves and your uses of shadows and light to create the unique mood and tone of the film?
TM: Thanks for pointing that out. It’s definitely the case that we wanted to have the villagers and the village all together as a character on its own. So, for the visual style, we went back and re-watched our favorite films for quite some time, and also watching the films of awesome filmmakers like James Wan, and his work on ‘The Conjuring‘ and especially ‘Insidious.’ But also, you could say our surroundings and what we learned from ‘Lake Bodom’ was how the use of nature started working on its own. We also wanted to create this kind of isolation in the characters. Rachel is put in a very fish out of water situation. She doesn’t know the language and she fears it.
When it comes to lensing and the visual styles, we also had a wonderful production designer working with us for the first time. We would love to work with her again, because as soon as we found the house and the surroundings, we shot the film in Estonia where we were working on another film, which was a comedy. Aleksi and I started talking about it and said, “Oh my God, we’re walking on these locations for ‘The Twin,’” and everything grew quite organically from there. But, like I said, it’s one of those things that we wanted to really invite the audience to this strange world of Finland and, and I hope we pulled it off.
Teresa Palmer as Rachel in ‘The Twin.’ Photo Credit: Shudder.
MF: Why was Teresa Palmer the right actress to play Rachel and what did she bring to the role?
TM: We wrote the script and then it started circulating through our agents and managers back in LA and finally we got this call from Teresa’s agent, and we thought that it was one of those introductory calls. Maybe she was just thinking, does she want to do it or not? But as soon as she answered the phone, she was like, “I’ve read the script a couple of times now and I’ve been discussing it with my husband all through the night.” We were blown away by her reaction. She really understood what we were aiming with the film and with the story.
I mean, it was just an amazing ride for us as filmmakers as well. From the very first take when we started to shoot, she was Rachel, and it was such an amazing creative process, which I’ve never had before, even though this is my sixth feature. I was learning every day from Teresa and there is a really good reason why she’s as huge a star as she is.
AH: It was something we never dared to imagine. Even at times, we felt that Teresa knew her character better than we did as writers. It was amazing. Obviously, she is a mother and really kind of dove into that. We’ve been joking with our crew later on that there were times where all of us just basically forgot that we were shooting and ended up watching the monitor. Our focus puller basically almost forgot to pull focus. We were just lacking popcorn because it felt like a movie. It was pretty amazing.
And whenever we had a new crew member come on set, their jaws dropped, and they were just mesmerized by the performances. I have to say; the whole cast was really doing a great job. It was quite a peculiar process. We were shooting in the middle of lockdown and it became this really concentrated atmosphere and you rarely met anybody outside of the set and the crew. It was a fun experience and there was a lot of concentration on set.
MF: Finally, since you mentioned you were shooting during COVID, did the isolation of lockdown add to the mood and tone on set?
TM: For sure. It was just us and we really didn’t get the chance to meet anybody else. We were basically also locked down. But we were like happy campers working on the film. We went on this journey and we created this story. Luckily, we were able to shoot so many scenes chronologically, even with our limited budget that we had. We had such amazing discussions about where we want to take the story and it took everything. As a director, you just want to encourage everybody to follow it.
There were so many moments throughout the shoot that we really connected with everybody and it felt that we were living that story. So, I would say definitely, yes, the COVID, it was a big pain in the ass, but it also contributed a lot and it made everybody focus more. So, it’s an isolation horror movie in that sense, and I think it definitely worked to benefit us and the film.
(L to R) Tristan Ruggeri as Elliot, Teresa Palmer as Rachel, and Steven Cree as Anthony in ‘The Twin.’ Photo Credit: Heikki Leis/Shudder.
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Teresa Palmer as Rachel in ‘The Twin.’ Photo Credit: Shudder.
Opening in theaters, On Demand, digital, and streaming exclusively on Shudder beginning May 6th is the new psychological horror thriller ‘The Twin,’ which was co-written and directed by Taneli Mustonen (‘Lake Bodom’).
Co-written and produced by Aleski Hyvarinen, the film revolves around Rachel (Teresa Palmer) and Anthony (Steven Cree) who movie their family from the United States to Anthony’s birthplace of Finland, after a tragedy that kills their young son, Nathan (Tristan Ruggeri). Following the move, his surviving twin brother Elliot (Ruggeri) begins to communicate with his deceased sibling.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Teresa Palmer about her work on ‘The Twin.’
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You can read our full interview with Teresa Palmer below or watch our interview with Palmer, director and co-writer Taneli Mustonen, and producer and co-writer Aleksi Hyvarinen by clicking on the video player above.
Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about how you got involved with this project and what was your first reaction after reading the screenplay?
Teresa Palmer: I got involved through my new agency, ICM. They brought it to my attention. I was shooting the last season of ‘A Discovery of Witches’ and I was really looking for a film to do after being on that production for these long six months stints. So, I was looking for something to pop in for a couple of months and then be done.
Then they brought this to my attention. I looked at the filmmaker’s last film, which is called ‘Lake Bodom’ and I was really intrigued by what I saw. I thought it was really great storytelling and just interesting. I loved the twists and the turns.
So, I read the screenplay and I was completely blown away by the subject matter, but also just the little red herrings along the way. I loved going back and discovering what the micro-clues were to the big shock twist at the end of the movie. But the character was just so rich. She was rich and complex and imperfect, which I really loved.
So, my reaction to the screenplay was one of shock and horror. I was immediately drawn to the character. She was intense and layered and complex and very vulnerable. There was this beautiful, imperfect nature to who she was and how she was handling the situation that she finds herself thrust in.
So, I loved her, the humanity in her, but then really my favorite thing about it was that it felt like a standalone movie. It could be a drama where we are looking at the dynamic of a family after having experienced a really intense traumatic event in their life, and how they’re picking up these fractured pieces of their lives and trying to put them together.
So that was standalone for me and really interesting. Then of course, they then pull the horror element in and they wove that into this beautiful, delicate and fractured family. I loved both elements of the screenplay and it’s really the thing that made me decide to do it.
(L to R) Tristan Ruggeri as Elliot, Teresa Palmer as Rachel, and Steven Cree as Anthony in ‘The Twin.’ Photo Credit: Heikki Leis/Shudder.
MF: As you mentioned, the movie uses classic horror film tropes to throw the audience off from what is really happening in the story. Can you talk about that and how it really makes the movie standout from other horror films?
TP: Yes, I found it really refreshing and I know that they had a lot of amazing inspirations from lots of very iconic horror films. But they made it its own beast. I found that it was quite a complex story to have to tell. It’s very delicate because it’s dealing with the ramifications of a family who have lost one of their children, especially when it may or may not have been one of the parents doing, it’s hard to tread that path. You have to do it lightly, beautifully and delicately, but you also have to make sure that the horror elements sit in it comfortably as well.
So, I thought that the director, Taneli, and the producer, Aleksi, did a really beautiful job of telling the story and it really serves its purpose. But for me personally, it was a really challenging one because I was pregnant throughout the whole filming and then having the heaviness of a mother losing her child as the subject matter, that was pretty hard.
(L to R) Tristan Ruggeri as Elliot, and Teresa Palmer as Rachel in ‘The Twin.’ Photo Credit: Shudder.
MF: Can you talk about how as an actress you approached the physical and emotional challenges of playing a mother who has lost her child?
TP: I found it really challenging playing the character. I think initially I thought it would be okay for me to just turn it off at the end of the day, and I would just go back to my kids it would be fine. But I think it was also because of what stage in my pregnancy I was. I started the movie when I was about 13 weeks pregnant and finished around 22 weeks pregnant.
You’re transitioning into the second trimester and you’re feeling your baby move for the first time, but I had to deal with the joy of new life in me whilst still simultaneously playing the horrifying feelings of, and the isolation of, a woman having lost a child. So, it was pretty polarizing.
I had to put this protective shell around me and I figured that, I’m going to show up, I’m going to be in the moments from action to cut, but I have to find a process of moving through and unpacking these feelings so that I’m not carrying it with me. I’m not affecting this pregnancy. I’m not taking it home to the kids. I felt like I was able to do that.
Subconsciously it was still there with me. I would wake up in the middle of the night, many times with a sense of dread, and I would look around and I’d count all my many children to make sure they’re all safe. So, it definitely had an impact on me. I read a lot of things to prepare. There’s a couple of women I follow on Instagram who have lost their children in accidents. So, they didn’t have the time to prepare for a loss like that, and it just was very sudden.
One of them in particular, she’s very open, beautiful and vulnerable with her journey of grief. I would read her writings late at night and really sort of sink into the feelings that she was so generously sharing with us. But my husband sometimes had to cut me off because I’d just be sobbing. But it’s such an important story to talk about when you’re dealt such a huge life changing event. Everyone else stops and they’re there to support you, love you, encourage you and lift you up.
But everyone’s life continues on, and their children get older and they grow up. But you as the central character in this nightmare, it’s just with you every day. So that’s very isolating and that’s what I wanted to portray in this character.
(L to R) Tristan Ruggeri as Elliot, Teresa Palmer as Rachel, and Steven Cree as Anthony in ‘The Twin.’ Photo Credit: Heikki Leis/Shudder.
MF: Can you also talk about how that trauma affects her relationship with her husband, and creating that dynamic with Steven Cree?
TP: They’re kind of in parallel lives, they’re both living their own existence, but they’re not even really coexisting at this point. It feels that Rachel is very much in her bubble of grief, and she holds a lot of resentment and a lot of anger towards her husband who feels really disengaged in their remaining child. I think that you just see such damage in their relationship.
Often you read about when a traumatic event happens in a family, oftentimes it’s very hard to keep that family unit together and you hear more often than not these marriages end in divorce. So, I think you’re kind of looking down the barrel of divorce with these two, and that’s why they decide to make this radical big shift to go and pick themselves up and move to another country.
They’re just running away from the same feelings and the same problems that are just going to follow them there. It’s a very intricate, delicate, sad, traumatizing thing to witness on screen. They’re so broken, both of them are really broken in their own ways and are both just trying to make the best choices in the moment.
But again, another thing that I love, and I really wanted to explore, it’s not often I see that on camera, and that is the dynamics of a family after a child has passed away, and how broken that is and the humanity in that. So, I very much enjoyed exploring that relationship dynamic as well.
(L to R) Teresa Palmer as Rachel and Steven Cree as Anthony in ‘The Twin.’ Photo Credit: Shudder.
MF: Finally, what was it like working with director Taneli Mustonen and watching him execute his unique vision for this project?
TP: It was wonderful. Taneli is like an excited little puppy dog. He loves horror, he just thrives and blossoms in that environment. So being on set, he’d get really excited. He’d come up with these great ideas and it was very spontaneous, and moment to moment.
I definitely felt like, as a performer, it’s quite liberating because it’s not as traditional as what I’ve experienced before when shooting American films or even Australian films, where you have your call sheet, you know exactly what you’re doing from the very first moment you’re on set to the last moment when you leave, and this was the sort of thing that you had a loose idea of the scene that you’re shooting and then on the day you are just in it.
So, you’re coming up with things, and it’s very collaborative. I felt as though I could throw in so many big ideas and plot ideas as well, and Taneli was just so open. He was so open to hearing things and trying things. It gave me the freedom to really be bold in some of the performance choices that I was getting to make, because I felt like anywhere I was landing, Taneli was accepting it and liked it.
I think because my character is suffering from a mental health breakdown, there was a lot there to explore. I mean, there were really no boundaries. I could take it in any direction I wanted to. Taneli was like my dance partner in that, which was really wonderful.
(L to R) Tristan Ruggeri as Elliot, Steven Cree as Anthony, and Teresa Palmer as Rachel in ‘The Twin.’ Photo Credit: Shudder.
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