In Stacie Passon’s dynamic directorial debut “Concussion”, a housewife breaks free of her suburban bubble by taking on sex work in the city. With her sophomore feature “We Have Always Lived in the Castle,” adapted by Mark Kruger from the 1962 novel by Shirley Jackson, Passon offers a female protagonist who’s the antithesis of her previous one: Merricat Blackwood (Taissa Farmiga) can’t ensconce herself enough from the world outside.
(The heroine of “Concussion” spends most of the film renovating a Manhattan apartment, while Merricat builds her entire world within the walls of the family manse, meaning that someday, someone is going to craft a thesis with a title like “Inquire Within: Real Estate in the Films of Stacie Passon.”)
While this period adaptation sees the filmmaker operating in a more traditional, classical mode, “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” allows Passon to work with a larger, more...
(The heroine of “Concussion” spends most of the film renovating a Manhattan apartment, while Merricat builds her entire world within the walls of the family manse, meaning that someday, someone is going to craft a thesis with a title like “Inquire Within: Real Estate in the Films of Stacie Passon.”)
While this period adaptation sees the filmmaker operating in a more traditional, classical mode, “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” allows Passon to work with a larger, more...
- 5/16/2019
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
In horror movies, it's not always what you see among the trees that can scare you, it's also what you hear... or worse yet, what you hope you didn't hear. Carrying a portable field mixer while working on a horror movie in the woods, sound recordist Nikki (Danielle Butlin) picks up more than just the noises of Mother Nature in Andrew Montague's Blackwood, which you can now watch in its entirety right here on Daily Dead!
Listen to the spooky sounds that Nikki captures on her recording equipment in the short film below... and turn it all the way up for maximum scares.
Written and directed by Montague, Blackwood premiered at Monster Fest in Australia, the same country in which it was filmed. Blackwood stars Danielle Butlin, Alanah Parkin, Jim Koutsoukos, and Rowan Howard, with creature design by Torstein Nordstrand and creature animation by Daniel Fotheringham.
Here's what writer/director...
Listen to the spooky sounds that Nikki captures on her recording equipment in the short film below... and turn it all the way up for maximum scares.
Written and directed by Montague, Blackwood premiered at Monster Fest in Australia, the same country in which it was filmed. Blackwood stars Danielle Butlin, Alanah Parkin, Jim Koutsoukos, and Rowan Howard, with creature design by Torstein Nordstrand and creature animation by Daniel Fotheringham.
Here's what writer/director...
- 3/4/2019
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
After a six-year hiatus from feature length filmmaking, Spanish director Rodrigo Cortés is finally back with his latest fantasy horror picture Down a Dark Hall – also known by its alternate title Blackwood. Best known for his tense direction on the Ryan Reynolds-led Buried and the Sigourney Weaver-led Red Lights, Cortés is no stranger to the horror-thriller genre. In Dark Hall, Cortés throws a fantastical twist onto things as the film deals with the supernatural – spookily depicted in the first trailer for the film, which Lionsgate has now released.
Down a Dark Hall centers on a troublesome young adult named Kit Gordy who, after a brief altercation with the law, is sent to a mysterious disciplinary boarding school – “Welcome to Blackwood” the stern headmaster Madame Duret (played by Uma Thurman) announces in the trailer. From here, things only become darker. Accompanied by four other similarly aged girls, Kit and her...
Down a Dark Hall centers on a troublesome young adult named Kit Gordy who, after a brief altercation with the law, is sent to a mysterious disciplinary boarding school – “Welcome to Blackwood” the stern headmaster Madame Duret (played by Uma Thurman) announces in the trailer. From here, things only become darker. Accompanied by four other similarly aged girls, Kit and her...
- 7/6/2018
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
It may be the fifth week of the month but that does not mean there are not some major books to talk about. Some of the best current series see their last issue released including this week’s Recommendation of the Week: Grass Kings #15 by Matt Kindt and Tyler Jenkins. Also, Brian Michael Bendis has his first full issue with DC and Doomsday Clock is once again ticking. All that and more.
This weeks rundown:
(00:01:04) Grass Kings #15
(00:08:09) The Man of Steel #1
(00:12:20) Judge Dredd Under Siege #1
(00:16:08) Harbinger Wars 2 #1
(00:21:18) Quantum and Woody #6
(00:24:10) Amazing Spider-Man #800
(00:28:31) The Punisher #225
(00:30:53) Marvel 2 In One #6
(00:34:10) Doomsday Clock #5
(00:40:50) Batman: Prelude to the Wedding #1
(00:43:26) Aquaman Jabberjaw #1
(00:45:26) Supersons Dynomutt and the Blue Falcon #1
(00:47:36) Kill or Be Killed #19
(00:49:58) THe Last Siege #1
(00:51:37) Royal...
This weeks rundown:
(00:01:04) Grass Kings #15
(00:08:09) The Man of Steel #1
(00:12:20) Judge Dredd Under Siege #1
(00:16:08) Harbinger Wars 2 #1
(00:21:18) Quantum and Woody #6
(00:24:10) Amazing Spider-Man #800
(00:28:31) The Punisher #225
(00:30:53) Marvel 2 In One #6
(00:34:10) Doomsday Clock #5
(00:40:50) Batman: Prelude to the Wedding #1
(00:43:26) Aquaman Jabberjaw #1
(00:45:26) Supersons Dynomutt and the Blue Falcon #1
(00:47:36) Kill or Be Killed #19
(00:49:58) THe Last Siege #1
(00:51:37) Royal...
- 6/8/2018
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
Stars: Ed Stoppard, Sophia Myles, Russell Tovey, Isaac Andrews, Paul Kaye, Greg Wise, Joanna Vanderham, Kenneth Collard | Written by J.S. Hill | Directed by Adam Wimpenny
Having recovered from a shattering emotional breakdown, college professor Ben Marshall relocates to the countryside with his wife and young son, hoping for a fresh start. He has a teaching job lined up and a new home to move into; things finally look to be going Ben’s way. Until, that is, he starts to feel that something isn’t quite right in the house. Finding himself plagued by spectral visions, Ben becomes obsessed with uncovering the truth behind a local mystery that appears to be putting the lives of his family in danger.
Within the first few minutes of Blackwood, I had a general idea of what to expect from the film. It all became clear after Ben says the line: “Once I’m onto something,...
Having recovered from a shattering emotional breakdown, college professor Ben Marshall relocates to the countryside with his wife and young son, hoping for a fresh start. He has a teaching job lined up and a new home to move into; things finally look to be going Ben’s way. Until, that is, he starts to feel that something isn’t quite right in the house. Finding himself plagued by spectral visions, Ben becomes obsessed with uncovering the truth behind a local mystery that appears to be putting the lives of his family in danger.
Within the first few minutes of Blackwood, I had a general idea of what to expect from the film. It all became clear after Ben says the line: “Once I’m onto something,...
- 1/28/2015
- by Richard Axtell
- Nerdly
As the release of his debut feature Blackwood edges ever closer, we had the pleasure of catching up with British director Adam Wimpenny, to discuss the brooding, psychological thriller.
Wimpenny discusses how he came to be involved in the project, and how he went about remaining faithful to the tropes of the ‘ghost story’ genre, and yet remain unique in his own right. He also tells us if he too is able to feel the suspense of the piece as an audience member, and a little about his sophomore endeavour, The Mandrake Experiment.
So how did you first get involved in Blackwood, and what was it that attracted you to the project?
I worked with Adam Morane-Griffiths the producer, and Joe Hill, the writer, ans we teamed up eight or nine years ago. We met through mutual friends and we all liked similar projects, so we made a short film with Russell Tovey,...
Wimpenny discusses how he came to be involved in the project, and how he went about remaining faithful to the tropes of the ‘ghost story’ genre, and yet remain unique in his own right. He also tells us if he too is able to feel the suspense of the piece as an audience member, and a little about his sophomore endeavour, The Mandrake Experiment.
So how did you first get involved in Blackwood, and what was it that attracted you to the project?
I worked with Adam Morane-Griffiths the producer, and Joe Hill, the writer, ans we teamed up eight or nine years ago. We met through mutual friends and we all liked similar projects, so we made a short film with Russell Tovey,...
- 7/31/2014
- by Stefan Pape
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
★★☆☆☆The haunted house has become such a recurring trope in horror literature and cinema that it's now a bona fide sub-genre in its own right. From modern semis to labyrinthine old mansions, there's little that's more innately spooky than feeling unnerved in one's own home, while filmmakers have utilised that communal fear sublimely in offerings from The Haunting (1963) to The Innkeepers (2011). The latest British entry into this communion comes in the form of Blackwood (2013), the feature debut from director Adam Wimpenny, based on the first screenplay by artist J.S. Hill. It's a strange film with some interesting ideas that ultimately rest on perfunctory storytelling, leaving the piece short on tension.
- 7/30/2014
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
This is the Pure Movies review of Blackwood, directed by Adam Wimpenny and starring Ed Stoppard, Sophia Myles, Isaac Andrews and Russell Tovey. Written by Dan Higgins for Pure Movies. When you move into a large empty manor in the middle of the countryside, with a signpost saying Blackwood, you should know that there’s probably going to be some unsettling moments. Unless they bought the house blind, they apparently hadn’t noticed before the four locks on one bedroom door, an eerie figure lurking in a window in a painting of the house on the wall, the clocks not working but still chiming loudly at random and a constant low mist. Then there’s the dishevelled groundskeeper in the woods cooking a rabbit under a full moon. It’s the classic set-up of a horror film. They should’ve seen the signs really. Or at least the signpost.
- 11/6/2013
- by Dan Higgins
- Pure Movies
Families moving into creepy haunted houses then things going bump in the night are the backbone of horror. It’s finding that slight tweak to the usual tropes that keeps things fresh. Debut filmmakers, director Adam Wimpenny and writer J.S. Hill have attempted that with British horror Blackwood, combining a traditional haunting with a psychological crime drama, and it’s executed very well.
College professor Ben Marshall (Ed Stoppard) wants a fresh start for his family, wife Rachel (Sophia Myles) and young son (Isaac Andrews), and moves them to a country house recently vacated by an old lady. As the Marshalls begin settling in, Ben begins witnessing presences, first thinking it’s his son playing around. When he then starts seeing ghosts, he goes looking for answers, investigating in particular, the history of former grounds man and ex-forces man Jack (Russell Tovey) while suspecting local vicar Father Patrick (Paul Kaye) of a cover up.
College professor Ben Marshall (Ed Stoppard) wants a fresh start for his family, wife Rachel (Sophia Myles) and young son (Isaac Andrews), and moves them to a country house recently vacated by an old lady. As the Marshalls begin settling in, Ben begins witnessing presences, first thinking it’s his son playing around. When he then starts seeing ghosts, he goes looking for answers, investigating in particular, the history of former grounds man and ex-forces man Jack (Russell Tovey) while suspecting local vicar Father Patrick (Paul Kaye) of a cover up.
- 10/20/2013
- by Lisa Giles-Keddie
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
The 57th BFI London Film Festival line-up has officially been revealed, and it is led by a slew of incredibly promising films, many of which have already been buzzing on the festival circuit, and a number of which will be making their debuts here in London.
As previously announced, Paul Greengrass’ Captain Phillips will open the festival next month, and John Lee Hancock’s Saving Mr. Banks will close it, book-ending the festival with Tom Hanks leading two highly prominent, Oscar-primed movies.
Stephen Frears’ Philomena was also previously announced as the Lff American Express Gala, with The Epic of Everest announced as the Lff Archive Gala.
And leading the line-up alongside them this year will be some of the most Oscar-buzzed movies of 2013, including Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, Jason Reitman’s Labor Day, Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity (in 3D), Joel and Ethan Coen’s Inside Llewyn Davis, Terry Gilliam’s The Zero Theorem,...
As previously announced, Paul Greengrass’ Captain Phillips will open the festival next month, and John Lee Hancock’s Saving Mr. Banks will close it, book-ending the festival with Tom Hanks leading two highly prominent, Oscar-primed movies.
Stephen Frears’ Philomena was also previously announced as the Lff American Express Gala, with The Epic of Everest announced as the Lff Archive Gala.
And leading the line-up alongside them this year will be some of the most Oscar-buzzed movies of 2013, including Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, Jason Reitman’s Labor Day, Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity (in 3D), Joel and Ethan Coen’s Inside Llewyn Davis, Terry Gilliam’s The Zero Theorem,...
- 9/4/2013
- by Kenji Lloyd
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Odd List Louisa Mellor Dec 17, 2012
We've plucked 13 potential little beauties out of the 2013 UK film line-up, feat. sci-fi, comic-book, horror, comedy, thriller & more...
Look ahead to the UK films coming out in 2013 and you’ll see a diverse landscape of filmmakers, genres, actors, budgets and ideas. Next year brings us something new from Joanna Hogg, and something else from Danny Dyer. Irvine Welsh’s Filth will almost certainly live up to its title, but the Absolutely Fabulous film? We’ll see.
Al Pacino’s playing King Lear, and Stephen Mangan’s playing Postman Pat. Shane Meadows is making a film about the Tour de France, and Nigel Cole is making a film about an otter. Steve Coogan will be a porn baron, Bridget Jones will have a baby, Nick Frost will dance the salsa, Martin Freeman will save Santa, and Sean Bean, bless the man, will probably die.
None of...
We've plucked 13 potential little beauties out of the 2013 UK film line-up, feat. sci-fi, comic-book, horror, comedy, thriller & more...
Look ahead to the UK films coming out in 2013 and you’ll see a diverse landscape of filmmakers, genres, actors, budgets and ideas. Next year brings us something new from Joanna Hogg, and something else from Danny Dyer. Irvine Welsh’s Filth will almost certainly live up to its title, but the Absolutely Fabulous film? We’ll see.
Al Pacino’s playing King Lear, and Stephen Mangan’s playing Postman Pat. Shane Meadows is making a film about the Tour de France, and Nigel Cole is making a film about an otter. Steve Coogan will be a porn baron, Bridget Jones will have a baby, Nick Frost will dance the salsa, Martin Freeman will save Santa, and Sean Bean, bless the man, will probably die.
None of...
- 12/16/2012
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
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